We’re all moved into the new place! It’s so nice to be done with all that work. And we’ve got our internet back (that was a rough couple of days, let me tell you!) so I’m able to blog away to my heart’s content. We love the new place so much. It’s like night and day from our old neighborhood. It’s just so quiet where we are now. We’re in the college town I used to live in when I was in school, and I had forgotten how much I loved it there. There’s a smaller popular so the traffic is not nearly as bad. Some of our favorite restaurants are here, and it’s 15 minutes closer to work, which is so nice. Though when I have a great book on cd I long for the longer drive, haha.
The new place has lots of storage-so much in fact that D gets to hang up his clothes. At the old one bedroom I took the closet, he got the floor. The appliances are nice too, the bathroom looks as nice as one of those Hansgrohe faucets and we finally have a gas range for cooking! I have yet to make a nice meal though, because we’ve been so busy unpacking. Soon though. I might even get around to posting a few pics of the new place too!

Modern Family is one of my favorite new shows. In this episode, Phil buys his son a bike, and then later he sees the bike just carelessly tossed aside without a lock. He decides to teach his kid a lesson by taking the bike and hiding it. He then rides the bike home, when his sexy neighbor asks for help. He carelessly drops the bike, and helps the sexy neighbor get into her house, where she’s locked herself out. He lies to his wife, and makes it sound far worse than what it was. He also discovers that the bike was stolen while he was helping her. He should probably look into some life insurance rates because his wife looked like she was ready to murder him.

Meanwhile the gay couple take their adopted daughter to her first Mommy and Me class. It’s funny because Mitchell insists that Cameron dumb down his gay personality so they wouldn’t scare the uptight Mommies. At the end of class another gay couple comes in and they see that it would have been completely fine.

This show is laugh out loud funny. D and I crack up every time we watch it. I like how there are some good, honest family moments mixed in with the laughs. Jay’s stepson is waiting for his dad to pick him up and take him to Disneyland, and he’s so excited for the trip. When he never shows up, Jay steps in, and tells Mannie that his dad suggested Jay and his mom take him instead. Jay gives up his weekend alone with his new wife to help out her son. I love the quote he gives too, “90% of being a good dad is just showing up.”

We left off last season with Mike getting married to someone (me desperately hoping it was Susan), Gaby getting a bonus foster daughter, and Lynette finding out she was having twins.

So I was right about the Mike and Susan thing (yay!). I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Catherine though, when she crashes the wedding and looks incredibly crushed. I’m sure there will be more Catherine and Susan drama to come.

Gaby’s foster daughter is just as wild as Gaby used to be, and Gaby has her work cut out for her. She steps up though and shows her new daughter that she and Carlos are not giving up on her.

My heart broke for Lynette when she told her husband she didn’t love her babies. I don’t see how they’re going to write them into the show. It’s just so sad for all involved. Tom is super excited for them, and Lynette is just dreading the idea of having to raise more kids.

Then there is Bree. I can’t believe sweet, innocent Bree is having an affair! Classic Bree moment came when she insisted they go by new sheets for the hotel her and her lawyer (who happens to be Susan’s ex, Carl) were going to have their tryst in. Hehehe.

Then, as if all that weren’t enough, in the last five minutes of the show, the new neighbor teen STRANGLES Julie, Susan’s daughter. Holy crap! They better not kill her off, that would be devastating. Though they’ve killed off others, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Hopefully all of the main characters have good life insurance quotes  because no one is safe on Wisteria Lane!

I listened to the audio book Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz  a long time ago and I loved it. I recently discovered that there are a bunch of other books in the series, Forever Odd and Brother Odd, Odd Hours and In Odd We Trust. How great is it when you love a character and then discover that there’s more books abou them?

So I’m currently listening to Forever Odd, and I thought I’d give you guys a review of Odd Thomas. Odd Thomas is the main character’s given name. His parents were cruel it seems. Or maybe they knew he would live up to that name, because Odd has some very strange gifts.

