anatomy of a blogger's panic

OH SHIT!!!! I mean damn! No, that's not it.How about Oh My Stinkin' Heck? Nope, it's been done. FUDGE! NaBloPoMo starts tomorrow!!!

I had this grand plan to have four or five or thirty posts done or nearly so before November 1, so I could avoid my usual deadline scramble. I'll be organized this time, I told myself. How hard can it be?

Less than 12 hours to lift off and I haven't got SQUAT in reserve. With Halloween tonight and my sister arriving tomorrow you know the odds are high I will be able to report a similar condition tomorrow. Halloween pictures will bail me out, but still....

So tell me, internets, are YOU ready for NaBloPoMo? Are you really a glutton and doing NaNoWriMo? Or have you gone completely off the deep end and decided to do BOTH?

[At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you are a regular reader and haven't got a blog, do it NOW!! Jump in with NaBloPoMo and leave me a link in the comments. You read me. It's only fair that I should know every detail of your life too.]

I'm thinking about doing this too. How hard can it be? Bwaaaaaaa

Thanks Nana!

Oliver really likes the new pillows Nana made for him. They looks great in his room and create a nice cozy space for reading. Click on the picture to go to Flickr for a few more pictures of Oliver and the pillows.

Behind the pillows you can see a little bit of the denim paint effect that is below the chair rail on three of his walls. (Chalkboard paint is on the fourth wall.)

And if you look very closely you might spot a Clumber doorstop!

let me spell it out for you

Last night, around 2am, I woke up feeling absolutely awful. Severe pain in one breast, accompanied by chills and total body aches. I called the doc, who I adore, and his machine pointed me at the on-call doc. As a solo practictioner, he likes his nights and weekends and I can respect that. I should have recognized the red flag when I had SPELL m-a-s-t-i-t-i-s, for the service. I didn't do much better with mr. on-call doc. His assvice was to take some tylenol and come in to the office on Monday. As an after thought, seconds before hanging up, he asked if I was breastfeeding.

I took some advil and tried to sleep. When I woke up I realized what an idiot I had been and immediately called my OB practice. They called me back a few minutes later and prescribed an antibiotic. It was a doc I didn't know but there was no need for spelling lessons. She asked all the right questions, determining I probably didn't have an abscess, and got right down to business. That probably had something to do with the number of women in labor she was handling, but I really didn't care.

One dose of the antibiotic, a little sleep, and some oatmeal, and I am starting to feel nearly human. Next up is a shower, feeding Miss E, who hasn't bit me in two days despite having a second tooth peeking through, and more sleep. If all goes well, I'll be able to watch some of the Red Sox tonight. Rest assured, however, my live blogging days are probably done.

10-20-30

Tara tagged me for this meme. It's a tough one!

10-20-30 (you're supposed to write about where you were 10, 20 and 30 years ago and then tag 5 more people to play along)

• 10 years ago - I was 31 and had moved to Pittsburgh from Walla Walla, WA about a month before, along with my Clumber Spaniel, Chewy. Chewy and I had been together about three months but it felt like a lot longer. My new housemate had just moved in to the house I was renting. He was kind of cute but didn't talk much. His name was CD.
  
• 20 years ago - I was 21, and I was about half way through the first semester of my last year at Williams College, a senior at last. Senior year was mostly great. I was surrounded by a lot of good friends and I finally had my academic shit together. Not much else was together, but that was a huge step for me. I was starting to apply for jobs and starting to amass a vast collection of rejection letters. Since I was not applying for investment banking jobs, the whole Black Friday thing was somewhat lost on me. People were playing a lot of REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)".
  
• 30 years ago - I was 11. Sixth grade, my first year at middle school. It was hell and I have tried very hard to block most of the memories of the next seven years or so. I seem to recall driving to Connecticut a lot.

I'm not sure I have five readers with blogs of their own, especially since I can't tag Tara! If you are reading this, and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. And if you don't have a blog, consider it high time to dive in! Use this meme to get started. Please leave a comment and link when you complete this meme.

live blogging game 2

I'll begin with a disclaimer....I haven't live blogged before. You may wish I never do it again. And I'm really not sure I can stand one more night with Tim McCarver. Has there ever been a more annoying sports announcer? He gives me new appreciation for "Remdawg".

James Taylor singing the national anthem was a really nice touch. Cool guy and a fan. I'll be taking my bathroom break during the seventh inning stretch. Would love to hear Take Me Out to the Ballgame. God Bless America done by Boyz II Men is more than I can take.

