It finally cooled off a bit here. High temp today was 77F, much better than the 87F we had yesterday. A little bit of rain came through, but not much. It seems like we shouldn't need any rain, since we had so much in the fall, but it already looks like some grassy areas are yellowing. Hmmmm, I wonder what our rainfall is for this year so far?

Work was...well, what it always is. There, lol. Not so busy today...did a few invoices, worked on a couple of old claims, sent a few more orders over to the mill before tomorrow's deadline. Tomorrow I should have some spreadsheets to work on, to help out my boss. He got an email from a salesman today, that handles a customer that has given the business we had to someone else. In the meantime, they want how much we sold to them all of last year and so far into this year, by location. Not as easy as it sounds with our stupid system, and all the different warehouses we've used in the last year. My boss was going to start running the reports tonight, then they have to be formatted so they're readable, missing information has to be plugged in, all before 5pm EDT tomorrow! That's why I told him I'd help him with whatever he needs me to do. Normally he does it himself, but this is the biggest time frame they've asked for, which makes it a lot more time consuming.

This same boss is turning 50 on Sunday. So a few of us decided we're going to decorate his desk tomorrow. I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some fun stuff, some Over the Hill and 50! black balloons, a blow up cane that he can threaten to beat people with when they make fun of his age, a head stone that says The Big Five-O, you get the idea. Another girl is going to pick up a bunch of plain black balloons, we're going to try to get in before he does and fill his cubicle with them. She's also going to make a cat litter cake. It may look disgusting, but I've been told it's quite tasty...once you get past eating the turds. LMAO Just kidding, those are tootsie rolls!

So, it wasn't super busy at work today, I actually had time to check my home email, but it wasn't boring either. I got most of my orders faxed off to the mill this morning/afternoon. I have one I'm waiting on pricing for, and another I was told to hold it an extra day, I have no idea why. YOU try asking a japanese that speaks very little English and see if you can get a clear answer, lmao.

I stopped at Target on the way home. There was a cd I wanted to buy, Jason Aldean's new cd Relentless. I also picked up some bottled water that was on sale, cases of 28 for $4.50 each. And I bought a plastic tub to store blankets in, part of my "clean up this bedroom" project.

Then I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some needed food supplies. Like...turkey and cheese for sandwiches, milk for my breakfast, a package of pork chops for grilling, some Nutri Grain bars for breakfast this weekend (because my cereal is kept at work), 100 calorie packs of oreo thin crisps, some cantaloupe, some apple slices...and I think that was all.

It's nice not being controlled by what's on tv, but some nights, when it's warm like now, it's hard to figure out just what to do until bedtime. I was going to start a book last night, but decided against it due to the late hour. Maybe I'll go start one as soon as I send this cd to Kerry, LOL.

Back to work today! It was nice having a long weekend...when's the next one? Oh yeah, July...and it's not even a long weekend, it's broken up because the 4th is on a Wednesday! However, I am taking a couple vacation days in June to drive down to Memphis to visit my dear friend Catharine, the first friend I made when I moved to Illinois. She's a doctor now, and while in school she was determined to be a brain surgeon. Well, she's not a brain surgeon, but she IS a doctor!

Today at work was pretty steady. I wasn't sure how busy I'd be after being off on Friday. But I did have enough to pretty much keep me busy for most the day. We had some changes at work a couple months ago. The co-ordinator that worked with our cold rolled mill moved over to handle the coated mill, and we have a new co-ordinator for cold rolled. He's straight from Japan, and of course has to be trained. After all the orders for June had been placed, it's his responsibility to tell not only the outside salesmen but us inside people too, when July opens up for orders. He must have told the outside salesmen, but didn't tell those of us on the inside. Today I was copied on an email that said, "The deadline for entering July orders has been extended to June 1."

Damn, I was glad of that, because I had about 900 tons (1,800,000 lbs) worth of orders I needed to enter. Plus another 320,000 lbs for another customer. I was just waiting for someone to tell me I could! Needless to say, the end of the day was busy getting those entered and printed to give to the co-ordinator to double check pricing and such. They should be waiting on my desk in the morning when I get in, and I can print out the PO and fax them over.

