Last night was rare – my husband and I were watching two different sports on two different tvs, and football was not involved!  My husband is a huge fan of the Chicago Bears, and tries to catch every one of their games.  But it’s not football season, so we decided to check in on the Chicago Bulls since they are in the playoffs.  We tuned in right at (what was supposed to be) the end of the game, and it was really exciting!  Let me back up to 1997 for a minute – a few weeks after we met, my husband took me on a date to a Chicago Bulls game.  Not just any game – it was game 6 of the NBA Finals, and the Bulls were going for the win over the Utah Jazz.  Not only that, we got to see the “Dream Team” in action – Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, etc.  And the Bulls ended up winning that night!  It was so fun…  well, except for when I passed out on the street before the game – it was in such a bad neighborhood that people thought I had OD’d.  But I had just not eaten or drank much water that day since my car had overheated, and I had to walk to a pay phone and try to get a hold of my husband, er boyfriend at the time to pick me up where I was stranded.  We were almost late to the game, and it was obviously a hot day and I think I dehydrated…  Anyway, that was my first and only live NBA game, and it was enough to let me appreciate basketball, especially exciting games with high stakes.

So  last night, the Bulls were on the verge of getting eliminated from the series, when the score was tied and they went into overtime – not once, not twice, but triple overtime!  And the Bulls ended up beating the Boston Celtics – tying the series at 3-3.  Winner of the next game takes all!  It was a lot of fun to watch, and Saturday’s game will be even more fun!  So that game was on  the tv, and on my laptop I had put on the Cubs game which also went into an extra inning, but I won’t talk about that too much – they  didn’t end up winning.  But the game was very exciting up until the 10th inning, and I noted how unusual it was to have duelling sports on in my house – especially because it’s not the time of year when MLB and NFL seasons overlap!

HELLO EVERY PEOPLE!!!  I A WISH A YOU ALL A HAPPY HOLLYDAY FROM AMERICA COUNTRY!!! I am come to America country to a spread some cheer.  But Morat a say WOOLY SHEEP I a not know it a be this a cold .  If Morat he a want a cold, he a stay in Liswathistan.  So I a go to two two people house with Christmas cheer.  It a sound like soap but more fun that a soap.  Morat take boxes to people house number one and they a like very much.  Then, Morat he a go to house number two to take boxes to little people and another surprise for night of games soo… EVERYONE WINS!  While with the little people, they a give Morat a big surprise… a man of a bones who a sing and a dance to my favorite a song.  Every people a know what this is, yes? After we open the boxes, the little people make a slimy alien man for Morat.  But Morat a not know what happened to the alien before he a leave.  Morat also give a back of pig ride to one litttle people and she a make a stink in face of Morat.  I a say Wooly Sheep (excuse my a Liswathistani please).  Then, Morat had to say good night so little people a get ready for sleep and everyone else watch the Chica-go and Bay of Green play the ball foot.  Morat say Happy Christmas… Merry Year New and may you all a get coal for a the fire.

Apparently while people are on Christmas break – off work or just home with their kids – they like to send email forwards.  I’ve gotten a burst of them lately, and 2 caught my eye so I will share them.  The first is another personality quiz, but it had some different questions than ones in the past, so I’m posting it.  Second is a really cute youtube video of a lady doing a marvellous job singing a song with which every parent will identify.  She is very talented, and it’s a good performance.  Not only do the lyrics ring true, but the woman has a nice voice, and she just performs the song very well.  It’s amazing to me that she was able to memorize all those words – they come awfully fast!

Here’s a copy of the personality quiz email with the answers I wrote:

A little fun thing to do.
44 ODD Things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT
OUT! Learn 44 things About your friends, and let them
learn 44 things about you! Send back to Me and to
several more friends !!

