So we were going to do a party with some Wyview friends until Crazy Snow changed out plans for our 7^th annual OSCAR PARTY. We still did our ballots and watched.

My take on the Oscars:

I was very much intrigued by Pan’s Labyrinth – and I think it looks like a beautiful movie – it was nominated for a few awards and took away a couple.

The only nominated BEST PICTURE movie that I will see is “The Queen” – although if I could get a clean flicks version of “Little Miss Sunshine” I would go see that as well. “Notes on a Scandal” – no thank you.

My take on Ellen hosting: It was FAIR. Nothing really noteworthy. I had a couple of laughs – I liked that she wasn’t over the top…but that really all there is to tell. I know I laugh MUCH more last year with the hosting. Although – I was much happier with the hosting THIS year than the Chris Rock year – talk about uncomfortable with that one!

So yeah – WAY to much hype with Jennifer Hudson – but I am really proud of her for making the “American Dream” come to fruition. She may have well been another “scoot back rapidly out of the limelight” ex- Amercian Idol contestant (like Justin from season 1 – yeah). So from someone who was VERY impressed at what she presented in “Dreamgirls” I say – GO JENNIFER (just don’t wear that weird jacket thing with your dress next year). And I was very impressed she mentioned Jennifer Holladay (the original EFFIE from the Broadway Musical) who basically laid the groundwork for the character. NICE.

I LOVED the song Jack Black, and Will Ferrell did on the comedy genre in the Oscars – I think a good old fashioned comedy is SEVERLY UNDERRATED!!!!

I LOVED having the four VERY influential DIRECTORS up on stage at one time – it was like seeing a legend (in the name of Scorscese winning)

I was sad for Peter O’Tooele -nominated 8 times and no win – man has HE been robbed!

He is such a cute old man - maybe when he’s 90 he will get his lucky break with the Oscar!

Al Gore looked a little bloated….

Dresses I liked: Almost all of them – LOVED Reese Witherspoon- does she EVER make a wrong move – LOVE her style – LOVE her choice of roles she’ll play – Loved her hair, Maggie Gilanhaul’s dress was awesome –the camera didn’t do it justice, Rachel Weiss – check out the BACK of the dress on pics on the skirt – talk about cool! Cate Blanchett – very nice, and Naomi Watts – I didn’t realize that the sash/belt was peacock blue (its amazing how the colors change on the camera) and Gweneth Paltrow - very nice! And NICE to finally see a dress with sleeves! I loved Beyonce, Jennifer, and Noni-Rose girl’s red dresses for their musical interps. CLASSY!

Mixed: Nicole Kidman (loved the dress with the exception of the thing on the back – she looked very tall and oscar-esque other wise, Penelope Cruz – I loved the bodice – the skirt WAS very elegant – but reminiscent of a duster (I tried to get past that…)

Dresses I didn’t like: Kristin Dunst, Anne Hathaway, the 1^st Jennifer Hudson dress, Meryl Streep (yeah, it WAS Prada…but seriously…and those beads did NOTHING) Cameron Diaz – her dress to me was reminiscent of the 80’s – enough said.

My hope is that next year – the movies will excite me a little bit more. But hey – I love the tradition. One of my first presents to Brian when we started dating in 94 was an Real looking Oscar Statue that said, “Best Sweetheart award.” That thing was cool!!

BEFORE AND AFTER OF OUR HOUSE!!!!!


Finally - many of you have asked us to send it - here it is. You definitely can't appreciate the landscaping - unless you count SNOW as landscaping - but here is the general house changes - lets see if you can spot all the changes!!!!


CHUCKY CHEESE - still a great place to go for fun!!! This was cousin Eveylyn's birthday - lots of fun!!


The mischievousness of TYLER WAYNE - he's got LOTS. His two favorite places to hang out - mommy's closet and the bed when lots of pillows are on it.


Tyler LOVES his daddy!!!!!!

So Airborne is my lifesaver when I feel that horrible achy feeling, the swollen glands, and the scratchy throat (which is NOW). Everytime I feel that - I start downing the airborne every 3 hours. .. and it has worked every time. So I am hoping and praying it works this time!!!! I hate being sick. I have figured out that by buying airborne - I go through a whole tube thing during the "I think I am getting sick" feeling. So basically I am paying $4.99 (if I go to Aldis) to NOT be sick. I think that is worth the 1 WEEK + it usually takes me (or more) to get over a sickness. For the record - Walborne (the Walmart version) has taken 1 1/2 times as long to work as Airborne in my observation!

So Last night I hosted book club - this was our book. I enjoyed the stories all in all. A nice little read. I had to ignore some of his political references - aka liberal views. But generally I was impressed by the message. It was snowy last night - I think we got like 6 inches - and they hadn't plowed yet - so needless to say the turnout was lower than last month - by more than half. But for those who stayed - they stayed til 11:20 pm!!! We had GREAT food - my friend Nicole is a student at the French Pastry School in Downtown Chicago - and she brought this awesome cake fresh from class!!!! It was like a giant Petite Four - very thin cakes - glazes, cremes - delictable. She also brought ganache candies with filling that she had made. THANKS NICOLE!!!! I look forward to getting the scoop each week on what she is learning about. I am living vicariously through her - although you can take the courses a la carte so to speak. They are just very expensive. Someday I will do the chocolate course - its for 1 week and cost $800. I am going to do it with a couple people in the ward. If you want to join me - let me know - we will plan it! I will never the regret the money spent on that!!!!