#45: He Owns Us...

[muskifest]

any one know where I can get a white elephant?

merrieee, you might want to ask Clay where he put that one that he said had been in the room with his friends when all the tabloid crap of 2006 was churning...

Pretty sure it ain't there now....

[spikesmom]

mamaannabear

muski

Good news is the snow has not started so I didn't have to drive in icky stuff.

Now they are saying it should start around 7:00.

Glad I am off of work tomorrow.

Kim

Same good news here. And they keep changing our time - first it was 6, then it was 9 and now I think it's still midnight... 6"-12" is the last I heard.... double ick... I'm lucky enough to be able to work at home sometimes so that's where I'll be in the morning and then off in the afternoon on vacation. No way I was driving into the office if we're getting bad weather especially for a half day! I'm a wimp!

[jazzgirl]

We celebrate the 17th of each month as our "mini-versary" of the day we met...

and this was our 421st.

Ah, lovebirds! How sweet.

*sigh* My mom fell on the ice yesterday morning, going out to her car, and hurt her arm/shoulder. She went on to work, but later called to tell me she was going to the doctor because she was in so much pain. They did x-rays and think she's fractured her collar bone... will know more today...

Oh my! So much for enjoying the holidays. for mamabear!

My advice is to avoid the crazy, enjoy the good, and chill.

I like that mantra. Maybe we could call it the "Sanity Prayer"! Hee.

Yay that mama couchie is doing better, and that aikim and muski survived their tooth troubles.

[gbmifan]

Left for awhile. Our necomers club here in town had a toy drive for Toys for Tots, and I had to go to a local restraunt whose owner was sleeping outside all night to collect toys, and drop them off. I hope he is ready for a really cold night and lots of snow. He has his warm sleeping bag but says he probably will not sleep at all. I went into the store that they were putting the toys and it looked like they were doing well.

I love the pictures from last night. Clay is really looking fine. I did not think the sweater looked as fugly as it was first described. I kinda like it.

[muskifest]

6"-12" is the last I heard

Hmmmm....that's quite a lot of....wiggle room between those two measurements. And quite a difference between getting one or the other.

[liney23]

1 bottle of Tequila:

SAFE PARTYING EVERYONE!!!

keeping... this last one just has me :lmaosmiley-1: How can anything living be that limp??? Is it a dog or a cat???

All you peeps having/going to have snow... us SoCal people are joining you. One of our guys at work, who lives in the foothills and has been snowed in for the last two days, sent us pictures of his mailbox with about 6 inches of snow on it... I'm just not used to this. That snow on the mountains sure is purdy, tho!

[keepingfaith]

Hey, liney, maybe that's the chupacabra! And desertrose, do you want to go to merrieeee's this weekend? I'll be there, but damned if I know where to find a white elephant. Clay's friends had one? They must exist then. Maybe I can find one at Spec's. Or after Spec's.

[Thankful4Clay]

Luckiest,

I told Farouche that you were waiting for her last chapter and guess what? She just posted it over at RHT.

[Couch Tomato]

I'm so behind. I hope to catch up this weekend. Things have improved and my mom will probably be released in the next couple of days. However, they are telling me she needs 24 hour supervision. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I'm rethinking my trip to NYC which is killing me to even think about it. I may try to cut it shorter but don't know if that will work out. Sigh. But believe me I'm glad to have this problem and am happy that no surgery is required and she'll be coming home soon.

[jmh123]

Oh, couchie, I hope you can still go. And yay, that she's coming home and no surgery, no crisis. But did they explain how this happened? It sounds so scary! Blood on the brain. That can't be good.

[Couch Tomato]

the only explanation I got was they think a spike in blood pressure caused it... my mom has been a diabetic for over 30 years ..I have a feeling some of the breakdown of her body the past few years is a road that leads back to that.

[wandacleo]

Couchie OM goodness!!1 Can't you find someone to stay with your mom for a few days? Do you have other family? I'll bet you could find someone to stay with her. You just CAN'T miss out on your trip to NYC.

