A Letter of Apology

Dear Laura (Cog-Dog) Coggin,

Hey Roommate. How was your day? Okay, enough of the small talk.

I need to go ahead and apologize for the massive amounts of tennis that will be on Tim (the Tivo) in the next few months. We're in the early days of the French Open, Wimbledon will be in a few weeks and the lead up tournaments to the big one...The U.S. Open will fill up the days of July and August.

You will see 6 hour segments of Tennis on our "Now Playing" list. You'll see me sitting gawking at Roger Federer or Serena Williams with my mouth open as they ace their opponents. You'll notice me fast forwarding through matches with players who are ridiculous (Spadea) and pausing when there's a good shot of some of the Spanish players (whoo hoo!)

So I'm going to go ahead and tell you that I need to watch this much tennis so I can make my game better. The more I watch it, the more I can see my serve taking shape. So that's my excuse.

Oh, and I love it.

So in the words of Bryan Adams..."Please forgive me, I know not what I do. Please forgive me, I can't stop loving [tennis]."

Your Roommate,

Sarah McDonnell

Summa, Summa Summatime

You better believe that I bought a 40-count bag of Pop-Ice last time I went to the grocery store. I figured they are something I can eat whenever and they aren't bad for you (I checked.) So now I think I'm addicted. I am eating 4 a day. I can't eat just one. I've tried. I'm a little worried that my checking might not have been extensive enough. I would hate to have to increase the sizes in my wardrobe because I'm eating Pop-Ice but they sure are good.

best season ever...

I can't believe I'm missing the best bachelorette season ever. Someone please tape it for me.

So far my picks are Graham, Jeremy and Brian....I L O V E Graham. I mean yah he's great.

My serious side...

I know I know this blog is only meant for funny but I don't currently have a funny bone in my body right now...lots of serious tho. I figure there might be some things that maybe the reader wants to know about your bloggers...maybe, maybe not ha. Well as you know or may not I'm going to South Africa in about a week to stay for almost 3 months. I'm excited, nervous, anxious...all of the above. I used to work Student Life camps and after my first two summers with them I thought that was the time of my life...life probably won't get any better than that. But I'm starting to feel like thats false. I think my journeys ahead will live up to that and lots of change will happen...lots of change has already happened in my way of thinking. I quoted something from Donald Miller's book Through Painted Deserts in my blog (refer to my first post). Thats how I want to live my life. You know I just have so many dreams and I think there are ways to accomplish them, they're just something you have to work for. Throughout the past couple of years I've just been in a lot of transition and I think there are a lot of things that people wanted me to do or see me doing and I just had to realize I have certain dreams and if I want to pursue those...I have to do that because that is who I was created to be. I realize that some think its very foolish for me to leave my job to go to Africa and that I may come back and not be in the states long until I go back out of the country. For me I've already learned a lot in having to really trust the Lord with my finances. I've learned that my journey is very broad and while the Lord may be calling me to Africa right now, he might call me to go live somewhere else to live with a very close friend after that. I don't know what it looks like and I'm kind of interested to see how the Lord lays it out. I'm a patty planner and I'm processing how to use that part of my personality to work with what the Lord calls my journey to look like. I think sometimes we see parts of our personality that we don't like and we try to get rid of them when sometimes thats who you are and you just have to let the Lord use that and not abuse it with your thoughts.

I say you have one life so if you have dreams do everything you can to pursue those. Don't let finances stand in your way...if you want something start planning right now on how you can afford it, maybe you need to sale something that your holding on to. If settling down is your dream then settle down, get a nice house and live. There is absolutely nothing wrong with settling down. But if your settling down because its comfortable and thats what your supposed to do and its keeping you from pursuing a dream then thats probably not what you were created to do at this point in your life. There you go...now thats golden advice write it down :)...thats all I have

Oh, Indy!

I will not comment on the new Indiana Jones movie, yet. I'll give it a few weeks. I just hope by that time I can remember my feelings about it.

Two Broad Statements

I have made two sweeping statements this week. These are things that have rolled around in my head for years. They just came out since Monday.

1. I believe in only naming your first car.
2. I don't want to hear new songs from an old band. I just want to hear their old stuff.

1. My first car's name was TwoPOC. That stood for Two-Seater, Piece of Crap. It was a car that Boppa (my grand-papa [said with a French accent]) bought in Dallas from an attorney who got it in a repossession. It was a red, 2 seat 1984 Honda CRX. Hatchback. Purple tinted windows. Bullethole in the side. This car was a lesson in humility. I went to a private school where most people drove brand new Explorers, BMWs, etc... If they wrecked it, they got a brand new one the next day. Not the McDonnells. I ran into my best friend's car in the mall parking lot one day. No damage was done to her Jeep. $2400 damage was done to TwoPOC. Not to mention that the hood wouldn't close. What is Bob's solution? Tie the hood down. So on my drives to school, if you caught a stiff wind you would see the hood fly up about 3 inches. It was quite the car. I am better for having driven it.

