Proud!

I am not big on sports.

I just am not.

I like the Olympics that's true but pretty much other sports underwhelm me. Not for lack of me giving things a fair shot. In fact the year I was pregnant with C I spent time legitimately watching many different sports on television to see if any of them were my cup of tea: football, soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey *which I already knew I liked*, martial arts, track and field, NASCAR etc. I did at this time discover a love for the Triple Crown and I even made sure to watch them last year as well.

It probably doesn't help that I am from Minnesota. The state of notorious let downs. The teams either

1. Are terrible from the get go of the season
2. Play really well for a long time and choke in the playoffs.  

But that's okay. It doesn't mean I don't root for them anyhow. Even if I don't watch for one second. (Which is more or less the case.)

My LEAST favorite team sport (because NASCAR clearly is worse than the team sports... what a waste of gas and time. I did like the one race where they washed the course with Tide.) is basketball. Too many rules, too high of scores, too many squeaks. It's delightful C is short and basketball future looks incredibly unlikely.

So all this March Madness is kind of unexciting for me. I have tuned in to a few games (the last 5 minutes) and watch my bracket fall to pieces. Sort've. I was doing really well for a while there though because I don't know anything about basketball and apparently that is an advantage. I am sort've excited that Kentucky pulled through yesterday because I have them pegged to win it all.

To be fair I only watched the last bit of the game because I knew the start time for The Good Wife depended on when the game ended. Well and Amazing Race because I love that too and I would LOVE to go on that show!!

Anyhow this is a really round-about way to say that I actually have tuned in to one team this basketball playoff season. (Do we call it a playoff? Tournament? No idea.) My Central Missouri Mules.

We may refer to them as "Cmules" because of logos like this.

My grad school alma mater kind of made it to the Elite Eight. Then they won. And moved on to Final Four. And somehow (even though I think they were trying to lose that game) they moved on to the finals. And on Saturday afternoon, on regular CBS (one of 4 channels I actually get at my house) they WON the NCAA Division II basketball championship.

This happened. 

Now I know what it would be like to be a Patriots Fan or a Yankees Fan. Winning is fun!

WWRW: Life is So Good

I did in fact read the book for book club even though I hadn't started last week. Very unlike me but I was having problems with the digital file downloading to my Kindle and wound up resorting to reading it in the browser which was not the most enjoyable format but sure beat paying $9.

So the book was Life is So Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman.

The short story is that this is the biography of George an African American man who learned to read at 98. Born in 1898 he lived until 2001 which is very cool that he lived for 3 different centuries. George has a unique perspective on The United States as a poor black man and he shares his story throughout the book. 

The long story is this. The first chapter is awfully off putting. Young George as a child was a reluctant witness to a lynching of someone he knew. This first chapter is sad and disturbing but puts George's world into perspective immediately. George used this one experience to shape his life and we as readers then take George's life journey with him. 

From leaving home to work on a farm at age 12 in order to support his family through riding the rails as a young adult experiencing the world around him, George gives us insight and gems of wisdom that you can take away for sure. Richard (the co-author who lived with George for a time) often starts a chapter with a newspaper article blip and asks George's opinion on it. The most fascinating thing is seeing the entire 20th century from George's perspective. 

My favorite bit was at the very end of the book and I am going to share it with you. 

"Some people are growing children, not raising children and there's a big difference ... Well, people grow hogs. You give them a place to live, give them all the food they need to keep growing, and make sure they don't get sick on you. With children you got to raise them. Of course, you feed and clothe them. But a parent has to take the time to teach them right and wrong. A parent has to discipline them. And a parent got to be there to listen to them, help them with their problems. I think most people do their best, but there are some parents these days that are growing children, not raising children." Chapter 24. (I don't know the new MLA citation for ebooks and truthfully I just don't care enough to look them up right now.) 

My book club unanimously liked the book and had a good discussion about it. There was a sense that we felt the book was lacking in his middle aged years. He went from freshly married to a senior citizen practically but the book is still good nevertheless. 

