Check out Heather!

So exciting!  My friend Heather is in a TV commercial for Kettle Chips:



How awesome is that!!

Zoe at Softball Camp: A Video Presentation

Bad Mommy Moments

Yesterday I was reminded that the "Bad Mommy Moments" can happen to anyone. I spent a good portion of my day watching football. I am a sometimes football fan and this year, inexplicably, I am really into it. The first game up was 1pm Eagles @ Giants. I have to root for the Giants if for no other reason than I cannot root for a team that includes Michael Vick. He's a great player, but it doesn't change the fact that he's a dog killer.

Anyway, it started out as a great game for Giants fans. As a matter of fact the Giants were winning for most of the game. However, they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a series of misplays including the game-ender when rookie kicker, Matt Dodge kicked the ball directly to the Eagles when he should have been kicking it out of bounds. If you want to read the full story I suggest you check out the NY Times or ESPN because I am certainly not a sports reporter.

The part that struck me was when the Giants coach Tom Coughlin started yelling at Matt Dodge for his misplay before he could even get off the field. He was really giving it to him in that slightly out-of-control way that reminded me of times I have yelled at Zoe out of sheer frustration more than anything else. You know, the "Bad Mommy" kind of yelling. It was funny to see it on stage for the world to see between two grown men, but it was the same kind of moment as I have had so many times. I can't say it made me feel better about the times this has happened to me, but it is good to know it can happen to anyone.

I can't find a video of the full yelling, but you can see the start at the end of this video:

Zoe Will Rock You

Someone recently taught Zoe the lyrics to "We Will Rock You" by Queen and she's been singing it non-stop. Also doing the stomping and clapping, but mostly just singing. Hearing that song repeatedly can get annoying, but somehow coming from her it just sounds, well, paradoxically adorable. Last night in the shower she was singing away in her sweet little girl voice:

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kickin' your can all over the place
Singin'
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

It just doesn't quite go, but it does make good comedy.

I've been trying to capture her on video, but haven't yet. Until I can post her version, here's the real thing:



I wonder where can I get some star-shaped sunglasses?

Have you seen this? Mad Men on Sesame Street

I love Mad Men, but I have loved Sesame Street even longer...

Important "meme"

I was tagged by Emily to pass this along and I gladly will. I don't often get political on my blog, but since I don't think of this as a political issue I will jump in with my two cents:

Healthcare should be available to all.

I have been very fortunate to have health insurance most of my life, but I have no idea what I would do for me and my family if I didn't.

Please watch this video and then pass it along. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Friday's Lessons Learned: Back-to-school edition

Camp (both the Y camp and tennis camp) are over, our end of summer trip to Cape Cod is complete, so that can only mean one thing...it is time to get ready for back-to-school. So, these are my back-to-school prep bullets:

• Zoe is still at the age where going back to school is exciting. She starts second grade this year. Despite my love for summer, after a week of no camp or babysitting, I can't help feeling a bit like this:
  
  
  


• The more backpack choices there are, the harder it is to choose. We went to 3 stores and probably 5 websites before Zoe settled on what is probably one of the most boring options out there. I didn't fight too hard on this one as I was just glad I didn't have to have the same argument as last year because that L.L. Bean backpack barely made it through the summer.
• 
  



• Somehow I knew acid wash jean would be making a come back and here they are! You'll note the site called them "tie-dyed" but having just seen them (and purchased them) I can tell you they are pretty much acid wash. I did love my acid wash jeans so I couldn't blame Zoe for wanting a pair.



• Speaking of pants, I never, in one million years, would have picked out these pants for my daughter. But she picked them out for herself and insists that she is going to wear them so much that I will have to wash them at least once a week. I still have doubts.



• Buying school supplies (notebooks, folders, pens, etc.) is still so much fun. There is so much promise in those fresh supplies. Besides my laptop I only need a notebook and a pen for my own work supplies these days and I miss all the other stuff.



• The bulk of Zoe's summer reading has been done in the last couple of weeks. Do you think that is as effective as reading consistently all summer? Or is it another Bad Mommy moment?



• Every once in awhile I think that I would like to go back to school and then I try to imagine where I would find the time for homework.

Friday's Lessons Learned: It's Friday again already?

