Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

We made it! The weekend is here. And it's also going to be the first of March this Sunday. Unbelievable. January and February just flew by, didn't they? Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes color and warmth... Time to get the kiddies outside, and I've got lots and lots and lots of ideas for spring beginning next week.

And, since it's Friday it is time for my TV show reviews. Let's get to it!

Amazing Race - Absolutely no surprises this week. It was just a matter of time until the Virginia couple came in last. They were sweet, but I think the key to this game is you have to be well- traveled to have a real chance.

That is why I would never enter the Amazing Race. My travel has been pretty limited to road trips with the exception of my honeymoon in Washington, D.C. and a girlfriend trip to California the year before Mike and I married. I've been to 13 states (some of them many, many times), but my flight experience is limited... as is my grasp of Spanish, Russian and any and all Asian languages. I would not make it one week.

However, Roxie wants to participate in the Amazing Race very, very badly. A few years ago, they had a Family Edition (with four members of one family), and she loved it. There will not be a time while I am alive that a camera will follow my family around 24/7 while they are traveling. It would absolutely ruin the "fake perfect family persona" I've worked so hard to build over the last 18 years. Not going to happen.

Back to the race though... Mike and I are still shocked at how badly the flight attendants are doing. They are not even calling to get the first flights. We're beginning to think they are just used to showing up at the airport in their uniforms and getting on planes. They may never have made flight reservations before. I just don't know. We'll see if they redeem themselves this Sunday night.

24 - Well, it was over. The mystery was solved. The bad guy was captured. All the other bad guys were being arrested. The FBI agent was mad at Jack and they hadn't kissed and made up... and there were still ten or more hours left in the day. What was going on? And then Tony showed up and said, "We're not finished." YES! Tony is still a wild card. I can't be sure about him yet. I can tell Jack isn't totally sure either. But ten hours is plenty of time to make up with the FBI agent and save the President and the White House from annihilation... plenty of time! Go, Jack, go!

Jon & Kate - I'm so confused. Jon and Kate have eight children. They have a new HUGE house. They have 21 acres of land around the huge house. They decide to buy not one, but two, German Shepherd puppies... and they keep them IN the house... ON the carpet... where they TEE-TEE and POOP! Why, I ask you... why? They have a barn. They have an unfinished basement where they park their cars (I bet). They have uncarpeted downstairs bathrooms. I foresee many shows of these giant dogs (playfully) knocking down the six little ones on a regular basis. (I know German Shepherds are good dogs... but they are big.) This should make for at least another year's worth of shows... at the end of which time they'll probably buy a herd of cattle. That will be interesting, too. As always, I loved Aaden and all the other kids. So precious. (NOTE: I also thought the dogs were beautiful. I have nothing against dogs... I just don't like outside dogs inside. Thus, the Faulkner beagles... outside dogs who stay outside!)

LOST - Okay. I warned them. Once again, Sawyer was left out of an entire episode. I would be shooting a letter out right now if it were not for the previews of next week's show when obviously Sawyer sees Kate again. I better not be disappointed.

But I still have many questions. What year is it on the island? Why did Ben kill John after he took 15 minutes of air time to save him from killing himself (air time Sawyer could have been shown)? Where the heck are Sun and Sayid? Who is the real good guy, Ben or Charles Whitmore? Someone help me... I'm begging you. I don't think I can take it anymore! Josh is oblivious to my suffering. "That was a great show, wasn't it?"

"No! No, it wasn't!" I scream in my head. But outside I say, "Yes, it explained so much, didn't it? I can't wait until next week?" I think you need some kind of doctorate degree to watch this show... or medication.

Survivor - They voted the wrong guy off last night. He didn't deserve to go. I'm not going to say his name in case you haven't seen the show yet, but my heart is heavy. No, it wasn't my Alabama boy. He's still safe... but I know of three other people who SHOULD have been kicked off for no other reason than massive EGOS. And four others should have been kicked off because of my new dress code rules from last week. Very, very sad.

Roxie was feeling a little puny yesterday, but she made it to her game last night. After a hard-fought battle, her team lost to Tarrant (22 - 15). All the girls were amazing. They've had a great season, and we would have loved to have played in the Championship Game Saturday, but it just didn't happen. After some ice cream and a little petting, she was good to go. We'll try again next year!

With Roxie's game out of the picture on Saturday, all we have left is a birthday party for one of Roxie's friends tomorrow night, Austin working Friday night and Austin going on a date Saturday night. That's pretty much it for the Faulkner Five. I love empty weekends. They tend to fill up, but usually with good stuff.

BONUS: No stories today. Instead, I'm going to give you a little bonus "fun thing" to do if you have older nieces and nephews. Mike is the baby of his family, so our niece and nephew on his side of the family are 32 and 28. We decided since we have not exchanged gifts with them since they were in college (that's the rule... we haven't told Austin yet), we wanted to do a little something special for their 30th birthdays. So when Brandi turned 30, we gave her a gift certificate to a nice restaurant for $30. This past December, her husband, Jared, turned 30 and we gave him a $30 gift certificate to a different nice restaurant. Our nephew, Jared, will turn 30 in two years and he'll receive the same. Two years after that, his wife, Ashley, will turn 30 and we'll do the same for her. I call it "30 for 30." It's easy to remember, and we'll do "30 for 30" for our kids and the nephews and niece on my side of the family when their time comes.

Will we do "40 for 40," you may ask? We'll have to see where we are "financially" at that time, but I certainly would love to try. Since Brandi and Jared read my blog, I don't want to get their hopes up, but I would love to be able to do that for them down the road. (Don't hold me to it, guys!)

Here is our book for today!

Book

I have a guest picking out the Book of the Week! Roxie highly recommends James and the Giant Peach by Raold Dahl.

"It's not just a book. It is like you are actually there. It has adventure and a wonderful, imaginative story. You can't just read the words. You need to 'get into' the book. This book would be good for 4th to 7th graders. Boys and girls would love it. I have read it three times (so far). Do not judge the book by the movie, because I did not enjoy the movie... but I love the book."

There you have it... Roxie's first book review. I will say that neither of my boys cared for the book. However, Roxie likes it enough for all of them.

We'll start off next week with something a little different. On Monday, instead of a Party/Event, I'll be sharing a very unique gift. There will also be a sweet recipe, a spring Seasonal Tradition, a date with your little guy and another great read!

Have a great weekend, and I'll talk to you on Monday.