brian & kerri's idol recap

OK. It's 10:30 and we just finished watching Idol on TiVo. It was an interesting show. First up was Katharine. Both Brian and I thought she was awesome, so we were shocked at what the judges had to say.

Second was Elliott - his was my favorite performance of the night. He just absolutely rocked! He's got so much soul!

Next. Kellie. Blah. It's like a different show comes on when she's onstage. She just DOES NOT fit in with the rest of them. She was flat for more than half the song, and she never shows any emotion. She just always has that blank, ditzy, blonde stare! Brian's comment: She looks dead inside.

Paris was good, as usual. She's an exceptional singer, especially for her age. Brian's comment: She's going to be the next Janet Jackson.

Taylor, my boyfriend. I thought he did pretty well, but of course, I'm biased because he's my boyfriend. I just love his voice, but I do agree that tonight was not his best performance. I also love the song he sang. Brian predicts that Taylor will be in the bottom three.

OK. Chris. I've got to say that I agree wholeheartedly with David Foster. I've been saying from week one that Chris is going to have some real problems if he doesn't start singing correctly. He sings COMPLETELY from his throat and uses a raspy tone that is not present in his speaking voice. All in all, he is doing some major damage to his vocal cords. If he doesn't change the way he sings, he won't be singing for a whole lot longer. That said, he did a pretty good job tonight. I can actually see his neck tensing up when he hits the high notes, though. That's not good! Your neck should not be strained when you sing!

My top three, in order:
Elliott
Katharine
Taylor

Brian's top three, in order:
Elliott
Katharine
Paris

I think Kellie's going home. Brian thinks either Kellie or Taylor is going home. I think Brian's just jealous 'cause Taylor's my boyfriend. :-)

On to other things. I've been working my butt off on these articles! I've done four today and will finish up another one before bed. That leaves four for tomorrow. Whew! Last night was not good. I wrote until about 2:00 am, then did Sudoku and watched a little TV. I turned off the light at 3:00, didn't go right to sleep, got up and wandered around the house at 5:00, the phone started ringing at 8:00. I was trying to sleep. It kept ringing. And ringing. From 10:00 until 11:00 this morning, my phone rang about 15 times. I was annoyed, to say the least. I finally just turned the ringers off and left them off until Brian got home from work.

So, if you called me today, I'm sorry I didn't answer! I was trying SO HARD to get these articles done. I haven't even checked messages. I'll try to return calls tomorrow, I promise. But I'll probably turn the ringers off for at least part of the day tomorrow, too. It really helped me concentrate on my articles. That's the bad thing about working from home - so many distractions!

Only one more day until the Baby B!!!!!!!!

i'm supposed to be writing an article....

....but instead I decided to blog. It's been awhile! Since I've started seriously writing articles, I've been spending less time fooling around on the computer. And that includes blogging.

But now, here I sit at Panera, trying to make myself concentrate on activities and attractions in Lisbon, Portugal. I'm having trouble concentrating! I've been procrastinating on my articles lately and I really need to buckle down and get these done!

Three days from right now I'll be with the Baby B! I'm headed out to Kansas City to visit Brad, Kari, and Braden. I can't wait! Braden will be 1 year old on May 11. I can't even believe it! Don't worry, I'll post lots of pics when I get back.

Today marks a month of my serious commitment to better health. I've been briskly walking between 2.2 and 2.8 miles every day except Sundays. Seriously. I haven't missed a day. I'm very tan!! :-) (well, for me, anyway - I guess it's really mostly freckles!) I've completely cut salt and sugar (!) out of my diet and have only had dessert once in the past month - on Easter Sunday. I've been eating fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lowfat dairy products, with a few nuts thrown in here and there to increase the fat intake, and I feel GREAT. I don't know that I've ever felt this good in my life! I probably have, but not in several years. And what's really interesting is that I'm doing this for health reasons, not for weight loss reasons. I suspect that I'll lose some weight too, but that's not my motivation, for the first time! But, I can tell that some of my shorts and pants are fitting a little better, so that makes me excited!

