The Twilight Zone

G'day, folks! Welcome to this edition of the Blog!

We'll kick things off with a re-cap of Grey's Anatomy - which was apparently the only show in the world that didn't take a "break" last week. We found ourselves amidst the after-math of the whole "Merdith-drowned-and-came-back-to-life-but-her-mom-died" story arc. Mer seems to be handling her near-death experience and her mother's passing quite well. She even agreed to have dinner with her estranged father and step-mother, who wanted to reach out to her in her time of grief. And yes, there were many awkward moments during the dinner (especially when her father described a photo of what he thought was his other daughter Molly, and Meredith interrupted, saying, "No, Dad, that was me.") But Meredith did seem to really connect with her father's second wife, and I think we'll see Meredith finally become a part of a "real family" in the future.

Alex moved in with Meredith & Izzie - and I still think he's just about THE hottest thing to ever breathe. He's making Izzie uncomfortable, so who knows - sparks could be flying for them again before we know it!

George & Callie had a huge fight, after she revealed to him that she's sitting on a gold mine, and that's how they're able to afford the luxurious hotel suite they've been staying at. Callie also threw out the idea that she thinks Izzie has the hots for her new husband, and that's why she's so dead-set against their marriage. This built up to the most heart-wrenching moment of the night for me: when George laughed at her and said, "Oh come on...She's Izzie! She's blonde, and she's stacked, she was a model!...She'd never be interested in me!" His words absolutely crushed Callie, and I totally related. George didn't mean to hurt her, but basically what he said was, "I can't get someone like Izzie, so I've settled for someone like you." So yeah, she was completely justified in kicking him out. I adore George, but that was just too mean!!

Unfortunately for Callie, the one George went to to vent was, in fact, Izzie. They drank together while she listened to him pour his heart out and offered him advice, despite her hatred for Callie, and before we know it, George & Izzie are in bed together. Yep, you heard right. George & Izzie. In bed together. I have no idea what's going to happen next...But I don't like Izzie & George together, so I hope they clean up that mess, and quickly!!

Oh, and Cristina's ex-boyfriend, who happens to be an old, ugly British guy, was in town, screwing things up with her & Burke, and also intensifying the race to become Chief. Poor old Richard had his Attendings fighting all over the halls of the surgical wing at Seattle Grace, and all of them trying to one-up each other and impress the new guy. The Chief wasn't pleased. I'm starting to wonder if the Chief will ever find a replacement! Can't wait to see what happens...

On to The Amazing Race. Or should I say, The Twilight Zone. Remember last week, how horrified I was that Rob & Amber were eliminated after they were beaten to the mat by Mirna & Schmirna?? Well, this week the Shrieky Cousins finished in first!! Unbelievable!! It was their first-ever "first place finish" on the Race, and I just hated them all the more!

This week I missed the first fifteen minutes, but I tuned in in time for the Roadblock, where one team member had to use a gigantic trained rat to find a buried flag marker. Most of the teams were initially freaked out by the massive rodents, but they never had to touch them, and they actually seemed kinda cute & cuddly! Mirna & Schmirna's rat didn't co-operate the best, and after the Roadblock, it appeared they were in dire straits.

However, thanks to some bad navigating by my boy Eric, a couple of teams got lost on the way to the Detour, where they had to choose between loading 10 bags with coal and delivering one bag to a local, or offering manicures to people in the market to accumulate a certain amount of money. Most teams chose to do the coal, and to be honest, I think I would have too - however, it turned out that the nail-painting was actually a very easy task, and those who chose it finished at the top of the pack. Sweetest moment of the night goes to Dustin & Kandice after they painted a cute little girl's nails, even though she had no money.

Eric & Danielle, who are my last remaining "favourite team", looked like they were in big trouble when they were last team left filling the bags of coal, but fortunately for them, Uchenna and Joyce got lost delivering their bag, and they even almost beat Team Guido (their new arch-nemesis) to the mat. Uchenna & Joyce did come in last, but Phil offered them a reprieve with the first non-elimination round, and they will be marked for elimination next week, so they must finish in first or suffer a 30-minute penalty.

So there's your recaps, folks! I hope everyone had a great St. Paddy's Day - Gavan's was crazy-fun, and I have some pics up on Facebook, so if you're on there, look me up and check 'em out!

Be There or Be Square!!

So we're all boys to Quyon,
Put on your best clothes!
We're a-headin' for a-Quyon,
Where the Ottawa flows.
Where there's music and dancing,
And all hands around!
We're a-headin' for a-Quyon,
My old stomping grounds!

That Gail Gavan song always makes me think of St. Paddy's Day at Gavan's. I'm not sure why. It's not a song from her Irish collection; in fact, I think it's probably from her "Love of the Valley" Volume 1 tape. But when I'm at Gavan's on Sunday, and the place is packed to the rafters, and I'm running into people from all over the Valley, that's the tune I'll be humming in my head.

So yes, in case you didn't already know, the famous St. Pat's party at Gavan's is on Sunday, starting at 1 and running all afternoon & into the evening, until God only knows when. There's just something about being at Gavan's on a Sunday afternoon, with the sun beaming through the windows, and everyone drunk & rowdy & friendly - it's a special day, and I can't wait! I'm not a big fan of the "big side" on St. Paddy's - it's so crowded, you can barely move. But the "small side" - now that's where the real fun is! A small group of musicians playing fiddles and guitars, and most of the locals crammed around tables and standing up at the bar. You can kind of just find a spot to plant yourself, and then have fun as people tour around and stop to say hello.

People come from far and wide for the famous (infamous?) celebration - it's the one big party that always puts Gavan's - and Quyon - on the map. It's also amazing how everyone discovers their Irish roots and come decked out in green from head to toe. As you can tell, I'm really excited...And I hope to see you all there!

Those Pesky Penguins

I love my Ottawa Senators. You guys all know that. So I was tremendously pleased last night when they came back from a 2-0 deficit vs. the New York Rangers to win the game 3-2. Yes, they actually held on to a third period lead, rather than blowing it. Ray Emery was stellar in nets, and they fought hard to get back in the game after a lacklustre first period.

But you know what kinda takes the shine off a solid win like that? Finding out that those pesky Pittsburgh Penguins just won't die. Ever!! Like, c'mon!! How many times in the past month have they come back in a game to take it to Overtime or a Shootout? Seems like every second night, they're doing it again. Last night it was against the Buffalo Sabres. I was trusting Buffalo to take care of them for me, so that I could have a 3-point cushion in the East, but noooooo. They let them get the 2 points in a Shootout. The buggers.

I admire these kids in Pittsburgh. I really do. In fact, I had even selected to cheer them on as my second favourite team in the NHL, until they decided to go and become my biggest competition. Of course, I've had to sever my ties with them since then. There's just no room in my heart for 2 hockey teams, I guess. But I'm having trouble trying to figure out when they went from being a bit of a joke - a basement-dwelling team last season, to one of the hottest up-and-coming clubs the NHL has ever seen. Yes, I know they have explosive youth in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury. And they loaded up at the trade deadline, acquiring experience in Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque. They've got spunk, they've got heart, they've got youthful exuberance.

And they're killing me!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I think they're awesome. But more and more each day, they're reminding me of a pesky little brother that won't just get lost! So cute & adorable for a little while, but then they just become a complete pain in the ass! It's driving me nuts! How can they keep coming back to win games in OT and Shootouts? They just never quit...And if you're a Pittsburgh fan, that's awesome.

