What I'm thankful for...

1) My family cause they are so much fun to hang out with, and I love watching my niece and newphew grow into crazy little people!
2) My crazy friends because somehow going home is never as fun as when we're all there. Although there is no pic of us with Sam, but I will rectify that during Christmas.




3)The Waffle House for so many reasons- Because I spent a total of 4 hours there over the course of Thanksgiving Break, because they now have the chocolate chip waffle which is the most amazing waffle ever, because I like getting my hasbrowns smothered/covered/diced/capped/peppered, because they now offer the menu in Spanish or as I originally referred to it "in Mexican," because Sam and I created an awesome music playlist for our visit from the jukebox:
1. Blue Christmas-- Elvis
2. Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer
3. Let's Get It On- Marvin Gaye
4. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
5. She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy
6. 844,739 Ways to Eat a Hamburger (classic WaHo song)

Other things I learned over the break:
- that I apparently drive with my hands over my face
- It is possible to spend 30 min. in Atlanta looking for a Waffle House
- when adding to the story pot, JT's story additions seem to always go over the line
- JT and I are no longer friends as of noon-30 on Friday night
- The GA Tech mascot shall hence be known as "the bumble bees"
- You pronounce Virginia Tech as Vaa Teach and the same goes for the pronunciation of GATech
- My romantic life is going to hell in a hand basket because I am too educated

Split #2

First Brad and Jen, now Nick and Jessica.... hopefully Tom and Katie will be next....

I love how well my family knows me. My sister-in-law called me from a busy day of work to tell me that CNN.com was reporting the official Nick and Jessica split. This makes me question everything I knew to be true. Was Newlyweds all a lie?!?! A ruse concocted by Jessica's sketchy dad?!?

I heard they were waiting until the release of the 3rd season of Newlyweds in December, but I guess Nick just couldn't stand to be with her anymore.

On a side note, I just prepared my first Thanksgiving turkey. Like a real turkey, with blood and raw skin and stuff. It was gross, but strangely exhilirating to be in charge of the symbol of a national holiday. Oh and I cut off its testicles.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I'd also like give a shout out to the Aiken, SC police force-- up yours!! You didn't catch me this time even though there were a million of you out there yesterday....

War on Brats

As a budding school psychologist I found this article an interesting future conversation piece-- should we berate parents for not being able to keep their babies and toddlers from not screaming in public places? I cringe to think that I was once one of those people; I would sit in a restaurant and glare at the mothers whose kids were screaming and yelling. I would always think, "Why can't they control their kids? They must be bad mothers." Wow, could I not have been anymore wrong.

I'll never forget when at age 18 months, my nephew Matthew discovered his yelling voice. His favorite thing was to get inside a mall with really high ceilings (and therefore the perfect acoutics) before yelling as loud as he could. I would then clap my hand over his mouth, he would bite it, I would scream, take my hand off, he would grin, and then he would scream again. I would look around and see people staring at me and thinking: 1) Look at her, I bet she got pregnant in high school 2) Wow, she's really skinny for having twins and 3) people who can't handle kids shouldn't have them. But really, I'm 23 and could easily have had twins by now-- although since I don't have the money like Kate Hudson to hire a daily personal trainer, I probably would still have the baby weight on. Anyway, I'm a damn good aunt, but there is no way that I could tell an 18-month old to be quiet. But now he's 28 months old and if he starts screaming, I should be able to stop him cause he technically knows better and listens to me. So I guess what I'm getting at is that the child's age should be a factor in our glaring at stressed and frazzled mothers.

Now, back to my article. You can read it (here) to see what I'm talking about. I guess a restaurant has a right to post a sign saying kids need to be well-behaved, but is it really necessary? Here are some examples they cite:

A sign at the restaurant reads, "Children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices when coming to A Taste of Heaven."

Menus at Zumbro Cafe in Minneapolis say: "We love children, especially when they're tucked into chairs and behaving,"

I think it's pretty easy to tell what the atmosphere of an eating establishment is the minute you walk in the door. You can use the old rule of thumb that the less lighting there is, the more money you're gonna have to pay them, and the less happy they are to have kids around. But then what about all the new little cafe/delis popping up? Most of them are well-lit, but clearly do not welcome children. Use your judgement people.

Now onto the flip side:

Kim Cavitt recalled having coffee and a cookie one afternoon with her boisterous 2-year-old when "someone came over and said you just need to keep her quiet or you need to leave."

"We left, and we haven't been back since," Cavitt said. "You go to a coffee shop or a bakery for a rest, to relax, and that you would have to worry the whole time about your child doing something that children do -- really what they're saying is they don't welcome children, they want the child to behave like an adult."

Come on.... You can't use public relaxation places as a location for you to ignore your child's bad behavior. Kim Cavitt is the reason these poor restaurant owners are forced to put up these signs in the first place.

