i am so beautiful

What? What's wrong? Didn't you hear Taylor Hicks singing it to me tonight? I could tell by the way he sang it that it was meant for me!

Seriously, though, was tonight not the best night ever? I mean, we have memories of amazing performances from Idol: "Natural Woman" by Kelly Clarkson, "Summertime" by Fantasia Barrino, "And I am Telling You" by Tamyra Gray, "Superstar" by Ruben Studdard, "Circle of Life" by Jennifer Hudson, "Vehicle" by Bo Bice. All of these are VERY memorable to me. But tonight's show just about beat them all! I thought every single song was awesome! (And I HATE the song "I Believe I Can Fly," but Kat did great on it!)

I didn't vote tonight. I don't know who to vote for! I want them all three to win! I'm amazed by their talent, all three of them. I was telling someone this the other day; these three singers don't "learn an arrangement." They sing from their heart, and they sing a song different every time. That is true talent. A lot of people take a song, practice it, decide what they're going to do where (like if they're going to take any liberties, do any riffs, etc.), and then sing it that way forever. But these three don't do that. Riffs come naturally to them.

I will buy all three of their CDs when they are released.

OK, on to other things! On Saturday, there was a snake in our yard!!!! :-( I had just potted some impatiens to put on the front porch, and we went around back to get the hose so I could water them. And there was a snake, all wrapped up with the hose, and then it just slithered away into the little space that houses the controls to our inground sprinkler system! Needless to say, I won't be doing any gardening when Brian isn't around!

Last night, as I was finishing up an article on the laptop, Word crashed and I lost almost all of the article. I was NOT happy. I threw a huge pity party for myself and baked some fat free brownies while Brian tried to fix what he called "corruption." That computer has been broken for some time, and it's just getting worse and worse. So today, Brian went out and picked up a new MacBook. I'm so excited to see it and try it out! Writing will be much easier and quicker when I don't have to save after every sentence!

OK, here's a funny story from Idol tonight. Well, I thought it was funny, you might not. Anyway, I'm a big weirdo and whenever someone hits a high note, I hum it to see just how high it is. I do this in church, at concerts, in the car....just wherever I am when someone sings high. So when Taylor hit those high notes during "You Are So Beautiful," I had to hum those notes. Well, Sam was asleep on my lap, and when I started humming, he quickly ran away. What is he trying to say? Hmmm - I don't know, but it's probably not good! LOL (Once when I was rehearsing in the shower for a solo I had at church, Sam came in and started meowing. LOUDLY. I think he was trying to tell me to shut up! Or maybe he was just singing along!) =^..^=

a shrubbery

Today's been a big day in the Sox household. Today, we paid off the last of our credit card debt! I know, we can't believe it either. We've been working on this debt since B got laid off in the spring of 2001. (And some of it was from when I was single.) It's been a long road, but we're finally out from under the heavy weight of credit card debt! Now we can attack Brian's student loan and then my car. After that, all we'll have left is the house! We are in shock!

Last night, I talked Brian into moving around the furniture in our family room. My cousin Chris was here, so I enlisted him, too. After they got it all arranged, I decided I didn't like it and had them move it all back. I helped, too - I didn't just sit around watching them break their backs! But with all the moving of furniture, I did get to vacuum under everything, and I also ended up moving an end table and chair, making the room feel a little cozier. I also organized all the stuff in our entertainment center. Do you know that we have like 8 different game systems? Seriously! From Atari to old-school Nintendo to X-Box, we've got it all. Come over and play sometime. :-)

The weather was gorgeous today! There was a nice, cool breeze, which is rare since we're in the middle of the state. By evening, it had cooled down to the mid-70's, and I took Brian outside to show him a few things in the yard. Since the weather was so great, we ended up pulling up all the shrubs in the front yard! I've been wanting to get them out of there, and I was afraid we'd have to hire someone to do it, cause I didn't know how deep they went. Well, it took a good bit of work, but we got them all out. It looks GREAT. I left my Sago Palm though, and now it's the only plant there. I'm going to plant another short palm tree, at least one hibiscus, and some assorted perennials there.

Now the work I wanted to do in the yard is well underway. Actually, the hardest part is almost done - we just need to dig a bed in the back and transplant the day lilies that are in the front. Then I can start planting new stuff! We have these miniature flower beds on both sides of our sidewalk leading up to the front door, and the plants that were there had grown over onto the sidewalk. They also didn't allow much sunlight through, so part of the sidewalk is now green where it got wet and didn't ever dry out. I was sick of it, so we pulled all that stuff up last Saturday, except the day lilies, which I trimmed back quite a bit.

