Here Comes Winter

We are hunkering down for our first dare I say winter storm. I just read they are expecting 2-6 inches. I must admit that I am hoping for just 2, because well we will have school tomorrow regardless. I am sure if there are any schools closed they will include the Lapeer Ed-Tech Center where Bruce works. Last year they had, what I believe were 5 snow days, St. Clair TEC had well, umm, let me think back, oh yeah, I remember NONE.

ANTM Update

Both the twins are out. I am a little disappointed. Because frankly I liked them and Caridee the best. So now the final three are Melrose (ugh), Eugena (who is starting to grow on me) and Caridee (who is fading fast.) So next week is the season finale. Tyra is getting a little out of control, which is making the show much much more enjoyable. Even if you haven't been watching, the beauty of this show is you can tune in Wednesday night and its like you never missed a show.

Amber turns 100,000.

Happy Birthday! For those of you who unfamiliar with Amber, she is my 2003 Chrysler Sebring. She is silver, sporty and super fun. We spend a lot of time together as we commute on a daily basis to St. Clair TEC.

Who is this?

Thanksgiving Pandemonium

Thanksgiving Wrestle Mania



The little ones were working off there big Thanksgiving Meal.

Studio 60 - Enjoyable & Laugh Out Loud Funny
(at least this week)

So it's Wednesday and the husband and I are catching up on our TiVo from Monday. And as we are sitting here, we are both lauhging out loud. Matt Perry is fabulous in the show. But there aren't just laughs, there is drama. So make sure you TiVo it.

Thanksgiving with the Sahakian's

So, I haven't had a chance to write about the pandemonium that was Thanksgiving at the Sahakian household. My mom's sisters and their families came down to Manchester for the big meal. My sister came out from Chicago with her two kids, my darling niece Sophie and nephew Max. Bruce of course, didn't get a chance to spend the day with us, because remember he was well, I left him at home sick.

When I got to Manchester, I immediately took a nap, because well being up since 2:30 a.m. is down right exhausting. So I took a short nap. And was awoken as my sister, Krista and her kids arrived. Max, her youngest is a crazy talker, was very excited about going to Grampa and Grampa's. My mom opens the door and he says, hi grandma, where's Nina (my dad's newest/favorite child.) The kids are so sweet, when Sophie saw me she was so excited to see me, she gave me a big hug. I like being Aunt Jennie.

Once the entire family arrived, it was time to eat. And we like to eat! Its a family past time. At a Sahakian/Kump/Ryan/Dutkowski family event there are several types of food you will always find. Of course, Aunt Elena always brings the veggies and dip, Aunt Janet brings the broccoli, cheese and rice, Aunt Val brings the green bean casserole and my mom of course has the rolls from the Common Grill in Chelsea and the Patiza. This year I made apple and blueberry pie. It was delicious, I have several helpings.

This year the kids table officially overcame the adult table. Ok, I guess we aren't technically kids anymore, most of us are in our 20's. Vince (pictured to the right) and Jill are in high school and then there is cousin Olivia who is 5. My sister kids are like her cousins, because frankly as fun as we are, we cannot be the amount of fun required by a 5 year-old.

It is always great fun when our family gets together. I really love hanging out with them all. We just laugh and have such a great time. So below there are some great photos. The picture above is my niece, nephew and cousin Olivia flattening me after I have eaten too much food. Please enjoy.

After dinner it's relaxing with "Finding Nemo."

Looks like Brent stole Olivia's spot.

For some reason the kids are gravitated toward the cage. I swear we don't lock them in there, they get in there by choice.

Brent and Me

Uncle Tom & Max Watching TV

My New Favorite Show:
Rob & Big

So I stumbled on this marathon on MTV yesterday and I am in love. It's about the dynamic duo of Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard/best friend Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. I never thought I would find a skater (yes the skate board, not ice skating here folks) and his 400+ lb best buddy so charming. You could say I have a real life T.V. crush.

Can you imagine me, running into them... This is my imaginary dialogue.
Me: so you skate?
Big & Rob: silence.
Me: that's cool. You are from Ohio, I am from Michigan (see I always bring it home with this..)
Big & Rob: silence.
Me: Okey Dokey..

