If you have 40 spare minutes, and you need a laugh, you should watch these clips from the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. I thought Barack and Seth Meyers did a great job. The Donald Trump jokes alone are worth the watch!
Go check out Life With the Lunds to see just how hip Ellen is!
Here's a sneak peak!
There is a video, too, so you know it's gotta be a great post!
Last night was the Annual Cookie Decorating Party for the Wagner family. They've had this party for family & friends for 19 years and I've been lucky to be a part of it since my freshman or sophomore year in high school!
The rules of the party are quite simple. Decorate sugar cookies using any of the many colors of icing you want and any or all of the sprinkles provided! I've won many awards in the past for great cookies:
My "Teacher Set"
I won the Lifetime Achievement Award for this beauty below in 2006.
Here is Miss USA, complete with coke under her nose and a beer bottle in her hand. I've learned that if you decorate a cookie as something big that happened in the news that year, it might hold up in the judging. I also know the judges well (Emilie, Mr. Wagner, Em's bro-in-law & cousin and Mr. Tobin), so that helps.
Last year I won the People's Choice Award for this OK Magazine cover! It took me FOR-EVER! I used toothpicks to place each one of those tiny sprinkles.
Other good cookie entries have been a Plaza skyline, complete with lights, and I've also had great competition. Kristin always goes all out with one cookie that takes her most of the evening. She's made Priest Holmes, Napoleon Dynamite, Coach Mangino, Cat in the Hat, etc, etc, etc. First time contestants are also notorious for winning: Mark's billiards balls & cue, Sandy's 3-D tree, etc.
This year, I came in with very few ideas, which was my problem to start. My entry (see below) made it into the top 20, but then, I was out of the contest. I guess I need to start thinking of ideas for next year's party!
Here we are after all the decorating and awards have come and gone.
This was my one good entry. I also made a gingerbread man missing a leg. There were a few other Obama logos, but mine was the only one with the motto on it.
This is Megan's 1st place winner! Megan is also quite the decorator. She's had many awards in the past with Fruit of the Loom characters, a to-scale KU bball court, and McDonalds fries & burger.
This was Kristin's winning entry for this year. She took my idea to the next level. I think she won 2nd runner up.
Here is a sampling of some of the cookies. Look closely at the Miss Pac Man in the top right, the Mexican-themed entries (this year's party has a Feliz Navidad theme), the other Obama log, and on the bottom right is a hand in a popcorn box.
Here are Kristin, John & Meg decorating.
And Julie pretend eating Mike's 1st entry. This was his first year at the party, and Julie's come-back after several years of being OOT. Mike decided just to pile as many colors of frosting and sprinkles on the cookie as he could.
Kristin was the one who got the pinata to finally crack! No surprise there!
And this is at the end of the evening. I was taking Julie & Mike home, and Matt asked if he could have a ride, too. I told him, "Sure, but I'm not sure that you'll fit!" Turns out, I wasn't too far off. This is why I am never asked to be the driver. Poor Matt was practically eating the windshield and Julie and Mike were packed like sardines in the back seat.
... THIS Parent/Teacher conference?
It's official, Malia & Sasha Obama are going to attend Sidwell Friends School. I'm sure the girls are great, and I know that the teachers are used to teaching children of well-known parents ... however ... I still think it would be hard to teach the children of THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
I wonder what kind of gifts might come near the holidays? I wonder what would happen if you had to send home a e-mail about bad behavior (maybe thinking about that since I had to do that 2x this week)? I wonder if you would get Mom & Dad's cell phone numbers for emergencies?
Maybe I should move to DC so I can get a job at Sidwell and then find some answers to some of my questions!
I saw that a friend has posted a link to this website on his FB page. How in the world did I NOT know about a website that has a live feed of 6 puppies sleeping, eating, playing and being cute??
The website apparently started a few weeks ago, and after I googled to find out more, I realized that the whole nation is watching! There is sound to go with the live feed. For some reason, my sound kind of went in and out, but when Minnie heard the dogs barking & whining at one point, she jumped up on my lap to figure out where it was coming from. I wish you could have seen her standing on my lap with her front paws on the edge of the table, watching the moving pups on my laptop screen! It was priceless.