But if you're a Sens fan...It kinda sucks!

The Injustice Of It All

Ever have one of those moments when you're left thinking: Hey! That's not fair!! ??

Well, that's the kind of weekend I had - just full of moments of great injustice.

We'll start with Thursday night's episode of Survivor. Guess what? My tribe - that poor tribe I picked right off the bat to be my "favourite - well...they lost again. Both challenges. And in the first one, for reward, they lost miserably. It was almost painful to watch. Especially after watching the other team gloat & rub it in their faces upon arriving for the challenge, and after watching Rocky try to light a fire under his tribe by challenging Dreamz in the first match-up. Dreamz squashed him. And then every member of the "Luxury Tribe" followed suit, absolutely pummeling the Losers into oblivion. The only member of the Losers to score a point? That would be - get this - Yau Man!! The spindly, scrawny, old, be-spectacled Asian man, and he beat a spindly, scrawny young Asian chick. Not exactly a huge victory, but for a moment, his tribemates were smiling.

In the Immunity Challenge, they faired a wee bit better in the memory game, coming very close to actually winning it. But whether from food deprivation, dehydration, or being psychologically beaten down so many times that they don't know how to do anything but lose, they had several brain cramps, and in the end, the other team stole the victory out from beneath them. And all I could think was: This just isn't fair.

Next up was the Sens vs. Leafs game on Saturday night. After watching the Sens whoop the Laffs on Thursday night, I was sure we had this game in the bag. And after taking a 3-1 lead into the third period, I was already planning on how I was going to prance around the office today and rub it in the Leaf fans' faces. But as usual, I got too cocky too soon, and my poor ol' Sens blew another 3rd period lead, losing 4-3 in OT. Guess who scored the OT winner? Darcy Tucker. The one hockey player in the world that I hate the most. Sooooo not fair.

Sunday night was The Amazing Race, and my prediction was correct: Rob & Amber screwed up royally. And I think if I was Amber, I could look back on the tapes and lay the blame solely on Rob's shoulders. Their biggest slip-up was in the Detour, when they chose to build a sign post listing in order all of Magellan's stops in his trip around the world (or something like that...) - and spelling was important. So of course, Rob spelled "Phillippines" wrong - "Phillipeans". The camera flashed on it a hundred times with foreboding music playing...Duh-duh-duuuuuuh. But they never figured it out, which completely baffled me. Knowing that spelling counted, I think the first thing I would have done was gone through all the names to check they spelling. Anyways, they eventually gave up and took the much easier task of navigating with a compass to find their next clue.

At this point, they were still very much in the race, albeit at the back of the pack. Rob's next big blunder came during the Roadblock, when he had to sift through letters to find one of only two letters addressed to them in a bag of 1,600 pieces of mail. It came down to him battling with Mirna & Schmirna, in all their shrieky glory, and Rob got sloppy again. He was more concerned with looking over his shoulder at what the Mirna was doing and trash-talking rather than concentrating on the task at hand. I swear, he didn't even flip half the letters over to see the label, and he was tossing most of them on the floor without a second glance. Needless to say, Mirna & Schmirna got the jump on them and managed to finish ahead of them, so Rob & Amber, who had previously finished first in three straight legs, were eliminated. Not fair. Not fair at all.

After the huge Amazing Race let-down, I flipped over to Much Music, where they were airing their 50 Sexiest Videos. They happened to be on #21. It was Justin Timberlake's Sexyback. Some of you may already know how much I love that song. I don't even really like that kind of music, but I love that song. And it was #21?????? On the list of 50 Sexiest Videos? Huh????? The song is called Sexyback, for God's sake!! And Justin Timberlake is in it! It should have ranked in the top 5, if not #1!! Geeez!! So not fair, it's not even funny!!

And that about sums up the injustice of it all. Have a great day!

"Remembering Wheels"

OK, would you believe I have ZERO time to write a Blog today? So I've elected to copy & paste a story I read a few weeks back on the TSN website. The story was called "Remembering Wheels" by TSN columnist James Duthie, and I thought most of you probably haven't read it, so I wanted to share it with you. Get your Kleenex box handy for this one, folks...

James Duthie
2/20/2007 11:35:56 PM

If you could watch one hockey player, past or present, play a game, who would it be?

Gretzky at 21? Orr with knees scar-free? The Rocket, at his angry, eyes blazing best? Crosby, right now?

I'm often asked that question. And I was never sure of the answer. Until now.

It is none of the above.

If I could watch one player lace up the skates and play a game, I would choose a skinny left-winger from Guelph, Ontario.

A player who moved so fast, they called him Wheels.

A terrific hockey mind who, by the age of 10, had already patented his own move: carrying the puck swiftly into the opposing zone, then spinning around and sending it back to his point man, leading to countless chances for his team.

A leader, so popular in the room, a former coach says when he walked in for practise, there would be a chorus of "Sit here! Sit next to me!"

A coach's dream, always shining his shoes to make sure he looked proper when he arrived at the rink. And so obsessed with being on time, he wore a digital watch with a face big enough to dwarf his little arms.

An offensive dynamo who scored 12 goals in one 7-game span this season, amazing considering he always preferred being a playmaker.

A natural athlete who was also a whiz at soccer, football, track, and pretty much everything he tried.

An always smiling charmer who, even when he tried to boast, couldn't help but turn it into a joke.

"I'm the best athlete in my school," he once said. "Then again, my school is really small."

A kid who lived and breathed hockey from the second he woke 'til the moment he hit the pillow, exhausted after playing hours a day.

But here's the rub.

This hockey player I'd love to see play again...

I never saw him play.

Everything I know about him comes from the stories I've been told over the past week by teammates, coaches, friends, and family.

His name was Nicholas Lambden.

Two Sundays ago, he was doing something every one of us who has played outdoor pick-up hockey has done hundreds of times: digging for a puck in the snow. A shot from a nearby game struck him in the head.

It was a freak, million to one accident. And it killed him.

Nick was 10 years-old.

10 years-old.

Last Friday, the Guelph Atom AA Junior Storm should have been excitedly preparing for the next round of their playoffs. Instead, they were walking up the aisle of a church, past the coffin with their teammate's #12 sweater draped over it, laying their sticks next to Nick's.

Later, they'd talk about how happy he'd been after scoring the tying goal late in what would be a thrilling OT win that past Saturday. His last game.

Nick loved hockey. Loved the Leafs. Worshipped Mats Sundin (Though Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were right up there too).

He dreamed of being just like them. Of someday being talked about on TSN. Consider it done, Wheels.

I thank all of his friends for sharing their memories.

But each new gut-wrenching phone call, each heart-breaking email that pops up in the inbox, makes me wish I could have met Nick, and watched him play the game he loved so much.

And makes me curse the fact I never will.

Our thoughts remain with Nicholas's mother Susan, father Andrew, and sister Madison. This week Nick's team will resume their playoffs wearing black armbands with the #12 on them. They also hope to spread the message that everyone who plays outdoor hockey should always wear a helmet. Always.

James Duthie can be reached at jduthie@tsn.ca.

The 100th Post!!

The Blog just turned 100!

My, how our little Blog has grown, hasn't it?? Seems like just yesterday I finally got up the nerve to set up Jill's World, and now here we are, already 100 posts old! Unbelievable!