I'd recommend it. I would even give it to a teenager who would be able to get past the first chapter as a look into the negative history of America.

Happily linking up with Jessica today after a hiatus I didn't enjoy! Happy Reading!

What In The World?

Almost completely ignoring the fact that it snowed again and that's gross there are more important things to talk about today.

An area park (not one I've ever gone to or really would ever go to but still in the vicinity) was a victim of vandalism. Not just graffiti or something like that, which is a problem in it's own right. Someone, some people glued RAZOR BLADES to playground equipment. On slides, and monkey bars so unsuspecting children would CUT themselves while enjoying the park. A 2 year old was cut and that is how they were discovered.

Actual photo of some of the razor blades

There are two major issues here to be discussed.

What on earth were these vandals thinking?! This takes normal playground damage to a new level entirely. I may have a bias because my job for years was for my city and one job was driving around to all the parks in the evening and weekends. I would track attendance, report damages and just be a presence. I cannot count the number of Porta-Potties that would be tipped and or set on fire any given year.

I just don't get it. What sick pleasure do you get out of destroying things for other people?! Public property and parks are one of the things that make our society on a whole nice to live in. Why wouldn't we want to treat them well?! I suspect a lot of the perpetrators are in their teenage years and while I understand a need to rebel why destroy parks?

I just don't get it.

Our parks are mostly wood chips or gravel not that foamy stuff. 

The other issue is the term "helicopter parent." All these articles these days talk about how parents don't let kids experience life on their own and that we are too over protective. I get it. My brother and I weren't allowed to do a whole lot on our own but going to parks was on the approved list. I mean we could go to 2 parks both within walking distance to our house and we had to go together but we were allowed to go by ourselves.

Grace over at the camp often talks about her playground philosophy is different than the other parents of youth and while my guy was pretty little last summer and really couldn't do anything on playgrounds except run around, this year is different. And I was leaning toward the not totally hovering on the play structure with him kind of philosophy. Then this happens with razor blades and I am completely rethinking my entire thought on the matter.

The reason parents hover isn't because their kid can't climb well and their afraid they'll get hurt. (Well... entirely.) But it's because hoodlums have possibly glued razor blades to the equipment. A scraped knee I can deal with. Bump on the head? That's a part of life. But being deliberately cut by a razor blade crosses my "chalk it up to experience" line. What's a parent to do? There's no way to win.

I know we have to prepare kids for the world and not completely protect them but if I can't even trust a playground I think I am going to have some real issues not being overprotective.

Oh My. The Good Wife (SPOILERS)

I don't even know what to say about The Good Wife. My mind is blown. My heart hurts. And I just don't know what to say.

Okay. Yes I do.

If Michael J. Fox's character Louis Canning is added to the show permanently we might be breaking up. His character is so grating and obnoxious. I've been dealing with Nathan Lane and that's about the amount of tolerance I can give out to one show. (When Nathan Lane talks I die a little on the inside.)

This is going to look awfully familiar soon... 

So let's recap here for just a minute. How I Met Your Mother is ending. Sandra Oh is leaving Grey's Anatomy. (She's my favorite.) And now I possibly can't watch The Good Wife?! All I'll have left is The Big Bang Theory. I need some new shows people. (Smart comedy, good drama)

I am so disappointed in The Good Wife. I admit it, I was absolutely a Will/Alicia girl. I thought for sure she'd leave Peter at some point. And just as they were starting to be civil... they finally smiled at each other again. Just in time for them to rip my heart out. I totally saw it coming. (Within the episode that is, I did not read any spoilers ahead of time.) And even as my thoughts were said out loud I didn't believe them. But there it was. They killed him. He's dead.

And a piece of my heart died with him. It's terrible to be so attached to fictional characters but alas, I was. He was my favorite. I just don't see where they're going with it, though I will say it solved the Peter deposition problem for them. When your witness is dead it doesn't leave much room for guilt.

Rest in Peace Will.

I am going to start re-watching seasons 1-4 now in remembrance of Will. The best.

