SchlegelRock

OK, if you know me really well you know that I L-O-V-E Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Buffy is the ultimate fighting machine.  She’s surrounded by a group of friends affectionately known as the Scooby Gang.  I watched the entire series last year and loved it from start to finish.  I just threw it on Netflix and watched it while I ran on the treadmill.  There were some days when I was so caught up in it I’d watch several episodes at a time.  Before you gasp and think how horrible that is, you think about when you get caught up in a great book and all of a sudden a couple of hours go by.  I know you’re guilty of it too.  And Buffy is as good as any book.  I’m thinking that when all the current shows go in to reruns again I’ll start Buffy over. 

I’ll let you know if I decide to and we can have Buffy nights together.  I know you’re skeptical but give it a chance.  The writing for the show is amazing and has really quick wit and banter.  And even though there are a lot of demons and living dead it’s really not scary.

So what’s prompted this little post is that Scott found an article for me that a Buffy animated series may be in the works some day.  It just reminded me how much I love Buffy and how I wish I had been in on all the hype back when it originally aired.  Did any of you watch Buffy back in the day?  Did you watch it together at someone’s house?  Did you want to be a slayer?  Did you have a crush on Spike?  Oh, I’m so jealous.

OK.  I’m giving you guys a full days notice on this one.  I just saw it advertised last night.  The idea is Tom Arnold narrates over scenes of couples getting married hard core redneck style.  There have been demolition derby weddings, greased pigs, ATV mattress tosses, etc.  My Big Redneck Wedding is a fabulous show.  Now they’ve taken it to the next level.  Here’s what CMT has to say:

One lucky redneck couple is in for the surprise of their life when Tom Arnold takes their redneck wedding plans and turns them into the Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever. As Elaine and Bruce plan their strictly-budgeted wedding near a Florida mud bog, Tom sneaks around town after them using his charm to rally the townsfolk to help make everything bigger, better and redder than ever. And when he learns they don’t have a minister, he even gets ordained online so he can perform the ceremony himself. From a gigantic beer can archway at the altar to a reception filled with redneck games, cooked critters and a mud themed tower of wedding cake, it truly is the craziest, the muddiest and the Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever.

I’m hooked.  I’ve got Tivo all set up (by the way I had trouble finding this.  It’s listed under CMT’s Biggest Redneck Wedding Ever.)  It’s on Saturday at 8pm on CMT.  Now if you don’t catch it Saturday, don’t worry.  CMT is replaying it every day at different times for the next week.  It would seem they’re a little desperate for shows, what do you think?

I have really high hopes for this show.  Really high hopes.  Tom Arnold is a really great host.  Very funny.  I’m a little worried though because the couple doesn’t look that redneck.  They’re totally posing in white, button up shirts.  That’s not redneck.  Where’s the camo?  And the mullet?  And the guns?  These people look like posers to me.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.  Check back into the comments in a few days and I’ll tell you what I thought of the show and you can tell me what you thought of it.

I wont give the full story but it looks like Midnight Sun (the book from Edward’s perspective) has been indefinitely put on hold because copies of it were leaked prematurely.  Stephenie Meyer has released a partial manuscript for Midnight Sun on her sight.  I haven’t seen it yet.  My computer wont open the file.  I need Scott’s help on this one so it may be a few days.  If you read it let me know what you think.  I’m really sad that this is happening.  I was really looking forward to the book.  Whine, whine, whine.  If I don’t get the file to open though with Scott’s help someone is going to have to let me camp out at their house and read it.  It’s a long one too.  So who wants a house guest?

I don’t want this post to take away from my earlier post about the boys going to school, it’s just of a time sensitive nature.  I am a huge fan of Mythbusters.  I have seen every episode, even the early ones where they had a mechanic girl instead of Grant (not meaning the girls was mechanic, meaning she was a mechanic).  I love this show.  It’s such a good mix of total geekdom and comedy.  The idea is that they take myths and put them to the test to either prove or disprove them.  Mythbusters is usually on the Discovery Channel, Wednesday nights at 9pm; though if you’re just starting out watching, they rerun their shows all the time, even during the day.

I’m so intent on writing this post because at 10:00 tonight they are re-airing their NASA Moon Landing episode and it is fabulous!  So they’re taking the myth that we’ve never actually been to the moon and testing it.  I wont tell you the ending though you can probably guess for yourself how it turns out.  I’m not saying this was the best show they’ve ever done, I just thoroughly enjoyed watching it and thought it would be a good one for you guys to start out with.  Unfortunately nothing explodes in this episode but it’s still fun.

