American Idol Top 9 Perform

Tonight the top 9 are singing tunes from I-Tunes Top 100 Downloads. Guess the field is wide open for them tonight. Let's see how they do -

Anoop - Usher song - I hated the song! Randy like the vocals but didn't think it was the right song. Kara thought he played it safe and said she thinks some frat boys dared him to do Usher. Paula thinks he needs to work on stage presence. Simon nailed it when he said "it was a mess!"

Megan Joy - Bob Marley??? Maybe her voice is reggae?? It sure is strange. I think the judges are going to tear her up. And .... I'm right - Kara 's says she's in trouble!! Wrong song choice. Even Paula didn't like it or Simon or Randy. Think she's sang her last on Idol.

Danny - Rascal Flatts - What Hurts the Most - Finally - a good one! He was great. Paula's on her feet - a good sign. Simon says it's his BEST performance. All the judges agree!! Randy wants him to take the mike off the stand and rock it. Kara had goose bumps.

Allison - No Doubt - Don't Speak - Her hair and her outfit are something out of a science fiction movie or as Simon says, The Adams Family. Maybe a little Janis Joplin?? She doesn't need that. Randy agrees with me and wanted to know what in the world she was wearing. The judges thought her outfit was a little distracting and unnecessary. She played the guitar tonight and did a good job with the vocals too.

Scott - Billy Joel - Just the Way You Are - Great song but I wish he'd sing something a little more lively. He always does slow songs. And his hair??? Last week they dressed him up in pink pants and this week they "poufed" his hair up! Poor guy. Kara loved it all - the new look and the performance. Simon thinks it's his best performance - by a "country mile!" Randy says - one of the best of the night too.

Matt - Fray - You Found Me - He's keeping it current. I'm not familiar with the song, but I thought he was good. Paula doesn't agree with me - she thinks it wasn't a great performance. Simon thought it sounded uptight and wasn't a good commercial song. Again, the judges think it was the wrong song for him. Kara does not believe he deserves to go home. I AGREE! He should not have been in the bottom 3 last week.

Lil Rounds - Celine Dione - I Surrender - Wrong song choice - again! The judges don't usually like the contestants to do Celine. In my opinion, she was ok - not great. The song was too old fashioned for her and the judges agree. It didn't show her personality. Ryan interviewed her kids - how cute! The little girl was hugging on Randy!!

Adam - Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music - He's looking more & more like Elvis to me! Well, Paula likes it - she's on her feet and dancing. Too much screaming for me but everyone else seems to like it. True genius is what Paula tells him. Simon thinks it was original. Randy loved it - in the star zone, hands down. Isn't that nice (or kissing up?) - he thanked Ricky Minor and the band!

Kris - Ain't No Sunshine - Kara is clapping during the performance - she must like it! I thought he was great and made the song his own. Randy thinks it's one of the best of the night. Kara's three words - That Is Artistry! Simon said he showed confidence tonight and it was his best performance.

My fav's - Danny, Matt, Kris

Bottom Three? Anoop, Megan, and maybe Lil Rounds - I think it's time for Megan to GO!

Monday Mailer

Here is the Monday Mailer I received when I returned home from my trip.  Isn't it great?  There is no stamping on this card .... makes it so easy!  She used Tea Party designer paper.  (Guess I'm going to add that to my wish list.)  She cut 3 of the flowers out of the paper and adhered them with a blue brad.  Such a spring-y card!

I'm Back!!

Well, I'm back home. Wow! Did we have fun! Everyone should have a daughter that is also a best friend. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing pictures with you of my trip.

When we arrived in DC, we took Mom and Angela downtown DC. We did a few touristy things - Smithsonian's and statues - as I described earlier in THIS post. Here is a picture of the 4 of us with the Capitol in the background. (you have to click on picture to see all 4 of us!)

Here's a picture of Mom and Angela with the Washington Monument behind them.

Here's the Hope Diamond - although this picture does not do it justice. But, you get an idea of how huge it is!