*
*
This is almost as great as the Puppy Bowl that Animal Planet shows during the Super Bowl for people like me who could care less about football!
I love what Gawker had to say about the site:
It's been a week, and the voyeuristic viral puppycam live-feed is still rolling and we can't tear ourselves away. (It may be the most popular live streaming video of all time, reports Alley Insider.) It's not just that they're so darn cute—it's the economy, stupid! The puppycam is a fantasty that cures us of our free-floating anxiety in an uncertain world. We all want to be those puppies: the Shiba Inu fluffballs don't have to worry about losing their jobs, or making money. They are completely provided for in their little box, their mom comes in and nurses them, and they have human caretakers who play with them as well. They've got it made.
Also, we all know that Obama is about to get his kids a new puppy. That new-puppy feeling that rushed over the country wasn't about the love of dogs: we want to be the Obamas' puppy. We want him to be a paternal figure who will swoop into office and take care of us. We want him to provide for us and feed us and to make our lives safer.
That's also why the people who are running the puppycam have become objects of speculation. All we ever see is the bottom of the man's legs, who comes in to feed them. "Puppies, you want your toys?" you can hear him saying. He's like Curious George's Man in the Yellow Hat, whose character is so sparsely sketched that the reader can project whatever they want onto him. Why did they decide to start a puppycam? How long will it last? Where do they live? WTF is going on?
Meanwhile, Gabriel Delahaye of Videogum thinks the puppycam is ruining the Internet: "Don't even get me started on the livefeed puppy cam and the threat it poses to the rest of the internet... because who cares about any other site? Puppies!"
I just finished babysitting Monday night. It was a L O N G nine days away from my own home and from Minnie!
These are some pics I took on Election night. I pretty much was camped out at this kitchen table the entire week. I had to get my internet/blog fix and got a chance to watch a few of my shows.
Anyhoo ... this was me last Tuesday. My laptop on the left to get all the updated election scoop; work laptop on the right putting my kids' grades in the computer.
This was my "score keeping" sheet I filled out for "the kid" for his homework. Yes, I had to help him do his homework ... because he was off at swim practice for 2+ hours. The blue & red lines are his work after he did his coloring for the assignment. By the next morning, the "blue" states had run onto the back! Yippee!
Glad to be home where I can relax on my own couch & sit at my laptop in front of the TV & not have to complete 7th grade homework for someone else! :)
Apparently not.
*
*
Now that McCain and Palin don't have the media wrapped around their little fingers (I was actually saddened when I saw McCain sans security guards and driving himself home yesterday), the media is allowed to share all the gossip nuggets about their campaign that were "off the record" until Tuesday.
I love the phrase "off the record". Having a Dad who has been involved in politics for a L O N G time ... I've heard him say things are "off the record" on many a phone call.
I haven't had a chance to watch all of this video because the internet here keeps going in and out, but the headlines today stating that Palin thought that Africa is a country were SHOCKING to me! My fourth graders know that Africa is a continent. Again ... this goes back to my rant about Palin wanting to tell the nation that she was "just like us". First of all ... most of us that are adults know that Africa is more than a country and second of all ... I don't what someone who is just like me to be one of the most powerful leaders of the world. The President and Vice President should be so smart that I have NO clue what they are talking about. I like to think I'm smart ... but I know I'm not nearly smart enough to be on the Presidential ticket!
Don't worry ... I'm done ranting for now. Just waiting for something else to get me riled up. I bet you all can't wait!
To steal a quote from Grace Adler on "Will & Grace" ... she seemed to say it best!
I'm almost speechless. After all my politics chatter ... I just down at my laptop about 10 minutes ago, and thought ... "Hmmmm ... what can I write?"
