Happy Saturday

What a glorious day!! The sun is shining (and it’s under 100 degrees), Little Man is singing a happy little tune in the back seat (and we’ve been in the car for about an hour), and I’m happily blogging from the front seat now that I’m back in laptop land! Ahhh … life is good!

Of course, there are lots of other things to be happy about on a glorious Saturday afternoon. Here are some of my favorites today!

Friends worth waiting for …
Little Man’s best friend (LMBF) from school moved to another school earlier this year. Little Man and LMBF are too peas in a pod.  When he left, we were so sad because they live about an hour from our house! When we get a chance to get them together? Well, it’s like they’ve never been apart!

Today was no exception – for about 9 hours those boys were in 7th heaven! No fights!

Happy drive thru guys…
On the way to our adventure with LMBF, Husband decided a root beer would taste good! We made a quick pass through an A&W on the way (after a really quick u-turn type decision that nobody expected)!

The guy manning the window was awesome! Hysterical! He joked with Husband – the witty jokes that cause you to say, “huh?” and then laugh. He also gave us …

Good straws…
I’ve come to believe in the importance of a really good straw. I’m talking about the thick, hearty straws that are good for popping (and, frankly, spit wads … but that’s a bit juvenile isn’t it?). Good straws just make a good soda (Coke, please) better.

Remembering where you got lost…
When you are off on an adventure and the destination is the house of a best friend, it’s good to know where you are going! LMBF lives in a place that is, for some reason, really difficult for us to navigate. We get lost all the time!This time? We still made the same wrong turns, but this time we were able to say, “Ahhh. No problem. We did this before. No need to panic!”

Smiles and laughs as you get to know new friends…
LMBF’s mom and dad have a fun set of friends and we got to meet (and in a couple of cases reconnect with) them. … oh, and they are all football fans! Excellent!

Friends worth tears at goodbye…
Little Man had a tough time leaving. They were playing so well together and having such fun. He just didn’t want it to end. How can I wish for more than that for him?

Exhausted kids from a great day of play…
There’s not much better than this. BK and Little Man were sound asleep almost immediately. They had a big day and simply tuckered themselves out. There is nothing like a good sleep after a full, fun day. Nothing.

I wish you a very Happy Saturday – whatever your happy list contains – very soon!

The Tony Romo Dilemma

Warning … this post is not about the important things in life. Wait, maybe it is. No, it shouldn’t be. Wait … have you ever been to my house during football season? Ok, I know, get on with it already.

I’ve been known to have a Tony Romo dilemma. It works something like this.

1. I like Tony Romo – fun to watch. Generally speaking, a good guy.
2. I can’t like Tony Romo – he plays for Dallas. I do not like Dallas almost as much as I do not like the Patriots. Jerry Jones makes me just NUTS!
3. But … I do like Tony Romo. He’s a good team player and sometimes reminds me of Farve.
4. I can’t like Tony Romo – Dallas won.
5. But … I do like Tony Romo.
6. OK … over it. Two words: Jessica Simpson. Simply … can … not … support.

Season ends, Green Bay gets beat. Dallas gets beat. Ahh … the dilemma gone for awhile.

The 2008 season starts. Farve is in NY. Rodgers is in Green Bay. Romo is still with Dallas AND Jessica Simpson. Ahhh … season without a Romo dilemma.

And then? Morning show hosts (I really should not listen to the radio in the morning!) do a story about this great guy who helped a lady fix a flat after getting 18 stitches during the Cleveland game IN Cleveland. (BTW, that’s a psycho link … I have NO idea if it’ll work.) The nerve!

1. I like Tony Romo – how could you not?

Uh Oh. Dang! Dilemma back.

Wait … just hold on there a minute. What was the score of tonight’s game? Dallas 27 Green Bay 16? Let me check. Yep, over it!

No dilemma here.

Always Wear Pants! … and Other Bloggish Thoughts

As I’m going about my usual Sunday routine (which – let’s be honest- is, with a few football-related exceptions, fairly random), a few things come to mind that are at least semi-blog worthy

Good Advice about Pants

My next door neighbor used to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. OK, I think that’s just cool. Can’t help it. He also happens to have a huge collection of model cars. OK, Little Man thinks that’s cool. He can’t help it either!

