ASU BOUND

This week, my godchild, Jarek Cunningham, will be graduating from Mount Spokane High School in the state of Washington. In the fall, he will be heading to a warmer climate where he will be playing baseball for the Sun Devils of Arizona State University. He has been a standout athlete his entire life and this is the culmination of his dream to play big time baseball at a big time college. Hopefully this will lead to big time baseball in the major leagues.

Jarek follows his brother Brendan, my other godchild, to ASU, where Brendan happens to be the team manager. Both boys fell in love with the great state of Arizona since their grandparents live there. During each Christmas vacation, they would visit and attend baseball camp at ASU. Now they will both be attending that school at the same time, Brendan as a junior and Jarek as a freshman.

Jarek was our Christmas baby being born right on Christmas Day. As his favorite godmother, I prefer to celebrate his birthday the day before Thanksgiving so he is not shortchanged in the gift department. He usually comes home to some balloons in his house with a birthday cake and my presents. This is our special celebration of his birthday.

As much as this is Jarek's dream, there is no one more excited about this than his father, my brother Michael. Himself a standout athlete, Jarek is following in his footsteps also playing shortstop. While Michael will probably tout himself as the greatest shortstop who ever lived (definitely his very own words), Jarek is undoubtedly better as I don't remember my brother being signed by a Division I school. I do remember, however, that he was being looked at by some major league teams but then the draft got in the way and his dream of playing major league baseball ended.

So my dear Jarek, as you graduate from high school and make your way to college, just remember one thing. Your Dad is not your #1 fan.....your Aunt Nancy is....and always remember that. Now make me even prouder of you than I already am.

I Can't Believe......

......that I haven't posted about The Bachelorette yet! This is the girl that Brad (idiot) Womack sent packing in the last Bachelor. ABC liked her so much that they pegged her for the next bachelorette. Her name is DeAnna Pappas, a 26 year old real estate agent from Georgia. She's a nice Southern, Greek girl. And she got to stand at the entrance of the house and watch 25 bachelors come out of the limousines. As she greeted them, I picked out my favorites as well.

My girlfriend JoAnn's daughter Laura also has a blog and recently blogged about The Bachelorette as well. It appears that she and I have the exact same taste as my picks are her picks as well. In no particular order, these are my favorites........

Richard, a science teacher and one of the nicest guys there.

Jeremy who told Deanna that both of his parents recently passed away. He's so adorable.

Jason, who has a three year old son and is a single Dad....not sure how she will take this news.

Graham who is a professional basketball player and a Southern boy....she really seems attracted to him.

So these are my four picks. I know Laura also picked Ron and I didn't because he was mean to Jeremy. lol Even though so many viewers have given up on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, I still watch it and really enjoy it. The Bachelorette has had one real success story when Trista Rehn married Ryan Sutter on national TV and have since had a baby boy. I wish the same kind of happiness for Deanna with one of the above guys. I just hope they're in this for the right reason (as they say on this show all the time). Can I have picked the winner in this bunch? Only time will tell.

WSOP 2008 BEGINS TODAY!!!!

JoAnn, I will advise you right now to stop reading because WSOP stands for World Series of Poker and I know how much you just love my blog entries about poker. With 53 events leading up to the main event, it is to poker what the Indianapolis 500 is to race car driving. It is the finale of the entire poker season. It is the largest and most prestigious poker event in the world. Since the WSOP is owned by Harrah's, all of the events take place at the Rio Hotel in Vegas (a Harrah's owned hotel), pictured here. Pokernews has been given the rights to do the media coverage for the entire series and this picture of the Rio is courtesy of them.

Michael arrived in Vegas two days ago and, as I type this, is playing in Event #1 -- a $10,000 buyin Pot Limit tournament. According to Pokernews, there were 352 players entered and right now there are 224 left. The top 36 players get paid with 1st place taking away the grand prize of $794,112. As much as the money is terrific, if you win one of these events, you also win a WSOP bracelet -- something coveted by all poker players. I don't know that it's so much that you would wear it but some of your success in tournament poker is measured by how many bracelets you have won. So suffice it to say that everyone playing this year has dreams of winning this prize.

