Queen MAB's birthday celebration

The ever fab Queen MAB hit the big 3-0 this week, and to celebrate, she threw herself one dang good party.  She rented a hotel suite in downtown Nashville, and provided her guests with wine and snacks while we hung out and got ready on Friday afternoon after work.  Then we drove over to Sunset Grill for a 7:30 pm dinner, shared her yummy birthday dessert, and regrouped at the hotel before cabbing it over to the trendy Tavern bar in Midtown.

We ordered a cab for 8, but somehow I ended up sitting on the floor, and holding onto the OS handle while the crazy cabbie wove through downtown.  It's okay- it was a short drive.  (Yet somehow, still $13... I think his math was a little shady) Actually, we made a brief stop at the next door Broadway Brewhouse first while waiting for our table at Tavern.  Of course, I just Had to have a Bushwacker at BB- it's like an alcoholic frosty, if you've never had one.  They are quite delish.  At Tavern, we had a big roomy round booth, perfect for conversating, and people watching.  Someone might have gotten a piercing that night if the place hadn't been closed (Not me!) but alas, it was not meant to be.

After a couple drinks, we cabbed it back to the hotel, trying to explain to the foreign driver that while we were "from here," we were staying in a hotel.  The drive was too short for him to get it, I think.  Back in the suite, we changed into our jammies, MA opened her birthday gifts, and we enjoyed champagne and cupcakes.  (The girl knows how to plan an event, doesn't she?)  We were in bed by 2 a.m. and were totally exhausted!  After breakfast at the hotel the next morning, I was anxious to get home and see my little man.  It was a blast, MA- thanks again for being born, and for being a great event planner.  I enjoyed my night out with the girls.  I also napped both Saturday and Sunday to catch up on sleep!

How going out in your 20's differs from going out in your 30's

After the girls night out on the town this weekend for Mary Anna's birthday, it has given me reason to pause and think about how different a night out can be for the twinkies versus the thinkies.  Allow me to draw some comparison and contrasting thoughts.

In your 20's, you go out to meet men.  In your 30's, you have learned, probably the hard way, that a bar is so not the place to meet a man.  Instead you go out with your friends with the intent of actually talking to your friends (novel idea, huh?)

In your 20's you close down the bars without a second thought.  In your 30's anything past midnight is pushing it.

In your 20's you crawl in bed at any and all hours of the night with full makeup on, too tired to wash your face.  (College Roommate Stephanie will attest that I ruined her white pillowcases with mascara stains on more than one occasion.)  In your 30's, you are anal about skincare, and would never, ever go to bed without washing and moisturizing your face.

Broadway Brewhouse is a great twenty-somethings bar- it's loud, it's crowded, it's smoky.  You will wait forever for a drink from the bar, but that's okay because it gives you plenty of time to scope out the frat boys while you wait.  Of course you won't be talking to your friends because it's too dang loud in there.

Tavern was perfect for the older age group.  Groups happily chatted with their own tablemates.  The lighting was low, and the food & drink menu was quite respectable, because, you know, this generation comes out and enjoys a nice dinner.  If you want bar food, Tin Roof will suffice, but if you want a good meal And a good time, Tavern is it.  They had this smores dessert that we kept seeing that was all flambe and whatnot, and smelled delicious.  We had our cupcakes waiting on us, so we didn't try it this trip.  They played Radiohead.

Let's face it.  The 20's are about going out and getting drunk.  The novelty of drinking in a bar is so new you drink whatever drink has the most liquor in it, just for the heck of it.  By the time you've reached 30, you know what you like, and you can enjoy it in moderation.

In your 20's you wear makeup to cover up your acne.  The dark smoky eyes detract from the acne.  In your 30's you wear makeup to cover up your wrinkles.  The dark smoky eyes detract from your wrinkles.

You haphazardly go out in your 20's and figure out the driving situation once you're out.  In your 30's you are responsible and plan ahead.

In your 20's you pre-party with jello shots, and drink from plastic cups.  In your 30's you sip wine, from real wine glasses.

In your 20's you comment on your friends MySpace account about the evening of debauchery.  Now Facebook is the grown-up classy way for the 30's to casually mention their fun night out.

The 20's- You wake up with a headache from too much to drink.  The 30's- you wake up with a headache from too little sleep.

For the 20's and the 30's, the headache is worth the good times had the night before... guess some things never change!

More birthdays

Dad celebrated his 59th birthday this week.  We went to Uncle Buds for dinner, and then came home for banana pudding and presents. 

