As I said before, I hate planning parties. Even more so when I have to work a lot and work on the party on the side. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Tyson, we’re going with your balloon lady. Rachel, Ben’s cake is going to be from the bakery you had emailed me. I’m always paranoid if something is going to be good or not, so having referrals from friends is always comforting.
It’s a lot of stress, making the invitations, figuring out who is going to be invited - how many people are going to fit into the room we rented. There’s a lot of politics in terms of the ratio of how many friends vs. how much family vs. how many of our parents friends to invite. Since Dave and I both come from big families, it’s hard to limit the invite list. Next year - it’s Chuck E. Cheese, man!
So the invites have been sent, the food has been ordered, the cake will be ready, the balloon artists have been contacted. The next big thing I have to do is work on the goodie bags for all the little rugrats that are coming, which I’ve calculated to be about THIRTY.
If you haven’t been invited, sorry, you can pretend you’ve been invited and make your own balloon animals as if you were there.
I know I said I was going to send out crappy invites, but come on, would I ever turn away an opportunity to play around with photoshop? No way!
Turns out a Red Sox fan buried a David Ortiz jersey in the concrete of the new Yankee stadium:
A construction worker’s bid to curse the New York Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot.
After locating the shirt in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new Yankee Stadium, construction workers jackhammered through the concrete Sunday and pulled it out.
A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said Sunday he did not know whether any criminal charges might apply.
“It’s typical Yankees,” Castignoli told the Boston Herald on Monday. “It’s not like I snuck in there. It didn’t do any structural damage. I didn’t put anyone in harm’s way.”
I find it funny that the Yankees really made that effort to pull it out, and that the guy did it in the first place. Having a curse on you isn’t that bad…we’re on our 100th year without a World Series win and the Cubs are as popular as ever. In the words of Mark DeRosa - every game is a home game! Hmm, but having that World Series win WOULD be nice…
It was delicious. Dave took one, I took the other. After one bite we wanted to grab the other’s so we could eat the whole thing. Yumminess! Twix, you done good.
….because I don’t remember, since 2 years ago, a little miracle came into our lives.
My little Benjamin turns 2 today, it’s hard to believe that he’s two whole years old. I know I don’t talk a lot about him on here, though I DO post a lot of pictures of him. He just keeps me so busy I don’t really have time to post things. I had planned on posting all sorts of milestones and cute, little quirky stories of him growing up, but those plans had the same outcome as all my other plans - out the window.
My life is very interesting now - not that it wasn’t interesting when I was single and traveling all over the country - but now it’s interesting in a very different kind of way. My days are completely full - if I’m not working, then I’m taking care of Ben. I rarely go out without Ben, and life has become more centered around my family and my home. I am constantly in wonder of this little person who has taken our lives hostage.
When I was pregnant with Ben, people gave all sorts of advice, to the point where I was like, “Yeah, ok, right”. But the thing is, in the end, they were all right. I would never had known it at the time or really fathomed what they were all talking about, but those common phrases that people said that really ring true for my life right now:
“They Grow Up So Fast!”
Man, Benjamin learns something new every day. It seems like just yesterday that he was crawling around on the floor and just spouting gibberish. Now he’s walking, running, climbing, jumping and he talks. Not full sentences, but enough that we understand what he’s asking for, like his favorite words - “Cookie!” “Ice Cream!” and “Cars!” It’s incredible to watch him grow up. The kid is a sponge, and his ability to figure things out is uncanny. It’s so cool to see his personality emerge - he’s a little mama’s boy, with a bratty temper, a love of music and dancing, who loves giving kisses and gives great baby hugs.
“It’s incredible how much you’ll love them”
I’m married, so I’ve got an idea of what love is. But the love I have for Ben is something completely different. It’s so strong, unconditional and easy. I love to watch him sleeping, to silently sit in awe, watching this being that I gave life to. This little bundle of energy that adores me and wants to spend every minute with me. I may have given him life, but he has made my life so much better.
“It’s the toughest job you’ll love”
It’s not all perfect. He sometimes has tantrums. I discovered that I became that mom whose kid throws himself on the ground when he didn’t get what he wants. Did you see a french fry fly in front of you in the restaurant? Yeah, that could have been my kid. The kid who doesn’t share at gymboree? Mine. The kid clapping and saying “Yay” after someone sings at a funeral? Yep, that one would be long to me. Who’s the kid that’s crawling all over me when I’m trying to get some late night work done? Ben. Even with all these little quirks, I love it. I love it all.
