Guess Who?

My Friday favorite is back.....guess who the much changed person of interest is and get a poem. As for the previous contest of providing fun phrases care of the letters, "AL JA", the obvious winner is the ever creative and cerebral Chris Fernandez, whose poem will come with a Monday morning post.

Until then.....Guess who?????

Vaccinated

We did it.

Actually, my kids did it. They got the H1N1 vaccine in mist form, despite their mother's hyperventilating.

The result:

Olivia. writhing and crying at the sight of anything that might enter an orifice, said she would have preferred the shot.

Joseph, who is all boy, giggled at the unusual sensation of fluid shooting up his nose and tapped it the whole way home.

As of press time (11:00 pm), Mommy is on her second glass of wine.

Quote of the Day

"Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again." ~Jimmy Piersal, on how to diaper a baby, 1968

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

"What is both surprising and delightful is that spectators are allowed, and even expected, to join in the vocal part of the game.... There is no reason why the field should not try to put the batsman off his stroke at the critical moment by neatly timed disparagements of his wife's fidelity and his mother's respectability." ~George Bernard Shaw

I chose this particular quote because effectively characters both New York and Philadelphia fans.

Trying Not to Hyperventilate

We are off to get the H1N1 vaccination today (mist form) and I am almost as terrified as I am certain this is the right thing to do.

Gulp.

Game 1: The Aftermath

The house was strangely quiet this morning as a reading of Clifford, The Big Red Dog took on new meaning.

Go Yanks.

Apparently Chazz Palminteri Has Taken Up Residence in My Home

Yesterday morning, as my daughter called to me from her room in a hoarse voice made coarser by a restless night and a stubborn cold, I hurried to her room before she might also rouse her still sleeping brother.

As I was about to open the door, her voice, resembling something straight out of Goodfellas, remarked:

"And you.....all that hummin' for nuthin'!"

As confused as I was curious, I slowly opened the door to find the object of her scorn: the cool mist vaporizer, which had done little to alleviate her sore throat and relentless cough.

Picture of the Day

Even Elephants Get the Blues.

"Thank You, Captain Obvious" Headline of the Day

"Bay Bridge Closed After Rod Snaps;

Tough Commute Likely"

Likely? I guess if you're not such a proficient swimmer....

The Votes Aren't In Yet.....

Only five days left in this week's poll and the Phils have a 2/3 lead on the Yanks.

Make your choice.

Quote of the Day

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." ~Earl Weaver

Picture of the Day

What could this young man be thinking????

1) Backpacks are for chicks.

2) I don't do circle time.

3) Smocks are for the weak.

4) I should be teaching this class.

More things to eat up your time....

There's a new youtube channel devoted specifically for mothers......I'll post it as soon as I can find it.

Book Worm

Though my status bar to the left has listed my current reading as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the truth is that, up until three nights ago, the quirky bestseller had remained untouched on my night table, awaiting the completion of the book I was actually reading: Her Fearful Symmetry.

The follow-up to Audrey Niffenegger's unbelievable first book, The Time Traveller's Wife, I grabbed Her Fearful Symmetry with the hopes that Niffenegger might offer a repeat performance and successfully distract me from the Twilight books, which enjoyed a month long obsession.

Unfortunately, it was not to be the case.

I wouldn't so much as call it a sophomore slump as the premise of the book and the central conflict were fantastic and very original. I also love history, which made for potentially great subplots given the primary setting of a Victorian cemetery and all the creepy stories that come with it. That unfulfilled potential, however, along with underdeveloped characters (save for Martin) and flimsy follow through left me not caring all that much about the outcome.

I wouldn't at all say it was a bad book; just a flat follow-up to an amazing one.

C+

On to the Zombies......

Contest of the Day

Here's a little challenge to help a poor blogger out. To whomever can come up with the most clever phrase using the letters below, a poem!!!

That's write....an ode to you and even, potentially immortality (but I'll explain that later).

