I was wrong. It turns out we're actually having an alien.
At least, that's what my crazy belly antics would suggest...
Can't wait to see her dance moves instead of just feeling them!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Are you ready for some Footbaaaaall?
For those of you who are worried that it's all baby talk and kitchen construction around the Bowden household, fear not! For Fall has arrived, and with it comes a time honored tradition- Fantasy Football.
oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Dustin and I are now embarking on our fifth season of FFB, and the craziness of our current household has not slowed down the pretend-sports action. We're continuing in our mixed-gender "Battle For Supremacy" league (which consists of about 2 people we're familiar with, along with 8 of their hooligan frat friends), but we each have separate leagues as well. After a couple years of co-managing a team, Dustin is now a full fledged member of the "Women Can't Win" league with his Pittsburgh friends, (which could be more appropriately named- "Women Aren't Allowed to Even Enter the Competition). And I am now the league manager of the rival group- "Men Can't Menstruate" (ok, it might not be the best name, but after five years, we can't change it now.)
I had no idea I would like FFB as much as I do....I originally got involved as a way to
help me tolerate Dustin's incessant football viewing, but I've really gotten into it. It does get me interested in more games and players, but it also satisfies my competitive urge, gives me one more online forum to waste time on, and allows me to expand my smack-talk skills.
One of the best parts of being in multiple leagues though, is seeing the difference in how a guys' and girls' league function. The "Battle" league only has two girls out of twelve participants, and the online draft is always full of sexual innuendo, inappropriate comments about people's mothers, and highly-informed snarky comments about player picks that I only occasionally understand. And when Dustin hosted the "WCW" live draft a couple weeks ago, our house was a den of testosterone...nothing but banana pepper pizza, and beer as far as the eye could see. The guys were camped out in front of their computers, cheat sheets, and magazines, and each round was held to a strict time limit, inclusive of an alarm for slow-pokes.
The girls league on the other hand, is a little more "loosey-goosey". We held our live draft last week and as always, it was a mixture of mock-seriousness, and complete girlie ridiculousness. And it is different....Our first year, we found out one of our girls was pregnant because she declined the customary first round toast. The next year we we were heckled by the pizza delivery guy who could NOT get over a group of girls participating in FFB. And we've been known to embrace the football theme in our own way- opting for cute football field table cloth for the snacks, or even a cake in the shape of a stadium!
But by far my favorite parts of the girls league are the memorable quotes from the draft. This year we have a pretty even split between returning members and rookies, which made for some choice comments. Some of the best:
- "I should probably draft Eli Manning because he's so cute!"
- "Are you drafting all Ravens?" "No...[pause]...but only because my husband told me not to."
- "I have to leave early...can you draft for me? Here's my strategy: Don't draft anyone from Cleveland or Cincinnati."
- "I'm going to try to collect all the Williams"
- "Oooh, Mark Sanchez...I've had my eye on him since college."
- "Who did you draft? Emmanuel Lewis?" "Um no. That's the little black kid from Webster."
Yes, we are clearly forces to be reckoned with.
And so begins our season....week one is almost wrapped, and I've not only lost both of my games, but I also may have incorrectly predicted the winner of every single matchup in my girls league. I wish you better luck...Unless you're in my league, and then I hope you choke on a Tostito. Not fatally. Just enough to keep you from stealing any of the good free agents. Not that I would know who they are.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
TV-free update!
We did indeed make it one (almost) whole summer (almost) without TV!
If you remember- we committed to turning off the tube from June through Labor Day, (with only a couple very important viewing appointments allowed....).
The summer actually went faster than I thought (I’m getting old!) which was unfortunate...but the good part was I honestly didn’t miss TV a bit. We were so busy (SO busy!) that I don’t know when we even would have squeezed it in if we wanted to. We definitely got more done around the house without the distraction, and I made other things- (like reading!) a priority. I’m sure it would have been harder if I knew I was missing tons of my favorite shows (Summer is admittedly a dry season for quality programming), but in all I found TV is one of those things that once you get used to not having it, you don’t miss as much as you’d think. I think the more I watch, the more I want to watch...they suck you in with commercials and promos, and before I know it I have a DVR full of things I think are must-see. But when I took the option away, it didn’t have a hold on me anymore. (I think there is probably a parenting lesson in here somewhere....)
So, we’re officially into September now, and planning our re-entry into the magical world of TV. Dustin and I talked about it a little, and our goal is to be deliberate about how we approach our viewing habits now. It would be easy to fall back (literally) into the pattern of flopping down on the couch after a long day, and enjoying an evening of mind numbing entertainment. And it’s not that we never want to do that, but we’d like to prioritize other things- like cooking, talking, reading, cleaning, playing games, raising a baby, far ahead of TV.
For me, I’ve found that setting a time allowance (an hour a day etc.) isn’t the best solution...as it usually ends with me flipping channels, not finding anything I really want to watch, but settling on something dumb. And then in the meantime I find several other options to tape for the future, and before you know it I’m locked into season five of Teen Mom (they’re like 23 now!) and thinking it matters. Instead, I think the approach we took this summer was successful- limit our “watch list” to things we really love, and just watch those. No flipping around. No lounging mindlessly in front of junk, just deliberate relaxation with shows we enjoy. Sure, I may be over thinking the whole thing, but it’s what works for us.