I imagine them being much cooler from the show, I feel that they would embrace the geek. So set your TiVo and get a season pass. You won't regret it!

To Be Thankful for WHAT?

Ok, I must admit that the start of Thanksgiving day, I was wondering what I truly had to be thankful for. It started Wednesday night, Bruce and I went to bed at 8:30 pm, because we were both working America's Thanksgiving Parade. I wake up at 10:30 and notice Bruce is not there, then I heard something, oh yes it was him throwing up in the downstairs bathroom. Then he came up and laid down and the next thing I know he's tossing his cookies again. At that point, I move to the guest bedroom. Ok, I did ask if he was ok and if there was anything I could do, he moaned no, so I took my leave. Then my alarm goes off at 2:30 am and I walk into our bedroom to find my husband sprawled out on the floor.

I have never seen him so sick. Obviously he is not going to be working at the parade. So I call his boss and tell him that he won't be coming. I am sure you are wondering why I am calling his boss, he literally was so weak he couldn't hold up the phone. The whole time, I am wondering should I take him to the hospital. So the next best thing, I call his mother, who is a nurse. She said, he should be ok.

Then if that wasn't bad enough. I go downstairs and I hear water. I am like where is that coming from, oh yes, it was coming from downstairs in the basement. The pipes where leaking, well that doesn't sound as bad as it was, I would go with over flowing. I run outside and grabbed two 5 gallon buckets and stuck them under the overflowing pipes.

I go back upstairs to get ready to drive to Detroit. I find Bruce now sprawled out lying on the bathroom floor. Like the good wife that I am I say, I will call you. Yes, I just left him, with the pipes running over in the basement. I must say though, he told me to go. However, I did know that his father was coming over to our house a little later.

So then I and worked for Local 4, see the pictures below. It was the best parade day because it was not below zero, it wasn't raining, it wasn't snowing. I felt bad that the one year Bruce was sick, he missed the best weather we have ever seen. They also moved the parade route this year, it was in the heart of downtown Detroit. It was great. So I guess I was thankful for the weather.

The good news, Bruce survived. I went to Manchester for Thanksgiving dinner. I was thankful that Bruce was ok enough not to need me to come home. And he said it was ok for me to go to Manchester and hang out with the fam and of course eat.

And so far, I have not gotten sick. I am not sure if Bruce had food poisoning or the flu. He did eat a shady wrap from the mejier gas station, but his mom says that is the type of flu going around. Now his dad is sick, I feel like it might only be a matter of time. So right now I am thankful that I have yet to get sick.

So I guess I have a lot to be thankful for.

I meet Jeff Daniels at America's Thanksgiving Parade. However, when I meet famous people, I immediately became a dork.

Here's our conversation:

Jeff Daniels: (sitting in an RV playing a guitar)
(I walk in to pick up scripts)
Me: Hello Devin (Devin Scillian who is also sitting in the RV)
(I walk over to Jeff Daniels)
Me: Hello, I'm Jennie Holladay, I grew up in your neck of the woods, Manchester.
(Manchester is right next to Chelsea where Jeff Daniels lives.)
Jeff:(No comment)
Me:(feeling awkward) Yes, the home of the flying Dutchmen (my high school mascot), who doesn't love a wooden shoe with wins, go dutch.
Jeff:(No comment)
Devin: Jennie, how is Bruce? Have you talked to him?
Me: I left him this morning on the bathroom floor, I am pretty sure he has the flu.
My inner thoughts: Thank you Devin for making me look like a human, who isn't still fascinated with my high school mascot.

The new parade TV location.

Bruce's Hand Pies. We made them with the leftover pie dough and apples. I have not tried them yet, but I am guessing they are better than Hostess.

Blueberry Pie, I made for Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, if you can remember, I picked these blueberries fresh from the patch in Capac in August. I froze them and broke them out for the pie.

Apple Pie... mmmmmm... yummmm... It's the last of the season with fresh apples from the orchard.