Dad proudly displays his Final Four t-shirt

 My ghetto wrapping job.... it was a big present, and I didn't have enough of one kind of wrapping paper.

 Bradley's homemade stepping stone.  This gift is appropriate because he flips over the stones outside in the backyard to look for bugs.

 Dad's new toy- a new blower

 Dad and his kids

 Mom and dad- notice the banana pudding stain on his shirt!  (I really like this picture of them)

 Oscar cheers for his Sox.

Now the birthday week is over.  Happy birthday mom & dad.  Next on the birthday review:  Queen MAB.

Spring Pictures

My good friends Rhonda and Joe came over last weekend and took some spring pictures of Bradley.  I had two requests:  I would like one of he and I together, and I wanted a close up of Bradley's freckles.  Joe did that and so much more.  In chasing Bradley around the backyard, I feel like he truly captured the spirit of this 2 1/2 year old little boy.  Thank you Rhonda & Joe!

If you want to see all of the pictures, feel free to click HERE.  Otherwise, here are a few of my favorites:

Any Nashvillians looking for a great photographer can check out Joe Hendricks Photography at their site here.

Mama B's B-day

Yesterday mom celebrated her 58th birthday.  I can be honest about her age because she isn't vain enough to care about a sily number.  Her eldest daugher however, remains 21 and in college.  (Riiiight...)

Bradley and I made her cupcakes with Pooh Bear sprinkles.  I think Bradley ate as many sprinkles as went on the cupcakes, but he enjoyed the "pupcake" project.

 Bradley also enjoyed helping Grandma open her presents!  This one is the one from him:

 Two wooden magnets that Bradley painted to put on Grandma's refridgerator.

 Bradley & Aunt Laura

 Birthday girl and grandson

 Dad shared this on Facebook, but it's hard to believe he has celebrated every birthday with mom, save the first 13!  They are truly an inspiration to me about the example they have set about what it takes to be in committed marriage.

 Mom and her girls

 Tim & Sandy joined us for dinner at Macaroni Grill.  Bradley loves his "Ya ya"

 Whoa- is that cake on fire?  No, it's just got 58 candles on it!

Happy birthday, Mama B!

Warren G Belongs to Me

Continuing my trend of not blogging about important events, I am belated in shouting from the proverbial world wide web rooftops that as of last week I am now the official proud owner of Warren the G6.  Yep- I made my last car payment, and like Brandy and Monica might sing, That. Car. Is. Mine.

It's a big step for me in moving towards financial freedom.  Now all I have to do is pay off my credit card, and then save up for a down payment so I can buy a place of my own.  Yep, that's all, she says casually.

What took me so long to actually get this posted was that I could not find a single stinking picture of Warren to put in this post!  There were 3 hilarious car blogs that were posted way back in 2007 that you can read here, here, and here, about when I purchased Warren, but alas, I could find no pictures.

No worries.  It's time for me and Warren to regulate.  Mount Up!

Final Fourtune

So I'm a little behind on my blogging, but as we head into April, I must exclaim that March has truly been Madness when it comes to Kentucky Basketball.  We are playing in the Final Four this weekend in Houston for the first time since 1998.  I was 17 the last time the Cats went to the Final Four, and man does that put things into perspective!  I had no idea what it truly meant to be a Cats fan then- I just took it for granted that we were awesome and would just always be a top tier program.  I now look at these kids burning couches on UK's campus to celebrate, and I think smugly to myself, those dumb kids with their $5 student tickets, they just don't understand!  They just have no idea what it means to be a loyal UK fan year after year- to watch Dwayne Wade's Marquette team beat us, to falter to UAB in the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney when we were a favorite to win the whole thing, to watch grimly as UNC gets another banner, or, yes, I'll mention it, the agony of losing to Duke in the infamous Laettner shot that these young whippersnappers weren't even a glimmer in their mother's eye when it happened!

But now I'm older and wiser, and am able to appreciate the journey the Cats have gone on this season.  And how does it feel?  Exactly like this:

Family, pizza, family, and more pizza

We had family visit on back to back weekends.  My uncle Jerry, aunt Lisa, and cousin Eric came down two weekends ago.  It had just gotten warm here in Tennessee, so that Friday night we joined the rest of the city of Franklin and waited over an hour to eat pizza at Mellow Mushroom.  Bradley and I were both sick, but we hung in long enough to eat some cheese pizza, then made an early exit.  Saturday night we went to the new-ish Brewhouse South for dinner.

