Lucky Sports Week

K's parents have come out for a few weeks to visit, and we've seen some good games since they've been here. I think the first few games the Boy's HS team lost, but last Friday they finally won! They were ahead most of the second half, and the Boy got to play a fair amount. He was even put back in for the end of the game, in case the other team tried to foul. It turns out he's a designated free-throw shooter!

On Thursday we went to see a Clippers game, and that was fun. The Clippers had a good, solid lead, but in the second half the Jersey Nets caught up! In fact, by the final minutes, the Nets were ahead! With only seconds left, the Clippers were 2 points behind. The only way they could win was with a last-second three-point shot - and that's exactly what they did! It was so exciting that I could barely watch, but in the end everyone was slapping hands with people they'd never met before. It was lots of fun.

Friday the Boy's high school team got a much-needed win. He got to play a good amount and showed lots of spunk when he was in. Once he blocked a shot and flew into the padding at the back of the hoop, only to have the guy whose shot he blocked land on top of him.

Then yesterday the Girl's soccer team had 2 scrimmage games, and won both of them! That has never happened before, that they won 2 games in one day, or all their games in the same day. The Girl even got put on offense for a change, and even got to score! She probably could have scored even more, but instead she made some good passes that weren't converted. The scrimmage was practice for the State Cup games, which will take place next weekend.

After that we came home, and the Girl had a basketball game that evening. The Boy coached the team, and they pulled out a win by one point. We had led the whole game, but in the second half the other team caught up with and even passed us BWO free throws and a few shots. In the end we shot free throws ourselves, and a girl who hadn't scored the whole game pulled through with both free throws, and we won the game by one point! Whew!

Update: I missed the game today, but the Girl's team won again today! Today they came from behind (4-10) and one girl scored 8 or 10 points who has not scored much in any other games. I know this streak can't last forever, but it sure is fun while it's here...

Politics and Puritans

Yesterday the Girl came home from school complaining about the fierce competition in some vote that's taking place at her school. I guess the entire 4th grade gets to vote on one person to be head of all the 4th graders next week, but they can only vote for a member of Student Council.

The Girl didn't think of asking people to vote for her until she heard someone else do it, and by then one of her good friends had already been asked to vote for another good friend, so she's torn. The Girl is afraid her friend won't be loyal to her. But she says they've all pledged to remain friends no matter what happens.

But it's unfair that other people were lobbying for votes and she wasn't, and she hates it when things are unfair. So do I. I hugged her and told her it was OK with me if she wasn't in charge of all the 4th grade. She doesn't have to do everything.

Then a boy in the running asked another boy to help him get votes, but the "helping" boy got mad at the girls when they wouldn't say they'd vote for his guy, and he started kicking them!

Boy, I guess politics is pretty much the same no matter how old the people are.

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The other day the Girl was complaining about a book that was hard to read, and the Boy responded, "Just wait until you have to read The Scarlett Letter!"

I agreed with him, saying, "It's not as colorful as the title would lead you to believe."

He said, "Now we're reading The Crucible! I hate it!"

I said, "Really? That's a play. I kind of liked it."

The Boy said, "No! I've had it with the Puritans!"

and I thought that was pretty funny. No more Puritans for him.

Pop Media Notes

When did they start putting tv's into gas pumps? Too bad it only runs commercials.

I've been feeling like commenting on certain current events in pop culture, so please bear with me. I watch a lot of TV:

High School Musical
This movie is a breath of fresh air to all those who believe Disney exists
primarily by making inferior sequels to already-popular movies (like my
son.) The movie is cute, has some catchy songs, and a good overall
theme of stepping outside people's expectations of you. I also like it
that there's a bit of a love story, but it's so innocent.

It's also a best-selling DVD now, which is odd because it's also free on TV where disney plays it probably once a week. I like the pop-up version best.

Housewives of Orange County
They've been replaying the last season as a prelude to the upcoming new season.
That's good because I missed a lot of that show last year, and watching
this show is pretty fun. I have to admire thecommittment of these women to being glamourous. It's not like their jobs depend on their looks, like actresses, but everyone there seems to have fake boobs and inject botox (except Jo, because she's still so young.)

There's a teen on the show, Shane, who is SO cute! But he says he's still a
virgin and not interested in being a sexual person right now. Huh? What
a concept. But when asked what he likes in a girl, he said he likes a
big butt. Whoa! Hold on here! I think I've got something he just might
be interested in!

In a later episode they show him going to Mexico to "get wasted". He was dancing and kissing a girl, then they just went home. His friend told Shane he'd left a frustrated girl behind. And Shane asks, in all innocence, "What did she expect?"

