ABC has another funny sitcom out called In the Motherhood. I like it, but I’m cautious. ABC has this way of pulling the plug on all my favorites, without giving them much of a chance. There was a similar show before that they pulled, called Notes From the Underbelly that I thought was adorable. The cast didn’t have any well knowns, which might have been its downfall. This cast of mommies includes Megan Mullally from Will and Grace and Cheryl Hines from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Hopefully fans of these actresses will carry over to help this fledgling show.

The show is based on a popular web series, and includes stories inspired by real experiences from viewers of the website. The show focuses on three mothers who are all variations of women we know in our lives. There’s Rosemary (Mullally) who is the type to sleep with a man just for the free cable. She is very lenient with her teenage son, and she brings a lot of her snappy one liners to the dynamic.
Jane is Rosemary’s best friend, and a recent divorcee. She has a pre-teen daughter, and also a baby. She’s the struggling business woman who’s juggling between career and motherhood.
Her younger sister, Emily, is a stay at home mom and a complete perfectionist. Her kids love to fold (that is going to be my kids someday, ha!) and she seems like the type that just might have a meltdown at any second because she’s wound so tightly.
Jane’s “manny” Horatio is going to be a scene stealer, I can already tell from the first episode. He’s a goofball, and he gets into all kinds of antics with the ever wild Rosemary.
I loved the pilot, and I can’t wait to catch the second episode, this Thursday. As if my Thursday night tv schedule weren’t packed enough!

You know those books you read when you were a kid that you just loved? That you’ve forgotten about and then something reminds you of them, and it’s like finding an old friend? Well, that’s how it is for me at least. I was reminded of a book that I loved when I was a little girl, called Dragon’s Milk, by Susan Fletcher. I decided to use one of my gift cards left over from Christmas to buy it, when I discovered there was a sequel! I was so excited that I rushed out to the library to get it that day, because I couldn’t wait.
The sequel to Dragon’s Milk, Sign of the Dove, is about Kaldrea’s little sister Lyf. If any of you are familiar with Dragon’s Milk, Lyf is the one Kaldrea’ saved by feeding her milk from a dragon when she had a bad fever.
Sign of the Dove isn’t nearly as good as the first book, but it’s still a good read. Lyf spent her life sheltered and fretted after by her mother since she had almost died as a little girl. Her mother never let her do anything for herself, always believing she was too weak. Lyf proves her wrong when she’s left alone to fight off soldiers with her toddler nephew and a clutch of young draclings. Lyf grows up throughout the book, and really finds her own strength. This book is perfect for young girls, especially around the age of 10-12. I found out Fletcher has another book in the series about dragons, and I plan on getting that one soon. She’s a great writer, and there’s nothing like a good fantasy book.

Ahhhhhh this was by far the best episode of the season. I’m not sure if it’s the finale or not, but it was incredible. Finally, finally, finally, MerDer, together, the way it was meant to be, sigh. Ok, on to the recap.

This episode started off intense! In the first five minutes of the show, Owen almost kills Cristina by strangling her while having a nightmare. I was gasping out loud, it was such a creepy, gruesome scene.

I thought it was interesting the way the writers dealt with post traumatic stress. I haven’t seen a show that wasn’t specifically about soldiers do this before, and I think it’s an important topic. Hopefully they’ll help Owen, because I really like their relationship.

There there is of course poor Izzie. She’s having her first surgery to remove 

the tumor, and all of her friends are supposed to be there for her. Instead, they all keep extra busy with work, because they can’t stand the thought that their good friend is sick. It’s sad, because the only one who comes to see her is Dr. Bailey. 

Finally, Alex gets his head out of his butt and runs to be with her before surgery, but she’s already under the knife. He’s there when she wakes up though, and he promises to be there for her from now on. He also fertilized the eggs they harvested for Izzie, which is pretty huge. I hope the writers see their relationship through, because they are right for each other.

George finally got some airtime this episode, which was good to see. It seems like he’s been just in the background for the last season. It was good to see him finally have lines with substance. Callie confronts George and gets him to open up about how upset he is that his best friend could die.

Now for the best part: Meredith and Derek. At the end of the episode, Mer goes to get on an elevator, and the Chief stops her and says she can’t get on that one. She’s confused, until the other elevator opens up. There’s Derek, with all the brain scans from every surgery they’ve done together. He talks about each one, and how he felt for her after. He then says he’s not going to ask a question, but tell her that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and she says she wants to spend it with him too. Ahhh! Freaking FINALLY. It was a great proposal, true McDreamy style. Hopefully Meredith doesn’t spazz out when it comes time for I dos. If she does that, I’m pretty sure I’d kick over my tv stand in frustration.

Al Capone Does My Shirts is a book set in 1935, when Alcatraz was a functional prison. The 1930s were a simpler time, before netbooks and blackberries, before tv, when kids had to find other ways to stay entertained, like going outside and playing america’s favorite pasttime, baseball.
This story is about a teenage boy named Matt, nicknamed Moose, who in most ways is a typical boy. What’s not typical is that his older sister is severely autistic.

