Grey's Anatomy Season 12: Can We Mend Japril's Broken Hearts?

     I loved this week's Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) centered episode of Grey's Anatomy. I have really been digging some of these more intimate episodes that focus on a few characters and their one through-line story, and this was a doozy. Jackson (Avery) and Meredith are supposed to to Montana to operate on a little girl at the Avery Hospital there. Of course, Jackson's overbearing mother (the lovely Debbie Allen) changes plans at the last moment and sends her favorite ex-daughter-in-law (April) instead. It's weird enough that the two got divorced while April was pregnant, and they live together, but now they're taking work trips to a Podunk town? That's the definition of awkward turtle.

     As I had hoped, Jackson took this opportunity for more than just helping a cute, sick girl get her voice back. (He did get her get her voice back from a very threatening tumor in her throat, but I knew they would pull that off.) Jackson came to this town to spy on his deadbeat dad, the infamous Dr. Robert Avery. As the legend goes, the Sr. Dr. Avery met the voracious Catherine, and she rose to the challenge of running a large Avery (family medical) Foundation, and he peaced out from his family to find a simpler life. Robert quit medicine, moved to Montana and opened a diner, which really looked more like a bar that served food. Jackson gets drunk at the bar, he studies his books, and he cannot even speak to this man. What does someone say to the parent that abandoned them as a baby?

     Much to Robert's credit, he is warm and friendly to Jackson. He hugs him and asks about his life and Mommie Dearest when Jackson gets the guts to confess who he really is. What is Jackson really after? Is it closure, is it proving that he turned out to be a pretty great guy despite not having a real role model? Is it to show that his recent stepfather Richard is more of a father than this sperm donor ever was? I don't think Jackson particularly knows why, which is why he can't tell April what happened at first. April has a great tight-knit family. Sure they're a little judgey in a Christian way, but the Kebner clan have been there for April when she needed them  and they care about her happiness. The couple themselves have really been through some deep stuff.

• Seattle Grace and Marcy West merged. Their friend was shot and died like the first week, 
• April lost her virginity to Jackson during medical boards and lost her cool in the verbal exam
• April pulled a Runaway Bride at her wedding to the paramedic to run away with Jackson
• Their first baby was  delivered pre-term with a life-threatening condition, living an hour 
• She coped with the baby by leaving Seattle to work in the army medical corps 
• Their bitter divorce and goodbye sex that led to baby Harriet

     They couple are now partners in raising little Harriet (and possible the longest running ship still on Grey's) and their parenthood is really motivated by their solid friendship. In conclusion, there should be nothing they can't say to each other.

     This became such an emotionally charged episode, and at the root of it all, it brought Japril closer together than they have been in a long time. They were originally such great friends before their romance and it's my greatest hope would be to see these two crazy kids back together. Jackson got so drunk, he almost blew figuring out how to do the surgery safely. He brought up their dead baby in front of April (who did not take it well considering she took off to be a an army medic after that situation ended). They fought about how to safely complete the surgery, but when the right idea clicked, there as an electrical pulse between the couple. April also convinced Jackson to go back and see his father. He told Robert he did not want a relationship, he did not want his daughter to meet him, and to have a nice life. It's not the warm and fuzzy parental relationships we hope the Grey's kids will have, but in this case, it was best for Jackson. He could finally get closure on this part of his life. Jackson and April celebrated the surgery by face-timing their baby goodnight and having a hotel sleep-over. Is this meant to be closure on Jackson and April? I certainly hope not because even the actors are pulling for this long-suffering couple.

     In related news, I am completely uninterested in Meredith and Riggs (although I love Meredith dearly).  This "will they or won't they" often ends in won't and Meredith has a lot of damn baggage, so Riggs should stop this 2+ year pursuit. Now it's just annoying.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Sorry, no cop Fridays this week. Stay safe!

