KYLE CHANDLER

Heck, if anybody deserves an all-caps title, it's my favorite actor in the world, Kyle Chandler. GQ just gave him 2011 GQ Coach of the Year as part of its Men of the Year issue (for his portrayal of Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights). Super 8, right in time for my birthday.

What If...

I don't want to give away any television spoilers (you can click here if you want to know limited details, but there is a show that is doing an episode with an alternate reality. The premise is based off the question "What if this big event hadn't happened?"

So, Entertainment Weekly asked its staff the same question and the writers came up with their own list of What If moments like "What if Picard had remained a Borg?" on Star Trek: The Next Generation or "What if Jack had died at the end of the first season as planned?" on Lost.

Are there any What If scenarios in your favorite tv shows that you would like to see?

Entertainment Weekly did hit on my big TV wish:  I wish Zack hadn't gotten mixed up with Gormogon on Bones. My second wish would be that Tim Riggins hadn't lived with ferret guy who cooked his own meth or the Riggins brothers never had a chop shop (and poor Canadian Taylor Kitsch never had to say the word "chop shop" in his Canadian, poor Texas accented voice) or, wish of all wishes, Tyra and Landry never killed that guy.  

And now I must go watch Friday Night Lights...

Congratulations, Kyle Chandler!

I was already happy when Friday Night Lights won a writing award last night. It was proven that the theme song can make me all misty-eyed just by itself. So, Husband told me that if the writing award was making me happy, I was going to be very happy later on (I was watching on my DVR and about an hour behind). So, when I got to the best actor award, I was still skeptical but then so happy. It's nice to see Kyle Chandler be rewarded for years of failed television shows and decades of work. I was good with Mad Men winning Best Show over Friday Night Lights, but I only wish that Connie Britton could have won with him. It was a nice way to cap the end of the series.


I'll even forgive Kyle Chandler for not thanking me in his speech.

Weekend Update - Social Butterfly

Very few photos from this weekend as well. I slacked off this month after vacation. Let's see. On Friday, I read. I finished the book club book and then I watched tv (I cleared out 3 entire shows from my DVR during the last week). On Saturday, Little Miss and I had a pleasant day. We woke up and got ready. My parents came over for brunch where I made Baked French Toast with raspberries and blueberries. Then, Little Miss took a nap and spent the night with the In-Laws. I met my book club at Maggiano's to talk about the book, Eat Pray Love. Then, we all went to see the film. It was a super fun night. On the way home, I picked up some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery, and I've been eating it ever since. Little Miss did help me a little yesterday. I plan to eat the rest tonight perhaps. It's amazing how long a small lasts when I take it home.

On Sunday, I slept late which was glorious and finished a book. Then, I showered and got ready to pick up Little Miss. We tried a nap, but it was unsuccessful so we had to go to a friend's surprise party with no nap. She was a tad bit restless to say the least. So, after cake, we head home. She slept all the way which made the night a little off-kilter. She had a bath and then had some dry cereal for dinner and then went to bed. A half hour later, she stood up and said she was hungry and wanted an egg. So, I made her an egg which she didn't eat because she said she was tired and went to bed. After not strangling her, I settled on the couch to finally watch fast-forwarding through the Emmy's. I agree with many of the blogs and articles out there. It may not have been the best Emmy ceremony, but I was glad new faces were granted Emmys and to see the new faces act like they genuinely appreciates the recognition. However, I would have liked it if Friday Night Lights won something on the big night. (Funny sidenote: I told Kyle Chandler "I love you" when he flashed on screen and a tiny voice from a back bedroom replied "Love you" back. I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't talking to her but to her imaginary daddy.)

And thus ends August. Seriously, where did this year go? It's like a science-fiction film where time just is sucked out by a giant wormhole by a dying alien race. Also, good news - Husband is en route home after being in New Orleans since last Tuesday. I plan on celebrating by sleeping and not worrying about every little noise in the apartment.

Congratulations, Coach and Mrs. Coach!

It must have been my Sexy Friday nod that encouraged the Academy. Congratulations to Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton for their outstanding work on Friday Night Lights as Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor. They continue to be the best couple on television and are now recognized by people other than myself.

Revised: For a complete list, you can go here. I'm pretty happy with the list though I think there are a few snubs of course. I'm looking forward the show at least!

