Score! For me and Ish!

We went to a tag sale at the local church here in town this morning and I saw and fell in love with this:
It's a Little Tikes Octopus Merry Go Round. Ish immediately sat down and started spinning on it. The guy selling it said he spent a lot of time spinning with his 5 kids on this. He was asking $3 - sold American! As I always do when I get back from tag sales, I Googled to find out the item's true worth. Apparently, this is a "retired" item and it's in high demand. It's going for $75 and up on Craig's List and Ebay. I PAID $3!!

I don't know who's more excited - Ish to play on it or me for having scored the deal!!

When Ish Grows Up

I envision this:
The Wall Street Journal envisions this:
That's according to their latest article How Yankee Fans Are Different From Mets Fans.

Some of the stats:

• Men who follow the Mets are slightly more likely to have stopped their education during or just after high school (30% versus 25%)
• Yankees fans are more likely to earn $100,000 a year or more
• Male Mets fans were 43% more likely than Yankees fans to drink beer
• Mets fans owned more guns (11% versus 5%)
• Mets fans worry less than Yankees fans (15% to 8%)
• Mets men have better support systems: they rated higher for marriage (51%) and pets (47%)

That's fine - I don't doubt the Journal's research and there's nothing wrong with being a doctor or working for UPS (or IPS - where Doug Heffernan works). However, it seems that everything in the state of NY is slightly skewed to favor the Yankees and place them in a glowing light - after all, it's easy to love a winning team with all those championship rings. But, how many of those $100k suits in the stands at Yankee Stadium are "real" fans? How many know the starting pitchers stats or can tell you what RISP stands for? How many are there simply because Big Giant Corporation has season tickets and passes them out to employees as a "treat" every once in a while?

My poor Mets - always seen as the lovable losers of NY sports. Now the Wall Street Journal is trying to paint us Mets fans with the same brush - as if everyone should feel sorry for us. Excuse me, but the last I heard, there was nothing wrong with being a blue-collar, hard-working, married man who likes to drink beer and hang out with his best friend Fido.

And maybe, just maybe, the make-up of the typical Mets fan tells the real NY story - work hard, have fun, enjoy life, and if you win a few games along the way, good for you.

So, to all my fellow Mets fans out there - this one's for you!

And PS: my dearest Ish - you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up. As long as you're happy and you make enough money to put me in a nice retirement home. Muah!

Casual Dining

"No Shoes, No Service" means nothing to Ish. But how can I expect him to wear shoes when I can't even get him to wear pants for dinner.
Your kid does this too, right? RIGHT???!!!

Wishlist Wednesday: Stuff for my car

A few weeks ago I posted pictures of a content Ish quietly watching The Muppet Show in Matt's car. The in-car DVD player has proven to be a gem of an idea - even on short trips around town, we don't hear a peep from the boy when the Muppets are on. So why should Matt's car have all the fun? My car is bigger and better for travel, so I would like to get a headrest DVD player installed for our long car trips. I think it will do wonders for my sanity.
And although it will be about 80 degrees today, I know that winter will visit us again in NY this year. I talked about having remote start installed on my car since having Ish - wouldn't it be nice to get into a warm car on below freezing days? I think so. Ish thinks so too. I would like to do this before winter rolls around yet again.
And lastly, I am going to need some sort of frequent-flyer-type program at the car wash - my car is a disaster area (inside and out!). I welcome rainy days just to get off a layer of crud on my poor, neglected car. And the layers of crushed Goldfish and Cheerios on the interior surfaces are a pretty nasty sight too.

20 Free Pampers Points

20 Free Points for Pampers Gifts to Grow:

FACEBOOKMAY2010
GTGLEARNMORE089

They just added a Melissa & Doug Farm Sound puzzle that I have my eye on...

Dear Home Depot,

Your shopping carts are the best!

Love,
Ish

Second Shooter

Every good photographer has a second shooter - you know, the guy with the camera following the main photographer at the wedding. He takes pictures while the main photographer is taking pictures - usually a split second before or after. This guy usually gets some unique shots and great candid shots (when everyone relaxes and thinks they aren't being photographed as the main photographer tinkers with his camera or changes lenses). They usually don't get the credit they deserve - I'll be honest and tell you I don't remember that guy at my wedding. I know he was there though - he took some cool shots.

So today I'm recognizing a pretty cool second shooter. Her name is Alex. She's my niece. She's 7. Well, 7 and a half actually. This is her with her camera.
And these are her photos. Pictures of "baby Matthew" (as he will probably be known for the rest of his life) at Maryann's baptism.


I think she did a pretty good job.

Today is her first communion. We are headed out to church and then a party at her house. Hopefully she brings her camera today.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST COMMUNION ALEXANDRA!!!