Today should be a celebration of the Blog, so I don't want to bring things down by talking about my poor ol' Sens and their latest disturbing trend of blowing third-period leads. However, I would like to mention the cornucopia of "subjects" that have made the Blog a success, and that does include the Senators, and hockey talk in general. There has also been my favourite TV shows: Grey's Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Rockstar Supernova, and Big Brother. I've also done a few CD reviews for Hinder, Rockstar Supernova, and Chris Daughtry; "concert reviews" for The Town Pants, Steve Agnew & Branded, and In Safe Hands; a book review of an Elie Wiesel novel which I now can't remember the name of...and so much more! Hey, remember the "security breach" back in December when I decided to make you all sign up with a password to eliminate "no-name" Bloggers? That was friggin' cool! Heck, the Blog even had a baby when Stacy & Ricky's little Madyson arrived last month! We've been through a lot here at Jill's World!

The 100th Post would not be complete without a shout-out to all my faithful Bloggers: Sara, Sharon, Priscilla, Stacy (now off on maternity leave, but with us in spirit!), Ricky, Kathleen, Sarah, Rachel, Lindsay, Chris, Luke & Kenny (who can no longer post, but are still out there reading too), and to anyone else I may have forgotten...THANK YOU for your contributions, whether they have been few or many! And to my lurkers out there, who enjoy reading but choose not to comment - thanks for dropping by and for making the Blog worthwhile!

It hasn't been that long, but I have trouble remembering what life was like before the Blog. Now I spend my days wondering, "What should I write about today?" and keeping my eyes peeled for interesting tidbits or stories to share with you. My biggest fear when I started writing Jill's World was that no one would read it and I'd spend my days chit-chatting with myself. However, you guys all jumped on-board and have made it a really fun place to "hang out" and chat...and that's really what the Blog is all about.

So Happy 100th Post, everyone, and I hope to see you all here for the 200th!! :)

Rob & Amber: UNSTOPPABLE!!

No Grey's Anatomy last week, and Kenny still hasn't seen FNL as far as I know, so the only recaps I have for you are Survivor and The Amazing Race!

Survivor

Remember when I said the only person out there in Fiji that I had any love for was Rocky, but that could all change? Well, it's changed. I don't like him anymore. He threw a massive hissy fit this past week, and then decided to dress up like a girl to suck up afterwards. Not my style at all. Plus, his tribe seriuosly does suck. They lost both challenges again, but were offered a slight reprieve when the other tribe had a serious decision to make after winning Immunity - they either had to give up their comfy camp to keep Immunity, or stay on their luxury beach and risk the wrath of Tribal Council.

They chose to go to TC, which seemed a silly decision since Papa Smurf had just been med-evac'd from the game. (Isn't that such a cool term, though? "Med-evac". I want to get med-evac'd!) Anyways, after ol' Mr. Smurf was boated on outta there due to having a "funny head" and difficulty breathing, and then losing the flirtatious Liliana at TC, that leaves them tied with their lowly competitors over on Loser Beach. On the other hand, I don't blame them for not wanting to give up their cozy little camp - they really are living in the lap of luxury over there, and sacrificing that to keep their tribe together might have been enough to give the other tribe some motivation and push them to actually win something.

But I doubt it.

The Amazing Race: All-Stars

I was too hung-over and sleepy Sunday night to stay awake for the Race, but thankfully I caught the repeat on OLN last night, so I'm all caught up with the All-Stars!

Have I mentioned before that I hate Mirna and Schmirna? I mean, loathe, detest, hate them. They're seriously driving me nuts with their Holier-than-thou attitude and the way they just shriek soooo much. Plus, someone should tell them that when they're in another country where no one speaks English, speaking loudly with an accent does not help people understand them any better.

Rob & Amber placed first again, for the third straight leg, and appear to be in the driver's seat; although, the sneak peek at next week's episode has me wondering if there's going to be a major upset. Apparently it's going to be the "finish that everyone's talking about" - and I have a strange feeling Rob & Amber are going to be eliminated. I really, really hope not, though. They really are the only team I have any heart for. I thought I liked Eric & Danielle, but after watching her squeal and freak out over having to touch fish last night, I'm not so sure anymore. Plus, Eric has his nipples pierced. Both of them. Ewwww. He does have a cute little face, though!

The Beauty Queens made a big faux-pas last night when the missed the clue for the Detour. They found the rafting boats before they found the clue, so they just did the rafting and thought there was no Detour. They landed on the mat in 4th, but Phil sent them back to find the clue they missed. Miraculously, they found it quickly and by the time they returned, they were still in 4th.

At the end of the day, it was Team Kentucky that landed in last place and were sent home by the Philiminator. Meh, big deal. Dave & Mary seemed lost without their Cho Brother buddies, so it's probably better off that they're gone. Besides, I was afraid Mary might takle Schmirna if she was around much longer.

Other than the shows, it was a great weekend! I had an awesome time at Brandan & Amanda's reception Saturday night, dancing and drinking (a little too much). I had what I'm calling a "drunken panic attack" at the end of the night when my camera went missing, and I wandered around in tears looking for it before Adam finally handed it over. I'm still not sure if he really found it under his table or if he was purposely hiding it from me, but for a few minutes there, he was my hero.

I hope you all had a great weekend too!! Take care, gang!

The Blah Blog

Yesterday may have been the least-commented-upon Blog yet. Pretty sad, folks. I even wrote about hockey. Usually the hockey Blogs get the best responses. I guess I'm failing as your friendly resident Blogger. I'm not writing interesting enough stuff. I'm not keeping you on the edge of your seats, waiting with hungry anticipation for the next Blog.

Or maybe y'all are out there, actually reading, but not bothering to post.

Whatever the case may be, I apologize for not providing a more entertaining Blog.

So today, as you can probably already see, I don't have anything to write about. This is not a step in the right direction to liven the Blog up, I know. But usually Thursdays are FNL Blogs; however, Kenny, who is holiday-ing in the sunny South, requested that I not Blog about FNL until he has seen it. And I don't think any of the rest of you even read the FNL Blogs, so what's the point? Besides, I didn't watch it yet myself.

I could tell you about the Sens game last night, but I only saw the first ten minutes and the last period. I am very grateful for the four points Carolina has handed over to us in the past two days - muchly appreciated, Canes. How did freakin' Saprykin do, you ask? I have no idea...In the small amount of hockey I watched, I didn't even notice him. Sugar Ray Emery got the shut-out, his fifth of the season, and all is well in the Sens World. And yes, for those of you wondering, Wade Redden looked sexy as hell.

Oh, Happy First Day of March, gang! Apparently it's coming in like a lion, with a snowstorm in the forecast for tonight. So that may screw up my shopping plans for tomorrow. Anyways...I really have nothing else to say. Have a great day, and enjoy the sunshine, 'cause we may not see it again for a few days!

I'm Freakin' for Saprykin

...OK, maybe not. I just think it's so cool that I now have a player who's last name rhymes with freakin'.

So yesterday was the NHL Trade Deadline Day, and the Sens came away with Oleg Saprykin from the Phoenix Coyotes, for a 2007 3rd round pick, I believe. Now, this morning on the Team 1200, they were kind of freakin' over Saprykin, but not in a good way. They were all up in arms over the fact that we didn't even attempt to land someone like Bill Guerin or Gary Roberts. I know I'm not exactly a hockey analyst, and I usually just judge players by how hot they are, but aren't Bill Guerin & Gary Roberts kinda old?? What good are they going to do in the future? Sure, they might help in the playoffs this year, but what if their old brittle bodies collapse? What good are they then? And am I willing to give up my little Patty Eaves to get 'em? No way! I love that kid!

