Game on!

As if I didn't need to introduce any more tv shows into my life, last year my fellow townhouse-mates and I got really into game shows. Our favorites: Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, The Family Feud and Singing Bee.

BAD NEWS.

SINGING BEE HAS BEEN CANCELLED! Why? Your guess is as good as mine. It certainly isn't due to Joey Fatone being anything but fantastic. It couldn't be that the songs weren't catchy as heck. You can't blame the amazingly talented and elaborately costumed background dancers. So WHAT then? Huh, NBC? GOD!! so mad.

In memoriam, I will post these clips from The Soup that feature the beloved game show:



To make matters worse, Jeopardy has been MIA all week because of the dern Democratic Convention. It couldn't have happened at a worse time because after last week's Teen Tournament I was at the top of my game.

I am currently flippin' the channels desperately trying to find a replacement for Singing Bee. Well, it's just not gonna happen. I did come across "Million Dollar Password" however, and it does look promising. The episode I watched included celebrity contestants Damien Fahey (former MTV VJ) and Monique Coleman(High School Musical actress )...and if that doesn't reel you in, what will?

Oh, and does anyone else remember Donny Osmond hosting Pyramid? It was actually an old game show (my MOM tried out for it in her day). Anyhoo, it was fabulous and I think they should bring it back.

Btw, am I the only one who can't stomach "Deal or No Deal?" Boring,sexist, overly patriotic (though I don't know why), puts me on edge, too shiny, Howie Mandel is creepy and it just requires luck, not skill.

bibbity bobbity blog

My stomach hurts!! WAHH!!! sniffle sniffle. If you've talked with me for more than 30 seconds at some point in the past 5 months you've probably heard me complain about my stomach issues. It seems like I am CONSTANTLY bellyaching (HA!! so that's where that term comes from!) about my "abdominal discomfort". I am giving it another couple weeks then I have to see a nutritionist or something because HOW'S A GIRL SUPPOSED TO SIT AND WATCH 'THE HILLS' WHEN HER STOMACH IS ACTING LIKE THAT CRAZY AEROBIC FLUBBER STUFF FROM THAT MOVIE "FLUBBER" WITH ROBIN WILLIAMS THAT I NEVER ACTUALLY SAW????????? Hmmmmmmmm!?


After WebMd-ng my symptoms I would have bet my life and $96 dollars in Edibrugh-savings that I needed to get my gallbladder taken out. According to the ultrasound, however, I was WRONG. DARN THAT WEBMD!! I should have known not to trust it when sophomore year it had me convinced I'd caught the West Nile virus.

This discussion has led me to a fun lil' blog idea! Yay! (by the way, I am going to keep a blog notebook where I write down interesting things to put in my blog because I always think of good things but forget them)...Okay, anyway...Web-MD made me think of this- A list of things that are great, but can also be overdone/misused

1. (as previously mentioned) WebMd:
Great for: answers to simple questions concerning health and illness
Bad for: Hypochondriacs, internet addicts, doctors everywhere (who needs 4 years of med school when you can use the renowned WebMd "symptom checker"??)

2. Grapes
Great for: A delicious snack (crisp, refreshing, delectable!)
Bad for: people who cannot stop eating them once they've started, those prone to choking (kids, old people, chubby bunny contestants), whoever's job it is to clean out the couch cushions


3. Sweatpants
Great for: athletes, people who are loungin around the house
Bad for: work, school, restaurants and parties
*******just a note- I was always a firm defender of sweats until I saw a pic of music producer Timbalnd in a pair and it made me realize how unflattering they are. It doesn't help that he has diarrhea medicine in his pocket.

4. Monnogramed things
Great for: towels, bath robes, stationary, tote bags
Bad for: footwear, flasks, bibles, dishes, tissue boxes, toilet paper, clocks!?






5. Being a "chill" person
Great for: staying calm in stressful situations, being spontaneous
Bad for: passive aggressive people, DMB fanatics, boring people, "non-judgemental" Mormons/non-denominational Christians who "aren't interested in converting people"



I am so wise,

Madge

DANCE!

