i am the great wizard

I've received some great submissions for the Make Me Laugh video contest. (I'm smiling just typing that out, thinking about what some of you did!) And I've decided to extend the deadline to next Monday. Because a few of you let me know that circumstances interfered with getting your videos made on time. And really, because, well, I'd rather get in as many laughs as I can.

So if you wish you'd made a video but didn't, now's your chance. If the thought to make one never even crossed your mind, let it cross now: Send me some funny! Don't make me beg.

And if you're stubbornly stickin' to the idea that you're just not humorous, then at least send me a hello. I love seeing your faces and hearing your voices.

(Need a refresher on the rules of the contest? Go here.)

In other news... You can order just about anything these days.

thought you'd wanna know...

I'm just sayin'!

bunkum: gatvol

Man, it's been ages since we've played a game here at the Grit. I think it's time to resume the weekly ritual. Here goes:

• Post a definition for the made-up word above your comment, or use the word in a sentence.
• Then leave a made-up word for the next person.
• Have fun!

Starter word: gatvol (thanks, Anti!)

just a girl

Back when Niel and I were engaged, the Notting Hill movie soundtrack was one of very few CDs I owned. Since we were going budget-style on our wedding, we supplied all the music for the big event. Consequently, many of the songs from Notting Hill were played at our reception.

One night, months before our wedding, Niel and I drove to town to use the ATM. As usual, Notting Hill was in the CD player. In Harrismith, they pretty much roll up the streets at 5:00, so town was fairly empty. As Niel waited in the car while I walked up to the ATM machine, he opened the car windows and blared 98°'s I Do (Cherish You) from the soundtrack. We both laughed really hard as he belted out the words.

Needless to say, our first dance together at our wedding was to that song.

Notting Hill was on TV yesterday while we were holed up inside our rental house at the lake (it was freezing outside!). I hadn’t seen it in years but it still made me laugh. And my favorite part, as always, was when Julia Roberts walks back in to the travel book shop towards the end of the movie and says, “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”

I looked over at Niel and my eyes whispered the very same thing to him.

an african gothic