File Under "Weird Blog Things"

There is a whole culture of blogging out there, one which I did not know existed until recently. Even now I am pretty sure I've just touched the tip of the iceberg. I'm pretty behind the curve, I guess. I didn't know people could make a LIVING off something that is the internet equivalent of keeping a diary, for example. The amount of blog-specific terms that have been spawned in the last several years could fill a Wikipedia entry, and even that said entry is not truly comprehensive. For example, it leaves off the word "meme." Which, technically, is not a blog-specific term as it has its roots in Darwinism and sociology, so maybe not an oversight. Rather than go into a long explanation of what a selfish gene is and how it helped coin this phrase, though appropriate for this website, perhaps, I'll just link you to yet another Wikipedia entry that explains it much more thoroughly than I could. Please, don't read the whole entry as it is quite wordy and your head may explode.

Basically, a meme is an idea or behavior that is passed from person to person through imitation. Like a fashion fad or a chain letter, I suppose. In the blogging world, it has become a way to annoy your fellow blogging friends and relatives. I have been tagged by MommyEsq with a meme that requires me to share "6 UN-spectacular things" about myself with all of you. There are rules I should follow, but I'm going to ignore them. Mainly because the last rule is that you have to "tag" 6 other bloggers to share 6 things about themselves on their blogs, and I don't KNOW 6 other bloggers. Well, I do, but I ONLY know 6, and MommyEsq has already tagged them all. So no sense in going through all the necessary steps, I'll just skip right to the oversharing part.

But first, putting aside the thought that "UN" might stand for United Nations (that would be a hard meme for me to complete, given that I try not to follow international events too closely), I could use a little clarification on the assignment here. Do I take "unspectacular" to mean average, boring, run-of-the-mill? Like:

1. I'm 5'4" (on a really, really good day).
2. I do not dye my hair. I plan to dye my hair as soon as I find my first strand of gray.
3. I like to read, but lately it's nothing high-brow. I get sucked in to chic-lit and Oprah's book club books and then feel ashamed and slightly dumb.
4. The last movie I saw in the movie theater was Be Kind, Rewind, on a girls' day out. Before that, it was The Da Vinci Code, pre-Finn.
5. Today, I am wearing a charcoal gray skirt, a white wrap blouse, and black heels.
6. For the last two years running, I have joked that I am 29, again, on my birthday. I am actually 31. Everyone jokes about their age, right?

Or, does "unspectacular" mean the opposite of spectacular? Do I need to share 6 things I am bad at? Here goes:

1. Running. I huff and puff and manage to do about 11-minute miles. My face turns beet-red. If I ran REALLY hard, for just ONE mile, I might be able to do it in 10 minutes. Pathetic, eh?
2. Cleaning. Before this past weekend, when M. and I made a concerted effort to remove most traces of construction dust from the house, I had not dusted Finn's room in at least 6 months. I can't remember the last time I mopped the kitchen floor. While I wipe up water spills created by me or my spirited young child, which may alleviate SOME of the dirt, I am sure my floor is quite gross.
3. Phone calls. I hate making them, my shy bones take over and render me panicky and mute. Usually only when calling people I don't know or don't normally talk to, but occasionally it extends to those I know.
4. Christmas shopping. I am always very last-minute about my Christmas shopping (clearly I don't take after my mother in this regard), and I have a hard time thinking of things to get people. Heck, I have a hard time thinking of things for people to get me. I may have a list a mile long and tons of ideas in August, but by December I've completely forgotten them all and I haven't purchased a thing.
5. Sending cards. I'm very good at buying them, but terrible at sending them. Sorry to everyone who didn't get a card from me this year - I probably have one sitting for you in a pile somewhere, possibly even written out. I promise, I MEANT to send it!
6. Just about anything requiring hand-eye coordination. Special gym, folks, special gym. 'Nuff said.

There you have it. Not 6, but 12 things about me, you lucky ducks. Since I'm not following the rules right anyway, I tag all of you. Feel free to share something unspectacular about yourselves in the comments.

Coming Soon - New Cousins!

As you may have read on her blog, MommyEsq has received her c-section date. Knocked up with twins, both of which are breech, she'll be going under the knife on August 25th. Only 12 days away! I'll be winging up to visit them once the baby nurse MommyEsq and her husband have hired is gone in order to provide a little support, probably some time in October.

A teeny, tiny part of me will mourn the phase where Finn was the only grandchild on my side. His reign as Supremely Spoiled Grandchild is about to end, or at least drastically change, and he will be sharing the limelight with (and perhaps be overshadowed by) his new cousins. Overall I'm ecstatic, though. Sharing the attention will actually have a lot of benefits for Finn. He was a bit of a super-celebrity at recent family functions like our trip to Disney World. This puts a lot of pressure on him - everyone wants a hug and a kiss (even though to Finn they are virtual strangers), and he's always being asked to do his "party tricks" (whatever new skill he's recently mastered). Of the 600 or so pictures that were snapped in Florida, Finn was in roughly 500 of them. He had his own paparazzi!