1. Do you like blue cheese? yes
2. Have you ever smoked? yes
3. Do you own a gun? NO!
4. What flavor of Kool Aid was your favorite? mountain berry
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? yes
6. What do you think of hot dogs ? like em – especially Vienna Beef or Nathans
7. Favorite Christmas movie? Elf
8. Favorite thing to drink in the morning:water
9. Can you do push ups? barely
10. Favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding and engagement rings
12. Do you have A.D.D.? I just might
13. What is one trait you hate about yourself?  that I can be high strung
14. Middle name ?  Marie
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. My Grandma’s Christmas village is cooler than the one they’re showing on the news – I can’t wait until Christmas – I can’t wait until Chris gets off work
17. Current worry? money
18. Current hate right now? arrogant, self-absorbed people
19. Favorite place to be?  home
20. How did you bring in the New Year? with friends
22. Name three people who might complete this.  Jamy, Megan, Mary Beth
23. Do you own slippers?  no – I wear imitation Crocs around the house
24. What shirt are you wearing? a red sweatshirt with snowflakes on it
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? yes – but only in the summer
26. Can you whistle? yes
27. Favorite color?  green
28. Would you be a pirate? I’ve got a parrot…  but I don’t really know what this question means.  I would not hijack ships and steal from people, so I guess not
29. What songs do you sing in the AM. Country
30. Favorite girl’s name?  Taylor
31. Favorite boy’s name? Christopher
32. What’s in your pocket right now? a piece of Barbie fake dog poop – don’t ask
33. Last thing that made you laugh? My girls seeing their baby brother jumping in his bouncy
34. What vehicle do you drive? minivan
35. Worst injury you have ever had? emergency cesarean with a blood transfusion
36.  Favorite Season?  Spring
37. How many TV’s do you have in your house? 6
38. Who is your loudest friend? Lisa H. I guess
39. Do you have any pets? 2 dogs, a parrot, and one hibernating ladybug
40. Does someone have a crush on you?  does marriage count as a crush?
41. What is your favorite book? Monkeys on the Interstate by Jack Hanna
42. Do you collect anything?   board games, Legos, Cubs stuff, local historical memorabilia and books
43. Favorite sports team? Chicago Cubs / Bears
44. What song do you want played at your funeral?  Whatever other people want to listen to, I guess…  it’s not like I’ll be enjoying it!

And here is the Mom’s Anthem video:

Sunday is usually my favorite day of the week, but our last one ranks low on a list of my favorites.  First, the kids started out the day by being terrible.  Our 4-year-old Sammie was excited to see the snow – all 20 flakes of it that fell that morning – and she asked her still-half-asleep parents if we could go sledding.  My husband groggily mumbled yes, apparently thinking she was saying something else.  Later when we were up and about, I told him what he had agreed to, and so we then had to find something else comparable in my daughter’s mind to sledding.  Giving them an outside toy, we bundled the 3 oldest kids and sent them outside, the oldest of whom wanted to stay inside – which began her downward spiral.  She went outside reluctantly, but as soon as she came in, she threw a major tantrum about who-knows-what.  This set off the other two – our toddler was upset because her almost-9-year-old sister was acting totally out of her mind, and our 4-year-old…  well, I guess it’s just that she never misses an opportunity to act like a nut.  My husband dryly called it “Trickle-Down Crabonomics”, which I find the perfect term to describe the volatile cause-and-effect relationship between siblings in a large family.

Somehow, we were ready to leave the house for our favorite Sunday brunch, and we were only 7 minutes past schedule, not bad.  The kids cheered up in the car, and they were good during the entire meal, but unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the quality of the food.  It seems our favorite brunch has gone down a few steps in quality, to say the least.  They used to feature an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet with delicious selections that varied from the usual scrambled eggs and bacon usually featured at these things.  They even had a little table with chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly, and pizza for the kids.  They had a make-your-own-omlette bar, which had a variety of ingredients, from spinach and feta cheese to onion and green peppers.  Our favorite was the pasta bar – the chef makes fresh pasta right in front of you, and the alfredo is simply delicious – something even all the kids agreed upon.  We’ve been visiting this brunch for about a year now, and slowly over time, there’s been a downgrade in quality.  At first it wasn’t that noticable – cloth napkins going to paper, the end of the kids’ table, little things here and there.  But now, it’s down to a line of silver servers containing things like scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy and a make-your-own omelet bar with about 4 ingredients: one kind of cheese, bacon, mushrooms, salsa.  No more onion, no spinach, no feta…     and certainly no pasta bar, our favorite part.  And I never even got to try the marinara.  Well, anyway, that’s enough about that – another victim of this economy, I guess.  I know their menu is based upon the number of reservations they get, so maybe if the reservations somehow increase, so will the quality of the food again.