Great, Jen … what’s this got to do with pants?

Yesterday, Mr. Steeler showed Little Man his collection of cars. Little Man was determined to return the favor by showing off his collection. Husband came in to tell me about the whole thing and said that Mr. Steeler couldn’t come over right now. I replied that it was probably best since I was not wearing pants. It was a pj day and I was cleaning closets … with me so far!? Husband said, “Uh, yeh, you should probably just put pants on because we wouldn’t have checked … we’d have just walked in.”

Well today, as I was feeding BK in my pjs (you guessed it, sans pants), Husband walks in …

Husband: We’re having company.

Me: When?

Husband: Now.

Me: I need pants!

Husband: Better hurry.

So. moral of the story. It’s really a pretty good idea to wear pants or at least have a pair handy. You never know how much notice you will have before your private pj time is invaded – or if you’ll have notice at all!

Football

• Ohio State got ripped Saturday and it was sad. It should not have been that bad! It was U-G-L-Y! On the upside, Michigan got beat.
• Ohio and Wisconsin won! Whoo-hoo!
• ESPN’s got a VERY COOL new thing going with EA sports. They’ve figured out how to allow Tom Jackson (who I like a lot) to stand on the field with 3D images of the teams he’s talking about … while they run the play he’s describing. I think this rocks!
• I really like Tom Jackson … more and more. He’s just smart. Chris Carter makes me laugh. I can do without Keyshawn Johnson.
• I am REALLY NOT a fan of the New England Patriots … in fact, I would be peachy if they never won another game and I never had to hear about Bill Belichick or Tom Brady again.
• Brett Farve got mauled in a sack today. It was not pretty. I didn’t like it. Dang Patriots. (I would use another word there, but this is a family show.)
• I am at the point where I have to admit that I’m becoming an Aaron Rogers fan. Dang. I really wanted to not like him, but the kid can play – so far! Of course, as Chris Berman put it … “You know the NFL, let’s see you do it again next week.”

Cleaning

I’m on a binge. I have cleaned more in the last two weeks than I have in – well, since the last time we moved. I’ve finally decided that I can get rid of all of my teaching materials. They are all horribly out-of-date and, frankly, after writing curriuclum for over 15 years … I don’t need them anymore.

In a probably-interesting-only-to-me note, while I was purging my closet I found:

• My locker combination tag from high school – senior year.
• School work from students I now have found on Facebook.
• Old copies of Leading and Learning with Technology … from about 1997ish … that absolutely parot the advocacy of the magazines I get today.  The issue and acvocacy hasn’t changed much – there’s probably a reason for that. But, that’s a topic for another time!

Mommyhood

Little Man is in the tub as I type. I just looked over at him …

Little Man: Mom don’t look at me.

Me: Why? What are you doing?

Little Man: I’m doing something special and you can’t see.

Me: Would I like it?

Little Man: No, that’s why I don’t want you to look!

Very nice.

Squeezin’ It In!

OK … the last thing I have time for today is writing this. However, I’ve got the feeling that this is something that I need to do.

Last night, Dad and I played Madden 2005. You should never play video football with an ex-football coach. Even my advantage of understanding the whole video game thing didn’t work for more than a quarter. If we play again, he’ll annihilate me!

Little Man is having the best time with his Grammy and Grandpa. He’s getting loads of attention and just full of new things. Seriously, he does new things every single day. Husband and I look at each other often and say, “Has he done that before?”

Ocean’s 12 made me laugh. I know that it’s gotten some pretty bad reviews … my parents thought it was awful! … but, really, I thought it was pretty good. The fact that Eddie Izzard showed up in the middle and played a “Marshall” character … well, that was just a treat … a bit like finding a $5 bill in your pocket.

I found the blog of a lady with an 18 month old.I really like her writing style and wit … AND her son “Squidlet” sounds a lot like our Little Man. She also had a very cool link in one of her posts … http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/

The two books on my desk for the next month? The Bible and Bird by Bird.