7 Layer Rugby

Today officially kicked off the return of rugby season (for me anyway - I believe the team has been practicing for a couple of weeks now). As you might imagine, it's freaking cold here. We had a high of 34 today, so I did my best to prepare for the weather. I found out the hard way last year that even when conditions seem bearable here in Fairfax, it's like the Arctic Circle in Chevy Chase (and maybe not even all of Chevy Chase, just up on the hill at SJC). I scrounged up four wearable layers of pants and four wearable layers of tops. I stopped by CVS and bought the store brand of Thermacare heat wraps in 3 different styles. The only thing I forgot was my freakin' scarf (though I must say that my neck was hardly the body party I'd complain about). I reinstated my customary Connecticut Ave. Starbucks run, and even went for the venti this time (I learned that the grande just doesn't go real far when you're using it as an internal heat source). I was all set for the freezing cold, but I didn't really accomplish the mission. My feet were still painfully numb (it doesn't help that I'm a totally Reynauds case) despite wrapping the thermacare thingies designed for your neck the entire way around my toes. I may make a drastic change from my sneakers in to my moon boots for the next game. I don't feel that I am as mobile in the boots, but I believe they're afford me the room for decent air circulation (which is what fules the heat packs). Once I get used to them I think I'll be just fine - frankly it can't be any worse than trying to move quicky with completely numb feet.
Anywho, on to today's scrimmage....
So, we scrimmaged a team that we played on multiple occasions last year. I'm really envious of about half of the kids on the other team. They go to the metro area French immersion school that I would've killed to go to, and would equally kill to have my kid go to (though I have no clue how I'd actually get him there seeing how it's somewhere in deepest darkest Montgomery County - nowhere near where we live). In a couple of the games last year, two of the other team's players ended up with pretty unsavory shoulder injuries. Thankfully, the one who I believe fared the worst, was pulled by his physician and went through months of rehab. I was pretty satisfied with this course of action and hoped that I wouldn't have to worry about this kid going forward. Unfortunately today was the day that all of that came to an end as the same kid suffered yet another dislocation in today's game. I was easily able to reduce it, ice it and put him in a crevat before sending him off to call his mom to let her know what happend. I did make a side note to him that I wished he'd find a different sport to play. He said his mother begs him to do that regularly. On our end things were relatively injury free. A slightly sprained ankle (that I wasn't told about until the game was over) and some bloody knuckles were the only thing I had to deal with, so no complaints there. I'm very fond of my team. Last year was relatively injury free until the final weekend when we had a laceration-fest and even a displaced nasal fracture. I'll count my blessings that we came away today with nothing too bad on our end, and hope that it continues through the season (even though I'll undoubtedly have to pass the torch as the season nears it end).

Annoucements

Well, since it's customary to actually tell people this kind of stuff, I guess this is as good a place as any to do so. Despite my best laid plans to avoid such an event, it seems that I now have a bun in the oven. No, it's not planned. I'm not a "kid" planner cause I'm entirely too consumed with what could go wrong with said kid. Even though lengthy discussions were had in regards to Joshua (well before he was ever a zygote), he still wasn't planned. Alas, this one is the same (only without the lengthy discussion part). I'm pulling for a girl this time, so that I might have one of each. This is completely contradictory to my thoughts last go round as I'm generally petrified of the teenage girl, and have zero desire to actually raise one. Still, this being said, I'd like to have one of each. If she is in fact a she, and goes all batty on me at 15 I'll just have to take her out of this world (which is my right according to Bill Cosby). The challenges that have been posed to me in raising a boy to this point are things I'd rather not repeat. I want someone who will virtually self potty train (which most folks with girls will tell you is the case when compared to boys). I'll not get in to details here, but the entire potty training ordeal (all 2+ years of it) is something I want to be quick and easy this go round. Additional issues we had to deal with were often dismissed as "oh, that's just how boys are." Even though repeatedly we tried to get help, none was ever offered until he finally went to school and the experts there said "um, your kid has xyz issue." Well no shit - I'd been trying to tell people that for 2 years, but nobody would listen because "he's a boy." Anyway, this isn't supposed to be a bitch fest about the things that suck about raising boys, but rather my reasoning for now wanting to have a girl. Anywho, whatever will be, will be, and I'll be sure to post about the outcome of said kid once we find out in the next month or so what we'll be having. I'm now soliciting sponsors to cover the cost of child care, diapers, formula, and all the gadgets that go along with babies. Anyone offering up that sort of cash should be referred to me via email or phone :)