When we first moved in this house, the two front rooms (both guest bedrooms) had been meticulously cleaned. After we'd lived here for a few days, I noticed that one of the rooms smelled weird. It smelled like smoke. When Mom and Dad came, Mom said she thought it smelled like pesticide. We haven't been able to figure out what it is or get rid of it. (This is the room that is located on the very front of the house, with the window overlooking the shrubs we just pulled out.) As we were cutting the shrubs, I knew immediately where the smell came from . It was the weird-smelling shrubs. I'm glad they're gone!

We drug them down to the road and when we were done, I said, "It looks like we've made a shrubbery on the curb." Brian replied (in his best Monty Python voice), "Bring me a shrubbery! One that looks nice." If you don't get it, go rent Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Now we're going to have some veggie soup. Tomorrow I can go to Home Depot and begin the plant planning! Yay! I'll post pictures as I go.

I was so happy about Idol! Also, I want to say that Jade HAS to go home on America's Next Top Model. I can't stand her! And Joanie and Danielle have been my faves since the beginning, so I'll be happy if either of them wins.

Idol and other musings

Tuesday is Brian's game night. He stays after work with a bunch of guys and they order pizza and play games. He loves it. He used to do it in NY, and he's really missed it, so I'm glad he's socializing with some of the FL guys now. Since he wasn't going to be home, I decided to do some shopping. I'm looking for a new dresser, so I went to a few furniture stores. I got a smoothie and some pita chips at Planet Smoothie - yum! And then I went to Target, where I bought a new bedspread for the guest room and this cool shower cleaner thing. I'll let you know how it works.

Here's a funny thing I overheard at Target. I was looking at the lamps when I heard this animated voice getting closer to me. I glanced around and saw a girl excitedly showing/telling a guy all about some stuff she had gotten/was getting for her place. She goes, "I got scones for my wall." Scones. Hey, I thought you had scones with tea! I think SCONCES are what go on the wall....LOL!

Idol was great tonight, wasn't it? Every year, I've predicted who was going to win, and I've been right every time. What's funny is that 3 out of 4 of the winning Idols have been my picks: Kelly, Ruben, and Fantasia. I liked Carrie, but I wanted Bo to win, but I knew he wouldn't win. But this year is very different. I've liked Taylor, Elliott, and Katharine from the beginning. I remember seeing Katharine's first audition and thinking, wow, she could win. I just don't have a prediction this year! I think all four of the remaining idols could win. They're all excellent. Chris is still my least favorite, though.

Before tonight, I had thought that maybe Elliott would go home tomorrow. Now I think it might be Katharine. But in my heart, I hope it's Chris!

This week I've been walking an hour a day. I don't know what's come over me! Sometimes, when I'm walking along, I think to myself, "Who ARE you?" I used to exercise pretty often, but never every day. I can't believe I've kept it up. It's definitely addictive, though. I'm sure you would all get a kick out of me running from the same dog every day. I always forget about the dog. And I'm listening to my book on my iPod, walking along quickly, and then I hear this galloping behind me. So I RUN. Then I turn around and that dog is right at the edge of its electric fence staring at me. It acts playful, but I'm not gonna chance it! It totally tries to sneak up on me, too. It doesn't even bark.

On Sunday night, Brian and I rented The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was AMAZING. I didn't think it would be that good. You know it's a good movie when you think you've been watching for about 10 minutes and then it ends, and you realize that over 2 hours have passed! If you haven't seen this movie, go get it TODAY. It's definitely worth the time and money.

On Sunday morning, we did James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend" at church. It was cool. :-)

Have you heard about the brush fires in Florida? They're about an hour from us. But yesterday afternoon, one broke out by Sea World. Brian works like 5 minutes from Sea World. He called and said, "There's a fire by Sea World! I'm coming home." I watched the news while he came home and right after he left, they closed the road his office is on! Crazy! It rained in the night and this morning, though, and that helped. It's out now. (I think that's maybe the second or third time it's rained here in the year 2006! WE NEED RAIN!)

OK, that's all the news I've got. Sox out. :-D

home again, home again, jiggity jig

Today has been a day of recuperation - catching up on email, going through the mail, doing a few chores, unpacking, etc. It's been a good day even though I've had a headache for most of the day. Also, a small crisis occurred this evening when I found a lizard in the kitchen, near the laundry room (which goes out to the garage). After calling Brian for some moral support, I was finally able to get it out of the house. Lizards are cute, but they belong OUTside.

