The Griz vs. the Loggers by Paige Singleterry, Guest Blogger

Paige Singleterry, Guest Blogger, HR Generalist, Best Friend, Avid cheese-lover, Former Logger, Current Griz Fan

First of all, as a guest blogger,’ I feel it my duty to defend my actions since the inception of this blog. I read Lizzie’s blog religiously and never comment. The reason for this is that my work has some pretty intense firewalls and I don’t have internet access at home. When I check my email at Lizzie’s house…. I feel silly commenting to a person’s blog who is sitting right next to me. So Lizzie, ever desperate to get me involved has asked me to guest blog. So here goes…

Lizzie has already blogged about a mere fraction of our homecoming adventure that was last weekend. The portion that I would like to cover in more detail is the Logger football game that we attended. But first, a little history on me and my relationships with sports and spectators…

I am a high school athlete, 6’1” and tremendously uncoordinated. I played varsity volleyball and basketball and was literally the 3rd tallest person in my school…. Yes that would include boys as well. I overcame my lack of coordination by working my ass off and practicing 3-4 hours a day and playing to my strengths. I only played front row in volleyball because I was the number 1 blocker in the state of Colorado, but I averaged 3 out of 10 serves going over the net and couldn’t get low enough to play defense. I wasn’t allowed to dribble in basketball. You all think I exaggerate, but I would literally have to run sprints if I dribbled… and for good reason because I would typically lose the ball. However, I was the 3rd ranked rebounder in the state. You get the picture…

I have a lot of empathy for athletes because I got a lot of crap from 28-55 year old men in my small town wearing their high school letterman’s jackets cornering me and asking me why I “screwed up that play”, “missed that shot”, “tripped over my feet”…I felt like screaming at them that I did not intend to do these things…. If I had my way I would have glided down the court like a gazelle and made every basket....

My husband, Justin, teases me because I get upset at him when he yells at people for their screw-ups. He loves to tell the story about when I looked over at him with a look of pure rage and screamed at him, “Why don’t you get out on the field you jackass if you feel you can do it so much better!”

I am also an avid football fan. I’ve never really been loyal to one team because I was raised by my step dad who is a sports-a-holic and only loyal to the Dodgers Baseball team. Every Sunday, Clint and I would retire to the living room to watch football to our hearts content. Clint, having played football in college, taught me about the game and I still have a passion for watching football. In my years since I have moved out of the house, I have found that I miss watching football and long for the days on my family’s couch getting the play-by-play from my step dad.

So last year, Justin went to three or four Griz games and we decided this year that we are going to be fans…. And by fans I mean we invested in ‘griz gear,’ will do almost anything to get a ticket to the game, and plan BBQ’s around every away game. I thoroughly enjoy my new passion for the Griz. The games are fantastic, the tailgates are a blast, the fans are very supportive (not crazy like my previous High School interactions) and Justin is an alumni and so I feel like I fit in at least a little bit.

In visiting UPS, I noticed a few key differences between Griz Homecoming and Logger Homecoming:

1. U of M had a huge parade that lasted hours and went through the whole downtown area while UPS had a sign up booth for alumni in their student center.
2. U of M has a literal gauntlet of tailgaters. They come with their RV’s and rope off fields upon fields to tailgate, which involves burgers, hotdogs, classic rock music, beer and whiskey beginning in the wee small hours of the morning. U of M also has a school bus that picks up people from sports bars downtown who have been drinking since 8AM so they don’t get a DUI while UPS has an annual homecoming brunch. This brunch is alcohol free with a Jazz band that plays softly for attendees. It’s an extremely quiet and classy affair.
3. U of M has a huge stadium, ticket scalpers and sets records for attendance while UPS has one set of small bleachers and seats are always available.
4. U of M has a huge halftime show with a marching band, they shoot off a cannon every time a touchdown is made and they literally shoot souvenirs into the stand with a rocket gun while UPS has their halftime show on the track that surrounds the field and you can barely hear it.
5. The Griz team plays extremely clean and I can follow the game very easily while the Loggers are sloppy and fall all over themselves and the other team, making the game hard to follow.
6. Finally, the Griz win, while the Loggers typically do not as they lost their homecoming game 60-7.

I feel like I have the best of both worlds being a current Griz Fan as well as a Logger Alumni. I wouldn’t trade my time at UPS for the world. There were plenty of “ups and downs” I grant you, but I met some of my best friends in the world, got a killer education, a lot of individual attention, tons of financial aid (thank God) and got to live in a beautiful area for four years. And… as an empathetic sports viewer, the Loggers gave it their best and if I was out there, I know I couldn’t do any better. I played flag football on Thanksgiving 2006 and I was sore for a whole week! How times have changed since I was in High School…

Not everyone needs to know how to change a tire

So this last weekend was UPS Homecoming weekend. As I mentioned before, I have been both excited and apprehensive about this trip. Turns out both feelings were valid…

Paige and I got on the road Thursday about 12:30pm and chit-chatted our way through Montana and Idaho. Soon enough we’re cruising through Spokane and excited to have 3 hours of the 8 hour trip under our belts. All of a sudden we’re being pulled over. FANTASTIC. Now, we’re driving in the left hand lane and we have JUST seen a motorcycle cop pull someone over on the left side of the freeway. Paige has never been pulled over on the freeway so she just starts easing over to the left-hand shoulder. The officer pulls up beside us and starts motioning violently for us to pull over onto the right shoulder. Fine.

Since I’m in the passenger seat and he approaches us from my side, I try to put on a happy face and be all cute and charming. He’s not having it. Ginger-haired Officer Spencer, who approached us in an overly tight uniform, complete with Lieutenant Dangle moustache and Oakley sunglasses, was rude from moment one.

Officer Spencer: “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

Paige: “Well, no…”

OS: “I clocked you going 71 in a 60. Is there a reason you felt the need to go that fast?”

P: “Well, the speed limit is 75 in Montana and I…”

OS: “Well we’re not in Montana anymore, are we? No. Licence and registration please.”

Pause while he goes to check us out and OBVIOUSLY write us a ticket. I take this time to mildly freak out and finish an entire bag of Chili Picante Corn Nuts I found in the glove box while frantically searching for proof of insurance. Then he’s back.

OS: “So, do you go by Paige?”

P: “Um, yes…”

OS: “Well, Paige, why did you feel it would be appropriate to pull over on the left side of the freeway?”

P: “Well I’ve never been pulled over and we had just seen -”

OS: “Stop. What did you learn in traffic school? Left or right?”

P: “Well it’s been 13 years…”

OS: “Left or right, Paige? LEFT OR RIGHT?!”

P: “Right! Right! I’m supposed to pull off to the right!”

OS: “Good. I didn’t cite you for it THIS TIME but it’s definitely a warning. Did you know 25 Spokane police officers died last year? Two drowned, one was shot and 22 were KILLED on the side of the freeway because someone pulled off on the left. Do you think I want to be hit by a car and die? No, I do not.”

P: “Alright, if anyone ever asks me to pull off to the left, I’ll tell them Officer Spencer from Spokane told me not to.”

OS: “Exactly. Now where are you headed?”

P: “Seattle… do you think you could help us merge back onto the freeway?”

OS: “No. Good luck.”

ARE YOU JOKING?? Heads back to the car while I’m literally stress-licking chili picante off my palms and leaves us on the side of I-90 to merge into speeding traffic on our own. IN A PRIUS.

Finally, with a little teamwork, we get back on the road and immediately start reliving the INSANE encounter we just had with Spokane’s finest. All of a sudden I hear a weird thrumming noise.

Lizzie: “What is that noise?”

Paige: “What noise?”

L: “The weird thrumming. It sounds like a motorcycle but I don’t see one.”

P: “Oh, it’s nothing. The Prius is just a big spaceship.”

