Fantasy Football

I wasn’t going to do it this year.  I really wasn’t.  I told my husband to count me out.  I decided I didn’t want to take the time each week to keep up with it, I didn’t want to watch as much football this season, etc.  Plus, it kind of brings out an ugly side of me.  I am not competitive at all.  But with Fantasy Football, I find myself yelling at the TV (my players) on Sundays.  So my husband texted me last night at 5:00 and it simply said “Oscar’s coming over and we’re doing a live online draft at 7:00”.  Okay, no biggie.  I made sure my laptop was charged so they could use it, ordered a pizza for them and was just going to be on hand for whatever they needed.

But then…..well, my husband ended up with an odd number of teams on the league (you have to have an even number).  He had nine.  He told me ‘don’t worry about it, you don’t have to do it, I’ll draft an extra team and then give it away, etc.’  But he had to have me log into my account so he could prepare it to give it away to someone else.  As soon as I did that and seen the familiar Yahoo Fantasy Football screen, I was a goner.  I said ‘I’m in!!’.

And then I wasn’t going to draft, I was just going to have Josh draft for me so that I could do laundry and start getting ready for our trip to Colorado.  Nope.  I sat there for an hour and a half and drafted my whole team. 

This was our first year doing a live online draft.  We did it this way because it was really the only time it would work for everyone.  I won’t be surprised if we do it this way from here on out.  It only took like an hour and a half and went pretty smoothly.  Everyone logged on (from their own home), the computer assigned a draft order (I was #3), and then each person had a minute and a half to make their selection when it was their turn.  Once you selected, that player fell off of the ‘available players’ list and it moved on to the next person’s turn.  This was repeated 16 times (16 players on each team).   It was fun.  And of course, there’s a ‘smack talk’ section at the bottom right of each screen so you can, well, talk smack to your opponents during the draft and comment or make fun of their draft picks.  Everyone is nice to me though because I’m a girl (AND the Commissioners wife) and the only girl (once again) in our league.  :)

I also had the advantage of drafting with two football experts in the room.  When I was unsure of a pick, they would pipe in and let me know if a particular RB or WR was 1, 1a, 2, etc.  At first I was like…”where are you seeing these numbers?” because I was searching my computer screen next to each player to see where they were getting this information.  And they both kind of sheepishly looked at each other and said ‘it’s not on there, we just watch a lot of football.’  Ha ha.  It was a huge help though.  I mean, I can hold my own and I know the basics (like not picking more than two people on the same team, not picking too many people that have the same ‘bye’ weeks, not drafting a kicker or defense until the very end, and to draft runningbacks, runningbacks and more runningbacks, etc.).  But do I know who are the 1, 1a, and 2^nd starters for the Detroit Lions?  No.  But Oscar and Josh do!  And boy, was it helpful.

A few things were different this year.  In the past, we have been a ‘keeper’ league.  Meaning, we got to keep 1-2 players from the previous year if we wanted.  I was going to keep Marshawn Lynch.  I love the Seahawks and he was my star last year.  But this year we did not have the option of keepers.  Bummer.  But….it worked out pretty well for me in the end.

I got an amazing runningback:

Mr. Adrian Peterson

And a top quarterback:

Mr. Aaron Rodgers 

And my husband picked up Marshawn Lynch, so at least he gets to stay in the family, right? 

Here’s the rest of my team:

Larry Fitzgerald (WR, Arizona)

Vincent Jackson (WR, Tampa Bay)

Mike Wallace (WR, Miami)                    

Le’Veon Bell (RB, Pittsburgh)                      

Zach Ertz (TE, Philadelphia)                                             

Joique Bell (RB, Detroit)                        

Bishop Sankey (RB, Tennessee)                  

Trent Richardson (RB, Indianapolis)              

RG3 (QB, Washington)                              

Emmanuel Sanders (WR, Denver)         

Dennis Pitta (TE, Baltimore)                    

Danny Woodhead  (RB, San Diego)         

Nick Folk  (K, Jets)

Chicago Defense

16 players total:  2 QB, 6 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE, one kicker, one defense.  I’ll dump my kicker when he’s on his bye week and pick up another.  Kickers are a dime a dozen.  I’ll do the same with my defense, depending on how they do.  If they are killing it each week, then I’ll dump a bench player and get a defense for the week.

Game 1 is Thursday, September 4^th.  Green Bay vs. Seattle.  I’m torn, because I will be rooting for Seattle, but I also want Aaron Rodgers to have a great game, which means he needs to throw.  A lot.  Particularly into the end zone.  Ha ha.  Which is the #1 reason why Fantasy Football is so fun.  You can be rooting for one team with all your heart (because they are YOUR team!), but then rooting for the other team too because you have a player on it from your Fantasy team.  So ideally next Thursday night, I would like Green Bay to score a LOT, but Seattle to ultimately win.

