Football. Great.

The following information may come as a shock and surprise to most of you: David is a big Dallas Cowboys fan. I know right? I bet none of you saw that coming. He mostly keeps it to himself, so I can see how people wouldn't know about it. Its not like all of his clothes and hats have Cowboys logos on them. And its not like our son is named after the Cowboys tight end Jason Witten. And its not like every Sunday for 4 months out of the year is centered around watching the Cowboys. Sometimes they play on Mondays. 

Since David is just a little bit into the Cowboys, by default so are our children. They've all worn the same onesie/jersey when they were one, and now its made its way down to Witten. I think we got our money's worth out of it.

I for one am just so happy that football season is here. My inherent love of chicken wings and sitting on the couch serve me well when its time to watch football the whole day, and I can thank DirecTV for that. I'm so glad we get every. single. game. Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna go watch the highlights from Sunday's game and think about football some more.

Almost Famous

I'm not really a big zombie lover, but I will watch The Walking Dead with David. I might even enjoy that show, even if it makes me have some really weird dreams where I fight zombies at Wendy's with a broom.

During this week's episode David was extra pumped. Because of exciting plot twists? Eh. Because of suspense and drama? Not really. Mostly because someone who he was friends with in high school, Nick Gomez, was one of the actors. He played a prisoner named Tomas who was kind of confrontational and ended up dying just as his plot arc got interesting.

I can't even tell you some of the details of the show, cause the whole time David kept saying Look, it's Nick Gomez! That's Nick Gomez! Nick Gomez is a badass!

Then I said that was annoying, so he said I was jealous. Yeah, I really care about Nick Gomez on TV. David says I'm jealous cause none of my high school friends are famous. I don't see Debany and Lindsey on the Walkind Dead, just Nick Gomez. Okay, I get it. You know that guy. And he's on The Walking Dead, which is kind of a big deal. If I say I'm impressed do I forfeit the argument?

Happy Birthday Husband

Happy birthday to my old man husband who turned 33 on Friday. A husband is someone who can annoy you like no one else, but you still keep them around. A husband will make you see 500 different movies where things explode in slow motion, but never let you live down your one bad movie choice in 11 years. A husband is a little bit like having another kid, but this one never grows up and moves out. A husband thinks his birthday should be a week long celebration, complete with his choice of movie (Argo, best movie choice he's made in a long time) and a homemade angel food cake and beef stroganoff (gross).

As sappy as I am about my kids, I do not get all lovey-dovey in public on a regular basis. You will never find a blog post where I rave on all emotionally about how old my husband is getting, how he's growing up so quickly. But I did choose to marry him, so I guess I like him a little bit after all. I think I'll keep him.

Great, It's Football Season

I'm just so excited for football season. If I could type in sarcasm I would. Italics will have to do. All of the games. And we have NFL Sunday Ticket so we get every. Single. Game. Sundays are the best!

And the constant discussion of What should we eat when there's football on? It must be wings or something equally labor intensive and manly! And the men don't do the cooking. Cause they have important couch holding down duties to attend to. Gotta get your money's worth out of the expensive football TV subscription.

Every fall Sunday is a day to watch football, even if the Cowboys aren't playing. Other days are for football too. Even if its college football on Saturday. Or two crappy teams on Monday night. Or Thursday night football. Is no day sacred NFL? Give me a day off!

My children are Cowboys fans from birth, whether they like it or not. They've been wearing silver & blue stars since before they could walk. Even Witten is sporting a Cowboys onesie.

David's devotion is without question. Win or lose, he loves the Cowboys. He will never say a word against them. He owns a Tony Romo for President t-shirt. Every year he anxiously awaits the start of football. The Superbowl is bittersweet to him. One, because the Cowboys haven't been in it for awhile. Two, because that's the end of football season. I do a secret victory dance that it's over for awhile, but there's always other sports to watch, and when that fails there are plenty of pawn shop TV shows for him to watch instead.

David is hyped, since the Cowboys won their first game. The only thing that I'm sure of is that it's gonna be a long football filled fall. Hopefully my husband won't be depressed at the end of half of the Sundays like last year.

