So Much to Say ...

I am not even sure where to start as there is SO much to share with you all. Which is fairly self evident as I haven't posted in eons. So note to self, don't go two weeks between posts and not expect to have to create a small novel. Or novella if you will....

Moving on to the good stuff -- and this is going to be huge, it will be all over the map.

Redhead Travel:

Having flown twice in the last 4 weeks, I have made a few observations.

I feel horribly non-important when I get off a plane and don't have a blackberry to check and many key phone calls to return on my bluetooth while holding up the line of people trying to get off the plane. Really, are you that important that it can't wait the 2 minutes for you to just EXIT THE FREAKIN' PLANE? Clearly, the hour and a half that you were in the air was the most crucial hour and a half in whatever business you are in history....

Get over yourself.

And for the record, if you have some weird, sino-nasal thing going on that causes you to not sniffle, not blow your nose, not wheeze -- but this off-putting, snorting, wailing sort of noise roughly every 2 minutes for an hour and a half flight, DON'T TRAVEL.

My only saving grace on that one was the earphones to the iPod do a great job of not only playing my music, but blocking noise as well.

Babies R' Me:

More babies. Got all kinds of SamKat goodness in my last trip out. She is getting so big and really a trip to watch. Noah is walking all over the place. Or alternatively, just throwing himself at you when he decides he is done walking -- the child has ZERO trust issues. Maggie is getting baptised some time in the next few weeks, Martine is getting induced TODAY and I just found out that my great friends Shaela and Chris are now expecting in October. Seriously -- its a freakin' population boom and I am in the middle of it.

Redheads & Boys:

There are none.

The Ex's have faded into the woodwork.

And I live in Des Moines. So that means that I don't date.

My uber-expensive, non-result dating service subscription should be closing out pretty soon, so the next question is where to start next?!?!?

Stay tuned.

If my life was a reality series:

I would be filmed watching

Rock of Love 2 -- did anyone actual see the USO show? priceless.

Project Runway -- FIERCE TRANNY HOTNESS

Top Chef - starting this week

And American Idol --

A few words on the idol -- and yes Courtney, you have heard this already:

1. How can you have 80's night and not a SINGLE Madonna song? Impossible.

2. Conversely, how can you still allow Whitney Houston songs? No one can sing like her and being a second-rate version of her? Whatever. Try something original.

3. David Archuleta (sp?) the self proclaimed, perky teen-phenom? Yes -- I think he might be part of an alien race that is made of spun cotton candy and wrapped in a cute, David-wrapper. The kid is just off the hook too perfect --

4. Paula is off her rocker, on too many meds and needs to go. Woman is in the upper stratosphere of crazy.

Redhead Family Update:

Everyone is doing well. We got a call from my brother over the weekend, so that is always a good thing. Seems things in Baghdad are pretty much the way they were the week before, and the week before that. Looking at a possible early May return stateside -- good stuff. We did get another room started at the house. Although I did have a rather pathetic realization on Sunday when I woke up and my shoulders were a little sore -- from painting. Yes, I am officially and without question out of shape and gross. The big news of the weekend was actually dropped the week before from my dad. When I set up this story, everyone always gets where it is going -- except I didn't when we talked. Long story short, he is seeing someone. You read that right. It was a really odd conversation. Mostly as I was expecting a conversation like "I think I am ready to start seeing someone" in advance of the actual " I am seeing someone" conversation. So, as we were all going to be home for the Smith clean up Round II -- he invited her over for dinner. Here is what I knew prior to the dinner. She is divorced, has been for a while, used to work with my dad, knew my mom, was at her visitation, and currently works with Courtney who assured me ahead of time that she was very sensitive to the situation. Melissa it seems, had a small freak out when she was told. With all this information running through the noggin, this is where I ended up:

- one of the things that pissed me off the most about my mom being sick was the fact that they had reached a point in their life where they were supposed to be doing stuff -- all the stuff and trips they had talked about. My dad still deserves the right to do those things and have someone to share them with.

-My mom was sick for a long time. She was really sick for about the last year. And I think, and this is just a theory, that even though my dad was completely devoted to her, was constantly working to keep her comfortable and did everything that he could do, he did not have an "equal" in the relationship. That is not a fair statement to either my mom or my dad -- as I am not sure that you can ever have that in a situation like that. But, my gut is telling me he started mourning her long before she ever passed away. In keeping with my " I am a big girl, I can handle this" train of thought, I decided to be as open minded as possible. And she was nice. She really was. According to her, one of her sons (she has two) was in high school the same time I was. Need to dig out the yearbook and give it a once over as the name didn't ring any bells. The only thing that was really uncomfortable was the mini-make out session on the couch a little later in the evening. Which when pressed the next morning by my dad with a "What did you think?", I called him on it. My real issue with it was -- among the insanely high weird/uncomfortable factor -- was if I had brought someone home to meet my family for the first time, I would NEVER do that. Not sure I would do that ever. He sheepishly admitted that he might have been out of line.
Details will be shared as we all travel this new, uneven road of parental dating -- which for a lot of people is NOT a new thing -- but for me, is as weird as anything I can think of.

Went and saw Wilco on Sunday. Great show. Great, great show. Saw a ton of people that I knew. But the award for random run-ins goes to seeing an old roommate from Omaha -- who I lived with almost ten years ago. Yes. Odds of that -- pretty small. So met her husband, got caught up and it was cool. Couple of pics from the show -- again, cell phone, but hey -- not too shabby:

Now Listening: Mermaid Avenue by Wilco (obviously)