So after the disappointing buffet – which usually means I don’t have to worry about cooking the rest of the day since we’re all so full, this was not the case today – it was time to watch one of the biggest Chicago Bears games in recent years.  It was for first place and against their rivals, the Green Bay Packers.  The Packers scored more than 12 times as many points as the Bears did, and my kids weren’t very good during the game, so it was difficult for their father to even watch the slaughter.  Our 2-year-old fell asleep early, which we thought was a good thing, but she was woken up by her oldest sister during the battle we had about her cleaning the bathroom that was trashed during the sleepover she had had Friday night.  So now we had a late-napping toddler, and we spent the rest of the day fighting about the bathroom with our oldest.  Next thing I know, it’s time for bed for everyone, and we never even got any parent-alone-time, ugh.

Oh, well, just because the day wasn’t all I was looking forward to still doesn’t make it a “bad day”.  It was a weekend, which means family day, and I don’t think those could ever be bad…  not like yesterday when I got to Walmart, unloaded two little kids, did some shopping and realized I forgot my credit card.  Had to set my stuff aside, bundle up the kids and go out to the car, but it wasn’t there either – it was at home.  So after re-loading the kids, going home, and re-unloading the kids at Walmart, I was more than a little irritated, not to mention extremely rushed now because I had to get to the school to pick up my oldest.  So no, I didn’t get all the shopping done, I was late to pick up my daughter, but at least I got her to Brownies on time.  Then I went to my meeting for 20 minutes, then left for a Brownie patches ceremony, then back to my meeting, kid in tow…  it was a hectic day, and I’m glad today is date night so I can spend some quality time alone with my husband and unwind.  Only problem there is that no housework gets done on date night, so big surprise, I’m behind yet again, sigh…  But then again, you probably guessed that based upon my lack of blog posting!

Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Started off the day at Golden Corral for breakfast again, and then we stopped at a Wi-Fi place so my husband could download the Chicago Bears game from the previous Sunday because the internet was too slow in our condo to do anything.  That’s a good thing though, I wasn’t able to check email all week and it was nice to take a break from bad news on cnn.com and the real world.  We were lucky enough that it didn’t rain during our trip to Florida until this day when we were already done with the parks. It really didn’t rain much, just a little drizzle, and even though the day was overcast, we spent much of it at the two pools in our condo complex, followed by a nap while my husband juggled the kids, the Bears game, and his own nap.  We then went to our favorite flea market place and let the girls spend their money that Grandma had given them.  NOTE FOR NEXT YEAR – the souvenir shopping was kind of a mistake. Sammie (4 year old) wanted to be impulsive with her money, and we got tired of telling her to wait to spend it. Finally she was allowed to buy something, and then she saw other things she wanted after she was out of money. She also spent the rest of the trip whining and pitching fits about wanting the same souvenirs that her older sister Taylor had picked out. Disney’s (2 year old) idea of “shopping” was running around and picking up things she wanted and playing with them, so overall, I would not recommend the souvenir shopping for kids this age; if we go back within a year or two, we’re going to skip this aspect of the trip.  If they earn spending money for next time, maybe we’ll pick out something for them with it!

Dinner that night was interesting.  My husband has wanted to take me to a Japanese restaurant for awhile, so we decided to try a place called Kabuki.  I was always under the impression that Japanese food would be like Chinese food, but I was wrong.  We sat at a “cooking table”, which is where the chef comes and does little tricks and stunts with the food and cooking utensils while he cooks right in front of you.  At first, I was a little nervous about this because we were seated with a couple from a country called Luxembourg, and having strangers at our table was a little nerve-wracking because my kids can be wild at the dinner table at times.  Everything was fine; the kids were really entertained by the chef’s show.  Better yet, they were mindlessly eating their food without thinking to complain about it or ask for something else.  And the couple from Luxembourg took pictures and later emailed them to me – check it out:

Overall, I liked the Japanese food experience – taste and show –  and I would recommend it to others if it’s something you’ve never tried before.  As you can see, our chef was not Japanese – the guy from Luxembourg predicted that and recommended we retry the experience with a Japanese chef.