2. I don't remember the context but yesterday I said that I don't like it when old acts come out with new songs. I want to hear your old stuff. I don't need Madonna to have a bunch of new songs because chances are, I just want to hear Holiday. OK, Madonna may not be the best example. How about Hall & Oates? Truth be told, if it makes it into the mainstream I'll probably listen to it. But it will take a few times of changing the station when I hear it coming on the radio.

Both of these statements were said to Brad and Davy. We laughed at how convicted I am about them.

Grey Matters

Can we all agree that Meredith and Derek don't need to be together? This is ridiculous.

Also, one thing I think they are doing right at the show is making it more about all of the cast. For a while they were ridiculously focused on M & D. I don't need that. However, I don't know that I want it to be focused on Callie and Hahn. I'll be honest, that one shocked me.

Izzie is cut out for General Practice and the clinic is perfect for her. I think Lexi is definitely going to get into trouble after looking at all of those files. With that mouth, she'll tell someone the wrong thing and there will be a whole investigation into how she knows. Then George will get implicated it in. It might be bad.

And for Alex...i love Karev and am happy to see him have a heart.

Hmmm...

I've gone off the blog train the past few days. It makes it hard for me to complain that the blogs I keep up with are not updated when I don't update this one.

I had a great time in the Mississip. Kay and Bob send their love. Seems as if this may be the only bastion that I still keep that they haven't discovered online. I give it a week. Boppa is okay but his dog, Jack, is awesome. He is really so much fun. I imagine Jack talking to me in a high New York accent all the time. Kind of like Eric from Entourage. He follows me around when I am home like he's my shadow...Jack, not Eric. I wish.

We had Ber's Benefit Braii last night. It was good. I hope she got some monies out of it. She had her favorite drink in ice cream form...Grapico. It was really good. Tasted like a grape sno-cone with condensed milk on it. I've made the Sunkist one before. Grape was a new adventure. That's right...adventure.

Back in Nashville. Cog seems happy to see me and who can blame her? I leave you with the comparison...

Videochattin It Up

So my mom bought a webcam for me for my time in South Africa. And she just got a new laptop which has a webcam built in. So last night we thought we would try it out. Um I have never laughed so hard. She downloaded skype since that is probably what I will use while over there. On her computer there were all of these options for sound, the mac didn't have those...the one time I was like why doesn't my mac have cool options like that. So she could choose what her voice would sound like when I heard her talk on my computer. There were options like you sucked helium, you could talk in accents (one was british...i think ;)), and there was one that made her voice really low like a mans. I have never laughed so hard. The funniest thing was she got it stuck on the man voice. So it was like this sort of feminine southern man voice every time she said something and she kept talking because she couldn't hear it. OMG funny! We finally figured out how to get it off that but it took awhile so it was money...money!

May's List

Satellite - Guster
Come Around - Rhett Miller
Nightswimming - REM
27 Jennifers - Mike Doughty
Two Tickets to Paradise - Eddie Money
Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
Two Times - The Blakes
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
I Am...I Said - Neil Diamond
Next To Me (Wait a Minute Sister) - Gavin DeGraw
All Good Things - The Weepies
When a Heart Breaks - Dave Barnes
Just One Day - Jeremy Lister
The Best Damn Thing - Avril Lavigne
Grey Skies - Josh Kelley
I Feel It All - Feist
Hallelujah - Paramore
The First Single - The Format

You know it, I love it.

If you've been around me any amount of time, you probably know I will own this...

Ooooohh...there's a snake

I never like to utter these words. I did this morning as I was picking blackberries behind my parents' house. Good thing I had my contacts in or that garter snake would have looked a lot like a juicy berry. I said "Ooohhh, there's a snake," and promptly backed up. As Bob came over to look at it, I moseyed inside. Bob's been known to throw snakes on you or near you.

YIKES!

All of this after watching 3 Indiana Jones movies yesterday, all of which featured large reptiles. 

Happy Mother's Day, Kay! I hope that snake doesn't get in your window!

Adventures with Nanny

So my Nanny is quite the character. My mom and I went to take her out to lunch for Mothers' Day today. First of all I love the names of her friends, shes got a Lou Gene and Clia T...lets not forget her real name is Letra. Letra I mean how histerical is that, she never tells people that though...if you were to ask she would say Virginia because thats what she goes by. I've got the inside though.

