The Last Day On Earth and driving in the Noreaster of 2009

Last night after work, I went to "Last Day On Earth" a.k.a. the grocery store, with both kids (while Steve worked on getting the snowblower started).  Evidence that the grocery was Last Day On Earth was the fact that the ShopRite in Jacksonville had zero parking spaces available and only 3 grocery carts left.  More evidence was found when I picked a number at the deli counter.  I was number 96.  They were serving number 74.  O...M...G.

So I shopped for the other stuff I thought I needed for the weekend... ground beef, chicken, steaks, cereal, a gallon of milk for the kids... not much.  I went back to the deli line, maybe 10-15 minutes later.  They were serving number 80.  O...M...G.  At that rate, I'd be waiting over an hour to be served.  I saw someone walk up to pick a number, and so I decided to give her mine.  She had number 110, so you can just imagine how enormously happy she was to receive mine.  Merry Christmas.  :-)

What I didn't contemplate is how homebound we'd really be.  "Hmmm," I thought, "this could be a good weekend to make cookies."  I had the ingredients to make Thumbprint cookies as I had planned to make those sometime soon.  "Ok, those won't take too long," I figure, "so I can make some chocolate chip cookies, too.  I've got all the ingredients for those..... oh wait."  I only had 1 egg, and I needed 2.

I have to go back to the grocery store, but there was a noreaster dumping snow on us.  Since Steve had already cleaned the driveway once, it would be no problem to get out of the driveway.  But the county had not gotten to our road yet.  Steve said that he'd come dig me out if I got stuck on our road but once I got to the main road, I should be fine.  I concurred, and it was just the incentive I needed.

I love driving in the snow.  It's stressful, but I think it's fun.  It's a lot more fun because my all-wheel drive Subaru WRX!  So I packed my list, and off I went.  The driveway was no problem.  The turn from my driveway onto our road was one big slide, but I had momentum, and cruised up the street.  I got to the main road, and it didn't looked plowed to me.  I really believe the only reason I went any further is because of all-wheel drive.  Without it, I never would have been able to get myself going again from a stop because the snow was deep on both roads.

Getting to the ShopRite was no problem, really.  I passed the snowplows clearing Sweet Air, which is a snow emergency route, and I could see the double yellow lines - but that's it.  I got into the ShopRite parking lot, and it was the exact opposite of the Last Day On Earth.  I wasn't even sure the store was open.  In the process of turning around, I nearly got myself stuck but again, all-wheel drive for the win.

I went to the SuperFresh and parked in the grocery pick up lane because the parking lot wasn't plowed.  The guy trying to keep the main driving lane in front of the SuperFresh clear was having trouble keeping up with it so he didn't have any time to clear the parking spaces.  It was definitely snowing harder at this point.

I went into the baking aisle, and the shelves had been ransacked of cookie-making ingredients.  I was stunned.  Reminents of the Last Day On Earth at the Safeway.  Clearly I had the same idea as everyone else, just a complete day late.  Oops.  The only thing I needed was powdered sugar of which there were still some items left on the shelves.  I picked up eggs and went to get butter - cleared out.  There was zero butter, only margarine, literally. More reminents of the Last Day On Earth!

By the time I got out to the car, it had at least an inch of snow on the windshield.  The roads were back to multiple inches deep, including Sweet Air which had just been plowed less than half an hour before.  I couldn't see the double yellow lines anymore!   While heading home, I had fun slipping and sliding.  Corners were nothing short of four wheel slides, and I had no fears about actually getting to the house. 

But getting up the driveway, that, I realized would be a whole different issue.  I tried to turn the corner, and didn't make it.  Backed up, got a small running start, and got halfway up the hill.  At this point, Steve's outside watching me and laughing.  It really was a sight.  I backed down the hill, got a better running start and got 2/3rds up the hill.  There, I just tried to will it up the rest of the way and miraculously, it did.  Good little car!!!

When I got out of the car, I said to Steve, "Not only do you need to change my brakes (existing request), but now you'll have to change my clutch, too!!!"  Steve laughed a knowing laugh... I'm not nice to clutches.  ;-)

Both thumbprint and chocolate chip cookies are baked, the driveway has been cleaned twice, and now we just wait until tomorrow to do all of the rest.

The Snowblower Saga

They weren't kidding when the forecast called for snow. 

It started about 11:00PM-ish on Friday night, at little earlier than predicted for the area, and it was coming down hard and fast.  By the morning, we had a good half a foot.  If this was going to keep up, and since the newscast had upgraded us from a winter storm warning to a blizzard warning, we figured the snow was going to keep coming down at a ridiculous pace the rest of the day.  That means we'd also have to keep pace with it in clearing it.

Now we have a Craftsman snowblower that we bought the year we moved into the house.  It's massive, and it doesn't get used that often because we don't have that many snowfalls per year.  Of the ones we do have, 99% of the time our Subaru WRXs don't even flinch in getting up and down our driveway.  So we don't bother with the snowblower.  We used it the first year we got it as we had a good foot one snowfall.  Since then, it has sat. 

We tried starting it last winter, just to see if it would start, just in case.  Nope, wouldn't start.  It churns but won't turnover.  We tried starting it this summer, no go.  Then by yesterday afternoon, it was clear we would have no choice but to figure out how to get this thing started else we had a long day of back breaking shoveling ahead of us.  Steve stopped by the autoparts store and picked up a can of carborator cleaner and a can of ether. 

By the time I got home with the kids, Steve was in the garage trying to get the thing to start but was having no luck.  The project was postponed to today.

So this morning, after breakfast, Steve went into the garage to continue where he left off.  He pulled off the caborator and cleaned it.  He drained it of the old gas, put it back together, added the gas we bought last year (so, newer gas than what was in it) and gave it a shot of carborator cleaner.  It almost started.  Steve pulled out the spark plug, cleaned it, put it back together and VROOM!!!  It started!!  Party on, Wayne!

Steve and the infamous snowblower

Steve proceeded to clean the snow off the driveway, but he said it was running rough.  When he was at the bottom of our driveway, it stalled.  Good thing we have a very long extension cord (electric start)! 

When Steve came back in, he was thinking the govenor was wrong and thus why it was running rough.  During the kids' nap, he changed it, and voila!  It worked like a champ.  Halfway up our driveway, it stalled again, and Steve couldn't get it started, despite the extension cord electric start.  "Oh, duh, I ran it out of gas!"  I was outside hoping to get some footage with our new Kodak HD video camera, heard that, and lost it.  Hilarious!! 

The snowblower has been running great since.

Bravo Steve for getting it running!  Saved us a HUGE amount of work....

Tinsel E - December update

Ruining my plan to sleep in to try and start killing my cold was my orthodontist appointment.

I knew from my last appointment that I was going to get a new wire... my last and FINAL wire!!!  Hooray!!!  And, true to his word, I did get my final wire today.  This is one big fat wire, and the technician had trouble threading it through my brackets.  I could feel the difference immediately, before she'd even closed the bracket doors to lock in place, or in her term, engage the wire.

I thought, great, I'm done... time to go home to sleep.  That's when the technician said, "I still have to put on your rubber band and hook."

WHAT.... ?!  Seriously?!

Sure enough, she somehow added another "hook" to one of my top front brackets.  The brackets on my bottom molars already have hooks (I guess permanently) on them.  She then gave me a mirror, showed me a tool that I would be using, and showed me how to hook a rubber band from my bottom teeth to my top teeth on my right side.

WHY?!

"[The orthodontist] believes your bite on the one side could be better adjusted."

Oh.

"You need to change the rubber band 2-3 times per day.  And take it out when you brush your teeth or eat."

"Why 2-3 times per day?"

"Because they lose their elasticity and become less effective."

I will do anything to make this go faster.  In the last month, my braces have really come to annoy me and I can't WAIT until I'm done with them.  I've been thinking about the fact that I've not even had them a year and they're frustrating me.  How in the world do teenagers deal with them for so long?!  I feel for them.  Anyway, to get them off faster, if that means I need to change a stupid rubber band 2-3 times a day, then fine!

Of course, now I feel more like a teenager than ever, and will be self conscious for a while that I don't have a rubber band come flying out of my mouth during a meeting or something... I can just see it now.... nailing someone in the face with it.  Wouldn't that be my luck!

On my way out, I went to see my primary care physician who is in the same building because he also has braces and wanted to commiserate with him.  We traded war stories (speaking of war - it is Pearl Harbor Day today), and got a chuckle from it all.

I came home and wanted to eat some breakfast.  Despite a little trepidation about the rubber band, I took it out, wolfed down my meal and then attempted to get the rubber band back on me.  It took me a couple of tries but it actually wasn't that difficult.  It's just not a flattering sight.  ::sigh::

Bring on the new set of canker sores, one where the new "hook" is and one where the rubber band rubs my check wrong.  Yay.

I got back again mid-January.  They didn't say it would be my final appointment, so I'm guessing I have to go at least into February.  Hopefully the rubber band comes off in January!!

Brining a Turkey

The local grocery store ran a promotion last month where if you spend x amount of money within a certain time period, you could receive either a free frozen turkey breast, Stoffers frozen lasagna, a ham or something else.  Two years in a row now I've managed to hit that dollar amount, and opted to get a Shady Brook frozen turkey breast.  I know, frozen doesn't taste as good as fresh, but who can argue with free???  I was going to spend the money buying groceries, so this was a nice perk.