Next Morning Thoughts: As I have had some time to gather my thoughts and feelings on this matter I thought I would continue to update all of you who may be interested. I have read this and this.

I am still sad. However as Husband pointed out the show is called The Good Wife. She could never really be with Will because she would never be the good wife anymore. Just as Lorelai could never truly marry Luke within the show as they wouldn't be The Gilmore Girls anymore. The previews they've already shown us prove that this will be a very hard time for Alicia and Peter to stumble through and there will be no more denying the love that was between them.

Again, it does solve the ballot box problem for the show so even as I am completely torn up saying goodbye to my favorite character I can see that really is the best way for Will to not have to betray either Peter or Alicia. Nothing good could have come from that and if he died at a point where the two of them were thawing out a little then he died in a world of hope and hope is much, much better than hate.

I am glad that we have one more week with Will in flashbacks. If yesterday really was the last time we saw him I would be very distraught indeed. I imagine life on the show will never be the same and my verdict will still be out until I give it a chance. Michael J. Fox is only there for 4 episodes. That means there will be 2 episodes without him in the remainder of the season. (Thank goodness for that!)

I am still reeling from the fact I thought the "episode everyone will be talking about" (from the previews) was going to be about the ballot box. I even watched the season 4 finale in preparation for the whole mess to go down. I really was shocked. And I don't really care what people say, this was more shocking than any other television death I've experienced. Because really, Adrianna on Sopranos? She went to the FBI, how surprised could we have been?! But Will being shot in a court room? Unnerving and intense. That is good television.

What I've Been Up to Wednesday

I wish this was a What We're Reading Wednesday post but alas I sadly have not read anything new lately. I re-read Divergent over the weekend because the movie is coming out and I am glutton for punishment. I mean, why wouldn't I want to have to book fresh in my mind when I get to the theater to see how they've massacred the story? I haven't even read our book club book yet. And it's on Tuesday at my house so I had better get on that!

Our St. Patrick's Day was pretty uneventful.

We wore green and had Lucky Charms for breakfast. As that was the extent of our festivities. It is possible that if you were a fly on my wall this morning you might mistake today as St. Patrick's Day based on my breakfast choice. Healthy healthy over this way.

We are not Irish. Not that I have anything at all against the Irish, just we aren't. And I didn't even like Irish food when I was in Ireland, so I certainly don't bother with it for St. Patrick's Day. (Though I do have a delicious soda bread recipe and I will probably make that soonish.) Ah well.

Today is the feast of St. Joseph and I feel like I am going to do something fun to mark that... stay tuned though because I am currently idea-less. It is a gloomy gloomy nap/movie/read a book day but try explaining that to a toddler. They are just not content with snuggling and doing nothing.

In the toddler world the highlight is his new table. We put his fort away (giant play area/pen) and now my dining room looks HUGE. We bought a heavy duty preschool table and chairs from School Outfitters. I just didn't love all the wobbly cheapy kid furniture sets and I wanted one that would last. The table is a fun time and it's great to have a space for him to color/play/learn/hide under all that good stuff. It has 4 chairs: blue, red, green and yellow so that has been great for color learning too.

We are anxious for Spring over here. I am not holding out much hope that magically tomorrow it becomes gorgeous from here on out but since it is the first day of Spring it looks like we'll get at least a 2 day reprieve before it plummets back to the 30s.

We did start our gardening in one of those pre-packaged greenhouse/dirt clump things. 2 kinds of tomatoes and sweet peppers. The tomatoes are growing nicely and we're just seeing the peppers come out. That has been fun to observe with C. I have the brownest thumb ever so it's really Husband who is maintaining this and will lead the charge. It is a nice baby step into gardening for me. My dad is good with pants and gardening but I missed that gene. Husband even had an FFA award in vegetable production or something. (I am hazy on the details really.) Still nice to feel like it's Springy and smell the damp soil daily.

I should take some pictures or something to liven this up but... nope. I hope all of you are well. I am going to go do some fun toddler activities for the rest of the morning. Woo!