The Perfect Pair of Jeans -
Then Jcrew Goes and Screws It All Up

So I was talking with my sister today and we both agree that JCrew has completely screwed us out of the perfect pair of jeans. We both felt that their size 8 was made just for us, not too tight not too loose. But then JCrew decided to fancy up their jeans with European sizing which has somehow completely ruined the jean, without warning, without letting me know, so I could quickly stock up.

In the day and age we live in there should be something done about this, or at least a warning. Like when Jcrew got the stupid idea to switch to the 28s instead of 8's that they could have at least mailed me a postcard or for God sakes even sent me an email, I get one from them every freaking 10 minutes, the latest about couture critters. (File that in the "who gives a s&#t folder of my inbox.) So many times when I go to the store they are always wanting to sign me up for their catalog which I always receive 14 copies of, instead they should say would you like to tell us your favorite item in the store. To which I would say, yes these are my favorite pair of jeans. Then they could send you coupons for the stuff you actually buy and then if they decide to make the dreadful decision to change to European sizes, I can run to the store and stock up. At least I won't have remorse or at least I can delay the dreaded search for another favorite pair of jeans.

So to all the Jcrew executives and other clothing execs that read my blog (to date: none) please take this into consideration when you are thinking of changing a good thing.

Wow look at the lights and hear the carols...

This weekend we got a large dose of the holiday sesaon with a short stop at the Bronner's CHRISTmas WONDERLAND. This crazy Christmas extravaganza is open all year long. It is more than one and a half football bields wide with 350 decorated trees and more than 6000 ornaments. Then we went to downtown Frankenmuth for some delicious chicken.

What's your poison?

Bruce set up shop at the PB outlet at the Birch Run outlet mall. We had a super fun Christmas shopping tour. However, we did not do much Christmas shopping for others, we did however find Christmas presents for ourselves.

Happy 100!

This is the 100th post on the TiVo Changed my Life blog. I feel like there should be some type of celebration. So imagine me sitting in front of my TiVo celebrating, it is pretty intense. The cats are getting a little out of control. However, I managed to get them back under control.

I know what you are thinking, I could not handle her life, there is just too much going on. Yes, I often think the same thing.

This Monday, my friend Mindy came out from Chicago. Mindy (pictured above) works for CNBC in Chicago. Well I was lucky enough that they decided to send her to Detroit for a story, so she came up the night before to hang out in the metropolis of Attica. She got to see our house, go out to dinner and just hang out. She is another one of those friends where we just sit down and pick up where we left off. Plus did I mention she is freaking hilarious. I am always busting a gut when we are together. Bruce and I can't wait to visit her, her husband: Casey, their dog Max, and their cat Poopus de Gato.

Tonight I turned into a true adult. When I arrived at the gym there were a group of hoodlums who where swearing and carrying on, then in my most adult way said, "hey kids knock it off." Yes my youth is dwindling away.

As for ANTM, in the spirit of comedian Artie Lange from the Howard Stern show: WHAHHHHHHHH! Oh my word they were told to act out their emotions. Wow these are some angry/bipolar models. Caridee won the challenge and will guest staring on One Tree Hill. Then they are off to Spain. Of course Tyra show up in this crazy Spanish dancing outfit. (when I thought it was bad, I only had to wait until judging to see worse.) Then they find out that they are doing a "Secret" deoderant commercial but her is the kick, it's in Spanish Oh my God, it's so bad. They had to kiss a man at the end and of course Jaeda's tells her that he doesn't like black girls. So as usual she cried. I would have probably cried too.

When it came to judging, Caridee got fried, which she deserved, however I still like her the best. Jaeda cried at judging too, however the judges were a little nicer. Melrose got high praises from the judges. Who's out, I am going to say it's either Michelle or Jaeda, but maybe Caridee will be in the bottom as a punishment. During the wait for the judging everyone started yelling at Melrose for making them look bad at judging by saying she stayed up an extra two hours studying the lines. In the end the judges decided on Jaeda. I was so worried. I love her, and this competition needed her.

What a Weekend!

