Graduation, 2008

A lovely night. I am almost speechless, we have so many emotions.

Here are the 500+ graduates:

One exciting thing, there was a streaker afterwards. This person dropped his gown then ran with just a tiger striped speedo thong on. There is a lot of discussion of what he had painted on his butt, we think it was either his sports team number, which started with a 2, or 2008.

Lots of family came to celebrate. Oh, and we all gave Jessica lots of leis, she had the most of anyone in the school:

Me, my Jessica, and Fr. Hubby. We sure love that girl:

Carpet Cleaning Time

If you ever want to know just how much stuff you have on the floor, invite the carpet cleaning people to come.

Sometimes I feel like I'd just like to treat our house like a tent. We'd tip it, and sweep everything out, and never look back. Adios to the clutter.

Alas, I better do some pickup before the carpet cleaning person has to come. Want him to be able to access more than 2 square feet per room.

Ready, Set, Graduate!

We're getting ready for Jessica's high school graduation on Friday. I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were giving birth to the child.

Congratulations Jess!!

Why Jason Castro Could Be An Mski

Well, he's Latin but he has blue eyes like our people - but that's not the real reason Jason Castro could be an mski.

Jason Castro likes to sleep. Just like the mski women over the age of 10.

Here is the transcript from cnn/Larry King. Fixed by me, because their transcriber did not catch everything.

LARRY KING: E-mail from Tempest (ph) in New Orleans. It's for Jason. "Does it upset you some people think your laid-back personality is a result of smoking weed?"

JASON CASTRO: It doesn't upset me. It's kind of an ignorant assumption, I think. Because I'm taking it easy.

BROOKE WHITE: Can I jump in?

MICHAEL JOHNS: [editor's note, this was from out of nowhere] Michael Johns is kind of drag.

BROOKE WHITE: This is the most well rested guy on the planet. The truth is that he takes more naps than anybody I've ever known.

JASON CASTRO: The reason I'm so laid back is because most of the time I just woke up.

LARRY KING: So --

BROOKE WHITE: During the show, he's asleep on the couch.

CARLY SMITHSON: He would fall asleep while he was getting his makeup done.

SYESHA MERCADO: [to Jason] We were out to dinner and you were sleeping.

DAVID COOK: I actually -- I lived with Castro for a while and I can promise you that that representation of him is completely false.

LARRY KING: It's a myth.

To see the video click here, choose Part 7, from 1:07
http://mjsbigblog.com/more-from-the-top-10-larry-king-live-part-2-video.htm#more-4904

Call Naomi Mara

Ruth 1:20.

That's pretty much Noms last night, after spending so much time cutting the oranges, making the batter, and wrapping up the oranges in foil, and babysitting them for 40 minutes at the fire.

We did add about a cup of the orange insides into the batter, and beat them in there.

Some of the orange cakes did not bake all the way. The rest were...OK.

But, the rest of the batter we put into a loaf pan and baked...and it was great! Moist and delish.

The orange method...I'd not recommend.

Campfire Orange Cake

Happy Memorial Day everybody!

We are having pork tenderloins, corn, and various cookout-y stuff.

Naomi is going to try to make Campfire Orange Cake, in our fire pit. Since we have a zillion oranges still from my trip out to the fruit stands. We'll let you know how it goes.

Steven Curtis Chapman Cinderella

Just the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5LteQgBIMA

Video with the story afterwards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLYxtuC0oRk

Top Ten Reasons We Are Happy Charley is Blogging Again

Thank goodness, there's been a run on entries at charley's blog.

This is very good, and in fact there are many reasons it's good. Here are the top ten:

10. He introduced us to blogging. Before, Fr Hubby and I would have to email him our top ten lists.
9. It's a nice way to hear his dry wit and humor, since we are no longer in the same 'hood.
8. Someone has to make sure that the telephone and coffee vendors of the world tow the line.
7. I get to hear from Miss Cindy in his comments, and met my Canadian friend michele through his comments.
6. We know he is still alive, and not buried under an avalanche of textbooks.
5. It's nice to see the various template changes he makes on a monthly basis, and wonder what it would be like to have a blogging provider that actually gives you good template choices.
4. We get to keep up with the Courtenia and her grownupness.
3. It's funny to hear such a relatively calm person in real life rant and rave.
2. It's better than nothing, since Mabel Queen of Dog Blogs doesn't blog anymore.
1. It helps us to advise Presidential candidates on their runningmates.