[jmh123]

Something's going to catch up with most of us someday. How is her lifestyle at the moment? Does she take her medication, eat right, exercise? Is she overweight? Can you figure out what gets her going on one of these spells of hers? (No need to answer. LOL.) I'm sure you are miles ahead of me with these questions and all the easier said than done stuff.

I just let my mom eat way too much sugar today, and I have way more control over mine than you probably do over yours. I even enabled her. She would eat nothing but ice cream, chocolate, mixed nuts, chips, and pepsi if she had her druthers.

[muskifest]

Couchie....promise me that you will do everything possible to find family and friends to spot you with the caretaking of your mom while you go to NYC as planned. You owe it to yourself, and you know I'm right. Work with the whole insurance thing to supplement your family members' time availability with a home health care person---at least until you get back from a vacation and you can plan things more completely.

Tahoe....NYC...be good to yourself. You sooooo deserve good stuff.

And give couchiemama a hug from me and tell her I'm thinking about her.

[Couch Tomato]

Oh I'm thinking over every option under the sun as I type this.

[ausdon]

{{{Couchie & Mum}}} Hope you do get to NYC

Happy Birthday to all the Birthday girls I have missed in the last coupla days.

It is now the first week of school holidays so I haven't had much board time. I have been kept busy with calling insurance company to try and claim for some storm damage we had recently and arranging the repairs/ replacements. The kids have kept me on the go- yesterday we walked miles around the city in gazillion degree temps and my feet are still sore! We saw a cool exhibit at the State Library on the history of computer games and had a healthy lunch at a greek restaurant. Yum!

I read wistfully about the snow since we are having temps in the mid 30sC. The a/c is running overtime!

My DH has sort of started his new job or at least it has been announced so that we are no longer bound to secrecy. We both are still not feeling secure so it maybe a case of being a bit more careful with the pennies for a while.

I honestly don't think the media will have so much 'fun' with it this time (or next time, or whatever... IIT IIU). The last time there was the 'is it true' factor, and it was pre-coming out, etc. So many questions about the whole situation. This time (or next time, etc), there is no speculation or innuendo involved. IMO, on the whole, they have actually been pretty respectful of Clay (and Jaymes and Parker) post-announcement. Actually it's some of the best treatment in the press I've ever seen him get. JMO of course - and I don't do blogs or rags, so if the nasty is out there, thankfully I haven't seen it.

I was speaking more about so-called fan behaviour towards Jaymes.

ITA Cindilu This time there can be no wink wink nudge nudge because it was all laid out in People Magazine. Any tabloids have lost the "scandal factor" right there.

How come I didn't notice before that he is so cute? Why didn't someone tell me?

A) Thread title?

SSHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Its a vewwy big secwet! We'll be overrun if everyone finds out!

Hmmm...... trying for Elmer Fudd there.....don't quite know why...........

Favourite Hallelujah? K D Lang everytime!

:3: Hi Cha Cha

[cha cha trusty]

Hi back ausdon!!

Got some more ready today for our family party this Saturday.

mrchach put lights on the edge of the roof for me...

I made a SC Mac & Cheese casserole, and it's all ready to pop in the oven...

and a Cranberry/Raspberry/Jello/Pineapple concoction that looks really pretty!

Tomorrow 2-minute fudge and apple tarte tartin!

chachadotters 1&2 will be here to help tomorrow night.