Satuday, I started thawing the 7 pound breast and Sunday morning, I decided to try brining it.  The Joy of Cooking said to mix 2 cups of salt (or 4 cups kosher salt) to 2 gallons of water for a 15-25 pound turkey.  Since my bird was half the weight, I decided to halve the mixture... thankfully that was easy!  I also have an enormous mixing bowl in which somehow this all fit.  My back up plan was to use the water cooler we have, but thankfully I didn't have to go there.  If I do get a bigger bird in the future, I'll have to use that and put store it in the garage while it soaks, since the brining process requires a cool/cold environment.  If it's hot outside, the brine will have to include ice.  If it's winter, no extra measures needed!  So in this case, the bird went into the refrigerator.  Have I told you how much I love our refrigerator??

Six (6) hours later, I rinsed the bird, stuffed it with a quartered lemon and a halved head of garlic, buttered the skin, and stuffed it into the oven.  Covered it about 45 minutes into the cooking process, and then waited until the internal temp got close to 165 degrees, which Joy of Cooking says is the max turkey breast meat should get else risk overcooking it.  At 159 degrees, I decided to see if the little popper had popped, and it had, so out the bird came.

That turkey was so juicy and moist, it was awesome.  No gravy (or salt!) required. 

A friend of mine has suggested adding apple juice to his brine, so I don't know that would change the taste.  I may well try that next time!

Mmmm... turkey sandwich for lunch....

Stuff White People Like

Yeah, I know that title sounds really prejudice, but it's actually the name of a blog I've read that makes fun of all sorts of things.  The bottom line... you have to be able to laugh at yourself, and this blog certainly seems to accomplish that with its satire about some of the more mundane things in life...

The first one that caught my eye was a blog about bumper stickers.  This had more truth to it than I had anticipated when I first started reading it, and thought it was really well done.  Here's an excerpt:

It is a fact that white people will never turn down an opportunity to enlighten other people on the correct way to think. While this is very easy to do through email or face to face conversation, it is exceptionally difficult to do while driving a car. Fortunately for white people there is a solution that is both popular and ineffective: bumper stickers.

The next one that caught my attention was about the Ivy League.  Having applied but not accepted to an Ivy League school - twice - I was thorougly amused by this:

[White people who did not attend an Ivy League school] desperately need a source of comparison so that they need to figure out if you are actually smarter than them. In fact, the only way to stop this line of questioning is to imply that you only got in because of your minority status. Once you say that, white people will stop feeling threatened since they can now believe they too would have been accepted to an Ivy League school if they were a minority. It also gives them a personal story about the effectiveness of Affirmative Action.

That is special right there. 

This last one I saw that I enjoyed was one about frisbee sports e.g. Ultimate Frisbee or Frisbee Golf.  Being that my alma mater was "big" into Ultimate Frisbee as part of its line of intramural activities, I found particular amusement in this:

If you look a little closer, you will see some surprising things. First, you will never see hippies get more upset than on an Ultimate Frisbee field. It can be jarring to see people who look like they should be playing acoustic guitars yelling at each other about whether or not Blake stepped out of bounds. Secondly, you will notice that Ultimate Frisbee matches are the best place to meet white guys who wear headbands.

Ding.  This was my alma mater's culture surrounding Ultimate Frisbee to the letter!

The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody

A blog I've recently started reading is called Geek Dad - tips on tech toys, science projects, and other nerdy things to do with your kids.  It is a part of Wired Magazine's website.  I don't read every article, but I have found more and more articles interesting reads, whether it's because it touches on my own childhood or because it's just cool stuff.

Yesterday, my RSS reader brought me a Geek Dad blog article... The Muppets Do Bohemian Rhapsody.  I couldn't watch it at work, so I saved it and watched it at home.  I had just started it when Steve came into the room and asked, "What's THAT?!"  (hearing chickens singing is an attention getter...LOL).  He sat down next to me, and the hilarity ensued.

This was AWESOME. 

-----

MAMAAAAA!!!!!! 

Mama?  Yoohoo!  Mama!

The Shed

There is a shed in the back of our property.  It's a nice shed; we just don't have much use for it right now.  And as it has sat, the interior has become more and more bug infested which rapidly reduces its attractiveness to go in it, much less use it.

Yesterday, being that it was a perfect day, I decided to clean the shed.  I took everything out of it, and then swept out all of the bugs, leaves, and cobwebs.  I swept the walls, the ceiling, and the doors.  It was disgusting.  And this is not to say it's not still disgusting... it's just less so.  I moved our patio furniture (minus the table) into it for the winter, and tried to shut the doors.  Although I can shut the the doors, they don't make a good seal - no wonder all that stuff gets in it.  I think they are warped, and I don't think I can do anything about it. 

Guess I'll be doing the same drill in the Spring when it's time to pull out the patio furniture.  Ugh.

States - follow up

On Monday, I drove to Arundel High School in Gambrills, MD, to attend the 3A semifinals.  I was assigned to sit at the scorekeepers table, taking stats, making sure there were no issues with the clock, time the timeouts, and count down the ends of the half on the field for the lead ref.  It doesn't sound like a lot as compared to actually running the game and making calls and relatively speaking, it's not.  But I was definitely busy.

The first game was Blake vs. Northern.  As it turns out, the woman who shares a cube wall with me at work is good friends with Blake's coach.  So she came to the game.  That was cool to see her there.  The two officials running the game are from my officiating Board, the Baltimore Board of Women's Sports (BBOWS), and the one official and I trained together for both lacrosse and field hockey.  We've known each other 10 years now!  The other ref and I have worked games together before, and the three of us had a good time officiating this game.  It was a nice relaxed atmosphere, but it would have been anyway, even if the game wasn't a snoozer.  The scorekeepers from each of the schools were boys + their friends, and they were all sharing out of the same Old Bay fries basket one of them had bought.  Boys will be boys, I thought.

The second game was Hereford vs. Mt. Hebron, two traditionally strong field hockey schools.  So I expected a fast and furious game.  It certainly started out that way, and then Hereford just broke it open.  Although Hebron eventually scored, the game was pretty lopsided.  It's clear that Hereford's turf field has allowed Hereford to take their game to another level.  The scorekeepers for this game were all girls + their friends.  And they were sharing lolipops.  I commented that what they were doing was good for the swine flu, and they all just shrugged it off.  Girls will be girls, I thought. 

The on field officials for this game were from the Anne Arundel County board, one of them being the infamous Sue Diff.  Now I have most certainly heard of Sue Diff, notorious as a lacrosse ref (and I think college assignor?), but never had an opportunity to work with her.  I've heard stories (good and bad), and the woman is just a legend.  So here I was, faced with having to work with Sue Diff at a state semifinal game.  She's never heard of me, and I'm just... sitting back and saying nothing because I have heard that I want no parts of being on her bad (as opposed to good) radar. 

The game started, all was normal.  The first half ended, no issues.  That's when my first "Sue Diff" story happened for me.  Sue came to me and said, "Go tell the announcer that the foul is not called "raised ball".  It's "Dangerous".  Not all raised balls are dangerous." 

::blink:: 

She's serious.  And she's not even complaining about the other names for fouls that aren't correct either... just the "raised ball" one.  I mean, if it matters to you what it is the announcer is saying, then why not correct the others, too??  Needless to say, I was confused about that, but whatever.  She made it clear that I had to go tell him.

Good thing it was a 10 minute halftime because I had to trek all the way around the stadium to get to him to tell him.  He got it right for the rest of the game, though I think I caught a sense of sarcasm whenever he'd say it, not that I blame him. 

The second half began, and all was going well until Sue Diff stopped the game.  It was clear she was going to card someone.  Side note: I wouldn't have pulled out cards for that foul, but I am averse to using cards.  I feel like I can handle the situation without the need for cards.

Anyway, Sue Diff goes to pull out her cards.  She hunted for them, couldn't find them.  Game was restarted.  When she had a free moment near the scorers table, she called me over to her.

"Do you have your cards?" 

"Yeah!" 

"Can I borrow them?"

I rushed off to get them out of my bag and handed them to her. 

There it was.  The great Sue Diff didn't have her cards.  Hilarious!!!

One of the state athletic administrators saw the whole thing, and couldn't wait to give Sue all sorts of grief for it.  He also said to me, "Don't you say a word or you'll never see another Varsity game again in this state!"  To which I replied,

"Good thing I'm not a part of her officiating board and that I'm not a lacrosse official!" 

So now I have a Sue Diff story of my very own. 

States!

On Friday, I got a call from my field hockey assignor that I was awarded not 1, but 2 state championship (semifinal) games for today!  Unfortuntely, I don't actually get to run them but instead I will be running the clock and making sure that all of the procedural stuff goes smoothly.  If I were actually officiating, I'd have only been assigned 1 game, like I was in 2007.  Either way, I'm stoked to be involved with 2 state playoffs!

Follow up to "The Band That Wouldn't Die"

Last week, I had written about the ESPN Films special "The Band That Wouldn't Die" earlier this week. 