Watching American Idol Finale at the Mski Home

Now, please take this post as a post highlighting the shenanigans of the home, and not a bitter mom complaining about her TV watching being interrupted by live humans...because of course that would never be me...

• Boy has open house at school from 6 to 7:30 pm. Aw darn, that means Mama has to take him to open house and not go to Wednesday night services at church, and therefore can watch American Idol finale live.




• AI starts.




• Quiet boy suddenly becomes chatty Kathy. He talks about everything under the sun, including how calculators work and wants to demonstrate how they work. Mama tries to pretend she is interested.




• Youngest girl decides to play piano and sing. Mama puts a quick stop to that.




• Boy decides to root for Archie, against his mother's Cookie.




• Oldest teenager finds out who the winner is from her internet sources and threatens to tell the mother.




• Little girl takes her shower. Lather, rinse, get her into jammies.




• Boy takes his shower. Lather, rinse, throw him in a towel and send him to get his underwear on.




• Younger teenager calls from the next town, ready to be picked up from choir banquet.




• Mama delays leaving to pick up teenager until after Jason Castro sings solo Hallelujah song.




• Oldest teenager worries about Jason Castro singing his Hallelujah song, because he was visibly shaking. We share a moment of concern.




• Mama decides to send oldest teenager to go pick up younger teenager so she can keep watching AI.




• Oldest teenager is a good sport and leaves to go pick up her sister.




• Boy wants milk.




• Girl wants milk.




• Girl needs to go to bed. Pause AI.




• Boy needs to drill his 8s addition facts, so mama set him up on http://www.aplusmath.com/.




• Girl goes to bed and wants 2 pages of Cinderella. Mama reads it.




• Boy goes to bed and Mama reads Superman to boy. The shortest book in the room.




• Girl wants to sleep in parents' bedroom. Whatever, just let me go back downstairs to watch the TV.




• Unpause AI.




• Teenagers return.




• Oldest teenager rewinds the whole thing back to the beginning so we can see it all again with younger teenager.




• Mama thinks we will be lucky to get done with this show by midnight.




• Everyone laughs/screams at David Cook shaking his legs while singing with ZZ Top. Nice moves David!




• Everyone laughs at how David Hernandez magically got the line about being "naked" in the George Michael song.




• Younger teenager takes over computer to do a project on the Ukrainian genocide.




• Husband comes home from church.




• We laugh at the crazy Renato and wish they showed the Jason Castro singing with the crazy audition guy piece we've seen.




• Younger teenager needs advice on the Ukrainian genocide project.




• Mama refrains from kicking younger teenager off the computer so she can check AI forums, http://www.mjsbigblog.com/, and Michael Slezak at Entertainment Weekly.




• Teenagers give husband the recap of what has gone on.




• Younger teenager cannot work the double sided tape and mama has to fix it.




• Older teenager wishes Jason Castro sang "Tambourine Man," his infamous lyric botching song, which sounds really great on the itunes studio download CD.




• Husband goes on a big diatribe about the judges in the moments before the winner is announced.




• Husband is sad that no one is listening to what he is saying.




• The winner is announced. Yay David Cook!! Yay!! Happy happy joy joy!!




• We all remark and how happy all the contestants are for David Cook.




• Cautious older teenager states that she would not have all those sparks flying down if she were the winner, that is not very safe.

This morning, I had to break the news to Luke that big David won the match. Luke is very disappointed, and begins questioning if David Archuleta can go another round. He does not give up very easily.



If you missed the show, I highly recommend MTV.com's 60 second recaps. Jim Cantiello gives everything you need to know in 60 seconds. And he does.



Congratulations to David Cook!! Who has done a fine job all year.

Depression

Maybe it's post mother's day blues - such a big buildup and then letdown - or something. Or general overwhelmedness of life. Or a symptom of the world in which we live. But more than a few people I know are being hit by depression right now.

My husband has worked with various people to fend off mental illness of various types. His point is that if a snake came into your home, you would hit it with a shovel. You would step on it. You would not just lay there and let it bite you and hurt you or your family.

It's a point well taken. If we can fight a physical threat, we should concentrate and fight a mental threat. We should take arms and do what we can to try to fend off the problems: This can be fought! Prayer, medication, therapy, walking, exercise, healthy diet, a hobby, whatever you can find to trigger the happiness again.

It's sort of what made me love the movie Lars and the Real Girl - Lars actually gets healing from his mental affliction. Sometimes we think that mental issues cannot be beat. But they can be beat.

