Chris Sligh’s blog advice to the Top 10 Idols from season 8 offered a reality-check for millionaire wannabe’s, giving his realistic opinion on the Idol’s prospects for a successful career in music.

“To the Idols: A Realistic look at your career prospects
So, American Idol Season 8 is officially finished. Last tour date done. People are moving home and for the next several years will try to move on. I believe that this season of Idol was one of the most talented, but if History repeats itself the majority of these Idols will do nothing in music and will be washes within 3 or 4 years. Not trying to be mean, just being real.

So, how is it that the fat, not-so-great-looking guy who came in 10th place is the 2nd or 3rd most successful from his season and top 5 most successful over Season 6 & 7? The difference is pure drive and ambition and work ethic. I haven’t had luck on my side. I haven’t had a major label behind me yet (though that is about to happen). I haven’t had 19E’s help AT ALL. I have simply worked my tail off, been pro-active and worked on becoming better at my craft. Not that other people haven’t worked…sure they’ve worked…but not on the right things…and they’ve had an unrealistic view of what Idol can and will do for them.”

From My Mind To Your Eyes is the name of Chris Sligh’s blog and you can read the rest of the whole sordid Idol story there. I feel bad for Chris right now, because a lot of bloggers are attacking him. Fortunately for Adam Lambert and maybe Kris Allen, Chris doesn’t think either of them will find themselves serving up burgers the rest of their lives.

Take a deep breath and relax…, being unique and creative at finding gifts for your grandparents isn’t rocket science; it only requires a bit of forethought and planning.

I’m what is commonly referred to as a ‘grandma who has everything’ she could possibly want or need already, and if someone buys me one more cookbook or knicknack to add to my growing collection of dust collectors, I think I’ll scream.

I could give you an extensive laundry list of gifts NOT to buy grandma or grandpa, but you only need to consider your own “worst gifts” list of unwanted gifts you’ve received that you don’t like, want or need, that are gathering dust on a shelf or hidden in the back of a closet.

I’m a young grandma who is internet savvy, has a wide variety of interests inside and outside the home. Of all the things not to buy for Christmas, especially when it comes to gifts for grandparents, it would be a new pet. Are you kidding me?

Just what I need…, something or someone else to take care of in my old age. But wait, I realize there are probably grandparents who would LOVE to receive the gift of a new puppy or little kitten to love and adore, but you’d be wise to ask your Grandparents how they feel about it before going and buying or adopting a pet for Grandma and Grandpa.

A personal favorite amongst the list of Christmas presents for grandparents are gift baskets with my favorite edible treats or snacks wrapped up nicely in a pretty gift basket that I can keep and reuse again and again.

Making homemade gifts is also a thoughtful idea if you’re the crafty type, but if you’re not an expert or very experienced in making things yourself, you would probably be better off buying a gift already made than giving a gift from an obvious amateur.

I may be sounding like a crabby old Grandma today, but it’s only because I’ve been having a terrible toothache for weeks now, and until this morning I didn’t know I could get free dental care and no one has bothered to help get me to the dentist.

The 7 Things Meme Rules:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

7 Things About Me:

1. I’m an American Idol Maniac , but I wait until the “real” show starts with all the finalists because I’m not interested in watching the people that can’t sing to save their lives. Who tells these people they can sing?
2. I have a bad habit of biting my fingernails, so I always have to get my nails done professionally so my nails look nice and professional for my job.
3. As of yesterday, I have 4 blogs that I try hard to keep updated regularly, even while working a full-time job.
4. I guess I talk about blogging so much that my eldest daughter has finally taken up blogging, and I will of course have to tag her with this meme too.
5. I have a tendency of spending too much time on Twitter, which then creates a problem for me to create posts for my blogs. I really need to limit the time I spend on Twitter to more important things.
6. Since I spend a lot of time writing articles for my blogs, I have to create a To-Do list for myself to get my housework done. Otherwise, my house would look like a tornado blew through it. Like today.
7. My hubby is so sweet that he actually encourages me to blog more than I do currently, since he knows how badly I want to quit my job and blog full-time.