ALL IS WELL.

~~~~~

CHECK OUT THIS SILLY HOLIDAY GREETING

[Gibby]

Luckiest,

I told Farouche that you were waiting for her last chapter and guess what? She just posted it over at RHT.

THANK YOU for mentioning this! I high-tailed it over to RHT to read the the last chapter. Snifffff.

I'm so behind. I hope to catch up this weekend. Things have improved and my mom will probably be released in the next couple of days. However, they are telling me she needs 24 hour supervision. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I'm rethinking my trip to NYC which is killing me to even think about it. I may try to cut it shorter but don't know if that will work out. Sigh. But believe me I'm glad to have this problem and am happy that no surgery is required and she'll be coming home soon.

No, no, no! You've worked waaaay to hard to skip this trip, or to cut it short! It's possible to hire people through an agency to care for your Mom, even 24/7 if need be. Perhaps your family could stay with your Mom part of the time, and agency staff could help her out when they're not available.

[luckiest1]

{{{couchie & mom}}} I really hope you can find a solution that works for both of you. I would hate for you to miss your NYC trip!!!!

My advice is to avoid the crazy, enjoy the good, and chill.

I like that mantra. Maybe we could call it the "Sanity Prayer"! Hee.

Or maybe we could make it a thread title! Sure works for me!

Luckiest,

I told Farouche that you were waiting for her last chapter and guess what? She just posted it over at RHT.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! Heading over now! Thank you so much! :thbighug-1:

ETA: It's also at CV in the Reading Room. I love happy endings.

[luckiest1]

Spam report from CV via CH. Hee, the first part sounds almost identical to what I wrote last Thursday!

Spamalot report for 12-18-08 from HippoGA:

This is the shortest hour in history! (first half)

Her big revelation from tonight's show is that Clay has the prettiest complexion, it is just beautiful, this perfect porcelain complexion. In contrast, you've got roughness in some of the others and tonight Bedevere is sweating like a pig, but Clay is just beautiful.

He tried to look through the boards of the wooden rabbit into it.

He kissed the hand of the girl handing him the torch.

HippoGA spent a lot of time so far tonight trying to figure out whether the crotch of Clay's costume has a button on it like Rick's does - if so, she's not seeing it yet, but will keep out a watch during the second half! (She said I could share that!)

She's in seat A101 and from it can actually hear Clay's voice in the group singing.

Great, great response overall tonight.

Scattered response for the yodeling part.

The quail routine went over very well tonight.

Tongue action: during dismount from horse, also crossed leg kick in Camelot, and in slo-mo. (When I asked about slo-mo since she didn't mention it, her reply was: "Oh yes!" BWAH!! And I so understand!! Hee.)

The King spits on Lancelot during the slo-mo part (I think, or could be Camelot, at least it's when he's up higher than Lance) and Lance wipes it away (I really think that was during the slo-mo part, but then again, she would have had to take her eyes off Clay, who was right in front of her, to notice, so maybe it was Camelot. Anyway, it was sometime and it caught her attention.)

During Seasons, when they say "Water" and act like they're going to throw water, Clay squealed - then touched his hair as walking away to check it.

Her seatmates are fivegoldens and grammarian. (I got to say hello to one of them!)

She thinks Sean is the drummer tonight.

Tuesday night the cow missed Patsy, same tonight.

When Robin was telling the King about the taunters making rude gestures, he's punching him, and pointing to the taunters, the King is looking at Robin, but Robin is looking at the taunters while trying to get the King's attention! BWAH! (Education comes in all forms!)

She didn't say anything about crowd size.

She's sad because this is her very last show.

It's just magical. Just magical.

She'll call me back after stage door (or show, if there is no stage door.

Second half report of Spamalot 12-18-08 from HippoGA:

One each purple and gray and green and black sock!

Tophap was on.

He popped the tophat on Tuesday night (didn't report that then).

No crotch button on Clay!! The bottle dance confirmed that! (See first half report if this doesn't make sense!)

Great ovation for YWSOB, and for the milking of it afterwards!

Very blocked view seats at very front were open. Looked sold out otherwise, as far as she could see into the mezz and balcony.

Not Yet Wed dance with the little gal - was really flirting w/ her - absolutely adorable.