 Laura, George, and Eric

Lisa & Jerry

In the trend of funny sleeping pictures, Stockwell snuggled with Eric on the couch...

 And Bradley got out if his bed during his Saturday afternoon nap, took his cars, and walked all the way down the hall to my bedroom, closed the door, and climbed onto the bed and passed out like this!

I panicked when I went upstairs and noticed his door was open and went room to room until I found him like this.  This was a first!  We had a good weekend, and watched the Kentucky Wildcats win another SEC Championship.

Then this past weekend, Michael, Missy, Braedon, Garrick, and Addison came to visit.  The weather was gorgeous, so we left the basketball games on tv, stayed outside, and periodically checked the scores (after we watched UK win, of course.)

Bradley & Addison enjoying snacktime

The Cul Hanes aka how many people can we fit on a couch?

Laura made her famous quesadillas and fresh guacomole for dinner, then we finished the evening with Smores in the fire pit.

Mom & her baby brother

The early risers, watching cartoons together

We spent Sunday at Pinkerton Park, and ended the trip with a hike up to Fort Granger.  I was disappointed to discover that after carrying a 34 pound Bradley most of the way, there was no fort at the top!  It was a big open area that we explored and had a great view of Franklin, but still, no fort.  The signs were misleading.

 Cousins Braedon, Bradley, Garrick, and Addison

Sunday night we went to- where else- Mellow Mushroom- for dinner again!  To kill time, we walked around the Franklin sqaure, and B & Addison played on the civil war cannons.

 The four cousins on the couch- and no, that's not Justin Bieber sitting there!

 Until next time!

Best day of work ever

I challenge anyone to have had a better work day on Thursday than me.  It's impossible.  Whatever you did that day, my day was better.  Why was its so awesome?  Because the NCAA tournament began.  I clocked out for a late lunch hour at 3pm, and never went back to work.  Instead, I walked across the street to a sports bar and got to watch the second half of the UK game, which we won by a buzzer beater, and then watched all of the Vandy game while having deep fried bar food and beer with a few friends.  The weather was perfect too.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if UK had won by 30.  The close games are too stressful for me.

Who's down with RSV? Yeah you know me!

Bradley and I spent the weekend sick, but I am optimistic that we are both on the mend.  He had what I thought was a cold all week long, and so by Thursday night, I decided not to risk the weekend coming on by not making a cursory trip to see Dr. Davis just for them to tell me he was fine.  Everyone knows Bradley in this office.  It seems B has been sick every 2 weeks like clockwork ever since he started day care (just one more reason for me to lament my former days as a stay at home mom).  And whereas before when Bradley would get sick, I would exhaust every home remedy before heading to the doctor as a last resort, now I am much more apt to request an appointment and an antibiotic since Bradley being sick keeps him from going to daycare and me from going to work.  And then the cycle continues because he goes back to daycare and catches something from some other snotty nosed kid.  But that's neither here nor there.

Friday, we find out that the little guy has RSV (a viral respirtory infection) and a double ear infection to boot, which was likely a side effect of the RSV!  I felt like the worst mom ever for letting this go on for an entire week, and even sitting there in the pediatrician's office with the diagnosis, I asked Bradley if his ears hurt and he said no!  The kid has inherited my high tolerance for pain I do believe.

Within minutes they swept in there with a nebulizer (am I the only person whose never heard of one of these contraptions?) that looked like Wheezy from TS3, hooked up a mask, and we sat there for several minutes while Bradley did his first breathing treatment.  We were sent home with our very own nebulizer, and 3 drug prescriptions.

I actually napped when he did Friday, another sure sign that I most likely have RSV too- except that I'm too stubborn/cheap to go to the doctor myself, and I hate taking medicine. 

Bradley looks so pitiful doing his breathing treatments that I of course had to document the event.  There's Rosco the frog, the nebulizer, in the background.  I turn on an episode of Little Einsteins, and away we go!

 Anyways, we went for a re-check today (Monday) and go back again on Friday for them to re-check one of his ears (I'm not lying when I tell you they know and love us at the doctor's office!).  I am praying that no one else gets this nasty virus.

Sunday's stream of consciousness

I have been uber-unmotivated to blog lately, so sometimes you have to just blog, even when you don't feel like it, and the motivation will come later- kind of like obeying God, or going to the gym.

A few random and funnies to share:

"If I can stand at the garage door and hit the garbage can 5 feet away with the dirty poopy diapers 99% of the time, then why can't the Kentucky players hit a free throw every single time?"  -me

Today while eating lunch:  "Bradley, why do you have your hand down your pants?"  -me
"So I can touch my weiner."  -Bradley
(it was like, "duh, why else would my hand be down my pants?")

