Bracket Time!!

There are few things that I enjoy more than reading my favorite blog, Go Fug Yourself. It's snarky, it's witty, and I love it. Plus, I am more amused that I care to admit to see celebrities out in public looking like wackadoodles.

But come mid-March, there is one thing that dominates my energies, pushing the Fug Girls aside. That, of course, is bracket time. People tell me that after you fill out the brackets, and before you get to circle the picks you got correct and x-out the picks you got wrong, there are basketball games. And more games follow before the next round of circling and x-ing. All kidding aside, I actually enjoy watching the games. Some of them, at least.

But back to brackets. I'm pretty good at them, generally finishing ahead of many season-long NCAA fans. Sometimes I win. And I strongly believe in the Bracket of Integrity. No matter how many pools a person enters, she should submit the same bracket across them all.

Bringing me to the point of this post. Wouldn't it be fun if you could fill out TWO BRACKETS this year? AHA! You can! This year, the Fug Girls have created a bracket system for fugly-ness. Whether or not you give a crap about who's dressing like a fool, isn't it just fun to have another bracket to fill out?

Anyone interested in playing with me? Perhaps those of you in the post-Faffarazzi doldrums? Let me know!

Soy formula smells funny

We had to put the Bug on soy formula for a few days while she was getting over a stomach... er... bug. I'd heard people complain about the smell of formula, but really, unless it *is* bad (like you left it out of the fridge overnight), it smells pretty much fine. Soy formula, on the other hand, smells funny. I'm so glad she's moving back to the regular stuff.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Perhaps the fact that a green Coors Light sounds terrible to me is an indication that I'm getting old. Regardless, enjoy a pint of Guiness. Or two. Slainte!

A week in Vail

We just returned from a very fabulous family vacation in Vail, Colorado. This explains my week-long hiatus - surprisingly, the house we were staying in had no internet connectivity.

As with everything now that we have the Bug, the trip required much farther advance planning than I was once used to, and we started putting the wheels in motion in December. We had a fabulous house to stay in, courtesy of a very close family friend, and it could not have been better. My parents were able to spend their days playing with the Bug, and my husband (I'll call him Joker - he needs a handle, and I can't seem to come up with a better one than the one he already has) and I were able to snowboard to our heart's content.

Vail is a pretty cool mountain (actually, collection of mountains), no question about it. It's in a stunning location, with views of some of the most jagged mountain ranges in the Rockies. It's most famous for its back bowls, to which my limited snowboarding skills allow me only limited access. We were able to check out two of them, and Joker hit a third with my sister and her friends. One word of advice: if you're heading to the China Bowl on a snowboard, skip the Sleepytime (a.k.a. Shit Balls) run and take the Sourdough lift. You'll have to traverse a little at the top of the bowl, but you'll be in a far more agreeable mood.

I can't say I was floored by the nightlife, though I'm sure that's a testament to the fact that I can no longer hang. Only a few short years ago, we'd ski all day and party all night in Aspen. Now, apres ski is about the extent of it, and Vendetta's was a pretty cool bar for that. But mostly, we enjoyed our delicious Colorado beers back at the house, and that suited all of us perfectly.

One little post-script. The car seat wheels were excellent, particularly since my Mom had a stroller for the Bug. The wheel/car seat combo would not suffice for your full stroller needs at your destination, but they definitely do the trick maneuvering through the airport.

Garfield (minus Garfield)

Growing up, I loved Garfield. I mean, L-O-V-E-D. I had stuffed Garfield and Nermal dolls, the comic book collections, collectible miniatures, t-shirts, posters... whatever I could get Mom and Dad to let me have!

So when I saw a link for "Garfield Minus Garfield", I had to check it out. It's an entirely different comic, but really interesting, and funny in a kinda sad way. Poor, hapless ole Jon Arbuckle.

Ridiculous-looking travel item

On Saturday, we are heading out to Colorado for the week. My Grandma's 80th birthday party is on Saturday, and we'll go from there up to Vail for several days of snowboarding! My parents will be with us to watch the Bug, and everyone is thrilled about the arrangement.

All of the websites I've seen, and flight attendants I've spoken with, strongly recommend that a baby sit in her own seat on a plane, in her car seat. While the Bug was in her bucket car seat, this was pretty easy. The bucket was also her stroller, you'd ditch the stroller part on the jet way, and you placed the bucket itself on the seat and strapped the airplane seatbelt across it.

Now she's in a regular car seat, which apparently still fits into airplane seats. I was all set to have my sweet husband lug that thing around while I pushed the Bug in her stroller. Needless to say, we'd have virtually no ability to deal with carry-on luggage, and we'd probably very irritable by the time we boarded the plane.

Until a colleague told me that he'd seen people using some sort of odd-looking luggage wheels attached to a car seat last time he was traveling. A quick search online led me to what has the potential of being a very ingenious product. It's exactly what he described - luggage wheels that you attach directly to the car seat. No need to use a stroller - just look at the happy baby who thinks it's a ride! Wheee!!!

I ordered it from Healthcheck Systems, whose free shipping option had it delivered two days after I placed the order. I'll post a little review after our trip, for anyone who also has babies on the go... with any luck, it's a winner!

Introducing Cheerios

After the Bug's check-up last week, we got the all-clear to start transitioning her from baby food to real food over the next three months. For her first venture into non-mush, we opted for Cheerios, that quintessential munchie for the preschool set.

It didn't take. Don't get me wrong - she loved them. She picked them up, licked them, dropped them on the floor, banged her hand on the tray and watched them bounce. She inspected them, watched me eat them with dramatic flourish, and spit a couple of them out. But she didn't eat a single one.