Great, great, great laughter for Bro. Maynard.

Two note Amen for all her shows.

2nd half was wonderful. There's some sadness that it's over now (for her) and for good, soon.

Clay is Sir Robin, and he's wonderful, awesome, but now she's ready for Clay again.

There was no Stage Door tonight.

[luckiest1]

Wow, I am a post whore this morning!

From CH:

US Fund for UNICEF

"12 Days of UNICEF" Encourages Americans to Give Gifts that Give Back This Holiday Season

UNICEF Celebrity Ambassadors and Supporters to Post Daily Blogs Discussing Life-Saving Gift

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 19, 2008 -- The U.S. Fund for UNICEF announced today "12 Days of UNICEF," a blogging campaign to encourage Americans to give back this holiday season with Inspired Gifts. Beginning December 19 and running through December 31, UNICEF celebrity Ambassadors and Supporters, including Lucy Liu and Clay Aiken, will post daily blogs on the UNICEF website at http://fieldnotes.unicefusa.org about Inspired Gifts and their impact on children around the world.

From nutrient enriched food, medicines and immunizations, to wool blankets, tents and school supplies, UNICEF's Inspired Gifts can mean a world of difference to children living in harsh circumstances due to poverty, exploitation, armed conflicts and natural disasters. Participants in the program choose an item from the collection of life-saving gifts to be shipped to children in need in one of over 150 countries and territories where UNICEF works. Recipients receive a UNICEF Acknowledgment Card identifying the item that was sent and how it will be used to save children's lives.

Celebrities lending their support to the program include Clay Aiken, Lucy Liu, Joel Madden, Nicole Richie, Alyssa Milano, Marcus Samuelsson, Al Roker, Jon McLaughlin, Mia Farrow and Sarah Jessica Parker. Some of the items they will blog about include HIV test kits, bicycles, water well hand pumps, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, measles vaccines and more.

For more information, visit www.inspiredgifts.org or call 1-866-237-2224.

I also received an email from Unicef yesterday, that stated that any donations made between now and December 31st will be matched dollar for dollar by the Kimberley Clark Corporation. Cool! Look forward to reading Clay's blog (or blogs).

[luckiest1]

Not sure if this one was already posted but I went looking for any photos or videos taken the night my son & I were lucky enough to be at the stage door last week (Dec 12th - Friday) and this one is gorgeous! Taken by gerwhisp (the lucky peasant from Dec 11th). Unfortunately, haven't seen any video yet.

[FearofH2O]

Wow! Busy posting day yeaterday.

Good thoughts for a speedy recovery for your mom annabear.

Glad your mom is doing better couchie. As a mom, I would rather my kids have a great time traveling than watching over me. Of course that would be what they would choose anyway. I really hope the trip works out for you.

liney, I think I looked like those pets last night. After the graduation, lunch, WFI and a little snack after that, I was gone from 8:30AM to 10:00 PM. And I didn't drink anything alcoholic.

Some discussion yesterday claytonic, K'andre and keepingfaith. I only have time for Clay. Other than what others post on the boards, I haven't kept up with any celebrity news. I know I don't like the song Hallelujah and I own KD's cd of the same name. Not a fan of Leonard Cohen, saw him on Austin City Limits.

I need to head off to the gym before WFI today. Wrapping can be a killer on your back. Funny when I wrap at home, I love those little gift bags. I bought an easel and paint set for my granddaughter but don't have any gift bags large enough.

luckiest, glad you got a stagedoor. The pictures were so cute!!

[merrieeee]

SSHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Its a vewwy big secwet! We'll be overrun if everyone finds out!

Does this mean we are one of those sooper sekrit boards then?

(((couchieandcouchiemama))))

[ldyjocelyn]

The ice storm hit...work is closed...but we still have power at home. W000t! I can play hooky!!!!

couchie, first of all, please give your Mom a big hug from me. Secondly, please give a big hug to yourself, as you need and deserve it as well. I hope you find a way to make it to NYC, 'cause as muski said, you deserve it!

I'm with ausdon, my favorite version of Hallelujah is kd lang's. I'm damn curious to know why that was a voting choice for Clay to sing a few months ago...and wonder what happened to that whole poll. Ah well. Someday. (I think Clay could even make KAndre like that song...)

annabear, sorry to hear about your Mom's fall. And I hope both muski and aikim have better feeling mouths today!