Here's what you do:

Using the letters "AL JA" as the beginnings of two separate and consecutive words, come up with a comprehensible phrase that will either prove funny, or clever, or both.

Example: All Janitors are loved.

Always Jam when you can.

Clearly, these are not clever, nor are they smart (which is why I am holding this little contest). The examples do, however, reflect the rules.

Good luck....contest ends at midnight tonight!!!

Quote of the Day

"I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile." ~Tom Clark

A World of a Decision and a new Vote!!!

It's always been easy fan management. The Yankees have been my team since I went to my first game in 1980 at the impressionable age of four (a bad season for the pinstripes, which is why you can never accuse me of being a fair-weather fan) and I have rooted for them ever since.

My mother was born and raised in the Bronx and I taught, lived, and was proposed to in that mighty borough as well (shout out to Van Cortland park!) and so my loyalty is as long as it is heartfelt. My brothers, father, and very vocal uncles will be happy to expound on baseball's most successful team and their legacy of the most esteemed (and revered) boys of summer...and they will also be happy to poke fun at my very passionate husband's team, which resides just two bridges and one little ride down the turnpike away.

And about that husband.....

My husband has never worn anything that isn't Phillies red (except, of course, the occasional Eagles green). He was raised on baseball, fed a full diet of Mike Schmidt, Richie Ashburn, Steve Carlton,Curt Schilling (whom he continued to root for even when he went rogue), and the charmer of all charmers, the mighty Tugger. He was trained to throw a change-up before he could hold a pencil and I even had to step in when he attempted to duct tape our own son's right hand behind his back in hopes of making him a lefty pitcher. He has also taught his children to cheer, "Go Phillies!", "Bomb!". and "Rauuuuul!"

And about our family.....

We have such great memories involving the Phanatic, their first game (that was full of huge homeruns), and tons of cute apparrel that never looks so cute on an adult as it does a three-footer in pig-tails.

What's a girl to do????

And who are you rooting for??????

Picture of the Day Meets Question of the Day

Question: Where do you go when the hayride drops you off in the middle of a pumpkin patch, with bathroom facilities far, far away and a boy with a bladder the size of a pea?

Answer: Corn stalks

Making the Call

Despite gallons of yogurt, blueberries, orange juice, and kid-sized probiotics; despite chronic hand-washing and Purell baths; and despite almost no trips to the grocery store, in-door play places, and other obvious germ factories, Olivia woke up with one of those coughs that make you to wonder who let a dog in the house and how on earth you are going to soothe your poor baby girl's sore throat.

The call to keep her home from school was an easy one: she needed the rest as much as everyone at school didn't need the exposure.

The next step was to call the doctor (beginning at 8:30, when they open the phone lines) to try to get an appointment before Joseph's nap, lunchtime, and high people traffic in the highly contagious waiting room (And, by the way, why the HELL do they put toys out??? Are they banking on repeat customers???).

Unfortunately, an hour and a half of failed phone calls led me to a new dilemma: if there are that many sick kids clogging the lines to get an appointment, do I want to expose my little miss to something worse?

As I weighed my options, I watched as she danced around the family rooom to a Fresh Beats video, fever free and devoid of the scary cough since the early morning wake-up. She was acting fine (and, in this case, "fine" includes pelvic gyrations to the beat that send her father into fits of hyperventilation) and her only complaint was that her throat is "scratchy".

Hmmmm.

Tough call. I tried the doctor again.

Again the busy signal conjured up images of green faced children sending mucus through the air and doctors dressed in hazmat gear. Shudder.

I decided to sit tight and watch her. I could always try for a late day appointment and rely on hot soups, tea, and tender loving care until a more obvious answer presents itself, especially if that dog comes back to visit.

An October Conundrum

I never thought it would actually happen,
But, damn October, it seems to be true.
With torn loyalties and tickets to Game 4,
Will I be red, or will I be blue?