Fun & the Joys of Home Ownership

Let me start at Friday night. Bruce and I went to the Lapeer Cinemas, it's pretty much a weekend staple. Checking out the newest flicks that come to Lapeer. Friday, we went to the see "Stranger than Fiction" with Will Farrell. The movie was ok, however we had some middle schoolers behind us. Oh my word, I wish I had seen their parents when they waiting to be picked up. I would have only been happy to share how well behaved they were during the movie, especially the part were they left 100 times or the part when they were crawling on the floor, sitting on each other laps and giggling. Oh it's the best way to view a movie, if you are practicing rage control.

Then on Saturday morning, I hit the volleyball court at the Lapeer Recreation Center. It's open court pick-up volleyball. I am having fun, it's the second time I have played. The second time I have stepped on the court in 5 years. I am having a lot of fun. I am not that great of a player, I have high expectations of myself, however it turns out that I am not well in high school anymore. But it's fun and I can only get better. I hope.

Then I had to hurry home to clean the house because well we rarely have house guests and I was super excited that my fabulous friend Mary Lobbestael came up to visit. And well my house needed some attention. So I cleaned and cleaned. Then the next thing we know, we have pipes backing up. However, we were lucky enough that Bruce's dad owns a roto router. He came over in a flash and fixed it. The next thing that went wrong is the switch on the pump blew, meaning that we were again having water issues. Bruce ran to Tractor Supply to buy a new one. He managed to get it installed just in time for Mary to arrive.

Having Mary here was great. We went out to dinner and came home and enjoyed a good bottle of wine, two bottles later, which Mary and I both regretted this morning. Again, I am not as young as I once was. These pictures look like I felt. It's fun to be friends with someone for a long time, you have so many memories. We also made some new ones, which I have included.

Get Angry: Ready, Set, ACTION

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for ANTM. Oh yes, an results of the election, more on that later. First, a quick recap of ANTM. Anchal is the high drama mama. She can't get over her insecurities and it's driving everyone nuts. The theme this week is action. First the girls meet with Gabby Reese for someone volleyball action. Of course Anchal was freaking out about wearing a bathing suit. Then they were off to the race track. The girls took their own photos of them getting mad at a NASCAR driver. They jumped at the driver with a remote in their hands and snapped their own photo. Michelle won the competition, however she didn't get a prize she got a chance to win a prize. She had to compete against her friends. Whoever won, won $10K worth of clothes. Well it was Melrose who won, they didn't show if she shared any of the clothes, but I am pretty certain she didn't.

At the photo shoot, they were literally in a wind tunnel. I couldn't imagine looking pretty in a wind tunnel. Caridee looked awesome. Plus she was hilarious when given the judges challenge to "hide dizzily." So who's off: my guess is Anchal, but only TiVo will tell. And I was right.

Speaking of right: I picked a WINNER. At least in the case of Governor. Jennifer is back for 4 more years! Yeah. I have to admit, I am happy with that, but not everything I voted for won. But hey that is democracy. As for the rest of the vote: Doves are Safe, No Affirmative Action and No to Guaranteed School Funding. It turns out nationally the rest of the nation is feeling similar to me, well at least the popular vote, so the Democrats now hold the Senate and the House of Representatives. With this news, our friend Donny Rumsfeld steps down, is it coincidence?

Yesterday when I was scouring the web for information. I read the article talking about how Michigan isn't a red or a blue state, it was really purple. That's because we are all over the place: we have a democrat for governor, our attorney general and secretary of state are republicans. I like that. I feel purple some times. Maybe we should make our state fruit the blueberry.

So as I am looking at the blog, I realize that this is kind of dry and somewhat boring with all the election talk. So when all else fails cute pictures of kids: so here are future voters and the devil a.k.a their mother. Aren't they cute.

Desperate is Dynamite

Ok, I know that those of you who follow this blog religiously, know how I have been feeling about Desperate Housewives on Sunday night. Last weekend, I was over it. I couldn't believe where the show was heading. It was literally boring.