I tripped down the last few stairs the other day while leaving work.  I caught myself by crashing into the door leading into the parking garage.  Thankfully it was more funny than scary, and there was only one other guy who witnessed my clumsiness.

Dad and I took Bradley to Chic-Fil-A for dinner this week.  Guess whose kid was the only one to climb up to the top of the play area, and cry for their mommy, have all the other kids trying to help him get down, and one of the teenage workers had to climb up into the thing to rescue him?  My son!!

I have been praying fervently all week for my boss' wife, whom I've never even met.  She delivered their baby boy at 29 weeks on Tuesday, and then has suffered serious complications since.  The baby is doing great.  Monica is doing a little better.

We started Luke 10 in my Sunday School class last week.  This is excited because we were in Luke chapter 9 from October through February!  Craziness- but awesomeness!

Some peculiar phrases that Bradley has picked up recently:

• referring to his sweat pants or comfy pants as "fat pants"
• "it's okay sweetheart."
• "What's that supposed to be?"
• "Uh-oh! I just realized something."

I am amazed at the miracle of spring happening over night.  Seriously- I woke up on Saturday morning and the grass was really green, the flowers were in bloom, and the trees had budded.  How does that all happen simultaneously??

Ellen came to visit, and we have more company looming on the horizon-yay!

While watching a dvr'ed episode of Gray's anatomy, Lisa Patton, the news lady broke in and warned of the bad weather and thunderstorms headed our way.
"More storms again?!" I asked incredulously?  (We've had a lot of rain and storms lately)
"Amanda," mom replied, "this was from Thursday night."
Oh right.  DVR'ed episode. ha ha

a time (out) to love

Sunday afternoon Bradley went out back to play in his sandbox.  He took the little men who drive his bulldozer and dump truck out of their respective vehicles.  He announced to my mom,
"they love each other."
Then, mom said he put them in time out.
"Why did they go to time out?" I inquired.
"I was afraid to ask," she replied!

Caught on camera

It's time for our weekly (more like bi-weekly) blog on the funny stuff Bradley says and does. 

During a recent trip to Target, while walking past the lingerie section, Bradley points and says loudly, "Boobie things! Boobie things." 
Awesome... just awesome.  I was so embarassed that I pushed the basket quickly on to get to the next, and much safer section in the store:  the socks.

Anecdote #2:  A couple nights ago, I left B alone because he had gone into his room to poop.  (Yep, he knows when he needs to go, and he wants to be left alone, but he refuses to go Number 2 on the potty.)  So I let him be to do his business.  However, a few minutes later Bradley came into the next room and announced that he was wearing makeup!

And THIS is what I saw:

 He had gotten into a red ink pad from a stamp set he'd gotten for Valentine's Day, and smeared ink all over his mouth- his idea of lipstick!!

I cracked up and am so glad I grabbed the camera and snapped this Kodak moment.  He'll kill me one day when he's older for this, but oh did I get a laugh at his expense this night!

Happy Hearts Day, the prequel

We celebrated Valentine's Day last Sunday night with the family. Laura, George, and the weenies came over for dinner.  We had onion-stuffed burgers, grilled veggies, and sweet potato fries.  For desert, mom made these little chocolate covered heart shaped cakes that were a pain in the you-know-what to make, and we were so stuffed from dinner that none of us could hardly enjoy them, they were so rich!

Bradley got some candy, a ton of stickers, a few little cars, some stamps, and Mary Poppins on dvd, among other little dollar store treats I managed to find.

He was probably most excited at the balloon from Laura & George, though.

 My goofy brother in law, and the weenies

 I'm holding up my candy from Bradley.  This was hardly a surprise as B had asked me numerous times leading up to Valentine's Day if we could have some of my candy before mom would shush him and remind him that it was a surprise!

Check out the chipmunk cheeks full of candy!

 I have finally learned the secret to getting Bradley to smile in pictures!!!  See here?  Let me let you in on a little secret:  It's called reverse psychology!

 "Don't you smile, Bradley!  Don't you dare smile!"

 I can't believe I look so crappy when I am finally getting him to smile with me in a picture!

The color-coordinated cheshire cats cheesin'

I enjoyed our little Valentine's celebration.  Bradley got me some candy, new brown socks which I have desperately needed, new pink pajamas, and a really pretty pink jeweled frame with a picture of me and him in it.  The boy can shop, I tell ya!