8:32 Not an auspicious start for Schilling. I'm really tired of hearing, "He's not the pitcher he once was." Shoot, he's about a year younger than me. So depressing.

8:35 Foul tip by Matsui. When Oliver hits it is either a home run or a foul tip. This is a step up from everything being a home run. I'm working on teaching him about ground balls.

8:39 Okay, Schilling isn't quite as mobile as he once was, I'll concede that.

8:41 Colorado draws first blood, going up 1-0. I could easily slip back into the pessimistic fan I used to be.

8:44 It's too bad we have to see the same commercials over and over throughout the baseball playoffs. If only it could be like the SuperBowl, where the adverts are an event all on their own. Maybe they should call this "live ranting".

8:46 Thanks for the fairly lifeless lineup, Dewey. I kind of liked "Todd My goatee is better than Youkilis' Helton".

8:54 I have such a bad feeling about this. That strikeout makes me feel slightly better. Time for more take out.

8:57 Now I feel a lot better. (It was the out, not the food.) Yorvit named his son Yorvit too. I'll bet that's one we don't see much of on the Social Security list.

9:04 Ouch indeed. I hope Drew can shake it off.

9:16 That's better. Schilling seems to have settled. And I do love that ad with Big Papi.

9:25 Still looking for America's free taco. Why don't they just call it America's free heart attack?

9:27 RISP?

9:28 Ah, Runners In Scoring Position

9:29 Huge foul ball at Pesky's pole from Ortiz. Huge.

9:37 If this keeps up I'll be in bed before midnight. As attractive as that sounds, I really wish they had saved a few runs from last night.

9:44 Drew has clearly shaken it off. That slide by Lowell should be a sign that Ortiz should sit for game 3. Love ya, Big Papi, you know I do, but sitting makes sense. The altitude won't make you run faster.

9:46 Bullpen antics....doesn't anyone remember Bill Lee and his hibachi? This isn't new. I like it, but it isn't new.

9:50 Free tacos for everyone courtesy of Jacoby Ellsbury's stolen base. Knock yourselves out, kids.

10:02 Nice quick inning, walk not withstanding, for Schilling. My kind of boring.

10:07 Not a peep from upstairs. Eleanor is trying to drop nap #3 and it's helping her sleep longer at night.

10:08 Sorry Todd. You're both kind of ugly but Youkilis has the better goatee.

10:10 McCarver can only manage one word of agreement with Buck when he says good things about Schilling. Then he finds a way to remind us, once again, that he's not the pitcher he used to be. Dead.Horse. Leave it alone, for fuck's sake.

10:14 I wish Manny looked happier. Oliver would try to cheer him up, if he were awake.

10:16 Lowell doesn't look happy either but he's Mr RBI and there are two on.

10:17 Thank you, Mr RBI. Goodnight Mr Jimenez.

10:26 These pitching changes are really what stands between me and my bed.

10:33 It bears repeating.....Tim, you never say anything when the Red Sox are playing well. You can't bear to say anything positive about them. Get over it.

10:35 Masks are good.

10:36 Taco bell tacos are bad. I think the CEO of Taco Bell just wanted an excuse to go to the games.

10:37 Schilling to shilling. Tim made a funny.

10:42 I'll go out on a limb and say that is not the last we'll see of Curt Schilling in a Red Sox uniform.

10:46 I really want to hand McCarver a bat and let him try to hit Okajima, since it's all about the head jerk and he has it all figured out. (Head, jerk....Kim made a funny. Or maybe she's just getting a bit punchy.)

10:55 Duty calls. The presence of the boobs is required upstairs. So much for my 7th inning stretch bathroom break.

11:18 I'm back. Just in time to see Okajima smoke another one. Did you miss me?

11:20 Uh oh...now I need to leave again. And let me reiterate, there's only one song appropriate for 7th inning stretching (and Oliver would sing it for us if he were awake).

11:24 If you Google "Jacoby Ellsbury has just won America a free taco" this blog is the second hit.

11:28 Once again the announcers behave as though Papelbon is the only "unique personality" to ever inhabit the Fenway bullpen. The list of nutjobs is long and distinguished.

11:40 Okajima leaves with a smile on his face. His work here is done. On to Papelbon.

11:46 Holy moly. Papelbon dodges a line drive then picks off the runner to end the inning. I really want to be horizontal but this is too good to leave. The guy McCarver picks for league MVP falls asleep at first base...priceless.