I'm thinking tomorrow will be slower than today. Monday's (or the first day of the week if Monday is a holiday) is status report day, which takes up the first couple of hours of my day. I have to print out two different status reports for various customers I handle and fax them to the customer so they know how far along their orders are. And for one of the customers, for one reason or another, we not only send them the status report, but I have to go online to the mill website and see what the current expected ready week is for each order and write it on the report. Time consuming, and worthless if you ask me. The mill is hardly ever on time, and the information changes constantly.

As of right now, I have to match up paperwork to some invoices and mail them out. And I should have a couple shipments to invoice tomorrow. Plus the orders I entered (see above) that will be faxed to the mill. Other than that, it's unknown what else I will do tomorrow to keep myself busy. *Sigh*

Since it's been such a quiet weekend and I don't really have anything to post, I thought I'd load a couple pictures.

Yes, this is my refrigerator. It used to be filled with magnets, as Kerry and Debby can attest to. I have gotten into a mode where I want less clutter, less "stuff" laying around, and am slowly working in cleaning things up in general. The fridge was just one step in the "I'm tired of looking at this" movement.

This is my bathroom floor. My NEW bathroom floor that I got in March. I promised a picture to Ladystyx, and since Kerry is the only one who has seen it in person, the rest of you now can see it for yourselves. It's a very nice tile floor, but unfortunately, the bathroom is so small the dark tile makes it feel even smaller. What you can't see to the sides of the picture are the tub and other door. In the lower left corner you can see the edge of the one door which opens from left to right. It blocks the tub when open. Just to the right of the toilet, is the vanity sink, which is in the corner and right in front of it on the side wall is another door which I closed for the picture. The two doors give some privacy to whomever would be sleeping in the second bedroom and using that hall bath.

Today I am sad :-(

I went to a wake this evening for my best friend's father who passed away Sunday night.

Paul E. Wagner, age 67, of Woodridge, beloved husband of Janice; loving father of Dean Wagner and Wendy (Jeff) Stapleton; proud grandfather of Angela, Roxann, Kyle, Dean Jr., Nikki and Daniel; dear brother of Robert (Linda) Wagner; fond uncle of many nieces and nephews. Chapel Service Friday, May 25, 11 a.m. at Adolf Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 7000 Madison, Willowbrook. Interment Clarendon Hills Cemetery, Darien. Visitation Thursday, May 24, 3 to 8 p.m.

I took tomorrow off from work to attend the funeral. The weather channel says it isn't supposed to rain tomorrow, and I hope they're right (for a change).

This long weekend will be my time to do some spring cleaning. I was supposed to be going to my aunt's house on Saturday to paint, but the plans for that got changed, so fortunately I can stay home (and save gas) to get some other things done.

I hope everyone in the U.S. enjoys the holiday weekend, and for you Canadians reading this, enjoy working on Monday! LMAO

My next to the last post about American Idol! (I guess next week I'll have to start making posts about my feelings.)

Tonight was the final singing competition between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. I have just one thing to say about tonight's show....Go Jordin! She definitely deserves to win the whole thing. Her singing ability is SO much better than Blake's, even if he does "outperform" her. And to top it all off, Simon said Jordin wiped the floor with Blake vocally! Wow!!!

The song that was selected for the winner to be their first single, was intended for a woman. You can tell in the lyrics, and the notes, everything about it screams female. Blake struggled with it, but gave it the "old college try."

Tomorrow night, all 12 contestants will be there performing together, not sure if they're doing the big extravaganza like last year with 12 different stars for them to sing with. Will be interesting to have, as Kerry put it, 2 hours of nothing but Jordin. LMAO

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

And the shocker of the week for me............

MELINDA DOOLITTLE IS GOING HOME. Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis are in the finale! I'll buy anything you get produced and in the stores, Melinda!

I just thought of something...what will I blog about once Idol is finished? LOL

Last night was the performance for the final three, Jordin, Melinda, and Blake. Jordin went first, starting the show off with Simon's song choice, Wishing On A Star by Rose Royce. Her second song, as picked by the producers (not Clive Davis?) was She Works Hard For The Money by Donna Summer. For her final performance of the night, Jordin chose her own song, I Who Have Nothing by Dusty Springfield (previously sung in the top 24). I think all three of her performances were quite good. I believe during the second song it appeared she struggled a little with the footwork on stage. She was trying to move back to the middle of the stage for the ending, so it was a sort of side/back step, and it looked jerky, like she wasn't sure how many steps to make, or how far she needed to move. But if that's the worst I can say about her performances, then she has an excellent chance of becoming the next American Idol.

