Sabrina Shocker...Not Really

I am sure people were as shocked as I was tonight when Sabrina was kicked off Dancing With The Stars. I mean she was the best dancer (almost to a fault in that it wasn't fair) and for her to be kicked off so early was just wrong...or was it?

Of course, my negativity is going to come through in this post, so you might not want to read what is below. I truly believe this show is fixed, like American Idol, and this is what really happened last night.

On Monday, they were setting up the audience for Sabrina's departure when they showed how busy she was with her new music video, and the fact the new Cheetah Girls record is coming out soon (just in time for Christmas of course). I honestly think when Sabrina agreed to do the show, she said she was available up through this week. Just like Mark Cuban last week, who was let go because the NBA season starts this week, Sabrina knew her record was going to drop and she was going to have a number of promotional appearances that would prevent her from committing to Dancing the rest of the season (although I will say she is a great actress because she really did look shocked and devastated that she was sent home).

But the "shock" works out great for all parties because Sabrina received 7 weeks of free publicity to promote herself and the Cheetah Girls just in time for their new album, and Dancing With the Stars will get a week's worth of "Can you believe that Sabrina was sent home," publicity, in addition to "fans, you need to vote to keep your favorite stars on the show" (oh yeah, I am sure the show gets a percentage of the texting monies generated from voting each week). The conspiracy theory is in full effect - similar to when Chris Daughtry was voted off American Idol, which in the end was the best thing to happen to him.

That said, I better start looking to see if Helio's (my favorite) Indy car season has another race coming up soon (although he did postpone his wedding to concentrate on Dancing) or when Marie Osmond's Christmas concert tour begins (by the way, she has a Christmas album coming out soon! What a surprise!) or if they are planning to shoot a 90210 reunion in the next couple of weeks so Jennie Garth needs to go.

One thing I was surprised about was that Cameron and Edyta were in the bottom two. Although they continue to say how busy Cameron is (setting up him leaving the show if he or All My Children say he cannot do it anymore - although it's great cross promotion since AMC is on ABC as well), the show cannot afford to have Edyta leave or they will lose the whole new audience of viewers they have captured this year. Andrew always stops what he is doing to see what she isn't wearing and his first question on Tuesday night is "Did she make it?" I am pretty sure he is not asking about Marie Osmond or Jane Seymour.

Speaking of Jane, next week she has got to go. She has been hanging on by a thread all season and with all of the tragedies that have happened to her, you know they can't send her home. Between her mom dying, her house burning to the ground in the fires and then her food poisoning last night, that would be insensitive and bad publicity for the show. But she needs to be careful as she has used three of her nine lives and might use the remaining six next week.

Anyway...I am still addicted and cannot wait until Monday.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

Fall Foliage

Just wanted to post some photos of Reagan playing in the leaves this weekend. It was a beautiful weekend and she had a blast throwing the leaves. We do not have many days like that left this fall. The next photos like these will be with mounds of snow in them.

We really did not do much this weekend. Reagan and I went to the Minnesota State High School Tennis Tournament, then we took Corby to the dog park and finally went to a University of Minnesota volleyball match. Notre Dame did not play, so it was a nice relaxing weekend.

Sunday was spent cleaning the house (It was gross) and watching the Vikings. They are terrible.

Anyway...enjoy the photos.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

Mark Cuban Says Goodbye

It was a sad night on Dancing With The Stars as Mark Cuban was sent back to Dallas. Actually, I think his contract said he had to go this week, since the Mavericks start next week. Yes, I am saying the show is fixed.

A quick review of Monday night...

Marie Osmond fainting was really scary. I was calling everyone I knew to see if they saw it. That is a definite drawback of live TV. Andrew thought she did it on purpose because her dance wasn't very good and this would be the best way to avoid the bottom two. It worked as she was safe.

The other thing that was quite obvious is they are definitely trying to increase the male audience as the women were wearing next to nothing. Edyta's lack of costume was unbelievable. Andrew says next week she is just going to come out in tassels and a fig leaf since there is not much farther she can go without moving the show to Cinemax late night. Andrew also said he would be watching next week. The show must have also bought out every push-up bra in So Cal because there was not much to the imagination there and the small pieces of cloth covering the backside of the women made the male viewers happy I am sure.