Sexy Father's Day Friday

You totally knew these two were going to make Sexy Friday eventually so why not be the Father's Day edition? These two have been in my life for a very long time. I think they were what took up a good 80% of my time as a teenager. I know Kyle Chandler and I go way back. He doesn't know this, but it's true. Chris O'Donnell and I probably didn't make it official until college, but I definitely made up for lost time. Both have have worked on projects that I'd rather not admit to seeing, but what kind of fan would I be if I didn't? Also, both were in season two of Grey's Anatomy which is why it's the only season of the show I own (and I hate owning a solo season of a show - if I'm going to commit to purchasing, I'm buying them all). This weekend is a big weekend for both as Kyle Chandler has 2 girls and Chris O'Donnell has 5 kids. So, on the zero chance either is reading, Happy Father's Day!

Sidenote: I was actually trying to find the picture of Kyle Chandler and his daughters at the beach for a little symmetry. It was so cute, but it made the inner Mommy in me cringe to see the girls in their party dresses filthy from the sand. I know it's only clothes, but messes drive me batty (you should have seen me last weekend when Little Miss had marker all over her party dress - inwardly cringing all day).

Friday Night Lights

It's my annual Friday Night Lights post. First, the fourth season premieres on NBC this Friday. This is the same season that aired on DirecTV last Fall. Second, it is the perfect season to start watching if you haven't started already. Third, if you really think you'll be lost, click here for Everything you need to know about "Friday Night Lights". It's a great primer of Seasons 1-3 as well as answers some general questions. The picture above is literally how Season 3 ended. Oh, and I love Kyle Chandler. I'm a little wary of his rumored next project, but I always follow him everywhere even if I don't stick (yes, I'm talking about The Lyon's Den which had Kyle Chandler and Rob Lowe and I couldn't stick with it).

This is My Confession

I'll admit it. I'm not an Olympic enthusiast. I've never seen an Opening or Closing Ceremony in their entirety. I'll occasionally watch bits of events, but I wouldn't if I had remote control. I do check the paper/internet for medial counts by country, but that's more for curiosity. It's like how the entire world is unaware or doesn't care about any of the television shows I enjoy. That's kind of how I feel about the Olympics. I know they're on, I just don't care. Everyone else can enjoy. Husband did have the Opening Ceremonies on last night, and I mostly grumbled how long it was taking. Husband will watch events throughout the next couple of weeks. I'll do my best to ignore them. I mean, I think it must be awesome to be there and I think the athletes are amazing, but it's 2 weeks of sports and incredibly sappy, manipulative stories by NBC - two of my least favorite things on the planet. Plus, when it's over, my Friday Night Lights is coming back. You know, for people not to watch. TV karma.

Sexy Friday

Sorry today's Sexy Friday is late! I was working all day. I had the photos ready and everything. So, without further ado, Gaius Charles is up! He played Brian "Smash" Williams in my favorite tv show, Friday Night Lights and had a great send-off last season. I miss his character and his family on the show a lot. I did notice he is in a new movie that, according to IMDB opens this week. Gaius Charles has a sexy body that he shows off in Friday Night Lights, but his smile lights up the screen (well, when his abs aren't stealing the scene). His counterpart is the actress who plays Julie Taylor on Friday Night Lights, Aimee Teegarden. I think she's great. She played sweet in Season 1, bratty in Season 2 and a nice mix of a lot of emotions in Season 3 and, so far, in Season 4. As I was telling Husband the other night, the fight that she has with her on-screen mother, Connie Britton, was so real that you wanted to give them privacy. It was painful to sit and watch. The heartbreaking mother/daughter talk after the parents find out Julie is having sex is also so well done between the two. Plus, I haven't mentioned the show in a couple of weeks so it was time.

Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose!

Picture from EW.com BY EMILY SHUR

According to my labels, I have mentioned Friday Night Lights 16 times. After today, it will be 17. DirecTV will begin to air Season 4 of Friday Night Lights tomorrow. Plus, thanks to Vaseline the show airs commercial-free in HD. I'm very excited. I was prepared to say goodbye to the show last season. It wouldn't have been surprised to hear it wasn't going to be renewed, but then it was! Not only that, but it was renewed for two additional seasons. There will be changes which may or may not work for the show, but I don't care as long as Kyle Chandler is back in my home. (Speaking of which, my copy of Early Edition Season 2 shipped today.)

Because the show does not premiere on NBC until the end of the milennium, you have time to catch up on Seasons 1-3 here (OK, the show will air next summer.)

Sexy Friday Recap

I thought I'd be nice and summarize all the Sexy Friday posts in one. Also, come on, what is sexier than the photo above?