So, on the flip side, we got a guy who's 26 years old, a former first-round pick (11th overall), and who was having a career year in Phoenix as their second-highest point-scorer. (Yes, Phoenix is a crappy team and it doesn't take much to be their second-highest point-scorer, but still...) It sounds like this guy's got a lot of up-side, and he's still young, and he's also already been to the Cup finals, so he brings a little playoff experience to boot. Personally, I'm quite happy with my Deadline acquisition!

(And yes, I did notice that Pittsburgh loaded up yesterday...So maybe they will make the playoffs after all...hee hee...)

Last night, we took on the Carolina Hurricanes, and stormed 'em in the third period for a 4-2 victory. With Marty Gerber in nets. And with Anton Volchenkov scoring his first goal of the season. And with Wade Redden getting the game winner. And I was pumped. I was a little shocked when, with the score 1-0 Ottawa, I flipped over to watch a minute - literally 1 minute -- of Phil's show, and when I flipped back it was 2-1 Carolina. I didn't flip anymore after that. Apparently the Sens don't like it when I watch opera instead of them, and they just quit playing when my eyes aren't on them. Anyways, the re-match is tonight in O-town, and Mr. Saprykin will be in the line-up. So everyone will be freakin' for Saprykin!

...Or maybe not.

Sugar Ray Emery RULES!!

OK, so I know this Blog might be a little passé, but I haven't had a chance to post about it yet, and I can't just pretend it never happened. I mean, it was the best hockey game of the season, and probably caused the most buzz around the NHL in a long, long time.

That's right, folks. I'm talking about Fight Night In Buffalo, starring those silly ol' Sabres and the Almighty Ottawa Senators!!

So you've probably already heard all about it, possibly seen the highlights, maybe you even watched the re-match. But I'm going to talk about it anyways. All hell broke loose last Thursday night in Buffalo, after Chris Neil laid out a - shall we call it "debatable"? - hit on Chris Drury. (For the record, I thought the hit was clean. Half-a-second late, but if Drury hadn't been admiring his pass, he would have been better prepared to take the hit, and likely wouldn't have gone careening through the air and smucked his head on the ice. It wasn't intentionally nasty, it wasn't an intent to injure. But that's just my take.)

So then, Lindy Ruff (who I would like to nominate for Most Annoying Coach Ever After Pat Quinn) sends out his goons for the next shift to "send a message" or whatever the hell they call it to justify his retarded actions, and had the likes of Andrew Peters & Adam Mair chasing around one of our best lines of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley & Mike Comrie. Litereally chasing. Of course, a full-throttle rumble then broke out, with everyone on the ice pairing off, and Ray Emery & Martin Biron meeting each other half-way in a rarely-seen, but much-anticipated, goalie duel. Guess who won? Sugar Ray Emery, of course! But then Andrew Peters came over to tangle with him after Biron was already down and out. Oh, and at this point, I think the coaches were screaming at each other over panes of plexiglass, and might have killed each other if Rob Ray hadn't been standing between them.

So much to talk about. Such an exciting game. I can't even begin to get into it all, but I will say that I was happy with my team and the way they handled themselves, and I was delighted that Lindy was slapped with a $10,000 fine for his thuggery. And even better, we managed to hang on for the win in the re-match Saturday night, and on top of it all, both Chris Neil & Brian McGrattan won decisively in their match-ups against Adam Mair & Andrew Peters.

And if Ray Emery wasn't already a fan favourite in Ottawa, when he dropped the gloves against Biron and wore a smile throughout BOTH of his fights, he won just about everyone over.

AWESOME!!!

OK - so Grey's Anatomy kind of paled in comparison to all of this on Thursday night, believe it or not. I think I have to re-watch it to get the full effect of it. But the good news is Meredith didn't die; her mother did. And while that's I'm sure devestating for her, at least she got to say good-bye to her mom when she crossed into the Hospital Heaven place that Mer had been hanging out in with Denny, Dylan, and a few other dead patients who had an impact on her.

Most touching moment of the night went to Denny, who explained to Meredith that when he & Izzie are in the same place at the same time, he can almost feel her, and they have this moment. Then they actually showed Izzie & Denny having one of these moments, and it was heart-wrenching. So beautiful and bittersweet. I loved it.

On to Survivor: I'm really not that into it yet this season, and the tribe I "picked" have lost pretty much everything. This week they had to eat some crazy-ass Fiji delights to win reward, but apparently because they don't have any spit in their mouths, they can't swallow. And then they had to go down a big Slip-N-Slide and toss a ball into a basket 6 times to win Immunity, but that didn't go so well for them either. Surprise, surprise. Probably because they wanted to drink the water they were sliding in or something. But the good news is this little pipsqueak of a girl made a fire, so they should get some of their strength back now, God love them.

And on the Amazing Race, everyone hates Rob & Amber. Shocker. But they just keep finishing in first. Loving it! I was glad to see Kevin & Drew go. I think that Drew guy seriously wasn't all there or something. After Kevin tied himself to the car to pull them out of a mudhole, and then Drew just kept driving, practically dragging Kevin along, I was like, "Dude! Something's not quite right with that guy!" Mirna and Smirna are driving me nuts. They're shrieky and loud and obnoxious, and I can't wait for them to get eliminated. Aside from Rob & Amber and Eric & Danielle, I don't have a whole lot of love for any of these teams.

Alright, so I haven't really gotten into detail on anything, but I've touched on everything, and that's all I have time for! Everyone have a great day!

Three Different Kinds of Dads

Last night's episode of Friday Night Lights was really a showcase on parenting, and what a father should or should not be like.

We'll begin with Mr. Buddy Garrity, the owner of one of Dillon, Texas' most prosperous businesses, and a real big-shot around the town (or at least he'd like to think so). As a past "high school football hero", he is involved with the Dillon Panthers, and he is like a little birdie sitting on Coach Taylor's shoulder, chirping in his ear all the time about what is right for the team. His daughter, Lyla, is also a cheerleader for the Panthers.

A few weeks ago, he hired Tyra's mom as a receptionist at this car dealership, and since then began an affair with her. However, Buddy's conscience got the best of him, and he confessed his sins to the Coach, who ordered him to end the relationship with Tyra's mom and do what's best for his family, which Buddy promptly did by apologetically firing the mom and wooing his wife with kisses and flowers. What Buddy wasn't counting on, though, was Tyra's mom showing up as he and his family left church on Sunday morning, and she stomped right up to him and smacked him across the face, making a real big scene. Judging from the sneak peek at next week, poor Buddy's got some serious ass-kissin' to do with the Missus!

Definitely not the perfect family man all of Dillon, Texas believes him to be...

That brings us to Mr. Riggins, the father of Tim Riggins, who recently appeared on the scene after Tim sought him out and did some quality bonding time with his estranged dad. Now this guy just had trouble written all over him. First of all, he shirked his responsibilities by abandoning his sons and barely made contact with them for years. Tim had to jump from place to place before he even found someone who could tell him where to find him. When Mr. Riggins first showed up in Dillon, it seemed he was ready to try being a dad again, but he apparently just wanted to make Tim his drinking buddy and he used him to hustle some grizzly looking dudes in a game of pool.

