Christmas time is here!

I got this email from Starbucks today:

So I guess according to sbux, the Christmas season starts when:

a) a week has passed since Halloween

b) the gross (gingerbread / peppermint / egg nog) drinks are back

c) both a and b

Say Hello to Rowan Robert Mills

Our friends Erica & Rod Mills (yes, the same Millsy from this post) welcomed their 2nd child, Rowan to the world last Thursday. It was great treat for Irene and me to be able to have (kind of) a dress rehearsal at Ballard Swedish Hospital just about a month before JJ's arrival.

Here's the email and photo from Erica:

Rowan Robert Mills arrived at 12:13 on November 1. He was 9lbs 3oz and 19 inches long -- no wonder my belly was so big!

He has tons of hair and is generally a mellow little dude. Annick is an exuberant big sister, which leads to us saying, "gentle" and "remember, not his eyes" a lot. Let's just say she's adjusting. She might have worked through her adjustment by the time she goes to college. : )

We're all doing really well and looking forward to introducing you all to Rowan over the coming weeks.

Cheers to everyone,

Erica

Yucky Obama banner ad

I saw this today when checking my yahoo email:

(click the image to see it fullsize, in all its hideous glory)

YUCK! did they have a high school graphic arts class design it?

.

Amazing Race 12

Last night CBS kicked off the 12th season of The Amazing Race. Luckily for viewers, ratings were so poor for Viva Laughlin that it got canceled after 2 shows and CBS decided to air TAR12 instead. The teams are definitely starting to look like all other reality shows where at least half of them are cast for their looks alone. How else would you explain the number of teams from the Los Angeles/Southern Calif. area?

Jim and I really enjoyed that Ireland was the first country on the show. Having only been there a few years ago, it brought back fond memories of our trip. We made that drive to Rossaveel to get on the ferry to Innishmore. Sorry to say we didn't stop at the church, but we did see other ruins there. We got a real laugh when one of the team pronounced "Galway" as "Gallaway" as they kept driving in the wrong direction.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll hit other countries we've been to.

I'm secretly rooting for the Goths from Kentucky. How long are they going to keep up with their makeup while on the run? Can't wait for the first detour/road block in the water. I had high hopes for the grandfather/grandson team because we found out that it's Robbie Fulks' son and father-in-law. But after previews for next week's episode, I have a bad feeling about that team.

Pasta versus Burgers

I just saw this scary clip by The Center for Science in the Public Interest. I don't know if they're a legitimate group, but they demonstrate that eating at the Olive Garden and/or Macaroni Grill can be worse than eating at McDonald and Burger King.

and I think Papelbon might really be crazy

I Can Has Cheezburger?

Who knew this was a phenomemon that warranted its own wikipedia entry? I didn't even know it had a name, lolcat. A friend of ours just hipped us to it, and we've had a few good laughs. Check out the site, I Can Has Cheezburger?

Sox Win! Sox Win! Sox Win!

WOW! The Sox beat Colorado 4-3 tonight, sweeping the series 4-0 for their 2nd WS title in 4 years! I can't believe it - for 39 years of my life I never knew if I'd live to see them win one and now they've won a second just 3 seasons later - it's nuts I tell ya, NUTS! Big congrats to Series MVP Mike Lowell too. I really hope the Sox are smart enough to re-sign Mikey, who has proven himself to be a post-season stud twice now (he won a ring w/the Marlins in '03) & not go after you know who that just opted out the final 3 seasons of his contract with satan's team.

On the baby name front, since the sports guy has pretty much ruined the name Beckett for us, I'm now considering the name 'Champ' for JJ, in honor of the '07 sox. (and possibly the 19-0 2007 Patriots as well). We'll see what Irene has to say about that one. Do you think the name 'Champ' would work for either a boy or a girl? I do.

Millsy Did A Great Job

I sent this article to our friend Rod "Millsy" Mills today to thank him for his help getting the Sox to a 2-0 lead in the World Series. The key quote in the article comes from Sox catcher & captain Jason Varitek:

"Millsy did a great job right there and read the situation right and got us an easy out"

He was talking about Sox bench coach Brad "Millsy" Mills, who called for the pickoff throw for the 3rd out in the 8th inning last night, and not our friend Rod, but that doesn't matter much to me

Nice work Millsy! 2 down & 2 to go--A grateful red sox nation thanks you!

I love this play so much I have to post another photo of it:Yep - I think he was out!

Thar she blows!