If you are facing depression or other mental issues, I am very, very sorry. I know how hard these things can be. I think the only person more miserable than someone who is close to a person with mental illness is the person with mental illness themselves. As hard as growing up with a mom with issues was, I know it was even harder to be her, living with the issues.

I encourage you fight it and beat it. Or at least do some big damage. We humans can fight these invisible threats as well as we would physical ones. And progress begins when you start swatting the snake with that shovel. And it can be even more effective if you let God and others help swat the snake along with you.

"Even Fr Rich Eats This Pasta Salad"

And Fr. Rich is not a pasta salad type of guy. Here's a new recipe, amended from the BLT pasta salad. I made it on Sunday and it was gone by Monday night. An amazement, mskis ate leftovers.

Even Fr Rich Eats This Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb. casara, or rotelle, or fusilli, or small type pasta
3 Medium Tomatoes diced
8 Bacon Strips cooked and crumbled
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 cup water
½ onion, minced
Feta cheese (if desired)
Salt to taste

Cook Pasta according to Directions on box drain and rinse in cold water.

In a small bowl make the dressing: combine mayonnaise, vinegar, pepper, salt, water and whisk.

In large bowl combine tomato, bacon, and pasta and mix. Pour dressing on top. Salt to taste.

If desired, sprinkle feta cheese on top before serving.

Exciting Trinity Sunday at All Saints

It was such an exciting day. Dramatic, or as Nadia says, "amatic," to say the least.

First, somehow they didn't get all the bulletins I printed. We were short of bulletins, even though I printed the ususal number. I think there was a bulletin thief around. I gave up my bulletin and had to fake it when everyone was reciting the psalm.

DH was losing his voice. He wasn't wearing a mic either. It's so interesting when you are unsure whether or not the preacher is going to be able to continue.

Next, several new songs in the mix. And the musicians were standing up instead of sitting down. Very nice.

Fourth, SteVB and Nick the Cool sang a "ska" type song during offertory that had me thinking. And "I was thinking Bob Marley, yeah!" If only they had dreds, it would have been even more effective. But somehow SteVB is adamantly against growing dredlocks, even as much as we heckle him about it.

Fifth, DH was cracking during some of his sung liturgy during communion. Several of the people in church were giving each other covert looks and trying not to react. But if he had cracked one more time I think we would have been all giggly.

Sixth, during the time of ministry, POP! the power went out. Yikes! And it was 108 degrees today at church.

• The musicians went unplugged. Jess had to strum like the dickens, and the singers had to shout it out. SteVB, who was using an electric guitar, had to take Jessica's acoustic guitar and play it mighty loud during St. Michael's.
• The alarms starting going off, until Mae somehow figured out how to reset them.
• The kids started screaming in the nursery. We brought them into the sanctuary and opened the curtains so there would be some light.
• I started to wonder if KFC would also have a power outage, thereby keeping us from fried chicken lunch, and also if our home would be out of power, rendering our refrigerator full of food from Costco bad and us with no air conditioning. Luckily, the power outage was confined to the neighborhood of the church.
• We had to sing all of the praise songs from memory because we could not see the overhead projector. And we suddenly all came down with Alzheimers' so the music team had to carry it.

Seventh, SteVB took out the trash after church and the trash can fell down, and tons of poo poo diapers fell on the sidewalk and he had to pick him up with his young man hands, which are not used to poo poo diapers and were totally grossed out. It was pretty funny.
Eighth, Nadia told the kids in the nursery that our house burned to the ground and we were moving to South America. So those kids spent time after they returned to the service convincing their mothers "really, Nadia said so! they are moving to South America!" And their mothers thought "hmm, I think we would have heard if their house burned to the ground..."
Ninth, we got home and Nadia was playing catch with one of the Brothers' House guys and fell and got a bloody nose.
Tenth, Jessica found that one of the dogs had gotten into the pool and chewed her brand new pool floatie. We used it for the first time yesterday. Anger all around.
Yep. A very exciting Sunday. It was so exciting, that now I am going to take a nap. Such a day.

Kindergarten Roundup

This week we took Nadia to the kindergarten roundup at school.

She is the most highly motivated pre-kindergartener I've ever seen. She'd been thrilled for a week about going. We discussed the requirements for kindergarten (know your colors, know your shapes, count to 30, know the upper and lower case alphabet) and she's been diligently trying to prove she knows it all.

We had a group tour, and when they sat the kids down to have the librarian explain the rules. She looked like Superman with xray vision - she was staring at the librarian so hard, soaking in EVERY SINGLE WORD. I was afraid she was going to bore a hole in the woman's head.