Wow, that wasn’t so hard! Okay, coming up with 7 people to tag is going to be a bit tricky since I’ve done this meme on another blog and tagged 7 people already. Okay, let’s see who the victims will be this time around….

1. Melanie from Science Research
2. Writers of People In The News
3. Griz from Make Money With Adsense
4. Writers of Baby Center: MOMformation
5. Vered from MomGrind
6. Mrs. Micah from Mrs. Micah Finance for a Freelance Life
7. Heidi from VirusHead

When my husband and I were planning a wedding for ourselves, we kept asking people Who sings “going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married”?, and it took us awhile to find out that Chapel of Love was originally sung by the Dixie Cups back in 1964.

One of our biggest challenges was deciding on wedding music to use at our wedding and reception. I didn’t want to walk down the aisle to the traditional wedding march many brides use, so I walked down the aisle and got married to Celine Dion singing “At Last“, from Celine’s 2002 album entitled “A New Day Has Come“.

For anyone else wondering what the lyrics are for Chapel of Love, I thought it would be nice to share the lyrics to Chapel of Love, even though a lot of people think the title of the song is “Going to the Chapel and we’re gonna get married“. Enjoy!

Chapel of Love YouTube Video and Lyrics

Going to the Chapel Lyrics

Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married

Gee I really love you
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel of love
Spring is here…..
Theeeeee…..
The sky is blue (whoa-ooooo)
Birds all sing
Like they do
Today’s the day
We’ll say “I do”
And we’ll never be lonely anymore
Because we’re
Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married
Gee I really love you
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel of love
Bells will ring
The sun will shine (whoa-oooooh)
I’ll be his
And he’ll be mine
We’ll love until
The end of time
And we’ll never be lonely anymore
Because we’re
Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel
And we’re gonna get married
Gee I really love you
And we’re gonna get married
Going to the chapel of love
Going to the chapel of love
Going to the chapel of love …

Police Lt. Randy Pickett said Nef, a Utah studies teacher and cheerleading advisor, as well as Math teacher Bowers, both confessed to having sex with the underage student, and only recently learned of the other’s sexual relationship with the same student. Felony charges were made against the two teachers after Nef met with police on Thursday and confessed to having sex with the boy for more than a year, beginning in October 2007 and lasted until December 2008, Pickett said.

During Thursday’s meeting with police, Nef revealed Bower’s sexual relationship with the boy, which occurred in December 2008, and Bower’s confessed to having sex with the Bountiful Jr High student. On Friday afternoon, Nef was booked into the Davis County jail and is scheduled to make her first court appearance on March 27th. Bowers was also booked and jailed Friday afternoon, and after waiving her rights to a preliminary hearing, was ordered to stand trial. Bower’s felony arraignment hearing is scheduled for March 16th.

Child Sexual Abuse - Why Don’t Children Tell?

Both Nef and Bower’s have teenage children of their own, and Police Leutenant Pickett says the sexual assault of the boy occurred off campus and not on school grounds. The inappropriate student-teacher sexual relationships with this boy has raised questions about whether teachers and students should be allowed to text message each other or speak to each other on cell phones. A school district spokesman was quoted as saying the practice of teachers calling or texting students is necessary so teachers can check in on students who have been absent or cannot be reached at home directly.

Lt. Pickett also said the boy and the two teachers began discussing personal problems, which lead to text messages that included sexual conversations, and the relationships progressed from there. News reports say the teachers had sex with the boy by going with the student to homes, parking lots or parks in Bountiful, Woods Cross, Farmington and Kaysville Utah.

Ask yourself, Why don’t children tell when they are being sexually abused? Do you know the Profile of a Pedophile in order to stay aware of how prevalent sexual abuse cases are? Do you know who is most often the perpetrator of child sexual abuse cases? You may be surprised by the answer!