I love beautiful flowers - just not the work that goes into growing them! These are some of the gorgeous orchids that we saw in the Orchid display in the Smithsonian.

Monday Mailer

Here is the last April Monday Mailer I will be sending to Jennifer.  Love this Sock Monkey!!

Baby Card

This card is for Sean and Becca.  They are high school friends of my son's who have just announced they are pregnant!  They are the last of the "gang" to have a baby.

Did You Know?

•  It takes one ton of water to make one pound of refined sugar.
• A honeybee must tap 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey. A bee produces only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey during her entire lifetime.
• American and Russian space flights have always included chocolate.
• The best selling chocolate bar in Russia is Snickers.
  ~The Amazing Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham &
             The Useless Information Society

American Idol Results - Matt in bottom?????

Well, I missed the results show last night!! After taking Mom & Angela to the airport, Sonny & I met Ashley downtown (at an Irish bar, are you surprised?). About 8:30, Ashley tells me that she taped the Pittsburgh basketball game (Sweet 16 and they won!) for her Dad instead of Idol. (She can only TiVo one thing at a time.) Well .... we were watching the basketball game at the bar anyway!!!

So, when we got home, we had to watch the results show on the internet.

Some elimination are real shockers, like last week's out-of-no where ousting of one-time favorite Alexis Grace. Eliminations like that, you don't see coming. And then there are others that are so obvious, even Scott McIntyre could see 'em coming. Like last night's eliminated singer, Michael Sarver. Not exactly a shock, there. The real surprise was that the judges still forced the poor schlub to sing in vain, in the hopes of getting a Judges' Save. Not gonna happen!

No surprise to see Michael and Scott in the bottom three. But, Matt???? For him to almost get eliminated last night. What the heck? Was America watching the same show as me this week? Did the people in TV Land watch Wed. night with the sound off? With the SCREEN off? Matt was at his best on Motown Night. He sang "Let's Get It On" and made you want to "get in on"! Simon and Randy even declared Matt a serious new threat in the competition after his killer, confident performance. I'm utterly baffled that Matt was in the bottom three. And I'm even more baffled, when I think about it, that he was in the bottom TWO--Scott was sent back to safety first, which means the lowest two vote-getters of the evening were in fact Michael and Matt. This would have made sense if Matt had stumbled through but he deserved to be in the TOP three, not the bottom. I dunno, maybe it was Opposite Day or something...

Anyhoo, America ultimately made the right decision and sent Michael, not Matt, packing. I have a feeling if it had been Matt in last place, the judges might have deliberated a little more seriously over whether to exercise their Judges' Save veto power (I don't for a moment think they ever considered using it on Michael, since Simon had emphatically declared last night that Sarver had "no chance of winning").

American Idol Recap

Motown tonight! Yay .... I can relate. We watched the taped version of Idol when we got home last night from NY. Here's my recap:

Matt Giraud — Let’s Get It On: My initial impression from the rehearsal is that this will be a perfect song choice for him. Oooh, nice touch, moving away from the piano halfway through. Great job! Randy thought he "set the tone" and Simon thought it was a cool performance!! Kudos to him. Don't think being first to perform will hurt his great performance.

Kris Allen — How Sweet It Is: Smokey seems impressed, so we shall see. Well, he IS putting his own little spin on it. I think I like it. Another nice job. Paula was up and dancing. Simond thought he was smart to do his own version of the song but he needs to believe in himself. Not to sure about his shirt.

Scott MacIntyre — You Can’t Hurry Love: Yeah… I’m not so crazy about this. Hold on a sec. Is he wearing pink pants? Okay, now tht’s funny. They told him 10 minutes before the show started that his pants are pink. That’s classic. Simon thought it was "honky tonk piano" and Randy agrees.

Megan Joy — For Once In My Life: Why is she suddenly Megan Joy? Did she give up her last name? Everyone says she’s so original, but I just think her voice is odd. I don’t know why the judges fawn over her every week. Ahhh, okay, the judges DO have some sense. Randy calls it a train wreck. I quite agree. Simon says she’s in danger. . Let’s hope so! They all agree that she looks incredible. This is a strange season — it’s going to be all men by the final five at this rate!

