Reason Enough to Stay Home on a Friday!

I probably would not have even known the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee was on television tonight if Mum hadn't arrived today. We had a nice dinner and sat down to watch television in a desultory fashion, catching up on a million things being the primary focus.



But then it got funny. I'm sure it will be on Youtube before the end of the week, but it was hysterical to watch live.



In case you aren't a spelling bee aficionado, here is how it works. As each speller comes to the front of the stage to hear their word, their name and statistics are shown on the screen. After the word has been pronounced, it eventually appears on the screen.



So the next contestant shuffled up to the microphone stand and was given the word -- wait for it -- numbnut.



My mother and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, "did he just say Numbnut?" From the confusion on the kid's face, it was clear that he had heard the same thing. He asked for it to be repeated and again, we all heard it -- NUMBNUT. So he started the endless round of allowed questions (part of speech? origin? use it in a sentence? am I pronouncing it right?) until finally, the moderator pronounced it really clearly and the screen revealed the word was actually NUMNAH.



This time we all heard it and the contestant said, "Oh, NUMNAH, I thought you said Numbnut!" The audience finally let loose with a big guffaw.



He spelled it right -- and later said he was glad the word wasn't numbnut as he wouldn't have known how to spell it.



Pure comedy, people -- you don't even want to know how they used huapango in a sentence.



Tell all your single friends, a numnah is a saddle blanket.




XO, JamieSmitten

UPDATE! Numbnut just won!!!!!

Today

muggy
Adjective
[-gier, -giest] (of weather or air) unpleasantly warm and humid

Good thing I'm going on vacation in 10 days!

Tell all your single friends, get out of town before muggy moves in.

XO, JamieSmitten

Tear It Down

When I bought my house in 1996, the neighborhood was called "transitional" by those with hope. Home to crack dealers, vagrants, and thugs, it was not even close to perfect. But it was in my budget and my 1919-built house felt like home the first time I walked in the door.

In fact, the houses of the neighborhood were the reminder of what used to be and what could be again. Not so grand as those to the North and to the East one block away, these houses still had good lines albeit obscured by peeling paint and sagging gutters. They had character.

Slowly, house by house, one new neighbor at a time, improvements began to outweigh neglect. In fact, my street is now charming. Cars slow down to eye the real estate for sale -- the same cars that would have driven quickly down the street with doors locked a decade ago. It feels good when a house sells for three times what I paid.

This week it feels even better. The one remaining eyesore is gone. No more boarded up, rodent infested, rotting building in our midst. The city finally followed through and tore the wreck down. My neighbors and I watched the building come apart without a fight, not quite believing it was really happening.

I kind of hope they leave the steps.


Tell all your single friends, my neighborhood is now officially awesome.


XO, JamieSmitten

I've Lost My Mind

Just as my cold with dry cough and ear pain started to recede, I got a headache. One of those little headaches that sits right in the front of your brain pan and niggles away. Hmmm, I thought. That feels like a caffeine headache. Impossible -- I made myself the usual cafe con leche this morning. In fact, when Boom and I came back from our walk, coffee aroma wafted out the door. Gee, I thought. That's odd. Wonder why I don't smell that every day.

So I get home from work with my trifling little headache and find my untouched cup of coffee sitting on the coffee table. Could have sworn I drank it.

On the plus side, Boom didn't drink the coffee or get a headache.

I can't help thinking that this is sign #2 of my deteriorating mental function. Sign #1 happened a month ago.

Tell all your single friends, the brain cells are the first to go.

XO, JamieSmitten

Half Price Sale This Weekend!

Because the internet is full of little time wasters....


Pow
Go on, you know you want to know.....

Tell all your single friends, charge what you are worth.


XO, JamieSmitten

Happy Mother's Day!

Tell ALL your friends, call your mum!

XO, JamieSmitten

Real TM's Received by Me

Oh! But thanks for the offer!

hottest guy I've ever seen here in front of me at post office, escaped.

Beware! $12 of gas might not get you home!

And my personal favorite of the week:

not getting laid here either. but I did see some big bull balls.

Tell all your single friends, text dirty to me!


XO, JamieSmitten

Spring Can Be Tough

Weather in Virginia can be brutal. Summers are long, hot, and entail sticky humidity. Oh sure, if you live in New Orleans, you can claim to understand, but at least you have To Go Cup privileges to take the edge off. Here in the puritan-like Capital of the Confederacy, we can carry sweet tea.


Winters are usually mild, but every 4 years or so (I'm no meteorologist, so don't look for statistics) we get a doozy of a snowstorm. Again, those of you in Toronto can just shake your heads and say, "call that a snowstorm, eh?" as you continue to travel safely around your city. Here in the South, everything grinds to a halt and you are advised to stay off the roads.


So spring is supposed to be the good season -- never long enough, but respite between high heating bills and high cooling bills. You throw open the windows and take in the lovely breeze scented with honeysuckle and jasmine. Camellias bloom like mad and the hydrangea bushes begin their trek from bedraggled to lush blue blossoms.

But along with that soft breeze come the sounds of the city. I live near a small retail area so the passing scene in front of my house is constant. College kids on bikes, skateboards, and scooters heading to and from class. Well-heeled moms push their massive strollers with their well-heeled (!) golden retrievers trotting beside. Suburbanites edge in and out and in again to ample parallel parking spots. And then there are the crazy people.



Now don't get me wrong -- I'm as crazy as the next gal. The only differentiation is that I keep my crazy inside my house (well, mostly). In my neighborhood there is a large adult residence. I'm not even sure what the criteria is to become a resident, but having slipped the bonds of conventional society is the common theme. Spring time means that the smokers are out in the yard when Boom and I walk before work. I don't begrudge anyone their small pleasure, but these people are some serious smokers, lighting one after the other until a small haze forms.



They are also some serious walkers. Wandering around, buying more cigarettes, oft times carrying on a lively conversation, they are a regular presence. Some are afraid of Boom and cross the street to avoid him. Others make a beeline for him and pat him happily on the head. Boom has always seemed to know when he should just hang around for a pet and not start barking obnoxiously to get back to the walk. It is just part of the daily rhythm of my neighborhood and Boom understands that when we are outside.



But from inside the house with open windows allowing all manner of odd noises to reach him, Boom gets downright perturbed. He leaps up from a full snoring nap at the sound of a car door opening and charges the door to bark fiercely at the startled couple on their way to a $1.99 movie. Then, he turns his head (imagine the sound effect when the Bionic Woman turned her head to listen) and races to the back door because somebody rode a bike over a bump in the back alley.



After all these maneuvers, he returns to me with an expression of faint disapproval clearly visible and breathes heavily on me as he awaits my reaction. He knows I'm going to say, "it's outside Boom. We won't let them in." I know he's going to continue his vigilance.



And we both know that after Neighbor John helps me carry in the window unit from the garage, we'll miss the sounds.

Tell all your single friends, that's spring you are feeling!



XO, JamieSmitten

Hey! That Tickles!

I just checked my bank account and found my Economic Stimulus direct deposit was made on 5/2.

I guess that means I got two types of stimulation on Friday night! (Ba-dum-bum!)

Tell all your single friends, in rugby, #6 is the blindside flanker.

XO, JamieSmitten

Oh No She Didn't!

Oh yes she did.*

Tell all your single friends, it IS like riding a bike.

XO, JamieSmitten

*And he looked a little bit like Jason Statham. Tasty.