Things got a little sticky when Coach Taylor had to ask Mr. Riggins to step back onto the sidelines at football practice, and then accused him of stealing a $3000.00 camera from the AV room at the school. Tim was clearly upset that the coach would make such accusations, and defended his father to the hilt. However, when he found the camera hidden in a cabinet, Tim was crushed. He demanded that his father leave, and as Mr. Riggins walked out the door, he said, "Just watch. Watch how easy this is for me." That's gotta hurt a guy like Tim, who makes out he's all tough and strong, but really he just needs someone to love him. Tim then went to the bar where he and his father had hustled the grizzly pool players, and pretty much let them gather around and kick his ass until Tyra and Billy showed up to save him.

Mr. Riggins = the definition of scum bucket.

Last, but not least, we have Coach Eric Taylor, the fearless leader of the Dillon Panthers, and dear daddy to sweet little Julie Taylor. Coach Taylor and his wife (and darn it, I have no idea what her name is) are good parents. Really good parents. They are hard on Julie when they have to be, but they clearly love her with all their hearts, and they have raised her well. Even when Julie goes down a wrong path, she quickly rights herself, and takes her parents warnings and advice into consideration at all times. Julie's a good kid, no doubt about it.

However, when Mrs. Taylor caught Julie's boyfriend Matt buying condoms, all hell broke loose. She chose to deal with Julie on her own without involving the Coach. However, Julie decided to go ahead with her plans to have sex with Matt, so the two of them had a rendez-vous at one of Matt's teammates' hunt camp. Matt quickly realized that Julie wasn't ready, so they ended up just hanging out and eventually fell asleep, resulting in Julie missing her curfew. Big time. So, as you can imagine, Coach and Mrs. Taylor were frantic, wondering where there daughter was, sitting in tense silence waiting for her to get home. And you know what Coach Taylor said, the second Julie walked through the door? He didn't say, "You little shit, get to your room" or "Where the hell have you been?" or "That's it, you're grounded, young lady!" He said: "Are you okay? Are you okay??"

Thumbs up to Coach Taylor for being a Grade-A Dad.

And an honourable mention to Mrs. Taylor for handling Julie's situation incredibly well on her own. The speech she gave Julie when she confronted her about seeing Matt buying condoms brought tears to my eyes, and it clearly had an effect on Julie's decision to not go through with it. And it also scared the heck out of me to think of how difficult it must be to deal with a teenage daughter. I hope I have all boys!

Have a great day, gang!

Doing Our Best to Help Other Canadian Teams That Are NOT Toronto

Well, hey there, Sens Fans (and any other fans who happen to be reading today's Blog!)

So last night was spent on the couch, watching the Almighty Ottawa Senators take on our brethren of the West, the Edmonton Oilers, in O-Town. As I've mentioned before, this was also the last game Ray Emery had to serve as part of his underserved 3-game suspension for smacking a Hab in the face with his stick. Poor wee Hab.

Anyways, believe it or not, we actually survived those three games with Marty Gerber in nets. Not only did we survive them, we came away with all 6 possible points!! Miracle of miracles!!

But we didn't make it easy on ourselves last night. Not by a long shot. Taking a 3-1 lead into the last 7-something minutes of the game, thanks to goals from Dany Heatley, Mike Fisher, and Daniel Alfredsson, we let Edmonton get right back in there. To be fair, it wasn't exactly Gerber's fault. He actually had a relatively strong game in comparison to his miserable outing vs. Atlanta on Saturday. But he did allow 2 goals in the last 7 minutes, with the last being scored in a scramble in the dying seconds with the Edmonton net empty in favour of an extra attacker.

It was absolutely imperative that the Sens get the 2 points last night, as we're now in a dog-fight with Pittsburgh (...What??... I know...totally crazy)...and let's face it, folks, the Eastern Conference is so tight right now, nobody can afford to take a night off.

However, as a fan of all other Canadian teams with the exception of the Toronto Make-Me-Laughs, I also knew how important it was for Edmonton to get some points, as they are battling to make the playoffs in the West.

So, we, the Sens, did the only decent, fellow-Canadian, hockey-to-the-core thing we could do. We let Edmonton secure it's much-needed point in regulation time, then went on to spank 'em in a shoot-out!! See, Montreal?? See what nice guys we are?? (OK, I'm not a guy, but I'm speaking on behalf of my team...you get what I mean.)

After the OT period passed with end-to-end action but no scoring, it was Antoine Vermette, Dean McAmmond, and Mike Comrie leading the charge in the shoot-out. Rather an unlikely trio to pick for the shoot-out, but after watching Heatley, Spezza, and Alfie try and fail time and time again, one couldn't blame Bryan Murray for taking a different approach to this particular shoot-out. Vermette had Markanen (no idea how to spell the Oil's goalie's name) down and out, but the puck rolled on him at the last second and went wide of the net. Next up for the Sens was Dean McAmmond, who made scoring look all-too-easy when he shot the puck over Markanen's shoulder and into the net.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Martin Gerber decided to become Mr. Super Goalie, as he stopped both Edmonton shots with what looked like apparent ease. For a guy who always looks shaky and uncomfortable in the net, he suddenly looked right at home between the pipes, all calm, cool, and collected. And then, Mike Comrie was up next, and he put so many moves on Markanen that the dude couldn't have known whether he was coming or going, and badda-boom...He scores!! It seemed only fitting, too, that Comrie got the last laugh, after listening to the Edmonton faithful at Scotiabank Place boo him relentlessly all night long. (For those who are unaware, Comrie used to play for Edmonton, and left amidst contract disputes, which fans never take lightly...Hello, Alexei Yashin). He silenced them pretty quickly with his nifty moves, and for one night, he was my hero.

So that was the icing on the cake of Coach Murray's 600th NHL victory, and tomorrow heading into Buffalo, we'll have the Razor back between the pipes. We survived, we helped our fellow Canadian team in the process, and now we're back tied with the Penguins in the standings. For one day, at least, life is good!

Meredith Drowning

OK, so on Grey's last week, Meredith drowned. Really, seriously drowned. But thanks to McDreamy's perceptiveness, she's probably going to be OK. I have to believe that the little girl pointed him in the right direction in the nick of time. I mean, the show is called Grey's Anatomy. There can't be a Grey's Anatomy without Grey, right?

That doesn't mean I wasn't all red-faced and sobbing, though, when McDreamy pulled Meredith's blue, lifeless body from the water. Or when he was sitting in the hall crying outside her room after Bailey and the Chief booted him out while they tried to save her life. Or when all the other doctors, including Burke & Addison, showed up to help. Or when McSteamy sat next to Derek & squeezed his arm in silent support and sympathy. Or when the rest of the interns gathered to wait for news on Meredith. Or when George broke down into tears. Or when Izzie gave them all a tearful pep talk, which will forever be known as the "I Believe" speech.

At the end of the episode, Meredith woke up to find herself in a room with Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights. I did a double-take, and was like, "Hey...What the hell is the Coach doing there?" Then I remembered that before he was Coach Taylor, he was Dylan the Bomb Squad Guy who got blown up on Grey's last season. And Denny was there too. So yeah...Meredith's officially dead, I guess, but there's just no way it's for real. She's going to be fine. Don't worry, guys. One thing is for certain: This is all definitely building up to one hell of an episode this week, I can promise you that!!

Now, I'm screwed with the Survivor re-cap, because I only caught the 10 minutes, and now I can't even remember who got the boot. Was it Bossy McBossy Architect Lady? I think it was her, but I really can't remember...