I'm not complaining that it is Friday again, I just can't believe how quickly this week went by. I only managed one post between last Friday and this. I hate when that happens. OK, on with this week's list:

• Losing weight feels really good, but having your "skinny" jeans (not as in the style, but as in the ones you can wear on your skinny feeling days) be too big feels downright amazing. I'm just about to start the 6th week of the competition at my gym and it has been a wonderfully motivating experience.
• Nothing scares me like a sick or injured Zoe. On Wednesday of this week she did something to her neck. It hurt her so much that she was crying and couldn't really lift her head. At first I thought it was a muscle strain and then when it wasn't better in the morning my mind started to jump to all kinds of worst case scenarios like meningitis or something like that. I took her to the pediatrician and luckily it turned out to mild whiplash. I have no idea what she did to herself, but I think it was either from jumping on the bed or Chief pulling too hard while she was holding the leash. She's feeling much better now. Phew!
• Saying "Calgon, take me away!" does not actually magically transport you to a luxurious bubble bath, no matter what that commercial says.
  
  
• Chief likes to carry a tennis ball in his mouth where ever he goes. And sometimes around the house he will drop it out of his mouth and let it bounce up so he can catch it. I never saw a dog do that before. Have I mentioned that he's a great dog?
  
• Meteorology is a lost art.

Have you seen this? The MP3 Experiment

I read about this a couple of weeks ago on David Pogue's blog. He gives an excellent description of the day from a participants point of view. But, better still is this video:

Have you seen this? 2009 Webby Awards

There is a fantastic montage from the 2009 Webby Awards available on YouTube. Winners had to give a 5-word acceptance speech. There were some good ones and some lame ones, but they are short enough to check out.

Start with Seth Meyers' opening monologue to set the stage. (It is longer than 5 words, though.)

More video that will make you cry

This is a clip of a song from A Chorus Line being performed by the original cast. It's fabulous.

Need a smile?

Then watch this...

Excuse me while I get political for a moment...

I have stayed away from posting anything about the upcoming presidential election, but I just had to share this one video clip because it truly scares the life out of me and I want to make sure as many people as possible see and hear this.



What goes on in his head????

Big night at the Carlyle

This past Saturday night was the big party for my mother's 65th birthday. After my wonderful preview I had no doubt that the Cafe Carlyle would be a great place to celebrate and it did not disappoint -- not one little bit. The entire night was fun-filled from start to finish.

As a last minute impulse we decided to rent a limo for a bunch of us who were planning to caravan into NYC so the evening started off in style with a ride in a somewhat gaudy, but still comfortable for 9 white, stretch limo.
Here's a view from inside the limo:

(That's my Mom with the big smile and gorgeous sparkly dress. More pictures here.)

And because no one had to drive we had a little pre-party at home with champagne and presents for the birthday girl.

We were 18 in all at the Cafe. The service was impeccable and the cheesecake was truly divine. After all the toasting and talking and stuffing ourselves we were all happy to shut up and listen to Christopher Cross perform. He was really good! The set was a nice mix of the old hits and some new songs. I did bring my camera this time so I took some grainy video of him performing. Here's a montage of some of the old hits.



Incidentally, Christopher Cross did not look like what I thought he looked like. I think because I first heard of him back in the early 80s when I was a General Hospital fan and they used his song "Think of Laura" as part of the Luke and Laura storyline. (OMG, yes, there is wikipedia entry just for Luke and Laura!) I think my mental image of Christopher Cross got morphed with Tony Geary (Luke). For the record Christopher Cross looks absolutely nothing like Tony Geary and never did.

Speaking of looking good --
Mom, like I said, I hope 65 years looks so good on me.

Star Wars -- What could have been

Of course I loved Star Wars when I was a kid, but nowadays I think I might prefer the version of that opens like this:




(Thanks to YesButNoButYes for the link.)

Cheaters Never Win

As just about everyone knows, last night the Super Bowl was played. It was probably the most exciting football game I ever watched and since I was rooting for the Giants it was especially great. (And I just have to mention that it was incredible on my new TV -- that HD is amazing.) Somewhere in the 4th Quarter when it looked bleak for the Giants my mother issued a challenge -- who can come up with the most trite wrap-up? You win some, you lose some. They played a good game. Etc.

Obviously, things turned around for the Giants and as we were all jumping up and down and high-fiving each other my brother said, "How about this for trite -- cheaters never win!" You see my family are die-hard Jets fans and we have not forgotten a little scandal that took place some months ago where the Patriots perpetrated a wrong-doing on our men in green. They were caught illegally filming the signals of New York Jets coaches in the season opener. That's a no-no. At the time they were fined -- both the team and the coach and they lost their first round draft pick. Now you can add one more thing to that list that they lost! Karma has a way of coming around eventually.

Speaking of the Super Bowl for me, the stand-out over the top commercial was this one:


Hilarious!

What to do in Cape Cod when you're 5

Helpdesk: the early days

This is too funny not to share: