Rewind

After 25 million votes last week, I am starting to realize that I am not the only American Idol fan on the planet (I only voted 23 million times...). Sadly (or not), I can count on 2 hands the number of episodes I have missed over the past 8 seasons. How cool is it to watch these normal kids walk into this new reality of stardom and watch true talent emerge?

Every once in a while we have a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do, and I can watch the FOX show called American Idol Rewind, which gives us the opportunity to see what we've missed in past seasons or simply remind us why we loved the earlier competitions.

I thought it would be fun to have a Blog Rewind. I have loved getting to know you all, my Blog Land friends, and I want the chance to either see what I've missed in your earlier blogs or simply be reminded of what I've loved about your Blogs all along.

One of the things I love to do when I come across a new blog is to track down the very first post. It's amazing what those first posts tell about someone that is typically missed if you join the journey already in progress, as most of us do. In addition to our first Blogs, I know we've all had posts that express who we are, posts that deserve to be remembered and revisited and not buried by all of our other daily, news-y posts.

So here goes Rewind... To follow is my very first post. And over the next couple of weeks I would love to revisit some of your first and favorite posts that help me get to know you! Will you consider Rewinding and sharing your very first post sometime this week? Let me know if you do, because I'd love to come visit!

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

Rise and Shine!

Mornings are hard at our house. Honestly, we have not a single person who enjoys the morning living under our roof. But it keeps coming (thankfully, I suppose), and 5 days a week it looks like this: 6 AM the little dog barks because he's awake and needs to pee. 6:01 AM the big dog barks because it's not fair if the little dog gets attention if he doesn't get in on it too. 6:05 I act like I'm dead asleep, and Chris mutters that he's going to give the dogs back. 6:15 both dogs are howling and I yell at the dogs that I'm sleeping and that they need to hold it. 6:17 both dogs make it known that it is time to start the day and that if I don't do it now, my day will start with cleaning up a big mess on the carpet. So I get up. And Chris pretends that he is dead asleep. ChellBell sleeps through it all. Give her a year -- then I'll give her the "big girl responsibility of taking care of the dogs, because you are so grown up now."

Around 7 AM, it's time for ChellBell to get up. She pretends to be dead asleep, but bribing her with Pop Rocks will get her to jump out of bed and get dressed in no time. (Really Moms, you should try this!)

Not being fond of Pop Rocks myself, I have been on a mission to find something to bribe myself with in the mornings. Well, friends, I am excited to tell you that I have found it. I found the CHI. The CHI flat iron. The promise of starting the day with straight, silky hair with very little effort. How has my world of big, humid, high-maintenance hair existed without the CHI for this long? This is a Nobel-peace prize contender. I can honestly say that since my discovery, it has been like Christmas morning, and there is a little spring in my step at 6 AM as the little dog starts to bark...