And as for the Amazing Race, the All-Star Edition kicked off Sunday night, and my early favourites are Rob & Amber, and Eric & Danielle. My main problem with the show after Episode #1 was that I don't feel half these teams deserve the title "All-Stars". I mean, that Kevin & Drew team...No way are they "All-Stars". And Dave & Mary. C'mon, people, they're so far from "All-Stars" it's not even funny. Some of the teams I don't even remember. So I think rather than call this "Amazing Race: All Stars", they should have called it "Amazing Race: Former Teams Who Are Still Together and Want to Do This Crazy-Ass Race Again".

Moving on...Tonight is the last night of the Ray Emery Suspension, and so far we're 2-0 without him, after the Sens bailed out the miserable Martin Gerber Saturday afternoon, scoring 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd vs. Atlanta to take the game 5-3. Very excited to be meeting the Oilers tonight...And even more excited to have Ray back for the back-to-back games against Buffalo on Thursday & Saturday!

Hope everyone has a great day!! Take care.

It's All About TEAMWORK

OK, so the theme of today's Blog is all about teamwork.

Last night, the Sens needed some serious teamwork to survive the potentially-disasterous suspension to our #1 goalie, Ray Emery. While I still disagree with what I consider a rather harsh 3-game benching for my boy Ray after he shoved a Montreal crease-crasher in the face with his stick Saturday night, it looks the Sens might actually pull through this gut-check time after they trounced the Florida Panthers last night 4-0. That's right, Sharon...Martin Gerber not only got the win, he got the shut-out!!!

Now, to be honest, the game was not televised, so I really have no idea how this one played out. But 2 points are 2 points, and we took advantage of a Florida team that was playing it's second night of back-to-back games, and coming off a huge 1-0 victory over Montreal on Tuesday night. So granted, the Panthers were likely drained and an easy target for the well-rested Sens. However, with Gerber in nets, no game is ever a gimme, let alone a shut-out, so we'll consider this a huge moral victory, not only for Gerber but for the entire team! So now only 2 more games to survive without Rayzor - Atlanta and Edmonton. They will probably be much more challenging games, so fingers are crossed that the teamwork continues!

Over on FNL, it looked like the team unity of the Dillon Panthers had all but disintegrated after Smash and the other black players walked out on the team in protest of the assistant coach's unintentional racist comments. Coach Taylor was really at his wit's end, trying to decide if he should fire Mac or not. Mac beat him to it, though, presenting a letter of resignation, but the coach refused to accept it, further angering the black community of Dillon, Texas.

Now, you'd think dealing with this racism issue would be enough for Coach Taylor these days, but nope...he's also got a rebellious daughter on his plate. Julie's gone a little wild thanks to her recent friendship with Tyra, and the coach and Mrs. Taylor are struggling to deal with this new, saucy, bad-ass daughter of theirs. This week, Julie got her butt tossed in jail. OK, so it was just a Juvenile Holding Cell, and Matt, Landry and Tyra were all with her. And the only reason they were in the clink was because Tyra had to get something from her sister at the strip club, and Landry wandered off and got busted. And this all led to Jill's Favourite Moment of the Night: When the other parents bailed their kids out, the coach & Mrs. Taylor just hung in the parking lot for awhile after Mrs. Taylor explained that she wanted her "perp to sit in there and think about what she's done!"

On a good note for Julie, though...She and Matt made up after he bought her a beautiful pendant with her birthstone, and the he "officially" asked her to be his girlfriend. Not too cute!!

Back to this racism thing for a sec. I'll tell you one thing, Smash is a lucky boy. Why's that, you ask? 'Cause he's got a really good mother. Mrs. Williams is a tough-love kind of lady, but she's always got her boy's best interests at heart. She praises him when he's done good, and she kicks his ass when he needs a good ass-kicking. This week? Time for an ass-kicking. This Waverly chick he's been hanging with put all these notions in his head about how he had to stand up and be a role model for the black community, and prove a point that was above and beyond football. However, Smash's mom is a wise person. She knows that for her son, there is nothing above and beyond football for him. For Smash to have a future, he needs football. He needs football to get into college, to further his education, and to get ahead in life. So she basically sat him down and told him all that, and told him there was no shame in gathering the troops and going back to the team.

So Smash did, and he was welcomed back to the team with a terse nod from Coach Taylor. Then the football game got crazy and they had to end it after the third quarter while the fans rioted, with Dillon taking the win. For some reason, I guess because of this big walk-out thing, Smash was the target of their abuse, and even while en route back to Dillon, a couple of police officers stopped the bus and tried to take him in on charges of assault resulting from the on-field brawl. That's when Mac stood up to defend Smash, demanded a warrant from the police, and basically said, "You gotta go through me to get to him." Yep, folks, you got it...another FNL Hallmark Moment, brought to you by yours truly!

OK...So that's about it for today. Kenny, hope you enjoyed the FNL update, and everyone else, have a great day!

Re-Cap-A-Thon

Lots to re-cap, so let's get right into it!

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Things got pretty intense over on Friday Night Lights last week when the assistant coach, Mac, referred to the black players on the team as "junkyard dogs" in an interview with local reporters. While I don't think he intentionally meant to demean the black players, it immediately sent the entire school into an uproar, with kids fighting in the halls and causing friction in the Panthers locker room. Smash tried to talk to Mac about it, but Mac refused, and that's when Smash snapped. He rallied the other black players on the team, and they staged their own rebellion during practice by ignoring Mac's orders and walking off the field. It'll be interesting to see how Coach Taylor deals with this latest controversy!

This episode also featured the Powder Puff game, when the rally girls and cheerleaders all take part in an exhibition game, with one team being coached by Tim Riggins, the Powder Puff Nazi, and the other being coached by Matt Sarracen, Mr. "Please Girls, Just Try A Little Harder". Matt's still in Julie's bad books, and even more so after he chose her third to play for his team. But once he made Julie his quarterback and her dad gave her a few tips, she won the game for her team and she and Matt seemed happy together, if only for a moment.

And of course there was lots more to talk about, but seeing Kenny's my only FNL fan, I'd better move on to...

SURVIVOR

The kick-off episode to the Fiji season featured sea snakes. Lots and lots of sea snakes. And yet another ethnically-diverse group of people, ready to tear each other apart. It's still way to early for me to know everyone's names, or even their tribe names, but we did seem to be seriously lacking in the HOT department, that I am sure of! My current favourite is the dude who looked like Rocky, but that can all change very quickly.

This season, we've got two camps - the luxury camp that everyone helped to build, complete with sleeping quarters, kitchen, and potty; and the empty beach, which the losing tribe was sent to after the Immunity Challenge, where they received just one machete and one pot. (Rocky happened to be on that team, poor guy. Already, I'm loving the losers...) The girl who was voted out...meh, not much to say about her. She was non-descript. I'm not even sure what her name was. She was basically just voted out because she wasn't strong, and she didn't establish a strong enough alliance.

It's still too early in the game to say what this season will be like, but with 2 hidden immunity idols and the big twist being that they're NOT hidden on Exile Island, it should get pretty interesting pretty quick!

GREY'S ANATOMY

Holy Hell, I love this show.

One of Derek's beloved ferry boats blew up or something, and the young docs of Seattle Grace were sent to save some lives at the scene of the accident. All but Cristina, who was left back at the hospital to wait for patients, and you just know that didn't sit well with Cristina.

Might I just say that this episode pushed Alex even further up the ladder of Mr. Incredibleness? He found a pregnant woman who was severely crushed under a cement pylon, and he saved her. He stuck with her until he was forced to leave her side, and even then, he kept going back to check on her. Seeing how she whimpered when she saw him and grasped at his hand showed just how much she trusted him and wanted him with her. It was really sweet and touching. And Alex was just so calm and soothing and reassuring. God, I love him...

