2006: A Year in Review

I got to officially say adios to the meanest, pettiest, most horrible person I know...
and met a lot of great new people.

Also got to see the first glimpse inside P. Sophie's uterus at my very own Godson, Fetus David (10 weeks old).

February:
Helped my sister plan for her upcoming wedding

March:
We find out P&Cs baby is a BOY! As the nurse so nicely pointed out with an arrow.


April:
Threw a shower for Lisa; mother nature threw a shower as well.

Looked for houses online and realized I can't afford a house anywhere near Boston! Darn it.

May:

Returned to the beloved Park that is Fenway via my company's seats. Got to see the Sox vs. Yanks with Schilling dominating.

Went on A TON of open houses. Fun, fun, fun, yet exhausting!

June:






3rd: A Baby Shower!

We showered gifts on the parents-to-be and mother nature also showered them.



















6th: On lucky 06/06/06 we placed a $1,000 bid on our new home!




24th: My Sister Lisa's Wonderful Wedding
And off they went to their honeymoon in Italia!

28th: Saw Pedro's return to Fenway thanks to my company seats.



We messed his ERA up a bit.








July:
Moved out of the city and into the 'burbs. OK so just down the street from the city, but nice and close is better.

The Cats Discovered the Fun of Stairs!
























We Upgraded to Grass









The cats enjoyed the bird-filled view







August:
9th: We welcomed David Charles into the world!

Drove to Philly the following weekend to be the first visitors to meet the little dude.

Here he is a few days old, curled up like he's still in the womb.























September:













3rd: We celebrated our first wedding anniversary
















16th: One of my twin cousins, Wendy, was married in the beautiful Berkshires.

























































17th: David's Baptism


Brady and David meet for the 1st time

(Brady knocking him upside the head)































October:
1st: Last game of the season at Fenway.

Wally entertained the fans during the rain delay. I handed out 2007 schedules.

A healthier Peter Gammons threw out the first pitch.





12th: Brady celebrated his FIRST birthday Pooh style:













































Columbus Day Weekend:










Hiking in the White Mountains










Simba and Darla meet the new human and think he's ok until he cries





Simba becomes concerned and tries to see if there is anything he can do to help the crying David.






November:





Thankful Dinner with Thankfully Good Friends: A Grown Up Affair


December:




Went to see our friend Eric perform wonderfully in A Christmas Carol



BU Babes got together again for a lovely dinner.






Christmas with the Family in NH




Visited NJ for a Jingle Bell Blast hosted by the soon-to-be Newlyweds, Tara & Mike.



Met up with The Stacks and Wicks for a nice Christmas dinner and not-so-secret Santa.
The boys just get cuter and cuter.

31: Rang in the New Year with a bunch of friends in a pub on Beacon Hill.

Vegas Baby!

I'm going to Las Vegas soon and I'm pretty excited!The Hub and I will spend the first 3 days at the Grand Canyon and the rest of the 10 days in Vegas with a road trip here or there.
My aunt and uncle live there so some nights we can stay with them in their guest wing. Should be a lot of fun!

Hotels in Vegas really aren't that expensive.
We're still deciding on which shows to see so if you've been there send us some suggestions!!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Grand Canyon. It must be amazing. When we went to Hawai'i we visited Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain dubbed as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. That was a sight to behold so I can't even imagine what the real thing will be like.
Here are some pictures from that baby canyon:



If you click on the pictures you can get a better look at the massiveness of it all.



















































Viva Las Vegas!

American Ahole?

I don't normally watch American Idol, but happened to tune in for the season premiere, which seems to have a lot of people talking about the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of the judges comments and behavior.

There's the argument that the contestants know what they're getting into and should expect harsh criticism from the judges so boo hoo on them.
Countered by the opinion that some of these people shouldn't even make it that far in the rounds and are only put on TV for sheer amusement and humiliation. Specifically, the contestants who appear to be mentally slow.
The View has been weighing in on this as well as various news reports. The View's Rosie O'Donnell stated, "I don't think America likes to watch people be ridiculed, made fun of, and called ugly monkeys."
One writer explains, "I find the freak show genuinely painful to watch.
The kids, the dreams, the parents, the tears — my God, isn’t adolescence and early adulthood hard enough without having to make a fool of yourself on national television?"
I think some of America does like the sadistic aspect of the try-outs, but I have to say, I watched it and though I couldn't turn it off, it wasn't because I loved to see these awful singers get ripped apart, but I watched in amazement at the psychological aspect of it. Some people who lack tone really don't know it, some just think they are "the bomb" and harbor a false sense of realism, and others know they are bad but either want to get on TV or play with Simon, Randy, and Paula (mostly Simon). Despite the multitude of reports that the show has an even meaner streak this year its executive claims, "I've actually had people say to me it seems Simon is somewhat toned down this year."