Here’s to another year of Fantasy Football!

Filming

There are a lot of movies filmed here in New Mexico, especially in or near Albuquerque.

The other day I took the road just south of the building where I work (which butts right up against an Indian Reservation) and I saw this odd looking structure with Mexican flags flying on top of it.  Huh?  And then it hit me.  They are FILMING here!  What’s being filmed now? 

This:

Josh Brolin and Emily Blunt have been in town for a few months now.  And the Mexican border patrol has been recreated about 6 blocks from where I work.  Interesting!    

What else has been filmed here?

The Avengers (portions of it….mostly the beginning in the rail yard where Loki makes his wonderful appearance).  Am I the only one that thinks Loki should have his own movie??  I love him!  He is like the hated villain (he’s SUCH a jerk!) that you can’t help loving.

The Lone Ranger (the one with Johnny Depp)

Armageddon

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

3:10 to Yuma

City Slickers

Cowboys and Aliens

Hang ‘Em High

Independence Day

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Jarhead

John Carter

No Country for Old Men

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Transcendence

Transformers 1 and 2

True Grit (the newer one)

Young Guns

Young Guns 2

There are many, many more.  The main reason why so many movies and shows are filmed here are because of the discounts and tax breaks.  Production companies get HUGE discounts for filming here instead of California or any other location. 

And TV shows?  I couldn’t find a list, but here’s the ones I know off the top of my head that have been filmed here:

In Plain Sight

Longmire

Manhattan (this is really good….we’re watching it now.  It’s about the Manhattan project in Los Alamos, NM)

Lonesome Dove (the best miniseries ever)

And of course, the show that New Mexico (and Albuquerque in particular) will be known for forever.  The show that was not only filmed here but took place here as well.  The show that practically swept the Emmys last night:

Last night, Bryan Cranston won his 4^th Emmy for playing Walter White.  Anna Gunn won her 2^nd for playing Skyler White.  Aaron Paul won his 3^rd for playing Jessie Pinkman.  And the show itself won best Drama, the top award of the night (2 years in a row).  It’s over now, so no more filming, although they are now filming a spinoff, ‘Better Call Saul’ in Albuquerque.  Both Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul fell in love with the area and bought houses here, which they are keeping even though the show is over.  Bryan Cranston gave a shout out to New Mexico last night during his acceptance speech. 

There are ‘Breaking Bad’ bus tours that will take you to different filming locations around town.  They are constantly booked.  There is blue rock candy everywhere.  Blue donuts (if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know what I’m talking about).  The Albuquerque, New Mexico economy has benefited greatly from having Breaking Bad here for the past few years.

We’ll see how Better Call Saul does.  Usually spinoffs don’t fare well, but you never know.  It may do well just because Breaking Bad has a huge following.  It (BB) currently has a 9.6 rating on IMDB.  I believe it’s the highest rated TV show on that site.  For a movie or TV show to get above a 9 is rare (The Shawshank Redemption is the highest rated movie with a 9.3).  Fun fact:  The exterior that they use for Saul’s office is right next door to the local store where I buy dog food.  Ha ha. 

I drive by I-25 Studios twice a day (on my way to work and back) and lately the lot is always packed with cars and trailers.  It’s a little exciting.  I always think…who’s in there?  What are they doing?  When will the movie come out?

So next time you watch a movie, look to see where it was filmed!  Maybe it was in my neck of the woods. 

Reclaiming My House - Project #8 - The Master Closet

We have a small master bedroom.  And with our small master bedroom comes a small master bedroom closet.  It is not a walk in.  However, because we each have a decent sized dresser in our room, we are able to share our little closet.  My husband’s side is pretty neat most of the time.  My side however?

Out.  Of.  Control. 

See?  Awful. 

My hanging clothes were a mess.  My shoes were a mess.  

And my handbags were a mess (along with all of the other junk that was stored on the upper shelves)

Oy.

 I first went through my clothes.  I didn’t get rid of much because I had just gone through them about six months ago.  But I put ‘like’ things together.  I hung up my work pants on my pants hangers.  I hung up my skirts and my skirt hangers, etc. 

Look at all those empty hangers!  They are reserved for my sweaters.  During the summer, my sweaters live in an under-the-bed storage box.  I'll get them out in a couple of months or so.

Then I worked on my shoes.  Shoes are tricky for me.  The weather here is up and down a lot….I could be wearing open toed shoes all the way through November possibly.  So I pretty much keep all of my shoes out year round.  I did get rid of two pairs though that I wear occasionally but absolutely kill my feet.  As in…I get blisters each time after wearing them.  No more!

I cleaned up what was left and put them all back on my shoe rack. 

