Insomnia, TV and Morning Chaos

I am back to not being able to sleep and I wish I could say it was because of writing. Maybe it is contributing to it because I don't go to bed until late because of that but you would think once I was in bed, I'd be able to fall asleep but that has not been the case. I've tried turning everything off in the hopes that my body would catch on that it is time to sleep but that doesn't work. So, then I turn on the TV and catch up on some shows:

Blake is still my favorite on The Voice. I don't have a favorite singer yet. It's too soon but I will say I am probably in the minority but I wish there were less back stories and more singers to see. I love the performances and it makes me feel a little bad for the people that don't have a sob story but have a great voice. No camera time for them, I guess...just an announcement somewhere in the show that they were added to a team. I feel the same way with American Idol. It's too soon to like anyone. I don't really know who I want to win Project Runway All Stars either. I am sad that Rami went home. I liked him. Michael kind of gets on my nerves and so does Kenley. If Michael Knight was on, I'd want him to win. He was one of my favorites along with Korto (I think she was from Kenley's season).

I have a hard time watching Parenthood in real time and am really behind or messed up because I watched last night's without watching a bunch leading up to it. It is just so raw that I'm not always sure I can handle watching it when what I really want to do is escape the rawness of real life. Does that make sense? Why I am so attached to these characters, I have no idea but the same thing happened with Friday Night Lights so go figure. It's one of the reasons I am afraid to watch Sons of Anarchy. I know I'll get hooked.

I originally came here to talk about Dance Moms. OMG...I don't even know where to start. I actually have to applaud the show for making me root for Abby normally. Even when she did things like make a dancer think she was at the top of the pyramid when she was really kicked off the squad, I was still rooting for her because that dancer and her mom were a little much to take. There is another dance mom that is trying to buy her daughter a higher spot and more solos and I keep watching to see Abby put her in her place. Last night, however, was too much. I was so uncomfortable watching her scream at the three 10 year olds. She was really hard to watch in her talking head interviews and she came off as more mean than coaching. I'll still watch because it is a train wreck but I do question why these moms put up with her behavior. I know she produces employable dancers and I try not to judge because I am not in their shoes but I still wonder.

I can't comment on The Bachelor because I am no longer watching. I stopped after Emily left and Courtney stayed. She is a conniving, vile excuse for a woman and the show successfully made Ben look like an idiot. Call me stupid but I actually liked watching the show for the romance of it. I knew the couples wouldn't last but it was still fun to watch. When they make the person looking for love look like a moron or a villain, I'm done.

Because I couldn't sleep and Gia woke up several times (wanting milk, which is now in a cup, thank God and Mickey), our morning was more chaotic than normal. Isabella and Tommy had the states test today and Belle wanted to get up early and study. Her alarm didn't go off (set it for 6:30pm) so I woke her up at 7:00, got Tommy in the shower and Nico off to school. Gia woke up crabbier than crabby from no sleep at 7:30. I went in and informed Belle, who was still sleeping, that it was now an hour later than she wanted to get up. She shot up, started panicking and blaming me that she was late. I informed her that I did, in fact, wake her up and she said, "Well, you might have but my eyes didn't wake up!" She furiously studied for the states and capitals (even though she studied them for days and hours the night before) and cried that she was never going to get them. Tommy informed me that the capitals were extra credit and that he was fine with not doing them and that he knew the states. He maybe looked at the study guide once or twice and I never did see him do the capitals.

They came home and Tommy was grinning from ear to ear and Isabella was crying. Belle did the states and thinks she did okay but her mind went blank with the capitals. She said she did maybe 15 but after asking me what two of them were, got those two wrong. Tommy said he "got all the states and for some reason, the names of the capitals came back to me and I got them all right. Do you believe it?" I explained that I did actually believe it and while trying to console Belle, told her that it was Murphy's Law that the kid who studied, forgot and the kid that blew it off, remembered. She looked at me exasperated and said, "Well, who the heck is Murphy?"