Oh, I forgot to say earlier - that I went to the doctor last Wed. for a checkup. I didn't explain earlier that the reason I'm being more healthy is that my blood pressure was on the high side the last time I was at the doctor, which was March 27. I convinced him to give me a month to work on it; thus, the healthy diet and exercise. I don't want to have a stroke or something! Anyway, my BP was still on the high side, but lower than before. And I had lost 10 pounds. 10 POUNDS! I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! I wished my BP was even lower, but the dr. said that if it runs in my family (which it does) then diet and exercise won't help that much. As I continue to diet and exercise, it will continue to go down though, so I'm not discouraged! He was very pleased with my progress, and that made me very pleased and proud. :-)

Now it's time for Idol, so I've decided to blog while I watch. (Of course, I'm watching on TiVo so I can forward the commercials and vote as I watch.) The first thing I noticed was that they jumped right into the show, no small talk at the beginning. That's good - I guess it's because Paula has been so long-winded, they've nearly run out of time on more than one occasion. Also, it makes me mad when she interrupts Simon. She needs to just let him have his turn instead of taking both her turn AND his! Plus, I'd rather hear what Simon has to say than what SHE has to say.

Elliott sang Broadway. I love this song and I thought he rocked the house. He is so smooth and makes all those runs seem effortless - love it! Hmmm - he was born in the same year as my brother! Voting for him right now.

Paris was born when I was in high school. I'm officially old. Have you noticed that some people don't EVER pronounce the letter L correctly when singing? Ace did it when he sang "That's All." He actually sang "That's Aow." And Paris just sang, "You don't have to be beautifo." Drives me nuts.

Chris is having a few pitch problems, but he's doing pretty well. And I'm not even a fan! Tonight was one of my favorite of his performances.

Katharine is singing Against All Odds. Wowee, is this song really 22 years old? Man. I love this song, but I think she's really struggling. I love her voice, but she's having a hard time. Maybe she's been sick. Oh, she just said she had trouble hearing herself. Yes, that makes sense - that's what it sounded like, because she rarely has pitch problems, but if you've ever sung in a big room, you know that it's hard to find the pitch when you can't hear properly.

Taylor - Oh my gosh, as soon as the music started, I started grinning. I love it when he dances around. He's doing great. And he's only 3 years younger than me! He's crazy and I love it. :-) I can understand what Simon is saying, because this competition really IS about the singing, but I'm just glad to see someone on AI having a good time and not being so nervous. Taylor is a breath of fresh air. Voting for him.

Elliott - wow, he's taking on Michael Buble. I LOVE this song, too. In my book, he did great tonight on song choice. Not my favorite performance of his, but he still did good. Oh my, is Paula drunk again?

Paris took on Mary J. Blige, brave! I actually love this song too, it reminds me of my hot husband. Especially the "cause I can't sleep without you" part. :-) Paris sure can sing. I suspect she's not going to have a problem getting a contract when she doesn't win, cause I don't think she's gonna win.

Chris is doing well tonight. Whoops, gotta take that back because he screamed at the end. OH! The judges have noticed that Chris' voice is giving out. Wonder why?! If you don't know, refer to this post. He'd better be careful!

Katharine is killin' it! I love this song too. I think it has such a cool vibe. And I like the dancing around on her knees, too. What a great song for her. Now I'm gonna vote for her. This may be my favorite performance of the night.

Taylor is singing a Beatles song. I don't like this song that much, but I really like him. Yay for Taylor. Great job.

Man, it's hard to say who's going home. I'm not going to make a prediction. They're all good.

I've got some other things I want to talk about, but I'll save them for another day. Here's a preview:

debt
vacations
Sam's plate incident
blog comments

going home

I've been in Kansas City (well, really Olathe) since Thursday and what a great time it has been! I don't think I've made public on my blog that Brad and Kari are moving. Brad has accepted a position at Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene in Dayton, Ohio. He will be Pastor to Communities (I think that's the right title) and he starts June 1. They are moving a week from tomorrow! This is Kari's parents' church and it's only 2.5-3 hours away from my parents, so everyone is thrilled to have them back in Ohio.

So I've been helping them pack some, but mostly I've been playing with Braden. He is just so so cute! He laughs and he is SO close to talking - every day that I've been here he's vocalized at least one new consonant. It's so funny when he's just babbling away! He's walking now, and he's just learned to say "uh-oh." It's hilarious when he says it, especially when he says it BEFORE dropping whatever is in his hand.

I'm going back to Florida tomorrow and while I'm sad to leave the B and Brad and Kari, I can't wait to be home. I miss Brian fiercely.

Idol. Yay, Kellie is gone! Now it's starting to get really hard. I'm not terribly attached to Paris or Chris, so I won't be too sad when they leave, but after that, it's going to be tough. Now I don't know who's going or when. I guess I'll just have to make my predictions after I hear them sing on Tuesday nights!

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!!!!