Pat and I are leaving for Vegas next Thursday and will be playing in Event #15, the Ladies' No Limit Holdem Event. We're staying at the Bellagio which is our favorite hotel in Vegas. Liz and Bryan will also be there arriving on Wednesday. This should be their last real vacation before the baby arrives. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to it.

So stay tuned.....hopefully I'll be reporting some good news in these next seven weeks.

The Weekend in Review

It's always nice to get a day off, especially in a business where you are usually on call seven days a week. Because Monday was an official holiday, I didn't receive one call which was a nice break from my daily grind. While most people got to enjoy a full three day weekend, I had to work on Sunday doing an open house. In a market like this, I almost don't mind as we Realtors will do anything right now to get a listing sold. While I was working, I was, however, looking forward to getting home because I had company arriving at 4:30PM.

Liz and Bryan were at a birthday party on Saturday in Maryland and were going to stop in PA on their way home on Sunday. This was exciting for a few reasons. First of all, Saturday was Bryan's birthday so we were going to get to celebrate with him and give him his presents. While he doesn't scream like Liz does when he opens them, you know he's just as appreciative as she is. Secondly, Bryan's mother was visiting them from Florida so we would get to visit with her as well. Since we're in PA and they're in New York, we usually miss all of the visitors they get so this was going to be a nice treat for us. We had met Darlene at the wedding but hardly got to spend any time with her with all the activities going on at that time. Darlene is also a dog lover which was nice for Belle. Somehow dogs always know who likes them and tend to gravitate towards that person. And the third fun reason was that Keith had flown up to Maryland from Florida to also attend this party and he was coming here with Bryan and Liz and staying with us until Tuesday. Did you get all that?

I spent most of Saturday doing the cooking because I knew I wouldn't have any time on Sunday because of work. I made my famous potato salad which is a family favorite. Making potato salad is almost like giving birth. You forget how much is involved and swear you'll never do it again when it's happening. I also made fried chicken which was perfect because we could eat both things cold on Sunday. So all we had to do on Sunday was make a salad and we were done. It was such beautiful weather and we all congregated on the deck having a few drinks before dinner and actually eating out there. I had also sent Bob up to the local gourmet store to pick up a cheesecake and everyone remarked that it was the best cheescake they ever had. Bob then told us that they charged him $25 for this cake. I think that's a lot of money to spend on any cake and I'm definitely going up there tomorrow to check on that price. This is what's left of our $25 cheesecake. Originally it looked great, very Memorial Dayish with the flag on front made of blueberries and strawberries.

They went back to New York on Sunday night leaving Keith here. He could only be described as the energizer bunny. He just can't sit down and has to be doing something. He spent the entire day helping Bob in the backyard doing anything and everything to get the yard in pristine shape. To thank him for all his hard work, I made his very favorite dinner....chicken parmigiana. This is also Michael's favorite dinner as well so I got to kill two birds with one stone. Bob loved having his two sons here at the same time and they all got in some good bonding time while I was slaving away in the kitchen. I meant to take a picture of the three of them on the deck but, when I thought of it, my fingers were full of breadcrumbs and, by the time I cleaned them off, I had forgotten to do it. If I find a good picture of them tomorrow, I'll add it to this blog.

So that was our weekend. Hope yours was as good as ours. I'd say it was worth at least 2 pounds!!!

Memorial Day

When you think of holiday weekends, it usually means an extra day off from work and time to spend with family and friends at barbecues or similar social events. I remember, when I was younger, that Memorial Day meant more than just socializing. My father, a veteran himself, always marched in a parade and wore a little red poppy in his lapel. Since changing the official date of Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday in May (to enable Americans to have a three day weekend), many feel that it contributed to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.

One of the good things about writing a blog is that it gets you to look up things you might not ordinarily take the time to do. While I knew that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, I didn't know that it dated as far back as the Civil War. While today it is known as a day to honor those who have died in our nation's service, it was originally set aside to honor those Union and Confederate soldiers who gave their lives fighting in the Civil War. That first year, they placed flags on the graves of all those buried in Arlington National Cemetary. To this day, there are still groups who place these flags on the graves although the number of graves has grown considerably since that first "placing of the flags" back in 1868. Here's a picture of a Veteran's Cemetery replete with flags for Memorial Day.