7 Quick Takes: Taking on the Crazy News

Hey-O! It's Friday! Time for the ever popular Quick Takes up in here! (That's totally Halle Berry on SNL but there's no YouTube clip so... just go with it yes?)

1. The Teenager Suing Her Parents

So she went home again and the law suit is off. Okay. Great. But here's the deal, nobody in the world owes you anything. At all. That's just life. I can't imagine what was going through her head and I am not her and I have NO idea of her exact situation. But suing your parents for your college savings is crazy. While I don't necessarily agree with suing over her high school tuition because, that can be free, I do understand that leaving home and not thinking it through must have been scary. It's possible her parents could have just foot the bill for the remainder of the school year though because clearly the Catholic education was important to them enough to send her there in the first place. That one I am still iffy on how I feel. But college money? Greedy greedy gumdrops! 

2. The Cheese Sandwich Suspension

Get real. Food allergies are no joke. I get that. I know they're trying to protect the kids with food allergies. It was a cheese sandwich. And the kid was TWO. And snuck it in. This is not as serious as oh say, the toddler with heroine in his pockets.  It was cheese. And bread. But whatever, they signed the rules. Homeschooling is looking more and more appealing is all I'm sayin'.

3. Kevin Bacon's 80s Awareness Video

Okay, I was born in 1986 and so he is talking directly to me in the video and I STILL think this is hilarious. 

Proof positive he's short though. 1st Degree of Kevin Bacon however! 

4. The Airplane Gone Missing

I don't even have to link to this story, I'm sure you've seen it. Sad. Prayers for all the souls and their family. It's just sad. And makes me terrified of international flights but that's okay because that's not going to happen anytime soon anyway! 

5. The Good Wife has been renewed!

Best thing I've heard all day. I LOVE The Good Wife. I even managed to get my mom hooked which is NOT an easy task mind you. I've been a fan of Josh Charles since Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. Which is still one of my favorite movies ever. 

6. I'm Getting a Haircut Tomorrow! 

I am embarrassed to admit the last time I got my hair done was... a long long time. I think it was right around last Memorial Day or the first week of June. I'm overdue is what I am saying. I am also holding out a lot of hope about this head massage, hope it doesn't disappoint. 

7. Average Households Can't Afford An Average New Car

Duh. This isn't news. This is common sense. 

Have a good weekend and link up with Jen! 

The Times They Are A Changing

So the powers that be are raising the price of Amazon Prime. Our subscription just renewed actually so I have a long while before I will need to make the decision to stay or go. About 2 months ago there was no bigger Amazon advocate than myself. Love my Kindle, love the Kindle Fire, love the shipping, love the ease and enjoy the free streaming of shows I would actually watch. And it is cheaper than Netflix.

But then we got Netflix anyway. Because we don't have cable or anything like that. And the magical 2 day shipping has turned into 3-4 day shipping lately. And the price for 1 day shipping has gone WAY WAY up. When I ordered my carpet cleaner it came in 1 day for $3.99. That's amazing. It's not like that anymore.

At the new price it is $8.25 a month, which isn't that bad really, but we'll have to see if I think it's worth it in February. It may be as Sam's Club not only got rid of my Mac and Cheese but has clearly transitioned from the P&G diapers I like (Luvs and Pampers) to Huggies.

Everyone's got their own opinions on diapers I know but here's the run down quick for me: I haven't have any issue with Pampers or Luvs at all. Husband and I unanimously dislike the waist band on Huggies, they were complicated on an infant I could not imagine wrestling a toddler down long enough to get them right. The Sam's Club diapers we were stuck with when Sam's was out of Luvs and Pampers in size 4 and I will never buy them again. Can you say droopy drawers and leaks? And while I actually know a lot a lot a lot about cloth diapers because of all you lovely blog mamas, they're not for me.

So... it is possible I will get diapers from Amazon as they are priced only $2 more than Sam's. But the normal price per diaper at Target is only a penny more and with a coupon that could turn out to be a better bet. I guess I'll take it one box at a time.

And with all this talk about my consumerism choices this week I will sign off and wish you all a Happy Thursday!