Last week we were subjected to a freakish wind storm. My sister and brother-in-law from Michigan flew in that night. Since their plane was arriving late in the evening, they were subjected to the worse of the storm. They did say it was a rough landing. Well, someone posted some photos of a Washington ferry boat riding the wild waves caused by the storm. It looks like a toy bobbing in a tub.

Sox Are 1-2 vs Colorado this year

I looked this up earlier today - the Rockies beat the Sox 2 of 3 when they visited Fenway in June. They beat both Beckett and Schilling, our World Series game 1 and 2 starters, and their only loss of the series was 2-1 to Wakefield, who was left off the WS roster because of back/shoulder issues.

Hopefully this all means nothing & the Sox will kick ass but I don't understand why most Boston fans are thinking this will be a cakewalk. These guys are no joke. 21 of 22 is no joke.

OK, so the NL is a joke but I'm still feeling anxious.

Look Who's Forty

I finally reached the ripe age of 40 last Friday. My family came out to help celebrate my birthday and also see my burgeoning belly. Now at 34 weeks, I feel as big as a house. I'm amazed (and alarmed) at the speed my belly is growing.

We found a house in the South Sound that was big enough for the ten of us -- Jim, myself, my 3 sisters, mom, brother-in-laws, niece and nephew. Too bad the weather wasn't so nice, raining, cold and grey. We made the most of the weekend and enjoyed each other's company.

It really meant a lot to me to have everyone here for my birthday. It's been years since we were all together. Luckily everyone gets along even Mom though she doesn't speak enough English to effectively communicate with Jim, Bob, Martin, Ryan and Emily.

Beckett Martel?

I've been (only half-jokingly--I really do kind of like the sound of it) pitching the name Beckett to Irene for a few weeks now, and today the sports guy writes this (including the caption below the pic on left):

"When Cleveland had a chance to clinch at home, Beckett laid the smack down in Game 5. In my lifetime, the most clutch Boston pitching performance was Schilling's bloody sock game in the 2004 ALCS. Second was an injured Pedro coming out of the bullpen in Game 5 of the '99 Indians-Sox series. Third was Derek Lowe throwing a one-hitter for six innings ON TWO DAYS REST to topple the Yankees in Game 7 of 2004. And the fourth? Beckett slamming the door in Game 5. He held off a pennant celebration, swung the momentum of the series and threw his hat into the ring for Team Simmons' "What should we name our son?" sweepstakes. (You have to admit, Beckett Simmons has a nice ring to it.) Baseball is the only sport where a single person can shut up 55,000 people for an extended period of time and eventually break their will. This was one of those times. Just a virtuoso performance."


So much for that! Don't suggest Lugo Martel to us either, ok? Because that ain't happening.

Indians Going to EXTREME Lengths to end Series tonight. Plus: Torre out in NY

They hired Josh Beckett's ex to sing the anthem before the game - really! "Oh but I swear, it's just a coincidence. how were we supposed to know???"


Here's the link to this article on espn:

Teams have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to get an edge. But the Cleveland Indians swear Thursday night's choice of pre-game singer is not a piece of gamesmanship.

Danielle Peck, a country music singer who also happened to date Red Sox ace pitcher Josh Beckett, will sing the national anthem and "God Bless America" at tonight's Game 5 in Cleveland. Beckett is scheduled to start the game for Boston.

"It's an incredible coincidence. Honestly," said Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio.

Taylor Swift was supposed to be the Game 5 vocalist, but when she couldn't attend, DiBiasio said a country music booker recommended the up-and-coming Peck. She is from Coshocton and her single "I Don't" is a hit.

"She's from Ohio. Her entire family are Indians fans. We did not know anything about her connections to Beckett. The next day, we find out the rest of the story," said DiBiasio of Peck. "How are we supposed to know who Josh Beckett dates?"

With a victory tonight, the Indians would close out the Red Sox and clinch their first spot in the World Series since 1997.

Yeah - "I Don't" is a HUGE hit - it's the next Stairway to Heaven - it peaked at #28 on the country chart -- in 2005! woohoo!

Also, Joe Torre turned down the yankees low-ball offer of $5M (as much as $8M including incentives) today. That's good news for fans of all other teams. There's not much chance any other manager would do as good a job managing that roster of high priced head cases & steroid abusers.

Somebody tell Manny we're still down by 4

Sox are down 3-1 to the Indians in the ALCS, in case you haven't been watching. I feel we have them right where we want them--their #1 guy going tomorrow night, at home, trying to clinch, oozing self confidence. Yep, right where we want em.