I would like to think that if you asked a number of young Americans what the meaning of Memorial Day was, they would know the answer but, sadly enough, I don't think this is true. When I think of Memorial Day, the first thing that comes to mind is the fallen heroes of war followed closely by the red poppy. I don't know why I remember this but perhaps we were taught this poem in school in honor of Memorial Day. When I was doing my research, before I started typing this, there was the poem I remembered and saw once again and I'll type it here for you:

In Flanders Field, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

Flanders Field was the site of many grueling WWI battles and this poem was written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae after witnessing the death of one of his friends. The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders where war casualties had been buried and thus became a symbol of this great day of remembrance. Here is a picture of The Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium. At this peaceful site rest 368 of our military dead, most of whom gave their lives in liberating the soil of Belgium in World War I. Their headstones are aligned in four symmetrical areas around the white stone chapel that stands in the center of the cemetery. When I see something like this, it brings to mind all those countries who were so thankful for our help in saving them from their foes.

I would hope that in generations to come, the true meaning of Memorial Day will be passed on. So if any of my young friends are reading this blog, take it upon yourself to carry the torch and spread the word and never forget those who died while liberating others and preserving our freedom. I write this post in honor of my favorite veteran...Michael J. Cunningham. Thankfully he didn't die in the war but served our country and our family just the same. I should be using this picture in a Veteran's Day post as opposed to a Memorial Day post but, since I have my new scanner, I will take every opportunity possible to post old photos. I hope you enjoy this one Aunt Margie.

It's My FSIL's Birthday Today!!!!

If you're an avid reader of my blog, then you already know that FSIL stands for Favorite Son-In-Law, a title vicariously thrown out there because he's my only son-in-law. I think as a mother, and, in my case as a stepmother, you're always worried about the guy your daughter will marry. Before Liz met Bryan, there were a string of other eligible bachelors, all of which I felt didn't deserve someone like Liz in their life. Enter Bryan.......he was everything we could have wished for and more and this is the story that sealed the deal for me.

After college, Liz had taken a job with a telecommunications firm in the Philadelphia area. She was still dating her old boyfriend from Stonehill College days. He, however, lived in Syracuse so their's became a long distance relationship. After work, Liz would go to happy hours or other company functions and she began to mention someone named Bryan. It was nothing out of the ordinary but just some nice and very funny guy at work. Hmmmm I thought. Could this be the guy to end her long distance relationship? Could I be that lucky? Not that I didn't like her other boyfriend because I did. It's just that he wasn't right for her.

Then there was a casual date to a movie after work and then another one. This last one occurred close to our home which was over an hour away from where they worked and where he lived. I remember asking Liz why he was driving all the way here to go to the movies when he would then have to drive all the way back home afterwards. Her response was that he didn't want me driving all that way home alone if we went to the movies closer to work. This was sounding better and better to me -- someone who actually cared about her well-being; someone who was actually putting her first; someone who was most definitely "into her" as in "He's just not into you." In Bryan's case, he apparently was.

Then Liz had to have foot surgery and Bryan was going to visit her that evening here at home. This would be the first time we had ever met him. I was so nervous hoping I was going to like him when in walks this tall, good looking guy. You would think that would be the best part but it wasn't. He had in his hand a teddy bear. Still not the best part. The teddy bear's foot was all bandaged up just like Liz' foot was. Well right there and then I knew he was a keeper. That was the first of many thoughtful things this guy has done for our daughter.

In my wildest dreams, he has far surpassed anything I ever would have hoped for. It's just such a comforting feeling going to bed each night knowing that she's safe and loved. In the three years of their marriage, Bryan has become such an integral part of our family that I actually can't remember when he wasn't a part of it. He has managed to have spectacular relationships with everyone in Liz' family and that's no easy feat I'm sure. Just the fact that he won me over is amazing enough.