Last night was our first official night with the option to watch, and I took advantage of some down time to check out a couple of my guilty pleasure shows: The Rachel Zoe Project and Top Chef- Just Desserts. And what I found? I didn’t miss them at all. After breaking the cycle of crap-tv, I was better able to see that these shows aren’t really guilty pleasures at all- they’re just guilty. I turned Top Chef off in the first ten minutes, and though I made it all the way through RZ, I have no desire to watch the rest of the season. Maybe my tastes are elevating? Or maybe I’ve just learned that my time is valuable, and if I’m going to spend it on TV it better be worth it. (for what it’s worth, I totally plan on watching regular Top Chef when it comes back on. That is some quality stuff).
So with those guidelines in mind, here is our schedule for the fall season....(yes, it’s a little heavy on football. Not sorry)
Sunday:
• Football- all day with the football.
• 8pm- CBS- Amazing Race. We usually watch this on Tuesdays with a group of friends (and win money, but that’s another story for another day)....
Monday:
• 8pm- NBC- The Sing-off. I know it’s bad...but we loved it last year! I have a Nick Lachey weakness!
• 10pm- Bravo- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. hey- I'm only human!!
• Football- 8:30pm
Tuesday:
• 8pm- FOX- Glee.
Wednesday:
• 9pm- ABC- Modern Family.
Thursday:
• 8pm- NBC- Community
• 9pm- NBC- The Office
Friday & Saturday: Nada
What do you think? What’s your viewing philosophy? Do you have a TV plan in place? Are there must-see shows that we’re missing out on?
If you remember- we committed to turning off the tube from June through Labor Day, (with only a couple very important viewing appointments allowed....).
The summer actually went faster than I thought (I’m getting old!) which was unfortunate...but the good part was I honestly didn’t miss TV a bit. We were so busy (SO busy!) that I don’t know when we even would have squeezed it in if we wanted to. We definitely got more done around the house without the distraction, and I made other things- (like reading!) a priority. I’m sure it would have been harder if I knew I was missing tons of my favorite shows (Summer is admittedly a dry season for quality programming), but in all I found TV is one of those things that once you get used to not having it, you don’t miss as much as you’d think. I think the more I watch, the more I want to watch...they suck you in with commercials and promos, and before I know it I have a DVR full of things I think are must-see. But when I took the option away, it didn’t have a hold on me anymore. (I think there is probably a parenting lesson in here somewhere....)
So, we’re officially into September now, and planning our re-entry into the magical world of TV. Dustin and I talked about it a little, and our goal is to be deliberate about how we approach our viewing habits now. It would be easy to fall back (literally) into the pattern of flopping down on the couch after a long day, and enjoying an evening of mind numbing entertainment. And it’s not that we never want to do that, but we’d like to prioritize other things- like cooking, talking, reading, cleaning, playing games, raising a baby, far ahead of TV.
For me, I’ve found that setting a time allowance (an hour a day etc.) isn’t the best solution...as it usually ends with me flipping channels, not finding anything I really want to watch, but settling on something dumb. And then in the meantime I find several other options to tape for the future, and before you know it I’m locked into season five of Teen Mom (they’re like 23 now!) and thinking it matters. Instead, I think the approach we took this summer was successful- limit our “watch list” to things we really love, and just watch those. No flipping around. No lounging mindlessly in front of junk, just deliberate relaxation with shows we enjoy. Sure, I may be over thinking the whole thing, but it’s what works for us.
Last night was our first official night with the option to watch, and I took advantage of some down time to check out a couple of my guilty pleasure shows: The Rachel Zoe Project and Top Chef- Just Desserts. And what I found? I didn’t miss them at all. After breaking the cycle of crap-tv, I was better able to see that these shows aren’t really guilty pleasures at all- they’re just guilty. I turned Top Chef off in the first ten minutes, and though I made it all the way through RZ, I have no desire to watch the rest of the season. Maybe my tastes are elevating? Or maybe I’ve just learned that my time is valuable, and if I’m going to spend it on TV it better be worth it. (for what it’s worth, I totally plan on watching regular Top Chef when it comes back on. That is some quality stuff).
So with those guidelines in mind, here is our schedule for the fall season....(yes, it’s a little heavy on football. Not sorry)
Sunday:
• Football- all day with the football.
• 8pm- CBS- Amazing Race. We usually watch this on Tuesdays with a group of friends (and win money, but that’s another story for another day)....
Monday:
• 8pm- NBC- The Sing-off. I know it’s bad...but we loved it last year! I have a Nick Lachey weakness!
• 10pm- Bravo- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. hey- I'm only human!!
• Football- 8:30pm
Tuesday:
• 8pm- FOX- Glee.
Wednesday:
• 9pm- ABC- Modern Family.
Thursday:
• 8pm- NBC- Community
• 9pm- NBC- The Office
Friday & Saturday: Nada
What do you think? What’s your viewing philosophy? Do you have a TV plan in place? Are there must-see shows that we’re missing out on?
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