Black Belt Living

In the Doghouse!

Yes, it's November 29th already and I'm in the DOGHOUSE because it's been for-EVAH since I did an update here. Sorry 'bout that. I left my powercord to my laptop at the office over the Thanksgiving weekend and promptly "ran out of juice" on Wednesday afternoon. I don't know where the time has gone since then.

Well, yes I do. We've been doing a lot of family things. Thanksgiving, of course, was a blast. My uncle and aunt from Dallas were up for the weekend and they both are the lives of the party! They are so much fun. So on T'ging day, I ate a lot of food, watched a lot of football, and took a lot of photos. I'll post some of my faves at the end here.

Saturday was what I lovingly (not!) refer to as D-Day, aka Decorating Day. It's a process, that's for sure and not a fun one. I'll post more about that in my next entry. It's blog-worthy in and of itself.

Tonight I'm off to the Cincinnati Art Museum to photograph more Junior League ladies. Busy, busy, busy....going to add some pix here from last weekend and then I'm off to get a chicken in the oven (we're all back on The Beach) given last week's food-fest.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving everybody! I know that I'm very blessed and grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Bringin' Sexy Back!

Yesterday People Magazine unveiled their annual Sexiest Man Alive for 2006. It's George. What's not to love George? He doesn't take himself too seriously, he's a hometown guy, and he's got those classic movie star looks. I think it's a good choice, although there are so many great choices out there and George has already won. But hey, they didn't ask me.

Well speaking of sexy guys, I've been kind of lacking for a fun new blog topic and Ginger asked a few of us to post our "list". You know, the list that you would temp you to do things unmentionable and most likely unethical. I think we all have those lists. Mine changes occasionally, but not that often. I used to be totally into the super preppy guys, but as I get older I like them a bit rougher around the edges. I still have a think for super clean cut, metro guys, however. Hey, I like them all ~ scruffy and dirty, preppy and metro, older and younger, blonde and brunette, sometimes tatooed and eyelined.....

I normally keep my list to five, but lately, it's sitting around seven (including George). Seven guys...athlete, dancer, castaway, rock star, doctor, etc. So, in no particular order:

He's been hot for twenty five years. He's had more bad hairdos than I have. He can sing, he's a family man, and he's got a heart of gold. He's my long time number one and probably will never leave the top of the list. He's Bon Jovi and he's my all time fave. I just want to live while I'm alive, baby.

Growing up outside of Ann Arbor Michigan, I've always been a huge Michigan football fan. And seriously, who wouldn't be with a guy like Tom Brady tossing the ball. He almost makes me a Patriots fan....almost.

Ah, Dr. Christian Troy (otherwise known as Julian McMahon). I couldn't decide which photo to post, so here's both.He's hot, he's bad, he's arrogant, and I can't wait to see him every week on Nip/Tuck. On the third episode this season when he did the nude shower scene with Mario Lopez (see below!), I thought I would spontaneously combust right there.

Hola' Mario! If Dancing with the Stars wasn't enough (with those dimples and dance moves), then that scene on Nip/Tuck did it for me. Can I say how SAD I am that DWTS is over? Sniffle. Mario is my current metro-pick. Love me a guy with a fine haircut and nice nails (that six pack isn't bad either!).

Brad. Need I say more? Whether he's got greasy hair and needs a shower, or he's in a tux, it's all good. It's always good.

From Brad to BAD ~ meet Josh Holloway. He's Sawyer on Lost ~ the sexiest guy to ever live in a cage. That stare that he's got just slays me every time. He's the guy that made dirty sexy for me. It's no surprise to me that he's the only guy who has gotten any action on that crazy island.

So that's my list for today. Tom Cruise used to be on it, but he's been banned for life for obvious reasons. Other honorable mentions: Keith Urban, Tiki Barber, Jason Taylor, William Joseph (pianist), Ty Pennington, Josh Duhamel, Tim McGraw, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Justin Timberlake.....I could go on. George Michael might make the list if he didn't play for the other team. Oh well.

Hold Your Nose and VOTE

Yeah, I know. You're sick of the ads, you're sick of the phone calls, you're sick of the mud slinging. You're sick of hearing that everybody who is running for office on your local ballot is an unethical, scum-sucking loser of a human being.