In Hindsight This Post is Depressing

The day before we went to Disneyland was one of big plans for me and David. A much anticipated event, for David, was scheduled for that day. Cowboys vs. Cardinals. Here in AZ. And we had tickets. Expensive 4th row tickets. It was set up to be a fun day.

Except that they kept the stadium roof open, so I was freezing the whole time. There was also this creepy fog for at least the first 100 miles, so we had to drive really slow, and you couldn't even see the mountains, which was disorienting. And the lens guidelines online were wrong so I didn't bring a zoom lens, which would've been awesome given our 4th row seats. And then there was the end of the game. The loss in overtime, which was disappointing to say the least. In our pictures we look all happy, because it was before the game. But afterward, my poor husband was mad. That was the second time in a row that has happened. We go all the way to Phoenix to watch his beloved Cowboys, then they lose at the last second. Crap.

The loss was one thing, but then we had to go get on the shuttle back to the parking lot 3 miles away, and the line is long and filled with hecklers. After every game there is a winner and a loser, and the thing about rooting for the team that lost is that all of the fair weather fans come out to talk crap about the Cowboys. Pissed off Cowboys fans outnumbered the Cardinals fans, even though it was in Arizona, but that doesn't stop dumb drunk fans of a team that has never won a Super Bowl from talking crap.

After our long trip back to our car, then the wait to battle traffic to get out of the parking lot, we missed the turn cause we couldn't get over and had to make an illegal u-turn in a random parking lot. Then cause everyone wants back on the freeway it takes about 30 minutes to get 5 miles on the highway. So we could drive 150 miles back home, so we could drive back in that direction the next day to go to Disneyland. Would've been easier to bear if there had been a Cowboys victory, but fate was not on David's side this year. His football season is over and he has to wait till next year. That won't stop him from wearing Cowboys stuff though, that never changes.

Crappy loss aside, there were a handful of fun moments that day that made it bearable. We got there way before the shuttles were running, and its a long walk to the stadium, so we took a pedicab. That was fun, but that poor guy had to be tired at the end of the day from pulling people behind his bike who didn't want to walk. We had a delicious bag of peanuts, which we made a huge mess with. David make have even accidentally spit some into a person's hair in front of us, but no one can prove anything. We also had some pizza, which was nice and warm and actually kept me warm for awhile. And David had fun. Up until the end.

The Cowboys don't come to AZ next year, so he has a year to recover from the heartbreak. Until then, we'll watch the games on TV, where the only hecklers are all of his friends texting him and talking crap.

He still looks happy and excited. This is before the game.

Various Cowboys players. I wish I'd had my zoom lens, we were so close.

Also before the game, when we were blissfully unaware of the outcome.

So close to the field. There are my stupid football earrings too.



Just a small portion of the giant mess we made with peanut shells. I kicked most of them under other people's seats, but I was left with a few cause we ate so many.



The Birthday Grinch Strikes Again

Yesterday was David's birthday, so Tuesday I thought I'd get ahead of the game and make his cake. After it was done I put it into a carrier and into the fridge. Check that off my to-do list forever. Make a cake for David's 32nd birthday. I will never have to do that again. Right?

Wrong. Cause then this happened.

Cause when you have a two year old who can open the fridge, and that same two year old really likes cake, you've got a dangerous situation on your hands.

 The first cake was inedible. Reduced to crumbs. So I was forced to make a re-do birthday cake. Angel food, cause that's what David likes. Take that birthday grinch, you can't ruin the second cake, cause I put it where you can't reach it. Ha!

 I didn't have 32 candles, and that's kind of a fire hazard, so 5 candles plus some numbers worked instead. Maybe that was part of the birthday grinch's evil plan?

Then Alana sang Happy Birthday, while Ava grunted and "sang" along. Then we had spaghetti and meatballs, after the cake. Cause some people didn't want to get dirty before the picture.

Happy birthday David! Even if I had to make 2 cakes.

Updated Marriage Vows

Today is my five year wedding anniversary. I'd like to thank Facebook for reminding me. Seriously, we probably would've forgotten otherwise, cause we're awesome like that.

We don't really keep that close of track of it, because we were together for so long before we bothered to get married. Then when we did bother to get married, we just went to Vegas with a handful of people, when I was about 8 months pregnant with Alana. Classy, I know.