L: “Okay but that’s really -”

BOOM!

P: “ OH MY GOD! What is going on?!”

L: “It’s the tire, it’s the tire!”

I lean over to her while the car weaves all over the left lane of I-90 West.

L: “You’re doing great! You’re doing great!” (literally petting her hair at this point) “Just get to the side of the road.”

P: “But I’m not supposed to pull over on the left hand side of the road!!”

L: “Just do it! It’ll be fine!”

So Paige masterfully pulls her spaceship over to the left hand side and we both start freaking out. We are BARELY off the road and semi-trucks are whizzing by at amazing speeds. We have just been verbally bitch slapped by Officer Spencer for pulling off on the left and warned about all the people who die because they do it. I get so nervous that I climb into the back seat so I’m not on the right hand side of the car. Wouldn’t have mattered in the end, but it made me feel better. And I was out of Corn Nuts…

So Paige calls 911, I call AAA and soon enough we’re pulled off into the center median and a nice man from AAA is putting the little doughnut tire on the car. At the same time we’re being berated by various sources (Justin, Kim, State Troopers, a random good Samaritan) for not knowing how to change our own tire.

1. Situations like this are WHY I have AAA. Please.


2. Even if I DID know how to change my own tire, I wasn’t about to get out of the car on I-90 to take care of it. Even when we were pulled off safely, you never know what might happen. An errant drunk driver could come flying off the road and POOF! You’re road kill. STAY IN THE CAR PEOPLE. I even tried to stay in the car while the AAA guy was jacking it up. Paige just looked at me all judgmentally and said she doubted if he needed an extra 160 pounds to lift. Fine. So I hid on the other side of the car just in case.

So, two and half hours, one $113 ticket and two brand new rear tires later, we’re back on the road. Turns out something punctured the tire when Officer Spencer pulled us over. You can guarantee OS will be getting a hefty bill for our troubles…


We tried to get a flight from the Spokane airport so we could go drown our anxiety at an airport bar but no luck. All sold out. 5 tense hours down the road we finally see the lights of Seattle and are ready to start our Homecoming weekend. But that’s a story for later… just writing about this has stressed me out again. That, and that fact that Paige just called to remind me that the Jetta has a tire that’s low. And no, I won’t be changing it myself...

I think I might hate Facebook

So I have recently been having some trouble with Facebook. I was on MySpace for a long time, but now spend much more time on Facebook. I think I made this switch because Facebook was so much more interesting. You could “tag” pictures of your friends and visa versa and then your home page would tell you when one of your friends was “tagged.” Your home page would update you on what your friends were doing at any given moment, whether they were in a relationship, what parties and events they were attending, etc. Because of this I have developed a deep passion for online stalking. Want to know whether a friend ditched you for dinner to go on a date? No problem. Want to spy on an ex-boyfriend? EASY. Questions about whether your ex-best friend is pregnant or just kind of fat? Answers are readily available.

However, this love of Facebook stalking has recently backfired on me…

Remember the days when you had to have your photos printed and you could rip up negatives of anything incriminating? Or when people had pagers and would text you with codes like 143 (I love you) or 18 (my personal code :)). Now everyone with a phone, PDA, iPod or camera can take photos of you and upload them to the internet within seconds. Now I have entire conversations with people via text and hardly ever actually talk on my phone (especially since I got a BlackBerry). For example, before, if my Stupid Ex had a new girlfriend I might not know about it for months. I probably wouldn’t find out until a mutual friend let it slip or I caught them making out at a bar. NOW I would know within hours!! First, pictures of the two of them would show up on Facebook. My home page will nicely tell me Stupid Ex has been tagged in new pictures. I would go look at said pictures and start to get suspicious. Soon enough, Stupid Ex would change his relationship status to “in a relationship.” Really? Well who might you be in a relationship with, Stupid Ex?? Oh, THANK YOU, Facebook! How nice of you to provide me with that information! Stupid New Girl, you say?? Wonderful. Now I’ll waste another half day stalking her and all her lovely, make-me-want-to-barf new pictures of her with Stupid Ex.