Steve and I watched it on Wednesday (DVR for the win!) since I was out Tuesday night.  More than once we found ourselves sad, remembering how much it hurt when the Colts left town.  The dedication of the the Colts Marching Band is incredible.  I definitely didn't know all the history behind what they did to help bring a team back to Baltimore... coupled with Schaeffer having the vision to build a new stadium to bring a new team to the city.  If building the stadiums hasn't paid for themselves by now (even if it's just in goodwill... look at how packed the stadium is each home game!), I'd be surprised...

Something that seemed to be glossed over is that Mrs. Irsay finally allowed the Baltimore Colts Marching Band to keep their uniforms... which allowed the band to pull their uniforms out of the mausoleum... goodness the significance of that whole series of events could not have been scripted better.

They also touched on how the Baltimore fans felt after it was announced that the Browns were coming to Baltimore.  The sentiment was that we didn't want to take someone else's team... we know what it's like to lose a team.  I remember that feeling very distinctly, but I also remember being ok with it once I heard that Cleveland would get to keep its team's name, colors, and history. 

If there's anything that still pains me about the Colts leaving Baltimore, it's that our history has not been given back to Baltimore... It's not like Johnny Unitas was an Indianapolis Colt.  He was a Baltimore Colt, so those records should belong to Baltimore.  Indianapolis can keep all the history they've made since the Colts moved to their city, especially since Peyton Manning is going to continue to make history and break records as long as he plays.  Just give us OUR history back, and I'd be willing to let it go.

I also give kudos to the Modell family for
1.  Embracing the Colts Marching Band immediately.
2.  Allowing the Colts Marching Band to finish their history in Memorial Stadium.
3.  Letting them become the Marching Ravens in the new stadium.

I truly had no idea how much the Baltimore Colts Marching Band had directly helped Baltimore get a another NFL team.  Thank you to Barry Levinson for having the vision to focus on this story.  The story of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band needed to be told, and Baltimore couldn't have been more honored to have one of its own, the great Barry Levinson, tell it.

Thank you to Bill Simmons of ESPN for being willing to allow the film directors to think outside their own box.  And thank you to ESPN for being willing to show these non-traditional documentaries on their ever-popular airwaves.

The Band That Wouldn't Die

To all Baltimore Colts fans:

Mark it on your calendars or DVR it. Tuesday, October 13, 8:00PM on ESPN.

ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series is about the story behind the big story, not just big headlines rehashed from the last 30 years. Instead, ESPN asked big name film directors to make these documentaries because they interested the firm directors personally. To boot, ESPN gave them almost full control of the creative reins. So this isn't just ESPN doing it's usual thing... it's Barry Levinson (Rain Man) and Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and others like him making a documentary. Real film directors making a documentary? This can only be good....

Here's a link to the an article from the originator of the series, talking about how the project started and how it evolved into what we're seeing on TV. A quick excerpt:

These wouldn’t be typical documentaries with highlights and talking heads and a chronological theme. These would be stories with a beginning, middle and end. That’s what we wanted.

In many cases, the filmmakers did the brainstorming while we did a lot of nodding.... Our friends at NBA Entertainment wanted to make a film about how Yugoslavia’s basketball team was ripped apart by the Bosnian War—not just because it was a terrific story, but because they were sitting on a treasure chest of footage that nobody had ever seen. ... These ideas would put the onus on the viewers, make them think, make them use their brains, make them wonder what might happen next. Everyone already knows what happened with the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team. But how many people know what happened the night Mike Tyson knocked out Bruce Seldon in Las Vegas? That’s what we wanted.

Tonight, Steve and I watched the first episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 series which was about the Wayne Gretzky trade from the Oilers to the Kings. It wasn't about the trade itself but it was about the story behind the trade... what led up to the trade, what happened after the trade.... It was EXCELLENT. We were absolutely rivited.

So why am I blogging about this? Because Barry Levinson was asked by ESPN if he would be interested in filming a documentary, and *he* said he wanted to document the Baltimore Colts Band!

And if the Wayne Gretsky documentary we saw tonight is any indication, as Baltimore Colts fans, this will be a fantastic tribute to the band that musically protested to the NFL that Baltimore did not have a team until it finally got one.

ESPN's feature page on The Band That Wouldn't Die has Barry Levinson commentary and a trailer. I'm already hooked...

And in case you didn't see it in the Baltimore Sun this morning, here's a link to the article that advertises that the documentary was shown at M&T Bank Stadium tonight. There's also a little Q&A with Barry Levinson at the end.

It's nice to see Baltimore on TV in a *GOOD* way, even if it's Barry Levinson's quirky way.

Chad Ochocinco (Johnson)'s book

Apparently, I've been reading a lot of ESPN's Rick Reilly lately!

He decided to review Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad (Johnson) Ochocinco's book. Maybe he didn't decide and it was decided for him, but the outcome is still the same. We have an excellent book review worthy of the New York Times Book Review.

This review is so good and thorough that I feel no need to read this book. It tells me everything I need to know about the book and Mr. Chad Ochocinco himself. Here is one of the reasons why Rick Reilly contends this book is a good read:

[Mr. Ochocinco's] torrid introspection. When he found himself at the only birth he was able to attend of his four children (by three different women) the moment hit him deeply. "I'm holding a little me," he thought to himself. "Just having little
me's around is cool. No lie." That's transcendent.

I've never had such insight in a man like Mr. Ochocinco before, and just these summaries of his points (see the rest of the article) speaks volumes about him. So glad he isn't a Baltimore Raven!!!

You have to have brains to be a Cowboys cheerleader!

I read an article by Rick Reilly, an ESPN columnist, about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad must take a written test in order to make the team. The purpose, according to the Cowboys head cheerleader is because:

We want our cheerleaders to be knowledgeable and well-spoken in interviews. If they're not, it's a deal breaker.

Yes, I have teased for years that cheerleading is not a sport, due to the typical stereotype of no brains, all beauty, no talent, and very shallow, clique-y friendships and politics. But true cheer squads are usually made of gymnasts. The stuff cheer squads do are downright dangerous. I watched a cheerleading competition on ESPN one time, and was glued, believe it or not. The dance routines and the synchronization in the gymanstics (think synchronized swimming/diving) are complex and excellent. Serious kudos to those kinds of cheer squads.

Now add brains along with beautiful and athletic? Talk about breaking the stereotype for your average cheerleader. Hooray!! I love it.

The article continues and asks why the Dallas Cowboys football players don't have to take this test? Admittingly, this is a pretty lame answer from the head cheerleader: "Well, their job description is winning football games." Fail.

But no matter. The article asked 12 current players to take the cheerleader test. Examples of the questions and the answers the players gave are included in this article. A sample to whet your pallet:

Q: Name the Six Flags of Texas.
A very tough question. Only backup QB Jon Kitna nailed it. "Oh, my kids have been schooling me on this. Mexico, Spain, France, United States, Republic of Texas and the Confederacy. Thanks to my kids, I just learned that!" Nearly all 11 others thought it was an amusement park question. Need to get some kids.

I encourage you to read the article and see what the results were. There are some tough questions on that test!

Gold spider silk makes a real cloth

I just read an article that talks about 1 million spiders donating their golden silk to make a 11x4 ft cloth textile. This is about the coolest thing ever... and once again, goes to show just how amazing nature is. I'm sure PETA is going to get all mad that the spiders were "used" but blaaaah blaaah blah. This is just too cool.

The article talks about how the female spiders were harvested, when they actually produce silk, and has a picture of the cloth that is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It's a neat read.

Kudos to a coach

Yesterday, I officiated a JV game at one of the local public schools. During the meeting with the captains and the head coaches for each team, my officiating partner and I were informed by the home team's head coach that she will not be starting 3 of her players for a full half due to their lack of attendance at practice.

At this point, I grinned and turned to the visiting team's coach and said, "Just because she is choosing to play short does not mean you have to play short as well."

The home team's coach followed that up immediately, "Oh PLEASE play with your full team. I encourage it!" With that attitude, I was very happy to support the coach in this decision. The rule states the team must field 7 players, including a goalie, at minimum, so there was nothing saying otherwise.

My favorite part of the game, though, was in the second half when both teams were fielding full fields. I heard the home team coach yell out, "WHY ARE YOU TIRED??? Oh wait, it's because you weren't AT PRACTICE!!!"

AWESOME.

Kudos to that coach for sticking to her guns and teaching the kids a lesson on responsibility and commitment.

The ESPN Ombudsman's latest article - What's a good TV broadcasting team and what can the Little League World Series teach us about life?

I probably should break up this article into two, but I'm not.

I love ESPN.com. It's probably my main connection to the sports world. But as a sporting conglomerate, an 800 pound gorrilla as it were, it has its issues, of course. Enter stage left, The ESPN Ombudsman.

ESPN seems to have 2 year terms for ombudsmen, and I've been reading the monthly articles faithfully since ESPN hired its first ombudsman. I find the articles address issues drive me crazy about ESPN, and also gives insight into why ESPN made the decisions it did in those cases, right or wrong.

This month's article touches 2 major topics:

1. The chemistry of and fan reaction to the 3 man Monday Night Football team, with the exit of Tony Kornheiser and the addition of John Gruden.
2. The fan reaction to the broadcast of the Little League World Series.