I think one of the best things about Bryan is that he's something for everyone. No matter what your age, what your sex or what you're interested in, Bryan's your guy. He gets along with everyone. He has befriended all of Liz' friends on Long Island and one of them ended up being the best man at their wedding. He's a great helper with anything you ask of him and, since they purchased their house, he has become quite handy. He even just finished building a closet in the baby's room all on his own. If Liz or I come up with an idea for their house, he always tries to accommodate us......or should I say appease us. Bryan is also an avid golfer as seen here in this picture. Most people would be satisfied with a hole in one in the actual hole. Bryan prefers to take them to the forehead.

I could write a book extolling all of his virtues and maybe someday I will. But for now, I want to wish my absolute favorite son-in-law the happiest birthday ever. When he celebrates his birthday next year, there will be one new person in this world wishing him a happy birthday as well.......his son!!

The Patriot Act Is Alive and Well

After 9/11, there were many changes made to insure our safety most of which had to do with airport security. The Department of Homeland Security, given the task of protecting the security of the American homeland, made it its mission to crack down on anything that could make the terrorists prosper. One of the largest divisions of the DHS is the Transportation Security Administration, better known as the TSA. Now that I've given you a mini history lesson, I'll tell you the reason behind the lesson.

This week, Michael was traveling home from Omaha. When he's not traveling in Europe, he spends a lot of time in Omaha with some of his friends who have rented a house there. They're graduates of the University of Nebraska and Omaha seemed like a good place to stay when they were in the states. Earlier in the year, while in Omaha, Michael had played in a poker tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is very close to Omaha. He came in second place in that tournament and won about $95,000.00. The casino paid him with chips that he could cash in at any time. Since he had only cashed out some of them, he decided to cash in the rest this week as he wasn't sure he would get back to Omaha anytime soon.

He was supposed to fly home on Tuesday night and made it as far as St. Louis when his connecting flight to Philadelphia was delayed due to severe weather here in PA. So he went back to Omaha and decided to fly out the next morning. This time, however, he would connect in Chicago's Midway airport. When going through security in Omaha, they randomly pulled him off the line for a security check. They asked him if he was carrying more than $5,000 in his bag and he said he was. He then went on to tell them that he was a professional poker player and had won the money in a tournament. They said fine and off he went. Since I love to post pictures with my blog, I happened to have this one of Michael taken from behind when he had landed in Monte Carlo last year. That's the exact same bag he was carrying on his shoulder in this case. (Michael on the right).

He arrived in Midway where he had a few hours to kill before his next flight left for Philadelphia. While sitting in the terminal and doing something on his computer, all of a sudden a badge appeared in front of his face and the guy asked if he was Michael Martin. He said he was and they asked him to "come with me please." Off he went to the office where he was questioned about the money. The officers were very nice to him but, in no uncertain terms, they wanted to know where the money came from. After answering dozens of questions, he finally went to a poker site on the computer and showed them how he had won the money. After that, they totally believed him and then came the barage of poker questions that usually follow.

The thing that amazes me about this whole situation is how they had kept track of him from his first arrival in Omaha to his layover in Chicago. It just goes to show how this Homeland Security really does work. They explained that they were part of the money laundering division which apparently is very tied to terrorist activities. I had never really thought about this before when he travels with money. I don't like it because it just makes me nervous. But when you think about it, anyone could say to a kid, "Carry this money to Philadelphia for me and I'll pay you $5,000", and they take a chance that the kid won't get randomly checked. It's really scary when you think about it.

As much as I'm bothered about this story, it does give me a better sense of security. If they can keep track of some 23 year old American traveling from one city to the other, I can just imagine how they're keeping track of those people who do present a danger to our country. So my hat's off to the Homeland Security Division of our government......big brother and all.

Two Finales in One Week

Reality TV fans were rewarded with two amazing finales this week.....American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. In both cases, the person I was rooting for ended up winning. I have to start with the American Idol finale for two reasons....first of all, my FSIL complained that I didn't blog about it yet and secondly, I thought the entire show was amazing from beginning to end, an ending which had me totally shocked.