January
1/9/09 Taylor Kitsch
1/16/09 Jensen Ackles
1/23/09 Eric Dane
1/30/09 George Eads

February
2/6/09 David Boreanaz
2/13/09 Johnny Depp
2/20/09 Hugh Jackman
2/27/09 Simon Baker

March – Irish Men
3/6/09 Stuart Townsend
3/13/09 Colin Farrell
3/20/09 Liam Neeson (Solemn Friday)
3/27/09 Jonathan Rhys Meyers

April
4/3/09 ER cast - Goran Visnjic, John Stamos, Mekhi Pfeifer, George Clooney, Linda Cardallini, Parminder Nagra
4/10/09 Paul Walker
4/17/09 Matthew McConaughey & Sandra Bullock
4/24/09 Ryan McPartlin & Yvonne Strahovski

May
5/1/09 Ryan Reynolds & Isla Fisher
5/8/09 Eric Bana & Winona Ryder
5/15/09 Chris Hemsworth & Jennifer Morrison
5/15/09 Chris Pine (Bonus Sexy Friday)
5/22/09 Josh Duhamel & Kristen Bell
5/29/09 Jason Statham & Qi Shu

June
6/5/09 Daniel Craig & Eva Green
6/12/09 Ryan Kwanten & Anna Paquin
6/19/09 Hugh Dancy & Claire Danes
6/26/09 Bradley Cooper & Heather Graham

July
7/3/09 Paul Rudd & Alicia Silverstone
7/5/09 Andy Roddick & Roger Federer (Sexy Sunday Supplement)
7/10/09 Gerard Butler & Katherine Heigl
7/17/09 Jon Hamm & January Jones

Which FNL character are you?

Which Friday Night Lights Character Are You?

More on Friday Night Lights. Created by BuddyTV

Many of you know, I'm a huge Friday Night Lights fan. I may have mentioned this a couple of times. So, of course, I took the quiz to find out which character I resembled on the show. I can't believe I got Landry. Does that mean I'm a murderer? If so, hope my dad helps me cover it up. Oh, Spoiler 2 spoilers, but if you haven't watched the show, you need to ignore that storyline anyway.

Clear Eyes! Full Heart! Can't Lose!

You may have heard me say this before, but I love Friday Night Lights. So, when multiple sources reported that the show will be renewed for two more years, I did a huge happy dance! This is part of the deal with DirecTV, but I don't care because 1. I have DirecTV and 2. it means the show will be on for 26 more episodes! The deal means two 13 episode seasons. Yippee!!! This means you all have until next summer until you have to hear me talk about the show again (and until next summer to watch seasons one, two, and three)!

Dear NBC, please don't make me hate you more...

I know, you thought you had some time before I started the propaganda up again. However, I just read that there is the possibility that Friday Night Lights will be picked up and, if so, it will be for TWO SEASONS. I have my fingers crossed. I do have my doubts about a few things, but I don't really care if Kyle Chandler is still on television. I watched him when he got tomorrow's newspaper today, I can certainly watch him coach high school football.

Did I Mention...

that Friday Night Lights premieres tonight? Well, if I didn't, I just thought I'd mention it.

Friday Night Lights Tutorial - Part 2

Using the above photo to introduce you to the characters, I thought I’d introduce you to the town of Dillon and its Panthers. I’ll introduce the characters from left to right.

1. Brian “Smash” Williams – Smash starts as a great football player. He was fast on the field, flirted with the ladies off the field. We’ve seen him with two girlfriends. As I’m trying to do this as spoiler-free as possible, I won’t go into further detail. He lives with his mother and two sisters. Even though he acts fairly self-centered, his family is very important to him. He’s the good son and the protective brother. See Season 1 to see what happens when Smash gets into a little trouble with Coach and his mother. In Season 2, he is injured and that’s what brings us to the beginning of Season 3. With the injury, Smash figures his hopes of college and pro football are over. His storyline is, by far, my favorite this season.

2. Tami Taylor – I mentioned the Taylors in a a previous post. Tami is a great supportive and outspoken wife in Season 1. She does tend to get her way almost every time and can be overbearing, but at the end of the day, she and Eric are a team. She starts work as a guidance counselor at the same school in which her husband is the football coach. At the end of Season 1, she shares the news that she’s pregnant. In Season 2, Gracie Belle makes her arrival. We also see Tami have post-partum depression which is well-played. During this time, she’s stays in Dillon while Eric is at TMU. My Tami highlights from the past seasons are when she’s dealing with being separated from her husband and in any scene with her daughter, Julie.