We never really get gifts or celebrate, especially since Ava'a birthday is so close to our anniversary, so we save all our extra money in August for her and her almost two-ness. Besides, the traditional gift for the five year anniversary is wood, and someone in this marriage is trying to interpret that in a way that benefits them.

After five years of marriage, and nine together, we've established a pretty solid repertoire. I still do things that annoy him, and he definitely does things that annoy me. But we make it work, cause for some strange reason we love each other. Ok, that's my mushiness overload keyword right there. Unless I'm talking about cookies or kids, I don't typically say love. So now I'm changing the subject.

After all this time, I think our marriage vows could use some revamping. A few new promises, cause the other ones are getting old. I'm talking about you Honor and Obey.

I will promise to cook some type of breakfast meat: bacon, sausage, ham, etc, at least three times a week, if David will promise not to keep reminding me of the one gross thing that I cooked in 2003, which he fondly calls Manure Meat. I think I've redeemed myself, so lets just let it go already.

I will promise to not win too often in Skipbo, if he promises not to push my players so much in NBA Jam, and to not cheat in Jeopardy.

I'll pretend to be interested in the incessant football chatter, if he pretends to care about what grade I got on my most recent essay. It was an A, in case you were wondering. But only a 98%, where's the other two points lady?

I will sit through stupid action movies like Transformers 3, if David promises that I never have to watch them ever again. I don't care what movie is on HBO, if I didn't like it the first time I'm not gonna like it this time.

Marriage is ultimately about compromise. You do things you don't wanna do, because they make your spouse happy. I can think of several right off the bat. But all of the fun that you have together will be worth it, as long as you make sure to marry someone who makes you laugh. Whether its with them or at them, it doesn't matter.

Father's Day Bi-laws

There are rules that must be followed in order to have a proper Father's day. At least my husband thinks so.

• Father's day should be celebrated the entire weekend, starting with Friday afternoon.
• Breakfast meats such as bacon and sausage should be in abundance. If at all possible eat them with every meal.
• Fathers should not do any type of household chore the entire weekend. Or at any other point ever.
• Fathers should be allowed to nap. On the couch. Then complain that people keep bothering them. Cause they're in the middle of the living room.
• A minimum of 50% of the weekend should be spent sitting/laying on the couch, in full possession of the remote control. Bare minimum.

These rules were all followed very strictly here. No room for error. Next year I'm writing some rules for Mother's day, because I got screwed out of sleeping in.

My girls definitely love their daddy. They watch zombie shows and music videos with him. They are always trying to get into the shower with him. They dutifully wave goodbye at the window everyday when he goes to work. They even let him have the remote control whenever he's home. That's love.

Alana made a masterpiece of a card. She should work for Hallmark.

Watching Daddy leave for work

An obligatory picture with Daddy

There's No I in Team

There was a point in my life when I was naive about sports. I didn't know what a triple-double was. I thought a grand slam was a meal at Denny's. I didn't know what a first down was, or that its the same thing as first and ten. I never watched football at Thanksgiving, instead opting for the parade or whatever Christmas movie was being played prematurely.

Once I met David my view of sports changed. As in, my non-existent viewing of sports increased drastically. I found my Thanksgiving planned around when the Cowboys play, because they play every Thanksgiving. And I'm now more fluent in sports talk. The words special teams, flea-flicker, and blitz all have a different meaning to me now.

Out of all of the things that were foreign to me about sports, the most mysterious was We. I was completely unaware that every sports team actually has millions and millions, or just a few if you're the Cardinals, of members. Every Sunday when the Cowboys play, its not just them playing the game. We are right there with them. We watch every play. We cringe when Romo gets hurt. We get depressed when they lose again. We never turn our backs on the team, even though they're one and six. We get extra depressed when we go all the way to Phoenix to see them on our birthday, then they lose. (We doesn't necessarily include me, but it always includes David).

I guess loyalty is a quality that isn't lacking in David, because no matter what the Cowboys do, We never stop loving them. Even when they have a bad year, We still want a Dez Bryant jersey for Christmas.