To explain my shock, I have to go back to Tuesday night's show where each of the two David's got to sing three songs. When the evening had ended, the judges had given the night to David Archuletta. There's no mistaking the fact that David Archuletta was brilliant on Tuesday night but an entire season goes into picking the winner and not just one night. David Cook was also terrific on Tuesday night but even I'll admit that I thought Archuletta sang some better songs. But that's the difference between Cook and Archuletta. Cook takes chances and can sing many different kinds of songs. Archuletta is more of a ballad kind of guy and to prove that he isn't a chance taker, he sang a song last night that he had already sung during the season. I thought that was a cop out.

When last night's show began, Ryan Seacrest announced that the winner had gotten 57% of the 97.5 million votes counted. Wow I thought, that's a pretty wide margin. I think David Cook felt, going into the show, that Archuletta was going to be the winner....especially after listening to the judges the night before. And when Ryan made this announcement, he pretty much conceded the victory to Archuletta. The next two hours were fantastic with appearances by One Republic, Carrie Underwood, George Michael, Seal, Donna Summer, ZZ Top, Bryan Adams and so many other great performances. Fast forward to the last five minutes of the show, because that's how much time Fox usually gives its avid viewers to share in the excitement with the winner. Ryan then makes his last announcement saying that the winner of American Idol 2008 is David.............and then he says Cook. I almost lost it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was so happy for David Cook. He was legitimately shocked. And so ends this season of American Idol.

So what do I think happened to bring about this significant difference in the votes? If the other voters are anything like I am, they too were incensed by what the judges did on Tuesday night literally picking the winner and awarding the title before the American public had even had a chance to vote. While I definitely would have cast a few votes for David Cook, this action by the judges made me vote at least 100 times. I kept hitting the redial button on my phone over and over and over again. What else do I think came into play in the voting? I'd have to say two things....David Archuletta's stage Dad, who Idol producers had banned from being backstage while David was rehearsing and David's humbling, naive smile which almost became annoying week after week even though I believe it to be sincere. But when all was said and done, I felt so sorry for him and I thought he handled it better than any other seventeen year old might have. I think he will have an amazing career in his own right and, as Simon Cowell said, they both could have won and he would have been happy. It's unusual for him to feel this way. It's the first time he has ever said that either person equally deserved to win.

Moving on to Dancing With the Stars and a very stellar season. When it began, I didn't have high hopes for this sixth season but as the shows progressed, it just got better and better. Looking back at the blog I wrote the night it began, I picked the winner from the very first show. Kristi Yamaguchi was great from beginning to end until she was awarded the winner's trophy during the finale. This was a season filled with drama and injuries but Kristi was able to avoid all of these catastrophes. In looking back at the other five winners, only one was a woman and three out of the five were athletes and now with Kristi winning, four out of the six winners were athletes. Which just goes to show that all of the training and competive spirit that's ingrained in these athletes translates to other mediums.

Watching her dance, you would think she was a professional dancer. She was flawless in everything she did which was very reminiscent of how she performed on the ice in all of her previous championship events. I guess once a winner, always a winner. In her case, it absolutely holds true. She's the type of role model little girls should have. My other favorite this season was Jason Taylor who ended up being in the finale with Kristi. It was so hard to believe he was a football player when watching him waltz around the floor. I read somewhere today that he's not being welcomed back by the Miami Dolphins as a result of his appearance on Dancing With The Stars. I'm sure he'll get picked up by another team but this exposure can only help him. I think Hollywood is knocking on his door right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the big screen one of these days.

I really enjoyed watching both of these shows. I think what I especially enjoyed in the case of American Idol was the fact that it was unpredictable. Up until the very last minute, you had no idea who was going to win. And with Dancing With The Stars, I was just so happy that the most talented dancer actually won. So all in all, it was a great season as far as I'm concerned. Now that these are both off the air, I have so many more hours in the week to BLOG!!!!!

The Newest Ball State Alumna

Ball State's popularity is most likely due to all the references David Letterman makes on his show regarding his alma mater. Prior to hearing him talk about it, I had never even heard of it. He's probably the most famous alumnus to have walked its halls. I remember recently they dedicated an entire Media and Communications center after him and he proudly spoke about this on "Late Night".

Now when Ball State is mentioned, I no longer think about David Letterman as we have our very own Ball State alumna in our family.....my niece Tracy who graduated from there last week. And before my brother Bobby begins critiquing my use of the masculine and feminine versions of the word, I will hence use the word alumni when referring to a graduate as this is the common noun now being used by most coeducational colleges when referring to its graduates. Here's a picture of Tracy with her Mom and Dad, my brother Kelly and my sister-in-law Barbara.

Getting back to Tracy. She is now an alumni of Ball State University and enters the real world. All her life she has been a huge Chicago Black Hawk hockey fan. Her AOL screename even has the word Hawkfan in it. Knowing all of this, it's amazing that she was able to get a job with the Chicago Black Hawks. Since her major was in marketing, she will be working there in some form of marketing capacity. I know they asked her to start earlier than she had anticipated because their season tickets were going on sale and they needed her to help with that. So much for any summer vacation for Tracy. But can you just imagine getting a dream job with your dream team. It's almost too much to fathom.

So I want to wish my darling niece Tracy the best of everything the world has to offer her. She's certainly getting a great start with this new job. Now she's the second most popular person to have graduated from Ball State University. Who knows, perhaps in years to come, they'll be forgetting that David Letterman went there and will be dedicating a building to Tracy Cunningham.

So whether it's alumna, alumnus, alumnae or alumni, the fact of the matter is that you have now graduated from college. You've made us all very proud Tracy.

The Bachelor Proposes.....Again!!!!

And this week, we saw, yet again, another proposal on The Bachelor. How many has that been so far? I guess the better question is, how many have actually lasted? So with these questions in mind, I thought I would take a trip down "Bachelor Memory Lane." Of course, if you're not a fan of the show, you can stop reading right here.

Season 1 -- The Bachelor debuts to much fanfare and huge viewing audiences. Our bachelor, Alex Michael chooses, but doesn't propose, to Amanda Marsh leaving Trista Rehn disappointed at not getting the final rose. She will eventually become the first Bachelorette finding love and marrying Ryan Sutter on national TV. They have since had a baby boy. Success Story #1....and the only true success story this show has produced.

Season 2 -- Aaron Buerge from Springfield, Missouri proposed to Helene Eksterowicz but that engagement was called off a few months later. He had presented her with a $29,000 Harry Winston sparkler which he had paid for himself, refusing ABC's offer to buy the ring. When they split, the ring was auctioned off on Ebay for $28,300. He and Helene definitely left on bad terms so he doesn't go into the history books as one of the more popular bachelors.

Season 3 -- Andrew Firestone, of the famous family with the same last name, proposes to Jen Shefft. She ended up moving from Chicago to California to be with him but, like all former Bachelor relationships, they split up shortly thereafter. Funny enough, he wasn't in the tire business but had many vineyards producing wine. He's now engaged to a model. She was definitely one of the more popular women to be cast on this show.

Season 4 -- Bob Guiney, the biggest laugh of all the Bachelors, ended up giving a "promise ring" to Estelle Gardinier with the words that "he wants to see where we can go from here"....well, we all know how far that went. He ended up marrying Rebecca Budig, an actress from All My Children and also the host of The Bachelor repeats.....so he did end up finding true love as a result of The Bachelor.

Season 5 -- NFL player Jesse Palmer gives Jessica Bowlin the final rose and also a one way ticket to New York to join him there. It probably should have been a round trip ticket as they broke up not even a month after the finale aired. He is now a sportscaster for ESPN and, apparently, his appearance on The Bachelor helped him to get this job because of his popularity on that show. Obviously, he is no longer playing football.

Season 6 -- Byron Velvick, pro bass fisherman, proposed to Mary Delgado. They have been engaged since but wedding plans have been delayed since Delgado's recent arrest in a domestic battery charge against her fiance Velvick. She wasn't one of the original bachelorettes to walk out of the arriving limousines. She was originally on Season 4 starring Bob Guiney and The Bachelor cast her once again to help her find true love. This season had a twist where three other women were added to the mix a few weeks after the season had started. I should post her mug shot here but that wouldn't be too nice of me.