Anoop — Ooooh, Baby Baby: He was good in my opinion. I am a huge fan of Smokey Robinson and this song is just one of the greatest, so sometimes that sways me. Kara thought overall he did a pretty good job. Simon thought it was a great vocal but he looked like he was half asleep. He needs to show some showmanship and turn it up next week.

Michael Sarver — Ain’t Too Proud To Beg: He was sick last week and didn't get to go to Detroit with the others. He got good advice from Smokey, and it looks like Michael took his words to heart, but maybe not far enough. It was a few steps above a karaoke performance. The judges weren't nice to him - even Paula!! He might be going home this week and it's probably time.

Lil Rounds — Heat Wave: Lil is ON FIRE tonight. I hope she sticks around another week. Again, Kara nails it. This should have been Lil’s week, and it… wasn’t. Disappointing. They pretty much all agreed .... except Paula .... that it was the wrong song choice for her.

Adam Lambert — Tracks of My Tears: I’m loving this side of Adam tonight. Okay, the ending was a bit overdone, but SMOKEY ROBINSON IS GIVING HIM A STANDING O. And so is Kara. Classic American Idol moment. Like him or not, Adam is in his own league. And yes, that is Paula’s line. Simon said it was THE BEST of the night - it was original, the right song and he emerged as a star. Didn't he look like Elvis???? Scary!

Danny Gokey — Get Ready: Okay, I still love Danny. He put just enough of his own spin on this to make it fresh. It was fun — quintesential Danny Gokey. It wasn’t a masterful performance, but it was good. He’s really going to have to turn it up a notch to compete with Adam, though. Only Paul thought it was great though. The other judges thought it was good, just not great.

Allison Iraheta — Papa Was A Rolling Stone: Okay, Allison. It’s all on you to represent the ladies tonight. Oh girl. The crowd is on their feet. Kara and Paula are on their feet. Okay, Paula is always on her feet. Kara says, “That is from God. You can’t teach that.” So true. That about sums it up. None of them could believe she had been in the bottom 3 last week. She's definitely one they would have used their "saving power" on.

Best of the night: Adam -Allison - Matt
Bottom three: Michael, Scott and Megan.

Sharon .... from North Carolina!

This is Sharon from NC - live from THE VIEW

OK ... I am in the bus now headed back to DC .... pretty tired!! We had a great time in New York and I'll be sharing lots of pictures and stories in the coming days. We were able to cram a lot into a few days.

The biggest news I want to share with your now is that I will be on THE VIEW on Friday!! Ashley got us tickets for the taping of Friday's show. We were VIP's of one of the producers. I was actually pulled from the audience before the taping started and asked to do the commercial break where they say "this is Sharon from North Carolina" and then I read the tele-prompter to tell what was coming up next. It was pretty cool! So ..... set your DVR's for Friday's showing of The View. (It comes on at my house at 11 am).

We had been told in advance that since we were VIP guests if they did any give-aways, we would not be eligible for anything over $75. Wouldn't you know it!! They had Mr Gadget on and he demonstrated a lot of new electronical gadgets totalling $1,300+ and everyone in the audience got one of each item!! Just our luck! Oh well, guess you can't win them all. Just think of the taxes I saved!

I'll be in DC until the weekend helping Ashley spruce up her condo to put it on the market. Sonny & I will be heading home Sunday or Monday.

Dreams Come True One Step At A Time

Dreams Come True One Step At a Time

When going through life
and traveling in the direction
of your dreams, the best way
to get ahead is the simplest way:
Take it one step at a time.
Don't look over your shoulder; if you do,
you'll feel the weight of all your
yesterdays upon you.
And don't worry about what lies ahead.
By the time you get to
the bend in the road
or the crest of the hill,
you're going to be better and stronger
than you ever were before.
Just go a step at a time,
one day at a time.
And you'll find a rich, thankful life
you never thought you could afford.

~A. Rogers