11:50 The last time I heard Sweet Caroline was a couple of weeks ago at Trader Joe's. The lead staff must have been imported from Boston. Very similar rendition to that of the Fenway faithful.

12:00 I really should be asleep. A small person is likely to be playing my song in just a few hours. The only mystery is which one. Three more outs.

12:05 98 mph oh.my

12:07 Just one out left.

12:08 97 mph is just as hard to hit as 98.

12:09 Game over. Papelbon for President.

bad ass and friends

That packaging is exactly what it looks like, a diaper. And an unbleached one too. The box also contained a hand-written note. I suppose with product names like these they are going to go way over the top on customer service. Go read their site www.leastlikely2breed.net It's hysterical, as in root-beer-shooting-out-your-nose hysterical.

I will report back once I've had a chance to take them for a spin. I did take a whiff and they smell divine.

way too pleased with herself

Eleanor no longer stays were I put her. This photo was taken yesterday, after I put her on a nice blanket in the living room and ran upstairs for a minute or two. When I came back she was out in the entryway, about fifteen feet away. I emailed the babyproofer immediately. We seem to have skipped over getting gates on the main stairs.

She's rolling in both directions now. And if that wasn't enough of a skill explosion, she's just about sitting up on her own. Yesterday morning her limit was about two seconds of unsupported sitting. By dinnertime that was up to around 20 seconds. She is also trying to get up on her hands and knees, though I don't think we will see crawling for a while longer.

I think a next door neighbor to the tooth may be getting ready to appear too.

child grows, mum oblivious

Oliver has been afflicted with a nasty diaper rash for a few days. Really, really icky. Worse than anything he's ever had before. Thanks to the internets and the fact that one can fine a picture of absolutely anything, I diagnosed it yesterday as yeast and began treatment with some clotrimazole we happened to have lying around. Ahem.

Despite being a second generation "Dr Mom" I'm not as comfortable with my skills as my own mother so I took him to the doc this morning. He said to Oliver, "Your mom is really GOOD!" He gave us a script for more cream, with a little steroid chaser.

Oliver has yet to complain about this rash. His clumber-like stoicism continued when it was time for his flu shot. Barely a whimper. Tough kid. He even watched the needle go in. Not sure he's related to me.

But the biggest surprise was that he's grown 7 cm in the last six months. If I had not seen the tape measure myself I would not have believed it. (I know...I should have taken a picture.) And that was without shoes. He still fits into his 18-24 month baby gap jeans, and they fit him better now than ever. He's a 2T or 3T from the waist up so that's where most of the new-found length has landed. He not only looks like my dad, he's kind of built like him too.

For those keeping score at home, or thinking about a Christmas gift in the clothing realm, he's 90 cm and 33 lbs. We won't have to buy anything extra for our trip to Florida in January and I probably won't have to buy him any new shorts next year but he will likely have outgrown all but the largest of his summer shirts by then. It will be interesting to see if he makes it into the size 100 Hanna Andersson winter pjs I bought when we were in Maine last August.

unexpected things one can compost

You may recall we embarked on a worm composting adventure a few months back. Partly out of environmental consciousness and partly out of a desperate need to amuse a 2 year old, we got a worm bin. It's been going well. So well that I decided we should probably try regular composting again. I tried a few years back but things never got cooking. Adding the magic, "make it cook NOW" additives had no effect. My guess is that the green to brown ratio was off but I really don't know what was wrong.

Yesterday I went to composting class. It came with a free bin, a pretty cool looking one too, though it does look a bit like the love child of R2D2 and Darth Vader. The instructor made it all sound a little too easy but fall makes me happy and thus, overly optimistic.

I learned a lot in class, including some unusual things that can go in the compost bin. I had no idea dryer lint and dog hair were compostable. The rule we learned is as long as no animal products are involved, it's probably okay. For example, leftover toast with margarine is okay to toss in the bin. With butter? Disqualified.

With a little luck, we will have lovely compost to add to the planting beds in the spring. Or we'll have a smelly mess to clean up.

cold enough for hats

Fall makes me really really happy. It's been warm this week but one day last weekend it was cold enough for hats. Eleanor looks like she's dressed for the arctic but we really just walked to a neighborhood restaurant. (I live in a neighborhood! With restaurants!)

half a year

Eleanor was six months old on Tuesday. She's tipping the scales at 19 pounds now, and my back and neck are really feeling it. We've been trying to go for a good walk every day since I am back on the Weight Watchers wagon, and I am remembering why I had to stop carrying Oliver in the Baby Bjorn when he got much past 20 pounds. But with Oliver, 21 pounds was on day 272. What Eleanor weighs now, on day 185, Oliver got to on day 216. Not that we're comparing....