Gif from Indie Wire

Who's That Guy? - Ricardo Chavira

GIF from Tumblr

Ricardo Chavira is owning television in 2017. The actor first rose to popularity on Desperate Housewives as Gabrielle's jealous husband, Carlos Solis. The actor's chemistry with his television wife Eva Longoria sizzled so much that he guest starred in her short lived 2016 sitcom Telenovela.

 President Chavira
 Chiavera spent most of 2016 playing fictional Pennsylvania governor/Democratic presidential nominee Frankie Vargas on ABC's  Scandal. During the season, political mastermind and possible sociopath Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) pushed Vargas to the front of America's consciousness. Beene went as far as to secretly initiate a shooting at the PA Capitol building, where the unknowing Vargas rescued co-workers and became an American hero. The race came down the kind Vargas candidate and the ex-first lady turned senator Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young).

     Last season's finale was drawing to a close as the clock ran down on on finding a running mate. In the last minutes of the show, Vargas called Beene to the stage, announcing him as his VP candidate. This season picked up in January with a shocking jump through the election. Vargas was announced as the winner and on stage to make his speech as President-Elect. Then he got SHOT! This is the second attempted presidential assassination on Scandal. Unlike the fortunate President Grant, Vargas did not survive, (Poor Vargas). Now Chavira appears in flashbacks that explain what happened along the campaign trail.  At first it seemed like VP-elect Beene was manipulating America, putting out an ideal candidate and plotting to taking him out so Beene himself would be the default leader. At this point in the story, we're still not sure who ordered President Vargas to be assassinated, but Beene and his secret lover (FBI agent Tom) have confessed their innocence in jail. Olivia (Kerry Washington) has also come to the conclusion that her accusation of Cyrus was wrong. Scandal show runner Shonda Rhimes said that  this season's story is about the electoral college and how it chooses the president when the people's candidate is taken out of the race. Many have argued that the show has picked up on an unrest in the country, even though the story line was on film long before the results of the election. I can't wait to find out more about what got Vargas assassinated in the coming weeks.

Lover Chavira
     Chavira also has a growing role as Bruce on the CW's Jane the Virgin. On Monday's episode, Bruce proposed to Jane's mother Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), known as Xo. In the first few episodes of the series, we learn Xo had an off-screen affair with Bruce and he recently broke up with her. Bruce was also cheating on his wife with Xo. Jane (Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez) and her grandmother vehemently despised Bruce for the turmoil he brought to their family.  Xo spent the first two seasons of the show finding her way back to Jane's over-dramatic telenovela star father, Rogelio De La Vega (played by Jaime Camil). Check out Rogelio's hilarious tweets here.

     Bruce is the complete opposite of Rogelio. Where Rogelio is vain and tweeting his feelings, Bruce is a quiet and reserved , and he is a lawyer. The triangle developed between the three has been intriguing over the last few months. Rogelio financed Xo to open her own dance studio, which coincidentally happened to be in the same complex as Bruce's new office. Xo seemed to have all her dreams coming true; Bruce and the studio, but at the cost of her friendship with Rogelio, The couple broke up as teens and Xo chose to raise Jane on her own. In their adult relationship, they got drunkenly married in Las Vegas, then engaged for real months later. In planning their life together, Xo chose to end things  because Rogelio wanted more children and she had already raised their daughter, who is now in her 20's.

     In the weeks since January's three-year jump and the death of Jane's husband Michael, Bruce and Xo have been going strong. As the show's least dramatic couple, their triumphs have been small, Xo and Jane winning over Bruce's teen daughter. This relationship one of the most real parts of the show.  I partly hope Xo and Bruce get married because she needs something stable in her life, although I am a hard-core Rogelio fan. Mr. De Le Vega got into a reality TV marriage with his matchmaker Darcy on the show, the De Le Vega-Factor. The show pieced together clips of Xo to look like a jealous ex, and fans of Rogelio actively name-call and throw coffee. Through this rift, Bruce encourages Xo to forgive Rogelio, and that makes me like Bruce even more! He helped Rogelio with legal advice on his lawsuit against the "DLVF" production company, because he knows it will please Xo. This whole situation brings up an important question in Jane's life. Can two people raise a child and not let their feelings get involved?  Jane and her baby daddy Raphael are also faced with the same question as she recovers from her husband's tragic death.