I almost missed it. I was sitting here at the kitchen table. Trying to get my laptop to hook up tot he internet. I muted the TV for about 2 minutes to help "the kid" finish his homework (coloring the states according to how the electoral votes went). When he left the room, I turned the sound back on and saw it ... "Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States!" Tears immediately starting running down my face. And here they go again ... seeing the whole family walk out to speak in Grant Park. I hope that Emilie has made her way down there. (Em, make sure to fill me on on all the details!)
What an amazing night in history. Whichever way the votes fell ... history was going to be made. I can't wait to read about this in the social studies & history books in the near future!
I'm babysitting this week (and have pre-written a lot of these posts), so I'm hoping I get to watch the election coverage tonight. I'm almost positive that the kid won't be interested in watching any of it, so I'll have to keep him busy with other things.
My "Smart Women Vote" t-shirt ... vintage from 2004. I'm wearing it today.
Go check out the video that Dad posted this weekend. It is a bit long, but the graphics on it are great and it has a wonderful message!
He also has some great cartoons to get us all ready for the election this week! I can't believe it is actually here. What will all the news media talk about when most of this mess is over?
Joanna sent me the link to this video this week, and even though it has it's funny parts, I think it is really pretty touching.
*
*
The major celebs in this clip share why they are choosing to vote this year. They've also thrown in some people just like you and me. The video is part of the Declare Yourself campaign, and it makes a great point!
Every vote counts! Go out and vote ... the clock is running out! Wear your "I Voted" sticker proudly!
Julie sent this to me last night. Check out the video and then feel free to send it to your friends who think they might not vote because their vote won't make a difference!
*
*
If that were the case, then I would have gotten 3+ votes for my advanced voting wait!
I went to Metcalf South mall (can you still call it a mall if all the stores are closed?) to wait my turn to vote, vote, vote! I rushed as fast as I could after school to beat the after work crowd. No such luck. See these doors in the far end of this picture? Those were the doors I walked in. I saw this line and though, "Not so bad, maybe 100 people. I bet the line moves fast."
THEN, I turned the corner. A line at least twice as long as this one heading half-way down the mall. Ugh.
I got bored, after I flipped through the 2 magazines I brought with me, so I started taking pictures of good old Metcalf South. I couldn't believe how dismal it looks now, but there were a lot of the same features that I remember as a little kid. These lit, mirrored ceilings looked exactly the same. One thing that had changed (couldn't get a picture of it around the masses of people) were the fountains in the middle. They used to be open and they had cement walkways so you could walk across the fountain. No longer. I guess a few too many kids fell in because there is now a 3 foot tall iron fence surrounding the fountain.
See this blonde head on the right side of this photo? This is the woman that came in AFTER me huffing and puffing because of the long line. She hadn't even seen the front of the line to know it was long, she just assumed. She started in immediately with the complaining and yakking my ear off. This was when I promptly pulled out my Home Magazine. I guess my ignoring her was her cue to move AHEAD of me in line. And not just me, but the poor older woman (who was voting for the first time) was cut in front of, too. Her guise was that she was talking to this nice man in the jacket in the picture.
She went on and on saying probably 3 times that she's been voting for a long time and she's never seen lines like this ... and how Jefferson and Lincoln and Adams would be proud. Seriously? Then she said "I bet I could sell my spot in line for $___" every 10 feet we moved in line. When we turned the corner for the last stretch, she stepped out of line to sit down telling us she'd be right back after she rested her feet for a bit. Oooooh ... I was pissed!
While she was out of line, Creepy Raperman next to me asked me if I go on the internet much. WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT? I told him no, only at work (huge lie) so that he would stop talking to me. Mind you, that he'd been standing next to me for over an hour at this point. Then he said, "Ever think about having a website?" I told him no, and that I didn't have time for it. I don't know what he was getting at, but I wasn't about to tell him that I had a blog. I was afraid he was going to tell me about some creepy website that I could set up with who knows what on it. Ahhh! Then HE stepped out of line to rest his feet. There were elderly people in line waiting just as long as them with no problem.