Then I tackled my bags.  I took them all out of the closet and put them in this wicker hamper.  

I left out my nice ones (Coach & Michael Kors) and put those in the red bin on the upper shelf. 

I really do use all of them.  I switch them out every 2 or 3 months or so.  I have maybe 15 total.  That’s not bad….is it?  Or do I have a problem?  Oh well.  I won't change.  Ha ha.

I’m slowly getting back into the habit of doing at least one load of laundry every day too and FOLDING AND PUTTING AWAY EACH LOAD IMMEDIATELY.  I’m almost caught up!!

So much better!

Reclaiming My House - Project #7 - The Junk Drawers

I was in project mode this past weekend – woo hoo! 

First I tackled the junk drawers.  I am a firm believer that every home should have at least one junk drawer.  Our home has two.  We have one in the kitchen and one in the laundry room.  They contain batteries, tape measures, extra bells (long story), pool keys, extra car keys, Command hooks, little flashlights, etc.  All of those things that we need from time to time that don’t really have anywhere else to go.

However, ours were a mess (as junk drawers tend to be).  I went to Home Goods and picked up two packs of these little drawer organizers ($6.99 each).  

I pulled everything out of each drawer, wiped the drawer down, got rid of any trash, and consolidated like items. 

Before (kitchen junk drawer):

After:

Before (laundry junk drawer):

After:

This took me maybe 20 minutes tops.  I did not get obsessive about the ‘junk’ and didn’t get rid of much.  That’s why we have junk drawers – we need a place for this stuff.  Speaking of ‘stuff’, I think we should rename junk drawers STUFF drawers.  Because junk is junk and should be thrown out.  And stuff in our junk drawers – I mean STUFF drawers – is clearly useful.  Especially batteries.  Who’s with me?

Random

*We are pioneering this month.  6.5 hours down, 23.5 to go.

*It's monsoon season here.  And surprisingly it's been a pretty good one.

*Sadly, because it's monsoon season, Watson has been sleeping in his kennel at night.  He is free to roam about the house during the day, but at night when it's thundering in lightening he has to be in his kennel with a blanket draped over it like a birdcage.  It helps him.  Poor thing, he gets so scared.  We might get him a thunder vest or something.

*Our roses are doing fantastic this year.

*I've been watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.  I go back and forth with it...sometimes I like it and other times I think it's stupid.  

*I'm reading 'Divergent', the first book in the Veronica Roth series.  I haven't seen the movie yet.  The book is good.  It's definitely no 'Hunger Games', but it's good.  The movie just came out on DVD, so we'll probably watch it this weekend.  I like the actress in it, I forget her name and I'm too lazy to Google (and I'm blogging from a coffee shop), but she played Hazel Grace Lancaster in 'The Fault in Our Stars' and she is AMAZING.  So I'm sure she will be amazing in 'Divergent' as well.

*These two got in trouble a couple of days ago.  Watson ate Hannah's food, Hannah then refused to eat her new food, they caused my husband to trip thus throwing out his back, etc.  It was just a bad morning.  So I took this photo of them and put it on Instagram.

*We watched 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' on Saturday.  We both loved it!!  Iceland and Greenland are beautiful.

That's all for now.  I hope to blog again on Thursday about our formerly messy office that has been reclaimed.  Yes!

Reclaiming My House - Project #6 - The Pantry

Our kitchen pantry kicks my butt every six months or so.  And it's my fault.  When I get groceries I tend to just put things where there's room, with no rhyme or reason why.

Anyways, this is what it looked like about an hour ago:

Awful!  See how there is three cans of spaghetti sauce (Hunts) on three different shelves?  Nice one Angie.

So I emptied it out, cleaned all of the shelves, readjusted the heights of the shelves, and started putting things back.

Yesterday on my way home from work I stopped at Home Goods and picked up two wire shelves and some baskets.

I threw out expired stuff and then reorganized everything that was left.

Here's the after:

Still a lot of stuff, but at least it's organized and there's some breathing room.

The wire shelf worked out great.  I used one of the red baskets for my gazillion oatmeal packets.  And can I just say how happy I am that I have not ONE, but TWO jars of unopened red chile sauce (top shelf, middle)?  One from Monroe's, one from Weck's.  And they are both delicious!!!

Here's the bottom two shelves:

The pasta shelf and the cereal shelf (that shares with my tall bottle of olive oil because it doesn't fit anywhere else).  And look!  All of the spaghetti sauces are together!  It's the small things, right?

Anyways.  It took less than an hour.   I plan to use the other shelf and baskets for the rest of my cabinets.  Sadly, my kitchen is in bad shape so I will have to reclaim this room in sections.  Oh well.  It seems to be working because I'm not getting overwhelmed yet ha ha.