Saturday, August 29, 2009

Fantasy Football 2009

FF Girl

Yep, it's that time of the year again. NFL Fantasy Football. How do you like my FF Avatar?  She’s totally hip right?!?  :) The 11 boys and I virtually gathered together to chat and participate in the on-line draft precisely at 7:15pm this evening. I drafted fifth out of our 12 player league: the Mudbowl.


I did okay. Last year, the boys teased me all season because "I auto-drafted". In other words, the computer picked my team. Hubby and I were camping in Morro Bay for our anniversary during the draft. This year however, I was front and center. Little Chomp was asleep and hubby was on alert to get him if he needed something just in case.


I'll admit that by the time we got to around the 6th round, I had run out of players from my wanted player list, and started scrambling. We'll see how I do against these guys.


Check out my players and tell me what you think.

Fantasy Football
Wish me luck!!!

(I’ll need it, Brandon Marshall is in big trouble with his coach…oops!)

One of those writers…

is Amy Krouse Rosenthal. 

Here’s one of the great reasons why:

I found this link to the video on YouTube from her website:  who is amy

She also writes really funny, witty, and cute children’s books.   Little Chomp has one from his Auntie Sarah-Ellen.  She also has a memoir that looks creative and fun that I’m ordering right now from Amazon entitled  Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.   (HKC, I’m expecting you to totally dig this by the way).

A New Obsession….

So, you’ve seen me get obsessed with the BOB, with taking pictures of Little Chomp, and with basically writing a daily catalog of his life.  When I was growing up, I was a dabbler.  I dabbled in soccer, running parallel to the ball but nowhere near it.  I dabbled in piano (making it to the third book twice).  I dabbled in choir-two years and a stint at a very, very random honor choir event.  I dabbled at the performing arts.  Three plays in junior high and one in high school.  Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Saxophone, Photography, ASB, Cheerleading, etc. etc. etc.  In fact, my mom and I now have a joke where I say that I could have been good.  In other words, if I had just stuck to something for more than a season, maybe there would have been some talent would have shown up.  For example, I always say that if my little hometown had had girls soccer instead of co-ed, and if more than 2 of us would have played with the boys in junior high, “I could have been good.”  There were very few things that I was actually committed to.  And, truthfully, only by allowing the decades to pass have I understood what childhood extracurricular activities would withstand “The Dabbler”:    Running (for fun, not for competition), and Reading.   

Well, in the last few days, I’ve decided that I want to write a children’s book for Little Chomp.  Actually, a children’s book for Little Chomp featuring Little Chomp as the main character.  (Aside—if any of you starts writing/publishing a book with a character named Little Chomp I will hunt you down.  Look at the bottom of this page.  It is copywrited!!!! By the way, thanks for reading! :)    So, I’ve been looking up articles on planning and brainstorming story ideas.  Hubby came home early today and watched Baby Chomp, so I went to Barnes N Noble where I skimmed picture book after picture book.  One, I wanted to see if there were any books that I could find easily that had similar ideas to mine.  Two, I wanted to get an idea of what type of book I want his to be.   I came back resolute in who my favorite children’s book writers are and why.    Today, I chatted with my mom, and she agreed to read it after I get a little farther than just ideas floating in my head and notations on my computer.  So, there you go.  Obsession #5045550393.  No, I don’t really know how many obsessions I have had, nor do I know if this will be something that I dabble in for a week or if it will break through “The Dabbler”.  Stay tuned!

If I won the lottery….

Ok, first of all, I have never won the lottery.  So that’s out on the table.  Secondly, if I ever do win, know that this post is just me brainstorming.  You cannot hold me to anything that I say here.  These are just thoughts.  Whew.  Legal mumbo-jumbo is ridiculous.

Actually, that’s a good place to start.  How funny is it that if someone suddenly becomes wealthy, s/he feels the need to protect the money.  S/he would have to immediately create legal documents stating what is to happen to the money, who has access, how much access that person has, what organizations have access to it, restrictions etc. etc. etc.  Insanity!  