Now, we all know the above is a hypothetical for me since all my stupid exes are either married or smart enough not to be on Facebook (but if they were, the above would totally be a possibility). But I did have a few instances recently where I learned things about people I TOTALLY didn’t want or need to know. But I have no choice! There it is staring me in the face, a nice new little tidbit from my informative friend Mr. Facebook. I DON’T WANT TO KNOW THESE THINGS BUT DON’T KNOW HOW TO STOP. *Help!*

* I'm calling Amy Kerr out here, specifically, because Facebook has informed me of all her new Salem friends and I have long-distance friend jealousy :)

Homecoming Weekend

Homecoming is kind of all up in my face right now, which has gotten me thinking about college and how old we’re getting. This last weekend was U of M Homecoming weekend and this weekend is UPS Homecoming in Tacoma, WA.

As with anything having to do the U of M and the Grizzlies, Missoula went all out this weekend with a huge parade down Higgins, crazy tailgates and a very close game against UC Davis (Missoula 29, UC Davis 24). I didn’t have tickets to this week’s game, but our friend Cori let us watch the parade from her condo in the Wilma and we watched the game from the Press Box, a big sports bar here. While I still liked watching the game, it’s much more fun watching it in person…

Now, despite my newfound love of football, I am not really looking forward to watching the Loggers (yes, my college mascot is a bearded man wearing flannel and holding an axe…) play this weekend. I maybe went to two games while I was in school there and wasn’t even sure if we still had a football team anymore. Apparently we do. While I loved my time at UPS, I haven’t had a strong desire to go back and visit since I graduated in 2003. But, this year happens to be our 5-year reunion so Lauren, Paige and I are all biting the bullet and making the trip.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, I’ve avoided this whole Homecoming thing because the best things I took away from college (friends), I still have in my life. Going back, while nostalgic, is also going to put me in danger of several things I have tried very hard to avoid: ex-boyfriends (and their wives), Alpha Phi (and the bitchy girls that come with it), making conversation with people you know you should know, but don’t really remember at all and who seem to really remember you and the one (okay 20) nights you did something incredibly stupid in public.

On the other hand, I loved my college campus, am excited to see all our old houses and apartments and can’t WAIT to eat/drink at the following establishments:

E-9
Magoos
The Hotel
The Ram
MSM
Pizza Time
That little convenience store across the street from Jeremy's old apartment where we used to get all our booze
The SUB (school cafeteria)
The Melting Pot
Queen Anne Grocery
Pizza Time
Southern Kitchen
The Harmon

The only problem with this plan is that 1. We’ll probably be drinking at every one of these place, as booze will help me deal with the above-mentioned things I desperately want to avoid. And don’t worry, Stacy and Gena, we’ll pour one out for you at each bar so you'll be woth us in spirit... 2. We’ll only technically be in Tacoma for 6 meals. I have a feeling we might be starting with breakfast at the SUB at 8am and eating our way into the 2am hour with crack-filled cheese sticks from Pizza Time.

Don’t judge us – we probably won’t be back for another 5 years…

Running on Empty

So I've hit a new low. Paige and I work out every morning at 5:30am and this morning we had yoga. After a few downward dogs and one really awkward hand stand, we went out to my car to drive home. Yesterday my "gas empty" light came on, but I wasn't too worried about it. The Jetta has always made it just fine for a few days on empty. I would have gotten gas this morning on the way to the gym but gas station aren't open until 6am. Anywho, we got in the car and started the drive home. Weirdly, the car refused to shift up and just kind of stopped working. Paige and I have never run out of gas before so we had no idea what it felt like or what to do.