She is intense, to say the least.

She found that her best friend from preschool was in the roundup, as was another boy. But the boy apparently "didn't remember" that he knew the two girls. So they chased him the whole time so he would remember. In 90+ degree heat.

She came home all pink. We had to give her a water bottle and a shower.

This will be interesting!

Note to self, buy the girl some skorts. Skirts are no good when sitting cross legged listening to the teacher.

And BTW school starts in mid August. Yikes! That is right around the corner.

And then there will be no preschoolers in the mski home. I don't know whether to cry or jump up and down.

American Idol's Dirty Castro Conspiracy

Now I'm going to be talking about the grassy knoll. And Area 52. And how the government invented cancer.

Dear friends, I have reviewed the Tivos. And have come to the conclusion that indeed, the AI judges were conspiring to get Jason Castro voted off the show.

We know the unnecessarily harsh criticisms. We know how Paula, in "Paulagate," judged Jason's second song harshly before he even sang it. We know how Simon says no one could possibly do Bob Marley. (Well, I was thinking Bob Marley, yeah!) And we know how Randy would be so angry and critical at Jason...when David Archuleta had previously forgotten the lyrics on 2 songs, and 1 group song (RENT - hello, Naomi caught that one).

Yes dear friends, I am afraid that the American Idol machine was afraid of the Castronauts - the gazillion fans out there who love Jason Castro. Who is not the Clay Aiken of Season 7. But he certainly is the Jack Johnson of Season 7. Or the Brad Paisley, or Kenny Loggins, or ... well, I am not sure. But there is a real charm to the boy. The way he perseveres in the wake of everyone judging him very harshly, and laughing at himself, and joking around...just very nice. I could see other contestants crying at the mean comments directed towards him.

And here is a little known fact: he is a smartypants. I have read somewhere on a forum that he had an SAT score of 1340 (higher than mine), and was on an academic scholarship to Texas A&M. For some of the more interesting interviews with Jason, past his hair and the "vote, vote" controversy, take a look at EW's Idolatry interviews with Jason by Michael Slezak - who actually knows the show and gets Jason: http://www.ew.com/ew/video/idolatry.

So on this first week sans Jason, I have to say that Archuleta did fine, Cookie did his usual excellent job, Syesha...yeesha, and it was all very serious and stressful looking at the contestants without the pleasant little break of Jason, who seemed to give a little lightheartedness to the show. He could joke, and laugh at himself, not care about winning, and always be a little island of peace. Now watching AI is like watching ER or CSI:NY or something with all the stress of the contestants.

In the end, Jason had the top iTunes download with "Hallelujah." And has already sold a whole lot of t-shirts. I'm sure his album will do quite well. Perhaps he will be - more than Ruben Studdard, or Taylor Hicks, or Katherine McPhee, or Fantasia - the commercial succcess that American Idol seeks to breed.

We still love and watch the show, but it's a hollow shell of its dredlocked former self without the charm of Jason, the guy you knew wouldn't win but didn't care.

Too bad he was targeted to leave, because the judges were so intent on having a David/David showdown. Because Jason just may have been loved enough to unseat one of the Davids.

Better Sleep Through Pillows

If you asked me a year ago, I would say that I have no pain. No physical pain, whatsoever.

Unfortunately that's not the case now. My shoulders have been hurting a lot. And my theory has been that it's caused by my sleep position.

I am a side sleeper, and I sleep with my arm under my pillow. I think it's bad.

So I tried sleeping on my back. And my back has started to hurt.

I saw a show on TV news that had a pain doctor saying that you need to properly support the body with pillows in order to get good sleep and reduce pain.

So last night I slept on my back, with a pillow underneath my knees. That was better.

Now after some googling I have discovered a pillow specially made for people with shoulder problems. Apparently when you sleep on your side you can create shoulder problems. This one has memory foam, and a channel underneath it for your arm. http://www.deluxecomfort.com/better-sleep-pillow-order.html

But, I am too cheap to buy the pillow, which is $99. I'd have to get two, because I couldn't get one for me and neglect Fr. Hubby. So that would be $200 just in pillows. I don't think we'll be buying that soon.

I am going to be on the lookout for some discount better sleep pillows!

The 126

At lunch today, I drove out Highway 126 and headed for fruit stands.

One of the greatest things about where we live is that we can just go 15 minutes ride and get to giant boxes of oranges, flats of strawberries, and tons of other fresh produce. The greatest specialty is citrus.

