Merry Christmas!

Babygirl and Babydog

Busy busy busy

Ah, where to begin...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We certainly did. Best one ever! Busy, busy, busy though. Babygirl was a trooper through it all, though she was completely worn out every night.

Babygirl had her 6 month checkup a couple weeks ago. Still long and lean, but healthy and a very happy little baby. She entertained the doctor with her toe sucking trick, all while the doctor was trying to talk to me. Slurrrrrp! The big item that came out of the checkup is that Babygirl has outgrown her infant seat (she’s too tall for it). Huge shock for Mapgeek and I who were not expecting to invest in a new car seat for a few more months. So, I bought a new seat that was recommended by many and now we can’t figure out how to install it to our satisfaction. And no, fire departments don’t install car seats anymore. Liability of course.

Babygirl is also crawling! Full on, pedal to the metal, get out of my way, CRAWLING. Not only that, she also pulls herself up. So we’ve also had the big investment of a gate for the top of the stairs and the Superyard XT, which is a bunch of gates linked together that you can form a circle with (like a playpen). In our case, I stretched it from one wall, across the fireplace and TV (including cords) to the other wall. Makes a nice Babygirl barrier and she loves to pull up on it and watch the fire or the TV. I love this thing!

So that’s our biggest news for the moment, though I have tons more to write about. It will have to wait until another time.

Happy New Year’s!!

I'm ethnic!!

My ethnically enhanced global village name is Aneko Chiyo.
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Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

As we're on the anniversary of this significant event in our history, I just wanted to remind you all to remember those at Pearl Harbor. Please look through the link above to refresh your memory about all the men and women that fought so hard to keep the world free. Thank you!!

Never forget...

What exactly is a "Holiday Tree"?

A great op-ed piece from Mike Adams (UNCW professor) appeared in Townhall today. It seems that my beloved Auburn had a "Holiday Tree" lighting this past weekend. *sigh* I'm VERY disappointed in our current SGA (student government association) for allowing this nonsense.

HOWEVER...

Several members of the SGA at Auburn spearheaded a movement to counter this by putting a resolution out. And, rather than me attempting to vent my disappointment and then getting more and more ticked over political correctness (don't EVEN get me going), I thought I'd share the resolution since it says it all (and in a nice manner). I'm inserting this below for those that don't want to follow the link.

RESOLUTION

Whereas, a decorated tree is the traditional, historical symbol of Christmas; and

Whereas, the Christmas tree is a decorated tree celebrating and symbolizing the historical Christmas season; and

Whereas, a tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree in the State of Alabama, the United States of America and around the world; and

Whereas, the tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree on Auburn’s campus; and

Whereas, calling the tree a Christmas Tree preserves historical correctness and embraces religious diversity; and

Whereas, in pursuit of Auburn’s spirit of diversity and tolerance of differing ideals, the Student Government Association Student Senate maintains that traditional symbols, religious and otherwise should not be suppressed; and

Whereas, labeling a Christmas Tree as a “Holiday Tree” appears to be religiously intolerant toward those who celebrate Christmas; and

Whereas, the University Administration and the Student Government Association have promoted a spirit of diversity and religious tolerance on campus; and

Whereas, the name of the tree is not a legal issue rather an issue of preference and historicity; and

Whereas, even the display of a manger scene by a government body has been held to be constitutional to celebrate Christmas and its origins;

Therefore be it Resolved, that the Auburn University Student Government Association Student Senate recognizes the decorated tree on campus during the Christmas holiday season by its historical name of “Christmas Tree”; and

Therefore, Be it Further Resolved, that the decorated tree re-labeled a “Holiday Tree” be properly reinstated with its original, historical, traditional, intended, and common title and identified for what it actually is, a “Christmas Tree.”


War Eagle! and Merry Christmas!

Babygirl making faces with Daddy. Curleyboys in the back watching football (what else!).

Babygirl and Uncle Thugg. I just don't know what to say about this one. :)

Babygirl jumping with Grandaddy P. Boing, boing, boing.

Check out the "all fours" action! Almost crawling (shiver).

Turkeys and stuff

Well, we tried to go to Indianapolis to visit Mapgeek’s extended family (two grandparents, three uncles, two aunts from both sides of the family). We left the Friday night before Turkey Day to make it to Nashville (half way) for the night. Four hours later, we pulled into a hotel north of Nashville and got a phone call informing us that part of the family was sick. Seriously enough to not want to get Babygirl involved. Sooooooooo, we had a cozy night in a Holiday Inn Express, complete with wi-fi, a six-pack of Guinness, and a six-pack of Krystals. And we came home on Saturday. Long way for a much needed pseudo-date. We’re rescheduling for January and greatly looking forward to introducing Babygirl to her family.