3. Landry Clarke – Landry is the school geek and Matt’s best friend. He’s always the one to tutor the main characters. He has a band called Crucifictorius which, during a Season 1 concert, is painfully bad. He’s in the worst storyline ever in Season 2. We won’t discuss that. However, during Season 2, he did join the football team as a bench warmer. During Season 1 and Season 2, he started hanging out with Tyra and dated her. By the beginning of Season 3, they are broken up but friends. He still has his band.

4. Coach Eric Taylor - Coach is the head coach of the Dillon Panthers. You can find out more about him in this previous post. He was a quarterback coach and taught Jason Street when he was younger. He then goes onto mentor the new quarterback, Matt Saracen. There are many other instances where he tries to add guidance or support to the players. On the homefront, he mostly just tries to stay out of trouble and keep his head above the ever-changing waters of his female-filled home. In Season 2, he takes a new job at the college level at TMU only to decide to go back to Dillon.

5. Tyra Collette - Tyra is the town bad girl. She was on-again/off-again with Tim Riggins in Season 1 until she ends up in an unlikely relationship with Landry. She lives with her single mother, Angela and has a sister, Mindy who works at the local gentlemen’s club, The Landing Strip. Angela briefly worked for Buddy Garrity which ended poorly and results in her approaching the Garrity family outside of church. She’s not the best example and only shows moments when she’s not the worst mother ever. Mindy is engaged to Billy Riggins and cracks me up whenever she’s on screen. In the past two seasons, Tyra tries turning her life around and goes from skipping school to joining the volleyball team temporarily. Tami takes a big interest in her life when Tyra starts hanging out with Julie. This self-improvement and self-confidence continues into this season though it takes a couple of detours. Tyra breaks up with Landry in Season 2 but finds she's jealous when it looks like Landry finds someone else. They begin Season 3 as friends.

6. Julie Taylor - Julie was mentioned in this previous post. She starts off Season 1 as the new girl in school. She then starts dating Matt Saracen, befriends Tyra, and starts to fit in. In Season 2, she dates a lifeguard nicknamed the Swede. She's also kind of bratty in Season 2. Luckily, that doesn't last too long. I keep waiting for bratty Julie this year, but she hasn't appeared.

7. Matt Saracen - Matt Saracen was the back-up quarterback to the star, Jason Street. Then, he finds himself the starter overnight. He leads the team to win the State championship at the end of Season 1. His father is in Iraq and his mother was never in the picture. In Season 2, he's a little cranky - most likely due to the fact that Julie found someone else. Meanwhile, he cares for his grandmother who is suffering from dementia that gets worse throughout the series. It's heartbreaking to see Matt accept his responsibility especially as he nears college age when some go away to school. As mostly shown in Season 1, Matt is also a very talented artist. You do see Matt's father in Season 1 as well. He's back to status quo going into Season 3. He's friends with Julie and starting quarterback.

8. Lyla Garrity - Lyla is the school goody-goody. She is a cheerleader in Season 1 dating the star quarterback, Jason Street. They have a plan to graduate and go to college near each other and get married and live happily-ever-after. She then cheats on Jason with Tim Riggins, Jason's best friend. Her father, Buddy Garrity is a big-wig booster in the town. He was a former high school football player who owns a local car dealership. He has a wife and three children - Lyla and a younger son and daughter. Then, he cheats on his wife with Tyra's mother and is then publicly humiliated. He's a little outrageous and loves to be important. In Season 2, Lyla's parents get divorced and Lyla's mother dates. Before Season 3 begins, everyone but Lyla moves to the West coast. Lyla stays with her father in Dillon. Lyla becomes religious in Season 2 and starts to date Chris, a guy who works with her at Christian radio. No real explanation as to where Chris went, but Lyla turns her eye back to Tim.

9. Jason Street - Jason begins the series as the star. Then, in the first episode, he's tackled and paralyzed which changes everything. In the rehabilitation center, he befriends Herc who is completely crazy and never treats Jason with kid gloves. He sticks by Jason through it all. Jason's parents, at one point, sue the school and the coach over the accident to help make ends meet. In Season 2, Jason, Lyla and Riggins end up in Mexico to find some cure for the paralysis. It was a weak storyline. I won't lie to you. Maybe not as weak as the Tyra/Landry storyline I refuse to mention, but it was unnecessary. Jason ends up having a one-night stand with a waitress in Season 2 that results in a baby boy.