It is one of the most relaxing drives. So beautiful. And you come home with a real bounty. Fresh fruit, sweeter and cheaper than the grocery store, really delicious.

There will be no scurvy in the Mski home this week.

When we have our PW retreat, we are taking a trip out to Solvang, and the beach...and stopping at the Highway 126 fruit stands on the way back!!

Jason Castro Performances

Some mighty nice performances on Ellen and Regis & Kelly, from MJ's American Idol blog:

http://mjsbigblog.com/jason-castro-on-ellen-and-regis-and-kelly-video.htm#more-4821

Yes, Virginia, There is a Pentecost

It was hard to have Mother's Day and Pentecost fall on the same day. This has been a weird year, calendar-wise, what with Easter coming so early and all. Well, now Mother's Day and Pentecost were the same day.

And interestingly enough, as noted by Joel at CEC Worship ( http://cecworship.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/pentecost-happy-birthday-church/ ) not so many people are mentioning Pentecost.

I do think it is strange that the church somehow has made Mother's Day a high holiday, but not so much worried about Pentecost.

Maybe it's because a lot of people come to church with their mothers on Mother's Day. Outreach opportunity.

Maybe it's because they are guilty for ignoring Jesus' Mother, Mary. Romophobic guilt.

Maybe it's because the church is largely run and populated by women and they would storm the pulpit if not recognized.

Maybe it's because in today's mobile society, the family is often separated by distance and the church feels like they need to fill the emotional void grown children are not.

I don't know. I'm sure it's really just all innocent and not anything malicious.

But anyway, I pray that all of us, and our mothers, have a fresh visit of the Holy Spirit!

Happy Mother's Day and Apple Cake - No. 1

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Saturday, Luke came happily into my room in the morning. "Tomorrow is the big day!" He was so excited for mother's day, and it warmed my heart.

And we had a great time. First, church. Nice to see all the kids going to church with their mothers. Then, Fr. Hubby took us out to lunch at Island's. I had the delish teriyaki burger, plus onion rings and french fries, and we all shared the brownie vanilla ice cream and the coffee ice cream desserts.

Afterwards, we came home and ate pot roast for dinner. Or, roast pot, as one of my dear children said. DH put the babies to bed, very nice.

I got lovely gifts: a homemade bracelet from Luke, fresh flowers from SteVB and Jess, a hand colored potholder from Nadia, and a beautiful breakfast made by Luke: not one but TWO sandwiches - peanut butter & jelly, and a butter sandwich. And hot chocolate.

Then, in the evening Naomi asked if I would like anything and I wanted some cake. So at my request she baked one of the cakes from my childhood, from the Gardena Buddhist Church cookbook (the home of all 1970s Japanese-American potluck recipes).

It turns out that Naomi made Apple Cake - No. 1. Delish.

But there are also the following recipes in this cookbook:
Apple Cake - No. 2
Delicious Apple Cake
Fresh Apple Cake - No. 1
Fresh Apple Cake - No. 2
Fresh Apple Cake - No. 3
Happy Apple Cake
Yo's Apple Cake
Apple Chunkies
Applesauce Fruit Cake
Quik Chocolate Applesauce Cake

So. We liked Apple Cake - No. 1. But we may need to go on a bit of an apple cake quest in order to figure out the best of the apple cakes. I think Naomi's interested in the Happy Apple Cake. But I think they call it Happy Apple Cake just because of the brandy in there.

We amended Apple Cake - No. 1 in order to have less sugar. Here it is with less sugar:

4 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp baking powder
2 cups fresh apple slices
1 cup nuts, chopped (we omitted this, didn't have 'em)

Mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, apple slices and nuts. Pour into wax paper lined (bottom only) 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until cake tests done.

Motivated Mskis

In an attempt to keep things under control around the house, I got the list of chores from http://www.motivatedmoms.com/. It's a great plan, where you essentially have a little checklist of daily chores and special chores for each day. If you do these things, the house will be all sparkly. The whole calendar year was $8, and from what many of my friends say, it is well worth the cost. Instead of walking around wringing your hands, you know what to do to get the house clean.