“The fact is a teacher can show absolutely zero outward signs of interest in a child, but because of technology, they can have an ongoing relationship and no one would know,” said Ted Thompson, the executive director for the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children.

“If you think your kids are protected because they know that if they are touched in their private areas or if somebody undresses in front of them or attempts to perform a sexual act that that is the only bad thing, then they are not going to be prepared for the subtle, the grooming piece,” Thompson said.

Last night was Michael Jackson night, with some Idol contestants doing a phenomenal job with their chosen Jackson song, while others did what many reviewers feel was a piss-poor job and may very well put them in danger of elimination from the competition.

Have you heard about the American Idol “twist” or the American Idol spoiler circulating the internet? American Idol blogs have created quite a buzz about tonight’s show for sure, and Idol fans will likely be on the edge of their seats with anticipation of the results, and to hear the “surprise” announcement about a rule change about to happen on the show.

In an interview with American Idol producer Ken Warwick on Ryan Seacrest’s show this morning, Ken said there will be a “new rule” introduced into tonight’s American Idol show to solve a “problem that’s been around since Season 1.”

Warwick also said they “tried the rule out in the French version of Idol first”, which has lead to speculation that this “new rule” is actually a judge veto, which allows Idol judges to bring back contestants who have been eliminated if they were to be voted off the show.

Changing the rules up some after the show has already started might seem a bit unfair, but I can see where a judge veto could actually be a good thing, especially when you consider previous Idol contestants who’ve been brought back and ended up winning the competition.

Hopefully the American Idol surprise announcement will be one that makes the competition fair for all the contestants, and won’t leave us viewers bored to tears.

Who will be in the bottom two spots on American Idol tonight? Definitely Megan Corkrey, as her decision to sing Rockin’ Robin was a very bad choice. I’m guessing that Anoop Desai is the other Idol contender to find himself in the bottom two tonight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

If you were to predict tonight’s outcome of who gets voted off and who stays, who is staying and who goes?

Adam Lambert, born January 29, 1982, has over 15 years training and experience in professional musical theatre, was in the production cast of “Wicked” and is currently one of American Idol’s Top 13 finalists in the running to become the next American Idol. Hands down, Adam has my votes!

Lambert, a stage actor since he was 10 years old, auditioned for season eight of American Idol in San Francisco, California with an audition video that will knock your socks off!

Adam Lambert’s MySpace page has been on hiatus and only redirects to the American Idol finalists page, but I would have liked to have seen the extent of his MySpace fan base thus far, as I can only guess that Lambert fans are raving about his performances on American Idol, as well they should.

Is Adam Lambert gay? I don’t care one bit if Adam is gay or straight; as his personal preferences has nothing to do with his singing abilities, and it’s unfortunate that far too many reviews and opinion pages tend to focus on Adam being gay. So what! Adam can sing and that’s all that matters.

I’ve seen photos of Adam Lambert online in “flamboyant” outfits, and I’ve seen pictures of Adam apparently kissing another guy. All I care about is listening to Adam hit those notes with such strength and power in his voice, that nothing else matters. Personally, I hope Adam wins season 8 of American Idol , and he’s got my vote all the way.

Who are you hoping wins American Idol Season? Are you voting for Adam Lambert? Who is your favorite contestant thus far on American Idol? If you were to guess right now, Who do you think will be the winner of American Idol Season 8?

That’s why I told her how easy it was for me to start a free blog here at today.com, since there is no need to go searching for a domain name to buy, nor is there any out of pocket costs for having my blog hosted on the internet.

Let’s face it, money is tight for nearly everyone due to the economy being as it is, so if you are like my daughter wanting to create a free blog, a today.com blog is by far the best option. Starting a blog isn’t hard at all, and one thing I like about having my blog hosted here is that today.com offers users tutorials, videos and a helpful forum where bloggers can ask and answers questions to get help whenever it’s needed.

I’m no internet guru or blogging expert by any means. I just know that when I decided to create my own blog, I searched online for information on how to start a blog for free, so I could write to my hearts content about whatever I felt like writing about.