I can't wait for new season

I love New York
This show promises to be loads of fun. This young woman, nicknamed "New York" by Flavor Flav in his show, "The Flavor of Love", proved to be such a nut that
he brought her back in his second show. Now she stars in a show of her
own, so that she can find true love at last with the help of the one
person who is a bigger nut than she is - her mother!

Anyone who saw either of the Flav shows knows just what I'm talking about. I'm expecting lots of drama and diva action here.

Fergie -
I was really looking forward to hearing her sing, because she's pretty
and you could tell that she's a good singer even from what little you
can hear her in the Black Eyed Peas. But I was surprised at the song
"London Bridge". Not only was it rap, which doesn't show off her voice,
but it seemed to be a stream ofconciousness rapping. Like she'd pick
any old word that would rhyme, never mind trying to make sense or
actually say something in a song. "I wish I didn't wear these shoes"?
What kind of lyric is that?

I thought maybe she had other good songs on her CD, but when I looked up her cd in iTunes, it was full of bad reviews. I just can't tell if her music is trying to push the envelope and be different, or is just bad.


Trump
Is this man not a mill or billionaire? Is he not powerful? Why then is he
so insecure? Honestly, it was the same with Martha Stewart. He doesn't
seem to care what anyone says about his hair, but criticize his show or
say he declared bankruptcy, and look out!

IMHO, he showed a real lack of class, lashing out so immaturely. I mean, calling her
names and criticizing her looks? He acts like an insecure bully. Then
he gets mad at Barbara W for not backing up what he said she said, and
calls her a liar. Was he not betraying a supposed trust or confidence?
What kind of person does that make him? Desperate.

Alpha Dog
This movie is based on true events that happened in this area. The story is
so sad that I can't believe they'd make a movie about it, and in ANY
wayglamourize what this punk was up to. It promises to be a sad and stupid movie, just like the real guys who lived it. I like Justin Timberlake, but I won't be seeing this movie.

Dirt
Courtney Cox is beautiful now! She was cute before - now she's downright
gorgeous! This is a dark and edgy show I guess, right now it seems
cynical. We'll see what happens with the story lines...

Beckham is coming!
More tabloid excitement to come. Also, maybe people will pay more attention to the Galaxy now.

Yahoo Food News
I clicked on this
story the other day, and thought the recipes seemed a little
fancy for football fans, but I thought some of the comments were pretty
funny. There were hundreds! A couple were useful recipes. Here's a
sample:

The recipes:
PEPPER AND GARLIC TOASTED ALMONDS
CRAB DIP ON RUSSET POTATO CHIPS | makes 8 to 10 servings.
CRUNCHY SAUSAGE BITES - made with spicy sausage (such as bratwurst?) and mango chutney
BABY BACK RIBS WITH COFFEE BARBECUE SAUCE
MOLASSES BAKED BEANS

The comments:
What big game is this for? The figure skating match? I don't think I'll be
serving any toasted almonds and crab dip when I have straight guys over
to watch the NFL playoffs.


These recipes stink. Whoever wrote this article should have hot molasses baked beans thrown in their face.

I want minutes of my life back.

you must be kidding!!!! My husband would divorce me if i served crap like
this at all let alone for a football game. How about some real football
food


YOU NEED CHICKEN WING DIP ON HERE!! 8 oz. Hot sauce 8
oz. blue cheese or ranch dressing 1 or 2 thighs or breasts of cooked
chicken- cut up into small bits 8 oz. cream cheese 2 cups of shredded
cheese Preheat oven to 350 - Mix it up, throw it in a casserole dish
-bake for 20 minutes. Serve with any tortilla or corn chip - the Scoops
byFritos is the best though :) seriously, you will be a HUGE hit with all the football heads! They'll devour!

To make a real dip, put a layer (about 1/4-1/2 inch) cream cheese on the bottom of a dish, followed by a can of refried beans, a can or hormel,
and then top it off with shredded cheese. Put that in the oven until
it's hot all the way through. Now we're talking about good football
food. Use tortilla chips to dip with.

That's all for now folks!

Coincidence

Right before Christmas, I backed into shopping cart in the parking lot outside Best Buy. I heard that awful "crunch" that sends your heart into your stomach, and was relieved to see it was just a shopping cart, even tho it was embarrasing to have not seen it. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed a lot of smoke behind me.

At the first stoplight, I noticed the smoke again, and looked around to see if anyone else's car was doing that. But no, just mine. Then the smoke got lighter, and as I drove around I didn't notice it anymore. I considered taking it immediately to The Shop, as it was nearby. But the smoke seemed to stop after awhile.

When I got home I noticed an electrical smell and pointed it out to K, but then that went away too. We drove it to The Boy's basketball game, and parked in front of the school. When we came out after the game, it wouldn't start! The starter wouldn't kick in. We called Auto Club and K waited and the rest of us hitched a ride home.

