My voice is back. It started coming back last Tuesday, and just over a week later, it's still not at 100%. Close, but not quite.

WEC Week

We've been really busy this week. DTS is having its annual World Evangelization Conference (WEC) this week, and the boys have their own Kids' Konference that they've been attending. They've been learning about missions in different countries each day. Tuesday was Canada; Wednesday, Greece; today, Australia. I can't remember what country they'll be "visiting" tomorrow.

While they've been playing, learning, crafting, and eating, I've been attending chapel services and a few 45-minute sessions on missions. Tuesday I went to a talk about "10 Myths about Missions" with my friend Jenny. Wednesday I attended "The Role of the Local Church in Missions". It was okay; there was some good information there, but it wasn't what I expected. Instead of going to one today, I sat out in the warm sunshine and worked on rough drafts of two book reviews I need to get turned in for my self-study program. It was fairly quick work; now I just need to polish them, type them, and email them to my faculty wife advisor. I saw her on campus today and was able to discuss substituting a few books that aren't on the list. I have one review left to write, then I'll finish reading What's So Amazing About Grace?. I've been reading a little on that book for over a year now. It's time to finish! It's a good book, but not one that I can just breeze through. It's a thinking book, and after a chapter or two, I have to put it down and...think. Then I forget that I'm reading it and I get involved in another book, and another book, and another book...

On the homefront, I've been too busy or too tired to get much done. Dishes are piling in the sink because I haven't unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher yet, and laundry is starting to pile up again. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some things done. Or Saturday morning.

Idol Chatter

American Idol isn't hooking me like it has in the past. The guys are pitiful for the most part. The only consistently good guy is Chris Sligh. I really liked Sundance and was sorry to see him go home tonight, even though he has struggled. He sounded better tonight during his farewell performance than he did Tuesday night, but nothing beats his "Mustang Sally" from the week before. He was awesome then, and I had hoped he was making a comeback. I can think of plenty of other guys who should've gone home tonight. Mainly Sanjaya. I think he's got a huge teeny-bopper fan base. (And he's the new pick of Vote for the Worst.) Poor guy. They're gonna push him through, then watch him fall flat on his face. Oh, Jarred was sent home tonight, too. I won't miss him.

As for the girls, I'm so glad that Antonella was sent home tonight. She was the only one of the four sent packing tonight who really deserved to go. Sabrina is good, and I don't understand why people voted for Haley (who?) instead of her. No surprise that Melinda and Lakisha made it to the top 12. They're the top two, respectively. They're the main reasons I'll be watching the rest of the season. When they're gone (if they're gone), I'm done for this season.

Disappointments

Is anyone else as disappointed in Survivor as I am? While I find myself rooting for the constantly losing tribe, I haven't really chosen anyone as a standout pick to pull for. Everyone on the winning team seems really haughty. There are definitely some I don't like, just none that I really do like.

The Amazing Race has let me down this season, too. I thought the all-star race would be a good idea, but I don't like many of the teams they chose. My favorite is Uchenna and Joyce, who won the million a few seasons back. I liked them then, too, but why do they need to compete for another million? If they're going to put previous winners in there, they should've included BJ and Tyler and the Cho brothers. They need to just let me pick my own all-stars... I can't stand Rob-n-Ambuh, mainly Rob. Most of the other teams get on my nerves, too.

Why are so many shows in reruns right now (CSI and CSI: New York), or not being aired (ER) so that something lame can air in its place (The Black Donnelly's)?

I guess this would be a good time to go to bed and get some extra sleep before my last day of WEC Week. I'm helping out with the 4-year-olds tomorrow during the first half of the morning, and I think I'm going to need my energy plus some...

Good night!

Tags: amazing race, american idol, family, survivor

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd drop in for a bit. Things have been really busy around here the last few weeks, and I thought they were going to slow down some this week, but no.

Survivor Finale
I was mistaken about the final voting in my last post. (Why didn't someone correct me?) The jury votes the day after the Final 2 are determined, then the votes are read live at the reunion show. (I told you I was fairly new at this...)

Once I saw what the final immunity challenge was, I didn't figure Terry would win it. He looked like he was struggling some on the first platform. I was surprised that Danielle won it, though. I thought Aras would because he's a yoga instructor - big on balance. (And he didn't get off the platform because Danielle nodded her head, either. He was already a goner!)

Then Danielle stabbed Terry in the back again and took Aras to the Final 2. For Danielle, it didn't matter who she took; she was going to lose either way. (I liked when Jeff Probst asked the jury who would've voted for Danielle if she had taken Terry to the finals and only two people raised a hand. Of course, it was Cirie and Bruce.)