Stepping It Up

Since I'm currently The Girl Buried Under Her Psych Homework David has decided to take on more of the household chores. I didn't ask him to do this, it was his idea. My head's still spinning at the thought of him learning where we keep the broom.

I tried to get him to babysit my blog for me a little bit, so its not so neglected. But he claims my followers don't want to read ten posts about the Cowboys. I say let them decide for themselves.

He has pledged to help out more around the house to possibly lessen the load of work that I have to do. Housework is not something I really spend that much time on, because my house stays pretty clean with minimal effort. As long as everyone who's old enough to know how picks up after themself we manage to keep everything pretty orderly.

Laundry on the other hand, is the mountain I don't want to even attempt to climb. I hate folding laundry. It is my nemesis. No matter how small the amount or how cute the clothes it contains, I loathe it.

The following information is 100% true. Names have not been changed to protect anyone's identity.

David did a load of laundry. It happened. He did it all by himself and even put the clothes in the dryer. But he didn't check the pockets, so I ended up fishing his wallet out mid-cycle. That's not what's important here. He did laundry. He acknowledged that clothes do not magically appear in the closet/dresser clean and folded. He even folded them and put them away.

His game is officially stepped up. He is washing dishes and changing ladies into pajamas left and right. And I do appreciate it. Just not the way he constantly brags about it. Look at that. Steppin' it up. Another instance of steppin' it up. There's Dave again, steppin' it up.

I get it. You did some housework. Go pat yourself on the back somewhere else.

I'm Not Ready for Some Football

Pre-season football has officially started.

As I type the Cowboys are playing the Bengals and David is on the couch, yelling at the TV and wearing a 10 year old Emmitt Smith jersey. He is hyped. He's been waiting all day for Sunday night. He seriously just yelled Yay for football!

Football isn't something that's taken lightly around our house. David is not a fair weather fan. Not even a little. He never misses a game. He is beyond dedicated. The only room in our house without some type of Cowboys paraphernalia is the bathroom. Stupid compromise. Making me have Cowboys salt & pepper shakers.

When the game comes on you can bet he will be watching and wearing something blue in support of the love of his life, the Dallas Cowboys. Even last night, when Emmitt Smith was inducted into the football hall of fame, he tuned in wearing his jersey that he has owned for longer than he has known me. He might've even cried. But you didn't hear that from me.

David immerses himself during football games. He yells at the TV incessantly. How bout them Cowboys? Son of a b*tch Kitna! We got it back! Pick! Jesus Kitna. Roy Williams sucks! Way to go Jason Garrett, call another draw. Come on Columbo!  Boom! TC baby, TC. Nice! He used to lose his voice after every game, but he has learned to yell a little better the past few years. I'm curious to know what his blood pressure is when the game is close. He is literally on the edge of his seat.

He makes deals with the devil just for that victory. And if God forbid they lose, he is depressed the next 24 hours. His loyalty to the Cowboys is so well known at his work that his co-workers and customers all give him crap about last nights loss. His phone will have 20 unread text messages just from people he knows talking crap about football, win or lose.

Thanksgiving is dedicated to football because the Cowboys play every year. Every year for nine years I've been a football widow during that 3 1/2 hours that he spends in the living room at my dad's house yelling at the TV. If we eat dinner during the game he doesn't get his plate until a commercial. We once jokingly told him that he couldn't eat in the living room and he was going to go back to the TV empty handed. He picks football over food.

Then there's the "we". He considers himself an honorary part of the team. He is included in any statement regarding the Cowboys. We just signed Dez Bryant. We are playing the Saints on Thanksgiving. We need to get a first down right here. We need to cut that guy.

My kids are little fans. From birth they have been dressed in fan apparel. They will like the Cowboys whether they want to or not. Alana repeats everything David yells at the TV. Because of this his language has been significantly cleaned up. Ava just claps along.

Even I'm not immune to the festivities. Through spousal peer pressure I usually end up wearing some type of Cowboys shirt. I'm not happy about it, but I do it. I've attended no less than five professional football games, two of them in Dallas. I can't say they weren't fun or that I didn't want the Cowboys to win. If they lose I have to drive home with a depressed husband and get heckled by fans of the opposing team. Then we hear that Had a bad day song and he gets even more depressed.