The only thing I had to decide when I started my own blog was what I wanted the name of my blog to be. Choosing “Grandma Stories” as the title of my blog couldn’t have been easier, and putting in the cute image you see at the top of my blog was so easy!

Trust me, if I can start this blog and have blog posts up and running on the internet in the matter of two or three days, and my daughter can have her new science blog up and running for free, you too can create your own blog at today.com without any blogging knowledge or experience at all.

Being a grandma gives me a good excuse to share some of my favorite grandma sayings for and about grandparents and grandchildren that always bring a smile to my face, and I’ll even include a few grandpa quotes, since what happens at grandpa’s house should stay at grandpa’s house too. Here is my list of some of the best grandparents quotes and old sayings that we all can enjoy.

Grandmother Quotes-

1. Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you’re just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. — Pam Brown
2. Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice. –Author Unknown
3. If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is no fun for old people like it! –Hannah Whithall Smith
4. Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. –Author Unknown
5. Grandmothers are just “antique” little girls. –Author Unknown
6. Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. –Author Unknown
7. Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. –Author Unknown
8. A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead of the television. –Author Unknown
9. If your baby is “beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,” you’re the grandma. –Teresa Bloomingdale
10. Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. –Marcy DeMaree
11. If God had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.–Linda Henley

Grandpa Quotes

1. Grandchildren don’t stay young forever, which is good because Grandfathers have only so many horsey rides in them. –Gene Perret
2. One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. –Joy Hargrove
3. Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old; it’s the knowledge that he’s married to a grandmother. –G. Norman Collie
4. A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart. –Author Unknown
5. The best place to be when you’re sad is grandpas lap. –Author Unknown
6. There are fathers who do not love their children; there is no grandfather who does not adore his grandson. –Victor Hugo
7. Great fathers get promoted to grandfathers. –Author Unknown
8. A grandpa is someone you never outgrow your need for.. –Author Unknown
9. By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.–Charles Wadsworth
10. You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.–Irish Proverb

I still have memories from when I was a child, as my older siblings would tell stories of about our grandparents and how wonderful they were, but also feeling a sadness deep inside that I never knew them at all.

A few years ago I began researching my genealogy family tree and ancestry, and even created a quite extensive family tree on ancestry.com that goes back several generations. As I worked to build the family tree, I discovered I had cousins, nieces and nephews I used to play with as a child and teenager but never knew we were actually related.

As happy as I was to discover the connection, it came as quite a shock to learn that my childhood friend I used to have sleepovers with, was actually my cousin. That her sister and brother were my cousins, and her mother was my dad’s first cousin on his mom’s side.

As soon as I found the genealogy connection, I emailed a couple of my brothers to ask if they knew the family was our cousins. They were just as surprised as I was, and it caused us all to wonder Why didn’t anyone ever tell us we were related? Asking mom and dad about it only brought shrugs and raised eyebrows as if to say the whole subject didn’t matter at all and why were we asking so many questions after all these years.

I’ve since been able to meet one of those cousins, who for some unknown reason, was never around while I was growing up despite being close in age. I haven’t had the heart to ask her such personal questions about where she was, why wasn’t she around, why didn’t I know about her when she lived in such close proximity to where we lived at that time.

I can only hope that by continuing to email each other and build on our family relationship, such as it is, that she’ll be able to fill me in on what seems like such a mystery to me and my brothers.

One thing I will always cherish is that my new-found cousin has given me numerous pictures of my paternal grandma and grandpa, pictures I had never seen before, but those pictures at least give me some kind of remembrance of having had grandparents even though I never knew them.

I have yet to see any pictures of my grandparents on my mom’s side, and the only thing I know about my mom’s upbringing is that she had a tough childhood with alcoholic parents, so I can understand why she’s not too interested in talking about my maternal grandparents even after all these years.

Maybe some stories are best left unsaid and best not remembered. That alone makes me want to do everything in my power and ability to ensure my children and grandchildren really know me, and that there is a happy legacy in our family tree for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have things to remember me by.