Monday, October 29, 2007

It's Apple Pie Season.

Tonight I baked apple pies - mainly to practice for my dad's birthday present. (Yes, I am aware it was October 10th, however good things come to those who wait.) I had some crust and filling left over so I made six mini apple pie muffins. Robear says I should try marketing them to Tim Horton's. I am currently overstuffed on apples covered in flour, sugar and cinnamon. Yumm. Well this tired baker is off to bed.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Episode 2 of ANTM

Today's special guest is Tyson Beckford. Yes he got me watching. The girls did a PSA -- I should show this to my class - a bunch of models producing a PSA. And let me say they weren't that bad.

Then the photo shoot came and it was all about garbage. We found out the Ebony just wanted to go home. The bottom two came down to Ambreal & Ebony. I am not sure if she will get what she wants or if it will be Ambreal.


Wow a turn of events - Ebony told Tyra she didn't want to be here. And Tyra said G-O! She was sassy and so was Tyra. I thought it was a lack-luster show, but the last two minutes made it worth watching. Tyra looked pissed.


So now I am all caught up. Yeah -- ok all caught up on ANTM I still have to catch up on 4 episodes of Desperate Housewives, 4 - Brothers and Sisters, 2 Heroes, 3 Beauty and the Geek and 3 Grey's Anatomy. Thank God I didn't pick up any new shows this fall.
Catching Up with TiVo

This weekend was my weekend to do nothing, however that is easier said than done. Friday night Bruce and I headed down to the new Apple Store in Clinton Township. We got the new Leopard operating system four our Macs (yes we have a family - my laptop, his laptops and our work computer.) On Saturday, I worked on a photomontage, I promised for a charity auction last February. I figured I could get it done in a couple of hours - ummm wrong. Yes, I spent the entire evening editing this photo montage for a 75 year-old grandmother - which meant no TiVo.

I went running with Bruce this morning, then it was back to that photomontage. We had to make a quick trip to Target to get chow for the cats and candy for the kids. Yes, we get more trick or treaters here in Attica population 5,000 then we got in Berkley approximately 15,000. For Halloween, I am have my costume for school picked out, I hope it is as funny as I think it will be. Last year I wore a crown and I was the princess of St. Clair TEC.

Now I am doing laundry and enjoying/catching up with TiVo. I watched two episodes of the Hills - I enjoy Lauren. I just keep wondering will she and Brady hook up. I guess that is what producers want.

Now I am catching up on two-weeks of America's Next Top Model. Benny Ninja returned with another posing challenge. Holy cow, where to start? Well - breaking news - Heather is awkward. Yes, I am sure you are as shocked as I was - when they did the challenge they were being lifted by a male figure skater. I thought she was going to plant it on the ice. The stripper won the challenge - Lisa is her name I think. I didn't see what the judges saw.

Then came the photo shoot. It was on the top of a very tall building and Ambreal was freaking out and of course I could feel for her because you know I would be in tears too. As for the photo shoot - Awkward Heather rocked it. Janet sucked, which is sad because I like her however the fact that the show focused on her so much that I am betting she is out.

Olive told me to look out for something in the show - that they were using a word wrong. But I am feeling stupid because I am not catching it. Help what is it? Is it the use of the word Gargoyle? Maybe I am just not paying enough attention.

So who was kicked off - this week we said goodbye to Janet. Yes, I was right - when you are the focus of the show that means you are OUT. I am sad because they made me like Janet and now she's gone.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Max = Circus Boy


Here's a picture of Max, Olivia & Sophie from our trip to Frankenmuth with the Fam for Mom's Birthday!
Sophie is a Star

Checking In

As you can see I haven't been blogging much, I blame Canada. Really I blame grad school because apparently they make you work a little, which frankly I don't have time for when I am trying to keep up the TiVo changed my life blog.