Now check out my pictures of the kids on their first day of school then check out Mythbusters tonight.

This morning Max started 2nd grade and Tru is a big Kindergartener. Tru wanted to make sure he showed off his Transfor

mers backpack. Max is still sporting his tagged backpack from K. We’ll see if it holds up through the year. Tru has half days for the next couple of weeks and then he’ll be on a full day schedule with Max so they can ride the bus home together. Tru seems pretty excited to ride the bus by himself too but the boys were totally excited about sitting together and walking home together. Thank goodness they get along. They’ve really grown close over the last couple of weeks. It’s been really sweet to watch as they do nice things together or play with each other. What good kids we have.

So it’s just Oli and I now at home. I told him he’d have to wait a while to watch a movie so he laid down in the hall and moaned, “Mommy. Mommy.” Over and over again. This is definitely going to be an adjustment for the two of us. Thank goodness preschool starts next week.

Scott was nice enough to go to Safeway the other day and do all of the shopping.  I was unloading the groceries when I found this tasty little number.  I was shocked that Safeway would have something so pretty.  Turns out there’s a bakery in the same shopping center (Bernardo and El Camino) that he stopped by and picked this up.  It’s called Sugar Butter Flour and the treat was beyond delicious.  It was a flourless cake with some kind of mousse on top with raspberry sauce mixed in.  Just thinking of it makes me drool.  I wanted all of you to know about this place.  I will definitely be making visits there now that I know it exists.  Yum.

First, Scott did another Tri two weeks ago and he bettered his time by a minute. It was the same course as the last one he did so he knew what to expect this time. He was even so fast that the shutter on my iPhone missed him as he ran past. How ridiculous is that. Do you have a problem with that? I can never time my iPhone shutter right on action shots. Anyway, good job babe.

Then I had to go to Kaiser to drop of a Medical form for Oliver’s preschool and ran into a van with all these Indian wolf stickers on it. Of course it immediately reminded me of Jacob and his pack of werewolves (or shape shifters if you want to get picky on me). It just totally tickled me. I really doubt that I’ll run into any stickers that remind me of Edward. What would they be? A picture of a diamond? I seriously don’t know. Have any ideas?

Then, an update on swimming.

I was terrified to get back into the pool after that first encounter. Every time I thought about going back in any kind of water I was gripped with fear. So I started out slow. I took the kids down to our pool with the idea that I would just get in and not do any swimming. Well once I got in I was totally fine so I did laps for about 15 minutes with occasional stops to play with the boys. It was a really fabulous experience because Tru would wait for me to turn back to the shallow end and then he would swim towards me and shoot me. This was just so hilarious to him that it really brightened my experience.

So it was time for a trip back to the big pool. I didn’t touch the 13 feet. I swam in their smaller pool that’s meant for water aerobics so it’s shallow all the way through. But I swam for about 30 minutes without getting scared once. Now I just have to get back into the big pool and the circle will be complete. All I have to say is thank goodness I tried swimming before doing the Tri. Now I can try to prepare myself for the breathing and the open water factors. Although, I do think the open water is going to freak me out. At least I know if I can swim I can make it through it if I stay calm. I’ll keep you posted.

Scott found this great triathlon for me to run at the end of Sept. It’s a mini triathlon so it’s a 200 yard swim, 5 mile bike and 1 mile run. Easy right? Well everything but the swimming is easy, right? That equals 4 laps in the pool. Now that doesn’t sound so scary does it? That’s what I kept trying to tell myself. Anyone can do 4 laps can’t they? Well I was pretty scared to get in the pool today. That’s an understatement. I was really scared to get in the pool. It’s been 12 years since my short lived stint on the Wilcox High School swim team. Twelve years! I was totally psyching myself out. Telling myself that my body would give up halfway through one lap and everyone would be swimming past me and get mad at me for being in their way. I told myself lots of other bad stuff too. I’m not very nice to myself.

So the bad news is. It was worse than I thought it was going to be. I hadn’t factored in the hyperventilating and the fear of deep water. When I jumped in the pool and saw that it was 13 feet deep I literally freaked out. Oh man, did I freak out. So I throw my head in the water and push off and start swimming as fast as I can and the first breath I get water in my mouth but keep going and I keep gulping down water. That’s not right. That’s not what’s supposed to happen. So I do side stroke the rest of the way across the pool and try it again. It happens again. Over and over. So I just hung out at the side of the pool for a while trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing wrong.

