this time, it's brendan. not GI-oriented this time, which is good, but it looks like the poor guy has the flu. came out of school today with his head hung low, stating "i just don't feel good, mom". not what you expect from a second grader on a friday afternoon.
achy, feverish, sore throat, belly ache- just miserable. hopeful that a) it doesn't last long, and b) it starts and ends with him. full quarantine in effect.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
"fifty-seven thousand six hundred minutes..."
the easter season gets no love. easter is a more important holiday on the christian calendar than christmas, yet it gets nowhere near the commercial attention. hard to say whether the holiday drives the lead-in season or vice versa, but either way the weeks leading up to easter have nothing on those before christmas. i can't really say that advent gets any special billing, but the generic "christmas season" certainly gets its fair share. the pre-easter season kicks off with dirty foreheads, winds down with free palm leaves that clutter your house until you get rid of them just before the next year's holiday, and ends up on a total downer of a holiday, so-called "good" friday.
lent needs to go mainstream, get the people talking about it to drive up the word on the street. mel gibson tried, but he just brought everyone down with "the passion" (besides, the merchandising options were awful). we need something with a little life in it. so, as a means of bringing some much-needed attention to the season, i'm going to propose to the u.s. conference of catholic bishops that someone there just adapt a popular broadway show and create "lent- the musical". sure, they'll have to groom over some little things (like the gay sex and the aids and the drugs and all), but the songs are way better than anything from church!
c'mon, isn't lent really a "season of love" after all?
lent needs to go mainstream, get the people talking about it to drive up the word on the street. mel gibson tried, but he just brought everyone down with "the passion" (besides, the merchandising options were awful). we need something with a little life in it. so, as a means of bringing some much-needed attention to the season, i'm going to propose to the u.s. conference of catholic bishops that someone there just adapt a popular broadway show and create "lent- the musical". sure, they'll have to groom over some little things (like the gay sex and the aids and the drugs and all), but the songs are way better than anything from church!
c'mon, isn't lent really a "season of love" after all?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
geography bee
being the pedagogic parent that i am, i insisted that if i was going to have a pokemon battle with the boys on saturday afternoon, they would have to play a quiz game with me. i tried to get them to agree to state capitals, but they talked me into just quizzing them on the 50 states. turns out, that itself was an adventure enough.
the game went like this- i'd give them a letter, and they would have to provide me with all the states that started with that letter. first letter i gave them was L. owen's quick response: "lakota?" let it be said that the kid is well read, and he did go to custer's battlefield this summer, but i didn't realize he believed in statehood for native american tribes. with only a little prompting ("think south, near texas"), one of them quickly got louisiana and calmed my fear that this might be more of a lesson in futility for me than of geography for them.
we went on, covering most of the states with fair success on their part and only a few incorrect guesses (most were cities instead of states, as well as the almost expected incorrect guess of "new england"). then came T. right out of the box, both gave texas simultaneously, then paused for a good bit. finally, brendan broke the silence with "talabama?". classic. i believe i gave them tennessee because i couldn't bear the thought of anything worse.
but there was, sort of. i think the last letter we hit on was R. silence again, until owen responded with "richigan?". obviously he was playing off brendan's previous response, but when i gave him a "come on..." look, he replied "what? that's how scooby doo would say it." now the silence was on my end. you just can't argue with logic like that.
the game went like this- i'd give them a letter, and they would have to provide me with all the states that started with that letter. first letter i gave them was L. owen's quick response: "lakota?" let it be said that the kid is well read, and he did go to custer's battlefield this summer, but i didn't realize he believed in statehood for native american tribes. with only a little prompting ("think south, near texas"), one of them quickly got louisiana and calmed my fear that this might be more of a lesson in futility for me than of geography for them.
we went on, covering most of the states with fair success on their part and only a few incorrect guesses (most were cities instead of states, as well as the almost expected incorrect guess of "new england"). then came T. right out of the box, both gave texas simultaneously, then paused for a good bit. finally, brendan broke the silence with "talabama?". classic. i believe i gave them tennessee because i couldn't bear the thought of anything worse.
but there was, sort of. i think the last letter we hit on was R. silence again, until owen responded with "richigan?". obviously he was playing off brendan's previous response, but when i gave him a "come on..." look, he replied "what? that's how scooby doo would say it." now the silence was on my end. you just can't argue with logic like that.
Friday, February 20, 2009
leading me here, despite my destination
almost 2 weeks without a post, and now two in 45 minutes. couldn't let this wait, though. i'm adding this to my bucket list- somehow, someway, i want to see this with my own eyes. (i'd post the picture here, but it's a panorama and wouldn't fit.)
speaking of bucket lists, that sounds like a good idea for another day's post...
speaking of bucket lists, that sounds like a good idea for another day's post...
back off the DL
about 90% recovered from a nasty go-around with the stomach flu earlier this week. owen came home early from school on tuesday with it, and was still feeling the effects into the evening. i was fine all day, had a great dinner, went to bed a little early more for the rest than anything else, then started having that not-so-fresh feeling.