In any case, I bought an Ergo carrier today. I tried it on, with Eleanor, all the while worried she would hurl all over the store sample. She didn't. (Hit the bib instead! Woo hoo!) The relief was almost instantaneous. The weight was on my hips instead of my neck. Once I get better at fastening all the buckles and straps I know I am going to like it a lot. Thanks for the recommendation, Tamara!!

So, more about the six month milestone. She's still a very easy baby, taking good naps and sleeping well at night, and being generally good-natured the rest of the time. She loves solid foods and hasn't rejected anything. She makes a face when I give her yogurt so that's off the menu for a while, but she is happy to eat everything else we have tried and complains when the bowl is empty. I'm struggling with trying to find a good time to add a second meal of solids. I have tried a couple of times but she has returned a fair bit of the meal shortly thereafter. Mostly, she just wants to sleep in the mornings. Further proof that she is her father's daughter.

Eleanor is not yet sitting up without support but she is trying to crawl, giving us more good reason to stop comparing her to Oliver. He was sitting up but didn't crawl until sometime in December. I doubt we will see actual locomotion from her for a while, though she's rolling in both directions now.

She has learned her name too. And perhaps the most astounding bit in my mind, we've been breastfeeding for six months now and not a bit of formula. (We tried that first night home from the hospital but she would not take it.) I have an impressive stash, at least to me, of milk in the freezer. That's my security blanket. I still have nightmares that I suddenly produce no milk but even when I know haven't had my usual water intake Eleanor seems to be satisfied. I make milk. What's your superpower?

a whole bunch of randomness

1. Eleanor is sporting her first tooth. It appeared a few days ago. I'm a lazy blogger. The drooling she has been doing for months, making us think teeth were immenent, continues unabated.

2. Aunt Flo returned the same day. Coincidence?

3. I might actually like beans. As previously blogged, I had progressed from loathing to mild dislike of beans. Last night I had the Beans and Greens at Pino's and I think I fell in love. Granted, everything is good if you put enough garlic on it, but this dish was lovely. I can't wait to go back and have it again. (The "Italian Fries" are also worth checking out. Pino's neighbor, Point Brugge, is known for their fries. These are tasty rivals. Must eat more of both to make a final decision.)

4. Pino's could turn out to be our favorite place. We put both kids in the double stroller and walked there last night. It's family friendly, nearby, and the food is great. I like Point Brugge a lot but it's a little more spendy and I'm slightly less inclined to take the kids. One negative on Pino's....the rather surly person who seated us noted that none of the straps on the high chairs work. She seemed to hope we would go away after hearing that news. Fortunately, our waitress liked the kids and did not seem the least bit bothered by them. There were three other tables with kids, all of them louder than mine.

5. Putting kids in the double stroller last night required hats and a blanket for Eleanor. It's fall and this pleases me beyond measure. Nothing makes me happier than a crisp fall day. It's all downhill from fall (winter is okay, spring is icky, and I really don't like summer) so I will enjoy it for as long as it lasts, which is never quite long enough. This year it took forever to arrive.

6. Fall is the time of pumpkins and such. I picked up a few when I went to lend a little moral support to Tara yesterday as she exhibited her amazing cards for the first time. The greenhouse had the cutest little mini pumpkins, no bigger than about 4 inches in diameter. Irresistible. We kind of ignored Halloween last year. It was raining and we closed on the new house that afternoon. This year, I'm really excited, more so than any other year in Pittsburgh. We have great neighbors with kids and will do the trick or treat thing as a group. We also expect to have a great crowd of kids showing up at our house. The only bad thing is that one of the adults goes with the kids and the other stays home to distribute the candy. I want to do both! With the official trick or treat hours of 5:30 - 7:30pm, perhaps we can switch roles at the halfway point.