School is going well. Currently my students are working on their news projects. This time their news projects have kind of double duty.. I am going to use them as part of my grad school website called: Fliknews. It's a journalism based website that will provide commenting and feedback (similar to website like Youtube, Myspace and Facebook.) The idea is to mix the things my students like with social networking with education. My kids are excited so I hope it comes through in this project. I am not going to lie I usually have a really hard time getting my students jazzed about journalism but this time I talked about journalism is really story telling and they seemed to dig that.

This weekend, I have declared as official rest weekend. I will be catching up on school work, laundry and most importantly TiVo. Oh and how can I forget... blogging! However as I type this Bruce continues to try to sabotage my rest. Every question is do you want to go to Cedar Point, Ann Arbor, Chicago and today it was Solvakia? Can you see why I am so tired? But I am holding firm on my stance. I also plan on doing some running, but that is about as strenuous as it gets.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

7:11 Reunites For the Detroit Marathon

It's been a busy week that ended with a 7:11 reunion. We entered the Detroit Free Press Marathon as a team. Meghan flew up from Florida to join the festivities. The member noticabley absent: Joachim, who could be a first time dad at any moment. So he gets a pass.


The marathon is split up into five sections: 7.4 (over the bridge into C
anada - Robert,) 5.4 (Canada through the tunnel back to downtown - this leg was me,) 4.7 (downtown to Belle Isle - Tony,) 3.0 (Belle Isle - Meghan) and 5.8 (to the finish - Bruce.) KC was going to run the half-marathon but it closed early so she joined another team to compete. The official 7:11 team time was 4 hours 14 minutes. Which we were pleased with. Ok, I am not sure for the rest of the team, but I was pleased with.

It was fun hanging out together. The race was fun too, the only
complaint - they didn't have enough shirts in the right sizes, so all the girls ended up with Larges. Which means, I will be giving my shirt to Bruce. And we all know why most people (including me) run races: the free t-shirt. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for the run. It was a little chilly in the morning but by the time we finished it was sunny and 75 degrees, a welcome relief for Meghan who left the 91 degrees of Florida to come here. I don't know if she could have handled the usual cold, wet rainy weather that accompanies the marathon. I was pleased too.

We are talking about our next run: Florida in January for the Disney Half Marathon. Yes, after we get together we make these crazy commitments that I end up regretting two weeks later when I am trying to squeeze running into grad school, work and life. But I guess it's a good thing because if I didn't have these commitments I wouldn't be running.

Which leads me to another topic of discussion being so busy that I have a TiVo full of shows waiting for me. Which I plan on trying to fit in some time this week and I also have some blogs to catch up on. But despite taking a long nap, it's 8:18 pm and I am tired. So I think I will start the week right and head up stairs to enjoy some sudoku and head to bed.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sue buy this horse

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Catching Up With TiVo

I should be writing my paper for grad school, however I am catching on two weeks of TiVo. I think i just needed a release. What a better way to do that than with two episodes of ANTM?

What have we learned from the first show (which would have originally aired last week - remember I am catching up) was that there are some DIVAS this season. Wow! We are having cat fights and we are hardly into the season. Bianca - that girl has got a tongue on her and she is willing to whip it out at anyone. This episode was ok. The girls are starting to be nicer to Heather the model with Aspbergers. In the end Bianca was in the last two and Kimberly the girl from the small town in Florida was kicked off.

Now the show I have been waiting for the Makeover Show! (Sorry Helen I only ignored your email because I hadn't watched it yet. So I ran home to watch it so that I could give you the skinny!) When the girls got the news of the makeover they were cheering, but I knew there would be tears and all I have to say is bring on the tears. The first couple are very disappointing. Then they got to Ebony - Thank good the wig is gone. That thing was nasty. Jenah looks so different as a blonde. Then there was the drama Bianca hair was so damaged that they couldn't make her go long and blonde like Tyra wanted - so she had to go so short and then got her look via a wig.

I must admit I enjoy the drama of other seasons makeover show better than this one. However the episode isn't over yet.