Season 7 -- Actor Charlie O'Connell couldn't decide between the final two woman so asked if he could date them in the real world before making a decision. This was an unusual request but one the show granted. He ended up choosing Sarah Brice on live TV with the once again, dreaded "promise ring". Needless to say, they have since broken up. I would have to say that this was my least favorite bachelor. There really was nothing very appealing about him.

Season 8 -- Travis Stork presents Sarah Stone a $90,000 ring but it is on a necklace and is to be a symbol of "the connection they found here in Paris." They actually broke up before the finale even aired. Once they left the romantic setting of Paris and returned to their respective hometowns of Nashville (where they coincidentally lived minutes away from each other), reality set in and it was over before it even started. They both felt had they met each other in Nashville without the backing of the show, they might have had a connection. But I guess there's no comparison between Paris and Nashville.

Season 9 -- Prince Lorenzo Borghese once again pulls out the dreaded "promise ring", this time a family heirloom, and hands it to Jennifer Wilson to see if their relationship will work in the outside world. Obviously it didn't as he was dating runner up Sadie Murray after breakup with Jennifer. Jennifer was also dating a co-working before the finale aired. This was probably the most talked about season of The Bachelor. I enjoyed it but most viewers did not and were very vocal about it. Many of the scenes were set in Italy and I especially enjoyed seeing places I had visited when I was there a few years ago.

Season 10 -- Officer and a Gentleman Andy Baldwin proposed with a $50,000 ring to Tessa Horst. Since he's been all over the tabloids dating Marla Maples, I'm guessing it didn't work out with Tessa. This was a very, very popular bachelor especially when he showed up wearing his Navy white. He was handsome and charming and, as the title goes, definitely an Officer and a Gentleman. I know he's been deployed since being on the show and he's often in the news doing some good things with Habitat for the Humanities. He was definitely a good catch for whomever ended up with him.

Season 11 -- Brad Womack ends up rejecting both women in the final rose ceremony. Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas were sent packing but DeAnna will be getting the last laugh as she has since been cast as the next Bachelorette. He will go down in Bachelor history as being the most "despised" bachelor....the one who didn't have a spine. Leading both girls on to the very end, he decided neither was good enough for him. He also had a twin brother who was on part of the show acting as if he was Brad. Perhaps his brother could have committed as Brad definitely couldn't.

Season 12 -- In the most recent episode, Englishman Matt Grant proposes to Shayne Lamas of the famous Lamas acting family. I really, really enjoyed this season especially because of Shayne. She was funny and charming and, even though she's an actress, appeared to be much more real than any of the other girls. Matt described her as someone he never thought he would end up with but loving everything about her. His pet name for her was "monkey" and, as the show progressed, it became quite an endearing term. As a matter of fact, when he proposed, he said, "Monkey, will you marry me?" Very cute and very real.

I have to say this last episode actually brought tears to my eyes. Will it work? Who knows? But what was obvious to the viewers was the natural connection between the two. I just hope Shayne wasn't doing this to boost her acting career. If she was, then she is clearly a great actress. I thought she was absolutely adorable and it was almost worth watching just to see the clothes she wore as she was quite the fashion horse. Apparently she brought three separate suitcases on the show and they were all filled with shoes. She's definitely a girl after my own heart.

The question remains, why do these relationships all fail? I guess there's an easy answer in that perhaps the contestants are there for the wrong reasons or they're apparently falling in love in a fairytale setting. Once they hit reality and the outside world, all of the perks of falling in love on TV are removed. It's like meeting someone on vacation and everything is perfect until you get back home to your sometimes mundane life. I also think part of the problem, and probably the largest part, is that these two people are separated from each other for sometimes two or three months from the time the taping ends until the finale is aired. This would test even the greatest relationship let alone one that hasn't even had the opportunity to survive.

The fact remains, however, that the viewers are still there to watch this love affair blossom whether it survives or not. As much as I say I won't watch it, I'm always there with my pad and pencil on the first night trying to pick the winner. Shayne was definitely my first choice this season and I'm glad they ended up together. Time will tell if it's forever.