He has the ability to see ghosts. Now, let me just stop and say that I’m the world’s biggest scardy cat! I can’t stand scary movies and I am a total chicken. Books are even more scary because of the whole imagination thing, but for some reason I still love this book. I get spooked, but Kootz is great at getting you into the story, and it allows you to see past the creepiness.

The ghosts are actually good, they come to Odd because they know he can help them. Thes ghosts can’t talk, but otherwise they are as real to Odd as any other person. He can see them, and he can even touch them. Sometimes the ghosts come to him for justice, and other times they try to help prevent a crime.

In this first book, Odd Thomas, Odd introduces us to his world of the supernatural. Not only does he have the ability to see ghosts, but he also has a way of “sensing things” and this sense usually leads him to the killer. There are only a few people who know about his gift. One of these people is the police chief, who Odd helps solve crimes with his paranormal tips.

I won’t say much more about the book, just that you definitely have to check it out if you like books with suspense. Odd Thomas finds himself trying to prevent a crime of catastrophic proportions. Told in first person, and switching from present to the past, you find yourself suffering right along with Odd thoughout this ordeal. Odd’s world is mysterious and sad, and it will definitely haunt you long after you’ve finished reading.

Also, if you check out the author’s website, there is a web site directory with more information about Odd Thomas and the series. I wouldn’t look through it until after you’ve read the first book though, just so it doesn’t spoil anything for you. Half the thrill of these books is trying to figure out what will happen next.

This is another one of the great new series that came out this Fall, and I have to say, I love it. The show focuses on three different couples, and their daily lives. I love the way they sit the couples down like they’re being interviewed, cutting back and forth between their life and their commentary on it. There’s Jay, who recently married Gloria, a beautiful Columbian woman, who is half Jay’s age and has a preteen son from a previous relationship. There is Claire, Jay’s daughter, and her husband Phil, who is trying way too hard to be a hip cool dad and be in touch with his kid. There’s a really funny scene where he does all the dance moves to High School Musical while his three kids sit on the couch completely mortified. I think Phil steals the show-he cracks me up with all his young speak, that he gets wrong half the time. Then there’s the gay couple, Mitchell and Cameron, who recently adopted a little girl from Vietnam. Mitchell is Jay’s son, and Jay is pretty uncomfortable with the whole gay thing. He acts as if people are talking about cleansonix every time there’s even a reference to his son’s sexuality. This show is completely relatiable, there’s a least one character who is like someone in your own family, and you can’t help but laugh at all their antics. Definitely worth checking out!

I am a die hard Friends fan, and I adore Courtney Cox. So I had high hopes for her new series on ABC, and Cougar Town did not disappoint. I was a bit worried that all the funny parts were in the promos, but it was pretty funny throughout the show. I found myself laughing out loud at Courtney’s character, Jules, a 40 something recent divorcee and mother to a teenage son.

Her younger friend convinces her to get back out in the dating world and get her groove back Stella style. It’s funny to watch Jules because she says everything that she thinks. “Wow, you’re really black” to the big African American bouncer. It sounds terrible, but the way she says it is just adorable, and the bouncer gives her this wink and says, “Yeah baby”, and you just crack up. I am also so guilty of blurting out things without thinking, so I can relate to her.

Even through the jokes and the silly antics, there is also a serious note to the show. Jules has this hatred for her divorced neighbor (who happens to be a total hottie) who is constantly bringing over young bimbos to have his way with. She gives him a deep speech about how hard it is to be single at 40.

Now it can’t be so hard for Courtney Cox, who looks incredible at 45. I wish I knew what fat burners exercises she does because at 45, she looks better than my 26 yr old self!

She pulls off the sexy Cougar mom thing, but the show isn’t just about sex appeal. It’s also about a mom who’s struggling with this new life, trying to maintain her friendship with her still married best friend/next door neighbor, and also trying to be a good mom to her son. I hope this show makes it, because I thought it was great!

