GLEE-cap #2

I almost didn't do a GLEE recap this week. I disliked Tuesday night's episode. A lot. I was tempted to either do a "Top 10 Things I Disliked About GLEE" blog or just not do one at all in protest.

I didn't like Brittany dancing all over Dr. Carl in her see-through diamond unitard, I didn't like her dancing with a bunch of 9 year old boys in the red catsuit, I didn't like Kurt yelling at Mr. Schue, I didn't like Mr. Schuester dancing and singing with the kids at the pep assembly, I didn't like Jacob (with the big hair) being caught in the library by Sue (Ewww! I need soap for my eyes), I didn't like the Britney songs they covered (except Artie's), and the list goes on and on.

However, I finally decided I could find 10 small things that were ok. But I do it with a bit of sadness. GLEE, you're so much better than this episode...


TOP TEN QUOTES/MOMENTS FROM "BRITNEY/BRITTANY"

10. I love John Stamos. He is ageless, yes? He looks the same as he did in his Full House days.

9. "This room looks like the one on that spaceship where I got probed." -Brittany in Uncle Jesse's, I mean, Dr. Carl's dentist office

8. "Please don't pull out all my teeth. When I smile, I'll look like a giant baby but with boobs." -Brittany

7. "Is this real life?" -Rachel waking up from anesthesia (great shout-out to David After Dentist)

6. "They're personifying you!" -Finn
"Objectifying..." -Rachel (in her "Baby One More Time" outfit at school)

5. I LOVED Artie's cover of "Stronger". I love Artie. And I loved the football players dancing behind him.

4. I liked the locker room scene where Finn was hugging Rachel in his football uniform and told her he'd throw a touchdown at the first game and then point to her in the stands so everyone would know she was his girlfriend.

3. "But do we ever have a treat for you." -Principal Figgins in a monotone voice at the pep assembly. "Fresh off their last place finish at regionals, please give it up for 'New Directions'."

2. "I'm gonna sue the pants off you, Will. I'm gonna take your house, your car, your extensive collection of vests. I mean seriously, you wear more vests than the cast of 'Blossom'." -Sue (probably my favorite quote of the night)

1. I liked Rachel's final song "The Only Exception". It was very sweet when Finn was talking with Brittany and Santana in the hallway and then saw Rachel and left the other ladies to go grab her hand.

But even though I liked the final scene and the final song, it wasn't enough to redeem the episode. Here's hoping next week is better.

Your thoughts on the episode?

indian summer? or hell?

I was really looking forward to our annual "Indian Summer" this fall. This summer was on the cool side, with not many sunny days. But usually September and October make up for it. But good lord, the past 3 days have been over 100 degrees. I was kind of hoping for a happy medium. Say, 80 degrees with a nice ocean breeze?

I had every intention of taking today off work and going to the beach to jump in that cold water. But this has literally been me all day.

It is so hot. Do you see the sun blazing through my curtains on the left? 105 degrees. I have no energy to do anything. I can't get out of bed. I just lay there with the fan blowing in my face. I am supposed to go to my hip hop class tonight, but the thought of dancing in a heatbox with 12 other sweaty people is not appealing to me right now. Not to mention that I'd have to actually get up from this bed.

So I guess I'm going to pop in disc three of my 30 Rock (Season 1) marathon and keep watching the crazy antics of Liz, Jack, Tracy, Jenna, and Kenneth.

Stay cool, friends! (Not in the slang way. In the opposite-of-hot way.)

happy weekend

Friday I had college students at my house for a night of pizza and trivia. I feel like we're so much smarter now. For example, did you know George Washington's teeth were not made of wood (like most people believe), but carved out of hippo tusks? And did you know that pogonophobia is the fear of beards? Good stuff.

Tonight I went out to dinner with some ladies and then we saw the musical "Into the Woods". Super cute! Tomorrow I have church and a couple meetings. I am hoping to take Monday off work and hit the beach because it has been sooooo hot lately.