at about 10pm the fun began, with visits to the vomitorium about every 60-90 minutes throughout the night. one trip was a touching father-son moment- owen staggered into our room sometime around midnight, vomited on our carpet, then finished the job in the commode. once i knew he'd run dry, i gently nudged him aside and contributed my share. now there's bonding.
the other 60% of the family has emerged unscathed so far. here's hoping diligent hand washing and personalized water bottles keep it that way.
at about 10pm the fun began, with visits to the vomitorium about every 60-90 minutes throughout the night. one trip was a touching father-son moment- owen staggered into our room sometime around midnight, vomited on our carpet, then finished the job in the commode. once i knew he'd run dry, i gently nudged him aside and contributed my share. now there's bonding.
the other 60% of the family has emerged unscathed so far. here's hoping diligent hand washing and personalized water bottles keep it that way.
Monday, February 9, 2009
'roid rage
at the risk of starting a war of words in the comments section between wiley and 2white, i feel obliged to acknowledge the recent developments in the life of one alex rodriguez.
first of all, this news should come as no surprise to anyone who follows baseball. i've yet to see any of those before/after photos of a-rod, like the ones that sports outlets love to put up on bonds and clemens, but it's fair to say that a-rod now is nothing compared to the lanky shortstop that came up with the mariners. in a league where performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) were/are rampant, it's foolish to believe that after signing that almost immoral $250M contract, a-rod would have just turned his head and taken the moral high ground when presented with the temptation to cheat to succeed.
the signing of that contract, along with his antics on and off the field in NY, establish a-rod as a person with extremely low self-esteem. that low self-esteem was no doubt what drove him to feel the pressure to "'roid up", so as to avoid the ridicule that failure would bring after signing for 1/4 billion.
i give him some credit for owing up so fast. sure he's known for 5 years that there's a positive test on him, but if MLB wasn't going to leak it, why would he? his cop-out excuse seems lame, but i'm sure it's true- just make sure you interpret his feeling of "pressure" as more accurately an "immature fear of failure and loss of stature".
MLB is the real loser here. a-rod is the anchor brick in their steroid jenga tower- it all comes down now. there's no reason to believe that the 90's and early 00's were anything but a PED-fueled power trip. MLB must acknowlege that, acknowledge their outward denial, and allow all the records to stand and all the players during that period to be treated as equals. either that, or disavow the whole decade and a half and start anew.
first of all, this news should come as no surprise to anyone who follows baseball. i've yet to see any of those before/after photos of a-rod, like the ones that sports outlets love to put up on bonds and clemens, but it's fair to say that a-rod now is nothing compared to the lanky shortstop that came up with the mariners. in a league where performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) were/are rampant, it's foolish to believe that after signing that almost immoral $250M contract, a-rod would have just turned his head and taken the moral high ground when presented with the temptation to cheat to succeed.
the signing of that contract, along with his antics on and off the field in NY, establish a-rod as a person with extremely low self-esteem. that low self-esteem was no doubt what drove him to feel the pressure to "'roid up", so as to avoid the ridicule that failure would bring after signing for 1/4 billion.
i give him some credit for owing up so fast. sure he's known for 5 years that there's a positive test on him, but if MLB wasn't going to leak it, why would he? his cop-out excuse seems lame, but i'm sure it's true- just make sure you interpret his feeling of "pressure" as more accurately an "immature fear of failure and loss of stature".
MLB is the real loser here. a-rod is the anchor brick in their steroid jenga tower- it all comes down now. there's no reason to believe that the 90's and early 00's were anything but a PED-fueled power trip. MLB must acknowlege that, acknowledge their outward denial, and allow all the records to stand and all the players during that period to be treated as equals. either that, or disavow the whole decade and a half and start anew.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
those darn kids and their myface
finally succumbed to the pull of the black hole that is facebook. signed myself up yesterday, and already have found some old friends from high school and earlier whom i haven't heard from (or even about) in years. from what i hear that's the point, right? (that, and posting ridiculous photos from those early years)
still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of the site and figure how it will factor in to my online life. at the very least, maybe it will direct a little more traffic this way.
friend me up, 'cause i may have some dirt on you somewhere just waiting to find its way to cyberspace.
still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of the site and figure how it will factor in to my online life. at the very least, maybe it will direct a little more traffic this way.
friend me up, 'cause i may have some dirt on you somewhere just waiting to find its way to cyberspace.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
finkbowl recap
another great finkbowl has come and gone. thanks to all those who came from far and near- you are the ones that make the party what it is. some great food helps too, and i must say, this year's feature of BBQ pulled pork was a taste sensation that's sure to return next year.
a few special thank yous:
a few special thank yous:
- to the 2parm clan for making the trip for tacos on saturday
- to the cast of lovemomworklife for sharing your whole weekend with us
- to 2white for representing with GH-world tour
- to googs and RK-K for being a great uncle and aunt and even greater friends
- to puddin' and "jello" for homemade beer, NY cheesecake, and companionship during the finkbowl 5K
- to CTB for a fantastic cake in a solo effort
- to judge, for continuing to fly across the country every year just for the sake of a good party (and for finally losing back some of the money you've taken from us over the years)
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