I can scratch Wicked off the list!

Well, it's been two months since I last posted and come back to post and the entire blogging system is different. Not cool Blogger. Not cool. Anyway, to the post! One thing on my list of things to do before I'm 30 is to see Wicked. I can officially cross this one off my list. Hooray! For those of you who don't know, Wicked is the story behind Oz, the story of the two witches - of the North and of the West - and their friendship and struggles as they grow. Oh. And there are songs. For my 29th birthday my parents gave me tickets to go see Wicked, something I really really really REALLY wanted - my parents are awesome like that. I asked my sister to go with me because really, who else was going to put up with my ants-in-the-pants excitement and/or me potentially bursting into my rendition of "Defying Gravity?" Naturally, like any event the Morris family is attending, we were running late. Tickets wouldn't print. Shoes couldn't be found. Hair refused to behave. But in the end, the two lovely Morris daughters emerged, clean and polished and wearing shoes, ready to pose for the cameras. Mom insisted we take pictures. I all too gladly gave her my camera. After a brief car ride into Birmingham (and by brief I mean we flew down the interstate) we were finally there. My earlier accusations were quickly confirmed: people don't know how to dress for the theater. You don't wear jeans people. You just don't. We had our tickets swiped, grabbed our program, climbed to our seats and then settled in. All in what can only be described as Morris record time. I cannot begin to describe how amazeballs it was to FINALLY get to see Wicked - but I'm going to try. The theater is one of those amazing experiences that unfortunately I don't get to experience quite enough. However, I think I wouldn't want to go so often that the magic of it was lost on me. Wicked was beyond magical, from the sets to the costumes, to the choreography to the music. Everything shook me to the core and there were times when I got goosebumps just thinking about the fact that I was watching this show. I'm so happy the fates aligned and brought Wicked to Birmingham. While I would have gladly traveled far, far away - like to Atlanta - to see it, there's nothing quite like being reunited with a familiar theater and asking it what wonders it's going to show you today. I can also say that I did not treat anyone to my rendition of "Defying Gravity." I know you're disappointed.

Birthday Week Celebration!!! Monday

In case you've been living under a rock, last night The University of Alabama won its FOURTEENTH National Championship!!! Thanks boys for my birthday present!

Okay, so MAYBE they didn't win it for me, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it's my birthday celebration week and this gives me just one more happy! Not only did we demolish LSU, we DEMOLISHED LSU! 21-Zereaux!

I should warn you, I hate LSU more than I hate cooked bell pepper, cancer and the Devil combined. So the fact that we not only beat them for the National Championship, we prevented them from scoring one single, solitary point. Which, come to think of it, is actually impossible in football unless kicking for the extra point, which would mean they had scored 6 points previously thereby eliminating the fact that we let them score a single point. But I digress.

Hey Tigers! We just beat the hell outta you! Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, give em hell Alabama!

Whew, got that out of my system. So that was Monday. Can't wait to see what Tuesday brings (although considering it's 3:50 in the afternoon, you'd think I'd know what Tuesday is bringing!)

Birthday Week Celebration!!!! Sunday

It's that time of year again: birthday time! This year is a special one. 29! Woot! Okay, so nothing is really THAT special about 29 except that it means there's only 364 days left until I'm no longer able to say I'm in my 20s. Which is a slightly scary yet satisfying feeling.

To kick off my last birthday of my 20s I've decided I'm going to celebrate all week. Why reserve only one day for celebrating I always say. Each day this week I plan on doing something fun for myself, whether buying a little happy, taking time to relax and get pampered or going to dinner with friends.

Sunday kicked off the celebration, which is now going to be called Birthdaython. While shaping up to be a dull and rainy day, magically got better once the rain stopped. After a trip to the library resulted in having to go buy AAA batteries for an audiobook (I feel insanely old using this. What is this new fangled whatchamacallit? How does it work? Argh the screen is too small!) I found a new wallet! Grown ups carry wallets and, since I am closing in on 30, it's high time I left my little keychain wallet thingy behind. Although this is only a new thing; I've been using wallets since college.

