House of Estrogen

I've Been Tagged

My friend Jodi tagged me to do this post. Her original post appeared smack dab in the middle of Girl Scout cookie season, so she made the stipulation that I could complete this once I was done with cookies. I'm finally catching up on life, so it is time to catch up on this tag!

The Rules

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog

11 Random Facts About Me

1. Three of my first cousins have twins. My dad is a twin.
2. I was on a figure skating precision team in middle school.
3. Angie Harmon (of "Law and Order" fame) and John Hinkley Jr. (of attempting to assassinate President Reagan fame) both attended my high school. I think I was a senior when Angie Harmon won Seventeen magazine's cover girl contest as a sophomore.
4. I have only been snow skiing once, and it was warm enough that we wore shorts.
5. I am allergic to cats, dogs, horses, and rats.
6. I skated in a charity ice show in high school that featured Scott Hamilton. He is even shorter than he looks on TV.
7. I love genealogy.
8. When my dad first taught me to drive, he took me out to a cemetery to practice driving, and I hit a car there.
9. I wore sneakers with my wedding dress.
10. I played roller hockey as an adult (pre-kids) on a team named Sasquatch.
11. I love denim. I wear denim jeans, capris, or shorts pretty much every day.

11 Questions I was Asked to Answer

1. What is your favourite way to waste time without getting caught!!? I’m not totally sure I understand this question, but I waste time playing Bejeweled Blitz on my iPod and watching trash TV (Kardashians, Housewives, etc.)
2. What was the first really *big* concert you went to? Rick Springfield
3. Biggest regret in life? I'm not sure if "regret" is the right word, but I would have liked to have had a son... not much I can do about that though. The baby train has passed.
4. And the inverse... proudest moment? Becoming a mama
5. If you could ask President Obama one question - what would it be? I really have no clue… I’ll keep thinking. What would you ask?
6. Sweets or Salt? Sweets, for sure.
7. First or oldest childhood friend... are you still in contact with him or her? Mel, best friend since about 4th grade – and yes. We hope to do a family vacation together this fall.
8. What do people love best about you? I don’t know. Anyone want to tell me?
9. What is the coolest or most profound thing that has happened to you in the last 4 months? These questions are too hard! I suppose the best thing that has happened in the past four months was finding out that Elise has reflux and seeing her symptoms improve with treatment.
10. What do you need more of right now? Organizational skills and time
11. What's a hobby you've always wanted to try? In theory, I would love to be able to sew, but I don’t actually want to take the time, energy, and space in my house to learn how.    

11 Questions for You to Answer

1. What is your favorite movie?
2. If you could go back and give your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
3. Why do you blog?
4. What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that?
5. M&M's - plain or peanut?
6. What was your first car?
7. What is your favorite Halloween costume you've ever worn?
8. What are your favorite blogs to read?
9. If you were to have a boy and a girl tomorrow, what would you name them?
10. What was your favorite class in college?
11. What celebrity do you think it would be fun to be friends with?

Now, I'm tagging:

Queenie at The Planet Pink

Claire at Brighten The Corner

Jen at ::Meditatio::

Su at Beach Front Sea Side

Kerry at KerryAndGabe.com

Audrey at AudreyPodrey

Thanks, Jodi! That was fun.   

My Modeling Career

My friend Claire over at Brighten the Corner was checking out the Title 9 catalog recently and decided to answer all the questions they ask their models. It sounded like fun, and this is probably as close as I will ever come to a career in modeling... might as well pursue it!

Your Theme Song: Stronger by Kanye West

Most Disturbing Food: peanut butter and molasses mixed together

Secret Superpower: detecting changes in barometric pressure with my ankles

Secret Weakness: cute children's clothing

The first thing you do in the morning: open my eyes to see Addie staring at me, poking me in the face.

You drive: a GMC Acadia

You want to drive: a fully loaded Cadillac Escalade

What you wear on your sleeve: dislike, annoyance, and frustration.

I am: Pocahontas' 10th great grandchild

Friends call me: just Ann

Next up: time to myself and my family with fewer obligations

Your tombstone: She raised 3 fabulous, strong, independent women

Traveled to: England, Mexico, Canada, half of the 50 states

Want to travel: any place tropical, Dubai, Machu Picchu, Water Island

Earthly knowledge: no matter how bad things seem, they could be worse

Heavenly knowledge: Memories fade, both the good and the bad

Work: software development

Technique: procrastination and chaos

Favorite find: Kindle

Essential tool: email

Gets to: work at an amazing company

Racks up: dirty laundry

Heroic moment: surviving emergency chest surgery and a pulmonary embolism.

2011, Buh-Bye

From the clever folks at Jib Jab - Enjoy!!

In Your Face, Newsweek

My friend Cindy shared this video on her blog. I thought it was pretty amazing, so I'm sharing it here with you guys. The City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, created this video in response to being in Newsweek's list of America's Dying Cities. I can't imagine a better way to say "In your face, Newsweek!" I think they have sufficiently proven that they are definitely NOT dying. It is long but well worth the watch. Enjoy!

Go Bob Costas!

Gotta hand it to Bob Costas to ask the questions that needed asking. Sandusky doesn't sound even remotely convinced of his own proclaimed innocence. He sounds more like he is digging his own grave. At least that is a step in the right direction with this whole scandal. And how about that attorney? He has to be kicking himself for allowing this interview to take place. Of course, if he is dumb enough to say he would "absolutely" leave his children alone with Sandusky, then maybe he isn't the sharpest tack in the box.  Congrats, Bob... interview well done.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sickened

Sickened: disgusted, nauseated, repelled, repulsed, revolted, shocked, enraged, incensed, infuriated, irate, livid, mad, outraged, rankled

~ Merriam-Webster Thesaurus

I can't get the Penn State situation out of my mind. I am so horrified by the chain of events that I can hardly find words. The thesaurus is my friend. Nauseated, shocked, outraged... I am all of those.