Yesterday was the final production of WCCT’s run of the hilarious play, The Nerd. The play itself is one of my favorite goofball comedies and our interpretation of it was met with great audiences and huge responses (although there was the one performance, but you go on). The final performance began with a few cast members getting antsy at the delay of the title actor’s arrival. The gentleman playing Axel approached and asked “Have you seen Chris? I can’t be both parts!” I had a very sneaky suspicion.

At 2.20 (ten minutes before curtain), taylhis approached the theatre pushing the stroller along with Christopher. My suspicion was confirmed. He was indeed watching the Bears play. Right behind me came Producer justj who informed me that it was MY responsibility as stage manager to go get him. I was already on my way. However, I was soon being trailed by said producer. Two heads are better than one?

When we arrived at the house (thankfully, it was mere yards from the theatre), our friend was engrossed in the final seconds of the first half. “Let me see if Hester returns this kick!” Ok… Mission accomplished just as the director was opening the show with her personal rendition of Cyndi Lauper‘s ’80s hit, “Time After Time.”

Following the curtain fall, clean-up began and photos were taken and presents were exchanged. My favorite memento was the card I received from my friend.

Final thoughts on my first stage management. I had a great time working with the cast and my crew. It was definitely a challenge and I know that I could NOT have done it alone… THANKS Carol. However, I AM MUCH MORE of an onstage performer. However, if the need presents itself and I am not engaged as an actor I could be persuaded to assume the role again. Thanks again one and all… cast, director, crew, friends old and new, groupies (OOOPS, they are friends), and of course Alex.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought this season of “The Office” on NBC started out as great as all the others.  Then, enter the writer’s strike…  Many precious weeks of laughs lost.

After the writer’s strike I could see some rusty red-brown.

Not that is wasn’t funny.  Hey, I would take the worst episode of “The Office” over the best episode of “Home Improvement” or “According to Jim” any day.  It was just not AS funny.

But last night’s season finale was PERFECT.  Vintage “The Office”…  Jim & Pam, Dwight & Angela, Andrew Bernard…  AND MICHAEL!

The magic and chemistry (of the cast) that makes this show was back big time in the finale!

Watching Jim work so hard to keep Michael from moving too fast with the new Toby replacement — you know, the one Michael claims he loves!

Seeing the new Toby replacement (boy, I need to lookup her name — it’s HOLLY) interact with Kevin all the time thinking he is “special”.

Learning that Jan is pregnant, but not with Michael’s baby — she got some of the good stuff from the sperm bank because “maybe if I were younger, I’d let Michael be the father of one of my children, but not now, not when it counts.” (she’s getting older).

Then seeing poor Michael miss out on an opportunity too go out with a clearly interested Holly when she hints she would like to got out and get some desert.  She ends up going with Kevin.  You know, the “special” one.

Ahh, “The Office”.  This season reminds me of many a football season as a Chicago Bears fan.  They start strong then take a big loaf in the middle of the season…  Then, they start picking up momentum again only to end the season with a big win!  But, no playoffs.  Hey, that was the Bears LAST season!

Anyway, I will miss you Dwight, Michael, Jim, Pam, Inmate Ryan, Kevin, and others.  See you next season!