Moving on to more birthday fun: Later in the day my mom asked me to come into the living room and she handed me a card. Inside was a "coupon" for "reasonably priced" tickets to WICKED!!! She wanted me to go ahead and buy my tickets for whatever day I wanted. So that means in just over a month I will be crossing off something on my list AND seeing Wicked. I am wicked excited.

Sunday night also turned out to be a night of exciting premiers on TV, so I had a full night of happy shows. And, thanks to DVR, I didn't have to miss any of them or rush to fix dinner/take bath/do laundry in the 2 minute commercial breaks. Once Upon a Time, one of my new favorite shows, returned and it was just wonderful. I've missed it! Also... and this is huge... DOWNTON ABBEY IS BACK!!! Oh, the 2 hour season premier was wonderful. I cannot say enough, except Maggie Smith is my hero.

Finally, the best thing of the day - although everything else is pretty hard to top - is that... well I don't want to tell you because it's a secret. But let me just say... happy dance!

And so ends Sunday's Birthdaython. What will Monday bring? Stay tuned!

Where I've been is where I wanted to go

So it's been 3 months since I last blogged here. What?! Yeah, I know. I've been busy! No excuse... I thought I should update what all I've been doing because I've kind of started wondering what the heck I've been doing the past 3 months!

Football Season - I know it's lame for me to say "Oh, well it's football season. Of course I've been busy!" Every football fan who's worth his salt says this. Of course, they're usually just fans who use that as an excuse. Me? I WORK during football season.* If it's a home game, I'm swamped with tailgating orders and coddling fans, not to mention I actually work on game day for 6+ hours feeding said fans (who are now hungry and drunk). If it's an away week, that doesn't mean we've got an off week. No, I'm getting ready for the next home game, catching up from all the work I DIDN'T get done on home game week... Let's also not forget we had the biggest game of the year (or decade in some people's opinions) here in town (LSU vs. UA for all you people who live outside the south (or under a rock)). Needless to say, football season wiped me out!

*Yes, I know you probably work too. Don't come after me with torches.
Babies, Babies, Babies! - Okay, so two. And calm down. None of them were mine. One of my good friends had her baby in October which I was super psyched about! And then a few weeks ago my aunt had her baby, which I was also super psyched about! Although I've had many friends and acquaintances have babies, these were the first two friends (and relative) that have had babies and I've gotten to be a part of sharing in their excitement.

New Ventures - A while ago I decided I really wanted to start a website. I don't know why, I just did. Deep down I knew I wanted to start a book review site because I LOVE book review sites almost as much as I love books. So my want of a website broke two ways:

Cupcakes and Cover Letters - Still in the works, but super fun. A friend and I have always joked about starting a business that offers resume/cover letter advice and cupcakes. I thought it would be fun to at least have a website that offers that advice and talks about cupcakes, so we decided to go in together and create our site. It's still new and we're still working on it (we're both major busy) but I have no doubt it's gonna be great once we finally get our thinking caps on.

The Grown Up YA - This has become my baby over the past month. While C&C was fun, I really wanted my own site that I could devote to book reviews and such. And since I have a slightly sad obsession with Young Adult literature... it was a no brainer what my site should be about. It's been super fun working on it and connecting with others to make it a legit site. Now all I need is visitors...

Getting Ready to Move - Yes, you heard it right. I'm moving. AGAIN. Unfortunately it's nowhere fun. Just back to my parents'. Luckily this time it should only be for a short while. My lease was up and I hate my apartment complex so I decided not to renew and move home for a bit so I could look for something perfect rather than be rushed into another crappy apartment. Upside? 3 hours of driving a day means lots of books on tape!

Netflix - I hoped to teach those greedy so and so's a lesson by cancelling my membership when they price gouged their product. But then I really wanted to watch an episode of Scrubs and I rejoined. Don't judge. Since I renewed my membership I've been catching up on shows I missed seasons of (30 Rock, Parks and Recreation) and finding new shows to be obsessed with (Downton Abbey OMG so good!). I currently am geekily obsessed with Merlin. You're welcome SyFy.