7. More fall fun....planting bulbs! When I saw the neighborhood last spring I realized I have a lot of catching up to do in the tulip department. After a solid week of serious bonding with the White Flower Farm website, I bought a good assortment of pinks and whites, with a mix of early, middle, and late bloomers. Now I just have to get them into the ground in an optimal configuration. This is going to involve measuring and graph paper and pencils (and erasers!). The last time I did that, a few weeks ago when I planted the hosta bed in the backyard, I put the new plants in backwards. No, the roots were not pointing up, but I had four varieties, three plants each, and mapped out little triangle configurations for the planting. Then proceeded to put them in with the triangles pointing in the wrong direction. I dug them up and did it right a few hours later, but what a gardening moron I am. I probably should not be trusted with tulip bulbs, but the squirrels will probably eat half of them anyway.

so disappointed

I've been a fan of the Tour de France a long time. Even through all the doping scandals, I have remained a fan of cycling and in awe of many cyclists, especially those on Team Discovery. Though the team is officially disbanded, I am still interested in what the team members are up to. Or I was until this from Levi Leipheimer. It appeared in Sports Illustrated. I won't be reading that anymore either (curse them for putting Papelbon on the cover too).

I have worked for years to educate people looking for a dog on how to find and evaluate a quality breeder. To advocate never buying from a breeder is incomprehensible to me. I agree there are a lot of unethical breeders out there but to paint them all in one stroke is grossly unfair.

I'm too disgusted to write any more on this topic.

nine years ago, I ate the five bean soup

It's been nine years since the first date with CD. I didn't know it was a date at the time, though my much smarter subconscious probably had a clue. When my then-housemate asked me to dinner I assumed it was to celebrate the release of Mulberry 1.4, an important update in spite of being a dot release. (For the full historical timeline of Mulberry, not our relationship, go here.)

We walked to a restaurant called Sweet Basil. It's now gone from Forbes Ave and thus sparing us any overly-indulgent nostalgia, having been replaced by at least three other establishments since then. Though we had shared the house for a year, I did not know CD well, other than knowing he liked my dogs and didn't have much to say otherwise. Though I am all too accustomed to them now, silences were painful for me then so I undoubtedly babbled on and on about nothing. Food was a welcome distraction, so much so that when CD ordered soup, I jumped on board too. Never mind that it was five bean soup and I really hated beans then. (We've progressed to mild dislike now.) I don't remember much else of the meal.

What I do remember was wondering if it was a date during our silent walk home. It was raining softly, but not enough to be bothersome. Quite nice, really. I remember thinking, "If it is a date, he will try to hold my hand." Um, not a chance.... Somehow, probably by the weekend, I figured out it really was a date after all. I have more email that seemed to be worth keeping from him during the month of October, 1998, than just about any other month before or since, most of it painfully adorable. The rest are jokes about beer.

search engines gone wild

What is it with the Germans? About once a week I get a hit on this blog from a search for "naked ballerina" and it's almost always from Germany. I think there was one time it was from New Jersey, but the rest? All German. Is there something you all would like to share, perhaps over some beer and bratwurst? I would really like to know.

Today's highlight is a hit from "pushing out baby from butt pics". Um, no. 'Roids were us there for a while but I did not, in fact, push either baby out my butt. Both exited from the hoo-ha in the usual fashion. Ask CD. I think he even peeked with the second one.

I get a lot of action from "preauricular tags". I didn't realize how often this birth "defect" occurs. I hope my story about Oliver's tags makes parents feel better. There are always hits from all things having to do with babies pooping, or not pooping, as the case may be.

And to "tile project while pregnant" I say it's his turn to do some of the heavy lifting. You could do the tile, but I suggest a nap, or at the very least put your feet up and cuddle with a nice pint of Ben & Jerry's instead. This is a good time to outsource.

road to hell redux

Way back when, I mentioned we had until March to get a minivan. It was what I like to refer to as a "worthy goal". Things got delayed a bit but at last, the day has arrived, minivan day. We finally settled on the Kia Sedona. I got over my hatred of the Toyota Sienna, but not the price tag. A fully-loaded Sedona with every possible option, with the exception of DVD, is about 12k less than a comparably equipped Sienna with all-wheel drive. I can get over it by telling myself that the traction control technology has improved and maybe I won't miss the all-wheel drive I have enjoyed for the last ten years. If global warming continues, we won't get snow in Pittsburgh anyway. (It's supposed to be 88 here today. It's October, for pete's sake!!! Enough with the heat and humidity already.)

I'm really excited about a few features, like the two driver memory on all the seat settings, including the adjustable pedals. I have dreamed about having this. We are a one vehicle family (except for the next month or so, before we have to give back our leased Subaru Outback) and we are not the same size. Thus we have to adjust the seat and mirrors all.the.time. Not anymore. We have to get everything just right ONE TIME and then tell the car to remember. Yeah, I know, what are the odds? I'll get back to you on that.