And I gained a new respect for Shane when it was his turn to talk to Danielle and Aras before the vote. He came right out and said neither of them deserved to be there, that Terry deserved to win. He went on to call things like he saw them, and it was so close to the way I saw things! You go, Shane!

Now what will I do while I wait for Survivor: Cook Islands to get going in the fall? After this week, with the finale of The Amazing Race tomorrow night (I'm so glad MoJo is gone. Too bad the frat guys are still in the running.) and ER Thursday night, I won't have anything to watch! And no, I'm not going to watch the rest of this season's American Idol. (Actually I'm tempted to watch the opening of it tonight, just to see if they make any mention of Chris Daughtry's surprise exit...) Maybe I'll start watching more of Food Network so I can pick up some tips to use in my Pampered Chef shows.

Speaking of Pampered Chef...
I've got my first kitchen show scheduled for this Saturday evening! I'm really excited - and nervous! I'll be initiated into the ranks of true consultants by "edu-taining" some of my friends from my Bible study group. It'll be weird because in the group I'm usually quiet, and this time I'll be doing most of the talking. I'll be making a veggie pizza on my new large stone. (I've had the medium stone and the rectangle stone, along with several other stoneware pieces, for several years.)

I've been working on getting some other shows lined up, getting my show binder prepared, and using some of the new products that came with my kit. I've also been writing a script for my shows. Not one to follow verbatim or to read over while I'm presenting, but mainly to know in advance what I want to cover and how I want to say it. No, I'm not going to try to memorize it, either. That'll just doom me! Oh, and I've made a basic show outline to follow that I can slip in the back cover of my binder if I need some prompting with what comes next. I don't think I've taught anything since I quit teaching middle school 5 years ago, but I'm sure it'll all come back to me after I've done a few shows.

10 Things I Do Every Day
It's been a while since I participated in a meme, but today's Ten on Tuesday looked good. Here are 10 things I do every day:
1. Hit the snooze button on my alarm clock at least once. On Sundays I hit it multiple times.
2. Take a shower.
3. Brush my teeth. Twice. (But not twice in the morning.)
4. Make my bed. And Caleb's.
5. Check my email and visit my usual websites: my bloglist, The Sudoku Challenge, Set Daily Puzzle, Quiddler, and FlyLady.net.
6. Prepare meals for my family, whether I cook a meal or just fix sandwiches.
7. Keep my sink shining (a tip I learned from the FlyLady). I don't leave any dishes in my sink. I either put them directly into the dishwasher or wash them and set them aside to dry. I even unload the dishwasher the morning after I run it instead of leaving them in there for a day or two and taking out what I need. I've been doing this for over a month now!
8. Wash/dry/put away a load of laundry. If I let one day slip, I'm okay, but if I let it go for two days, I feel like I'm being buried in dirty clothes.
9. Play with the boys. Sometimes we play with the toys in their room, sometimes we play computer games together, sometimes we read books. Occasionally we go to the park or the zoo. Today we're going with our play group to Texas Discovery Gardens. We've never been there before, but it looks like it'll be a good science day for us. Depending on what we find there, we may make a few field trips there next year while Caleb is studying bugs and plants.
10. Watch TV. On weekdays it's my soaps and sometimes Jeopardy!. At night it's whatever my regular shows are, or whatever reruns are good. Many times we end up watching reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which Caleb loves. On weekends, it just depends. There's usually a good movie on somewhere. If not, we'll watch one of our own.

So, what are 10 things you do every day?

Her name was Mallory, and she wanted to play racquetball with me yesterday. I'm not sure why an Irish Setter was inside the fitness center, but there she was, leashed and standing behind the clear back wall of my racquetball court, barking at the little blue ball I was hitting around the room. When the ball went left, so did she; when it went right, she eagerly followed. Her excited barking caught the attention of some other club members, and before too long there was a crowd of 7 or 8 people watching Mallory "chase" my ball as I played. It was funny, but kind of embarrassing - having all those people watching my spastic attempts to hit that ball again and again. At least I didn't notice who was there. My safety goggles blur my vision more than not wearing my glasses, so nothing was really clearly visible. I am sure that Mallory was an Irish Setter, though. Those are one of my favorite types of dog.

Top Ten List
Speaking of Irish Setters, I feel like launching in to my own top ten list - Ten Favorite Dog Breeds. Want to play along?

1. Greyhound
2. Afghan (dog, not blanket)
3. Irish Setter
4. Golden Retriever
5. Boxer
6. Daschund
7. Sharpei (I love the wrinkles!)
8. Great Dane
9. Weimeraner (gorgeous blue eyes!)
10. Komondor (looks like a dog with dreadlocks!)

