Spring Cleaning Phase 1

The Spring Clean bug has bitten! We've been busy this weekend tackling projects we've been putting off for a while.

Damon was able to get all the dead shrubs dug out of the front flower beds. This involved the help of our neighbor, his bulldog, and a winch. Surprisingly there were no injuries or accessory property damage.

I schredded 4 years worth of credit card applications and financial documents I'd been stockpiling. It equalled out to 2 large garbage bags of confetti. Our poor schredder overheated several times during the process but at least lasted until the job was done.

To celebrate we went on a picnic to the UTPB duck pond Saturday. The weather was perfect and the geese kept their distance. I'm twice their size but those aggressive geese freak me out.

The dishes are washed and the laundry is almost done. The week is off to a clean start.

My Thoughts on Oscar

I love to watch the Oscars. The gowns, the celebrities, the suspense and even the cheesy acceptance speeches. This years Oscars were good but there are definitely things that I would like to see improved.

1.) No more Kathy Ireland! She was too tall for the people they had her interview. And way too intense for the type of fluff questions that nervous stars flying without a script expect.
2.) More Neil Patrick Harris! I just like him. If they thought he was good enough for the opener why not the whole show? And are those big musical numbers really necessary? The best original songs and scores should be more than enough music for the evening.
3.) The hanging lamp shade backdrop while unusual just didn't seem in keeping with the glitz and glamour of the show. Maybe if the theme of the evening was modern suburban living room...
4.) Cut back on the obvious movie plugs. While I do enjoy the Twilight series, Bella and Jacob didn't deserve to be presenters. Ditto for Hannah Montana. It would be nice to limit presenters to stars that have won Oscars in the past or at least been affiliated with best picture calibur productions. The importance of the award seems diminshed by having teeny-boppers pass them out.
5.) I like that they have the best actor/actress peers talk about the nominees prior to the award. I wish that they had asked Renee Zellweger to talk about Colin Firth. He deserved more than Julianne Moore's "I only knew him for 3 days."
6.) After having done this for decades I'm sure this was not the first year that someone has won back to back awards. Having to wait for Kathryn Bigelow to make the journey from back stage for the best picture Oscar was awkward. My favorite part of the show is seeing the surprise on their faces when they're announced and then the hugs from the people around them. Getting a peak at James Cameron's face when she was announced right in front of him would have been interesting too. He seemed gracious when the camera eventually panned around to him. Having the highest grossing movie of all time isn't a bad consolation prize.

Overall, it was a fun show. The people I was cheering for won. Plus, I got lots of good makeup/hair ideas (thank you HDTV for not hiding flaws) as well as some do's/don'ts for the next formal gown I have to buy. Here's to next years big night!