no knife!

Well, we can all be thankful that the doctor didn't tell me I have to have my appendix/tonsils/{fill in the blank} out. I was so afraid I was going to go in today and find out that I needed surgery. What can I say, I'm paraniod.

beutel

Going to Beutel on Monday. This is my first real appointment with them. I'm nervous that the "generic" Beutel diagnosis will actually be my diagnosis. Here's to hoping.

down, down, down and up.

I'm still on the mend, and it's been slow going. Zach's been a sweetheart, and it's been nice to have him home. He's gone to get me soup for lunch two days in a row now, and I'm thankful he's here to help me. I have to go to school tomorrow and I hope that I'm able to make it through the classes I have to be there for. I also hope that I'm at least partially better for Thursday morning, since I have an exam at 8 am. It'll be torture, I won't be able to sit down for 2 hours, either. What a time to get sick.

We got Roger's Christmas present in the mail yesterday so I wrapped the daddies presents last night. TJ and Jessica's presents came in the mail today. I'll wrap them tonight, probably. It makes me a little sad to wrap them though, I feel really down about that whole situation. With what I'm dealing with with Grandpa Rodney, this just makes things really difficult for me. I'm just so sad. I just have to hope it works out. What else can I do?

Please keep the prayers going for my Grandfather. He's had a really hard time since his quadruple by-pass surgery and he's having a rough time at the moment. This has been especially hard to handle for me, because every year on my birthday he's told me I'm the reason he's lived as long as he has. We're day to day with him, and are trying to stay as positive as possible. I cannot even explain what an emotional drain this has been, especially since this has been going on since August. Zach's been so supportive, and when I have my week long lapses where I just want to keep to myself and not talk to anybody, he's been so understanding. It's nice to have Zach, because I don't like to talk about it to people because it's upsetting and because he understands how bad things are and doesn't pry or feel the need to ask me to elaborate.

I'm registered for my final semester of college, thank God! I'm taking 17 hours, 9 of which are Geography: Geog of the US, Geog of TX and Geog of Latin America. I like to keep it in this hemisphere. Ha. I've also lucked out because they're offering 2 sections of a class I must have to graduate. One is being taught by a teacher I've had problems with, and the other is taught by a professor that I adore, who also happens to be the department head. Wonderful. And then there's Chemistry and Fencing, but that'll be okay. Well, fencing will be okay. Chemistry's probably going to kick my rear end.

That'll be all for this post. Sorry it's really very negative, but a) I'm sick and don't feel like sugar coating it and b) it's what's on my mind, so... yeah. I'll be better next time. :)

11.18.1999

Today, we in Aggieland take the time to remember those who died 9 years ago in the horrible collapse of the bonfire. 2:42 am. Healing has been long and slow, and we pray that peace has come to the 12 people killed, their families and their friends. We also hope that one day, we may see the great tradition that those Aggies believed in, loved and died for return in some way to our University. We are not the same without it.

down 'n out

This weekend has kicked my rear-end. I've spent about 80% of my time since Friday afternoon on the couch. I don't know what I've got or who gave it to me, but I am dragging. Fever, cough, nausea, upset stomach... and I had such plans for getting my house in order this weekend.

burn dust. eat my rubber.

I am so ready for the Holiday Season that it's not even funny. I know it's not cold outside, but after a certain point, I just can't use that as my "it's-time-to-start-feeling-like-Christmas" indicator. Mainly because it was so warm last year, but I'm hoping for a serious cool off within the next couple of weeks.

I am so proud of myself this year, I have my Christmas shopping done for my husband, both our fathers and all 3 Dostals. That leaves me with less people to buy for than I already have. I'm pleased with that, and I'm glad that I feel good about everything this year. We aren't going to get Mom booze, but that's okay. Haha, we're actually not going to give anybody alcohol this year, and I like that. I always have felt like that's kind of a last resort present. Or a man present. If I leave Zach in charge, most people would be bought for at Spec's. I'm ready for the packages to start arriving in the mail so I can get to wrapping. As it stands, I am only able to wrap Zach and Holly's presents. Within the next week, though, I'll have plenty to do. I think the saddest thing is decorating your tree and having nothing to put underneath. I hate an empty Christmas tree.