We ended up coasting into the K Mart parking lot and getting out to push the car into an actual parking spot. After a few more unsuccessful tries to start the car, we both come to the realization that not only are we stranded in the K Mart parking lot wearing what amounts to pajamas, but neither of us have any money, cards or phones. Woooowwwww. It's 6:45 am, nothing is open and we're walking down Brooks like street vagrants looking for someone to give us money or a ride home. If I had photos of this glorious scene, I would definitely have posted one here.

So Missoula has a TON of casinos and, luckily, they're open 24 hours. I had never realized that there are people who really do gamble 24 hours a day, but as Paige and I mosied up to the Best Bet Casino, the parking lot was full and old women were flowing in the door. We got inside, looked around the dark, dingy, SMELLY casino (quickly noticing the ironic sign advertising a $300 gas card), and called Justin. Justin, unfortunately, starts work at 5am these days and couldn't pick us up but gave us the phone numbers for a few of our friends, one of whom mercifully agreed to come pick us up. We must have been quite the picture standing out on Brooks street (like the Burnside of Missoula), sharing my jacket and holding eachother for warmth...

We ended up getting a gas can, putting a gallon of gas in the car and getting me to a gas station. The whole thing reminded me how dependent we are on debit cards and cell phones. It also reminded me not to be so lazy and put gas in my car.

Griz Nation

So I have officially attended my first Montana Grizzlies football game. Woo! Go Griz! I guess I’ve kind of jumped aboard this train and really embraced the team. Seeing as how I grew up with no loyalty toward any specific team (and my parents could care less about football anyway) and then went to college at a school that barely HAS a football team, I’m shocked that I’ve taken such a liking to the game. I think the fact that people are SO PASSIONATE about the Griz (and not in the creepy, drunken, screaming-at-me-just-because-my-rain-jacket-is-purple Ducks fans kind of way) that you can’t help but want to be part of it.

Saturday was a lovely day for a football game. Clear skies and about 80 degrees. The Grizzlies were playing the Southern Utah T-Birds. Our friend Ken, who works for Budweiser, got us some AMAZING tickets, 5 rows up on the northern end zone. But before we even got to those seats, we got to walk the gauntlet of serious tailgating parties. These people take this stuff veeerrrryyyy seriously. You can’t drink in the stadium, so people drink HARD before the game and during half-time. I had only managed to get two Bud Lights down by the time we were going in so everyone decided we should all shotgun a beer. PLEASE. Who are you talking to?? I’ve never shotgunned a beer in my life. But, when in Rome…

The first quarter was pretty boring, but then things picked up and the Griz scored three touchdowns before the half. And out we go to tailgate some more. Our friend Denise’s parents had a great tailgate and we spent half time and most of the third quarter enjoying tacos, beer and margaritas. Not bad… From there, we headed back in to watch our Grizzlies beat Southern Utah 46 to 10. At one point I was even standing and jumping around a bit. Now I kind of have the fever, so expect to hear more about the Griz and marvel as I throw new terminology into my blogs. Words such as blitz, interception, field goal, onside kick, neutral zone, rushing, safety and turnover. Oh, that’s right. It’s like I’m a whole new woman…

JB + LB = Same Person

As people have been pointing out to me lately, my dad gets a bad rap on this blog (and there is a straight-up following of my dad's comments on the blogs since he likes to tell embarassing childhood stories about me. There was even a request for him to guest blog...). I tend to blame most of my irrational phobias and weird quirks on things he put me through as a child. And I still think many of them are true. I hated water sports for a long time because he would throw me off the boat and threatened to leave me if I didn't try to ski; he told me there were snakes in the logs I could see at the bottom of the lake and now I have a debilitating fear of green water, and he DID knock me off a sailboat and drag me underwater for what felt like an eternity.

BUT, after all that, we're essentially the same person: opinionated, driven, argumentative, social, self-indulgent, SLIGHTY judgmental (okay, totally judgey but I'm working on it). My dad used to tear into my school pepers with a red pen until they were unrecognizable. I took that editing knowledge and applied it to the tutoring center at UPS. I was soon asked to leave since I circled a portion of some kid's paper and wrote, "This is just stupid." I guess not everyone appreciates the straight-forward John Bennett style like I do.