New Baby Kitty - A couple months ago I went out one night to run an errand (ie go get ice cream) and saw a couple of cute kittens playing in the neighborhood. So when I came back they were still there and I wanted to play with them. Long story short, I ended up taking one home with me. What the what?! I have no clue what I was thinking but she has been so much fun that I'm glad I acted irrationally and randomly picked up a stray cat. Oh, and her name is Elliott. This is not weird, despite what the vet said.

General Laziness - Okay, none of these things listed above REALLY kept me from blogging as much as me being lazy did.

So now that I've started back on this blog I hope that I can be a regular blogger here. Blog.

Fun & Fancy Free in Happy Valley!

Well, football season is back and so far everything is rosy for the University of Alabama! Roll Tide! Of course... we've only played Kent State and that was a bust. 48-7. Roll Tide again!
This weekend we go to Happy Valley and play the Penn State... well I'm not sure what they are. Panthers? Patriots? Amish? Who knows?
Funny story about Penn State. When I was interning in Cuba (yes Cuba) this man came into my office and was asking me where I went to school. So I happily replied "I go to the University of Alabama." Because why wouldn't you say that happily? He gave me a funny look and told me to come closer. This sent off major red warning lights, but considering he was older and I was stupid, I moved closer. He was, actually, holding his hand up to show a large class ring. I immediately thought "Great, he went to Auburn. Time for a show down at the OK Corral" but decided to put on my Alabama classiness and smile politely at him. The ring, however, said "Penn State." Enter total confusion and more polite smiles. Apparently he was at Penn State in the late 70s and early 80s. For those of you who do not know your Alabama history, clearly as I did not back then, we beat Penn State in the 1979 National Championship.

This is the second time I will get to see Alabama take on the Penn State... what are they?! I should look this up. Anywho... as I mentioned earlier we will travel to Happy Valley, which reminds me of this Mickey Mouse cartoon that we had on video when I was little.

My dad was in the Marines before I was born and didn't get out until I was 3, so we moved quite a good bit. When I was 2 he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and, while there, my parents bought several bootlegged Disney movies for me to watch. One of them had Peter Pan, Dumbo and Mickey and the Beanstalk. And in between Dumbo and Mickey was this gem:


Back to Happy Valley. Mickey and the Beanstalk appeared on something called Fun and Fancy Free, which I believe was a video of this man telling a story to this little girl and these creepy puppets.

I, however, am just now learning this as Juicy Fruit took over that part of our bootleg tape.

See, once upon a time, Happy Valley was beautiful, yada yada yada and there was this magic harp that sang. Then a giant stole the harp and the land became poor. We all know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, so just insert Mickey, Goofy and Donald into the story and it's about the same.

So of course hearing that Penn State was referred to as "Happy Valley" I immediately thought how funny it would be to use Mickey and the Beanstalk for my predictions for the game:

The day before the game the boys of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide are treated to a meal before flying out. While there is a delicious brunch prepared for them, unfortunately some of them will be on very strict diets so as not to weigh them down.

When the Crimson Tide boys get up to Happy Valley, they will be excited because for some of them this may be their first time to ever travel from the state of Alabama, much less so far north.

How pretty Happy Valley is! How lovely it is!

But away games are no picnic. There's lots of hard work involved.

When it comes time for kick-off our boys will be ready!

Ahem... ready!

Roolllllllllllllllll Tide Roll!

And they're off! McCarron throws the ball to someone who catches it... Okay, I haven't learned everyone's name this season yet

.

Touchdown Alabama!

Penn State has the ball.

Sneak attack!

Hightower tackles, fumble!

Recovered!

Touchdown Alabama!

Alabama Wins!

Of course, we can't all be winners. And so, the Penn State boys return home, with good ole JoePa.

As always, enjoy the game and ROLL TIDE!