Notice there aren't too many small dogs on there? I like 'em big - and unique. If I could own the dog of my choice, it would be a greyhound. I'd love to be able to afford to rescue greyhounds that can no longer race. They're so beautiful and graceful, and I think they're supposed to have good dispositions.

Idol Chatter
So Paris has left us. I liked her singing voice, but she could get pretty annoying. I'm sure she's going to be making a record soon.

I'd like to see Taylor go next, but if things keep playing out like they have been, it'll be Elliot. Speaking of Elliot, I enjoyed his version of Michael Buble's "Home". "On Broadway", not so much. I was more impressed with Taylor's second song (a Beatles tune) than his first one. He's too spastic at times. He needs to entertain in Vegas or Branson. I think most people like him because of his "moves", but they're not going to be seeing them on the radio.

Katherine didn't do very well on either song, but she's usually good. She'll probably be in the top 2 against my all-time favorite, Chris. He did well on his first song, but the second one wasn't that great. Did he learn nothing from Andrea Bocelli? Maybe he should've practiced that one laying on the floor so he wouldn't have been singing from his throat and ending up cracking a little.

Next week is Elvis week, one I'm not particularly looking forward to. It'll probably be a good week for Taylor and a bad one for Elliot. By the way, does anyone know if each contestant will be singing two songs, or will they just sing one and have a 30-minute show?

The Other Two
I've recently become a big Survivor (my second season to watch), but I don't think I've written anything about it. Here's the short version: I miss Austin, Nick, and Sally. I was really hoping they'd be able to hold it together against the "other" tribe, but they were cast off one by one by one. Now we're down to the final four: Terry (my favorite), Cirie (my second favorite now), Danielle (the backstabbing user), and Aras (the jerk). The latter 3 have been too wise to Terry's game. He'd most likely win if he could've taken Courtney or Shane to the final two, but the other tribemates have sent them packing the last two weeks. Now he's up against some tougher competition for popularity. (I think he definitely scored big points with Shane on last night's episode, including him and his son on the overnight to a house and lots of food. He scored points with Cirie, too, letting her husband stay overnight at camp. Terry really made good choices.)

Let's talk strategy: Terry still has the immunity idol for next week, so technically he doesn't have to win the immunity challenge. But, if he does win the challenge, he can handpick one person to take to the final three. If he loses it, it could be anyone. I really see Terry making it to the final two, just because he's stronger than everyone else. The only real threat to that is Aras, but I think Terry can pull it out.

Then there's the final two. Let's say Terry does make it. Who does he take with him?
Cirie is probably more likeable than any of them; she may win over Terry, who has ruffled some feathers and frustrated other tribemates with his constant winning.
Danielle is not liked by everyone because her backstabbing is obvious. Terry may win over her.
Aras is liked by some; not by others. It's a hard call.

So what about the jury members:
Austin - a pretty sure vote for Terry; maybe for Cirie or Danielle; undecided about Aras
Sally - another pretty sure vote for Terry; possibly for Cirie or Danielle; probably not for Aras
Bruce - maybe a vote for Terry; more likely to vote for Aras or Danielle
Courtney - pretty certain she'd vote for Terry after being ridiculed by her "solid" tribemates, then stabbed in the back by them
Shane - he owes Terry for his night with his son, plus his "solid" tribemates stabbed him in the back

I think that's all of them. Of who's still remaining, I think Cirie would vote for Aras or Terry, but not Danielle. Danielle would probably vote for Aras or Cirie, but not Terry (even though she's ready to use him now to get to the final three). Aras would vote for anyone but Terry.

Another thing to consider: the final vote is live, after the shows have aired. All the contestants get to see all the episodes, the interviews, etc. Seeing some things may change their thinking in the end.

My vote, like it really even counts: Terry.

I'm a long-time fan of The Amazing Race, although I didn't enjoy watching the family edition last season. It wasn't that interesting since they stayed mostly in the U.S., all the teams I liked were eliminated early, and the team that won was one of my least favorites.

It took me a while to get into this season, but it has proven itself again. I had a hard time picking a team this go around, but I've settled on the hippies. They're fun, they're not mean-spirited, and they've really enjoyed all the places they've visited. They took the time to see things, not rush around with their sole focus being to win. Unfortunately the team I can't stand (and haven't liked from the beginning), the perverted frat boys, have been doing really well. (I haven't watched my tape of this week's episode, so please don't tell me what happened!) Of the teams left, I only like the hippies. At least Fran and Barry, the retired couple, made it to 5th place. I enjoy seeing the older, experienced teams go far in the race.