So, after buying a few tickets for tonight’s Mega Millions (300+ million, I just couldn’t resist), Little Chomp and I continued on our morning walk.  The whole time on our walk, I was thinking about what I could possibly do with 205 million (the after taxes portion).  

My first thoughts of course go to my family:

Paying off the remainder of my parents and in-laws mortgages.

Pay off all the siblings’ student loans.

Buy a piece of land to build a cute little practical house on for our family (complete with our own area for a garden for veggies, fruit, herbs and pretty flowers. MMmm…hmmmm.   Oh, and for Little Chomp, a place for a treehouse.

But, after that, I get a little lost.  I started thinking about what a lot of money does to families, and does to kids.  I wouldn’t want Little Chomp to grow up feeling entitled, and not willing to put himself into a life, family, career etc. because so much has been given to him.   I would truly want our family to grasp that to whom much is given, much is required.   

So, then, my life would probably change into how to put money into those places, people, and organizations that are doing good for the world.  But, how do you find reputable agencies and trustworthy people?  How could you ever know that the money would not be used corruptly?    How do you deal with the friends, family and strangers would have money problems or emergencies and come asking for help?  How do you say no?  How do you say yes?

This all sounds a bit complicated.  I think that I’d have to make a lunch date with Mr. Bill Gates to ask these questions.  Hopefully, he’d have time for a little millionaire like me.

Postpartum Exercise…

Ok.  It’s more difficult than I thought it was going to be.  Again, I underestimated what a lifestyle changing event having a baby truly is.  I really honestly thought that I’d be back to running and be able to run a half-marathon in October.  I really thought that it would be no big deal.  I was wrong.   C-section recovery is no joke my friends, and it sure does not make it easy to exercise, especially when one’s favorite type of exercise includes using the core abdominal muscles  right around the incision, which haven’t been working for at least 6 months.   I also didn’t take into consideration Baby Chomp’s development.  Especially not that an infant under a month old wouldn’t care for walking in the breeze :).   It really has been a learning experiment for both of us. 

Luckily, we are both finding our strides.  Momma has figured out the best time of day to walk/run for Little Chomp (in the early mornings, after eating, and being changed but right before nap time).   Chomp has figured out that walking in the stroller is a pretty cool way to sleep and look at new things.

So, we have gone 30 miles so far this month, and we are in a groove.  In other words, look out half-marathon.  I may not see you until after the new year, but I’m coming for you. 

IMG00146

I Don't Know How that Giant Black Widow Spider fell in the Pool of Raid....

I opened the blinds today to find this attached to the screen.

Black Widow1

Yep, that's a giant Black Widow.    The most venomous spider in California.  The one that hurts babies like Little Chomp.  After gasping, "where did you come from?"  I jumped into action, searching for anything sturdy enough to kill it and something where it wouldn't matter if it got covered in venom.  After getting the giant push broom, I remembered Raid.  Truthfully, I wasn't sure what spraying Raid was going to do to a giant menace like this spider.  I kind of thought that it wouldn't do anything.  So, I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed.  Guess what?  It didn't die.  It had to fall into a pool of the stuff that collected below the door before it finally gave in.  Now, I'm pretty much a pacifist, and I believe in not disturbing the delicate eco-system, whether in the woods or in the apartment.  However, when faced with a choice:  leave the poisonous spider alone to hopefully kill off smaller icky creatures and possibly find it in Little Chomp's crib the next day versus killing it and sleeping peacefully, I'll admit that I went with eliminating the possible threat to my child.  Yes, I do understand that it's pretty unlikely that the spider would want to come into our apartment when there are fun things to eat outside.  Yes, I do understand that I just put a bunch more poison into my environment by using the Raid, than that spider had in itself.  And, yes, I understand that I just killed a female, which for some reason makes this story a little more sad.  The poor thing just has venom to protect herself.  It's like attacking a woman just because you know that she took self-defense and if she chose to could possibly hurt you.  And, as a woman, and a mother, I feel for her.  But, some things  just have to be done.  Sorry dear spider, you had to go.

Black Widow 3