Win or lose, you can bet David will always be a Cowboy fan. And the rest of us are just along for the ride.

Texas Stadium - 2005

The obligatory stadium tour. How could he pass up an opportunity to go on the field?

Alana was a Cowboy fan before she even left the hospital.

Alana was less than a week old when she watched her first football game.

Sometimes I'm forced to watch football in public while David yells at the TV.

Alana was ready to cheer on the Cowboys. She looks excited right?

Ava is ready to watch her first football game with us. You can watch football crossed eyed right?

Sometimes I even attend football games with my superfan husband. Just cause its his birthday.

Father's Day and Semi-Annual Extra Paycheck Celebration

This year Father's Day happened to fall on a weekend where we actually had some spending money. Hooray for shopping!

Our original plan was to go shopping and see a movie Saturday, but Friday night our money was burning a hole in our pockets, so we decided to make a 7 pm trip to Sierra Vista. Once upon a time in our lives, pre-children, we were spontaneous people. We also liked to stay up late, and sleep in. Since with kids none of these things are completely possible, none of them are true anymore. So said 7 pm shopping excursion to a store that's 30 minutes away was probably a bad idea.

While we were at the store, I got a case of buyers remorse. I had a cart full of fun stuff, and between the toy department and the checkout counter, I put back all but 3 things. I ended up buying zero fun items. I got swimmer diapers (for Ava), dishsoap (yippee), and a blowdryer (to replace the cheapo one I bought to replace my dead blowdryer). Not exactly things I'm excited to get.

On Saturday I made up for it by actually buying some fun stuff at the mall and Target, but I still put more things back than I actually bought.

Part of our weekend celebration was a trip to see the highly anticipated movie (especially in our family) Toy Story 3. Alana wore her Toy Story Mania Ride Game shirt. She was hyped (so was I!).

Don't judge me, but I cried during a cartoon. I should've brought kleenex.

It was a seriously great movie. Over the years I've become so attached to these characters that I really genuinely like them. There was a point in time not so long ago when Alana made me watch Toy Story 2 everyday, multiple times a day. I never got sick of it. There are some movies that get annoying quickly, but Woody and Buzz are always endearing to me.

Then at the end *****spoiler alert***** when Andy has to decide what to do with his toys, and he ends up giving them to a well deserved little girl, I cried. He is describing all of his toys to her and then he gets to Woody and he doesn't want to give him up. Then when Woody and the gang watches him drive away, I was seriously sad and emotional. It was embarasssing, but I'm sure I'm not the only one with tears in my eyes (ahem, David).

Maybe I'm such a sap because part of the meaning of these movies is that everything changes with time, so we should enjoy them while we can. As a parent this is especially true, because just like Andy, my kids are going to grow up someday. They will outgrow their toys and clothes and move away to go to college and out into the "real" world. It makes me sad, but at the same time its inevitable so I'd better get used to it.

After getting all emotional over a cartoon with fictional characters, we finished up our day with Rubio's Shrimp Tacos, mmmmm. And some more shopping, where I managed to overcome the previous days cheapness and spend most of my money.

Then yesterday was Father's Day, which was a little bittersweet for David because his Tata is in the hospital in really serious condition. This makes me sad, so I can't even imagine how sad David is at this point. His grandparents are one of those couples that have been married forever and spend all of their time together, so when one of them dies, we all kind of think the other one won't last long because they'll be lost by themself.

Alana helped brighten up David's day by making him this awesome card.

She put a fork and knife stickers on it, cause she knows how much he likes those things. Then she drew a picture of his parents dog (the upside down heart shaped thing by the fork is a dog). Its a masterpiece really. She could get a job at Hallmark.

I tried to brighten up David's day by making him a breakfast meat extravaganza. Plus biscuits and hashbrowns. Then we had enchiladas, beans and rice for dinner at my dad's. Plus my potato salad. If I had known we were having enchiladas I would've made something a little more appropriate. Potato salad doesn't really mesh well with mexican food. But it had bacon in it so people ate it anyway.

So Happy Father's Day and Semi-Annual Exra Paycheck Celebration to David. We love you!

Can you tell he's a Cowboys and Yankees fan?