But you gotta do it, you need to get out there, hold your nose and vote. Just think, tomorrow all of those disgusting (yet sometimes hilarious) negative ads will all be gone.

On a related note, I got a phone call from Laura Bush yesterday. Should I be flattered? LOL

Thou Shalt Not Covet

...thy neighbor's cute PURSE.

For a year or so now, I've drooled over my friend Janet's really cute, bohemian Betsey Johnson purse. It's fun, funky, and even a bit sparkly. It's everything I love, of course. It's very her, but it's very me too. Only isn't not only her, it's HERS and it's not MINE.

Andy knows how much I love Miss J's purse and for our 15th anniversary last June he tried and tried and tried to find one just like it, even despite the high price tag. A purse shopping guy.... That's love, Baby. Alas, he didn't have any luck finding the elusive bag, so I got pearls from Tiffany's instead. That was certainly a worthy subsitute by anybody's measure.

So anyhow, Tuesday night I was wasting time while dolling out candy to adorable Trick-or-Treaters and browsing some online shopping sites (just for the heck of it...I was actually looking for some clogs) and what do you know? I found THIS and not only was there free shipping, but it was 50% off. I mentioned it not because I had any intention of ordering it, but because it had been so hard to find.

So here in the middle of a rotten, stress loaded, overscheduled and generally sad week for me, I'm soon to have a matching bag, just like Janet's. Thanks, Dude! I'm now stalking "The Man in Brown". Retail therapy ~ always kind of fun!

Whew!

I've been meaning to post this for the last few days, but I've been swamped since we got home from Chattanooga on Sunday.

I had to rush straight into Halloween prep...which I really let slide this year. That means get the house ready, make Shannon's costume, carve pumpkins (blech!). Of course along with all of that, I had tons of laundry, the house was (who am I kidding....IS) a mess, bills needed to be paid, physical therapy needed to be done, some assignment work for a magazine needed to be done, I have six differnt obligations at our church this week (how did that happen?!) and so on. I can't believe it's Wednesday already. Where does the time go?

Anyhow...tournament update. I didn't do well (well, not like I had hoped) in the tournament...I stumbled on my form but got a score that I was still happy with (yet didn't place) and didn't win any sparring matches (lucky me...got to fight one of the 2005 champions in the first round and lost 5-4!). I really had a blast, however. I think I was having so much fun, I lost focus. That's okay! Like I told Shannon, when the sun comes up the next day, nobody really cares where you placed, just whether or not you had fun and learned something.

It was my first experience judging at a tournament and that was a real blast. I got to meet some really fantastic people, like my head judge on my team on Saturday afternoon. She's the Grand Champion of 4th degree black belt women. She's fun, funny, smart (an MBA student at U of Tennessee), gorgeous, and a real inspiration to other girls like my daughter. It was truly a pleasure being on her team all day Saturday.

One fun thing.... I met one of my "blog friends" in person. Her name is Kristie, she lives in Tennessee and her whole family does ITA Taekwondo. Her son is 8 and is one of top ten 8 year old first degree black belts in the world (which I didn't know until I met the dude ~ he's great!). I was literally ***this close**** to being on his team of judges on Saturday, but my new friend Lee ended up being assigned to his ring and I got the one next to it. Cory finished with two bronze medals and that should keep him in the top ten again this year too. Way to go Mr.T (sorry I couldn't catch you guys after Cory's ring finished, I tried!). Anyhow, Kristie's a scrapbooker and has followed my blog for a while. We both email back and forth and got to meet on Friday evening ~ that was SO cool! Here's a photo!

Aren't they both so cute? I sure wish I would have had more time to hang out with them and socialize a bit more but man, once you get that red stripe on your uniform, they keep you busy the entire time!

Bottom line ~ it was a great trip! I made a bunch of new friends and had a blast competing. We loved Chattanooga. It's lovely and the people were so great. I really love good ole' Southern Hospitality and we sure were shown a lot of it! And although we didn't perform very well, you always learn a whole lot more when you lose than when you win.