He’s only been here for 2 years, but it’s so hard to imagine my life without him. I can’t lie and say that I don’t sometimes envy the lives of the people I know who don’t have kids - there’s a freedom that you have that you no longer have once you become a parent. I can’t go out and party like I used to love doing. Can’t stay up all night playing video games. All vacations have to be planned, no more spur of the moment trips. But that’s all right. I’m perfectly happy hanging out at home with my family, having Ben jump around on the bed or watching him watch his favorite movies.
So happy birthday, my little boy. You are loved by so many people, and you have brought such a joy to our lives that I can’t even put it into words.
Here’s a look at the last year of Ben’s life - it’s a little sloppy since I’ve been swamped, but it’s the thought that counts:
As the admin for Ten on Tuesday, I’m ashamed that I don’t post it more on my main site! Anyway, here’s this week’s topic!
In no particular order, and for a variety of reasons - I’ll keep my list to actors that are currently working:
1. Morgan Freeman - has been excellent in pretty much every movie I’ve seen him in
2. Natalie Portman - a classiness and a talent we haven’t seen since Audrey Hepburn
3. Angelina Jolie - immense talent, and an incredible humanitarian off-screen
4. Brad Pitt - not the greatest actor of our time, not even close, but dammit, he looks good!
5. Russell Crowe - he brings something new into every role he’s in
6. Nicole Kidman - she’s become much more likable to me since she split from Tom, and, it seems, a much better actress
7. Laura Linney - the most underrated actress out there
8. Meryl Streep - she can do it all: drama, comedy, and coming soon - musicals!
9. Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson - someone’s gotta take Ahhhnold’s place, and I think that The Rock is perfect
10. Johnny Depp - who would have thought that ‘the pretty boy’ from 21 Jump Street would grow up to be such an accomplished actor?
As I’ve mentioned before, every now and then I like participating in Worth 1000’s contests when I’ve got the time. A lot of people pay to enter contests, but you can always play for free - but if you play for free, you can’t win. Winners are determined by the average rating given by other users - and if you’ve paid. The prizes are credits that you can use to enter more contests. I’ve got some credits there, but just like paying for contests that for beginners (which I definitely am, compared to the awesome work that’s there).
I’ve posted my manga art here before, and I always love it when they have a manga contest. Here’s my entry from a couple months ago that technically won, but ended up in 4th place since it wasn’t eligible for the top prizes. Felt like a sucker for not paying for it, but it was just an honor to know that I would have won if I’d paid.
Manga Hayden:
Here’s the original:
I’ve got a lot of stuff I’ve entered, so I’ll post those every now and then.
Dave’s brother Justin came over a couple weeks ago with Rock Band (which belonged to my cousin). We hooked it up and Ben immediately took the drumsticks and started jamming on the drums - even though he’s never played the drums before. That game is totally addicting - we kept Ben up pretty late playing it. I stayed on the easy level on drums (I tried medium and failed miserably - my feet just have a mind of their own) Dave was on bass (and later guitar) and Justin was on guitar. Later on my cousin Marlon came over and he jammed out on guitar (on the hard level!), Justin did the drums and I wimped out playing bass. Ben added a level of difficulty be throwing goldfish crackers on me, whispering “ice cream!” in Marlon’s ear and banging on the drums with Justin. I tried out singing, and although I was awesome at it, it was obvious that Rock Band doesn’t really care if you actually sound good - just that you’re hitting the right notes.
The game is awesome - it’s definitely a team effort, and the songs available are pretty awesome. I’ve been debating on getting a gaming system (even though we all know I have no time to play). Maybe when the Wiis are more available I’ll buy one and get Rock Band for it. If anything, I can always invite Rock Band owners to come over and rock out with us!
More than 15 years ago, a barely teenaged girl in Chicago wrote a 4 page letter, both sides, in 4 colors - to a group of five guys from Boston, telling each one how much she loved them and was proud of them and how she couldn’t wait to see them them in concert.
Looking back, I have NO idea what took 8 pages to say, but man, I loved me some NKOTB back in the day. Me, my sisters and cousins each had our own, though I think I got the short end of the stick when I got assigned Danny as my favorite. We loved them. We adored them. My “Hangin’ Tough” video was played often in the house. I took the time to learn the special piano intro Jordan played for “I’ll be loving you”.
The guys have aged pretty well…If they actually DO get back together, I just might take the time to watch them.
A construction worker’s bid to curse the New York Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot.