Some people think they should only put the auditions on that are outstanding or almost good enough to make it...

What do you think?

Hooray for Today

Two Good Things:

First, it is the birthday of my dear friend Maria today. There are only 18 days of the year where we numerically differ in age, and during those times I usually have to endure the "oldie" taunts from Ms. Mia, but this glorious day quells their spirit! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY old lady!

P.S. I'm so old I can't even wear this Rainbow Brite shirt!



Secondly, today marks the sixth day of hell for the unlucky (yet lucky) Jack Bauer! The sixth season of 24 starts today with a 2-hour season premiere tonight at 8pm followed by another 2 hours tomorrow.

Happy, happy, joy, joy for January 14th!

Amazon's Weirdest and Best Baby Deal

Weirdest Thing I've Seen on Amazon lately:
The Peepee Teepee for the Sprinkling WeeWee:


(Now I'm kinda hoping for a girl first)

Product Features

* Changing a baby girl is not all glitz and glory. Changing a baby boy is an even bigger horror story-until now!
* Simply place the soft cloth cone over his wee-wee (aka "penis" for non-parents) during diaper changes to avert a sprinkling.
* 100% cotton powder blue pee-pee teepees with cute airplane and cloud illustrations and they come bundled in a miniature cotton laundry bag.
* Fully machine washable and re-usable (joy!).
* The ultimate diapering accessories for boys; the perfect addition to any baby shower gift!

Funny comments:
great idea and love it, July 31, 2006
Reviewer: The Walkers "New mommy and Daddy" (Houston, Texas)
What else to say but they are fantastic. So much easier to clean verses the changing table cover, your clothes, babies clothes, a towel, socks, and whatever else was nearby.

The only down fall for us was that at 6mths our son realized he had something down there and started pulling them off and trying to eat them. We have since had to take our chances at diaper change time since we can no longer use these fantastic teepees.

Best Deal I've Seen on Amazon Lately:

$30 Instant Savings on Huggies Products

Save $30 at checkout when you spend $99 or more on select Huggies, Pull-Ups, and Goodnites products. Just spend $99 or more on any combination of select Huggies, Pull-Ups, and Goodnites products offered by Amazon.com and use this promotional code at checkout: HUGGIE3O. This offer applies only to Amazon.com purchases made between January 1 and January 31, 2007. Applies only to products sold by Amazon.com. Does not apply to products sold on our site by third-party merchants or through third-party areas such as Amazon.com Marketplace, Auctions, or zShops.

Children of Men

See it!

It is very good. I saw it in theatres around Christmas and hadn't ever heard of it before, but it sounded interesting. Check it out for yourself. Intriguing premise, the movie grips you straight through, only wish it would have been 10 minutes longer. It seemed a little too short and they could have gone a bit further with it, but all in all an excellent film. Clive Owen is awesome.



It also made me want to have a baby before 2009! Maybe I'll have one in '08...they are pretty cute and stuff.

Everyone Loves Double Ds

How do I know? Personal experience!

There are definitely different types of DDs, but the best kind are the ones I made an example of this New Year's Eve: the Designated Drivers. Everyones loves them!

A big group of us celebrated the stroke of a new year at a pub near Beacon Hill last weekend. I decided I'd be the designated driver of the night and I never had so many drunk friends. Drunk friends (and strangers) love to tell you how "awesome" a DD is, and one guy I just met (who didn't know I wasn't drunk) told me how "amazing" I am. Twice. Now I don't think he was trying to get in my pants, and he didn't need a ride, and we hadn't even talked for that long, but it was clear to him that I am amazing. Perhaps it was my crazy fun necklace that I got from a Boston Common vendor, or maybe it was the fact that I wasn't passed out over the bar or blowing an annoying horn all night, but he was convinced I was amazing, and frankly, I agree with him. I was having a good hair day that night. I dunno. He was also convinced that he knew me from somewhere and declared that to be true twice that night. Although I assured him I hadn't met him before, he did look a bit familiar, like someone on TV or something.