So we're sitting at lunch today chatting it up and she starts talking about Martha Stewart's show "you know I just don't like that Martha Stewart...she doesn't give away anything. But you know ELLEN she's always giving away stuff." Thats right Nanny its all about giving stuff away.

Let me just tell you my Nanny looooves jewelry. Nothing fake, only the best for Letra. She says "you know I can't wear anything but gold". MMm hmmm I'm sure thats true, me too Letra. Now give me some of those diamonds.

And of course she is trying to fix me up. UGH. She said you know I almost called so and so and told her to bring that Blake and meet us. What how awkward would that have been?? Am I really getting fixed up by my Nanny...gosh I need a man.

Then we go to take her home and she starts going through her food giving us stuff to take home. She opens the fridge and there are at least 10 nail polishes in the door. All red and bright pink of course. I think my Nanny sees by one get one free and thinks I have to have that. I have never seen so much food for one person, two of everything. I mean she sent us home with prob. 6 boxes of cereal.

Thats all I've got this time...I'll attach a pic so you can see what Letra looks like.

SIDENOTE - Somehow the ring is messed up on my parents house phone and every time it rings, it plays some Christmas song but it sounds like if you opened a jewelry box and the ballerina is twirling. Necie says I have no idea how that happened...what in the world.

This just in...

Hell has frozen over...Kay McDonnell has a facebook account. I'm not sure what's more disturbing: that I had to go take her phone numbers and home address off of it, or that she hasn't even asked her daughter to be friends.

Amber's May Playlist

Charlie Chaplin - Katie Herzig
Live High - Jason Mraz
The Offer - Katie Herzig
Say - John Mayer
Sweeter Than This - Katie Herzig
Shine (Live) - David Gray
I Want to Belong to You - Katie Herzig (oh how i love this song)
Violet Hill - Coldplay
Split Screen Sadness - John Mayer
Shut Up and Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
The Con(Live) - Tegan and Sara
Ain't Nothing Wrong With That - Robert Randolph
Wonderful World - James Morrison
In Love With a Girl - Gavin DeGraw
Tell Me Something Good - Rufus and Chaka Khan
Who Knows? - Natasha Bedingfield
Bennie and the Jets - Elton John
Sweet and Low - Augustana
Goodbye, Apathy - OneRepublic

Two of Sass's Observations:

If you drink coke while chewing gum, it tastes like you're drinking men's cologne. 

If you put rubber cement in the palm of your hand and clap your hands together quickly, your palms will get very cold.

Try it.

Doi, I'm a Volley Girl

Today was my first tennis lesson with my awesome instructor, Courtney. She usually teaches kids. She just got one more. 

Let me first explain that I hate to work out. I don't think that hate is the correct word. DETEST. That's better. ABHORE is even better. I say that I want to just be good enough to be able to play a match. I really don't want to be bad. I get mad when I can't get my toss right, or I don't follow through, or don't keep my racket head down. Truth is, I'm sick of accepting mediocrity. I don't want to just have a hittable toss. I want to have the best damn toss out there. The toss that will allow me to serve ace after ace. 

When did I become so competitive? I have never thought of myself as this.

Oh, and just so you know, my best swing is the volley. I kick some tail on that one so I'm going to start taking serves then immediately going to the net. Wimbledon, here comes the Sass n' Bandit! 

Also, I found out how to carry my kick a tennis bag. I look awesome. It's the skirt next week.

Set your Tivo's....

I heard a little rumor that Maxim and Mel B would be back in action tonight on a special hour of Dancing with the Stars.

ABC...7PM CST

Mo and Tim

I love Mo Rocca and I love Tim Gunn so this video is awesome to me.

I came home tonight about 8 with a headache. After sprawling on the couch, I watched 2 hours of children.

1.5 hours of these adorable ones:

I love these kids. I just can't watch enough of them.

30 minutes of these crazy children. I also can't get enough. It's more of an addiction.


Somehow I feel like the Gosselin kids will do more good with their lives than these four cats. I'm so glad that John McCain was watching tonight along with the rest of us.

The Outrage Continues

While reading the news on cnn.com this morning, as pre my usual Saturday morning ritual, I noticed a little headline mixed in among those about Miley Cyrus and wars. HELEN KELLER BILLBOARDS DRAW STARES.

Here's the video.

Sorry, I don't know how to post it on here, so you just have a link.

In honor of Helen, how I remember her:

The Real Helen (what a looker, no pun intended):

And the woMan with the plan, Anne:

fierce

Just so I don't call you out the next time I see you for not watching Christians' moment...here you go