Since the Clarks are going to be spending Christmas in College Station, I'm looking for Christmas-y projects to keep me occupied while Zach's working. I'm particularly excited to get started with baking projects. I am determined to rock out some wonderful gingerbread men this year, and am even trying to decide if I should attempt a gingerbread house. I have the best recipe for gingerbread, and it's a closely guarded secret. However, it's not a crispy gingerbread, it's a good, chewy gingerbread and I think it might be difficult to build a gingerbread house with it, and I really just can't bring myself to make a sub-standard gingerbread cookie for the sake of a house. I am also determined to make a cookie tree. It's something I remember from Norway, but I can't tell you why, I just associate the two together. Maybe they used to sell them in the grocery stores? Anyway, you make cookies in the shape of stars of gradually decreasing size, and then decorate and stack them. Or you can stack and then decorate. Either way, I see it as another excuse to really get into a good Christmas project.

We have been trying, with all our might, to resist watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation until after Thanksgiving. It's tradition. However, it's getting harder and harder as we find ourselves increasingly quoting the film and really feeling the need to sit down and have a good laugh at Clark, Aunt Betheny and the squirrel.




I have been trying to come up with fun things for our little family to do over Christmas to keep ourselves in the spirit, since we won't be with our family much, we won't have a fire to sit by, and we really won't have the space to decorate to our full Clark potential. However, Santa's Wonderland is a favorite. It's rather expensive for one car to go through, but we enjoy going to Starbucks on our way out, getting hot chocolate/vanilla creme/spiced apple cider and then driving out with the dogs to go through the park. It's so much fun. I can not wait. I'll start pestering Zach to go the day after he's finished with his Board exam. With that, I'll sign off, but remember...

daniel craig

Daniel Craig is the current, sixth, Bond in the series. His films include:

Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)

Casino Royale is the last Bond novel/short story to ever be made into a film. The story was fleshed out severely, with the whole story line about the terrorist planning on bombing the new "airbus" being created for the film. The torture scene is tame in the film compared to what it is in the novel.

Daniel Craig is the only actor to play James Bond who is younger than the series is itself. He is also the first blonde Bond, and as Zach says, is the only Bond who is believable in his ass-kickery. **see below** Daniel Craig is nipping at the heels of Roger Moore as my favorite Bond of all time, having surpassed Sean Connery on the mere fact that he's attractive in a bathing suit and Sean Connery is hairy. Really, really hairy.

Enjoy the pictures below as a little celebration of all that is good and right in the world of James Bond right now.

Go see Quantum of Solace today!

pierce brosnan

The fifth Bond in the franchise, and the last to work with Desmond Lleweyn. His films are:

GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)

Brosnan is my least favorite Bond. His films are, in general, some of the absolute worst in the series. I have never seen Die Another Day all the way through, invisible cars and Madonna make it too horrible to bear. I loathe that film and the way it almost killed the series with a passion seldom found in a person/movie relationship. These films did allow for the introduction of John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, as "R" the replacement of Q as Bond's gadget supplier. Sadly, Llewelyn died after the filming of The World is Not Enough.

Brosnan's Bond also introduced us to Dame Judy Dench as the new "M." We have yet to find out what her "M" stands for, as the M through Moonraker, played by Bernard Lee, was named Miles, as we discovered in Moore's The Spy Who Loved Me. Bernard Lee passed away in 1981 after filming Octopussy... nobody remembers who was M between 1981 and 1995. Much like nobody remembers who plays Moneypenny between Lois Maxwell and Samantha Bond (1995).

timothy dalton

Timothy Dalton was Bond number 4. He picked up the franchise in 1987 with:

The Living Daylights (1987)
License to Kill (1989)

Timothy Dalton is my second least favorite Bond. I prefer The Living Daylights to License to Kill, but the second of his films is fun to watch as it features an appearance by the King of Vegas, Mr. Wayne Newton, and a young actor named Benicio Del Toro, who plays one of the villian's henchmen. This film also features the marriage of Felix Leiter, CIA in the beginning. There is a brief reference to On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Mrs. Tracy Bond.

roger moore

Roger Moore was the third Bond, and also the one with the longest list of films to his credit:

Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)

Moore may be my favorite Bond to date. My favorite of his films is The Man with the Golden Gun. He played opposite Christopher Lee in this film, who was the cousin of the author of the Bond novels, Ian Flemming. Flemming originally had wanted his cousin cast as Dr. No in the first film but was not granted his wish. Maud Adams was also in this film as Scaramanga's frightened mistress, and acted again with Moore nine years later in Octopussy. Moore's final film saw him playing opposite Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, who played May Day and Max Zorin, respectively.