...even if it's by yourself, alone in your room in an empty townhouse on E Ermina Ave....DANCE! That's what Fridays are for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DANCE!

Seriously LOL. Seriously.

I've had two moments in the past 24 hours of seriously LOL-ing. The first was last night when watching "race walking" on the Olympics. Had I known that this was an Olympic event I would have started training for Beijing years ago! Fast walking is pretty much what I am known for. Last fall I nearly beat Alex Gorohoff in a fast walking competition and his legs are almost double the length of mine. This is what had me, alone in the townhouse, gufawing at the TV for a good three minutes (until I got bored and changed channel):

The second LOL moment occurred just minutes ago when I watched this clip of Brit Brit from dlisted.com. I know it's common knowledge that she doesn't have a great voice- her strength was always dance/performance. BUT STILL- listen:

Things are lookin' up

I went home for the weekend- fantastic decision. Anna and Jody had planned a camping trip in the south sound and so I joined them for some canoeing, foil-dinner-making and drive-through movie viewin'. 

Last night we hosted an Argentinian themed dinner as a farewell to Willem before he heads to South America for the semester. I made Ranger Cookies for the occasion. I think I am going to dedicate an entire post to cookies, so I'll save my love of Ranger Cookies/the recipe for that moment. Keep an eye out for it.

Top 5 reasons to be happy about my return to Spokane tomorrow morning:

1. My new ipod awaits me!!!!

2. I have more stuff to put up on my walls....world map, ouija board, campaign signs from around Kenmore

3. Whole wheat cinnamon raisin bagel, sliced into quarters, triple toasted with margerine.

4.  New episode of Project Runway tomorrow night.

5. Buying Francie and Bobby an address book and filling it out and mailing it to Ireland as their belated wedding/thanks for housing me for 2 months present.

I listened to three different "This American Life" podcasts today while I walked/ran Greenlake. One was titled "Break-Up" and I found it quite amusing and relatable considering my current relationship status. Plus, it distracted me through my run better than the worn-out old "work-out mix" is able to. 

Since lists are going to be a reoccurring theme in my blog from now on, here's one more for ya:

Things I need to do that I just haven't gotten around to yet:

1. Create an itunes account

2. Get my heinous eyebrows waxed

3. Establish good credit 

4. Buy new vacuum filter 

5. Sign  up for a Yoga class

6. Get HPV vaccine

7. Read all the "classics"

8. Send Cyprus friend her shirt that I accidentally took home

9. Loose 15 lbs/repair my damaged metabolism 

10. Write in my journal (just in case this whole "internet" thing turns out to be unreliable and I need a backup)

I haven't had a diet coke in 12 days because diet pops with artificial sweeteners are horrible for you and I've finally said enough is enough, 

Madge

HONK SHOO

I went to a movie by myself yesterday- Batman: The Dark Knight, on Imax. It was an all around fantastic experience. I went to a 12:30pm showing, got a small popcorn, sat in the back near the aisle, and watched a great flick. Clare told me going to the movie theater by yourself is "very freeing" and now, having done so, I must agree.

As an earlier b-day/cheer-up present, my mom is getting me an ipod nano!! Now you can get an engraving in the back of your ipod free of charge. I spent about an hour racking my brain trying to think of the perfect words. For some bizarre reason, all I could think of was when Harry says "Give it here Malfoy!!" but that did not seem fitting at all. Martha suggested some other possible HP quotes...Dumbledore's "It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Then I called Anna and she told me that a lot of people just get their name and e-mail address. That seemed much more practical, so I went with: Margaret Kay mkay@gonzaga.edu

snooze.......

I walked to the Spokane Public Library downtown today and got a library card. According to the Spokesman Review, library usage has increased significantly as the economy has gotten worse.

um........what else do I have to report....

My restless leg syndrome is back! Yes, my compulsion to flex my calves every 30 seconds has returned, after taking some time off while I was in Cyprus. Maybe it knows it's back in familiar territory....my old flexing grounds. Who knows?

boring!