10. Tim Riggins - Tim is Jason's best friend and kind of a bad boy. He cuts class. He drinks a bit. I don't think there is much mention of a mother, but his father left him and his brother years back. Tim lives with his brother, Billy, who has one grand scheme after the other for getting rich quick. He also played football in high school but never really went too far because he had to care for Tim. Billy means well. Going into Season 3, he is dating Mindy and really wants to provide for her and for Tim, but he's not really the brightest bulb. They steal every scene they are in. You do see Tim's father in Season 1. Soemwhere along the way, Tim decides to straighten out and date Lyla seriously.

That pretty much sums up the cast of characters. There were other players who made cameos and you are introduced to more in Season 3. I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum. If you decide to watch Season 3 without going back to Season 1, it's really a good time to tune in. The first episode catches you up a bit. You may miss some backstory, but I kept enough quiet so you can watch the past seasons to catch up later and still enjoy the show. Storylines involving mental illness, race relations, steroids, murder (which I won't discuss), and recruiting among many others. So, I promise after this week that I will lay off the Friday Night Lights posts, but the show is seriously good.

P.S. If I've forgotten something, I'm sure someone will tell me.

My Mission, and I Choose to Accept It...

I told Husband last night that I will make sure everyone watches Friday Night Lights this weekend even if it takes me going to everybody's houses and duct taping them to chairs and propping eyelids open with toothpicks. Seriously, I said this. I totally would mean it, too, if I wasn't also extremely lazy. So, I will have to keep up the blog. For those who have no intention of watching the show, don't tell me. Also, the blogging will stop (for the most part) by Friday though I can't promise it will stop forever.

Anyway, today just one post on the positive aspects of the show before I move onto the summary tomorrow.
There is something for everybody on this show. There is football for boys. I mean, talk about wide receivers and quarterbacks and passing and sprinting and practice and blah blah blah. There are the politics of local sports with the boosters and rally girls. I had never heard of either really. Boosters provide money. Rally girls provide, and I paraphrase, anything the players require to play a good game on Friday nights - be that homework or a girl in a bikini in the hot tub or a cake.
There are cheerleaders for the boys though this photo is misleading because Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity doesn't wear her cheerleading uniform any longer. I'd have to say honestly that there was more in the way of eye candy in the first two seasons than in this season. This season is very plot-oriented and moves quickly because of the shortened season. Still, the cast isn't hard on the eyes.

Now, onto what's in it for the ladies... well, it is a show about guys, and it's got a lot of heart. I mean, trust me, I am the last person to watch a show about football of all things. I do my best to avoid all things football. The relationships between married couples, family members, and friends are so strong. Because many of the actors aren't well-known, they become the characters they play with an authenticity most shows don't have. Plus, though I am a big fan of Kyle Chandler, many enjoy Taylor Kitsch who was featured in Sexy Friday last week. The below photo is the best of both worlds. It's from Season 1.
In the beginning of this season, you'll also want to pay attention to Smash and his storyline. He and Mama Smash rock their roles. It's the strongest arc of the season and if you don't cry, I say you're heartless and have no humanity.

Friday Night Lights Tutorial - Part 1

First, in the tutorials, I want to say that I will not give any spoilers for Season 3. There will only be minor spoilers for Season 1 and 2 but none that would ruin the show if you seriously want to view previous seasons.

Above is a photo of the show's main family (though it is really an ensemble cast). Kyle Chandler plays Coach Eric Taylor. Connie Britton plays his wife, Tami. Aimee Teegarden plays their daughter, Julie. They also have a second daughter named Gracie Belle. In Season 1, the family moves into Dillon where Coach Taylor begins his position as the Dillon Panthers coach. In Season 2, Tami takes a job as a guidance counselor and works in the same school. Throughout the series, you see them announce they are having another baby (end of Season 1), have the baby (Season 2), and live with Julie dating the quarterback (Season 1), date a pretty boy (Season 2) and be a typical teenager bouncing from loving daughter to pain in the backside.

The family scenes are always some of my favorites. All three do subtle scenes so very well as well as the heavily dramatic.

Did I mention Friday Night Lights premieres this week?

Seriously, this is my blog. If you have no interest in Friday Night Lights, this is not the week to read my blog. If you haven't heard, the show both concludes on DirecTV and premieres on NBC this week. Check this previous post if you are interested in cramming in 2 seasons worth of viewing or learning more about the show. Or, if I have enough time this week, my goal is to post enough about the show that you'll know everything about it by Friday night.