We've got some yard work that needs to be done. I want to plant flowers in the front and transplant some of the plants that are in the front to the back. That will entail digging a bed in the back. I also want to plant at least one more palm tree. And I could just kick myself for waiting so long to do it - it gets to 90 degrees almost every day now! And it's just gonna keep getting hotter!!!! And I want to get it done before fall, because the longer we leave those shrubs in, the harder they're going to be to pull up. I haven't told Brian yet. I'm sure he'll be overjoyed at the thought of a weekend of yard work in 90-degree weather!! Not!

Idol tomorrow! I thought last week's show was great. Except that I hate Rod Stewart. I forwarded through his performance on Wednesday. Oh, I also forwarded through most of Chris' performance on Tuesday. I know that saying this is going to make a lot of you mad if you're fans of Chris', but that performance just bored me to tears. In case you don't remember, he sang "What a Wonderful World" and I don't like that song, either. Double whammy for Chris.

My top three were Taylor, Elliott, and Katharine. My bottom three were Kellie, Chris, and Ace. I got it mostly right. I couldn't believe Kellie was in the top 4. Seriously - she needs to go next. But she probably won't, because she's blonde, pretty, and ditzy - and apparently America likes that!

I need to thank my fab friend Alicia for telling me about this game called Brain Age for Nintendo DS. We got it the other day and I just love it! It's supposed to help keep your brain young. It also has Sudoku! Yay! Anyway, I don't think that the brain age test is accurate, since the first time I took it my brain was 40. I took it 3 more times that same day, and my brain was 39, 21, and 23!! 20 is the best possible age. ANYWAY! It's still lots of fun and you should all go get it. I know some people who need it! LOL

All right, back to writing articles. But first, I wanna give a shout-out to the folks at Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, where my wonderful father-in-law is the music pastor. Hi, everybody! Hope you're having a great day!

what's in a name

Ah, so much to say! But not all in one post. First of all, I'm sure that everyone who reads my blog AND watches American Idol thought of me on Wednesday night when Bucky was voted off! YAY!!!! I was whooping and dancing around in my living room! I don't know why Elliott was in the bottom three, but that's another post. I'm already predicting that Ace will go home next week.

On Wednesday, I made a trip to my local Publix. We were out of food and I also needed to make a deposit - our bank is located inside Publix. On my way out of the house, I remembered that I had a pair of pants that needed to be dry cleaned. OK, I have like 4 things in my wardrobe that have to be dry cleaned, because I hate paying for someone else to clean my clothes. And I hate waiting on them to be finished, etc.

With that said, the dry cleaners are right next to Publix, so I took the pants in and set them up on the counter. The lady behind the desk asked for my phone number. I gave it to her, and when she typed it in the computer, she realized I hadn't been there before. So she asked me for my last name. I told her, she said to spell it, so I did. I watched as she typed S-O-S. "That's a new one," I thought!

Then came the first name debacle. She asked, so I said Kerri. I didn't bother to spell it, because by now, I don't even CARE how people spell my name. I figured she'd type CARRIE and we'd get on with it. I needed to get a roast in the oven.

And then, of course, she asked me to spell it. I said - K-E-R-R-I. She typed and furrowed her brow at the monitor. "K-A-R-I-E?" "No," I said, "K-E-R-R-I." I mean, how hard is it? She's looking right at my face - it's not like she can't understand me. Then she goes, "K...."

Me: Yes, K. E.
Her: A.
Me: No, E. K-E.
Her: K, E, I?
Me: K-E-R. K-E-R-R-I.
Her: K....E....(still frowning at the monitor)

By this point, I realize that I have my deposit slip in my hand. I carefully place my thumb DIRECTLY under my first name and show it to her. "Here. Look at this." She examines the deposit slip, then takes it out of my hand. She looks back and forth from the deposit slip to the monitor. After some more slow typing, staring, and scowling, she hands it back. "OK," she says, "Got it."

Then she tells me that the pants will be ready Friday after 5:00. I thank her, and she prints my receipt. I look at the receipt and giggle all the way down the sidewalk to Publix.

It says, "KARERE SOS."

tuesday's recap

Man, I've been really bad about blogging lately! Sometimes I'll think about what I want to say, and then I'll forget to do it! Signs of aging? I hope not!