1. Monday Night Football
Overall, I am in agreement with the fans... the chemistry is good, and I'm enjoying listening to the broadcast. Tony Kornheiser used to drive me nuts.

The Ombudsman also talks about the preparation and production hula-hoops the broadcasters and producers must jump through to create a clean seamless broadcast for the viewers. I thought this was fascinating as I know nothing about TV production so it was neat insight.

But also during this discussion, he also points out that good broadcasters know when to be quiet vs. when to talk because "they recognize that most of the audience tuned in for one basic purpose -- to watch the game -- and not to listen to wall-to-wall commentary." Having watched both Monday night football games this week, the following example he cites is absolutely perfect.

A classic case in point was this week's opening-night double-header on MNF -- two exciting finishes handled in totally different ways. Coming from behind, the Chargers scored a TD in the final minute to beat the Raiders. The final dramatic drive was covered by non-stop hyperkinetic chattering in the booth, filled with more opinion than relevant information. The announcers excitedly talked over the top of each other at times, leaving no room for the climactic moments to breathe.

On the other hand, Tirico, Jaworski and Gruden's [the primary Monday Night Football broadcast team] handling of the dramatic finish of the Buffalo-New England game was first-rate. The play-by-play was totally controlled, hitting the key points. Both analysts, judicious in their comments, never strayed from the intensity of the moment. All were enthusiastic, yet restrained -- a tough order when the adrenalin is flowing as strongly in the booth as it is on the field. The trio let the drama build and unfold with intentional moments of silence that enhanced the tension. When the Patriots scored the winning touchdown, there was a long pause in the booth -- allowing the audience to enjoy the pandemonium around the stadium. This doesn't happen by accident. It was a conscious choice made by the booth and the truck, and it was excellently executed.

The Ombudsman uses the word "pandemonium", which is an absolutely dead on description, to describe the reaction of the Pats fans when the Pats scored the game winning touchdown. The camera panned around the stadium, and the TV viewers got to watch and listen to the crowd going bonkers for a full 30 seconds. Had the broadcasters been talking over that, I never would have gotten that sensation and frankly, that was the best part of the whole game.... watching the fans go completely and utterly nuts.

2. Little League World Series
The article also talks about fan reaction to the broadcast of the Little League World Series which was unanimously positive. The Ombudsman takes a look at this unanimous response rate, and offers this analysis:

...perhaps there's a lesson here for ESPN and the sports world it covers. Can it be that the fans crave events contested by "sportsmen" regardless of their age or the level of their performance? No, it wasn't "big league ball," but the competition was intense and the players were talented and passionate. Each home run captured the unbridled joy of the hitter, the deep anguish of the pitcher, and the viewer could revel in both.

One moment exemplified what viewers found so enthralling. As a young Californian circled the bases after hitting a game-tying home run, one of the Georgia infielders gave him a smile and a congratulatory tap on the shoulder. A brief but touching reminder of what true sportsmanship is. But it wasn't the only example. There were no glares from players questioning balls and strikes. There was no arguing the tag at home. There was no showboating or taunting.

Contrast this with what's seen on "SportsCenter" or any local newscast -- the look-at-me egocentrism, bench-clearing brawls, DUI crashes, sexual assaults, paternity suits, drug infractions, union disputes, near-bankrupt cities building billion-dollar stadiums for teams that can afford $200 million payrolls.

There is no question that all these things need to be covered along with the scores and incredible feats that make up today's world of competition. Sports have always been popular because they encompass the incredible highs and lows of triumph and tragedy. But today's ever-increasing curse of a dark underbelly that reflects the seamier side of our culture is real, and it's part of life.

The Little League World Series was a pleasant reminder that, at their core, sports can be about the dreams of the players, their teammates, their coaches, their parents and their towns. And watching 12- and 13-year-old kids play a game for the sheer joy of doing it can teach us all valuable lessons about life.

Amen.

Tinsel E - update

OW.

'Nuff said.

OW OW OW. The motrin isn't helping enough. And neither is the shredded wheat I'm trying to eat for lunch. That was a poor choice in lunch packing...

I knew I was getting a new wire today but the last time I got a new wire, it really wasn't that bad. The pain was pretty much gone in a day, and I didn't have to take medication for the pain. So I figured more of the same. Clearly, I figured WRONG!

I had noticed a space had formed between two of my lower teeth, and I found out today that the orthodontist did that on purpose to create space in my palette. This space give the front three bottom teeth the room to realign in the center of my mouth. So how does the orthodontist realign teeth that way? Rubber bands!!

I thought, oh no, no rubber bands, please! I don't want to have something else to think about, too!! However, the technician wrapped the rubber band around the brackets of my bottom three teeth such that it's under the wire. That means I don't have to deal with it! Yaaay! But hooooh boy does it create some pressure that I didn't expect.

The new wire adds a whole other dimension of pain. I can feel that it's moving my back teeth (in particular) already. This is where the majority of the pain is, and it's giving me a headache.

The orthodontist said a few more things today:

1. This new wire will create space in my upper teeth the way the last wire created space in my lower teeth.
2. I only have 1 more wire change left before I'm done.
3. It looks like I'm running ahead of schedule. Of course I wasn't told how far ahead of schedule...

The dentist said that typically, once the orthodontist gets the teeth where he wants them, he'll leave the wire in place with no adjustments for 3-4 months because in the adult mouth, it takes longer for the bone to form so the teeth stop moving.

I don't think I'm getting my last wire at my end-of-October appointment but given the pattern I've seen so far, I'll probably get it in November/early December. So if that pattern holds true and if what my dentist said is true, I may be done a month early....

Time to go find something *soft* to eat for lunch.

Michael Vick has been fully reinstated

To the dismay to rabid (ha ha) dog lovers, Michael Vick has been fully reinstated to play football in the NFL for the Philadephia Eagles. Article here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4442627

Personally, I don't care.

On a football level, I don't think he'll be a true factor this year, being used purely as a decoy more than anything. I think he has a lot of catching up to do in terms of football at the NFL level.

On a personal level, Michale Vick has a lot to learn from a role model like Donovan McNabb - how to be a good person, how to be a teammate, how to learn from mistakes and become a better person because of them, how to be financially whole, etc. I just don't think you can do all that AND play football effectively at the NFL level. I have a feeling the Eagles organization knows this, and thus the reason for his secondary role in the offense, whether it's as a backup quarterback, a wide receiver, wildcat runner, etc.

On a dog lover level, I think he's served his time. Do I think jail time was enough? Maybe. I'm on the fence about that. But it's irrelevant now that he's out. In turn, I hope he uses his fame and notoriety to do things like talk to kids about peer pressure and running with the wrong type of people. I also hope he becomes a vocal advocate for animal rights (not PETA style), and brings attention to the terrible world of animal fighting (dog fighting, cock fighting, etc). Sure, there are bigger issues that our world needs to solve first before devoting tons of attention to animal rights, but every time someone is cruel to an animal, we lose a little bit of our humanity.

So I wish Michael Vick luck in proving that he is worthy of being released back into society, rehabilitated by our judicial and penetentiary system. He has a lot on his plate and needs to take to heart and internalize the guidance from good people who are willing to be in his life, like Tony Dungy (former Indianpolis Colts head coach and model human being) and a strong team like the Philadelphia Eagles. I hope he realizes this, and does the right thing, this time.

Field Hockey season is here!

In other words, the Baby Weight Loss Program has begun!

I haven't officiated a game since November of 2007. Why? Because I was 8 months pregnant with Elektra when the season started! I took my test anyway to stay current much to the surprise and amusement of my fellow officials (read: waddled in... waddled out...).

So the start of this season is exciting and nerve wracking for me. I'm excited to get back into the world of field hockey, to get outside, and be physically active again. But I've been wondering if I can keep up, physically and mentally.

I had a couple of scrimmage games on turf on Saturday. Turf makes for a very fast game, so I got to see how out of shape I am (not too bad, actually!). Turf also makes the fouls more subtle. I'm happy that I got most of them right, thought I can certainly use some improvement, particularly on my open field (between the 25's) skills. I'm very happy with my circle play, though, needing less tweaks than other parts of my game.

One of the refs that I've known for years was giving me pointers on my positioning which were great; I was working less hard by the end of the day, so that was good! She asked me how I was feeling and my answer was, "Physically - fine. Mentally - in a fog." She was surprised by this answer, and I continued, "I'm not actively processing what I see. I'm just going on instinct." To this, she answered, "It's the beginning of the season, and this is why we have practice games!" So glad that I'm not the only one. Hopefully, I'll work through the Mommy Fog sooner rather than later!

As the Farve turns

Good grief Brett, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!! Either retire or remain active.

Brett Favre unretired from the NFL by signing a contract with the Minnesota Vikings this week. This was after months of speculation, another declaration from Favre he was staying retired because his shoulder couldn't handle it, and more speculation that his declaration was all a farce (which clearly it was).

Don't get me wrong. I love watching Brett Favre play. At 39, is he pressing his luck physically? Sure he is. And after his last outing with the Jets, where the beginning half of the season was messy because he hadn't learned how to expertly execute the playbook and the end of the season, he looked like he was trying to force the ball into doing his will, I'm not convinced this is such a good idea.