Ah! The Olympics are great, aren't they!?! Clare and I were both very impressed with the opening ceremony and with Michael Phelps winning all his gold medals. There has been some debate about whether or not the female Chinese gymnasts are really 16 and older. According to their passports, they all are....but some of them look about 9. I think they're lying! Just gonna say it. What are the Olympics w/out a little controversy?

I now use a night cream- Oil of Olay regenerist,

MADGE

Back Home! Just as I left it...but not really.

There are some very secure feelings that emerge when standing on American soil for the first time in 6 months- Knowing that wherever you may be...Seattle, Yakima, Kenmore....it's guaranteed that a Starbucks is no more than 5 minutes away (even with the recent closures). The abundance of free, clean, public restrooms where no one tries to give you paper towels, toilet paper or guilt-inducing stares. Being able to buy a bag of goldfish crackers at 3:00 am on a Sunday. A working cell phone with unlimited text messaging and free verizon-to-verizon calling!! AHHHHH, what a glorious place we live in!

For the most part, things in Seattle are just as I left it. A lot of trees, water, hills and people in northface fleeces. I never realized how fantastic this city is. Of all the places I went last semester, nothing compares to the clean, intelligent, active, natural vibe Seattle has. I may travel around after college and live abroad for a year or so, but I don't see myself permanently residing anywhere but the Pacific Northwest.

Though the city remains the same, some things have changed around these parts:

Francie and Bobby got married!!! The wedding reception was a ginormous American, Irish, Fitzpatrick, Padden, dance party- complete with appearances from the King himself (Matt Breysse as Elvis) and a good ol' sing-song to end the night. Having all of Bobby's friends and family over for the week was INSANE and sooo much fun. Rafting, Mariner's games, BBQ at our place, spontaneous house party at Anna's, going out on the Sea-Padden's boat....it was one fun activity after another.

The Sonics are no longer (I'm pretending to care....shhhh, don't tell)!!! :( :( :(

It's illegal to simultaneously drive and talk on a cell phone. Does this include texting too???

Pretty soon we're going to have to pay 20 cents for grocery bags! Max thinks this is a one-way ticket to socialism and that the government needs to mind it's own beeswax. I don't mind it...in Europe you have to pay for bags so I got really really good at carrying things in my arm pits, in the fold of my arms, and under my chin while making a mad dash to the car.

My Grandpa Kay is now living in Yakima. Char, William and I went to visit him. He seems decently happy in his new place, which is MUCH MUCH better than that dump Colonial Vista in Wenatchee. This is a house, with a yard, cats, and a lady who cooks home-made apple pie filling in a cute country-style kitchen. His memory is all over the place, sometimes he's in the present, but more often his brain is back in the '40s, '50s or '60s. Still cracking jokes though. "They're diggin' the hole for me" he told us and chuckled.

It's been really nice getting to see my friends again. The gang from high school is always ready to fill my in on all the gossip I missed out on. Willem and I went to camp (Gallagher) to visit for the day...wish I could have stayed longer (aka: the rest of the Summer).

I'm flying back to Spokane Wednesday morning. It'll be good to be back in the "lilac city". Eat a bagel, go to Safeway and Yokes, walk along centinneal trail. It seems like years since I fed the garbage-eating-goat scraps of trash from my purse!! I can hear the creepy carousel music now! I can taste the strawberry fro-yo from Diddier's!!

I miss Cyprus, but remembering all the crazy fun I had makes me feel better. I smile and laugh at pictures of my friends and I on the beach with tans the British tourists could only dream of. My friend Liz warned me that when I got back I would sometimes think "Did that even happen???" Facebooking my Cyprus friends and watching our Cyprus slideshow reminds me that it did happen and it was unbelievable, life-changing, eye-opening- FUN. I am ready to get back to Spokane, my routine. Move on. I wish that was the way it always was...where the memories of what was could be enough. It makes it much easier to go forward. When they're not enough, the only thing you can do is try to forget they ever happened. UGH, depressing!!!


LOVEEEEEEE,

Madge