All by myself

There's a reason I married someone who's job doesn't require travel. I totally suck at being alone.

Its not that I'm not an independent woman who can do things for myself. I can open jars and everything. I can drive myself places (someone I'm related to by marriage is incapable of driving in Tucson or Sierra Vista, her husband has to drive her). I don't need someone to do stuff for me.

I just prefer to be in the company of my husband when I'm doing these things.

David had to go St. Louis for 2 1/2 days for work training. He isn't even on the plane yet and I miss him. When did I become such a weiner? Its not like we've never ever spent a night apart. Its just that when we did I didn't have two kids to take care of. Now if something happens, I'm the only one they've got, and I run out of patience around 6 pm everyday, about the time David gets home from work. Then I have someone else to change diapers and bathe naked ladies. Without him, its all me.

He was extra anxious about the plane ride part, and I have to admit so was I. He is thirty years old and he's never been on a plane. I am a plane ride expert. (Okay, so it was once time to Albuquerque when I was ten). I know statistically you're more likely to get in a car crash than a plane crash, but that isn't helping. I keep thinking of the same dumb part from an old Alanis Morrisette song.
    
     Mr. play-it-safe, was afraid to fly,
     He packed his suitcase, kissed his kids goodbye.
     He waited his whole damn life, to take that flight,
     And as the plane crashed down he thought, well isn't this nice.

I hate to break it to you Alanis, but most of the things in that song aren't really ironic, more like unfortunate.

Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife. Meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife.

Those things suck, but they're not necessarily ironic.

I won't rest easy till he is home safe, and then he can give the kids a bath, cause I'm not doing it.

   

Doing the dishes

Last night David did the dishes. That's nice and I am grateful. But then he made sure to mention it. "I did the dishes. And I did a good job."

So in the words of Michael Scott quoting the words of Chris Rock, "What do you want a cookie?"

Dealing with disappointment

David was mildly depressed this week. He had NFL based disappointment.

He is a huge Cowboys fan and was looking forward to them coming to AZ this year.

Last year broke his 7-ish year streak of seeing them play every year.

Some games they won, some they lost. But he always had fun. Till the end of the game when they lost and he'd have to walk out in his Cowboys gear and get heckled by fans of the opposing team. He was still a proud Cowboys fan though.

But I think he was mostly lucky when he went. They won more than they lost. And he got to share some camaraderie with fellow Cowboys fans.

So David was anxiously awaiting the Cowboys schedule. He wanted to see when the Cowboys would be playing the Cardinals so he could go see them and talk crap with his friend who is a Cardinals fan.

They play here in AZ, but its at 4:30 pm on Christmas Day. I don't care if he goes, but I'm not going. There's no way I'm leaving my kids on Christmas to watch football. He can, but I'm not going to.

So my poor abused husband probably won't get to see his beloved Cowboys play in person again this year. We'll have to save up and go to the new stadium next year.

Good thing the draft started last night, so he has something to take his mind off of the pain of missing the game.

I'm sure he will mention that the Cowboys are here at least ten times on Christmas.

Real time vs. game time

David is watching basketball. I suggested we watch one of the 50 things we have recorded on our dvr. He said "Just wait, there's only 4 minutes left." That was like ten minutes ago. I'm not exaggerating.

The time clock during sporting events does not exactly operate in real time. Once you take into account the commercials, time outs, foul shots, etc. four minutes in a basketball/football game can last forever. Don't even get me started on baseball. If its tied at the bottom of the ninth they're going extra innings until someone comes out on top.

David is a Yankees fan and some of the world series games this year went on FOREVER. They were seriously like 15 innings. At least they finally won and got it over with.

At least the season has to come to an end at some point. David is always sad at the end of football season but I'm secretly ecstatic. Finally all of my Sundays don't revolve around Cowboys football. Finally he can't say "Hold on, there's only two minutes left," and then the game goes into overtime and the kicker misses like three field goals that would've ended the game a long time ago.

I've written this whole blog in the "four minutes" left in that game.