Blake was second, starting out with Paula's song choice of Roxanne by The Police. The producers (still not Clive Davis) chose This Love by Maroon 5 for his second song. Finally, Blake himself chose When I Get You Alone by Robin Thicke. How many people have even HEARD of Robin Thicke, let alone heard the song? I happen to have the cd, although I haven't listened to it yet, so I can't compare Blake's version to Robin's. Maybe that was a good thing, so viewers didn't have the original stuck in their heads to repeat...the original was better, the original was better. Can anyone sing Roxanne and NOT be compared to The Police? I personally believe Blake's best performance was This Love by Maroon 5. His voice was perfect for that type song, since he doesn't have the range that other singers have. Unfortunately, I don't think any of his performances were good enough to get him into the finale.

Finally, Melinda closed out the show. Her first song, picked by Randy Johnson...I mean Jackson, was I Believe In You And Me by Whitney Houston. Ok, whatever happened to the judges telling them to never EVER pick a Whitney song, or a Celine song, or a Chaka Khan song, etc? Randy goes against his OWN advice and picks an obscure Whitney Houston song? Was he trying to sabotage Melinda? Or was it merely a test to see how she would handle a more difficult song? It's definitely not a classic Whitney song that everyone thinks of, but a good song nonetheless, and Melinda knocked it out of the park. Her second song was Nutbush City Limits by Tina Tuner, as chosen by the producers (again no Clive Davis). THAT'S the style of music I think Melinda could do and sell a million albums. I LOVED it! She rocked, with some soul, giving Tina a run for her money, and if she wasn't a lock before, she just sealed her place in the finale. Even though Melinda didn't NEED a third song to convince her fans of her ability, she still sang her own choice of song, I'm A W.O.M.A.N. by Peggy Lee. This is a song she had previously sung in the top 24 round, and if you didn't hear it before, this performance was just as good.

Final two will be Jordin and Melinda, and like three years ago, it will be a catfight to see who wins. Personally, I'll be happy if either of them wins, I like them both. Each will do well in the music industry. I've heard others say Jordin should win because she's more marketable than Melinda, and Melinda could end up like Taylor Hicks from last year...putting out a cd that really didn't connect with the buyers. Melinda may be older and "less marketable" but she has a fan base, and she has a singing style that can do many diffferent genres. That may be just what she needs, if she wants to sell cd's.

The concert is tonight!! I'm wearing my CN Tower t-shirt. This is my first time to The House of Blues, so I'll let everyone know how it was!

God loves me so much that He will accept me just as I am...
But He loves me too much to leave me that way!

I just sent the weekly Yahoo TV Idol Report Card to Kerry, and we were forgetting about Clive Owen week! Next week isn't the finale! Clive Owen is with them, he picks a song, the judges pick a song, and the contestants each pick a song. So we have three songs by each next week! It should be VERY interesting to see what song Clive Owens picks for Blake, lol.

Tonight is the results show for American Idol, presenting the music of Barry Gibb. This was the first week the performers got to sing two songs, and it was interesting to hear their choices.

Melinda chose "I Love You Inside And Out" and "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart." What else can be said except that once again she showed her professionalism. I couldn't find fault with either performance. She should make it into the finals easily.

Blake chose "I Should Be Dancing" and "This Is Where I Come In." Both songs were performed with some beatboxing. I preferred his second performance; The first one was sort of weird with this staccato reverb that didn't wow me at all. He is certainly in danger of being eliminated.

LaKisha chose "Stayin' Alive" and "Run To You." I was surprised she selected Stayin' Alive, since the song is performed in male falsetto. Singing in the lower key, I feel she did a pretty darn good job with the song. Her performance on the second song wasn't as good, in my opinion. There were moments at the end where she was either trying too hard, or just plain overpowering the lyrics unnecessarily. LaKisha is also in danger of being eliminated.

Jordin chose "To Love Somebody" and "A Woman In Love." Some have said, at 17, Jordin is too young to sing A Woman In Love. In some respects yes, but I believe she pulled it off. I'm no expert, but I didn't hear her pitch problems. She isn't as much of a longshot to win it all as some might think. She should be safely into the finals.

I'm assuming Barry will sing tonight, along with another surprise artist. In one hour, we will know who will be in the finale next week.