*Take the poll on the right side of the article to read some really good reaction comments from other readers*

Telemarketers

Want to know about this history of telemarketing? Then read this (telemarketing).
But you know what? In spite of all the statistics and reports done, I can't imagine how effective telemarketing really is. Basically, you have a random person in India, who has taken a class in American English and now calls themselves Jack, and give them a headset. People, that headset weilds way too much power for our friend Jack to handle. Jack can now call you at crack of dawn to harass you about credit cards applications or even services you may already have beacuse no one remembered to update Jack's customer list. Take for instance the phone call I received at 9:00 sharp this morning. Now I know what you're thinking-- Sheara, it was 9:00, you should have been awake already-- yeah, well I wasn't. I've been sleep deprived for the past two weeks, and maybe, just maybe, I wanted to sleep in a little today. Mary from Omaha is calling to ask me if I want to switch to Earthlink fast access service. Because I was too sleepy, I didn't have the willpower to tell her to bugger off, nor did I have the prescence of mind to just hang up like I usually do. Or I could have done what my friend Jennie used to do in college when these people called and started to scream hysterically about how my roomate had just jumped out the window and I have to go. Do you think they called 911? Probably not. Probably just dialed the next person on their list. So back to Mary from Omaha. So Mary tells me about how convenient and cheap this will be at $29.99 a month and how they will conveniently add this on to my existing TimeWarner bill. So I'm thinking, damn the TimeWarner people. They're the reason for this call. But then I start thinking, wait, I already have RoadRunner high speed through TimeWarner. So when Mary takes a breath I ask, "Are you competing with RoadRunner?" She says "Oh, you already have RoadRunner? I'll make a note of that. Thanks for your time." Then there's a pause where I'm like, umm...ok.... and then she hung up on me. How on earth can a system like this be an effective method of securing new customers?

Sheara's November Sweeps

So it's that time of the year where my copious amounts of TV watching lead me to compile a list of shows worth watching. As you can tell from the picture (and my ramblings from a previous entry), Grey's Anatomy tops the list for me. For those of you that caught last night's episode-- did you notice that George was wearing the bird's beak on a string around his neck? You gotta love George and basically everyone else on this show. They make everything seem believable and while they are a totally different subject matter from "Lost", I feel that the pace of the two shows are very similar. So here's the top 10:
1) Grey's Anatomy
2) Lost
3) Smallville (this show gets better and better every year)
4) Nip/Tuck (I just don't know how this show can get more twisted, but it does, and it's great!)
5) Gilmore Girls (the banter is great, and the rift between Rory and Lorelai has been an interesting twist)
6) Scrubs (whenever it comes back on again!!!)
7) Desperate Housewives
8) Law & Order: SVU (by far the best of the entire franchise)
9) House (give this one a chance-- amusing every week)
10) The O.C. (sometimes I'm not sure why I'm still watching it, but this past week's episode reminded me why)
11) One Tree Hill (I know this is #11, but it's my guilty pleasure-- cut me some slack, something had to fill the Dawson's Creek void of angst-filled teenage love)

Other shows I don't religiously watch because I am in grad school and can barely keep up with the above list as it is, but I also think are worth watching:
* ER (it's in the 10th year, but with some new faces on the scene, it's still pretty interesting)
* CSI: Las Vegas
* Related (1 of the sisters is really hot, and the dialogue isn't half bad)
* Charmed (they got a new witch and this could potentially stretch the shelf-life of this show)
* What I Like About You (it's the only thing worth watching if you're staying in on a Friday night)

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Did you ever wonder where Angie Aparo went?

Well wonder no further! The Spaceship man is back and just as amazing live as he was when I saw him at Vandy a few years back. For those of you in Nashville, check him out at the TinRoof this Wednesday (11/16). It's a damn shame that this man does not have the exposure that he deserves. He's been playing small venues for years, but I just don't think that his sound is mainstream enough to hold onto a bigger fan base. Apparently his CD "The American" is no longer being released by Arista Records and it is near impossible to find that CD anywhere. The CD table guy was telling me that Angie doesn't even have a copy of that CD (so whoever stole that CD from me back at Vandy, I want it back!!) He did release another CD which is a recording of his "Live X" that he did for the 99X Radio station in Atlanta-- it has a lot of the same songs as "The American" and personally I think he sounds best when he's playing live anyway. You've probably heard one his songs before cause Faith Hill re-recorded his song "Cry." Anyway, I recommend checking this guy out if you get the chance to see him live. Check out his website as well: www.angieaparo.com