Hope you're having a nice weekend!

GLEE re-cap

Hi friends. I realized I spent most of Wednesday discussing how awesome Tuesday night's episode of GLEE was. (Season 2, Episode 1 - titled "Audition") I thought it would be fun to do a weekly blog with a Top 10 countdown of my favorite quotes/moments from each episode. And any other GLEEks out there can share their favorite moments, too. Please don't read if you haven't seen the episode! I don't want to spoil anything for you. And now without further ado, here is my first GLEE re-cap...or as I'm going to call it from now on: my first "GLEE-cap".

TOP TEN QUOTES/MOMENTS FROM "AUDITION"

10. The first 3 minutes were so great. Jacob went around to check in with the Glee kids to see what they did all summer. Favorite quotes:

* "People thought I went on vacation, but I actually spent the summer lost in the sewers." -Brittany

* "Did you know there's a forum on my blog that's begging you to stop rapping?" -Jacob to Mr. Schuester

* "When are you slated to make your triumphant return to the Shire?" -Jacob to Rachel (who is beaming for the camera) because she's so short.

9. I liked how Finn overheard the new character Sam Evans singing in the boys locker room showers, because that's how Mr. Schue found Finn in the first episode of Season 1. "I would have joined in with a kick-a harmony, but the dude was naked." -Finn

8. LOVED Rachel and Sunshine Corazon's scene in the girl's bathroom. "Listen Sunshine, we need chorus members. People to stand behind me and stare at me with wet, moved eyes while I sing solos." -Rachel. I really liked their cover of "Telephone" and then Sue coming in. "SHUT UP!"

7. Asian Camp? Amazing. Not quite sure why Mike Chang was dancing without a shirt, but whatevs.

6. Does anyone else think the new transfer student Sam Evans has a mouth like Jack Nicholson's Joker? That aside, he seems really likeable and I thought he had a good voice. "Billionaire" is a kind of a lame song, but I liked how the guys sang it. And Sam can play guitar! Get him in GLEE!

5. Finn auditioning for the Cheerios was both painful to watch and hysterical. When he did that forward roll and then pointed to Sue at the end, I think I died a little inside. Oh Finn. You are presh.

4. When Quinn and Santana were fighting in the hallways and Brittany said "Stop the violence" in her quiet, monotone voice.

3. Sunshine intro'd her song "Listen" by saying it was from the movie Dreamgirls. Rachel turns to everyone and says matter-of-factly "A Broadway show first." I loved Puck's "Shut up..." to her. Sunshine did a fantastic job on her song. Someone said her voice is like a mix between Rachel and Mercedes. Yep, I agree.

2. Dustin Goolsby, the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline. His name is Cheyenne Jackson and he's been on Broadway (awesome voice!) and 30 Rock (he's funny, too!) Fun fact: he had auditioned for Will Schuester two years ago, but the role went to Matthew Morrison. Anyway, I think he's great and I'm looking forward to seeing him and Vocal Adrenaline this season. Sad that he stole Sunshine, though. Enjoyed him walking away with her Hello Kitty backpack.

1. I know Rachel is ambitious and over-bearing but I can't help it - I love her. I thought it was cool that Finn called her out on what she did. And then I loved her song "What I Did For Love" at the end.

So there you go! Top Ten GLEE-cap for episode 1!

What did you guys think of the episode?

well, that was a first

This past weekend I went to a nearby American Red Cross station to give blood. You might remember my first time giving blood was last July and I was terrified. But it ended up being a great experience and I have given blood a few times since then. But something happened this time that was a "first" for me.

So I'm sitting on the puffy table thingy. The vein was found, the needle went in. No problems. My technician (named Noah) said my bag was filling up quite nicely. Sweet. He turned his back to check on something and as I sat there watching the wall, I suddenly starting feeling light-headed. Then my vision started going blurry. My stomach started feeling weird. Hungry? No, more like nauseated. I think I started freaking out a little. I remember thinking, "Should I say something to Noah?"