Update at 9:10pm EDT: Pink is the surprise performer tonight!

THINGS TO DO TODAY:

• Get up
• Survive
• Go to bed

Corey J. Rose

Almost the end of Idol for this season! The remaining four contestants sang two songs each tonight. It's too late now for me to post a review, so I hope to do that tomorrow night, perhaps during the hour long drag it out forever results show. Barry Gibb was the mentor this week, so it was definitely interesting!

Until tomorrow!

Idol Gives Back Part 2

Wow, what a show!! There's no way I can properly put into words the emotions I felt tonight as I watched all the clips of Ryan, Simon, Paula and Randy visiting poor neighborhoods here in the U.S. and the abject poverty in Africa. You hear about it, and you see images, but until you see them putting a woman in a truck to get her to a hospital for medical treatment, only to have her die 2 days later...or the mother trying to get her son to a treatment facility for malaria, only to have him die in her arms on the way there.

Just during the 2 hour show, over 30 million dollars was raised by people calling in or donating through the website, www.americanidol.com.

As for the Idol contestants...all were safe tonight. With the show trying to raise money to help so many people, they didn't want to vote anyone off. So the votes from last night will be combined with next week's votes, and the bottom TWO will leave next week. Will be interesting to see what next week's theme is...


4/26 12:00pm UPDATE: I read this morning that Jon Bon Jovi will be on next week's show, so the theme is mostly likely Rock. I almost hate to say this, but can you imagine what Sanjaya would have done to his hair for THIS theme?

Idol Gives Back

Tonight's theme was inspiring or uplifting songs. Chris Richardson was up first, singing Change the World, originally done by Eric Clapton. Not my favorite performance by him. He had to do his little head shake thingy, and with his "pop" sound, I wasn't too impressed. It wasn't his worst performance to date, but I think he will be inthe bottom three. Not sure what style he has going on either. A dress shirt with a tie sorta loose, shirt is untucked, a jacket over it all, cargo style pants and sneakers. Is that what passes for pop stars these days? You'd think he would use a little more style considering the serious subject of this week's shows.

Next was Melinda Dolittle singing Faith Hill's There Will Come A Day. All I can say about Melinda is AWESOME. Her version was just as good as Faith's, and that's saying a lot, because Faith is one singer that is usually up there with Celine, Whitney, Chaka, etc as a "do not sing their songs cause you can't compare." I can't wait for this song to be available to download! Loved the poster in the audience that said Melinda Dolittle does MORE, lmao.

Blake Lewis performed John Lennon's hit Imagine. This was not as good as I "imagined" it would be. It's not vocally challenging, in my opinion, and I think Blake could have done more with it. But then, when they try to do "more" with a song, to make it their own, I usually don't like it. He hit all the notes he needed to hit, didn't forget the lyrics, but it just didn't WOW me. Blake might be in trouble this week.

Next up is LaKisha Jones singing Fantasia's version of I Believe. I always preferred Diana Degarmo's version better, but let's see how LaKisha does. Well, no "yeah yeah's" like Fantasia put in, lol. Not too hot on her performance tonight. She's hitting the notes, and she's belting it, but there's something about her singing that has me not liking her so much the last couple weeks. I don't know if it's because she's oversinging songs, or just her song selection is sitting well with me. She was in the bottom three last week, and I think she'll be there again this week.

Phil Stacey is going back to his roots again tonight, singing The Change by Garth Brooks. He has a really good tone to his voice that suits him for country music. However, I have a hard time getting past that big bald head and his ears, lmao. As far as the song goes, it was one of his better performances. I'm not sure if it was good enough to get him the votes to stay out of the bottom three or not. Maybe he should have gone on Nashville Star?

Jordin Sparks closes out the show singing You'll Never Walk Alone. This song has been recorded by several artists, was written by Rogers & Hammerstein for the musical Carousel. I can honestly say I didn't really listen to it. I heard it, but I didn't listen. I don't even know what the judges said. All three judges loved it, so I'm sure Jordin is safe. And based on her vocal ability, I'm sure it was every bit as good as the judges thought, and it will be one of the songs I download.

Tomorrow night is the superstar performances for Idol Gives Back. Should be a great night with a lot of entertainment.

I have just four words to sum up tonight's American Idol results show:

IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME!

Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out...but she can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.