Back to the dancing...I was so sad that Helio and Julianne were not so great. Helio looked like he was trying so hard. I also thought Jennie Garth was not very good this week although she looked absolutely beautiful. Scary Spice was really good and Sabrina the ringer was great again. Jane looked great, but was boring. Cameron was good. It is going to be a tough competition the rest of the way, but Marie and Jane are the next to go. Scary Spice is also on the hot seat, although I think the female viewers will do their best to keep Maks on the show. He is smoking hot!

J-Lo was also great tonight. It is amazing what her stylist can do to make her look not pregnant. Lucky girl....

Gotta "go, go, go."
Reagan's mom

Here Come The Irish ...

It was a great weekend in South Bend. We were able to see a number of friends including Avani, who was such a gracious host Thursday night. Thank you so much. We ate at all of mom's favorite places including Lula's, Between the Buns and Barnaby's. We went to a hockey game, but Notre Dame lost to #5 Denver 3-1. We tailgated and then came the game...above you can see what Reagan thought of it!

It was ugly. Andrew, Reagan and all of my friends left before halftime. I stayed until 5 minutes to go in the game, although I can say I wasn't really paying attention. The program is an embarrassment right now. I wish the season was over and it was pretty obvious the players did too. The defense worked so hard and got absolutely no help from the offense. How come the offensive genius cannot generate more than 5 first downs? I thought his system worked with any talent level? Obviously not...how hard can it be to complete screen passes and quick slants. I don't care how bad the O-Line is, you still should be able to make those basic plays. Unfortunately for me, I have to see the same thing on Sunday's when I watch the Vikings. Football has been really depressing this year. Basketball cannot start soon enough (did I really say that?).

Anyway...it was a beautiful weekend in South Bend. Here are a few photos from our trip.

Hot Diggity Dog! Part 2

Much happier today!

This @&#$^@&# Passie!

Reagan would be so pretty if it weren't for this #$#&*$* passie!
Helppppp!

Reagan's Daycare

I just wanted to share some photos from Reagan at daycare. Her provider, Alana, is just great. She has only been doing daycare for a little over a year and has done a nice job with Reagan. She works with Reagan daily on letters and sounds, although she only remembers the letter "H." I really think she remembers more, but "H" is the first thing to come to her head. All I know is Reagan really enjoys herself at daycare, which makes me feel a lot better. Reagan's best friends are also there as she talks about Kylie, Cassie, Alana, Gaga (Alana's mom), Peyton and Zach all of the time. Enjoy the photos! Above: Zach is pushing Reagan and Brooklyn in the front and Peyton and Eddie (the dog) in the back. Kylie is there with her bike helmet on. Below: Cassie helps Reagan wipe her mouth after endulging in chocolate cake.

Hot Diggity Dog!

Just wanted to show everyone what Reagan thought about her halloween costume for 2007. She did not like it so much last night. (It was bedtime.) You would think since her favorite food is hot dogs, that she would love this choice. We will try again earlier in the day. Isn't she cute?

Quick Dancing With the Stars Review...Sabrina was great again. It is almost unfair. Jennie Garth was really good as well. Helio and Julianne looked stunning as a couple, although I did not think their dance was great. It was good, but I thought Helio was a little stiff last night. Mel, Marie and Jane were all good, as well as Cameron. He has really improved, although I am not sure anyone was even watching him since my eyes were glued to Edyta and her lack of outfit. I was waiting for the two pieces of cloth she called a costume to fall off at any moment. Of course, it was also the moment each week that Andrew makes his one comment about the show and actually watches a dance. (This is Reagan watching the show last night. I think she is adopting Edyta's costumes. Ugh!)

Mark and Floyd were the worst once again. I hope Floyd goes so I can see Cubes dance one more time, but I think it is a toss up as to who is going to go home. One last comment about the show... Samantha needs to wear something that covers her rather huge chest. (The advantages of breastfeeding.) All I could think about last night was how she looked like she needed to pump. It was so distracting and then to wear those big flowers right there - you couldn't help but look at her chest. Ugh!

Off to Notre Dame again this weekend as we celebrate my 37th birthday. We are hoping to have a Brady Quinn sighting as the Browns are off this week, and rumor has it, he is supposed to be in town for the game. Both Reagan and her mom would be excited about that. Should be a fun time.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

It's Fall In The Cities

Today Reagan went apple picking on an awesome fall day here in the Cities. She was really into carrying her basket and pulling the wagon. She tried to pick some off the trees, but she had a hard time doing it because she could not get her little hands around the apples. She finally did get one though and instead of putting it in her basket, she put it right in her mouth. That was one of three apples she ate while we were there. She absolutely loves apples!