I love Neil Patrick Harris (NPH!) first of all. I love that he hosted The Emmys and I hope he gets to do it again next year. Now, I will confess, I didn’t even watch this year’s Emmys, I just watched clips online after the fact. I rarely know when things air, and I rely on the internet to catch all the shows that I miss. So I thought it was pretty ironic that a lot of talk on this year’s Emmys was concerning “Broadcast Television” and how it’s becoming a thing of the past because of streaming video online.
On the one hand I can see why those in the television business are concerned about it. They rely on advertising, and advertisers pay big bucks for their commercials, and here a lot of viewers just tune into the network’s webpage and opt for the limited commercial edition.
Still, were it not for TIVO, digital recorders, or the internet, many of us wouldn’t watch our favorite shows.

Let’s face it, life is just too busy to watch tv during regularly scheduled time slots. Now, I still love to catch my favorite shows right when they air, but it doesn’t always happen. That or D and I don’t agree on a tv show, and I won’t force him to suffer through Grey’s Anatomy if he hates it (Plus when I do watch it with him there, he just makes fun of it, and I miss all the good parts!!) And how many of us would love to just fast forward through those awkward colon cleanse reviews commercials given the choice? Of course we would! So we are in the age of techology, that gives us options instead of becoming a slave to the television programming schedule.

So what do you think? Do you think broadcast tv is becoming phased out for streaming videos online? Do you catch up on your favorite shows, record them, or do you watch them as they air?

Here’s a little clip of NPH’s opening act. Isn’t he adorable?

Even though it’s still super hot outside, it’s definitely fall because I’ve just caught my first cold of the season. I found myself wishing for fall weather yet again, as I tried to choke down hot tea for my sore throat, with the heat sweltering at about 99 degrees out, bleck. Having a cold is no picnic, but when it’s hot out and you can’t even get comfortable to take a nap, all cozy under the blankets and instead are sweating in your apartment, it’s not fun, let me tell you. The only good thing about a cold is that it’s better than a lot of diet products because I have virtually no appetite because I can’t taste anything. I think I’d rather work out though, so let’s hope I get over this bug quickly. I’ve got packing to do!!

Last night The Office season premiere did not disappoint. It started out with laughs, and continued throughout the show. As always, when it was over, D said, “That was it? it’s only half an hour?”

This episode, Gossip, centers around office gossip, and Michael feeling left out of the loop. He’s as childish as ever when he decides to spread rumors all over the office in an effort to cover up for a big truth he accidentally spilled regarding Stanley cheating on his wife. He makes up a rumor that Kelly has an eating disorder, and this snowballs into the receptionist thinking she puts weight loss supplements in her lunches. Michael tells everyone that Andy is gay, and no one believes it except for Andy himself. That storyline promises to come up again, though I’m not sure how far the writers will take it. That rumor gave out one of my favorite quotes of the episode when Andy goes to Jim for advice.

Andy: “I mean, I’m not gay. But I am…confused.”
Jim: “Easy. Sleep with a woman. Sleep with a man. Then compare.”

Michael also spreads a rumor around that Pam is pregnant, not knowing that this is in fact absolutely true. They were trying to keep it a secret from everyone for a little while, and Michael accidentally spills the beans. Another great quote came from Angela.

Angela to Pam: “You know a baby conceived before wedlock is still a bastard.”
Pam: “What?”
Angela: “You want me to repeat it?”

When Michael comes clean about spreading all the rumors, he tells everyone that he did it to cover up the one truth, that Stanley is having an affair. Jim jumps in and says, “No actually Pam is pregnant” deciding to tell the truth, and save Stanley in the process.
Of course Michael being the infant that he is, doesn’t catch on, and keeps hammering it away that no, in fact Stanley did cheat. Earlier in the day, he’d even called Stanley’s wife to see if she was out of town. When she calls him back, he accidentally calls her by Stanley’s mistress’s name, and basically ruins Stan’s life.

I found it hard to believe that Stanley was a cheater. He just didn’t seem like the cheating kind. As for Pam and Jim, I’m excited for the pregnancy, but I found it hard to believe she was four months along. She’s not showing at all, but I would think a small bump would be there by now. Plus, don’t people usually announce their pregnancies before 4 months? What do you guys think? Did you catch the episode?

The Twilight Saga New Moon’s latest Trailer. I.Cannot.Wait.