I have a love/hate relationship with electronic technology.  I love and appreciate the advances that have been made in the world, and I use lots of technologically savvy stuff every day.  But I hate learning the new stuff, and if I procrastinate, it seems that when I finally break down and learn it, something new immediately comes along to replace what I have just learned.  And I am married to a technology addict.  I know it’s a common thing for men to be into electronics and the latest gadgets and all of that, but I think our house is exceptionally up-to-date on the electronic gadgetry, especially when it comes to computers.  My problem with it lies where the technology becomes more of an inconvenience than it is a convenience.  I have a few examples I will share:

1.  Hi-Def Tv – My husband will sit and flip channels in the middle of a show just to try to find the hi-def version of the show.  Of course he doesn’t choose to do this during a Chicago Bears game or something he is inclined to watch.  For those shows, he will actually think about it ahead of the show’s start time.  He’ll sit and flip looking for high-def while I’m watching something, during shows like Dr. Phil or pointless reality shows.  I know, these are dumb shows, so I shouldn’t care about missing them.  But if I’m going to sit and watch something, then I want to watch it, I don’t want to miss any of it, otherwise I’m wasting my time.  So, if I’m watching Dr. Phil, and hubby comes over and tries to find Dr. Phil in hi-def, I might just miss the backround of a guest’s story and not know what is going on for the rest of the show.  Like I said, it’s not like we’re talking about high quality tv here, but who needs Dr. Phil in hi-def anyway?!?

2.  GPS –  I cannot tell you how many times our GPS guy has gotten us lost.  Yes, we have a GPS system in our car with a male voice – he was on sale.  I’ve always thought I was pretty good at navigating; pretty good at being a human compass and learning the layouts of strange cities and towns pretty quickly.  In the years before we had GPS (and kids!) we used to travel by car A LOT, and I was always our navigator.  I’d like to think I got us out of more than a few scrapes with just my sense of direction and an atlas…  But my past experience gets me no where compared to the GPS guy.  He has taken over.  My husband will insist that we follow Mr. GPS’ directions, even while I’m saying they don’t make sense.  For one thing, he’s led us into a lake before, literally.  Well, luckily common sense did prevail there at the last minute…  my husband stopped the car before he drove into the lake, but he was tempted to trust Mr. GPS, and drive into the lake, I know it.  Maybe it sounds like I’m jealous of Mr. GPS, but I’m not, really I’m not.  I just suspect that he might have it out for us, or that he is a practical jokester who gleefully directs us into predictaments just to see how we get out of them…  Kinda sounds like a dumb sitcom – tune in each week to see how we maneuver our way out of whatever mess Mr. GPS has finagled us into this time…

Don’t get me wrong – I do appreciate all the technology most of the time, in a way.  If my husband weren’t so into all these things, I wouldn’t have all the cool gadgets that I have, and I would not know how to use anything, including my computer probably!  But how ironic is it that this post has been sitting in my drafts for weeks now, not getting finished, just because other things kept coming up that I wanted to write about, so I wasn’t getting a chance to finish it.  But how ironic, that today when I went to tangents.org, I got the following message about learning new technology?!?  If you don’t hear from me for awhile, I’m just procrastinating learning the new “back end” of tangents!

Well my friendly bloggers…  I have some great news that is going to make you all very mad!  Yes, you read that right.  Tangents will be updated with the latest versions of the blog software by next Friday and as soon as today (whenever it is released).  Why will this make you mad?  Because the backend you have worked to learn is going to look significantly different.  But don’t worry!  You have the basics down.  Once you take a few minutes to get used to the new layout you will be comfortable again and blogging on Tangents.Org will be better than ever!

There have been several rivalries among spots teams over the years (Ohio State/Michigan, Chicago Bears/Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cardinals to name a few). However, one of the most celebrated rivalries in all of sports is the extreme battle between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. It dates back to 1920 when the Red Sox sold one of the most famous sluggers of all time, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees. From 1920-2004, the team from Bean Town was unable to win the World Series. Many ‘Sox fans jokingly blame the deal; however, there were several more radical followers who faithfully curse the day the Babe put on the pinstripes. In order to curse the new Yankee Stadium, a Red Sox fanatic working as a construction worker, buried a David Ortiz jersey at the site. Although the jersey has since been unearthed and is going to be auctioned off for charity, I say FIRE THE BUMB!!!!

The Big Dig: The Yanks Uncover a Red Sox Jersey

Ironically, the curse seems to have worked IN REVERSE. Big Papi has batted an embarrassing .070 hitting just 1-for-29 since April 2. Hopefully, recovering the jersey will not have a positive impact on Ortiz’ average.