So. They give you a sample online, and here are the dailies from the online sample list:

• Make beds
• Feed pets
• Load/run/empty dishwasher
• Sweep kitchen & entryway
• Clean kitchen sink
• Clear/wipe kitchen counters
• Plan/cook dinner
• Wipe out bathroom sinks
• Empty trash
• Do laundry
• Read to children
• Exercise
• Quiet time
• Take vitamins/medication
• Prepare tomorrow's clothing

So I explained the system to the girls, and told them that was we complete these things, we check them off on the list, which is on the wall in the kitchen.
Naomi: "I'll take quiet time."
Jessica: "I'll take vitamins."

Belated Easter Pic, 2008

AI Top 4

Yes, Jason does care:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/05/american-idol-3.html

No, Syesha (who says the word "I" or "me" 8 times in one sentence) should not change an iconic song about the civil rights movement into a song about her personal American Idol journey. That's like me saying that "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" is a great song for me because I like pie.

David Cook, nice job. Tough to meet all those exaggerated expectations of you.

David Archuleta. Geez, I think Randy wants to marry him. I didn't think it was mad hot, just kind of vanilla.

Skullet

And for those of you who miss wearing your mullets... a la Hulk hogan, you can always do the skullet...

http://photo.monkey.net/index.php?showimage=453

Thai Chicken Pasta

A delicious meal - and you can also fix it without the chicken too. Thanks sommar!

Thai Chicken Pasta

2 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1 lb. linguini
Sommar's peanut sauce
1/4 bunch of cilantro (optional)

Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces, then sautee the chicken and onions together in a little canola oil. Boil and drain the pasta. Pour the chicken and onions on top of the pasta in a big pot or bowl. Top with peanut sauce and toss. Add cilantro leaves if desired.

Sommar's Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (or regular if you don't have natural)
3/4 cup water
3 tsp chopped garlic
4.5 tbsp lemon juice
4.5 tbsp soy sauce
2.5 tsp sugar
1 tbsp hot sauce of your choice (I use vietnamese chili paste)

Mix together and microwave for a bit till you can stir it all together being careful not to over cook, it will get weird.

Where's Waldo?

Last night Luke wanted to read Where's Waldo? before he went to bed. We looked and looked.

We could not find Where's Waldo?

And I told Luke that was ironic. So then, I had to explain what ironic meant.

Then, Naomi came into the room. I told her that we could not find Where's Waldo?

She said, "that's a little ironic."

Costco

Oh, how I love Costco. I love it, love it, love it.

Today, we renewed our membership after a few years of not having one.

We just got back. We are putting away the lovely stuff we got.

When you feed a family of four kids, two adults, and try to have a little left over for visitors, it can become constant trips to the grocery store. I love Costco because we will now have little meals on hand easy to whip up. Some snacks, sold at a much better price than individually purchased. And fabulous miscellaneous items.

If we need to buy a yard swingset, we can. I can buy a 3 pack of leather scrapbooks for $29.99. We can buy towels or sheets. Tampax Pearl. A ceiling fan. Vitamins. Kirkland Signature everything. Office furniture. Patio furniture. Fresh flowers. Pounds of feta cheese. 4 lbs. of fresh strawberries for $4.99. Tires for the car.

And every single thing is a better deal than what we would get elsewhere. Very high quality, decent prices.

Oh, how I love Costco. Now, I am going to go and eat some of the 6 gallons of pickles we bought.

American Idol Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Song Suggestions

It's going to be a little tough this week for the contestants in song selection. LOTS of good songs to pick from.

The key in selecting a song is to get a great song done by someone who sings worse than you. Now, this can be tough when doing the people in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The other thing would be to change the song to your style, and make it your own. And, let's remember that these people are young, and don't necessarily know all of these artists. Yeesh.

Here are my thoughts.

David Archuleta - I'd love to hear something really gritty from him. Let's do something raw, and show some personality. Although I'm sure it will be Fleetwood Mac "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA," or Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror."

Jason Castro - song selection will be key for him. I'd suggest something like Buddy Holly "Everyday," or maybe the Eagles "Desperado," Prince "Purple Rain," Bee Gees "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," Simon & Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "The Sound of Silence," or Billy Joel "She's Always a Woman," or James Taylor "Something in the Way She Moves."

David Cook - what can't he sing this week? It's going to be his oyster.

Syesha - well, I'm sure she'll pick a big song already sung by a singer better than her and try to copy it, doing well but not as well as the original. Aretha Franklin "Respect"? Glady Knight "I Heard it Through the Grapevine? But I'd like to hear her song Bonnie Raitt "I Can't Make You Love Me."

Phew. I am exhausted with all of this song strategy work. But, since the AI contestants are all loyal readers of the Blog Adventure, I'm sure it will all be to good use.