Dishwasher woes

When I'm doing mind numbing things like loading the dishwasher, or perusing the internet at my desk (because I'm procrastinating writing more content for my program's new website), or watching Josh play video games I often think of several things I could blog about. Most recently, I was downstairs at work, unloading and loading the dishwasher and I thought about how often I actually do this chore. There is no assigned person to this job - we all "share" it. By "share" I mean that a small handful of people take on the responsibility of noticing that the machine is full, putting the soap in and running it. Yet another small handful of people (who might be one in the same) take on the responsibility of unloading it when it's finished. I've found myself to this person on numerous occasions. I don't mind it at all. If I see that it needs to be run I will do so and the same goes for unloading it. It only takes a couple of minutes. What infuriates me is the fact that everyone else doesn't seem to have a clue how to a) actually load the dishwasher in any sort of organized fashion, b) rinse the food out of whatever dish has been used (our dishwasher here isn't exactly top of the line), c) run the stupid thing when it's clearly full of dishes. It's an office rule not to leave dishes in the sink. You're supposed to rinse them out and put them in the dishwasher. Everyone manages to accomplish this task without issue, so I fail to see how taking it one step further and putting the soap in the little box and pushing a button would be so incredibly difficult. Anyway, that's my recent thought. Don't let this happen to your coworkers - do your part in the office kitchen! I'm off my soapbox now :)

The Wedding - Part 4 of Katie's Wedding Weekend

Finally, the wedding day arrived! Not much to do early on except roll out of bed, find some food, and wait for my turn to get my hair done. Katie arranged for a couple of professionals to come and do everyone's hair and make-up (well, some hair and make-up).

Jenny an Irene (friends of ours from back in the day) showed up and offered to make a Starbucks run, and Brad and Bekir took Josh to find some breakfast (which turned out to be Dunkin Donuts). The rest of us sat around and watched a little TV and vegetated while waiting our turn.

Once I was all set with my hair, I headed out to the mall to pick up some shoes that I hoped would not render me disabled by the end of the night. Josh also had some shoe issues, so we picked him up a new pair as well. We grabbed some lunch and before we knew it the time had come for us to head over to the venue for pictures. I finished up my make-up, hopped in to my dress and we all piled in to the car.

Once we got to the venue, Katie still had to get in to her gown. It had a fantastic corset back, which of course needed to be laced by yours truly. I hadn't had much practice with lacing corsets, but it was pretty easy and the dress looked really lovely (which I was grateful for). Once she was all set we headed downstairs to start the pictures. I've been forbidden to post any really good ones online, but here are a couple we took that were good.

So, the pictures finished up and the wedding commenced and everything was really great. The weather turned out better than the day before, so even though nobody had a hat, gloves, scarf, or heating blanket, we survived the ceremony without any trace of frostbite. There was a cocktail hour after the ceremony with some fantastic Turkish appetizers and drinks a-plenty. Everyone visited, and then it was time to head in to the ballroom for the actual reception. The food was great, the music was awesome, and the party was a blast. It was fun catching up with friends and family I don't get to see much, and I was really thrilled to see so many people out on the dance floor enjoying themselves. The DJ played a nice mix of Turkish dance music and all of Bekir's friends and family, as well as our plain old American folks, had a good time.

The Rehearsal & Dinner - Part 3 of Katie's Wedding Weekend

Yes, I fell off the blogging wagon for a bit. It's been a bit busy around here, but I'm committed to finishing this series... honest.

Ok, so, as customary with weddings, we had a rehearsal and a rehearsal dinner. I got up that morning still hacking from the night before and with about 50% of the voice I came to town with. This was not at all my idea of a good time, so after breakfast we headed out to find a drug store... or any store for that matter that might have something to make the hacking stop and my throat feel better. I had Katie's GPS in the car as we'd been sharing it for the past few days. Surely it would tell us the fastest way to a drug store... or not. First it said there was a CVS inside the mall... there was not. Next it said there was a CVS up the road... there was not. So I gave up on the CVS and tried for another drug store... it didn't exist either. Finally I called Katie who called down to the concierge at the hotel who told her there was a Walgreens down 206. So we head down 206, but find no Walgreens. Thankfully, about 5 minutes away there was a Wegmans and that was just as good as anything else. We needed some drinks and snacks, so we shopped around for a bit, picked up what we needed and headed back to the hotel. I promptly took 3 kids of drugs and took a short nap. I felt 75% better once I got up, and so I proceeded to get ready to head over to the venue. Once we arrived we waited for quite some time for everyone else, but finally everyone in the wedding party showed up and the rehearsal was underway. Since it was December, and the ceremony was outside, we all bundled up and headed out to practice. It was only about 12 below, so we huddled together to conserve heat and hoped the officiant wasn't too horribly long winded. Thankfully he got through it pretty quickly and we all rushed back inside to thaw out. Everyone piled back in to their cars and we shoved off for dinner. We enjoyed a lovely 4 course italian meal that was really delightful, and everyone was stuffed when it was all said and done. I discovered over the course of the evening (via a nasty message to my sacrum) that heels were not going to be a part of the remainder of my wedding weekend. I made a mental note to head to the mall first thing in the morning to pick up a pair of flats (or the lowest heels I could find).