However, I've been reading that the Vikings playbook is effectively the one he had in Green Bay so this transition won't be nearly as difficult.

Ok, but he missed preseason. Again. I swear it feels like his retirement is a way to skip pre-season.

One more thing to note, though, is that Favre wanted to go to Minnesota after Green Bay and Green Bay refused to comply with the request. I don't blame Green Bay's brass for that; why would you want your star quarterback who knows your offense and defense like the back of his hand to go to your rival and in-conference competitor that you will have to see a minimum of twice a year? So did he use continual retirement to get to the Vikings since Green Bay wouldn't deal him directly? It's not an inplausable theory.

Either way, though, I'm done with the Favre retirment. I celebrated his career when he retired the first time. His career with the Packers was the career to celebrate, and I look forward to when he's inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame as a Packer.

He has to STAY retired for that to happen though!!!

Who says there are no politics in cheerleading??

File this under the One-More-Reason-Not-To-Have-A-Facebook-Account folder.

The TechDirt blog I read brought an article to my attention that stated with the following sentence:

A Mississippi high school student is suing her school district after a teacher logged into the student's social networking account and distributed information that embarrassed her and led to her removal from the team.

Pause.

WHAT?

This just raises so many questions I almost don't know where to start. I'll just touch on two things.

First, why would a teacher believe (s)he has the power to demand but then actually follow through with that belief to actually demand a password to a personal Facebook account? If Facebook is blocked on the school's network, then the kids can't get to it using school property and thus, the kids only access it using personal equipment (computer at home, cell phone, etc). So whatever the kids are doing on Facebook cannot be in violation of any school rule because it's outside of school. So the teacher has no juristiction over activities on Facebook and in my not so humble opinion, abused his/her position of authority.

Second, why didn't the school's administration, upon reading personal messages, read the ISSUES in the emails not the WORDS in the emails?? Bullying is a big issue in middle and high school age kids. Tackle that problem, and the rest resolves itself. So as a parent, I would want the school's administration to support someone who stands up to a bully using words (not fists or any other violent method!), not punish the person because she used inappropriate language. Inappropriate language is a fact of life and as long as it's not on campus, then who cares??

Oh wait, that's because there are politics in cheerleading. Surprise!! There's a reason why there is a stereotype that there are politics in cheerleading, and this just proves that stereotype yet again!!

This article also underscores the firm belief that Steve and I have, as parents, that we need to teach our kids not only about physical security/safety (don't talk to strangers, etc), but also electronic security. Don't give your password out. The Internet immortalizes anything you post. Etc.

I wish I could say my parents had it easy raising us, but they just faced different challenges.

Another example of the way Customer Service should be

Zappos.com is known for it's extraordinary customer service. TechDirt alerted me to an article that someone posted of his test of Zappos' customer service, demonstrating why online customer service should not be overlooked.

An exerpt to get you started:

You are now chatting with Jonathan
Jonathan: Hello Timmy. How can I help you?
Timmy: do you know how wide the G-Shock Atomic Solar – AWG101 SKU #7403774 is?
Timmy: i mean, how big a wrist it would fit?
Timmy: Timmy has a big fat wrist
Timmy: Timmy need watch grande
Jonathan: I’ll see what I can find out for Timmy.
Timmy: awesome. and can we please continue to talk about Timmy in the 3rd person? Timmy likes to boost Timmy’s ego by talking about Timmy that way
Jonathan: Jonathan would be happy to neglect the use of pronouns for the duration of this conversation.
Timmy: Jonathan and Timmy shall get along just fine

That last line of Jonathan's had me rolling on the floor laughing with tears in my eyes. I kept reading, and found that just because, Zappos chose to upgrade shipping this item to the customer at no extra charge. That the customer service rep has that power is a testiment to Zappos, I think! That story is enough to convince to at least consider shopping there!!

Naxx 10 SUCCESS!

Last night, Steve and I participated in a 10 man raid of Naxxramas with our guildmates in World of Warcraft. I was the main tank ("Nice landing strip." "We like to think of it as a throw rug.") and Steve was on his holy pally healing. Since I was main tank and because we were starting an hour late, I decided that I would take us through this dungeon at a clip.

An hour and 15 minutes later, we had blown through both the Aracnid and Plague Quarers of Naxx. I had successfully lived through tanking the Safety Dance (the two tanks and Steve were the only 3 left alive at the end of that! LOL) which was a first for me (the tanking part), and we were on our way to downing Patchwerk in the Construct Quarter.

At the 2 hour mark, we'd successfully completed the Construct Quarter, too. And we had one shot every boss up to that point, too. One person had to log, so we filled the spot and continued going.

The Military Quarter was a cinch until The Four Horsemen, and even that only really required creativity, flexibility, and awareness (i.e. battle rez the warlock!). In fact, that flexibility and awareness saved us when we were surprised that a Shade decided to crash our party while fighting Gothik the Harvester (wow that instance is BU-UGGED since the content patch!).

The bell tolled midnight, and the 4 Quarters of Naxxramas were dead... quiet. We had effectively blown through Naxx in 3 hours, one shotting all bosses. We zoned out of the Military Quarter and found ourselves in the Frostwyrm lair, the home of Sapphiron and Kel'Thuzad. Sapph is the KT's gigantic frost wyrm guardian and KT is, well, the guardian of Naxx. As a guild, we'd only been here once. The excited yet nervous energy was evident among the party.

"On your pull, Soph." With that cue, I growled the fiercest bear-growl I have, and charged at this skeletal dragon 400 times my size. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall because down he went after a 5 minute fight.

There was no way we weren't going to try our hand at KT, no matter how late it was, having gotten this far with no wipes. We were going to Press Our Luck.

After a quick explanation of the fight, I led the charge into KT's throne room. Phase 1 was wasn't too complicated. Phase 2 has its challenges, though, one of which being that you must be at least 10 yards away from every one of party members. This is hardest on melee types, especially if you have a lot of them because KT's hit box just isn't that big.

We got KT down to just over 50% when Steve's character - my dedicated healer as the main tank - died. This was ok as there were two other healers who could keep me and raid full of health. However, when KT's health fell to 50%, adds came out to wreak havoc on the party. At that point, a healer has to dedicate themselves to the offtank while the offtank keeps the adds busy and away from the party while the rest of party finished off KT. Now Steve's character's death could become a problem because now the one healer had to keep 7 people alive, including me, and I would be taking the bulk of the damage.

Decision time. Time to battle resurrect Steve's character. Prep first: apply my Valor Medal of the FIrst War (dodge) trinket + Barkskin + select Steve's character. Take a deep breath and.... cast Rebirth. This pulls me out of bear form into my very vulnerable and squishy caster form. Luckily, the Rebirth is a VERY fast cast, and I could quickly switch back into bear form without taking much damage. AWESOME!! I got my dedicated healer back, healed myself with my herbalism synergy skill, and we were back in business....

The achievement for killing KT popped up on the screen and the group was ELATED! We took a picture of all of us sitting on KT's throne as proof of his demise, and gleefully commented that our guild/raid leader was going to be irritated that we killed Sapph and KT without him.

We finished Naxx 10 in 3 hours and 15 minutes, one shotting all bosses (i.e. no wipes). Typically, it takes an hour per Quarter + half an hour to an hour for Sapph and KT. We crushed that typical timeline! We showed KT, and all of his minions, who's boss!

Finally, a night NOT full of fail. Grats to the Sek Sea Pirates!

The controversial signing of Michael Vick

Last week, Michael Vick signed a deal to play with the Philadelphia Eagles.

PETA, of course, is making a huge deal out of it because you know, if PETA can make a huge deal out of President Obama killing a fly (did anyone ever tell PETA that flies carry germs and diseases?), then a convicted dog fighter will get a whole mess of attention from PETA. To be fair, though, outside of the PETA sphere of influence, many rabid (pun intended) dog lovers are upset by Vick's signing, too.

But the fact is that Vick served his prison time; he has served his debt to society, according to our laws. Therefore, if he has served his debt to society, why are people still so outraged? In a country that "prides" itself on forgiveness, this doesn't sound very forgiving. In fact, Vick was sentenced by a judge who wanted to make a statement and as such, Vick likely got a harsher sentence than someone not of his fame might have. Whether the 2 year prison sentence was long enough is a debate for another day, though I seem to remember reading polls at the time that people felt that the sentence was long enough.

Naysers have said things like: Vick is famous and that his signing makes it seem like just because you're famous, you can do some heinous crime and still get back into the NFL and make big bucks. This is not a good role model for our kids!

I contend the opposite. The fact that Vick was convicted of a crime, spent two years in jail, and has not been fully reinstated by the NFL is showing kids that if you commit a crime, you will pay consequences for it! You might not get your job back. Vick's salary is contingent on his playing *games* and currently, the NFL is not allowing him to play *games*. No big bucks there. AND, if Vick becomes an anti-dog fighting spokesperson, his fame would serve the cause very well.

The ethical part of this is interesting to me, but I obviously lean toward the "he's done his time, so let him re-join society and make a living and pay taxes like the rest of us". So I'm done with that part of the saga.