Moose sacrifices a lot for his sister, including at one point, his weekly baseball game after school. For a 13 year old boy this is huge. He also has to move with his family to Alcatraz Island, where his dad gets a job as a prison guard, so that Moose’s sister Natalie can go to a special school for autism in San Francisco.

Even though this was a lighthearted book, Natalie’s issues were very serious. The love Moose shows for his sister is moving, and the way the kids at Alcatraz rally around her, and become the first friends she’s ever had is inspiring.

Even though the story is fictional, it is true that kids lived on Alcatraz, a fact that surprised me. I liked all of the trueful facts sprinkled into this fiction.

Michael has done the unthinkable, he quit Dunder Mifflin after 15 years of dedicated (albeit sometimes crazy) service. During his last two weeks, he decides to completely goof off. He drinks scotch at his desk, he wanders around the office aimlessly and he gets no work done. He acts as if being unemployed will be full of hanging out on pool floats, sipping margaritas and having a great time. His fellow coworkers try helping him out, and encourage him to go look for work.
He then gets one of his classic crazy ideas and decides he’s going to start his own paper company. He tries getting everyone to join him, but no one does, not even Dwight. Finally, the new VP of Scranton, Charles, finds a letterhead that Michael has changed from Dunder Mifflin to say Michael Scott Paper Co. (which he made with scotch tape because he couldn’t figure out how to do it on the computer) and has Michael kicked off the premises.
Michael sneaks his way back into the office, and tries again to get someone to go with him. In a rare act of spontaneity, Pam gets up and runs after Michael. She tells him in the parking lot that she is tired of being a receptionist and instead wants to be a saleswoman, while Jim stands next to her in complete shock.

I have to commend the writers for really throwing a curveball to the audience on this Michael story. I think even though Michael has made mistakes in the past, he’s a good worker, and he was dedicated to Dunder Mifflin. He deserved better, so in a way I can see why he quit. Still, the show is nothing without Michael. I’m guessing something is going to happen with the new boss Charles and they’re going to be begging for Michael to come back.

What I’ve always enjoyed about this show are the openings and closing of the show, and how it all ties together with the show’s theme for that episode. In the beginning of A Spark. To Pierce The Dark, Mary Alice (the narrator) talks about the different shocks we get in life, from steam cleaners to toaster ovens, to the shock of seeing your ex when you least expect them, like when Susan runs into her ex at her school.

Susan’s issue with her ex husband’s creepy kid were just frightening. He’s a little boy that draws disturbing images of people killing other people in her art class. Of course her ex husband just assumes she’s trying to punish his son unfairly.

There are a few plots going on with each main character as usual. Brie and Orson are dealing with marital stress yet again. I love how Orson is stealing to hurt her, because it affects her image. He knows the one way to get through to her.

Still, I think he took it to the extreme making her sell her business. It doesn’t seem fair to make her give up her dreams. There should be a balance between them.

Lynette’s boss Lucy pisses me off so much. She has a nasty attitude, and her neck looks like a pig’s jugular, ew. I wanted to smack her so bad. I LOVE how Lynette gets back at her by letting Carlos’ kids play with Lucy’s fancy figurines.

And poor Gabby is trying to get attention from Carlos, who is too exhausted to sleep with her.

I can’t believe he ties her up so he can get some sleep. So messed up! At least he realizes that he needs to be there for the family more, and he cuts back on the hours.

It was torture watching Edie forget to get her fax, which would fill her in on why her husband Dave is off on his “camping trip” with Katherine and Mike. He’s so incredibly creepy! The suspense was almost too much! Thank god she finally gets the fax and figures it out, preventing Katherine from being hurt.
I feel so bad for Edie, who finally seemed to be happy. I think she’s the strongest woman on the show in her own way. She’s not afraid to speak out and say exactly how she feels.
She was also able to get away from Dave when he tried to kill her. She’s amazing!
The finale scene does what I love, and takes us back to the opener, about shocks. Just when you think Edie is going to escape, she almost runs Orson over (who was busted stealing) and ends up crashing into a power line. The line comes down and electrocutes her. Shocking!
My theory is that Edie is going to survive but maybe she’ll have amnesia, in true Wisteria Lane fashion, and won’t remember that Dave is a psychopathic killer. I guess we’ll find out next week if I’m right.

I was so happy that the truth finally came out to everyone about Izzie’s illness. I was sick of her not coming clean, especially to Alex. Cristina tries to convince Izzie to start treatment, and to let everyone know, but she refuses. So when Cristina tells Alex and Bailey before surgery, so matter of fact and then asking for a scalpel, right there among the industrial clamps, surgery equipment, and all the nurses, was so classic Yang. Even though it was a sad moment, I still loved it.

As for the rest of the show, it was just average. There was silly intern drama, which I didn’t care about, but I loved how Grey handled it. “You go get your arm fixed, you go clean yourself up, and you, get to OB because yes, you are pregnant.” She was like Bailey in that moment, and she nailed it. 