A Happy Hearts Day

I have to admit, I was dreading Valentine's Day.  Yes, I know, it's a pointless Hallmark holiday, but when you're single (again) it only serves to remind you of your own singleness.  For the past 3 years, I had a "Valentine."  And this year would be different. 

I came downstairs on Valentine's Day morning, and was wearing a bronze-colored headband. 

Mommy, is that your crown, Bradley asked.  Are you a princess?

Yes, yes I am, I happily replied, and you are mommy's little prince.

That innocent comment from my sweet boy just made my day, and helped me start off the day right.  I met Queen MAB for lunch and got a buy-one-get-one-free lunch at Qdoba for giving her, my "valentine," an air smooch.  (I believe they're called a bisou, Em?) And at work we were even given a small vase with pink roses and lilies that was a welcome addition to my desk this week.

So all in all, it really was a wonderful day.  And I came to realize that celebrating Valentine's doesn't have to be about spending money on a romantic partner (the Eros kind of love), but it can just be about embracing the day of Love (and PINK!) and celebrating it with those you love in a different way (the Agape, or Fileo).  And I also came to the realization that Valentine's Day really only matters if you're single, or in a brand new relationship.  The world wants you to think that it's a huge deal, and that if you're the husband that forgets Valentine's Day, you'll be in the dog house all year long, but the married couples that I know don't make a big deal about it all.  So I shouldn't either.

Side-Splittingly Funny

How do these things always happen to me?  I think that Jesus must know how much I love to write, and so he throws me some funny curve balls along the way for blog fodder.  Here's today's latest epic event:

I'm sure everyone has felt the horror at one time or another of looking down and realizing your barn door's open aka your pants are unzipped.  Well this morning at work, I looked down at my lap and noticed my inner thigh peeking up at me.  You're not supposed to look down at your pants and see skin!  I quickly realized that the inseam of my (new) pants had at least a 3 inch gaping hole in them!  As I continued to examine them, all the while glancing over my shoulder praying that no one else would notice my pious pants (they were holey... get it?), I had to laugh when I saw a 1 inch hole on the left leg inseam as well.  


Crap.  Who all have I come in contact with this morning that might have noticed my seams flapping in the wind, and what am I going to do to repair this?

Quickly, I went through my options in my head.  My inner monologue went something like this:

1.  There are no clothing stores close to where I work.
2.  I live too far away to run home and change.
3.  It is ten o'clock in the morning... this is going to be one long, awkward day!
4.  Should I send out an office-wide email asking if anyone has safety pins?
5.  No, because then I will have to explain myself, and even on the off chance that someone would have one safety pin, I would need multiple pins.
6.  Maybe I could run to Walgreens and buy a sewing kit and repair them myself in the bathroom.
7.  Ha ha- good one, Amanda, you don't sew!

In the meantime I texted mom.  These were new, old Express pants that I bought several years ago, and meant to return because they were too big, but never did.  Well desperate times call for desperate measure, so even though the Express pants were still a little baggy, I had mom hem them so I could at least gain a new pair of work pants.

Via text message, mom swore she hadn't touched the inseams, and suggested tape or staples to keep the holes in check.

Staples- brilliant!  I think that would work, but I can't just take my stapler and walk into the bathroom.  People are going to think I'm crazy.  I'm sure they already do anyways, but let's not add fuel to the fire.

Once again, I checked my surroundings, waited til the coast was clear, and grabbed my purse and flung the stapler in there.  Off to the ladies room I went.  I turned the pants inside out in the stall and started to staple away when I realized there was someone else in the bathroom.  I felt like the sound of a stapler in a neighboring bathroom stall might have roused some suspicion, so I waited until she was gone, stapling once more for good measure during the loud flush, then setting to work once it was just me.

As horrific as the situation was, I had to laugh at myself.  Who staples their pants in a bathroom?  I was afraid the staples were going to cut up my legs, but they were surprisingly unobtrusive.  There was enough seam material to tack together that my row of staples held pretty well on both pants legs.

Later on in the afternoon, I did notice the right leg hole getting bigger, so back to the bathroom I went, purse and stapler in tow, to repair the now 6 inch gap, but all in all, I'd say things could have been much worse.  I changed pants the minute I hit the door tonight, though.

Snow Big Deal (oh yes it was!)