The good news. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I was swimming too fast. That sounds weird, I know. I wasn’t giving my out of shape lungs the appropriate amount of time to take a breath in. I was stroking my arms too fast. So, I slowed way down and just took it easy across the pool and I actually made it to the other side. The other thing I had to do was look forward not down because the deep pool really did freak me out. So the realization now is that I can probably do the 200 yard swim, I’m just going to have to do it really slow. My goal changed from finishing the race in any place but last to finishing the race, period. And you know what? I think I can live with that. If I have to I’ll side stroke my way through the course. Why not?

The even better news. I got to go to lunch with Scott. We walked into Le Boulanger (I get the California Fresh sans onions) and he said, “We’ll get you a Coke.” Music to my ears. Does my man take care of me or what? I even talked him into buying me a bundt cake on the way out. That’s what I’m holding in my picture. My Coke and bundt cake. Clisty, I’m sure it’s not as good as the ones near you but as Gary says, “It’s not a gold medal but it will do.” So all I’m saying is if my swim sessions end with lunch with my husband, plus a bundt cake, sign me up.

Now, I’m writing this post because I want to see my progress over the next couple of weeks. I’m hoping there will be some. This is such a big journey that I wanted to share it. It’s so weird how the running and the biking have come so easily to me but the swimming is kicking my butt. I think I have the method down now so this should get easier.

Is anyone interested in doing the tri with me? I don’t expect you to go as slow as me. I want to make that clear. Go as fast as your body lets you. It would just be fun to see each other at the beginning and end. Or, if you have a bike that someone could borrow, let me know. I know that’s what holds some people back. I think this is going to be hard but totally worth it when I cross the finish line. That’s what I’m holding on to.

So on a side note the picture was Truman’s picture taking debut. My kids are the ones that usually take the pictures of me and for 5 and 7 year olds I think they do a great job.

Also I was pretty defeated when I came home today until I found my friend Clisty’s blog post for the day. She found a site called Cake Wrecks where they feature professional cakes gone wrong. Hilarious. I think I spent an hour cracking up looking over all the cakes. My favorite is the fireman which you have to go pretty far back into older posts to find. Well worth a look. I even added them to my blogroll and rss feed, I enjoyed it so much. Thank you, Clisty.

Oh, Michael. That’s exactly what we thought. Ridiculous man. I mean, he fell in love with a catalog model, right?  I love it.

This commercial also gets to me because for the first week of the Olympics every time I turned on coverage it was women’s beach volleyball. I really started to get annoyed after the first couple of days and thought to myself, “You know, I bet they wouldn’t be on prime time if they weren’t in bikinis.” I did see that during last night’s beach volleyball game this commercial aired. How beautiful is that?

I can not wait for The Office to start up again. This Fall is going to be awesome with all the great shows coming back. I’m really looking forward to Pushing Daisies and Chuck. Not to mention Survivor. Let’s get a poll started when that premieres. Hopefully it wont suck. I do love Jeff Probst though. He’s a great host. Always stirring the pot.

So what show are you looking forward to?

My friend Lisa talked me into checking out So You Think You Can Dance. I was skeptical because I assumed the level of talent would be mediocre and the choreography lame. Boy was I wrong. Once I got through the first initial weeks of tryouts I was hooked. It was this dance that hooked me. The choreographer is Mia Michaels and her inspiration is Tim Burton’s wedding. I wish I knew more about dance so I could tell you exactly why I like but all I can say is it moved me. I loved it. My favorite part is when Chelsie is folded in Marks arms and her puffy dress is everywhere, then he slides her onto the floor. Fabulous.

I have several more of these that I’m going to post over the next little while. I wont have any better explanations for them other than they moved me. I hope they move you too. I love dance. I think it’s very powerful and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the show. I will most definitely check it out next time.

What do you think?  It’s quirky, I know.

I’ve gotten several inquiries as to why I haven’t posted about this yet.  Sorry.  I know it’s seems very unlike me not to be posting about this and squealing with joy but it’s kind of bittersweet.  The story goes that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was bumped back six months leaving an opening which Twilight picked up on Nov. 12th.  So we get Twilight earlier but no Harry.  It makes me sad to be honest with you.  As far as the movies go I’m into Harry Potter more just because I’ve seen what they have to offer.  I’m still really skeptical about Twilight just because I don’t know what they’re going to do with it.  At the concert Stephenie did say she saw a rough cut of the movie and loved it enough that if she were at a theater she would have bought another ticket and watched it again.  That’s pretty high praise so it makes me feel a little more confident in the movie.

Bottom line, I’m really excited to see Twilight.  Sad not to see Harry Potter.   We will definitely have to make sure to get together to see the movie though.  I’m not sure I’m up for a midnight showing with all the screaming girls but I definitely want to see it right away.  If everyone else wants midnight though I’m sure I can talk myself into it.  I just want to make sure to see it with friends.  What are your plans?  Do you even have any yet?