Officer Chavira

     “He doesn’t think we killed Gary, he’s just obsessed with ants!” remarked Sheila (Drew Barrymore) in episode 4 of The Santa Clarita Diet. The new Netflix show is reminiscent of Weeds, except instead of growing pot plants, Sheila is a new zombie. She and her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant) start murdering people and storing them in a freezer in their storage unit so she can feed on their bodies. Chavira played their couple's nosy neighbor, Officer Dan. This guy was a crooked yet tough officer from the L.A. County Sheriff's office (he mocked a neighbor that works for the cushy Santa Monica police dept.) who became suspicious of the Hammonds.  This character reminds me the most of Chavira's character from Desperate Housewives. He is not a nice person. His gentle, nerdy stepson Eric constantly verbally abused at his own hand. Even Dan's wife Lisa (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) began an affair to get away from him.

     It's important to note that Sheila became a zombie through some unclear reason in episode 1. As of episode 8 (2 more to go), there is no explanation how this happened. She fed on her smarmy co-worker Gary in the backyard, eating his fingers and eventually his body. Joel, their daughter Abby, and Eric cover up the murder. Dan continued asking why Joel was outside spraying their lawn for ants in the middle of the night, which was a cover for washing away the blood. Dan was so obsessed with the lawn that he found a rogue finger and and blackmailed  Joel into attempting to murder a convict that could not be convicted. The couple reasoned this was in line with their new motto, only killing bad people that deserve it.  After a bad situation where the convict became a zombie, Dan took it too far. He falsified a dossier and asked them to kill Lisa's side dish, spreading horrible lies about the pediatric doctor (Scott Michael Foster).   Joel stood up to Dan as Abby and Eric planted a flash bomb in his garden. He was going out one way or another! Joel killed Dan in episode 5, smashing a shovel into his head, and marking the family's first non-zombie committed kill. Lisa and Dan's partner began a search for him, assuming he took off because of the contraband the teens discovered in the garage. Was his death justified? Will anyone figure out Joel killed Dan? I'm guessing this is an issue for season 2. 

I'm Not 'Born to Run'

   

Friends GIF from Potter Wars Blog

     Despite my best efforts, I will never enjoy running. My dad has been a lifelong runner. There's been talk of runner's high, which makes me question if the people talking about are indeed, high on something. It's just not in my bones. I feel that the only times it is appropriate to run are when chasing public transportation, fleeing an emergency situation, or during a zombie Apocalypse.

     It may seem peculiar to hear that I just finished my 2nd 5K race. Why? It's very simple. While I'm not a runner, I like achieving goals. I spent the last half of last year on a severely curbed workout plan, struggling through yoga classes and physical therapy to strengthen my neck. As my PT sessions wrapped up in early December, I hoped I could try exercising like a normal person again. It began with signing up with friends for a March 5K race. It was a solid 3.5 months to get my body into some sort of condition to run almost 3.5 miles. The training didn't go so well at first. After a month of holiday eating, stomach problems and a pretty serious sinus infection, I rolled into January wanting do anything but run.

The finish line! 

     But I had a goal in mind and off I went to go to the gym. I went to my work gym and my regular gym, day by day, as the weeks flew by. I worked on my mile time specifically. I knew if I had a solid time for one mile, I could keep re-applying that time to the additional miles. Occasionally, I attempted 2 miles on a weekend so my body would have a sense of how long I needed to endure. I trained with drinking lots of water, until I realized this would not be happening when I was running. I was going as light as possible. I sometimes walked as slow as 16.5 minutes for a mile. This was far worse  mile time that what I achieved during my first 5K last year. I started a calendar, marking each day with my workout achievements. It was a loose schedule, alternating days of running type exercise and more gently recovery exercises. An average week looked like :

• Pilates on Monday
• Yoga on Tuesday
• Treadmill/Chiropractor or massage appointments on Wednesday or Thursday, 
• Back to the treadmill on  Friday or Saturday
• Sunday was yoga and an occasional  10-15 minutes on the treadmill if I felt up to it. 