Dear Future Husband

Dear Future Husband,

By now I am sure that you have accepted all of my odd quirks and love them almost as much as you love me. If you don't, my apologies. You should have thought of that before you gave me the ring. Hopefully you will grow to love my little food songs, my overuse of Scrubs quotes, and my mad desire for Little House on the Prairie marathons. Just as I love how you take out the garbage, don't complain about my cooking, and pick up your socks even though I don't pick up mine.

I know how lucky I am to have you. Never in a million years did I think someone would be okay with a domestically challenged woman as myself but somehow you are. And I love you for that. Even if I'm not able to cook a fancy schmancy meal to show just how much I love you.

Once a very picky girl, I have grown into an even pickier woman who has not always known what she wants. It may have taken me a while to find you, but find you I did. I know that you're healthy, wealthy and wise, with handsome looks and charm that curls my toes. I know that you're the man of my dreams regardless of ever actually appearing in them. I know that one day when we begin our family our children will be beautiful because look at us. We're beautiful. And I know that my life has been enriched just by loving you.

I look forward to spending my life with you, experiencing things with you, growing old with you. I look forward to the day when we sit in our living room fussing like an old Jewish couple and are absolutely precious doing it. Because we will be that old Jewish couple who are absolutely precious, despite us not being Jewish. Unless you are. Then mazel tov. And when you're going through your mid-life crisis I promise not to roll my eyes too hard when you insist on buying that ostentatious cherry red convertable and will put sunscreen on your balding head when you insist on driving it around with the top down. Because I know you put up with me during all my crazy moments and baby, there will be lots of 'em!

Thank you for making my dreams come true, for giving me happiness and laughter, for entertaining my crazy schemes like the dreamboat Desi you are. I know that no matter how awesome I am, it's because of you that I am that much more awesome.

Hugs and Kisses,
Your darling wife

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Earlier today I had a brief, humor-laden serious discussion about the current drop in rating the US just received. At least I think that's what it was about. Whatever it was about it led me to say this:

and I think that we've completely [screwed] up this country over the past decade so it's almost beyond repair... like someone's going to have to give and no one is willing to do it

Which led to this gem:

oh god... this is how all those dystopian books start... a corrupt government, overthrowing it by the people... damnit! pretty soon they're either going to wipe us out or we're going to resort to the middle ages and be forced to marry and have babies!

Recently I've somehow subconciously discovered what is referred to as dystopian novels. For those who don't know what this means - don't worry, I didn't either at first - it's basically the opposite of utopian. Don't know what utopian means? What? Did you never see Ever After with Drew Barrymore? Pshh...

Dystopian mainly refers to "the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian." From Wikipedia. We all know it's a reliable source.

Now I'm seriously NOT a conspiracy theory nut or one of those "keep the government outta here!" type people. I'm really not. I truly still want to ahave faith in the government and believe that it's still "for the people." Although lately our government hasn't given me much hope. And isn't that slowly how dystopian societies in these books start? The people are dissatisfied with the government, they revolt, they riot, they try to overturn the government and either the government wipes them out or the rioters destroy the government and take over. (See Cuba and their happy ending)

Of course I don't see any of this happening in my lifetime or my potential children's lifetime. I just don't. But if these are the types of people our world is churning out (see below), I just don't see how we can stop a dystopian society from becoming our future.

And I don't mean that they will be the ones to rise up and overtake the goverment. Not unless they can Facebook about it.

Perhaps a dystopian society wouldn't be so bad. As long as you kept your head down and played by the rules maybe you could have a healthy and happy life. According to the many novels out there, apparently everything's taken care of for you. No longer will we have to worry about what our kids learn and whether one school system is better than the other. Everything is equal. Looking for love will be a thing of the past, if love isn't completely eradicated by then. Mates will be chosen for us and we won't have to stress about finding someone before we get too old. We'll all be married at a certain age anyway.

Yes, I know this all makes me sound like a crazy person. But as my friend Loraine* said: "At this point I'd rather do that then work 14 hour days and make no money. At least making babies requires me to be sleeping with a man which is better than right now too"
*Name changed to protect Emilie.

As long as my futuristic, government chosen husband looks like this:

I'd be okay with making babies for a living too.