Cyclops, an action movie and a sports bar

Today David and I decided to go to a movie and out to eat as a partial effort towards Valentine's Day celebrations. We aren't a very romantical people so we don't exactly go for candlelit dinners and sweetsy movies. David is also a big fan of saying that "flowers die" so he usually doesn't buy flowers. Plus I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on flowers and candy when we're going on vacation in less than a week. Regardless of my pre-vacation thriftiness we felt we should take a stab at some sort of "celebration" of our love.

Being the awesome and great wife that I am I let David pick the movie. I'm not a huge fan of chick flicks and since that's almost all that's out right now I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other. So David picks "From Paris, with love." Sounds romantic right? Don't let the title fool you, its about John Travolta being some sort of bald and goateed secret agent guy with an odd couple pairing for a partner, running around Paris trying to stop some harebrained terrorist plot. It wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece, but David says that's cause I don't fully appreciate slow motion bullet action.

So right after we get out of the movie we go outside the theater where its blindingly bright. So I reach into my bag and get my brand new sunglasses and put them on. Besides the fact that one side seems a little brighter than the other I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. I walk from the theater to the car, get into the car and we start to drive away. Then I glance at my reflection in the rearview mirror. My glasses only had one lens in them! I looked like a pirate! Or some kind of weird cyclops - or even when people have a bandage over one eye but still wear glasses anyway. My wonderful caring husband either didn't notice or didn't bother to tell me that I was walking around in public looking like an idiot. He was probably too busy looking at my boobs to look at my face. Luckily I didn't go too far before noticing and the missing lens was in my purse.

After that romantic movie and my embarassment of looking like a pirate we did the next most romantic thing we could think of. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings. For most people a sports bar doesn't put them in the mood, but for David anywhere they have TV's in the bathroom and sports on every channel is a dream come true. Plus, they serve hot wings! After eating a meal where almost everything had BBQ sauce on it we came home, Valentine's Day celebrations complete.

Even though David didn't tell me I was walking aroung looking like an idiot I still love and appreciate him and everything he does for me and our ladies. He goes to work every day without complaint, does the dishes more than I give him credit for, is a great husband and father and even puts up with my crazy "crockpot moments" when I'm pregnant (inside joke!). So I guess he deserves to see a cheesy action movie and eat hot wings every once in a while.

Super? bowl

David considers the super bowl almost like a mini holiday. For two weeks prior to it he asks me daily "What are we gonna eat for the super bowl?", like that's my main priority in life. What I'm gonna cook so that he can sit on the couch and watch stupid football. I should drop everything and start planning the menu of hot wings and whatever chip/dip combo sounds appealing that day. It doesn't really matter what we're eating that day anyway, unless its ramen noodles or macaroni and cheese, David isn't cooking it. We usually end up having something easy anyway, cause I'm not slaving over a stove for food that is eaten mindlessly while watching TV.

The past two years in a row I haven't really wanted to host a super bowl party. I don't want to have to clean up the mess, and my living room isn't big enough to fit lots of people. Its easier to just go to my parents house. Then they can clean up before and after and the kitchen is separate from the living room, so I don't have to even listen to the game. The kids have a lot more rooms to play in also, so they aren't right on top of us and if they want to watch TV its not my bed they're jumping on.

We have started our own mini tradition the past couple of years of leaving sometime late in the third quarter. Its not really because we want to, mostly because my drama queen Alana is crying about something and she's so tired from playing hard the past couple of hours that she is inconsolable. Last year there was an altercation involving Alana, Jayden and a bottle of carb cleaner. I won't mention details but Alana was not in a party going state afterward. This year whatever happened only involved Alana. There were no rat boys around and no real witnesses. The only fragments of story we can get from Alana involve her somehow falling on the dog. I was sitting in the computer room with Josh and Alana came in. She wasn't crying or anything, but I noticed that a little bit of blood was dripping from her nose. I handed Ava off to someone else and took Alana in the kitchen, where I put her up on the counter. Then I got a paper towel and tried to wipe her nose to keep the blood from getting everywhere. As soon as she saw the blood she freaked out and started screaming and crying. After David came in and we were both unsuccessful at calming her down we decided to call it quits and go home. She hadn't taken a nap and she was emotional because of it. So once again we went home at the end of the third quarter.

On the way home David said we should watch the game from home next year. Great, just what I want, to host a party for something I consider to be stupid.