But another important thing that ties the two of us together was pointed out to me recently. Look at the two photos below and tell me what you see that makes us even more alike:


Could it be we're always the only one in photos holding alcohol?? Ah yes, us Bennetts have our priorities. I love you, Dad, and don't worry, Mom gave me some quirks, too :).

Starboard Ho!

So what I love most about living here is that I get out and try all these new things that I typically wouldn't do if at home. That could be because it isn't an option in Oregon, because it's too far away, or just because I can be ridiculously lazy. But I feel like I need to take advantage of all the awesome things Montana has to offer while I can.

This weekend brought quite a few new experiences, including my first Grizzlies game on Saturday night. The team was playing Cal Poly so I hosted a BBQ, had some people over and we all watched the game. As I've said before, team sports really aren't my thing. Sports that get you dirty really aren't my thing. Tennis, skiing, aerobics classes, sure. Awesome. Bring it on. My dad tried to instill a love of sports in his first daughter, but after watching me run around mud puddles so as not to get my white soccer shoes dirty, sit down in the outfield in the fifth to eat sunflower seeds and take a nap and walking over to him on the sidelines with a look of disgust to complain about how I was sweating, he pretty much gave up. However, several years of being surrounded by men with a serious love of college football (Ducks, specifically), I've picked up enough knowledge to be able to watch the game and generally know what's happening. The Griz won this game (or, as one of my co-workers said this morning, "we didn't win, we just didn't lose") 30 to 28. Next weekend the Griz play here in Missoula so I'm going to pull out my school spirit from back in the CCHS Rams days (let's be clear - I have no school spirit when it comes to UPS), dress myself up in Griz colors and sit in the cold and rain watching my new "hometown team." Just as I felt it necessary to buy a bike to fit in when I moved here, I feel this display of Griz love (whether sincere or not) is just as necessary.


Sunday was just a FANTASTIC day. Lynda and Bill Brown invited me up to Flathead Lake to go sailing with them on their gorgeous 30' sailboat. I've been very apprehensive around sailboats ever since I got knocked off of one when I was younger (this actually happened several times. Thanks, Dad), but I knew this would be a different experience. There had been the threat of rain, but by the time I got there, the sun was poking through the clouds and the wind had just started picking up. Bill and Lynda got everything ready (while I tried to stay out of the way) and we were off. Apparently this was one of the best wind days they've had all summer so we decided to sail all the way across the lake. I got to see some RIDICULOUSLY huge houses, some of the islands around the lake, and Bill even let me steer (although I had a very hard time keeping it straight):



When we reached the other side, we anchored the boat, made a delicious lunch and sat on the deck eating and drinking wine while Lynda and Bill told me how they got into sailing, which they're quite passionate about. They do a lot of racing with their boat and usually come in in the top three. They've had three boats over the last 10 years but are really happy with the one they have now, the Dreamcatcher. Only 22 of this kind of boat were made and Bill and Lynda's was number five. There's a small kitchen, a couple small seating areas, two sleeping areas and a bathroom. Everything they need for a nice weekend up at the lake. And their dog, Moses, is a true boat dog and seem to love it just as much as they do:


From there, we took off for home. Bill thought we'd be able to use the spinnaker, but there wasn't very much wind and we ended up motoring half the way back. Of course, I didn't notice this since I was taking a wonderful nap in the sun. This wonderful nap left me with a very burned face and not so wonderful raccoon eyes. But I'd do it all again in a heart beat. Thank you, thank you to Bill and Lynda for giving me such an awesome Sunday.


PS. The whole thing made me miss you tons, Elissa and Dawson. Come visit soon!