New trick for an old "dog"

I love this picture. Jim and I will have to work with Fred to recreate this photo so we can use it for the blog. It is named after him after all.

Another pizza joint in Ballard

There's a new pizza place, called Zayda Buddy's, in Ballard. It's just around the corner from the gym that I haven't been to in months. Last night, Jim and I met some friends there. Let's say that the menu is not the healthiest, but they do offer some options that won't send your cholesterol level sky high. The first of its kind in Seattle, Zayda Buddy's offer Minnesota-style pizza, thin crust with sauce and toppings to the edge and square slices (who knew?). We started with the gravy boat, thin cut fries topped with homemade (and lumpy) gravy. Crispy skinny fries -- super yummy -- with salty brown gravy. We also got a garden salad that comes with avocado, beets and garbanzo beans. It was lightly dressed but decent.

If I ever have the courage, there's a number of items on the menus that I would like to try (or at least, have a bite of). Tater tot casserole, deep-fried burger, velveeta cheese on texas toast, the official bratwurst of the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins... This place is open till 2am so I'm sure they'll get a ton of people wandering in after drinking at the bars along Ballard Avenue.

With Zayda Buddy's, there are now 6 pizza joints in Ballard: Madame K's, Snoose Junction, Palermo, Zagi's, and Sopranos. I think that beats any other cuisine found in Ballard with the exception of burgers.

AL East Champs

The Red Sox were celebrating at a bar inside Fenway Park after they clinched the AL East. Check out the photos -- http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=1613zckz.7uefw8j3&x=0&y=ytvvj5 -- you don't have to log in to view the slideshow, just hit play. I have three words of advice for whoever took these pictures -- red eye reduction. Enjoy!

I totally love the Bud Light bottles with the Red Sox logos on them.

Less than 2 months to go

It's still hard to believe that we're having a baby. We still don't have the baby's room set up yet. We need to get rid of furniture before we can re-fill the room with baby furniture. I'll be surprised if the room will be ready before the baby's born.

One of our last trip down to visit Shirley in Oregon, she ordered us to Babies R'Us so we would start looking at stuff for the nursery. We didn't buy anything then, but we did make a list. We're slowly taking small steps to getting ready. We bought a car seat at a used baby sale. We're opting for an universal stroller where the car seat locks into it, something that'll cost less than $100. We've been discussing the pros and cons of strollers for months. We've experienced sticker shock seeing how much everything costs. Strollers for $800, cribs for $2,000, diaper bags for $200, etc... We've been looking at craigslist, hoping to find deals on used baby stuff. I figure the kid won't know the difference of something brand new or a few months/years old.

This week Jim sent me a link to an article about high-end strollers and stroller envy. Click the link, http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2007/10/04/coveting_thy_neighbors_stroller/, to read the Boston Globe article. Then I saw posting on craigslist for a used Bugaboo Frog for $550. Yes, I'm considering buying one. Unfortunately, it was sold before I could even have second thoughts. We did decide that we really need to check out strollers before buying them used. On Saturday, we drove out to Merry Go Round in Bellevue, a store that carries high-end baby furnishings and strollers. We ended spending over 2 hours looking at strollers. Orbit, Quinny, MacLaren, Combi, Peg Perego, Svan , Baby Bjorn, Million Dollar Baby, Phil and Ted, etc... We had a good laugh or two when Jim couldn't figure out how to collapse the various strollers. The only stroller he could do without any problems was the one developed by some MIT engineer that costs over $800. We're trying to narrow down the options and find a stroller that folds small enough to fit our car. A lot of these strollers are great but are too big for our little car. Our search continues...

If Fred was a bird...

this is from an email someone I work with sent me
(click on the image to watch the avian Fred in action):

He s-l-o-w-l-y enters the store......and then he runnnnnnns........OUT!
A seagull in Scotland has developed the habit of stealing chips from a neighborhood shop.

The seagull waits until the shopkeeper isn't looking (so a camera was installed), and then walks into the store and grabs a snack-size bag of cheese Doritos.
Once outside, the bag gets ripped open and becomes a feast, for other birds!
The seagull's shoplifting started early this month, when he first swooped into the store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and helped himself to a bag of chips.
Since then, he's become a "regular". He always takes the same type of chips.

Customers have begun paying for the seagull's stolen bags of chips,... because they think it's so funny!