What I am finding more intriguing is that an NFL team was willing to take on the Public Relations nightmare known as Michael Vick especially since Vick didn't pan out to be that good a quarterback as predicted by his being the #1 draft pick back in the day.

NFL stadiums where the Eagles will play are going to see PETA protestors. I'm sure there will be derrogatory signs held by fans in the stands. There is no shortage of dog lovers in an NFL fan base, and I am sure there are plenty who are really upset that a convincted dog fighter get to make millions again playing in the NFL. And Eagles fans are not fair weather birds... they are hardcore and vocal. This signing had the potential to alienate a large chunk of their fan base and bring a whole lot of bad press to the Eagles organization.

So why do the Eagles feel the Vick signing won't hurt them? Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com wrote an excellent article explaining why the Eagles can weather signing someone as controversial as Vick. It comes down to 5 major factors that takes a ton of the risk out of signing Vick, according to Mortensen:

It had to be a team with a strong owner. A strong organization. A strong head
coach. A passionate fan base. And, yes, an established, stable quarterback.

Philly has all of those things, and not one of those things is more important than the other. It's a win-win situation, though the win for Vick is far more than the win for the Eagles.

I will be watching the Eagles this season to see how Vick developes and matures under McNabb's guidance.

And I will be watching to see how well our prison system rehabilitated a convicted dog fighter.

Wrightsville Beach 2009

Holy moley what a crazy week I've had, and thus late on the blog. Better late than never, I suppose?

The annual family vacation began July 31 this year and once again, we went to Wrightsville Beach, NC. We stayed in the same house we've been in the last 6-7 (more?) years now. The house - despite some fixes - is not in outstanding shape, but oh well. For example, the oven is unpredictable, so there is no baking to be had. That's mostly ok as we tended to use the stove more often, but still. I missed out on making my now infamous "Rustic" Carrot Cake and burnt Vanilla Butternut Pound Cake.

The drive down was easy. Elektra was a dream child and DJ did great for an active toddler. We only stopped twice, once for breakfast at a Panera for half an hour, and once for lunch (Wendy's) and gas for 45 minutes. We left the house at 8:35AM, and we arrived at the beach house at 4:30PM. I think we made awesome time. The kids napped in the afternoon for an hour and a half, and that helped, too.

While I unpacked, Steve took DJ to the pool with his older cousins. DJ and Spiro played with the watering can, showering each other much to their delight.

DJ and Spiro having fun with the watering can!

Unfortunately, my immediate family was on a different food schedule than everyone else and no one had gone to get groceries yet, so Steve and I packed the kids into the car and took our first run to Chick-Fil-A. We got home, put the kids to bed, ate dinner, and finally got to relax.

The kids slept in pack-n-plays (thanks for letting us borrow the second one, Eleanor!) in our room with us. They sleep like rocks, so we could sneak in later to go to bed. However, they don't sleep late. Oh yes, 6AM came early EVERY day. This is why it's not "vacation", it's a "trip". Ok, so maybe it's a vacation from our paid-job responsibilities but that's about it!! And of course, when one child gets up, the other child wakes up. To the kids' credit, though, they entertained each other for about 15-20 minutes, but they weren't quiet about it so it's not like we got another 15 minutes of sleep! It was hilarious to listen to them talk to each other, watch them jump up and down (watching heads bob up and down from above/ the pack-n-play edge), and one morning, DJ sang. Despite being awakened early and wanting to continue sleeping, it was really cute and gratifying to watch them. Eventually, one child would insist on being done with being in the pack-n-play (usually Elektra) and we'd start our day.

Once again, because the house is 4 floors tall, the stairs are prominent. This year, however, DJ could navigate them by himself without any full-attention supervision, really. What we didn't expect, however, is that Elektra wanted to take a shot at them. So, like the fearless girl she is, she did.

Elektra climbing the stairs!

What we can't figure out is why this incident was the only time she tried to climb the stairs the whole week. After that one time, she didn't do it again, and showed no interest. ::shrug::

We took the kids out to the beach, of course. Elektra loved it. She ate more sand than I'm sure I can recount, and tried to put everything in her mouth that she could find. She loved splashing her hands and feet in the ocean, and giggled every time a wave "crashed" on us. DJ, on the other hand, wanted NO part of the ocean. Zero, zip zilch, donut hole. I can only guess that the noise scared him, and that the water's movement really inimidated him. "Get out!" was all we heard from him if we were standing in the water , even if we were carrying him! It didn't take him too long to warm up to the giant sandbox, though! He had a good time pouring water and sand over Daddy! Unfortunately, I don't have beach pictures yet from my sister to post them.

The pool ended up being DJ's favorite activity, as long as his cousins weren't crowding his space. By the end of the week, he was comfortable in the water with us, though he wanted to hold his watering can as kind of like a talisman. But he had a good time watching Daddy scoop up diving rings and doing handstands! I do have pictures on my camera, but I haven't downloaded them yet!

The family only went out to dinner four nights, making our lives significantly easier!! The kids typically ate lunch early and had long naps in the afternoon in addition to Elektra's morning nap.

Steve and I got our share of WoW in, and we watched a DVD of our goddaughter, Alexandra, act her part as Ms. Hannigan in their 7th grade musical "Annie". She was awesome!! We also got to hear Sophia and Alexandra play the violin which was a musical treat!


Once again, the week went by too quickly, and we had to come home. Our trip home was even easier than our trip down, and we were home by 4PM. My brother and his family didn't leave Baltimore for Minneapolis until the next afternoon, so I took DJ to see them in the morning. He had a good time playing with his cousins!

There's a baby coming!

Dave, Steve's brother, is mass-texting (Steve and I got the same texts, so we can only assume others are included in his mass-texting) that he and his wife Nancy are at the hospital!

The first message appeared on my phone at 9:26AM EDT, which makes it 6:26AM PDT their time. She was already 6cm dilated with 2-minute apart contractions.

The next text I received at 10:24 AM EDT, said that Nancy was at 8cm dilated (2 more centimeters in less than an hour later!) and possibly too late for an epidural.

The only other text I've received was at 11:42 AM EDT. Nancy received an epidural (WAHOO!!! Epidural FTW!!) and is doing well, though only 8cm dilated still and 2 minute contractions.

My thoughts are that now that Nancy isn't fighting the labor pains, she can relax (maybe even nap!), and therefore dilate faster, and little Axel William will make his happily anticipated appearance very soon!!

We love you, Nanc, and hope that everything goes smoothly and that you have an easy recovery!

Life - as you know it - is over!!! Instead, happier days are ahead! :-)

Tinsel E - 28 weeks

I went for my checkup with the orthodontist today. They took a panoramic x-ray which was going to show the doctor to where the roots of my teeth had moved since the braces were applied. There was one root that made the technician wonder if the doctor would do something about it because it was angled off to the side.

Sadly that was the most exciting part of my appointment. The doctor examined me, the technician tightened the wire on my bottom front four teeth, and said, "See you in 5 weeks!"

Apparently, in 5 weeks, I get a new wire. My treatment is progressing!

Yard Maintenance - Part 3

As this past weekend was the weekend before Elektra's baptism, it was effectively my last weekend to get big projects done. I had all sorts of delusions of gradeur in terms of the types of projects I'd get accomplished and how beautiful and clean looking the outside of the house would be.

Delusions of Grandeur. Yep. Key words right there.

We took the kids to the Science Center on Saturday morning with Damian, Jenn, and Leo, and while they were napping, I had these grand plans of getting the garage clean and other housework. But you know, when the going gets tough, the tough take a nap. And nap I did... for 3 hours! Hmmm. Maybe my body is trying to tell me something. Needless to say, nothing got done on Saturday.

Sunday, however, was a different story. I organized the kids rooms a little more, cleaned the kitchen some, went grocery shopping and just as I got home, my parents called. They wanted to come over to see the grandkids, but also help with any remaining yard work. Heck, no yard work help needed - just enjoy the grandkids! Their timing, however, was perfect in terms of nap time, so they really could help me with yard work.

Steve was in the garage, organizing it and changing the oil in the STi (again). My parents and I were trimming bushes and killing weeds in the front beds. I spent a few minutes with my trusty shovel digging up a fern at its roots and go figure, I actually managed to break the shovel. So there I was, standing there, scratching my head, totally lost on how to get this stupid fern out of the ground with a busted shovel.... it was amusing, to say the least!

I also borrowed Mary's long extension cord, and retested my hedge trimmer. It worked. I must've either blown a fuse in the outlet I was using the week before or the hedge trimmer reset itself. Either way, that made my life a whole lot easier in trimming the big hedge bushes. They at least look a little neater, even if still huge. Their saving grace right now is that they are absolutely gorgeous azaleas that bloom beautifully in the Spring. There are other bushes in those beds, on the other hand, that won't be spared when I can get a hold of a truck with a trailer hitch and a big old chain ... (e.g. the holly ow ow ow! you're so GONE!). Reseeding grass and making rock beds is a small price to pay for a neater, less maintenance bed that is configured to help keep termites and other bugs away from the house!

Meanwhile, my parents helped shape bushes, trim the ridiculous hosta (I'm so going to dig up most of them next year - they are out of control!!!), and make the beds look a little neater overall. I couldn't have done it all without them! Thanks M&P! And the kids loved seeing you!