The photoshoot was plants - where they became plants, flowers and even weeds. Bianca rocked it in the shoot. Heather was the weed. Victoria is coming out as super nerdy and odd. And we all know that I love nerdy, but she is almost angry nerdy. Chantel got sumer emotional - I didn't get the drama.

Wow -- Victoria bite the judges heads off in panel. Bold mood - will they keep her for the drama or will they chuck her? Give or take her I could care. And the judges said - goodbye smarty pants. Now I am caught up and that means I must get to bed -- I have school tomorrow and a paper to finish tomorrow night.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Happy Birthday Family, Megan & Sue!

It's October - which might as well be Christmas if you are in my family -- because we celebrate the entire first 11 days. It's the Sahakian birth month.

Here's a break down of the celebration:

October 1 - Cousin Jessie
October 3 - Aunt Mary Ann
October 5 - Mom
October 10 (TODAY) - Dad & Uncle Jim (yes for those who are keeping track at home - they are twins)
October 11 - Cousin Olivia, Megan & Sue (The last two are not technically family, but they are loyal readers, so I count that.)

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy birthdays so its always a good time and it always means CAKE & ice cream. Why do I love birthdays so much? Well my parents always treated our birthday like our very own personal holiday. We got to pick out a special birthday dinner. Every birthday morning I can remember as a child included being woken up to the tune of Happy Birthday by my mom, dad and or both parents. The entire family would come over for cake and ice cream and the annual picture at the end of the family dinner table behind a cake with the appropriate number of candles, as the rest of the family would sing Happy Birthday. Some people aren't into birthdays like I am and I feel bad for them. Regardless of the fact that every birthday adds another year to my age, I enjoy the celebration. I enjoy the happiness it brings. And don't get me wrong I love my birthday, but I love birthdays in general. I get just as excited for October as I do September. I try to do my part to make them feel as special each year as they make me feel.

This year my mom celebrated her 60th birthday, today my dad and Uncle Jim are celebrating their 29th... (+/- 30) They all look fabulous. I am grateful that I have good genes!


This past weekend, I went out to the Sahakian Family Homestead to hang out with the fam for the celebration. My sister came out from Chicago with the kids, who were hilarious as always. My niece and nephew had costumes from the secondhand store in town which they proceeded to sport for most of my stay. My nephew Max was a sweet clown that did awesome tricks. Stay tuned for the YouTube videos. Then there is Sophie who is the girliest girlie girl ever. I have no idea how my sister ended up with a child that loves pink, doesn't want to wear anything but a dress and loves Barbies (yes she ended up with her sister for a child - ha ha.) Sophie had a beautiful wedding gown that she wore while we played with her favorite Aunt Jennie's 25+ year-old Barbie collection in the basement. Good Times!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

I am a Klutz

This is a well known fact amongst my family members. I was the kid who couldn't walk down the hallway of our ranch home without hitting walls. Yes I would have failed the straight line test miserably due to lack of natural balance. Then there was the time in fifth grade when I fractured my wrist sliding into first base, apparently you don't ever slide into first base. (We all know that I wasn't playing softball for the love of the sport - it was merely social. Something to do!) Then there was the time I broke my foot on the railroad tracks while I was working with a film crew in Greenfield Village. As an adult, my klutz wounds are usually not so obvious. I have bruises on my legs from walking into stuff, but that usually can be hidden with the clothes I wear.

So why am I bringing up this now -- well let's say that I have managed to break out it again. This time a bathroom stall door hit me across the face. After the my nose stopped bleeding, I am left with an aching head, a sore nose and two black eyes that aren't that pronounced by seem to be getting worse. As one student asked me, "Mrs. Holladay are you ok - you just don't look right." The lighting isn't great -- but those dark circles aren't because I am tired - that is a bruise. And the bridge of my nose well that is swollen. So I am off to bed hoping that tomorrow will bring yet another shade of blue to my face.