As soon as I completed my ballot, I was out of there. I was sure to say many "thank you"s to all the volunteers at the voting booths. I know how long of a day they must have had. I was signature #982 in just one book, and Dad says he thinks there were plenty more filled books from today. If that's the case ... I hope to God that all the Obama voters are getting out there early and the McCain voters are waiting until the lines are too long on November 4th. I did see PLENTY of people walk in, see the line, and walk out. Yikes! I hope they go back at some point to vote. I can't wait to see the results of this election! I think many records are going to be broken when it comes to # of young voters, # of advance voters, # of minority voters, # of 1st time voters, etc, etc, etc.
Good luck to the rest of you that will be fighting the crowds. I'm sure they will be crazy everywhere! Just make sure you get out there and vote!
Tim Russert was known for doing his state-to-state count of the votes leading up to the big elections. Tim started all this on a tiny hand-held white board and then graduated up to a larger white board.
Now that a few people have started to take over his position on the major news channels, they have been playing around with large plasma screens and interactive maps that are like giant iPhones.
This week on the Thursday night edition of SNL, Fred Armisen did a spoof of that on Weekend Update. I thought it was great!
*
*
I especially liked when he shrunk the country to put in his pocket!
I about turned the debate off tonight when McCain's whistling started giving me a headache.
I knew his speech issue was reminding me of some cartoon characters and sure enough ... lookie what I found!
The
*
*
Someone else must have been thinking the same thing that I was ... only they were crafty enough to put these clips together into one video.
The Gopher in Winnie the Pooh:
*
*
Anyone else know what I'm talking about??? Is it annoying to just me?
Yesterday was a really fun day for us! Molly, Mom & I got to spend the afternoon in the house we grew up in for a baby shower for Molly! Her friends threw the shower, and one of the hostesses, Shannon, now lives in our childhood home! It is amazing to see everything that has been done to that house. I was beautiful when we were there, but if I had the chance, I would love to live there again with all the updates they've made!
Anyhoo, the shower guests were a combination of Molly's high school and work friends and our old neighbors and my mom's friends! Everyone loved being back in the house after 6 years!
Here are the "McKnight" girls back in our old living room.
The beautiful tables and flowers.
The best tasting AND cutest onesie sugar cookies.
I know a spoiled baby! She got the cutest things at the shower. Even the wrapping was cute!
Check out this teeny, tiny white fur coat for Lulu this winter. It has tiny mouse ears on the top of the hood, too!
He's the mom-to-be opening up one of the great presents!
After everyone left the shower, Mom, Molly and 2 of the hostesses and I sat around and caught up. We talked politics, baby stuff, school, etc, etc, etc. I was so happy to be part of that day! Thanks!
*** *** ***
P.S. You probably notice that I have pictures for this post after the camera debacle on Friday. After much discussion, my parents and I found a solution for the time being. Mom & Dad need a new digital camera for the same reason I do. Their camera was broken due to a fall. With the baby on the way, this wasn't something that could wait much longer to be replaced.
Dad took me out Saturday morning to find a camera for them that I could use until I had saved enough to get my own. So I'm using the updated version of my Canon for the next few weeks. Once I get my own, I'll give this one back to them!
Dad was worried I hadn't posted about his smart fix, so I wanted to make sure it was posted today! :) THANKS!!
*** *** ***
After a great conversation about the election after Molly's baby shower today, I was inspired to do some more reading online.
Check out this GREAT flow chart I found on a political blog.
Sarah ... please say something! Anything!
Tell Katie you read USA Today. Tell her you read Newsweek. People would even be a better answer. Hell, just tell her you read Dog Fancy!
Anything is a better answer than, "I read all of 'em!"
*
*
{p.s. I love the look on Katie's face near the end of the clip. She's looking at the camera person with eyes that say, "Can she seriously NOT answer this question?" Ha!}
Who else saw this?? I didn't actually see this on Letterman the other night, but I saw the clips of it on The Today Show!
Note to self: When I am running for president, DO NOT cancel an appearance on the Late Show with a lame excuse!
*
*
The clip is lengthy, but worth it!
