And Off We Go...Into the Holiday Season.
Ah, Christmas and Hannukah. Is it really already that time of year again? I feel like we just went through this, and now it's upon us once again.
This year the phone calls have been pouring in. "What does Jack want for Christmas?" He wants a Rolex, a Hummer H3, a brand-new, four bedroom, four bath house in posh Alpharetta or Sandy Springs, a case of Trojan Magnums, a few new suits by Hugo Boss or Armani, and a date with Hillary Duff. Really.
When you have a small child, the logical choice for gifts are going to be educational toys and cool looking clothes that will last just past Spring if we're lucky. Fisher Price, Playskool, Baby Einstein, Osh Kosh Begosh, Carters, Old Navy...you name it. Gift cards are always a good thing too.
My plan for the two holidays is to buy Jack a few really great toys and books, some clothes, and then a really terrific gift for the first day of Hannukah, but we have such a large combined family that I think I'll focus more on my husband this year. He's more than deserving of everything he asked for this year, and I'm going to see that he gets it. I only want small things for the house, and a new Star of David to replace the one that I already have. I have everything I want and need, so this year it's going to be about family.
I'm still trying to decide when the best time is to put the Christmas tree up this year, as we don't want to tempt Captain Destructo, aka Jack...and I plan on doing my shopping online. No one hates the Mall more than me!
Good luck to all of you, and may the holiday spirit stay with you as you battle some little old lady for the last pair of cashmere gloves at 6:00am at the Macy's get-out-of-bed-early sale. Those Grannies are tough birds...be careful and give her the gloves unless you want a sound ass-kicking. My money's always on the Grannies!
Tragedy for Florida State...
Even Jack needed a cold one when Florida State lost to cross-town rival Florida this Saturday evening.
Is Bobby Bowden getting the hint that maybe it's time to retire? Jack may wind up having to play football for Karl Dorell at UCLA if Bowden doesn't get his shit together soon...
I can only respond to this loss for FSU by saying, "GO BRUINS!!!!" There may still be a miracle on the horizon for my Bruins, even if my brother-in-law's Noles got pushed out of the BCS top 25.
Please God...make this my year, even if UCLA becomes a BSC victim despite beating USC. Hey, I can hope, right? Besides that, I'm not a Corona gal. I plan on downing as many Bloody Mary's next Saturday during the USC/UCLA game as I can.
Sorry about the loss Dave. There's always next year, right?
Fifteen Pounds of Thankfulness...
And it was damn good too!
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Blues Clues Junkie...
I'm at work last night, minding my own business, waiting on my guests, joking around with my fellow team mates, but the screwed-up thing is that I'm walking around with the theme to Blues Clues stuck in my head! This is not good.
I watch Blues Clues with Jack every day. It's one of the few things that he'll actually sit down and watch from beginning to end. He likes Blue and Periwinkle the Cat and Magenta the other dog...he's down with the whole thing. We sing and clap along and just have fun watching the show. We like looking for the clues and listening to Steve or Joe depending on the show that day, and we're even learning some sign language because of it! It's a great show all in all, but for me to have the theme song stuck in my head is a bit pathetic.
I need a vacation from kids shows if I'm starting to sing the songs from them by heart. It's the same thing with the Backyardigans and Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street. I'm regressing from adulthood back into being a kid...can this be good? I wasn't like this with Deanna, but I also didn't watch all of these shows either.
I think a day-long marathon of Six Feet Under or Sex in the City might be able to cure me of this problem...the theme's to these shows have no words! I can't believe I've become a Blues Clues junkie...God Help Me!
The Place where Karl Dorrell Lives...
Westwood, California is a picturesque little community in the hub of West Los Angeles, nestled about eight miles from the beach max, in the hills coming down from the San Fernando Valley off of Sepulveda Boulevard. It's a gorgeous place fit to train the knights and lords of UCLA Football, with Drew Olsen and Maurice Drew the two Commanders-in-Chief, and Karl Dorrell being the one to mold them all.
I remember when I couldn't remember the name of the football coach at UCLA, and now Karl Dorrell is rocking the house. When he wins it's a huge win, and when he loses he does it in style to a non-ranked school who just pulled them out of the top ten in the BCS, blowing their chances for a great Bowl game at the end of the season. If Zona is the only loss for UCLA until USC, then we may have a shot.
Good Luck Karl...I'm cheering for you man. Keep Drew and Maurice happy and they'll keep winning games, okay?
On a more personal note to those who know me: "I can't believe we fucking lost to Arizona...is this for real...someone please slap me. Florida State ate it to NC State too, but we just ate shit Saturday night. Don't we
WANT a Bowl Game? Are we
THAT scared that we may actually be good? Some one please explain this to me before my heart bursts into a thousand pieces over the let-down of my home college
AGAIN."( although 8-1 is actually a really fantastic season for UCLA normally.)
I also lost the NFL pool at work for the ninth week in a row. I had six games total. Oh yes, Football IS fun...really.
Jackson's Excellent Adventure...
Let me tell you how I perceive babys' walking. They remind me of my father when he was an active alcoholic, all wobbly and weaving and falling down and stubbornly getting up and getting back to it! The only difference is that babies don't piss in the sink (just everywhere else.) Jackson is that little weaver who's like the Little Engine that could, always trying, always moving. Now we need to child-proof our house even further. Where is my friend Stephen Clark when I need him? He seems to be the leading expert at keeping things out of reach of the little ones...he was always good at it having three boys of his own. Oh well.
So Jack tools around the house, opening drawers in the kitchen as well as the refrigerator, which would be good during college football Saturdays..."Hey Jack, grab Mommy another beer..." He's into everything that he can be into, and it's always an adventure; he's always finding something fun, something he shouldn't be playing with, but he's a baby, that's his job. He opens our bathroom cabinet and my bedside table drawer, he opens our dresser drawers up and pulls out our clothes...he's a funny kid. It's an endless parade of picking up after him, and sometimes I feel as if I'm losing the battle to keep things neat because I know he's just going to mess them up anyways. Having a small child is not condusive to keeping a clean house....bummer.
The holidays are coming now. Picture Jack at the dinner table for Thanksgiving eating a turkey leg finally, and diving under the Christmas tree to open everyone's gifts for them this Christmas morning, trying to blow out the candles of the menorah on Hannukah...we are talking good stuff here! Ah, such endless adventures. Day care Mondays and Tuesdays is also about to become his reality...good times Son...good times.
So Jack moves on, walking, talking, living the high life of a pampered and much-loved only son. Just think of all he's going to have to give back when he's older! The it becomes Mommy's Excellent Adventure...nice thought.