For Your Eyes Only was the first Bond film that was my own, my parents bought it on video for me when we were still living in Norway. Topol, of Fiddler on the Roof fame, is one of the main characters in this film. It's interesting to think of all the big name actors who have been in these films over the years. Barbara Bach, who played Major Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me, married Ringo Starr of the Beatles. He is not the only Beatle to be associated with the Bond as Paul McCartney was the artist who sang the theme song to Live and Let Die (and also had a huge hit off the song as well).

george lazenby

George Lazenby was the second actor to play James Bond. His only film is:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

He took over for one film from Sean Connery, and never reprised the role. His agent advised him not to do any more Bond films for fear of his being typecast. He never made it big. George Lazenby is the only Australian to play the part. He played opposite Telly Savalas and Diana Rigg of "The Avengers" fame.

This is one of my favorite Bond films, it is the only one in which James is (legally) married. We used the theme song to this film, We Have All the Time in The World by Louis Armstrong, for our first dance at our wedding. Everybody thought it was very silly, but it means a lot to me that my first dance was to the song from the only film in which there is a Mrs. Bond. Also, the song is sweet and sentimental, and Louis Armstrong's last song he ever recorded. He left his hospital bed to sing this song, and died shortly thereafter.

sean connery

Welcome to the start of Bond week on the Blog. Enjoy.

Sean Connery was the first Bond, but took a break after his fifth film, and then reprised the roll in the seventh film in the series. His films are:

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Widely regarded as the best Bond ever, my favorite Sean Connery film is From Russia With Love. The first film made is not, in fact, the first book that Ian Flemming wrote about James Bond. This proves difficult later in the series as they killed off a character on the island of Crab Key who makes a rather big appearance in Live and Let Die (Roger Moore, 1973), which they fixed by swapping the dead character for his "son." Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny from 1963 to 1985 was so emphatic on taking the role in Dr. No that she volunteered to wear her own clothing for the role as they did not have the money to clothe her. Miss Moneypenny made her appearance in the Bond franchise before Major Boothroyd, better known as "Q," the Quartermaster.

Q didn't appear until the second film, when he brings James his briefcase with gold sovereigns, bullets and exploding canister of tear gas, triggered by opening the case incorrectly. Q was even beat to the franchise by Felix Leiter, who also appeared in the first film. Desmond Llewelyn is the actor, though, who appeared in the most films in the franchise, from his first appearance in 1964, to his final appearance in 1999. He died shortly after filming his last James Bond movie. You can also see him in another film adaptation of an Ian Flemming novel, in the Dick Van Dyke film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- he plays Mr. Coggins, the man who sells Caractacus Potts the eponymous car.

last day at home

Just to get a few things out of the way first... For weeks, Cory, Lindsay and Brad have been telling me I can customize my facebook to determine who can see what on my profile and I just figured it out today! Hooray me! Lindsay will be proud of me, for finally figuring it out!

So I'm working on figuring out Christmas presents before a) the stores are picked over and b)Internet prices get jacked up. The last present I bought didn't go over very well, even though I'd spent one heck of a time trying to find the right gift, had ordered it about two months in advance and was very proud of myself and thought it was a wonderful idea. Apparently, I was wrong. So. I'm trying to do better with people at Christmas. I have Zach finished. I told the Mommas what I got him and they're both convinced I couldn't have done better. Zach always wants a hint, and instead of a hint, it's more a riddle, because that's what Aunt Darlene always did for him. So I told him:
It usually comes as a pair, but you are only getting one.
I thought that was pretty good. He wants it to be one of those things that you really can't figure out but makes total sense once he's opened it. I'm trying to get better about giving him hints- he's pretty good. Years of Darlene training, I think.