I originally started watching the show for Kyle Chandler. I've followed his career for quite some time. To say how long would date both of us. He plays the role so well in this show. Though the show is about high school football, my favorite scenes are the ones when he's with his family. He always has his angry face on when he's coaching football.

Gratitudes during Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to compile a list of things for which I am grateful. I wanted to be inspired by Susan Wiggs, but I was too much into procrastination to get out a post a day. So, here are 30 things for which I am thankful, one for each day in November. These are in no particular order.

1. my family
2. Diet Coke
3. Friday Night Lights which is the best show on television. I love Kyle Chandler. However, it is worth noting that Gaius Charles was outstanding this year as well.
4. macaroni and cheese - I'm really not a snob. I make my own sometimes, but I love the blue box, too.
5. my friends
6. second frames in bowling because sometimes you can't hit all 10 pins down the first time (or the second for that matter...)
7. hand santizer like Purell and my favorite scent, Cucumber Melon.
8. sales and coupons
9. new book smell
10. my co-workers
11. Jim Henson's legacy
12. smart, imaginative, clever people (I don't want to name any specific names because that might make the unintelligent, non-creative, dull folk feel bad so you can all just think you're a person that fits into this category.)
13. matchbox twenty for writing lyrics like "I'm sorry 'bout the attitude/ I need to give when I'm with you/ But no one else would take this shit from me/A nd I'm so/ Terrified of no one else but me/ I'm here all the time/ I won't go away" from "Long Day" and "You've been so composed/ But we all know there's/ Always something/ Tearing you apart/ Always so much longer/ Than you counted on/ It hits you so much harder/ Than you thought/ But you don't worry/ Don't worry/ Cuz you got soul" from "Soul". They aren't actually my favorite matchbox twenty songs, but they always make me feel better.
14. Aaron Sorkin at his best. I have been quoting this quote lately from The American President - "Oh, you only fight the fights you can win? You fight the fights that need fighting!"
15. Wii - now, I don't own one and probably wouldn't use it if I had one, but I love how it really brings people together. 4 generations of my family played last summer. I've been to parties where we've played. It's a lot of fun and still can be social.
16. the Internet for letting me look up things which I do not know, for giving me new recipes, for being a great resource for new parents, and for connecting me with friends with whom I had lost touch
17. Supernatural because I'm not far from being a total fangirl for Jensen Ackles
18. indoor plumbing because it's genius
19. Target for having everything I need and then some...
20. my digital camera for allowing me to take photos, delete the non-keeper photos, and for being almost indestructable
21. manicures/pedicures
22. my quilt - my quilt is 15 years old, a graduation present, and I sleep with it every night. It's the perfect balance of light cover in the summer and super cozy in the winter.
23. author websites - without naming anyone specific, it's a great marketing tool for authors to have a website and even have contact with readers. It's great for new information as well as a connection.
24. iTunes and my iPod - even though my batter died (or is close to it), I listen to my iPod every day. I love that I can have a crazy eclectic playlist and never know what song will pop up next while I'm working.
25. hot chocolate with real whipped cream
26. Bones - this show just makes me happy. The ickiness and murder appease my morbid side and the writing just makes me laugh. I felt last year wasn't its best season, but it's been really enjoyable so far this year.
27. contact lenses - not that I don't love my glasses, but I love having contact lenses
28. books
29. handbags - seriously. I love how all purses fit. I don't have to worry about size or if it'll make me look fat. It's perfect just as it is. There are big ones, small ones, casual ones, formal ones, and all sorts of colors and patterns. The one to the left is not the one I'm currently using, but it's the closest I could find. I was obsessed with the Pink Elephants pattern by Vera Bradley. Living outside of D.C. and during an election year, I was afraid the pattern would associate me with the Republican party, but I sucked it up and bought it anyway. It just makes me happy.
30. USA - which is lame, but I love living in this country, and I wouldn't live anywhere else. It's not perfect. I disagree with a lot of things going on now, in the past and, I'm sure, in the future, but its diversity is why this country is so strong.

So, there is the list of things for which I am grateful. There are things that I'm leaving out, but I wanted it to be a list of all sorts of items. Right now, I have to say I'm grateful for an empty (and almost clean) apartment and being right on schedule with the holiday planning and decorating as well as my work agenda.