Turkey Day was yummy, of course. Lunch was at my parents house. The whole gang including my siblings, Mapgeek’s parents and siblings, and all the spouses came. It’s fun having everyone there. It’s like a big traditional pilgrim-fest rather than just a few people, though it’s a lot of work. Luckily, my brother shopped with Mom P and convinced her to get a 20-lb bird. It was HUGE! I should have taken a picture.

The rest of our much needed long weekend was spent painting the 2-story foyer in our house. Borrowed an extension ladder and another folding-type ladder thing AND a power roller from my I-own-every-power-tool-and-anything-else-you-can-think-of dad. Power rollers rule. Especially if you’re two stories up and trying to paint a large expanse of drywall. Still took us two whole days. I think we’re going to take a break from painting for a while.

Whew. I need a beer just talking about it.

Let me tell you a little story 'bout a man named Jed...

I thought you guys might get a kick out of this. In the mail the other week, I received a bunch of junk mail (as usual). However, in the spirit of trying to save money, I’ve been going through it scouting for sales and coupons. I came across this scratch off thing from Marietta Dodge. Got a coin and did a quick scratch to see if I won a shopping spree (no free cars). There were nine boxes and if 3 match, you win whatever is in the boxes. I matched for $1000 shopping spree! A $1000 ONLINE SHOPPING SPREE! Right before Christmas! How lucky! Then rationality set in, and I thought “well that was too easy.” So I called up the phone number at the Dodge place and was told that there was no gimmick and congratulations. I won $1000 shopping spree. I was only responsible for shipping and handling and a processing fee. All I had to do was drive over to Marietta Dodge and claim my gift certificate.

So, Mapgeek and I loaded up and headed on over to the car dealership. We actually didn’t have to listen to a sales pitch, which we thought was part of the thing. And, to top it all off, the guy said just to show their appreciation for us coming in, they would DOUBLE our shopping spree. $2000!!!! Unbelievable. So, we got our gift certificate and left, plotting our shopping spree all the way home. Big screen TV, Ipod for me, the best baby toys, etc.

We get home and I get the laptop booted up to start my shopping extravaganza. First thing I noticed is that there are no big screen TV’s, that being the first item to shop for. Then I started noticing that it’s all these generic company’s items and most are things we’d never buy, much less use. But no matter, it’s still free money so I’d find something. Then, I decided I’d better go see what this “processing fee” was going to be, especially if I was going to order a bunch of junk. For spending the full $2000 on our shopping spree, it was going to cost us over $600 for S&H and a processing fee! That’s over 30%!!!! And the less you spend, the more the fee is!

So, in a nutshell, y’all are all getting fruitcakes for Christmas. Sorry.

(Clark Howard would be so proud!)

Quote of the Day

I read this amazing quote from Teddy Roosevelt that was posted on Boortz's news this morning. I'm going to post it here for your entertainment and thought.

"... if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American ... There can be no divided allegiances here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag,... we have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Teddy Roosevelt -- 1907 (www.cacp.info #548)

Mairin's Day

Yip yip yip, all the way home (see y'all!)

My Tigers did it again! I love to beat Georgia! Boy, what an even matchup though. We were looking at the stats on SportsCenter and they were almost dead even in passing, rushing, and points. Auburn is hanging onto hope for getting into the SEC Championship. A pipe dream especially since the Tide couldn’t manage to beat LSU. Figures. Stupid elephant things.

And I can’t BELIEVE that South Carolina beat Florida! Woohoo! How bizarre too that Spurrier beat his beloved Gators. You know Columbia was rocking last night.

I have my list of teams that I love to see get beat. It changes from year to year depending on how much I pity them or whether there’s some tenuous connection, such as someone that went to that school that ticks me off. Florida topped my list for years because of Spurrier. Oh, how the times have changed (did hell freeze over??) now that he’s at Carolina. And I pity Florida now, so they aren’t at the top anymore.

Ok, I know you are all waiting expectantly for my Beat the Crap Outa’em list so here it is:

#1 Georgia – I live in Georgia and I’m tired of hearing “Go Daaaawgs” (appropriate hick accent here). I’m also tired of hearing how great their football team is. Doesn't seem like they've been delivering on this.

#2 Southern Cal – REALLY tired of them. They need to lose. Plus, they get put on top of the pack by the powers that be and screw the rest of the undefeated teams out of the National Champion title (refer to Auburn last year).