But ABC has brought me back with a BANG, literally. So this woman who's been terrorizing Bree in her new man Orson. This woman, who I can't remember her name, I will call her Claire, is convinced that Orson killed his las wife. Well it turns out Claire's husband was cheating on her with a flight attendant, Monique. Bree slips to Claire that her husband is a cheat, then the next thing you know this crazy Claire is shooting up the supermarket that her husband owns. She takes hostages which include Lynette, Susan's daughter, Eddy's nephew, the mother of Tom's daughter - another crazy cupcake who has been terrorizing Lynette and Tom, Eddy and their new neighbor. The next thing you know, Crazy Claire has all of the customers in the back, Eddy is locked in the office with the husband of Crazy Claire. The next thing you know. There is more gun fire and the crazy woman that is terrorizing Lynette and Tom, is shot in the chest. I have to admit I was a little bit pleased that she won't be on the show anymore. I know, I know it's wrong. I can't help it, she was really really awful.

I can't wait until next week. I am revived again! Until next week at least. God Bless Sweeps. I am also hooked on Brothers & Sisters which is in Grey's Anatomy's old time slot. It's got the ever so skinny Calista Flockhart. Yes, I enjoyed it via TiVo tonight too.

Tomorrow, is election day here in Michigan, as the media like to call it Decision 2006. We are voting for Governor. Jennifer Granholm gets my vote. I am also voting Yes on Proposal 5, and No on 2. And I am voting NO on hunting morning doves. As my mom said, if it was hunting Canadian Geese, we would be for it, but since it's doves I am clearly against it. I am also voting Democratic for US Senate and Congress. It's my proverbial eff off to the president, who is not in my favor. Can we impeach him and re-elect Clinton? I am sure the president is crushed to know my true feelings. So we will see how this election goes. I am not usually a lucky vote for candidates, I hope this will be better year for, I need a winning election track record. So far it's pretty poor.

Burritos the Size of Your Head

When I lived in Kansas City, I would frequent the Chipotle. They are one of my favorite places, because well they have burrito's the size of your head. They are FAB. They are a chain restaurant, but they don't have them every where. So when I moved back to Michigan, I managed to crave the giant burrito. Now they have them here. So today, Bruce and I ventured down to Hall road in Uttica to eat at the Chipotle. It was the highlight of my day. Yes, we all know that I are lame.

After the ginormous burrito, Bruce had to head down to Local 4. I went to Target. And oh my word, toys are crazy now. I walked by what looked like a miniature horse. It was big enough for a child to ride. It is a Fur Real Pony. If I was a kid I would have totally wanted that. It is $299 dollars. Since I always wanted a real horse. Yes, I thought I could be a horse owner. So much so, that I went to Horse Camp (it was actually girl scout camp, but it was all about horses back riding.) I tried to convince my parents we should keep a horse in the shed. As you can probably figure out by this entry, they never got me a horse. However, if I still had the urge. I would just buy one of these.

Now it's an exciting evening of laundry, cleaning and TiVo. I caught up on the MTV's "The Duel." The Queen of Mean in MTV's reality world Beth is back. I love these crazy competitions with Beth. She's mean and fun all at the same time. These duels for cash money bring out the worst in the realty stars, most of them are pretty fake about it. But Beth oh she's so well mean. And I enjoy it.

I also caught up on the Sixth Sense which is on after Grey's Anatomy. It's ok, but I am not sure where it is going. However, one of my new favorite shows is Heroes on NBC. Wow, it's intense. It is hard to write about because it's so intense and all over the place, but I will keep watching. Ok, I must fold clothes and go to bed and dream about my "fur real" pony. That name just makes me laugh: fur real.

What is with all the Re-Runs?

So last week and earlier this week, I tune into all my favorite shows only to find out they are re-runs. I have an inner conversation with myself that goes something like this, "what's with all these re-runs, we are only at the end of October." Then days later, it's like a little bell goes off and I realize: NOVEMBER SWEEPS. I can't believe I could forget that November is a sweeps month. When I was a news producer it was all I could think about. I would be nauseated the two weeks before the book started. Then November would be filled with complete craziness and stress. Now that I am in the land of education, I forget out this craziness. I can feel all my friends who still live in the world of broadcast news rolling their eyes.

Right now I am getting my fix of Laguana Beach. The crazy kids are on Spring Break in Cabo. They are drinking like crazy fools, however, it feels like MTV is trying to portray them as sober. When they are clearly not. Now L.C.'s little sister, Breena is making out with Tessa's ex-boyfriend, Derek. Poor Tessa who's vacationing with her family in Virginia Beach.