     Training was hard. I went through a lot of days of pain. It was too cold for me to go outside, except for one very warm February Saturday. I mostly toughed the pain out, relying on baths and ice packs. At this time, my stomach was healing from a too-heavy course of anti-inflammatory medicine. My neck pain returned with all types of activities from lifting a laundry basket to reaching under by bed. Still, I trained easy until the last week.

     The race day came, and it was unseasonably cold. An average of about 20 degrees with wind and light snow, that morning was the worst condition I could imagine.  I packed my fleece coat pockets with gloves, hand warmers, and tissues. My nose started running around mile 2 and I was already out of tissues. I pushed myself through the road course, up one massive hill and around several bends, but still having to rest my lungs from the extreme cold.  I was doing better than my slow walk time. As I approached the finish line, I saw my time and almost freaked out. I finished at 37 minutes and 38 seconds, and according to this nifty photo, I ran just under 12 minutes a mile on average.

     For the record, I'm still not a runner, but  I'm considering running another 5K race later this spring when the weather is much more cooperative. Who knows, there might be a bus I can chase on the way there.

Fashion or Foe: The Great Shorts Debate

'Jorts' (c) PipPepPop

     I'm heading to a warm climate for a spring break trip, and I'm trying on my summer clothes in the middle of a blizzard. It's moved way past odd timing, since we just got an extra hour of daylight about 2 days ago. I'm officially in a summer shopping binge. As I mentioned last week, it's tough enough to shop for petite fashions, but even more so when they're made to be short. I've encountered shorts problems  most notoriously involving the length. The classic above-knee Bermuda short usually comes below my knee, making it more conservative than your standard 3" inseam 'Daisy Duke' short, but somewhere in-between a short and a capri.

     So where do I continue my shorts struggle? One of the bizarre trends I've noticed on fashion retail websites is the pairing of a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt or long sleeve top. This seems to be a trend per my Google search, possibly made popular by the breezy lake fashions of Dawson's Creek. You can spot Katie Holes in the season 1 credits here, sporting a tied dress shirt top and shorts. I have tried this, but never left the house intentionally in this outfit. The reason for this is that there is never a time when I'm going to be be outside where my legs and arms are not equally cold. I'm definitely not going to pair a sweater with my shorts, as suggested by Ann Taylor Loft and other retailers.  If I'm going to wear a sleeved and shorts, I'm just going to save myself the complaining and put on longer pants to stay warm.

     My other conundrum when it comes to shorts is the style. In an ideal world, you would have a few pairs in different colors, prints and possibly even shapes. I love the idea of classy black or white shorts that can be paired with a cute (short length) tank. I even fancy printed shorts that can be paire with a solid top. In reality, I usually end up searching for a pair of dark blue jean shorts (jorts). Then when washing, I pray the blue doesn't run if it's a particularly hot day. In New Orleans, a brand new pair of blue jean shorts bled all over my fabric bag from sheer sweat!

     In the quest for the perfect pair of denim shorts, there are two types, frayed and finished. While I own some frayed pairs, I'm not a fan. They end up looking too worn soon after the first wash. I'm all for something that I could wear to a picnic or amusement park and not worry about getting dirty, but I shouldn't have to pick off split threads  after each time I wear them. The frayed pair is usually marketed as a cutoff, like you took for favorite pair of jeans and shortened the length. More often than not, I find the shorts are made different from my favorite pair of jeans, either roomier in the leg or gaping around my tailbone. Is there a perfect pair out there? I'll keep looking until I find it.

My ideal pair would have to be:

• A minimum 5" inseam (even as a teenager I didn't want my butt hanging out)
• Evenly finished at the bottom
• Tight enough around my waist that I don't need a belt (#NoBelts) (#NoBoyfriendFit)
• Casual, but could  be dressed up