The dogs' latest adventure

On Saturday, I had the kids on my own while Steve was down at FedEx design our course for Sunday's autocross. I had them both in their highchairs eating lunch when out of the corner of my eye, I saw IO walk across the lawn with something in his mouth.

Oh.

No.

I go outside, he sees me, and starts to trot away from me with his "prize".

"Drop it."

Of course he doesn't drop it, and scoots further from me.

"DROP IT."

He drops it.

Upon inspection, it's a half-eaten baby rabbit. OH HOW FOUL. I immediately call the dogs inside and crate them, and figure I'll deal with the carcass after the kids go for their naps.

Once the kids were safely in their cribs for naps, I went back outside, armed with latex gloves and plastic bags. This time, I shut my eyes, picked up the carcass - and that of a drawn and quartered bird that I also found nearby - and tossed the whole thing in the trash.

No one has claimed that the dogs actually killed the rabbit. I actually have no proof of that. In fact, the bird parts is making me think that maybe the neighbor's outdoor cat got both, but didn't take either prize to its owners. Maybe my dogs interrupted that process....? Again, all speculation.

However, I know for a FACT that IO ate part of that baby rabbit, and he vomited it later on the living room carpet. That was even MORE foul than the original carcass.

Thanks Dog.

Love country living!!!

Yard Maintenance Part 2

I took this past Thursday and Friday off to work on the yard in preparation for Elektra's baptism. This included a trip to the dump and the Gnome Despot. "Welcome to suburban life!" one of my Twitter friends tweeted to me in response to my own tweet about my trip to Gnome Despot. How true, how true.


The major project I had in mind was to eliminate the bed behind DJ's room, next to the deck.

Step 1: Clean the original bed. In a previous post, I had weeded it already saving me tons of time.

Step 2: Create the trench, for lack of a better word, for the rock bed that would be closest to the house. I dug about 2 feet wide, 2-3 inches deep, and the length of the house up to the gutter. In the process, I dug up a whole lot of roots, some of which I really couldn't eliminate. I'm assuming they are tree roots from the tree that used to be nearby. Next, I staked landscaping material in the whole, doubled over, hopefully for double protection! Then I lined the outside with bricks that outlined the original bed. Finally, I finished my trench with lava rocks.

Step 3: Apply grass seed. I had to even out the bed, so I spent time moving dirt around to fill holes. Then I applied 7 bags of topsoil to give the grass seed something in which to grow! I topped it off with this layer of green mat to protect the seed. I actually didn't buy enough, and thought I'd just not bother covering the whole area. However, Napoleon decided that the top soil smelled very tasty, took a mouthful with him to a shady area, and tried to eat it. Naturally, I stopped him before he actually ate any, but that convinced me that I would need to cover the whole area. Off to the Gnome Despot, again, picked up more of the mat to cover the grass seed, and finished the job.


Step 4: Add water. I've been watering it once or twice a day since.


Step 5: Hope it grows....

With that project done, I then tackled Operation Eliminate Hosta Flowers that line the front walk. Sonny let me borrow his weed wacker, and I learned after the first buzz that I would need safety glasses. No taking any chances there!! By the time I had cut down all of the hosta flowers and the weeds living in the horrifically neglected front beds, I was absolutely covered in plant debris. I couldn't wait to get in the shower! But at least the front beds started to look a little better.....


Friday was spent hand trimming (read: hacking at) the rhododendren. Unfortunately, the buds are already there, so I lost some of next year's flowers, but that's ok. This plant is enornormous and needs to be hacked to the ground. I restrained myself from doing that, I promise...

Then I started trimming bushes on the side of the house with the hedge trimmer. I borrowed an extension cable from my neighbor to reach ANY electrical outlet and also attached my own extension cable to that. As I was hacking off foliage from the bush closest to the fence, I must have managed to hack my extension cord, too. It was a clean cut all the way through. ::roll eyes:: It figures. Well, that's ok... needed to buy a longer one anyway. So I plug my neighbor's extension cord directly into the trimmer, which we know works because it was giving power to my extension cord which I hacked in half, but now the hedge trimmer doesn't turn on.


FAIL.


Frustrated, I cleaned up the mess I'd made, returned my neighbor's extension cord to her, and went inside to shower. I'll buy a new hedge trimmer and extension cord this coming weekend, I guess.


All in all, I got a lot done, so I am happy with that!

Yard Maintenance

Apparently, long weekends for me have gone from lazy to busy.

(Non-Orthodox) Easter weekend was spent cleaning and reducing the size of the bed by the mailbox, and starting to thin out the hosta on the front walk.

Memorial Day weekend was spent installing ceiling fans and kitchen drawers.

Now, 4th of July weekend was spent cleaning out the bed on the back of the house under DJ's window and the lone bed furthest from the house by the fence, changing the furnace filters, and forceably removing the ivy that was taking over the azalea by the street as well as the wild strawberry vine trying to inhabit our fence line.

With Elektra's baptism looming quickly on the horizon and the likely possibility that the person I usually hire to help me care for the beds won't be available, I started to get the yard ready on my own. I actually plan to take a few days off during the week to finish these projects if I don't finish them in the next few weekends.

The first project is converting the bed by the deck and under DJ's window back into grass. This required removing all of the foliage growing in it. It was initially cleaned out last August, but I hadn't gotten to it. I figured it could lay fallow, no big deal. How wrong I was. Mother Nature deposited all sorts of seeds into that bed, and all sorts of things had grown in it. At least two of those "volunteers" were over 6 ft tall. So the trusty shovel and I went to work digging out the roots of these pesky plants. It took me 2 hours to get through that mess, and I wasn't even very diligent in getting everything! Serves me right for being a slacker.

Now that it's been cleaned, I will see if anything crops back up in the next week. If so, RoundUp and I will join forces. Actually, RoundUp and I will be joining forces sooner than that. I have tasked Steve with going to Gnome Despot this week to pick up another sprayer (so that we don't spray down our tires with RoundUp!) and more RoundUp. Then I'm going to liberally spray down the back fence line. I will have no remorse, and I will take no prisoners. It's all going to die....!

Anyway, back to the bed behind the house. I will dig an area half a foot deep, two feet wide, and the length of the house. Then I'll put down lawn fabric or some other kind of weed preventative fabric, and then put rocks down on top of that. I will use the bricks that currently outline the bed to outline that little "walk" to help contain the rocks. I also have to buy a window well cover and find a way to either attach it to the house permanently or weight it so it doesn't fly away and break like our last one did. I'll also clean the window that it'll cover... it's pretty gross right now! The rest of the bed will be seeded with grass. I think this needs to be done before the baptism, hands down. Even if grass hasn't grown by then, just for visual appeal, it needs to look like something useful!

I also cleaned the bed furthest from the house, too. This required eliminating wild strawberry. Man, does that have some nasty thorns! After cutting it with pruning shears, I used RoundUp on the bit of leftover stem/trunk of the plant in hopes of killing it dead. I know RoundUp is supposed to be used on the leaves so that it can get absorbed and then move down into the root system, but the plants were invading the bed and overgrowing into the lawn. They had to be eliminated. I didn't want DJ touching them and getting hurt!

I also removed the new foliage from the trees in that section, and trimmed the tall bush (name is escaping me right now!!) that 's in the middle of the bed with the pruning shears. I say "trimmed". What I really did is hack. Pretty much all new growth got hacked off. It's not shaped very well, but at least it's not overtaking anything. I also removed any new maple trees whose seeds decided the bed was perfect for germinating.

That bed now looks great, and I'm very happy with it.

Then I went to the front of the house to the azalea closest to the road. There was some kind of vine/ivy thing that was taking over this poor bush. I thought that it wouldn't take me long to cut it out, but it definitely took me longer than I anticipated! By the time I was done, this ivy/vine pile I dragged to where I disposed of it was so big that it was 6 feet long and probably 2 feet tall. It was huge. And now my azalea looks BARE. It doesn't look dead, but it doesn't look happy. I'm going to have to get a ladder and trim this azalea down big time and hope that it comes back fuller next spring! Once again, that's what I get for not dealing with it sooner...

I still have to chop off the flowers on the hosta on the front walk, trim back all of the bushes around the whole house, and clean out the bed by the shed. I also have to cut back the rhododedren big time! It's HUGE!

I'm nowhere near ready to have a big outdoor party yet, but I'm definitely on the right path!

Happy 4th of July!

I'm happy to report that I finally took down the dingy little flags I had hanging outside of the house and mounted a real flag over Memorial Day weekend. So I'm proud of my stars and stripes!

We had invited my parents and parents-in-law over for dinner. On Friday, I unfroze the rest of the beef tenderloin we had from DJ's birthday to have as the main course. That was the only firm plan I had for dinner until this morning.

This morning, I was trying to decide what else we would have with said tenderloin, but was striking out on ideas. Because DJ had asked earlier, "TV on?", we had Food Network showing. The Neely's were on, and they showed a recipe for bacon wrapped asparagus. Huh.... Ok, done. Asparagus and bacon were put on the grocery list. In my wanderings on foodnetwork.com, I saw some recipes with cornbread in them. That made me decide to make Northern-style cornbread as I hadn't had it in awhile, and it sounded good to me. I also saw an Ina Garten recipe for a flag cake during my Food Network travels (granted, it was on the home page since it IS 4th of July today)... that gave me another idea for dessert.