There's a new 90210 and I'm still pissed off

So, first, let me just start thing by saying I am CRANKY today. Really just kind of in a weird hate spiral and I'm dealing with it by cooking. The other night I made the BEST LASAGNA EVER from this great blog called Hot Off the Garlic Press (www.hotgarlic.blogspot.com). Now, I really don't cook that often and when I did, it was mainly when John and I were together and I made the food taste good and he made it look good (his restaurant doesn't even have chefs - it's all about the presentation and then guests cook the food themselves. I STILL think I deserve half of his restaurants, but a lifetime of free fondue will suffice). So anyways, I made this recipe: http://hotgarlic.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-was-recently-reminded-by-jenny-of.html but used prosciutto instead of chicken and no mushrooms. It was AMAZING. I got a little overwhelmed by all the steps, but then Paige came home and helped me and it all turned out great. A really different approach to lasagna and one I actually think I might like better...

Anyway, as I said, I'm cranky. I think this is from a combination of things:

1. I haven't worked out in weeks and Paige and I went to the gym this morning. It was yoga morning and we did some crazy-ass stretches and a HEAD STAND that have me hurting already. Our teacher usually doesn't like us, but today she said we did a good job. Whatever that's worth.

2. Weather. I am very much looking forward to fall and winter here, but Missoula needs to MAKE UP ITS MIND. In the morning I'm freezing cold so I put on a turtleneck and slacks. By the afternoon it's 80 degrees and the stupid college girls (who are all back in town) are running around my neighborhood in tubetop onesies. So now I'm sitting at my desk sweating and counting down the minutes to 5pm.

There are other things, like money and my stupid car and the fact that there is a humungous tree branch in my yard and that every time I try to use my stud finder to find a stud to hang my super heavy mirror from I'm reminded that 1. I wouldn't be able to lift this mirror by myself even if I DID find a stud and 2. My Aunt's husband Craig gave me that stud finder for Christmas and walked around the room making beeping noises around all the men. Funny and depressing all at the same time.

Speaking of funny and depressing, Paige and I watched the premier episode of the new 90210 last night (nice segway from the ranting tangent, right?). It was 2 hours long and I'm generally sucked in. I LOVED the original 90210 (I mean, who didn't love nerdy little David Silver and Donna Martin's weird breast implants and all the eating disorders and drug problems and how everyone dated everyone elses' boyfriends but they all still managed to stay friends and how every time one of them did something even remotely bad or sketchy, something bad would happen to them to teach them a lesson? Good times). This one is very similar, but even more "risque" for today's audience. At one point, the Brenda-like character who moves with her family from Kansas gets asked out by "the richest boy in school" who takes her all Pretty Woman-style on his private plane to have dinner in San Francisco. First of all, PLEASE. Second of all, this character, Ty Collins, FREAKED ME OUT. He was super hot, but I felt like I couldn't even look him in the eye THROUGH THE TV! Like he was creepily watching me. It was a weird feeling and I would like other opinions on this. Paige felt the same way and I think many other people feel that way, too, because I could only find one picture of him online this morning and he seems like a pretty important secondary character. Not even anything on the official 90210 Web page. Here's that one photo:

Pretty creepy, right? I also found out he's been on the show "Supernatural," which just cements my decision that I have to avert my eyes when watching future episodes with him in it (and IMDB tells me there will only be 5 more. Good). Overall, liked the show. HOTTEST TEACHER EVER is on it, rivaling my love for Father Clovis from freshman year at CCHS and Hans Ostrom from Day 1 Freshman year at UPS until FOREVER (I know I'm going to get comments about those).

So, to deal with my anger (really intense anger directed in certain directions), I'm again cooking dinner for Paige and Justin. Tonight I'm making twice baked potatoes with chicken, baked cauliflower au gratin and sauteed zucchini with onions and parmesean. All from that Hot Garlic blog which, like I said, is amazing.

Thanks to everyone for reading through my ranting and bitching. I figure, I have this blog, lets take it out here before I go home and put it in my food. Presentation is bad enough already. Love, love, love and miss you all.