In honor of Dave Thomas

How many of you have had a patty melt at the Waffle House? Don't be shy-- you know you've either ordered one, had a bite of someone else's, or at least wished you had gotten one when your waffle came out burnt and cold. Now how many of you have regretted that patty melt an hour later when you can feel that unholy congealed mess sliding through your intestines....? Well fear no more, Wendy's is here! Behold the "Bacon Mushroom Melt." This glorious sandwich is sitting on my desk right now. Gooey cheese, cute little mushrooms, and crispy bacon-- it's all here. I am currently running off of 3 hours of sleep and I'm probably not gonna get more than 4 tonight. Why do I have so much work? Where did it all come from? Why is Grey's Anatomy so addicting? I think I am getting delirious from a lack of sleep. This is after experiencing a weekend full of margarita parties and late night IHOP adventures. I'm tired. Horribly tired. And the trains in Columbia are driving me insane. They sound their horn everytime they go through a major street intersection, which would be ok if it was only once. But over the past few days, every train that goes by every 15 minutes has escalated to holding down the horn for an average length of 5 seconds and an average frequency of 5 horns blasts per train. And there are 4 major street intersections within a 5 mile radius. But somehow none of this really matters. I have the Bacon Mushroom Melt in front of me and in a few hours I am going to start drinking coffee again. Lots of coffee.

This just in from US Weekly....

Sodom and Gomorrah

That's all I can say about Hollywood...

It's getting out of control out there on the West Coast and I'm not sure I can keep up with it anymore. First off I'm poor and I can't afford my celebrity magazine habit, what with all the ones out there now (US Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style, Ok!, People, and who knows how many else) And I swear that I've been going to Barnes and Noble to study, but I keep getting drawn into the headlines:

"Nick and Jessica- Is it OVER?!" [that headline makes me misty-eyed everytime I see some variation of it]

"Jen and Vince- Engaged!"

"Brad and Angelina [insert something about having babies/wedding rings/ adopting babies from every country in the U.N./ Maddox calling Brad "Daddy"]

"Katie under Tom's Spell" [ should be, "Not only did he brainwash her into dating him, but now he's gone and knocked her up too"]

"Ashton tells Demi to get a face lift or he's out!"

Ok, so I made that last one up, but you get the point. No one is safe from the escapades of these crazy people. They're there when you're paying for your milk at the grocery store and they are keeping me from finishing grad school. Maybe I should become a celebrity therapist. I figure at least that way I'll always be guaranteed some work.

Dig out those flannel pj's!!!

Ever heard of a cuddle party? Well you're not alone if you haven't! Most of us would be considered FTC's (First Time Cuddlers).

This is the newest form of inappropriate touching by potential sex offenders to hit the singles scene. Check out one of the websites at www.cuddleparty.com for a complete listing of "The Rules" and how to become a cuddle party facilitator in case you decide to start one in your city. Also learn how to become:
* Cuddle Lifeguards- a select group of amazing individuals who are specially trained and certified in how to facilitate Cuddle Parties.
* Cuddle Caddies- assist the Cuddle Lifeguards. Their job is to help out, by checking people in, answering questions and backing up the Lifeguard. They too are trained, but their training isn't as intense or long as the certification to become a Cuddle Lifeguard. Think of Cuddle Caddies as the flannel sidekicks of the Cuddle Party Dynamic Duo. [taken straight from the webpage- I promise....]

The frequently asked question pages answers important questions such as:
* Will there be a bunch of pajama-wearing weirdos there?
* Do I have to cuddle everybody at the party?
* I only want to cuddle with hot people. How can I make sure that happens?
* What do I do if no one wants to cuddle me?

www.cuddleparty.com

Personally, I'm not sure I want to climb on top of people I've never met before-- who knows what their personal hygiene rountine entails. There are people I've known for years that I wouldn't cuddle with and now I'm supposed to find comfort in a stranger's sweaty arms? I hope I am not offending any readers who have participated in a cuddle party, but I find the whole thing bizarre and somewhat disturbing. Although, we used to have massage trains in high school, and those were the bomb-- as long as you were next to your crush or at the front of the train so you didn't have to massage anyone else. So I don't know guys... what do you say-- cuddle party in JT's basement over Thanksgiving? :)

The Daffy Duck disease

Now I don't know about you, but does anyone out there truly know what the avian flu is? Everyone is scrambling around for the flu shot (I am not advocating against the shot unless you're an Exxon employee that got a shot of purified water last week-- Read about it ) but the flu shot doesn't actually prevent you from getting the avian strain. Here are three things you should know about this disease:

1. Do not pick up any bird poop or attempt to catch it in the air (Sam-- avoid standing next to your car)
2. Avoid any birds or ducks that seem like they've gone crazy
3. Don't go to Asia-- cause apparently every deadly disease or terrorist operation seems to originate from there

But in case you want to know more than these three basic facts, check out this info from the CDC on the avian flu.