I was a fan of last season so of course, I decided to check it out again. This season looks even better. The premise is that a bunch of washed up pop, rock, movie stars get together and compete for a chance to cut a country album. The group of people they got this time around include Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC, and Sebastian Bach from Skid Row. I just want to say right now that I am totally naming any male child that might come our way Sebastian Bach Schlegel. Awesome. The Sebastian Bach from Skid Row totally makes the show this time. He’s so excited and explicative about everything.

This is not one of my absolute favorite shows, but definitely enjoyable. It’s on Friday nights on CMT. I need a rating system so you guys know how much I like a movie or a show.  What do you think I should do.  I’m totally open to suggestions.

Sorry I couldn’t find some bigger pictures.  I know it’s hard to see who is in them.

This is my last post from when Mark and MarKaa were visiting. We headed down to Rio Del Mar which is my favorite beach so long as the river isn’t running through it. Unfortunately the river was in full effect so we just trudged through it to get to the beach. Actually, my favorite beach might be Seacliff. I never go there because you have to pay for parking but I think I’m over that. My big thing is I don’t want a big trek to the beach from the car or to the bathroom from the beach. Some of the people I go to the beach with lug a lot of stuff with them (sometimes taking two trips) so a hike to the beach is not a good idea.

Anyway, back to family. We had a really good time hanging out and playing at the beach. The kids continued to get along really well. Mark, MarKaa and Scott got some time to body board (Scott looked wicked hot catching those waves). I didn’t go because I don’t like cold water. Really don’t like cold water. I used to do it when I was young and my nerve endings weren’t so hyper developed. I’m resigned to being the mom on the beach with a book while Scott and the boys board to their hearts content. I don’t think Scott’s happy with that but all I have to say is, you go skydiving with me and I’ll go body boarding with you. Fair trade as far as I’m concerned.

So, which beaches do you go to? Do they have a trek to the car? Do you pay for parking?

Pulease tell me you guys are watching Wipeout. In my humble opinion this is the funniest game show that has ever been on American TV. My timing is off on this post because the season is over but ABC is playing the season over so you can still catch it. The show is pretty much one ridiculous stunt after another. Like the name decrees there are a lot of wipeouts. I know there are some of you who probably don’t think it’s funny to see another human being make a fool out of themselves but I’m not with you. I love it. My gosh, they know what they’re getting into when they sign up so laugh away as far as I’m concerned. The video I picked is of Ariel Tweto my favorite contestant for the season. “Where’s the pole?” This is just a clip of the qualifier. She goes on to do other funny things during the show but I couldn’t find it on YouTube.

Besides the major spills my favorite part of the show are the two commentators. Either they are naturally funny or they have great writers. Either way they have me rolling while I watch. I love the way they pick a characteristic of a contestant and then just exploit it all the way through their run. I just can not get enough of this show.

Let me get a shout out from all of you watching Wipeout!! And if you’re not, check it out next week and let me know what you think. It’s freaking hilarious.

So I’m back from Twilight land. Time to blog about family again. When Mark and MarKaa were in town we took all the kids and the grandparents to Great America, which is now California’s Great America. Remember when it used to be good old PGA? Oh well, enough reminiscing. We had a good amount of adults with us so even though we did a lot of kid rides we were able to do some of the bigger rides too.

We practically walked right on to The Flight Deck (Top Gun). Jake did a really good job on his first upside down roller coaster. He loved it and wanted to ride again.

There was a really great balance during the day as the cousins all got to know each other again and we got to know Jake and Ryan. My kids were practically glued to Jake’s side. Tru and Oli wanted to ride everything with him and he was very obliging. Great older brother.

The day ended with all of the kids having a sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa Schlegel’s and the other four adults going back to the park to ride the bigger rides. This is a horrible thing to complain about but there were no lines. That means we went straight from one ride to the next. Luckily I have a hubby who gets sick just as easily as I do so we sat out a bit to calm our stomachs down.

I will say the Demon used to be my favorite ride growing up. I would ride it over and over and never get sick. The corkscrew did me in this time. Yikes. Now my favorite ride is Invertigo. No neck breaking action there. Just fun dangling backwards action.

I just took my kids back to GA today and we checked out Boomerang Bay, the water park. It was pretty fun. We spent most of our time on the lazy river since Oli was big enough to do that. I sat too far back on my inner tube and got dumped

into the water. Good times.

We had a great time with Mark and MarKaa and their kids when they were down. We’ll have to do this again.