Finn has two cousins on his dad's side, 6-year-old Ty and 3-year-old Bo. As the youngest cousin (at least for now), Finn does have a special place in the family, and each boy is given lots of individual attention. But he also gets to be part of a group - a pack of wild little boys that I'm sure will have tons of fun together in the future. Sounds just about right to me, and I'm excited that there will be another little pack for Finn to join, one he gets to lead.

Other reasons for excitement: The Esq twins are boy/girl. Finally, I can shop in the girl clothing sections (see above, where I mention the THREE boy cousins on M.'s side, begat by a set of brothers. What's up with those X swimmers, family of M?). Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of cute outfits to put a baby boy in, and Finn owns many of them. But it's nothing compared to the sea of options in the girl section, each one more adorable than the last.

And, finally, let's not forget the biggest reasons to be excited - these babies are healthy (fingers crossed that they remain that way) and are soooo wanted. And, you know... twins! I mean, come on, how cute is that!?!? OK, I know how overwhelmed I felt with just one baby, so I understand this will be no cakewalk for MommyEsq and Husband. But there are many, many of us who are excited for their arrival and willing to help, so hopefully that will make things a little easier.

Proof That He's Mine

Lately, anytime someone sees a picture of Finn or the trouble-maker himself, I hear a lot of "I can't believe how much he looks like his father!" True, at one time my mother swore up and down that Finn was a dead ringer for his uncle, Andrew, when he was a baby. Same thick shock of dark hair, same blue eyes. The resemblance really was pretty striking. So clearly the boy has inherited some of my genes, or at least those of my family members. But "Baby Andrew the II" has morphed into "Toddler M. Jr," and it's hard to see much of me in him now. M. and Finn share the same round cheeks, short (compared to mine, anyway) nose, lips, light brown hair, thick eyebrows, and stubby digits. I can only hope this means Finn has inherited M.'s lightening-quick metabolism, too.

Tonight, however, I discovered that Finn did, indeed, inherit at least one trait from me. Pulling off his sandals at the end of a long day, I nearly passed out from the odor. Such a cute kid, such stinky feet!! I'm so proud.

In other news, our basement remodel is nearly finished. We chickened out, and asked the contractor to install the wood flooring in the office for us. What would have taken us a couple of weekends was done in one day. We figure that we'll break even on the labor costs from the otherwise inevitable marriage counseling sessions this has saved us. Pictures will follow soon.

Favre's Folly

As someone who has spent his entire life cheering for the green and gold, I feel completely qualified to state that the soap opera surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers is an absolute mess. No one looks good, not the Packers organization and certainly not Favre. I’m still not entirely sure where to place blame, who is right or wrong, or what should be done. It’s too late for either side to apologize, admit that they fumbled the situation, or come out of this smelling like anything other than Gilbert Brown after two-a-days in August.

I just want it to end.

It’s hard now to imagine the Packers without Favre behind center. Randy Wright and the three-headed monster of Blair Kiel, Anthony Dilweg, and Don Majkowski, have drifted into the past, replaced by Favre. Three MVPs and two Super Bowls will do that. During his amazing streak of 16 seasons, watching Favre was never dull. Sometimes spectacular, often excruciating, every play of every game was like a high-wire act. Under-hand tosses and throws into double-coverage more often than not turned in his favor. His personal life was similar, whether it was tales of booze, women, or Vicodin. Through it all, in an age of 24-hour media, he somehow got a free-pass. His many indiscretions were chalked up to being a “good ‘ol boy”, his willingness to play hurt, or his throwback, gunslinger mentality.

Maybe we were wrong. Maybe he’s just a selfish athlete, hanging onto the last threads of a dying career. He wouldn’t be the first, and he certainly won’t be the last. To rise to the level of superstardom that Favre achieved, it’s probably essential to have that in your personality. But at some point, you have to let go, for the good of the team and the good of your legacy.

I’m sure that Aaron Rodger is probably more Dilweg than Favre, but that’s OK with me. In the last few years, Favre’s penchant for late-game, gut punch interceptions have became all too predictable. His yearly flirtation with retirement has stalled any sort of long-term planning by the Packers, who until this year were too scared of the backlash to call his bluff, maybe unnecessarily. At a July “Favre rally” in Milwaukee, only 30 people showed up. The media will lead you to believe that the state is totally behind Favre’s comeback. Not true. Now the comeback of Schlitz beer…that’s another story (http://www.azstarnet.com/business/251463).