#3 Florida State – Primarily because of Bobby Bowden. That's because of his son, Terry that did some damage to the Auburn program in the mid-90’s.

#4 Clemson – Primarily because of Tommy Bowden. That's because of his brother Terry. Anyone else as sick of the Bowden’s as me?? Other reason is our adoption of South Carolina as one of our Teams That Must Be Cheered For.

#5 Florida – It’s hard to let go of bitterness. :)

I know many of you are wondering why Bama didn’t make the list. At the moment, I’m still recovering from the pity years they’ve had recently. I’d say they are in the Top 10. Other honorable mentions that are inching their way close to the top 5 – Michigan (I’ve got a long-standing disdain for Michigan), Miami, UNC, and Nebraska. I’m still thinking about adding Texas to the list.

My list of Teams That Must Be Cheered For is pretty obvious. Though there are only 4 teams that are non-negotiable. Everyone after that is subject to be put on the Beat the Crap Outa’em list.

#1 Auburn
#2 South Carolina
#3 NC State (long family history here)
#4 Indiana (This is actually Mapgeek’s alma mater. Carolina was grad school.)

Honorable mentions here are teams that I’ve always liked for whatever reason. Penn State, Tennessee (they are here mostly for the strong pity factor this year), and Notre Dame (also the pity factor, though if they revive their glory years, they might be switching lists).

Babygirl's Big Day

Babygirl had her first of many big day last week. She was baptized in the church. And, even more special, was that she was christened by the same wonderful minister that married Mapgeek and I. We opted to go Methodist instead of Catholic, since neither Mapgeek or I are not particularly active (and I’m not Catholic anyways) in the Catholic church.

Babygirl wore a BEEE-utiful dress that Grandmommy P made. It was an amazing labor of love. And she wore her little bonnet and looked like a little angel. Not that I’m partial or anything. The ceremony was very sweet and I got all teary as Mommy’s are prone to be with a baby’s milestones. After church, Mapgeek and I had the family back over to our house for lunch.

The next weepy event will probably be Christmas. Babygirl has started sitting up for longer periods. She has to be sat up, but will stay that way and play. I think crawling is just around the corner. I’m really looking forward to Santa coming and bringing lots of Babygirl toys!

The morning after too much booze

If we'd only had aerobics class the night after! I'd have never missed those classes.

I especially like the helpful hints at the bottom of the article. Wonder what just-out-of-college journalist wrote these.

-Don't drink cheap liquor.
-Have a cheeseburger and fries, three glasses of water and two ibuprofens before going to sleep.
-Drink lots of water.
-To brave the hair of the dog, start drinking again.
-Eat a big breakfast, take two Excedrin Tension Headache, then take a hourlong nap (if you have trouble getting back to sleep, you're not really hung-over).
-Have a Bloody Mary for breakfast.
-Check into the spa for the day (after eating something to soak up the alcohol).
-Homemade lemonade using the coldest water, tons of sugar and fresh lemons.
-Red beer (tomato juice and beer).
-Pepperoni or cheese calzone.
-Take two Tylenol before passing out.
-BC Powder: pour packet on tongue and chase with water.

Halloween!

Ok, so Halloween itself was the last of the week-long festivities that Babygirl and I attended. Somewhat of a letdown. We trick-or-treated the Mega-family across the street and the Next Doors. Then Babygirl fell asleep, while Megamom and I chatted on the front lawn and watched the neighborhood munchkins. There was one post-puberty and very tall young man that showed up at our door. I gave him a handfull of loot. Mapgeek and I were talking about the last time we went out. I remember feeling really stupid knocking on doors. You know you're too old when you start feeling stoopid. It's been a fun week and I'm sure next year will be even more exciting!

We're trying to get ready for our busy, busy weekend. There is a fundraiser for the Foundation Fighting Blindness on Friday night. One of my favorite fundraisers...a wine tasting! And I get to partake this year! It also includes a silent auction, which I always manage to spend a ton of money in the guise of "getting a good deal". Babygirl is also getting christened on Sunday. The wonderful minister that married Mapgeek and I will be blessing the Babygirl. It means a lot to us to have her there. So, Uncle Markiejo and Aunt Niki are coming in town (Mapgeek's brother and wife) as well as my Aunt Wufpakgrl and my Grandmother. We've got family meals out the wazoo this weekend. Plus, we're having everyone over for lunch after church on Sunday. Lots of fun!

Not sure what's funny, but hay... :)