Another great type of Double D is New England's favorite coffee, Dunkin Donuts. The Hub and I stopped by the infamous Dunks across from the Common (on the north east side, cause they're on almost every block) to grab some warming agents before our trek to the bar. I got my favorite: a small vanilla chai and we braved the wind and semi-cold before walking past FOX 25 news cameras by the State House (among crazy already-drunks who feel it is their mission to make it on TV even if they look like a blubbering idiot) and down the Hill along Bowdoin Street.

One DD we didn't have to contend with were the Deep Drifts of winter--wait is that what season we're in now? Tomorrow is supposed to be 64 degrees in Boston. El Nino isn't too El Bado (so far).

Another notable Double D is this site that I don't fully understand, but if you're rich or just really nerdy you probably do. Go ahead, play with the graph, it's fun.

And if you ever wanted to know and are quick with HTML tags the techie definition of DD is: The "dd" tag defines the description of a term in a definition list.

Another form of DD is a draft dodger, which could either be a person or a home product that keeps you warm.

Well. that's all I got on the topic of Double Ds...and you thought I was going to talk about boobs, didn't you?

Mele Kalikimaka

Fantasy Football:Santa appears to be open on the sideline, but the Grinch may not be able to get the ball to him!

I found this website, uglychristmaslights.com where you submit overly done, crazy, odd or just plain ugly Christmas displays every year and it proved to be so entertaining I thought I'd share. Some of the sayings below the pics had me cracking up.

Cutout Takeover:
After everyone goes to sleep, the cutouts plot how to take over the town!

Confused:
Santa? Check. Bicycle? Um... check. Parachute? Huh, what?

Reindeer Discrimination:
Grazers to the left, everyone else to the right.

A job for Jack Bauer:
The inflatables wouldn't budge on their demands, so the plastic figures just had to stand around and wait to see what happened.

Icicles Down:
And the icicles were not draped over the garage with care...

Roaming:
Oh give me a home, where the electric deer roam...

There were a lot of other funny ones but I had to edit it down. If you see some you liked send me the link and I'll add it on if it's good!

*Suggested by Jen:
Pray for the Camel:
We've come here today to pay our respects to this poor beast of burden.

Horoscope

Who climbs and schemes
for wealth and place?
And mourns his brothers
fall from grace–
But takes what's due, in any case
—Safe Capricorn

Birthday Horoscope:
Daily extended (by Astrology.com)
They say that opposites attract, but the people who appeal to you most today will be those who are on the same wavelength as you. People with different viewpoints and attitudes won't interest you. Differences are usually quite intriguing to you, but right now your inner self is avidly seeking comfort and validation that what you feel and think is right. Obey this need, and don't feel guilty if you just don't want conflict right now!

Capricorn, whose constellation is known as Capricornus, is one of the oldest of the astrological interpretations. Ruled by Saturn, its symbol is the goat. This is sometimes depicted as a sea borne hybrid or Dolphin. The image is often an animal with the body of a goat and the tail of a fish. In one tradition the image represents the god Pan transforming into a sea creature. A representation, perhaps, of the extremities found within this Astrological sign.

The Capricornian is generally a serious character possessing a wry sense of humor. Independent, steady as a rock, Capricorn reflects earthy qualities that range from clever to vacuous. Mostly cautious, confident, strong willed, reasonable and hard working, Capricorns are a rock upon which to build. They are often aloof, shrewd, practical, responsible and persevering. They are capable of great endurance; a whatever it takes, for as long as it takes persistence. Reliable in any profession they undertake, but lacking in originality, they usually excel in following up on what someone else has started.

Dating for Beginners

Looks like David is catching up to the skills of my cats--he too can use a computer. Check out this posting he recently created in the hunt for a *gasp* babyfriend! ID is not old enough yet...but as Godparents the girl must meet our critical standards as well as his 'rents.

Don't let him grow up too fast! BTW I love the last line and the ceiling interests part.
TOO funny!

Since my girl is too young right now I guess he can play the field for a little bit. Just make sure he doesn't get any kind of baby "germs" from other girls or he won't be as cute.

Poll of the Month: Home for the Holidays?

Where will you be for the Holidays this year? Christmas is a time to travel and/or spend time with loved ones. Some people hate it, some love it, and where you spend it has a lot to do with which side you lean toward. So vote here and, if you'd like, be more specific in the comment section.

Where will you be this Christmas/Holiday Season?
	The Rents House
	I'm Hosting at Home
	Multiple Locales
	At Denny's
	In a Hotel on Business
	I Dunno
	Bah Humbug
	I'm Not Religious nor American
	I Live in a Cave
View Results