Tomorrow we tailgate! Tomorrow is the last home game of my college career. Ever. The next time I am in the vicinity of an Aggie football game, I will be an Alumnus. That sucks. I mean, it's about that time, but at the same time, I really do love it here, and I love Aggie Football. Even when we stink, because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter to me whether or not we're the best in the big 12 or the worst (cause we're neither, thanks) because I so love my school and I so love my football team. I know it sounds snide, but I love that my degree is from one of the two flagship universities from the greatest state in the union. I love that my university has integrity and class, strong beliefs and character. I love that our former president became the Secretary of Defense. By the way, I want Dr. Gates back. I loved his Affirmative Action policy. I love that Shrek was almost maroon because of how many Ags worked on the film, I love that Pixar has so many Aggie animators they've dubbed them the "Aggie Mafia." I love the "saw 'em off" in Troy... I love my Aggie ring. I am finally realizing that my time here is quickly coming to an end. I see that light, and it's getting bigger and bigger and I just don't want it to. There's something in being here that doesn't make me feel vulnerable. I know when I'm in town and when I'm on campus, I'm not going to be looked down on for being an Aggie, people aren't going to automatically think I'm stupid because I will be an A&M graduate. I love how safe it is for us to be ourselves here and how our silly little things that seem so trivial to everyone else make us so happy. I love that today, my best friend and I got lunch, found a bench under a tree and sat and ate together and watched all of our classmates walk by. I love that Zach's friend proposed to his girlfriend under the Century Tree. I love that we have our engagement pictures from there. I love that we sang the War Hymn at my wedding, I love that we sang it at my cousin's. I love that we'll sing it at Lindsay's wedding, and at Cory's and at Brenton's...

I so love being an AGGIE. Thank God for my school, the friends it has given me, the confidence it has given me, the things I have been exposed to and the pleasures we've all shared together. This last home game feels like a death sentence for me, like after tomorrow, everything that is great about college is over. And that makes me sad.

and now for something completley different

I hope Cody and Edyta don't get voted off tonight! Haha, yes, more VOTING! But this time, it's for a hot couple. Edyta is Zach's favorite female (well, she may have competition from Lacey) and Cody is so much fun, he's got such a personality and he's entertaining. Unlike Brooke Burke who has yet to prove to me she's got more than rocks in her head.

I'm also hoping Lance and Lacey make it through okay! I love them, I love Lacey and I love that she just takes the conventions and throws them in the judges' faces. They need more professionals like her, she's spunky, she's fun and she's talented. Of course, the judges treat her like garbage, but when your last big screen job was as Fuk-Mi from Austin Powers... (twins, Basil, twins!) *Carrie Ann Inaba* you shouldn't really bag on people too much.I'm actually hoping that Lance and Lacey pull it out for me this year and win.

Also, I'm sad Cloris and Corky (how cute was he!?) are gone because I loved her, but I'm ready for Susan Lucci to go. Gah- talk about boring! The girl can hardly move and she is the reason that her whole team suffered on Monday in the team cha cha cha because she can't move the way Lance & Lacey and Cody & Edyta can so they had to dumb down the technique for the team parts so that she could keep up. Oh, don't get me started on the team dance. The cha cha cha was so much more fun to watch and the Paso Doble was not as good as all that. I'm so ready for them to get rid of Warren Sapp as well, he just looks like a lumbering bear. Maurice has a personality and I love Cheryl so I don't mind seeing them hang around. Realistically, I can't expect it, but I would love to see Brooke Burke go home. She is so dull, so boring and just so fake. She just disgusts me, and I really, really, really cannot stand Derek. You put them together and you've got like, 30 strikes against you already.

So there, my little Dancing with the Stars rant. By the way, I thought Rocco DiSpirito was a cutie-patootie and I was SO happy to see Kim Kardashian go home. Compared to Kim, Brooke Burke looks like personality central. Ha. If you've not gotten into the show, I wouldn't pick it up now. This season is, talent wise from the celebrities, extraordinarily lackluster. Last season and the season before that there were perfect scores given out WAY before Brooke and Derek earned theirs this season. Zach still holds that Kristi Yamaguchi had an unfair advantage, and that Sabrina Bryan (the dancers previous to whom I refer) had a lot of training already in dancing... which may in part be true. But none of them can touch what Apolo Anton Ohno was able to do the season BEFORE Sabrina Bryan's. And I miss Mel B. Talk about a firecracker on the dance floor. She used to grab Tom Bergeron's butt every day after she'd been judged, on her way back to the "holding room" to get her scores. She should have won- not the tax evader!

Alright, I promise I'm done now. I just felt things had gotten to heavy on my blog and I needed to lighten the mood. Because really, that's why it's here, to make people smile. :)

oh the politics of facebook

Hello sweet friends from here and there!