Meanwhile Bailey tries getting Callie and Hunt to go get Derek to come back to work. He just manages to make them depressed and start drinking too, but when the chief comes, it seems to have some effect on him. Still, it takes Meredith coming back, and telling him that she needs him to help Izzie for him to finally get up off his butt and look at her xrays. 

I’m curious about how the writers are going to handle Izzie’s illness. Is Derek going to perform a life saving one in a million chance of survival surgery on her? Or are they going to kill her off? It doesn’t seem likely that they would kill her at this point. She’s bringing ratings back to the show, and they’ve given her substance once again. I just hope the rest of the characters show a little more sadness.
When Meredith was dying from almost drowning, everyone was in tears, and the episode was incredible. So far not one tear has been shed for Izzie. If they let her leave the show that way, I’m going to be pissed. But also, if they let her die, I think the show would be over.

She’s an integral part, and they need to keep her on until the show is over. Which, if I were the writer, I’d finish the show up next year. It’s a great show, but it’s gone so far downhill since the first and second season, and I don’t see it ever coming back. Better to finish off the series while there’s still some dignity, instead of letting it turn into something like ER became. I will say that this season has been far better than the last two years though, and if they keep it up, then there may be a few more seasons left in them, provided none of the main characters call it quits.

Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin is a book about a newlywed in her early 30s who is confronted by a man from her past. She has unfinished feelings for this man, even though she’s happily married. I read this book because I enjoyed Emily Giffin’s book, Something Blue, and Baby Proof. Her writing style makes the reader feel a part of the story, and the books are generally fun and easy reads. This book made me so angry! I couldn’t identify with the main character, and at one point I flat out hated her. The author basically wrote a book that takes the worst qualities of some women, and puts them on a pedestal. 

She glorified the idea of an affair, and made it seem like cheating was ok, especially if one had unfinished business with their ex boyfriend. What?? Also, she portrayed the cheating, lying wife, as a victim. The husband was a sweet, loving man who was always honest with her. The wife settled, marrying the man because he was safe, and easy, the exact opposite of her head game playing ex. To me, if you’re not over someone, don’t date someone new, much less marry them, and then make it seem like it’s his fault you’re cheating. 

There was also drama between the protagonist and her best friend to round out the character’s development as an overall bitch. Giffin essentially wrote a book about every woman I’ve ever disliked, and portrayed her as the hero. I wouldn’t be surprised if Giffin wrote about how it’s ok to take weight loss pills and they’re actually good for you. That’s the kind of standpoint this author seemed to take throughout the book.
I thought this book was going to be able avoiding temptations, tying up loose ends, and making the right choices, but it wasnt’. I was disappointed, and don’t plan on reading any new novels by Giffin in the future.

First of all, I love how all the friends are so honest with each other. That’s exactly what good friends mean to me, and I think it makes the show feel that much more real.

So the opening of the show the group is showing open disgust for Ted’s new girlfriend Karen, whom I also despise.

In this episode, Karen dumps Ted for finding Robin’s earring in his bed. Then Ted finds the other earring in Lily’s bedroom, and finds out she’s been breaking up Ted’s dead end relationships to try to protect him. She tells him about how she pictures them all growing old together, sitting on their front porch playing bridge, and she wants Ted’s wife to fit in. It’s her “Front Porch Theory” and I love it.

Ted and Lily have a huge fight, where he says he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Then he realizes that she was really helping him, and he forgives her.

Sprinkled into the serious stuff is a funny little dialogue between Barney and Marshall regarding nightshirts. It really is just better to watch it than to write about it. All I will say is there is a Scrooge reference that cracked me up.

It was a great episode but I hated the underlying sexual tension between Robin and Ted. I really hate them as a couple, and it’s such a dead end. I definitely don’t see wedding invitations in their future, so why waste our time by revisiting that flawed relationship?

This movie completely took me by surprise. I thought it might be a little bit funny, in that quirky, British humor sort of way. But I didn’t expect such a feel good movie, complete with a soundtrack and score that made me want to run out and download it. I think Ricky Gervais was perfect for the  role of Bertram Pincus, the completely antisocial jerk, who is still loveable.

The movie is a story about a dentist who seems to be slightly OCD, who dislikes people in general. He’s the kind of guy who won’t hold a door, and presses the close door button on the elevator rather than share it with someone. He’s brash, he doesn’t seem to understand social rules at all (he tells a woman how much her present cost, just so she’d know it was expensive) and he makes horrible jokes that he laughs at himself.

After an accident in which he technically dies for a few minutes during a colonoscopy, before being revived again, he is left with a strange side effect. He can see ghosts.  They all want something from him, and want his help with their unfinished business. I won’t tell you the details, but I’m sure you can guess that through these ghosts, our socially retarded Bertram starts to develop some people skills.

I am planning on buying this DVD, because it’s the kind of film you can watch over and over again. It’s a perfect stay at home date night movie.