Callie and George were having difficulty dealing with their relationship at work, as Callie kept reminding George that she's his boss, not his wife, once they're within those hospital walls. I don't get what the big deal is. All she has to do is watch Burke and McDreamy to see how it's done!

Izzie had by far the worst episode to deal with, as she had a man trapped under a car far away from the rest of the carnage, and his group of buddies demanding that she save his life. All by herself. The chaos of the accident scene left her all alone, without help from search and rescue. To give Izzie credit, she did pretty well considering how nerve-racking the situation was. I really hope her guy lives.

And last but not least, we have Meredith, who was not only trying to save lives, but she also had to trail around a little lost girl who was separated from her mother when the accident occured. Meredith decided to use that little lost girl as her assistant, to keep the child pre-occupied and not thinking of all the blood. However, Meredith's patient became frantic and at the end of the episode, he knocked her into the water in his attempt to get up. And that's when we fade to black... And that's when I start screaming at the TV!! Nooooooo!!!! Of course, Meredith is going to be OK...The show's called Grey's Anatomy. Without Grey, there is no Anatomy. There is no show. But I just can't wait to see what happens!

OK, so those were some pretty lame re-caps, guys, and I apologize, but I did my best! I'll be more thorough this week, I promise!

The Guelph Blog

Good Tuesday morning, to one and all!

Alright, so this is the Guelph Blog, and I'm just going to randomly run through some of the highlights and funny moments of my trip to visit Lindsay in Guelph! I'm still not sure when I'm going to fit in my re-caps of FNL, Grey's, and the latest kick-off to Survivor - maybe tomorrow!!

So here it goes...

• Trains are cool - I only wish I'd had a buddy to share the adventure with! However, I did have a pleasant lady sitting next to me on the journey home and she was very nice to chat with.
• Arriving in Guelph on Wednesday, Lindsay promptly took me to the University to water her grass. Then we crashed for the afternoon to rest up for her class Pub that night. The pub was pretty cool, there were some very hot bouncers. It actually reminded me a lot of high school dances, except that you could buy booze if you were wearing a pretty pink bracelet that the hottest bouncer was slapping on people. Oh, and that was another interesting thing for me - I had to show I.D. everywhere we went...I was a long way from Gavan's, I guess!
• Most Awesome Cheeseburgers can be found at the Portly Penguin, a Kelsey's-type bar & grill in Guelph where we ate my first night there. SO GOOD!!
• The Hip Concert was INSANE...Although the travel arrangements left something to be desired. At one point, I was afraid we were never going to make it to Toronto, and then later on, I was fearing we'd never get back to Guelph. (Ask me sometime about the scary drive in the snow.) But the show was awesome, and I got to sprinkle bad luck all over the ACC - I literally oozed venom towards the Leafs, and judging by their OT loss to Pittsburgh they suffered on Saturday night, my hex must've worked!
• I think I have now travelled by every means possible except for plane. Within a span of 5 days, I was on a train, on a Subway, on a Go-Bus, and in a cab. All I need to do now is motorcycle, and I'm set.
• Friday night was my favourite night - we went to the Guelph Storm game with a bunch of Lindsay's friends and classmates, and it was pretty cool. Although I did get attacked by a security guard who wouldn't let me take pictures. Guelph lost 7-2, but afterwards we hit the downtown bar scene, and that's when the fun REALLY began. We went to Bobby O'Brien's, Trappers, Van Gogh's, and the Palace. Most were dark-dance-club-type places that I would normally cringe at, but after a few of these rye-n-cokes that had more rye than coke in them (and at $2.50 a pop at one place - Nick's ripping us off, guys!!) - not only was I having fun, I was up dancing with Lindsay, Jason, Rebekka (Lindsay's roommate), and one of their friends. And I mean dancing!! Like a homie or something. Wicked!
• As you all know, when I drink too much, I get stupid. So while upstairs at Van Gogh's and dancing like a homie, I took the notion to knock Jason's yucky Leaf hat off his head repeatedly. Of course, that turned into a bit of a war with me pretending to kick him in the head several times until Lindsay & Rebekka got my attention and warned me to settle down. Little did I know, I had caused the bouncers to jump up and they were starting to surround me, and God only knows what might have happened if I hadn't stopped swinging my leg in Jason's direction! I was a little more careful after that. If I'd been at Gav's, Nick might've laughed or possibly shot me the "Settle Down" look himself, but I think these dudes might've kicked me right out or tackled me or something. On my way out, I shook hands with one of them and apologized for my rowdiness, and he just laughed, so all's well that ends well!
• The even funnier part of this story happened the next night, while watching the hockey game, and Lindsay & I got giddy. Then Lindsay took the notion to re-enact my kicking episode, but she slipped and fell flat on her ass. I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard in my life (after making sure she was OK, of course...)
• I learned pretty quick that the only way to end a great night in Guelph is to stop at Sun Sun's for some chinese take-out. I, personally, never ate any Sun Sun's myself, but I smelled it many times in the car rides home from downtown after our night-time adventures. It's just fun to say it. Sun Sun's.
• Saturday we went to see the movie "Because I Said So"...Girls, it's a must-see. I absolutely adored it! Best movie I've seen in a long time!
• Saturday night was Ranch Night - Lindsay, Rebekka and I went, and it really is like a bigger, more packed version of Gavan's. Lots of two-steppers, lots of cowboys, lots of hootchies. By this point, I'd already had my "wild night" the night before, so I was pretty tired and I didn't even partake in any dancing or anything crazy, but at least now I know what Lindsay & Jared are talking about when they mention the Ranch!
• The train ride home was rather uneventful, although I did spy a hot boy in the lounge in Toronto. However, I think he must've been in a bad accident or something, because he had a cast on one arm, and he walked with a cane, and his arms were just a maze of scars. He did have a sexy face, though!

OK, so that's all I can think of right now, and that's probably more than anyone cares to read! Lindsay's probably reading this and thinking that I missed a million stories, but the Blog would just never end if I wrote about it all. I had a great time, and I can't wait to get my pictures developed. I didn't meet any boys who wanted to get married or move to Quyon, but that's alright. It was an awesome trip anyways!!

Glad to be back! Take care, gang!

There's A New Kid On the Block!!

I just posted this on the other thread, but I think Madyson deserves a spot on the Main Page!

Stacy & Ricky have a baby girl! Stacy's grandmother just called and spoke to Bill. She was born at 10 AM and she is 9 lbs. I don't have any other details, but I'm assuming her name is Madyson unless they changed their minds at the last second or something! Also, she apparently has black hair, blue eyes, and is just adorable!

So as far as I know, both Mom & baby are doing well. Very exciting!!

I Hear the Train A-Comin'...

Hey Gang!

Just a quick note to say Hello & Goodbye!! Tuesday is my last day of work before I head off to Guelph via train Wednesday morning to visit Lindsay. Plans include taking in the Tragically Hip concert Thursday night at the ACC (how will I ever survive in the home of the Toronto Make-Me-Laughs??), a Guelph Storm game on Friday night (Go Guelph Go!...I guess, unless they happen to be playing the '67's!!), and a li'l two-steppin' Saturday night at Linds' favourite bar, The Ranch. (That should be cute...Me, trying to two-step...By myself...Oh boy...)