I have attempted to write a "post-election post" a number of times. I even posted one and then instantly regretted it. The post came down, needless to say. I don't want to talk too much about the election, actually. I have a lot of opinions, I have a lot of thoughts, but I really don't like to share them. Also, I don't like to hear them.

I have to say, I enjoyed the last election so much more. Not because my candidate won, not because it was my first time being a big-girl voter, but because there was no facebook. Facebook is well and good in its place, but what I liked so much about my last election was the anonymity of it all. I didn't have hundreds of people know who I was voting for, also, I was not forced to see hundreds of people's views. I have always thought that voting, especially for the President, is a very personal thing. It's your own personal opinion reflected in a very public way, and I like that it used to be that you were spared hearing much out of anyone but the media and the candidates themselves. Maybe it is my generation and its outspoken nature (which, if you're not careful, comes across as excessively bratty), but I really do not need to hear/see some of the things I have on facebook in the past week. It makes me uncomfortable. I hate the underhanded jabs back and forth, I hate that there are people that I like, that I had/have respect for that have made me rethink their attitude just because of the way they reacted to this election tonight.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I long for the way it was my first time voting. I really, really wish that I did not have to have my friends political views forced on me in such an abrupt manner. To be honest, it's one of those taboos. Politics and Religion. You'll never convince the opposition that your views are more right than the other, you'll never convert, you'll only end up angering the other person, getting offended yourself and leaving uncomfortable and unsure of the state of your relationship. Why do you think the only two people I talk Religion with are my mom and my husband? Why do you think I hate to talk about politics with anyone but my parents and my husband? Because I don't want disagreements about something so personal and personally important hanging like a cloud over my friendships.

I hope that I don't get approached about this topic tomorrow. Thank God the one person I see the most of on Wednesdays has never brought the subject up. He will be a welcome companion on a day like tomorrow will be, especially when we have a test in Political Science: over Political Parties, Interest Groups, Public Opinion & Participation, Voting Behaviour & Political Participation and Nomination & Election of the President, no less. Gag me.

hot. not.

Hot.




Not.

Screw being Switzerland for one day, I saw this someplace else and thought it was funny. And true.

Regardless of who you've voted for, the photographic evidence doesn't lie, McCain was quite the hottie.

a frightful sight.

Halloween... well, we had a lot of fun. :) Zach was first on call so we stayed at the house, but we dressed up and Lindsay came over and we watched movies... we even made a run to Specs in our costumes and got plenty of looks. We were pretty funny.

So I'll start with the hair progression... I ragged my hair for Halloween, which means taking individual pieces and twisting them, and then rolling the hair up around a strip of fabric, and then tying the fabric in a knot around the hair at your scalp. It's a very "old fashioned" way to get your hair curled, and I'm guessing that if you do it in large pieces you get a very pretty look. As it is, my pieces were quite small...

This was just after pulling all the rags out... my brother always gets a kick out of this stage.

This was just after running my fingers through the hair. I must say, I loved it at this stage. It was just so cute. I sent my mom and Zach and Brad all this photo on my phone and the caption read "looking more like Gilda Radner than Gene Wilder..." It's true. I'm thinking about doing Roseanne Roseanna Danna next year :)

So I actually had to go to school on Friday too, and decided that the untamed hair was too much for even me to handle, so I popped in these pearl strands and pinned it back. It was actually a lot cuter than the photo makes it look.

... Class hair from the back.

... And the finished product, after class, after dark and after the hair was parted and pinned, and sprayed blonde.


My final product. My sweet husband took the photo, but didn't want to get off the couch to do so. By the way, I loved my hat, but when I use the costume again, I'll want a little more authentic one.

Me and Lindsay! She was a Greek Goddess... and I am standing in an awfully awkward position!

Even Lily got into it! She was a dragon. Raaawr!

And for my brother. He was Indiana Jones. I took this picture before going to lunch. Believe me, finding all the bits and pieces for this costume was labour intensive.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! We had a lot of fun- Zach put on his old costume, which is a black cloak and a scary freakin' mask and great skeleton hand gloves to pass out candy. He made a child cry. Yes, that's two years running. I know he's interested in trying other costumes, but he SO enjoys having a scary one to really freak the trick-or-treaters out with. We didn't get many people coming to our house, but we made sure they knew we were there, we had the 7 foot tall grim reaper in the front yard and spider lights in the windows and the jack o lanterns outside the front door. We try. Now I'm ready to tear everything down and get it ready for Christmas. Isn't that sad?