How does any adult walk in on a boy about 10 years old "with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky" and NOT step in to save the boy and NOT call the police? What kind of person does that? That's what Mike McQueary did. How does he live with himself? McQueary was not an immature, just-out-of-high-school, 18 year old college student at the time. He was a 28 year old graduate assistant and aspiring coach. It wasn't like he walked in on Sandusky giving a player keys to a car or a new laptop. I would expect him to go up the chain of coaches and the NCAA for that. No, he was witnessing one of the most heinous crimes against a child. He didn't stop the act. He didn't rescue the child. He didn't call the police. I can't wrap my brain around that. Instead, he told Paterno who also failed this child by not calling police.

How does an adult walk in and see Sandusky performing oral sex on a young boy and NOT stop it and NOT call the police? That's what Jim Calhoun, a janitor, did. He told his boss who failed another child by not calling police.

These were eye witnesses. They couldn't fool themselves into denying what they saw. They KNOW what they saw and yet they did nothing to stop it.

It makes me sick. I know we live in a screwed up world. I know there are selfish people who won't give up 4-top tables in coffee shops. I know there are sickos like Sandusky who prey on innocent children. What I didn't know until now was how much football is valued over the lives of children.... and I come from Texas. Texans value their football. I get football, but I don't get this.

This abuse of young boys went on for 15 years. It didn't have to be that way. Calhoun, McQueary, Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz should be ashamed of themselves... or more accurately... disgusted, nauseated, and repulsed with themselves. There is no excuse for not stopping this pedophile. Coach Paterno and Penn State President Spanier have been fired. Athletic Directory Curley and senior vice president Schultz have been arraigned on charges of perjury and failing to report the allegations. Calhoun has alzheimer's and is in a nursing home. McQueary, however, is simply on administrative leave right now. He needs to be fired as well. He witnessed one of these horrific crimes. He should have been fired the same time Paterno was.

Sandusky is the obvious villian here. He was the one assaulting these boys. In my eyes though, the coaching staff and administration at Penn State are his equals. They had the power to stop him, and they didn't. It is incomprehensible.

My faith in the goodness of humanity drops a little more each day. Since when did "witness rape of child and call police" fall behind "protect reputation of a coach and school" in priority? How did those priorities get so screwed up?

My heart goes out to the victims and their families. They have been wronged in so many ways and so many of these families could have been spared the pain if any of the men involved had relied on their conscience, common sense, and compassion rather than hiding under the ego of the Penn State football team. It is vile and sick.

Fun Theory

A little Friday fun to put a smile on your face...

Just Because They Make Me Smile

I'm sharing a little more Youtube fun - Jake Bruene and Kurt Schneider. These guys make me smile. You don't necessarily need to watch every video from start to finish, but watch at least a little of each, and watch them in order. These guys are so flippin' talented and creative!

 

I Survived the 2011 East Coast Earthquake

OK, so maybe "survived" is an exaggeration. That would imply the ground actually opened up, swallowed streets and buildings, and trapped people under rubble. This was more of a "knock a few picture frames off the walls" sort of earthquake, but it was rather amazing to live through nonetheless. It is being called a "once in a century" earthquake for the East Coast - felt from Canada down to South Carolina. Considering I have no aspirations of living another century, this is a once in a lifetime event for me. How is it that the rest of my family completely missed out on it?

These were our earthquake experiences today:

Me: I was sitting in my office on the fourth floor when I heard a loud rumbling sound. At first I thought furniture was being moved or work was being done on the building. Then, I realized the entire building was shaking. I looked outside expecting to see some horrible wind storm, or hurricane Irene arriving early, but it was bright and sunny without a whisp of wind. Bomb? Earthquake? What the heck was it?

J.C.: Sitting in his office one floor below mine in the same building, he was listening to loud music through headphones and tapping his feet to the music. He received this message from me: "Holy crap!! What was that?" To which he responded, "What was what?"  "The entire building was shaking. It felt like an earthquake. Didn't you feel it? Everybody is out in the hall talking about it!" "Uh... no."

Elise and Nina: We showed up at their school for a parent teacher conference and asked, "So, did you guys feel the earthquake today?" With shocked looks on their faces, they said, "Earthquake??? What? What are you talking about?"

Addison: I picked her up at preschool today and asked her if her room wiggled at all during nap. She said, "Mommy, rooms don't wiggle. That's silly." True. Good point.

So, apparently, I am the lone survivor in this family.  I have yet to figure out how the rest of them all missed out on this historic event. How do you not notice when an entire building is SHAKING? 

My mom didn't feel it either, but I give her a pass because she was driving at the time. My poor old dad was glad to hear it was an earthquake. He thought he was hallucinating that the couch was moving... quite a relief to find out it actually was.

So, if you live on the East Coast, what's your earthquake story?

Just Sharing a Smile

After my ranting post yesterday, I thought I'd share something that made me smile this morning. Check out this kid, Sam Tsui, on YouTube. He does ALL the vocals on these videos. I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with, his singing, or the video editing! Both are very impressive. Apparently, he has been around for a while, so you may have already seen these. This was my first introduction to him though, and I think he's fantastic!  Enjoy!

 

And here is a link to one more that I couldn't embed for some reason: http://youtu.be/kvAboV8Qfb8