My mother-in-law came over to spend the day a few minutes after DJ went to bed for his nap. She helped Steve watch Elektra, who started pulling up (!), so I could start cooking.

First on the agenda, make a box yellow cake (blasphemy!). I tossed that into the oven while I had the cream cheese and unsalted butter softening. Then I prepped the asparagus. I had skewers soaking in water, but the first few skewers proved they were too thick for the delicate asparagus. I had to switch to toothpicks instead. Then I prepped the beef (butter, salt, pepper!), made the icing, and decorated the cake. Finally, I could sit down for a bit before making the cornbread.

Steve grilled the beef to perfection, again. Yummy! Then he grilled the bacon wrapped asparagus... oh my they were AWESOME. Thinking about making that more often, but in a more low fat way (turkey bacon?). And I made the cornbread which came out of the oven just in time for dinner.

We took a short break after dinner, DJ went outside to play and get some energy out with Grandmom, and then came back in and asked for "cake!"

Cake!

Yeah, I know that my version of the cake doesn't look nearly as good as Ina's, but I don't care. For last minute, it turned out great. DJ ate a good sized piece of cake, and only about 1/3rd of it remained. It's healthy - it has fruit on it! ha ha

My parents and my mother-in-law left before Steve (next door) shot off fireworks, but my father-in-law stuck around and we got to watch some. There's a whole lot of paper debris on our driveway - the wind was blowing towards the house. It was nice to see some fireworks; I haven't seen any in awhile. The kids, thankfully, slept right through them.

Happy 4th of July - the U.S. A. rules!!!

BBQ Baby Back Ribs - Round II

So I took a stab at ribs again last night.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find baby back ribs, just regular spare ribs. I'm thinking that's changing the taste a little due to extra fat, but I don't know...

Anyway. This time I tried an Emeril recipe, sort of. Emeril's recipe calls for coating the ribs with his Essence which we love... we make it ourselves and use it on salmon all the time. And then you marinade them in beer. So I did that on Monday night because the last rib batch we made, the ribs themselves didn't have any flavor. Marinaded them overnight.

Then Tuesday night, I continued following Emeril's recipe and roasted them on 325 for 2 hours in a tightly covered pan. When they came out of the oven, they smelled delicious! But since they came out of the oven at about 10pm, I let them cool, wrapped them, and then put them in the fridge.

Last night, Steve grilled them with some Jim Beam BBQ sauce. We basically were warming them since they were cooked, so that only took about 45 minutes.

The results: You could taste the beer, but not the Essence. The ribs were definitely more tender than the last time we made them, but not fall-off-the-bone tender like the Charred Rib's.

Thoughts: This batch proved that a marinade is required. It helps tenderize them as well as add flavor. I'm not sure I liked the beer flavor, so I plan to try a different type of marinade next time, along with a brown sugar-based rub.

Michael Jackson

I got a Twitter yesterday on my way home from picking up the kids that said, "R.I.P. Michael Jackson."

I thought, now that's weird... As I don't know the person who "tweeted" this message personally (I only follow), I can only imagine that she meant THE Michael Jackson, but I didn't know for sure. I found out later that, in fact, she meant THE Michael Jackson since he passed away yesterday afternoon.

I know he's been out of the entertainment spotlight for years - hasn't released a new album in years. In fact, I don't remember when he released his last album it's been so long. For all intents and purposes, he should have been irrelevant as artists who don't continue producing music and touring do. Yes, he never left the papparazzi's eyes because of his legal and financial issues, but that's not why he wasn't irrelevant. Michael Jackson was never irrelevant because made SUCH a huge impact in his early career both as a musician and an entertainer. He doesn't have Beatles power, but he's darn close as a solo entertainer.

How many tunes of his have been remade (Alient Ant Farm - "Smooth Criminal"), parodied (Weird Al Yankovic - "Eat It") or sampled in current music (Rihanna - "Don't Stop the Music")? Tons, and those I just listed are just the ones that come to mind immediately to me. How many musicians were influenced by him? Tons - just read the tributes to him that artists are making today. I wonder if Janet Jackson would have had a shot at her music career without him. The cult following he had... insanity. I heard stories on the radio this morning of people camping out in vans near his homes depending on where he was staying. That's INSANE! When I heard of his comeback tour, it didn't surprise me one bit that every single date was sold out in 2 hours. Heck, I don't think that any of those dates were State-side either! The man is a world icon. I asked friends in Australia last night if they'd heard about Michael Jackson's death. They said he made the front page. Again, not surprised. Twitter and Facebook crashed last night while spreading the news of his death because this isn't just USA news. This is world news.

No one else could have integrated horror film voice Vincent Price into a song and top the pop charts with it. As if topping the pop charts wasn't enough, Michael Jackson THEN took that top tune and cemented its place in history it with a music video that had awesome choreographed dance scenes and signature dance moves (the "Moonwalk") while telling a story. No one could do that like Michael Jackson. And no one will ever be able to wear a sparkling white glove and Moonwalk like Michael Jackson.

I've been listening to radio most of this morning, and they are all playing his music as a tribute to him. And I am amazed at how many tunes I know and enjoy. "Thriller" is my favorite tune of his, and it is my #1 favorite music video. I was hoping that he'd come back from this tour a changed and inspired man to make more music and entertain us. But instead, he left the world prematurely.

Thank you, Michael Jackson, for changing pop music and its secondary medium, the music video.

Darkness falls across the land
The midnite hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighbourhood

And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpses shell

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzy ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

-Michael Jackson "Thriller"

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

I love baby back ribs. I don't get them often enough, and I don't feel like I have the skill set to make them myself. I keep trying ribs at various restaurants' ribs and without fail, I'm horribly disappointed. I vow every time I'll never try another restaurants' ribs, and then I do and kick myself for it. I've been to the Corner Stable - Baltimorons rave about this place - and I thought their ribs were too sweet. They were tender, but I don't want dessert as my main meal!!

The only restaurant whose ribs I'll eat is called The Charred Rib which has THE best ribs I've ever had. If I want ribs, I resigned myself that I just have to go to The Charred Rib. Their ribs are fall-off-the-bone-tender (I can eat them with a fork, no problem) and moist with a sauce that is not too sweet or too smokey or too spicy. Their sauce is a perfect combination of the three, a very difficult combination to find, IMHO.

Well, we can't always afford the time to go to The Charred Rib, so Steve and I thought that maybe we should try our own. A few years ago, I tried an Alton Brown recipe while we were still living in the townhouse... epic fail. They were dry and tasteless. I threw them out on the spot and went to bed hungry they were so bad. I had to have done something wrong because the reviews for the recipe were all very positive. That was the first and only time I'd tried making ribs, and basically decided that the only way I was going to get ribs was by going to The Charred Rib, which basically meant almost never.

Fast forward a few years, and now we have kids so we have even LESS time to go to The Charred Rib. What's worse, Steve and I have been both jonesing for some ribs. This time, was Steve's turn to try his hand at ribs. He did some research, and tried a mesquite rub we had in the spice cabinet and used the cooking technique in an Emeril recipe. The results were tasted last night.

The mesquite rub = fail. The flavor didn't penetrate the ribs at all, and what flavor was on the outside tasted nothing like how it smells. In fact, it tasted horrible. I will be throwing this out of our spice arsenal.

The Hunts BBQ sauce = win. This was a dartboard purchase, and I'm happy to report that I was happy with it. What does a dartboard purchase mean? It means that I just shut my eyes and reach for a random BBQ sauce on the grocery shelf. Why? Because I've not been able to find the Jim Beam bourbon BBQ sauce I really like in years..... But I think this Hunts version is pretty good and will stick with it until I taste another one that I like.

The cooking technique = better than my attempt by far. They were tender, but not really moist and by no means were they "fall off the bone" like The Charred Rib's are.

We still threw out the batch of ribs, but we are not totally discouraged like last time. Since it's my turn to try my hand at ribs (again), I have some lessons learned to work with.

1. Pork requires a marinade no matter what. Except for bacon, every variety of pork I've ever eaten seems to be flavorless and dry unless it's marinated in advance. One of Emeril's recipes suggests putting a rub on the ribs, letting them sit for a day, and then marinating them in beer for another day. I think this technique has potential.

2. The rub will NOT be that horrible mesquite. Every rib rub I've ever seen includes some form of brown sugar, so I will look for something like that. Again, Emeril's one recipe looked intriguing.

3. The ribs were pre-cooked in the oven at a nice low 275 temp, were set to sit overnight, and then grilled. Even though the temp was low, I'm wondering if we cooked them too long in the oven which dried them out some. I've also wondered if there is some other technique that I should consider to make them fall-off-the-bone tender (boil?? slow cooker??). The pre-cook then grill technique is definitely headed in the right direction, though.

4. I will buy a half rack of ribs (if possible) instead of a full rack to waste less until we get our flavors and cooking technique down!

I'm so jonesing for some Charred Rib ribs now... ::sigh::