We also climbed the hay stack and she ran through the maze with Corby. She then went to pick out a pumpkin, but wasn't really interested. She only cared about apples!

We put Reagan on the pumpkin scale to see how much she weighs since she hasn't been to the doctor in over 6 months. She is up to 26 pounds - only 112 pounds lighter than her puppy. Corby, on the other hand, weighed in at a whopping 138 today at his check up. He was supposed to be on a diet, but instead gained 4 pounds. Hmmmm. Kind of like my diets.

Now Reagan is watching the Irish play Boston College. Hopefully, they will have saved a little of that Irish magic from last week so they can beat Back-up College. Unfortunately, it is 7-0 already. We are headed back to South Bend next weekend for the USC game. Maybe they can save it until then.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's Mom

We Like The Afternoon Much Better

As you can see, we were better by this afternoon. She is so cute when she says cheese!

Reagan's sweater was made by my friend Crystal's mom. It is so cute! This is the second one she has knitted for her. Reagan just loves her "jacket" - one of her new favorite words.

Here is a quick Dancing With The Stars report from Monday. It was a tough night for the remote as the Indians were on, as well as the Cowboys, so there was a lot of channel flipping, but Andrew knew he better turn it back to Dancing or else. Secretly, I think he likes the show although he would never admit it.

Sabrina was awesome again. I also really liked Jennie Garth and, of course, Helio. I thought Marie Osmond was OK, as well as Mel B. I am nervous that Mark Cuban might hit the road tonight. I just love the enthusiasm he shows out there. He is not the best dancer, but I think he appreciates the opportunity the most. Everyone else, I am just luke warm about. Even Jane Seymour, who was one of my favorites the first week, was only OK last night. Wayne Newton must go...hopefully tonight.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's Mom

She's Daddy's Girl!

I think the Terrible Twos are starting! Like her dad, our little princess is not a morning person. This was actually her reaction to Dad not picking her up this morning. Take a look!

Vegas Baby!

I arrived home from Vegas last night. Nothing really exciting happened while I was there. It wasn't the stuff of great writing, that is for sure. All work and very limited play. Our hotel was located about 30 minutes off the strip, so I only made it there Sunday night and had dinner at New York, New York with my friend Ann Dovenmueher, who was a trainer at Minnesota. We did drive up the strip before we had dinner. That was amazing! I cannot believe all of the awesome buildings and shopping there. It had been 10 years since I had been there. It is not even the same place. I cannot wait to go back and really take it all in.

It was pretty where I was at. I was out by the mountains in Summerlin and the sunrise was amazing each morning. Unfortunately, it was freezing (high in the 50's, windchills in the 40's) and the wind was blowing 30-50 miles per hour (try playing tennis in that). Sunday was nicer after 11 a.m. - at least I took my fleece sweatshirt off at that point.

The tennis was good. The teams were really nice, although I admit, I was wondering why my team wasn't there. They were not that much better than us. So much of it is luck and playing the right people at the right time. You do need excellent singles players though to be a great team.

There was a little more fun. I did win $125 on the quarter slots at my hotel - the Wheel of Fortune slots are the best, although they get to be annoying contantly repeating the opening of the show when they say, "Wheel of Fortune." At least Vanna was not turning any letters for me and Pat Sajek was not making any bad jokes. I was actually up to $165 at one point and got greedy. I said $125 was going to be my stopping point. Luckily my friend, Erin, was there and kept a level head for me. I just kept thinking the next one was going to be the big one! Like everyone doesn't think that! It was probably a good thing I didn't win the big one because I was in sweats and had windblown hair and no makeup. I wouldn't want to be showing off my winnings in People Magazine looking like that!

Andrew and Reagan enjoyed not having mom around I think. They went to a Wild hockey game and sat two rows from the glass. I guess Reagan was the hit of the Section and made a lot of friends dancing to the hard rock music. She also learned a new word while I was gone - zamboni. She definitely has been hanging around Dad too much!

Gotta "go, go, go,"

Reagan's Mom

Dancing With The Stars

Monday nights mean only one thing in the Mushett house for Reagan and her mom...Dancing With The Stars. That has been Reagan's favorite show for quite a while as she recognizes the music from dancing with mom in the living room. We dance around doing many spins and dips. When we are done, Reagan lets out a "Whew!" and puts her arm in the air as her big finishing move. It is quite cute!