Idol last night was better than last week. I liked the 2nd half - Katharine, Elliott, Taylor, and Paris. I wasn't impressed AT ALL with anyone in the first half. I know, a bunch of you are going, "What about Chris?" Well, I'm gonna go ahead and say it - I'm not a fan. He's a good singer and all, but what he sings is just not my kind of music. Brian said last night, and I agree, that he sees Chris as a front man for a band instead of a solo artist. I agree. But that band would be similar to Live or Staind or Nickelback - all bands I don't like. In fact, most of the time I rush to switch the station when one of their songs comes on the radio!

And I'm still mad that Mandisa went home last week. I'm in shock. She is a fabulous singer, MUCH better than Bucky, Ace, and Kellie! And probably better than some of the rest that are left, too. But I feel sure she'll be signed as a Christian artist.

OK, I've decided on my TOP TWO overall. And these are MY top two, not what I think America thinks. Are ya ready? TAYLOR and ELLIOTT. Yep, those are the two albums I would buy. I would probably buy Paris' album too. Katharine is a really good singer, but her nasal high notes are REALLY getting on my nerves.

Ace made a total fool of himself last night! He did NOT do well on We Will Rock You, and he really did himself in at the end when he said that he thought he rocked! LOL! Of course, you know I hated Bucky, even though he picked a good song for his style. He was still sharp for half of it. And I could not believe that out of all of those singers, KELLIE chose Bohemian Rhapsody! It wasn't horrible, but she keeps picking songs that have a partially low range, and you can't even hear her when she's singing that low!!

OK, after saying that, here's who I think will be in the bottom three: (at least, I hope!)
Bucky
Kellie
Ace

And either Bucky or Ace will go home. Of course, I'll probably be wrong - I have been for the last few weeks!

On to other things. Life is swell here in Florida, for the most part. I'm still writing lots of articles and playing at Winter Haven church. I'm walking and riding my bike every day except Sundays (because I'm so exhausted on Sundays!) and getting a good tan. For me, anyway! LOL In about 2 weeks, I'm going to Kansas City to visit Braden! Oh yeah, I guess I'll see Brad and Kari while I'm there too....! Braden will be 1 year old on May 11, so I'm celebrating with him when I'm there. I've already got his gift(s) and everything!

And my friend Meg is coming to Tampa in May, so we're going to head over there and have dinner (and hopefully go shopping a little) with her and her boyfriend. I can't wait!

That's all I can think of to say for now! Hope everyone is doing well!

tuesday's disappointment

I don't know what to think of Idol last night. Something's wrong with Taylor. I can't figure it out - maybe he was just really tired or sick, but he didn't have the same excitement he usually has. Neither did Mandisa, although I still thought they both sang well. I don't look for either of them to go home tonight, although Brian thinks they'll both be in the bottom three. I hope not.

I've got to interject that if I were on the show and they asked me to sing country music, I would probably have to do it with about as much enthusiasm as Taylor and Mandisa did last night. Unless I got to sing a Dixie Chicks song. Then I'd probably be happy. :-D

OK, so I have no idea how America will vote. It's really hard because I think the bottom three should be Bucky (of course), Ace, and Kellie. But since Bucky and Kellie are both country singers, I just don't know if they'll be in the bottom three or not! I really hope so! And Ace sang a love song, so all the girls will like that. I really don't think he's that good looking. I've got to say that I hate Ace's hair. It's so wierd, all parted in the middle and then it makes these rounded corners around his forehead. Just look closely tonight and you'll see what I mean.

I want Bucky or Ace to go home. Also, I didn't think Chris did that great last night - I mean, he sang well, but like Simon said, it was boring. I wasn't a fan. Once Bucky, Ace, and Kellie are gone, there will be only really good singers left and then it will be really hard to choose! Katharine did great last night, even though I HATE the song she sang. Paris was good, Elliott was awesome. I can't wait to see what happens tonight.

In other news, my parents are here! They got here Saturday evening, just in time for our whirlwind-of-a-Sunday at church, with all the traveling, rehearsals, etc. Since then, we've been playing a lot of games and just hanging around. Yesterday we went shopping nearly all day. They have to go home on Friday. :-(

Today I noticed that I'm getting tan. I know, if you know me, you're shocked because I'm rarely tan - some of you have NEVER seen me with a tan! LOL Anyway, I've been out in the neighborhood walking for at least 40 min. every day and also sometimes riding my bike. So I'm starting to get a little sun, and it's about time, since I live in Florida!!!!