So hopefully when I get back I'll be engaged or something like that. At the very least, I hope I have some exciting stories. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

** Special Note to Kenny: Please leave a sticky note on your desk to remind Luke constantly to tape my (our) shows. I'm going to make him a list of what shows & times, but if you could just tell him to tape, tape, tape every time you see him, that would be muchly appreciated!!

OH - and also, we could have a new baby on the block by tomorrow!! Stacy is currently up at the hospital being induced, so if any baby news comes my way before I leave work tomorrow, I'll be sure to pass it along to the Bloggers!

Have a great day, guys, and wish my luck on my scary train ride & on finding a nice Guelph boy who will hopefully want to move to Quyon with me and live happily ever after.

Take care!! ;)

Just Call Her Callie O'Malley

OK, so I told you guys all about the big proposals last week on Grey's Anatomy, and how I thought both girls would probably say no.

We found out pretty quick tonight that I was wrong where Callie was concerned! Not only did she say yes to George, they already got married!!! UNBELIEVABLE. In Vegas. I'm still reeling! So George and Callie returned to the hospital to share their good news with the rest of the docs, which led to the best line of the night (maybe the season), from the oh-so-studly Dr. Alex Karev: "Dude. She's Callie O'Malley." I'm still giggling. Priceless.

Anyways, this week the doors also opened to the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic, which Izzie funded with her whopping $8 Million inheritance, and she was a little concerned with their lack of patients. So concerned, in fact, that Dr. Bailey sent Izzie and Alex to poach patients from the ER. Until George landed in, not feeling so swell, and they all assumed he was having panic attacks over his impulsive marriage. But then Nurse Olivia arrived suffering the same symptoms, and then one of the technicians. George figured out pretty quick that they had all been in contact with a patient's toxic blood, but before he could send out an alarm, an entire room of surgeons and nurses, including the Chief and Alex, were passed right out on the operating room floor. (Don't worry, they were all OK, but pretty much everyone got sick at some point. Except for McSteamy. He's too pretty to do the messy stuff).

Meanwhile, Meredith's mother was given "the gift" - she woke up temporarily lucid, rather than in her confused state of Alzheimer's. But instead of embracing the precious moments of having her real mother around, Meredith avoided her. Because she was afraid her mother would call her a disappointment. And when she finally did go and face the legendary Ellis Grey, that's exactly what her mother called her. A disappointment. Talk about a slap in the face! By the time Meredith had composed herself enough to confront her mother again and tell her exactly how she felt, the elder Dr. Grey had already slipped back into that "other world" and she didn't understand a thing her daughter said. Moral of the story: Embrace the moment, people, 'cause ya never know when it might all just disappear.

Alex is hot, guys. Seriously. Very, very hot. When he was lying next to Addison on that hospital bed in just a black muscle shirt and his blue scrub pants...Man, that was nice. How she didn't jump him right then and there, I do not know.

So that basically leaves Cristina, and whatever did become of her and Burke? Well, she was considering his proposal, and he was very impatient, but finally at the end of the episode, she told him she didn't want a ring. And that she's a surgeon. And that they'd have to hire someone to be the wife. "So..." Burke said, "Is that a yes?" And after a dramatic pause, Cristina said, "Yes." And then she and Burke did that fun thing where they both get giddy and laugh and jump around hugging each other, which hardly ever happens. It was very cute, and it officially proved my Grey's Proposal Predictions wrong...Both girls said yes!

But there's no way Cristina Burke will get the laughs that Callie O'Malley did.

Callie O'Malley.

Hahahahahahahahahahhahaha!!!!! I love it!

Kidnapped

Friday Night Lights. Seriously, people. Start watching it.

Last night's episode was absolutely amazing. But then again, they all are.

I'll start the re-cap with Jason & Lyla. Lyla's dad Buddy is dead-set against them being together, and he's been treating Jason like the scum beneath his feet, just because he's in a wheelchair. And needless to say, he was furious when Jason announced that he and Lyla are engaged. Now honestly, if I was a parent, I can somewhat understand his hesitation in watching his beautiful, young daughter wrap herself up in a relationship with a guy who is a quadreplegic. However, Buddy should also know Jason well enough to know he has ambitions and goals and intelligence, and that he's not going to make a waste of his life. I hope Jason stands his ground with this one!

Smash Update: He was working his ass off to get back in Coach Taylor's good graces following the whole steroid fiasco, and the Coach wasn't making it very easy on him. That is, until his wife told him he needed to straighten things out with Smash before the kid lost all of his confidence, and that set up my favourite scene of the night: After having a heart-to-heart with Smash, the Coach and his star joined in a game of pick-up football with some of the neighbourhood kids, and there's nothing that makes you smile from the inside out as much as watching men playing with kids - it was so sweet! Of course, Smash has stayed clean and has done everything he's been ordered to do, so Coach Taylor told him he'll be back in the line-up for playoffs.

Then we have Tim Riggins, who needed his dad's signature on some court documents or else he would lose his driver's licence. So Tim took off to find his estranged father, and he ended up spending a few days with his old man despite his brother Billy's warnings to steer clear of him. While I've never been Billy's biggest fan, I really liked seeing how much he worries about Tim and cares about him. In any case, Tim was soaking up the father-son time he was spending with his dad, until he asked his dad to come to his game. Tim was heart-broken when his dad told him he couldn't go back, and he must've felt that the bonding time he'd put in was all for not, until the night of the game arrived and there was Mr. Riggins in the stands, ready to cheer him on. Yet another lovely Friday Night Lights Hallmark moment!

So this brings us to the whole Matt & Julie situation. Now, I'm not sure what the deal is with high school football in Dillon, Texas, but apparently once you make the playoffs, all of a sudden the other football players and rally girls decide to kidnap the star quarterback every time he turns around. And that would be Matt Sarracen. Shy, quiet, nervous, awkward Matt Sarracen, who would really rather just hang out with his girlfriend, but instead he's getting hustled off into cars with screaming girls who want him to strip down in hot tubs and kanoodle with them while taking photos for the school calendar. The first time Matt was kidnapped, Julie was very understanding, and hitched a ride home with Tyra. Then he ditched her so that he could make an appearance on a local TV show, and again, she was very understanding. She even agreed to "baby-sit" his Grandma for him. (And she invited Tyra along. I'm not liking that friendship at all. I know a few weeks ago I said I had gained some respect for Tyra, but now she's lost it again. First she took Julie to a strip joint, then she shoplifted while in her company. And then she gave Matt's Grandma wine and painted her toe nails. Black. Ugh.)

The straw that broke the camel's back was the last time Matt was kidnapped and taken to a party where the rally girls were snapping photos of the football players for their calendar. Matt didn't tell Julie about this particular kidnapping, but she found out about it when she saw the rally girls passing around the photos. Undoubtedly, she wasn't impressed seeing her boyfriend stripped down to his boxers in a hot tub with the cheerleaders. (I, on the other hand, loved it). Julie just looked so hurt, especially when Matt lied about where he'd been. The thing is, though...I feel sorry for him, too. I understand why she's mad, but she must know Matt well enough by now to know that the whole time he was there, he was uncomfortable and wishing he was at home with her. It's just...Well, he's QB1 and sometimes he has to take part in these silly football parties. Surely to God Julie can understand that! I hope these two can work it out...They really are one of my favourite TV couples!

So that puts a wrap on this week's FNL re-cap. Stay tuned next week...From the preview they showed, looks like it's going to be intense!!