The next thing I know, I'm flat on my back, a cold washcloth was on my forehead, and a strange woman's face was RIGHT above mine. "Sarah! Wake up! Open your eyes!" I opened my eyes and I did not recognize the woman. I was super disoriented. Where was I? Who were these people? What was going on?

Dude. I fainted.

I have always wondered what it would feel like to faint. And now I can finally say I know. (Check it off my bucket list?)

I lay there awhile trying to gather my senses. I felt sweaty and clammy. I finally asked the lady (Gail), "How long was I out for?" She smiled and said, "Only about 5 seconds." I guess Noah was fiddling with my blood bag when he noticed my arm went rigid and then he looked at me and saw I had fainted. He put the table flat, called for Gail to come over, and they quickly grabbed a cold washcloth and started yelling at me to wake up.

I turned toward Noah and croaked out, "Did you get enough blood?" He also smiled and said, "Yes. We got the full bag. You did great. Just relax."

They watched me like a hawk. I lay flat for 10 minutes, sat up a bit for 5 minutes, came to a full sitting position for 5 minutes, swung my legs to the side for 5 minutes, and then shuffled to the snack table and stayed there 45 minutes. (Normally you only have to stay 15 minutes)

I can't believe I fainted.

Weirdest. Feeling. Ever.

Have any of you ever fainted?

GLEE in 4 days!

I haven't been able to blog much lately because things are so busy with our fall program starting.

Buuuuuuut...

I just realized something that filled me with glee.

4 more days till Season 2 begins!!

beach baptisms!

Today I had the great honor and privilege to baptize 2 of my college students in the Pacific Ocean.

Every year, my church does a huge beach baptism. We all meet out at the beach and roast hot dogs with a country band singing in the background.

Then we get into circles on the beach so we can hear testimonies from the ones getting baptized.

My two students, Zach and Parker, shared how they came to Christ. Both had been brought to church by friends. Zach when he was in high school, and Parker just 6 months ago. It was so awesome hearing their testimonies and what Jesus has done in their lives since they received him as their Lord and Savior.

We prayed for them and then all tromped down to the water. My co-worker Kevin (he was Zach's bible study leader in high school) and I were going to baptize the guys so we started wading in the water. But then suddenly Parker ran right by us and jumped in the ocean. We all started laughing. Is he baptizing himself? But he knew the water was going to be fah-reeeeeezing so he figured he'd just get in and get the cold-feeling over with. So Kevin and I followed suit and bounded in after him!

After baptizing Parker, we baptized Zach (blurry picture).

Then all their friends and family joined us with hugs and yells of "Congratulations!" and we took a million pictures.
Oh Happy Day! (Check out this song)

P.S. This is Parker's status update on facebook: "God is so awesome!!! Baptisms today were amazing!!! To my church family and brothers and sisters in Christ, I love you all so much, I can't put in to words how much you mean to me. Between you and God, I've been affected and changed in more ways than you could possibly know. Thank you all so much!"

5 year anniversary

Today I celebrated 5 years at my job. And 5 years later I can honestly say I still love it. It is challenging, full of ups and downs, and I have given my blood, sweat, and tears. And I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

As per tradition, I brought donuts to work and went around telling everyone how much I love working with them. Bring on year 6!

Happy long weekend!

Yeah for 3 day weekends! My family is in town so I am looking forward to spending time with them, relaxing, eating, walking around, and laughing. This is my last weekend of freedom because next Wednesday...college group starts for the fall!

(My weekend kicked off with a night of baby-sitting this little munchkin. He is 21 months old and SO smart.)

is worry a sin?

This is a question I've been thinking about lately. Is it sinful to worry? Because isn't worrying a lack of faith in God? Like, if we truly trusted God with everything, why would we worry?

Deep thoughts for your day.