Yesterday's commute home will be one I won't forget.  I watched the snow start to fall downtown around 3 p.m., and within half an hour, the roads were starting to get white, and the tops of the roofs below were solid white.  I knew I was in for trouble and should have left at the first sign of bad weather.  Problem is, we've had so much snow this year already, that I was hesitant to leave early and miss more work for nothing.  As it turns out, yesterday was not "nothing."  I finished what I needed to do, including some crapy last minute stuff for an ungrateful person, and then I was out the door a little before 3:45 p.m.

After I hit the hour mark in my car, not even making it out of downtown Nashville, I settled in for a long evening.  The radio weather and traffic reports were so rushed and incomplete, that it only frustrated me, so I resolved myself to listening to cds to calm my nerves.  I made it through 3 cds during the drive home!

An hour and a half later, I made it onto the interstate.  At least then I started to crawl along at a steady pace.  5 miles per hour on the interstate, but at least it wasn't the gridlocked parking lot that downtown was.

Somewhere along I-65, and after nightfall, I hit the 2 hour mark.  The snow continued to fall, and I kept having to turn on my rear defrost to keep my back window clear.  I saw abandoned cars, and passed several wrecks along the way.

Pulling off I-65 around 6:30 p.m. was one of the happiest moments of my life!  It was then that I realized just how hungry I was, and just how bad I had to pee.  I think my nerves had kept both of those things in check til now.  It also hit me that I could have made it to Lexington, Kentucky in the time that it had taken me to get home today. 

Finally, at 7:15pm, 3 and 1/2 hours later, I made it home.  My friend Lisa wins the award for longest commute home yesterday, at 5.75 hours in her car, and Queen MAB went 3 miles in 3 hours.  Let's just say I made the executive decision to stay home today after dealing with that nightmare last night.

Not music to my ears

Anybody in America knows what today was- the 7th anual Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, of course.  But it was also Superbowl 45 (who knew?!)  And as if watching the greatest football game in the land isn't enough entertainment bang for your $900-a-ticket buck, then they throw in some pre-game and half-time entertainment as well.  I admittedly missed the pre-game show (hey, the Puppy Bowl was still on!) but I did tune in in time for Lea Michelle to sing God Bless America, and Christina Augilera to sing a remix of the National Anthem.

Of course I love music, and of course I am very critical.  But I think both of these ladies have phenomenal voices, and I also think that both of these ladies phenomenaly sucked it up tonight.  Lea Michelle, aka Rachel on GLEE, butchered "God Bless America" with her belting Broadway vocal antics, basically screaming each line of the song.  And, well, by now we all know that the Genie is probably wishing she could shrink back into her bottle after botching the words of the Star Spangled Banner.  "What so proudly we watched..." yeah, we bet Francis Scott Key is rolling over in his grave right about now.  Perhaps Christina was battling a case of nerves tonight, but I have a different theory.  She's a seasoned veteran performer, and has amazing pipes to prove it.  I think a more likely explanation for her flub is that every superbowl national anthem singer is keenely aware that they are trying to one-up their predesessors, and let's face it, no one's come close to Whitney.  So here the Burlesque star was tonight, trying to impress with her vocal acobatics, and I think she sang the song so slowly, that she got lost.  It's easy to do, and the national anthem is honestly one of the hardest songs to sing when it's done straightforward.  Forget all the twists and turns, and just sing it, Christina!  As she went on, she got worse.  Okay, fine, you flubbed a line, but then she overcompensated and wiggled and wobbled all over the music staff, (and the pitch), and what resulted was a performance that people will be talking about for years to come for sure, but not in the way Ms. Augilera likely wishes they would.

Fast forward to halftime (oh yeah, a half of football was just played here).  The Black Eyed Peas' halftime show was a train wreck and a half(time).  I believe they have proved that no matter how much auto tune you use in the studio, and what a cool effect it can have on a track, it doesn't translate live, and the audience isn't dumb.  They know bad music when they hear it, and no amount of glowing dancers, fireworks, and flashing lights are going to fool the audience into thinking they're being entertained.  While I beebop along to the Black Eyed Peas in my car as much as the next person, I've realized now that they can't hold it together live, and so they had to pull stunts like bringing in Slash (Can we say, most random appearance ever) and Usher coming down from the sky (my favorite part about this was that producers felt we needed to see Usher's name in lights so we'd know who he was) in order to boost their own chart topping numbers.  I think my favorite halftime debacle of all though were the stage lights malfunctioning.  During the song, "Where is the Love?" the stage lights intended to spell LOVE actually read LOE.  Where is the LOE, indeed? 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the last musical number of the superbowl, the new episode of GLEE!