Kayleigh's Musings

So Mother's Day is Sunday and you know how hard your mom worked over the years.  The question is...if you had to come up with a salary for all the Mom does how much would it be?  Well financial advisor Ric Edelman calculates each year what Mom would make if she were paid for all the jobs she does.  This year the figure is nearly $803,000 per year!  The basis of the salary is that the typical mom actually does many jobs- 17 of them in fact.  Using average annual compensation data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Edelman totals up the average salaries for those 17 occupations to arrive at each year's figure.  Here they are broken down for you:

1. Animal Caretaker                            $29,920
2. Chef                                                $37,880
3. Computer Systems Analyst             $72.230
4. Financial Manager                         $101,450
5. Food/Beverage Service Worker      $19,360
6. General Office Clerk                        $25,200
7. Registered Nurse                            $59,730
8. Management Analyst                      $77,270
9. Child Care Worker                          $18,820
10. Housekeeper                                $18,700
11. Psychologist                                 $66,110
12. Bus Driver                                    $33,050
13. Elementary School Principal         $79,200
14. Dietitian/Nutritionist                     $47,890
15. Property Manager                        $52,290
16. Social Worker                               $40,640
17. Recreation Worker                       $22,950

Edelman said the index is actually a conservative number since it doesn't include the value of the retirement, health and insurance benefits that workers in these positions typically receive.  So take this to Mom on Mother's Day and tell her how much you value all she's done for you over the years.  If she was making this salary for all the years she's been a mom think of the retirement she'd have now!!

Are you a 'Lost ' addict?  Do you look for previews for the next episode?  Are you trying to figure out what the heck is the smoke monster???  Well, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (the producers of 'Lost') were on Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy grilled them for answers.   As you can well imagine they don't give away anything critical but they do give some hints here and there.  Let the theories begin!!  Click here for the interview. http://youtube.com/watch?v=BX6GUJvc7ZQ

Maksim Chmerkovskiy may not be dancing this season on 'Dancing With the Stars' but that doesn't mean he's not watching and doesn't have an opinion on the contestants.   I'd actually be shocked if he DIDN'T have an opinion on the contestants!  Click here and see what he has to say http://www.ew.com/ew/video/dwts.  He's going to be reunited with Mel B. tomorrow night during the 100th episode of the show.  That's worth tuning in!  And tonight will be interesting to see if Christian can do two dances with a ruptured tendon in his arm!

Ok, so there's been a lot of rumors swirling around Derek Hough and Shannon Elizabeth on 'Dancing With the Stars' on whether they're a couple or not off the dance floor.  They've sure seemed chummy on the show.  The question is whether it's real or a showmance or just a tease.  They were on Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night after being eliminated from the show and he grilled them.  Check it out and you decide if they're a couple or not. http://youtube.com/watch?v=SdDfK53YHUg

Ok, did you watch American Idol last night?  First and foremost, Paula reached a new level last night.  The contestants sang 2 songs (the theme was Neil Diamond).  The judges weren't commenting until after each contestant sang their second song.  However, after the first round of songs Ryan asked the judges to just make a quick observation of the first songs.  Randy make a few comments.  Then we got to Paula.  She seemed confused and thrown off her game (does she really have any game in this show???) and stumbled for words to describe Jason who was the first singer last night.  She talked about his first song and then started commenting on what she thought of his second song.  I was sitting there thinking, did I miss something?  Did the judges watch dress rehearsal and she's commenting on that?  But, no, she was just being her very confused self and Ryan had to cut her off.  Wow.  And she insists she doesn't drink.  If you missed her comments click on this link and you can hear it for yourself. http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/04/on-the-scene-th.html Hmmmm.....

Also last night, David Archuleta actually seemed like he was having fun when he sang 'Sweet Caroline'.  I think so many times he comes off like a little likable robot that you wind up and shove onto the stage each week.  But when he sang 'Sweet Caroline' he had a genuine smile on his face and moved around like he was enjoying himself.  I know it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he's going to win this thing (and the judges keep seeming to shove him down our throats to tell us to vote for him) but sometimes I really wonder what HE wants. 

The performances of the night, however, belonged to David Cook who so often steals the show with his talent.  That guy is the one we're definitely going to hear from when this is all said and done.  I'd go out of my way to listen to his cd and see what he can do.  The guy is good.

Lastly, I have to comment on Brooke.  She was totally channeling Carly Simon on 'I am I said'.  And she actually kind of looks like a young Carly Simon.  And, surprise surprise, guess who is Carly Simon's favorite contestant this year.  Yep, Brooke.  Check out this link to see  picture of Carly and tell me Brooke doesn't look like her! http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90BSF0O2&show_article=1&image=large

Did you catch 'Lost' last night?  It was the first original episode after the hiatus from March.  Wow!  Talk about action packed!  Now that the producers have an end date for the show they are answering a lot of questions (of course, once they answer some questions they inevitably pose more!!).  Last season (minus the season ender) was a little slow but this year they have really picked up the pace and the show is exciting again.  If you're hooked check out this link http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=db22eedc-686f-4003-a17b-dcc35e1084ed and you can see some previews of next week's episode.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the previews!!

Did you catch 'Dancing With the Stars' last night?  This may be Marlee's last week.  She's at the bottom of the leader board and really struggled with the mambo last night.  We had our first perfect score last night!  Guess who got it.  Oh, come on!  I know you'll be SHOCKED to hear that Kristi received the perfect 30!   She was really good last night on her jive.  This may be the first year since Kelly Monaco that we get a female winner.  If you missed last night click here http://www.people.com/people/videos/iheartdwts and you can get a quick recap.  My guess is that Marlee goes home tonight.

Tomorrow night is Celebrity Cuisine at the Canton Civic Center!  Hopefully, you'll come out and be a part of this event.  If you've never been there before it's a lot of fun!  There will be about 30 restaurants there presenting their specials and you can sample as much as you can eat!  Tickets are $25 and the proceeds go to Community Harvest.  You'll get to see the djs from Mix 94.1 and 1480 WHBC there, too!  Doors open at 5:30 tomorrow evening.  Come early and come hungry! 

If you're a big fan of 'Dancing With the Stars' you're very familiar with 2 time champ Julianne Hough.  She just got eliminated last week along with her partner, Adam Carolla.  I'm sure she's not too upset since now she can concentrate on pushing her first country song.  Yes, she actually sings!  I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up as a musical guest on one of the elimination shows.  Wouldn't that be weird, seeing her on stage SINGING and the other pros dancing to her music???!!!  Anyway, if you'd like to find out just how well she sings click here http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Things-Dancing-Stars/Julianne-Houghs-Music/800037776.  Ok, so what CAN'T this girl do???? 

Well, it looks like spring just MIGHT actually be here!  Have you switched out your winter clothes to summer yet?  I still need to do that.  It's that time of year when you want to find a new look so I have a link where you can try new looks on yourself with makeup.   Go to www.taaz.com and you can upload a picture of yourself and then try new looks with makeup so you can decide what to buy next time.  It saves you having to take a guess and then finding out at home that a color doesn't work on you.  Check it out and have fun!