Reality

Have you stopped to think about all of these 'reality' shows that our eyes and brains are consumed with while flipping through the channels? Man, there are a ton of them....

Yesterday I was trying to kill some time before I went to a friends house and I landed on 'Keeping up with the Kardashians'. What a train wreck.

I seriously could not stop watching this show just for the mere fact that these three spoiled, bratty girls were speaking to their mother the way they were. I started crying for the mom because all she asked for was for their respect - (her ex-husband is the late Robert Kardashian, who helped O.J. get acquitted). It was the 5 year anniversary of his death and she was getting emotional talking about him and the girls were telling her to stop crying and that they 'didn't even want to think about him or look at her'.

Isn't this where, as a daughter, you're supposed to reach out to your mom, embrace her with a big hug, and tell her that you miss your dad, too? Or show SOME sort of compassion?? The mom ended up leaving and crying... my heart hurt for her. I do know one thing, if I would have said the things they were saying to her, my face would have been slapped in to next week. No joke.

So what makes these shows 'real'? I don't know any of my friends that drive a new Mercedes SUV? My friends don't have a dad or step dad that is a former Olympian? None of us are 'known' for our shapely behinds and none of us are dating NFL players? This is real life? Do you know that one of the girls spent $19, 700.00 in ONE store on a shopping spree? This is quite possibly a yearly salary for some people. How sad. She didn't even blink an eye....just handed over her credit card and smiled.

And there I sat watching.

I'm mortified that 'John & Kate Plus 8' are making headlines for his 'questionable' behavior and possible affair and that people really like her hair cut. How real is their life of nannies, book signings, the boys of O.C.C. stopping by to give them new Choppers (because what parent of 8 children doesn't need a new motorcycle), and housing a tv crew and having a body guard follow you everywhere?

Somewhere I had read that most reality show couples end up in divorce after the cameras quit rolling and people are no longer interested in their lives. For example, remember 'Til Death Do Us Part' with Carmen Electra and her then husband Dave Navarro? Oh and my favorite, 'The Newlyweds' with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey - I secretly hope they get back together some day. 'Hogan Knows Best' - yet another couple going through a divorce...

I know one thing, when I get approached to do a reality show, I won't do it just so I don't jinx my own marriage. Oh wait, I have to get married first...

Does this mean that I'll stop watching this sickness? Probably not.

I still love 'The Hills' and watching these young kids think that they're important spending mom and dad's money. Do they know that they're termed 'TV Personalities'? They're not actresses or actors. They're not known for their musical talents, modeling careers, or intellect. They're known for being on tv and causing drama.

I think I'm happy living in my real life, having my real bills to pay for, and having real friends who won't throw me under the bus the first chance they get.

However, it is people like me that keep these stupid shows on the air. Sigh.

SURPRISE!!

I can't tell you how much I love surprises - I love being surprised (well, not like jumping out from behind the door sort of surprised) and I love giving or being a part of the surprise!

My brother, sister in law, and myself decided a few months ago that we would surprise mom for her 60th birthday and Mother's Day - it all worked out so perfectly! Ooooh, I love it!

So I thought I would be sneaky and send a few pictures to the folks during the day of the ocean - after all, I did tell them that's where I would be over the weekend. The first one really was from the coast - but from January - and from my friend, Elizabeth. The second picture was of me at the 'ocean', but I was really at Folsom Lake back in March on a super windy day... I thought that would suffice as the, 'Hey, look at me - I'm at the ocean' picture. I sent the first one at my layover and the second one before my brother dropped me off with Evonn! hee hee...

I got to ride up to my brother's house with my sister in law to surprise the kids since they were home from school. I think they were just confused, but it was so much fun seeing them and kissing their little cheeks! I couldn't get over how tall they are getting and Zoe's new teeth that are coming in! I miss them.

We head out to mom and dad's house after Evonn called to see if it would be ok if her and the kids went out 'to show them something'. I couldn't wait! We jumped out of the car and hid on the other side of the garage while Evonn pulled up to the house. I could hear my dad's voice as they were coming outside and mom wondering where the kids were - that's when she saw me and screamed my name and said, "I JUST KNEW IT!" I think the whole block heard her. We hugged and cried, hugged some more, and cried a while longer... it was so great seeing my mom and dad again!

Friday morning I got to do something that I hadn't done for YEARS - I went with mom to have coffee at her friends house with 6 other women. We ate snacks, had drinks, listened to the town gossip, and told stories. I had sooo much fun listening and laughing with these women! Afterwards we went to mom's work so we could say hi to everybody and visit for a few minutes, then it was back home for the afternoon.

I realized how much I miss the silence... it's so quiet out there - at night when I was in bed, I could actually hear the frogs and not the constant whirr of cars flying by, sirens, honking horns, people talking, and doors slamming. (Which kind of makes me sound like I live in the ghetto, but I really don't!). Anyway, I could smell the lilacs outside, hear the birds chirping, and the church bells at noon playing songs. Ahhh....