Reagan and I decided that we are going to update everyone on the show each week in case you missed it. And for all you guys out there...I will add Andrew's commentary since he watches the show only for the costumes, or I should say lack of costumes, each of the female dancers are wearing. I think Reagan has adopted the female dancer mentaility as this is what she watched the show in last night!

After week two, there are two clear cut favorites for us - the race car driver and the Cheetah Girl. They are both fantastic. Race car driver (Helio) is absolutely awesome. He is so polished and precise. I can only describe him as dreamy. He is what you would have imagined Fred Astaire to be like in the 60's. He is just so smooth...it is almost like you have stepped into a fantasy world when he is on the floor. It has to be that Brazilian blood! His partner, Dallasite Julianne, is also amazing for only being 19 years old. She would make any man a better dancer.

Cheetah Girl, Sabrina, is also great. She has such quick and light feet and her facial expressions are just awesome. She looks like she is having so much fun. It is almost not fair that she is on there, being an accomplished hip-hop dancer, but I guess ballroom dancing is a lot different than the hip-hop scene.

We are also big fans of Mark Cuban. He may not be the most technically sound dancer, but he is working extremely hard and looks to be having so much fun. I know he can be annoying (I personally think he is great. He just says what is on his mind and doesn't have a care in the world. I guess billions of dollars will do that to a person.), but I hope he sticks around for a few more weeks.

Poor Jennie Garth. I think she really was hurt after falling and getting hit in the head by her partner. She looked like she wanted to cry when they were giving the scores and then at the end when they were showing all of the dancers, she looked like she had been crying. She is so beautiful and I am sure her 90210 following will keep her in for many weeks to come.

Marie Osmond was also great last night. She looks amazing for having seven kids. She seems really energized during this whole process. I am sure it has to be great for your self-esteem to accomplish something so awesome. I am surprised at how much I like to watch her.

Wayne Newton has to go. He was awful, but I am sure he will stick around a few more weeks. Kind of like the Jerry Springer of this season.

No one else really knocked my socks off last night. I was disappointed Jane Seymour was not a little more saucy in her performance. She was absolutely stunning the first week. I cannot wait to see more of her.

Andrew's favorite moment was when Edyta and her partner took the floor. He had to do a double take when he saw what she was wearing - or what she wasn't wearing. Her costume did not leave a lot to the imagination, but I guess when you have a body like that, you can wear those things. She has a new video out that promotes dancing for fitness. If I can get a body like that, I will be first in line to buy it!

Anyway...that is our take. We would love to her what you thought. Just comment back to the site.

Gotta "go, go, go,"
Reagan's mom

Weekend Update

It was a quiet weekend at the Mushett household, which was a nice change since we have been on the "go, go, go" for the last two months.

Friday night, Reagan took in her first high school football game when she saw Rosemount play Hopkins. It was homecoming and the stands were packed (relatively speaking, of course, since I did grow up around Texas high school football where 20,000 a game was a slow night). Anyway, it was fun to go back to my middle school and high school 25 years later. Things really haven't changed all that much except the fans sit on the opposite side of the stadium now. Rosemount won 33-16 and it really wasn't that close.

Saturday was another day of watching Notre Dame lose again. They made some progress, so maybe there is hope for a win this season. I personally think Evan Sharpley should be the QB, but the offensive genius obviously knows what he is doing.

Sunday was a church and Gopher volleyball day for us, followed by football and Desperate Housewives. Reagan really enjoyed the volleyball match, falling asleep in the first game and waking once it was over.

We have a busy week coming up as Andrew and I are going to see Raul Malo (former lead singer of the Mavericks) on Tuesday night. I, then, leave for Las Vegas on Thursday to work the 3.5 tennis National Championships (I should be playing in them) and Andrew is home with the children by himself. He is taking Reagan to her first NHL game on Saturday as Minnesota plays Columbus.

I am also taking my other baby into the repair shop this week. If you haven't heard, Andrew backed my car into a pole on Labor Day celebrating an Indians win over the Twins (no alcohol was involved, although in some ways I wish it was...I was the one who needed it after he hit the pole!). It has taken me this long to get over the accident and to finally talk about it. My therapist said it would be good to talk about it! I am still not so sure about that.


Gotta "go, go, go,"

Reagan's mom