The Auto Club guy tried to jump the car, but decided that it was definitely the starter, and would have to be towed to the shop. So we had to wait until the next day, to make sure our mechanic would be there (sometimes he isn't). He was, so K had it towed to The Shop so it could be fixed.

After a few days it was done, and K went to pick it up. When he started it up to bring it home, he noticed the smoke was still coming out of the tailpipe! In fact, it got worse really quickly. So K had to leave it there again.

A few days later we got really bad news. It was the head gasket, which is expensive because the whole engine has to be taken out to get at it! So I think I mentioned this before - it's around $1500!!!

We finally got it back after the holidays, and now the tailpipe is making noise! Like it has a hole in it and is saying "putt, putt, putt" really fast.

Now this seems strange to me, because these are all unrelated parts of the vehicle, in different places, but they all went out one after another so quickly! And it all started when I backed into the shopping cart, yet it just doesn't make sense that backing into a cart would cause all of this. I wish it HAD, because then maybe I could claim it on my insurance. But our mechanic says it was unrelated, so what can I say?

It's like backing into the shopping cart broke the rubberband/wire hanger/gum combo underneath the car that was holding everything together!

Huh.

The day after Christmas, our friend D sprained ankle and fell off a ladder. On Wed, my Dad twisted his leg on the ice/snow and sprained the ACL in his knee. On Thurs, The Boy came down on his foot wrong in a basketball game and... sprained his ankle!
Is it in the air or something? Why the coincidence?

On New Year's Day my Mom called to say they'd seem a float from the town we live in in the Rose Parade. When I went to work the next day, a co-worker told me she'd been busy over the holidays working on a Rose Parade float. She told me there were left-over mums in the breakroom, and I should take some. I guess I didn't make the connection, because I was thinking, "Mums? Aren't they flowers?"

I went back to the room and found jars full of mums, and then made the connection. Oh, MUMS leftover from the Rose Parade float!

Who can say no to free flowers?

Christmas wrap up

It seemed a little low-key this year, even tho the Girl still gets excited. I've told her about Santa, but she continues to keep the dream alive. She's really fun. She helps me decorate (i.e. does it all!), encourages me to make cookies, makes eggnog french toast (Yum!), and hangs the stockings.

I kept telling the Boy that he may not get everything he wanted for Christmas, so he'd better do extra jobs, save money, etc. He kept saying, "But I only want 2 things!" Well, those 2 things just happened to add up to $###!!! But that's ok, I figured when he came up short, he'd work to make the extra money. It would be a learning experience.

I should point out that his Birthday is 2 days before Christmas, so he expects a lot from those few days.

Well, the Boy ended up netting even MORE than $###!!! I couldn't believe it until I sat down and added it all up again with him. It's amazing! So how am I to teach this boy the value of money?

I tried doing what my father did with me - he made me save half of what I made. It worked great for me because I wasn't used to having $100, so saving $50 and still having $50 to spend was fine with me. I still use this method today. But when I tried this with the Boy, he was offended and vowed never to work again! And he hasn't!

Why should he, when life bails him out like this? When you think about it, it's 2 sides of the family, each with 2-3 aunts, and 2 celebrations. Still, not only was I frustrated at my attempts to teach him about money, it seemed incredible to me that we are scrounging to locate the money to fix our van, and the Boy just got nearly half that amount for birthday/christmas!

After a night of feeling sorry for myself (ingrate that I am, for I am truely lucky in SO many ways), I talked it over w/K and we decided to let the Boy keep all that money. But he has to make it last until the end of the semester. He'll get allowance, but nothing extra for bowling, dinners out, etc. He has to learn to manage the money he has. Hopefully he will, although I know all too well how fast it can disappear.

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We had a big arguement over the holidays, when the Boy was home more and asking for more and more, yet giving less and less. Anyway, he told me to make my arguements more intelligent, and K lost his temper completely. Later, I tried to talk with the Boy and tell him that he just can't talk to us that way.

He'd also said something during a fight about my preferring his sister. I told him that I'm protective of her, but I was protective of him too. He just doesn't remember. He is my first born, and I will always love him in a special way just for that.

Besides, I pointed out that it's not my fault that we don't do anything together anymore. We used to watch movies together, but a few years ago he stopped doing that too. This is perfectly normal, I think, but it's not my fault and it definitely doesn't mean that I don't love him.

He's seemed a little nicer after that.

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The girl got enough money for Christmas to buy a certain toy that she really wanted. But guess what? Everyone is out of stock! We went to Target, we went to Best Buy - no toy!!

She's been checking online, which is really cute because she's only 9, and she's checking availability. She also bought an animal called a "Webkins", that comes complete with a code for a website that's been keeping her busy with games and activities that supposedly take care of the pet.

But she's dissapointed that she can't find the other toy she wanted. Tonight she said, "Don't they even care about MY needs?"