Battle of the giant TV

Yesterday David bought a new extremely ridiculous 50 inch TV. He has wanted to buy a newer bigger TV for a couple of years, probably ever since my dad got a 46 inch TV that made our 37 inch look a little smaller in comparison.

He bought a 37 inch TV 4 years ago right after we got married. We were in Las Vegas and I said if he won enough money to buy a bigger TV then I didn't care if he got one. I also said he would have to buy a new entertainment center to put it on since our old one wasn't gonna cut it. Never bet against David in Vegas. He won $1500 playing roulette. We were eating dinner at a food court like area in NY NY and everyone thought David had gone to the bathroom or something. Then he came back with a stupid smile on his face. He had turned $250 into $1500 in less than ten minutes. He just kept doubling his money until he decided to stop pressing his luck. So on the way home we stopped at Costco and bought the biggest TV that we could get for the money we had to spend. Then we bought a big entertainment center to put it on that happens to be adjustable so you can put giant TVs on it.

Yesterday after we went to Walmart to buy the new giant TV we brought it home and had to rearrange our whole entertainment center and all of the crap on it to fit the TV. Without adjusting it or moving it the space is 46 inches x 32 inches. The TV measures 49 x 33. So we had to move the stupid towers apart about 4 inches and take down the shelf that was right above the old TV. The whole thing is really heavy and I'm not exactly helpful when it comes to moving stuff, given my skinny chicken arms. The most I can lift is about 30 lbs, about the size of Alana. Then after we finally got the cabinet space big enough to fit the dumb thing in I had to hook up all of the video game stuff, dvd player and cable.

I happen to have a husband who likes to watch TV but has no idea how to hook up any of the eqiupment for it. So while I'm behind the TV trying to figure out the diagram of which av plug goes where and what cord belongs to what gadget, he wants to make small talk. I don't really care if you want to eat G & F's crappy cardboard pizza for dinner while I'm trying to make sense of all these weird diagrams and cords for a stupid TV that I don't even want. So I told him to leave me alone or he can figure out all of this junk and I will go watch TV in the bedroom. Why not just watch TV in the bedroom anyway? It now houses our "old" 37 inch TV that was in the living room. It makes the 25 inch TV that was in there before seem tiny. After a while and a trip to Walmart in search of an av splitter I figured out how to hook everything up without having to turn the TV around everytime David wants to play stupid video games.

I personally wish he hadn't gotten a new TV because it was a giant thorn in my side, but he really likes it. I don't like that the cable remote won't adjust the volume on the new TV when it worked perfectly fine with the old one. I also hate that I lost a shelf over the TV where I had a bunch of picture frames and there is now a 2 inch gap on either side of the middle of the entertainment center, when before there was no space at all. But I do like having a bigger, nicer, non buzzing TV in the bedroom.

Not a fair weather fan

Anyone who knows my family knows that David is OBSESSED with the Dallas Cowboys. He has countless Cowboys collectibles, shirts, jerseys, football cards, even a pair of shoes and a lamp. He lives and breathes the Cowboys at this time of year. Every week is spent in anticipation of the next game. He hates to go to work after they lose because so many people know that he likes the Cowboys that he gets heckled for an entire day or two. His phone is constantly buzzing after a game with people telling him their personal opinion about the team: they suck/rock, they're gonna win/lose next week, they need to fire the coach, they need to pay so-and-so more money, etc. He refers to the team as "we" because he almost considers himself to be an honorary member. "We" are going to win this week. "We" need to cut Roy Williams. "We" should've gone for it on 4th and 1. So yesterday the Cowboys played the Vikings in the second round of the playoffs and it wasn't pretty. My poor husband took his jersey off at halftime. (I personally think he is approaching the age when wearing a jersey is kind of dumb, but that's a whole other story!) He claimed he wasn't going to watch the second half. He was going to sell all of his stuff. He was done with football for the rest of the season. But he's not a fair weather fan. He eventually turned it back to the game after halftime, he's keeping his stuff and he will watch all of the other games that come on till football is over. He is a fan for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. He will eventually get over yesterday's loss and find a way to get excited about next season. Hopefully next year will go a little better for him. At least he still has the pro bowl.