Friday night was surprise number two. We had mom's three best friends come over to my brother's house for a surprise birthday party. Once we turned the corner to his house, it finally sunk in who was standing in his driveway - I love the look on her face when she's surprised! They had catered in some Famous Dave's BBQ, Evonn had the house decorated so nicely, we had a super yummy chocolate cake with chocolate chips inside, an Edible Arrangement of fruit, and some drinks to celebrate our mom! The night was spent talking, getting reacquainted, telling stories, laughing, and Keegan wondering when 'all these old people are going to leave'! :)

I spent the night with Keegan (Zoe opted out of camping on the air mattress - smart girl) and in the morning all of us girls met at the mall to have some much needed coffee and a little snack. I loved my muffie from Panera. Muffie. Muuuffie. (Don't tell me that's not fun to say!) After a little bit of shopping, we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and back to the shopping... why is it when you want to spend money, you can't ever find anything, but when you DON'T want to spend money, you buy up the store? Grr.. I wanted something, but only got a watch battery. And really, I don't think he ever changed it because my watch still isn't working. Jerky.

I guess I did get something though - the generic version of Dippin' Dots, of course! Mint chocolate chip and cookie dough...you can never go wrong.

Sunday was Mother's Day and we all went to church together - it was a great sermon and fun to see faces that I hadn't seen in a while. After church we had lunch at O'Charley's and headed back home. Dad and I took the Corvette out for a spin which always makes me happy and smiley to hear it rev up! And it makes me smile when we watch ourselves drive really slow down main street so we can see our reflection in the store windows... right, dad? :)

The weekend ended all too quickly as I got ready to pack it up and head back to CA Monday afternoon. My brother met us for a bite to eat, we said our goodbyes, had our hugs, and the next thing I know, I'm back in 80F weather and back to reality.

Mom, happy birthday and happy Mother's Day - it was such a great weekend and definitely one that I'll never forget! You are so special to so many people, we're all blessed to have you be a part of our lives, and we all love you dearly! "Best weekend ever!!" :)

The San Francisco Treat

A few weeks ago, my bff, April, came out to spend a long weekend with me and it was needed so much! I decided that four months is TOO LONG to go without seeing your friends...

I had such a blast showing my friend around town, visiting new places, and of course - EATING! We kept weighing ourselves to see how much we were gaining during her visit...you know it's not going to go well when the first thing you eat is an In-N-Out burger at 11pm. Oh well, it was vacation!

For starters, her poor flight was delayed in Denver for a few hours for some mechanical issues. I was beside myself - after working a full day and so ready to see her, I don't think I could have waited another 5 minutes! She finally got in around 10pm and we were up til 1:30am chatting...of course, this would be 3:30am 'her time'. Good thing she's a mom and is used to running on fumes!

The first day we headed downtown to meet our classmate, Travis, at Mikuni's - an awesome sushi restaurant that I fell in love with the second night I moved to Sacramento, no thanks to Trav! After lunch, we headed to Old Sac to check out the little shops along the wooden sidewalks (think Living History Farms), the American River and the 'famous' Tower Bridge, and to do a little shopping. She got to meet my friend, Elizabeth, for a few minutes and then we hit the Capitol, and headed over to Travis and Jen's for some good food and wine the rest of the night....and whatever else Travis could find in the cupboard! ha ha...

Friday we decided to lay low and head over to Folsom Prison to check the place out. I can safely say, that although it sounds kind of dorky that we went there, we both had so much fun in the gift shop talking to the lady behind the counter. Among the Johnny Cash memorabilia, the wall of confiscated shanks and historic items, she told us some amazing stories from the inside....she used to work inside the prison and I'm sure she could have told us hours of things that we would have soaked in!



Saturday morning we headed over to San Francisco bright and early. I rented a Go-Car for the day in order for us to see parts of the city that we normally wouldn't have known about. It was such a blast and I totally felt like the movie 'Dumb and Dumber' driving this little thing around town!



It runs on a moped motor and you can't take it across the bridge, on sidewalks, or in the bike lane - so instead, going up these massive hills at 35mph, you have a steady stream of cars behind you wanting to run you over. It was pretty intimidating riding next to Hummer's and RV's, but so much fun! We stopped along several places to take pictures of the coast, the Golden Gate Bridge (like I needed any more of that), and the city in general. The weather was great - a little chilly, but super clear, thank goodness. Poor April got soaked by a wave while she was trying to write her husband's name in the sand, so we did have to stop and buy some new shoes and socks for her. I felt so bad. We had lunch at Pier 39, saw the sea lions, and shared some ice cream. Ahh.

We stayed at an awesome hotel downtown at Union Square and enjoyed the night with another one of my friends who came in from out of town. I forgot how much I loved long islands - and how much long islands don't love me. (RT, remember 2fer Tuesday's above Cy's on pool night? ha ha)

Needless to say, Sunday morning came too fast, but there was a diner close by for breakfast and then we high tailed it back home to lay around the rest of the day. We did manage to head over to BJ's for some pizza and a pizookie and that made us happy. Good thing we skipped weighing ourselves.

Vacation ended all too soon as April left Monday morning at the crack of dawn and I went back to reality while she hopped a flight back to Iowa. I cried. A lot.

Regardless, I had such an awesome time and have found that although we can spend 4 days together, I never get tired of talking with her, hearing her laugh, hugging her, and knowing all too well that no matter what happens in our friendship, we will always be each other's friend.

I love you and can't thank you enough for taking time out of your busy schedule and to be away from your husband and baby just to see little ol' me! I appreciated it so much...You made it all so wonderful....ABSOLUTELY!! :)