I've avoided this topic all season, but I finally have to say it -- SOUL PATROL!!!!! Sorry Rich. Ok, that is the stupidest catchphrase/fan club name ever, but I love Taylor Hicks. Yes, he's a freak, no, he can't dance, but he has an amazing stage presence. He made me smile everytime he was on stage - unlike Kat, who made me cringe. She's way too beauty-queen to be an AI. She will, however have a wonderful career on Broadway -- she was made for it.

The second they announced the "Golden Idol" for impersonator, I knew Clay was fixing to come out. I'd read that he would be performing and I was eagerly awaiting his arrival. Stop laughing -- the boy can sing. Unfortunately, Clay never came out. PeeWee Herman sang for a bit, but, alas, no Clay.






Prince was pretty cool though. I'm not a big Prince fan, but just to have someone of that caliber on AI was pretty impressive. All-in-all, I was happy with the finale -- especially the outcome. Will I buy a Taylor Hicks album? Probably not, but I will buy a Mandisa or Chris Daughtry album -- they should have won, anyway.

Here are a few pics from Sunday's graduation in Ark City!

Here are the two graduates from the family - Lacey and Austin


Grandma, Grandpa and Lacey (yes, this is the Grandma who managed to lock herself inside the car at last week's graduation).


Rick, Mom and Candy!


Last, but not least, Miss Helen - this was the quietest she was all day.

I feel so old. . .

I am the second youngest person in the office (Robert is a few months younger), but I feel so old today. I just had to teach one of the law clerks how to use a typewriter. Keep in mind, she's graduated from law school and passed the bar exam - she's a smart cookie. . . however, she came to my desk and said, "Could you school me in the use of the typewriter? I've never actually used one before and I have to type this check for Judge." I showed her how to turn it on, roll the paper in and then make corrections. It was surreal. I started using computers in the second grade, but I still had a manual typewriter in the house until I was in college. In fact, I didn't have a computer that would actually print documents until I was in college (we couldn't afford it and lived in Hooterville, anyway). It's not like Jennifer is that much younger than me, either - 5-6 years, I think. I guess those years (and a few $$$) make all the difference!

"Sweet Mother of . . . "

One of my co-workers shared a great kid story with us yesterday ... her sister-in-law was in the house and realized she hadn't heard from her 6 year old son in a while, so she went to check on him (he was in the garage). Just as she walked (unnoticed) into the garage, something fell. Jake's response to whatever fell? "Sweet Mother of Idaho!" Later, his dad asked him where he heard that expression. Jake replied, "there are lots of words in my head and they just have to come out, Dad!"

Ok, this was from cuteoverload.com -- this is both cute and horrifying. Mostly horrifying. What a great looking dog, though. . . I love the big, goofy looking dogs :-)

Well, graduation was today. I didn't go to mine, but I did go to Shane's - the speaker was very good and only spoke for about 10 minutes - which made her even better :-). Afterwards, we had an awesome party at Mom and Dad's. The chocolate fountain flowed freely, Aunt Doe stuck her finger in the cake and Grandma Rowe locked herself INSIDE the car. Yep, just another Saturday night with the family :-). It feels good to be done, but now I have to figure out what to do with my life (hee, hee). I think I'll just stick with the job I've had for the last 10 years. . .

I like expensive things. Ok, I like to LOOK at expensive things. Seriously, have you ever tried on a 5 1/2 carat diamond solitaire ring worth over $300,000??? It will change your life. I used to be a terrible shop-o-holic - I would buy almost anything someone tried to sell me. After years of being chastised by my dad for spending money unwisely (mom never saw a problem with spending my allowance on "People" magazine or a good book), I finally started learning to save. In fact, I have started saving money so well that I am having trouble parting with it at all. Mom and Dad gave Shane and I very extravagant gifts for graduation (thanks, again!!!) and I decided to go out at lunch today use some of that gift to buy something that I've always wanted -- Pink mixing bowls from Williams-Sonoma:

They are cute and goofy, yet functional! They are also $29.95 for a set of 3. I was determined to go out at lunch and buy my precious mixing bowls. When I got to William-Sonoma (all the way across town, mind you), they had green bowls, tangerine bowls, and blue bowls, but only one set of pink bowls. One very dirty, crusty set of pink bowls (yeah, they were dirty - I didn't know dirt was allowed in William-Sonoma). For the life of me, I couldn't bring myself to pay $30.00 for dirty mixing bowls, no matter how pink. One of these days, I will find a nice, clean set and talk myself into spending my hard earned $$$, but not today. Dad would be proud.

Oh, yeah, I don't buy "People" magazine every week anymore, either. Now I just buy it once a year and they bring it to my house each week. . .

Well, today I did virtually nothing. I watched a couple of movies that I'd had out for a very long time, so that was good. Last night, I watched "Last Holiday" -- it was really cute - totally predictable, but very cute. Plus, I love Queen Latifah, so that helped. This morning, I watched both "Yours, Mine and Ours" (cute but completely predictable) and "King Kong" (good, but about 30 minutes too long - oh, to be a film editor). During the final 30 minutes of Kong, the insurance adjuster came to look at my roof. I almost didn't call and file a claim because I couldn't see any obvious damage from the nearly tennis ball size hail that we had last week -- turns out, it's a good thing that I did. The roofs on my house and my garage were both totaled, as were the gutters on the upper story, the gutter covers on the lower story and the siding on two sides of the house. All-in-all, it comes to almost $7400 in damage. I love storms, but I hate hail -- even more, now. Thank heavens for insurance!

Working for the federal court leads to some very weird situations and questions. This past week, two aunts have emailed me asking for information that I don't actually have, but very easily Googled. Aunt Jan wanted info on her inlaw's wedding date (there is some controversy in the city of Elmdale about whether Joe and Dee were wed in January or June of 1937). Today, Aunt Carolyn emailed me asking for phone numbers or other contact info for the governor and the Kansas Congressional delegation because her boyfriend's son's ex-girlfriend is having trouble with the SRS. I can honestly say that I don't know the governor (although I have had dinner at her house and her husband is one of our federal judges) nor do I have an on-going acquaintance with any of the Congressional delegation (though I have been to the office of Senator Brownback in DC and have met Congressman Tiahrt numerous times), but I work for the government, so I must know these things. Well, the truth is, I usually do know those things, but not because of my work. I've had perfect strangers call the office to ask what, exactly, the President is thinking or why Congress made the decisions that they have made. Separation of powers is beyond the comprehension of the general public -- as is the state vs. federal systems of government. It makes me sad sometimes that adults who (presumably) took high school civics and have lived in the US all their lives struggle so to comprehend the workings of the government. I have to say, though, that I have worked for the court for a full third of my life (10 years this month!) and at least once a week I tell a caller, "I have absolutely no idea who you should call -- I just know it isn't me!"

You might think that I am annoyed by these queries -- I'm really not. I love when people ask me questions, and I love it even more when I find the answers. So, for now, my family and friends can bring on the weird government questions -- I'll just keep googling for the answers.