The sunroof also makes me happy. I haven't had one since my one and only "cool car". I had the cutest little white Volkswagen Golf that was also loaded with options. It's the only car I really fell in love with and had to have, though I didn't really need a new car at the time. All I need is a sunroof and some driving music to get me back to 1990 and my much younger self. We'll see if that still works when the sunroof is attached to a minivan. At least this sunroof does not require a crank handle like the Volkswagen. (Still miss that car, even if it was a stick. You don't want to know how long it took me to conclude I was not a bad person because the fear of rolling back on hills far outweighed the coolness factor of driving stick. I think I just needed to turn 30 or so.)

Leather will be nice. We've never had that in a car. The heated seats were not negotiable. Subaru hooked me on those and there is no going back. I think we'll be able to get two dog crates in the back without removing the second row captain's seats, though we only need to fit one right now. The third row, which splits 60/40, folds flat.

Dealers are extremely motivated right now. We had hoped to get a 2008 model but dealers have too many 2007s on the lot and will not get the 08s until the 07s are mostly gone. Our lease will be up before that happens. The good news is we got about $4k knocked off the price.

All told, we couldn't beat the insane number of features, the safety ratings, the warranty, and the price. I'm very sad to be leaving Subaru. If they made a minivan, I'd be first in line to buy it. (Please don't tell me to look at the Tribeca. It is NOT big enough. Not even close.)

good news from across the pond

Wallace and Gromit are returning to TV!! This will please a number of people in my household. Much as I love "Cracking Contraptions" and all the rest of the W&G videos it will be nice to see some new material. I wonder how long it will take to reach this side of the pond.

great lunch, mom

A little note from Oliver's new teacher was in his cubby yesterday. "Great lunch, Mom!" My greatest fear about this new school has been packing Oliver's lunch. For the first few days I went with hummus and pita (or pita chips), carrots, and honeydew melon. I decided it was time to branch out when the small thermos arrived so yesterday I packed macaroni and cheese. Apparently, it was a big hit. We'll try tomato soup later this week.

I found this incredibly cool apple hack when I was searching for ideas. I tried it yesterday but the teachers didn't notice it in the fridge. They found it this morning, but state regulations required them to throw it away. They did say it was not brown though. I put another one in his lunch today.

It's Parent Night at the school tonight. I'm looking forward to meeting more people at the school. I felt very connected at the old school and even served as the classroom parent rep to the Parent-Educator Committee. Now I don't recognize anyone at drop-off and pick-up time and don't feel that I belong yet. Oliver, fortunately, has no such issues. And people I don't know already know him.

Oliver's favorite teacher from the old school is coming over to babysit. We haven't seen her since she left the school a couple of weeks before we did. He's been talking about it for two days and can't wait to see her. As for me, I'm looking forward to dinner out with CD. We thought about trying a new place but it looks like they may be closing by the time we get there.

addendum to yesterday's PSA

I should add that just because you're using an RSS reader, you are not absolved from making comments. Today would be a good day for that.

Read this for more info on the The Great Mofo De-lurk 2007.

public service announcement

This is aimed at those of you who have not yet discovered the wonder that is the RSS reader. Yeah, I'm talking to YOU! Gabriella, Donna, Tamara, a few others who I'm sure would prefer not to be named, and a few more whose names I don't know.

Hate typing "three dogs baby" in to Google every day? Or choosing the link from your bookmarks and discovering I haven't written anything today (or this week, or this month...)? Then the RSS reader is for you. It will show you a list of all the blogs you read, just like bookmarks. But if you ask nicely, it will show you only those blogs with posts you have not read. This technology stuff....pretty amazing!

There are lots of RSS readers to choose from, and I've tried a bunch, but the only one I have liked enough to continue using is Google Reader. To get started, click here. In the upper left part of your screen you should see the word "more" with a downward pointing triangle. Click on it and select "Reader". If you need more help, drop me an email.

take me out to the ballgame

It was the pathetic and pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates' final game of the season but it was Oliver's first game. (Eleanor went to an afternoon game earlier in the week.) He got a free glove, which he insisted on taking to bed!

Fortunately, Oliver knows a bit about a pretty good baseball team that resides in Boston. He will tell you he likes Manny, and Manny hits the ball. He may ask if Manny is okay, after seeing Manny get hit by a pitch on tv when we were in Maine last August. He will also tell you that Varitek catches and Papelbon pitches. When CD went to Boston a couple of weeks ago he thought daddy was going to see Manny.

Click the photo to go to Flickr for a few more pics from the game.