Super Year or Super Jinx?

As a sports fan, baseball was my first love. I became a Philadelphia Phillies fan back in 1979, and my claim to fan fame is that I was present to watch the Phillies beat the Astros in game five of the National League Championship Series in 1980 to advance to the World Series. The Phils then beat the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series. Except for a brief period in the early 1990s, the years have been pretty lean for Phillies fans since then. So, you can imagine my delight, when, this year, they won the World Series!

And, now, my dreams could come true: My beloved Steelers play for the NFL Championship this weekend! Imagine a world in which the Phillies and my beloved Steelers are both World Champions! I would be giddy. It would be a Super Year! However, there is the possibility that it could be a Super Jinx, rather than a Super Year. What, exactly, is a Super Jinx? A Super Jinx is when a person negates the possibility of an event occurring by mentioning it out loud prematurely. So, by even touching this subject in my blog, I risk a Super Jinx. Luckily, there is also what we term an "Anti-Jinx." An Anti-Jinx is when the likely hood of an event happening is increased by a person opining that it will probably not occur. For example, I don' t think the Steelers can win the game this Sunday. My favorite player, Hines Ward, (who I rooted for way back at his University of Georgia days) is injured, and I just don't think they can win the game without his heroics (he plans on playing but won't be 100 percent). My pick: Cardinals by 10. Come on, Anti-Jinx!

A Day at the Zoo

Last weekend, we went to the Los Angeles Zoo. I'm not big on zoos--I find it somewhat depressing to see animals in captivity. I try to tell myself that many of them have been rescued or couldn't live in the wild but I still feel bad. But, we had free passes, and it seemed like a good way to enjoy another beautiful day.

The gorillas drew a good crowd.

And they look so tough!

And the tigers were fun to watch.

This zebra was very happy to see us!

And Giraffes are apparently very tall. This one's head was only a few feet away.

Camels are definitely one of the world's funnier looking creatures.

Pat is so cooperative--I always make him stand in front of something silly. This time it is flamingos.

Koalas are so cute and cuddly, but, like polar bears, the are mean as all get-out. Apparently,

Koalas rarely move so we were excited to see this one walk from one tree...

to another where he (or she, perhaps) immediately started munching again.

This sheep made for a good pic.

This is what I discovered at the zoo: people watching is far more interesting that checking out the animals. I couldn't help staring at all the LA denizens. The place was filled with pubescent boys dressed like the Jonas Brothers and eight-year-old girls in Uggs and four-hundred dollar a pair jeans. Not to mention the moms with Coach bags, silicone boobs and Bo-Tox foreheads. I was so amused by this guy's dye job that I had to share it with you. Do you think he did it just for the zoo?

Games, Games, Games

Now, I remember one of the things people in cold climates do to entertain themselves during the winter months: play games. I didn't seem to take many Christmasy pictures but I have plenty of us doing silly things because of these games.

I have a special fondness for any game that makes my husband look silly, and Cranium Jr. didn't disappoint. I think Pat had to find something that would fit around his head during this game with his family.

He had to push something with his nose for this task.

Kerrie, Brian and Timmy had to balance a cube on their noses for this one.

Then Kerrie and Brian had to stack cubes into a tower while intertwined.

After all the games, we were very tired.

Our nephew on my side got Apples to Apples for Christmas, and my extended family played before our annual gift exchange. Here my cousin, Lara, explains the rules to us, since we had never played.

I highly recommend Apples to Apples, it is really fun! However, there isn't much logic to being the winner which is hard for competitive people to accept.

Beth, my sister in law, on the right, won the game easily, by asserting that "THE IRS" best represented the word "patriotic" and other nonsense.

Next Post: More Southern California Outings

Winter Here and There

When we left California on December 23rd, it was about 60. When we arrived in Rhode Island, it was 28 degrees, and both Pat and I thought we might perish from the cold.

However, we were very excited to go sledding with our nephew! Here are Pat and Timmy on the backyard slope.

We discovered that we aren't as good at sledding as we used to be!

Really--it wasn't my fault. The "snowboard" I was riding was defective.

Not surprisingly, the sledding turned into an epic snowball battle. My conclusion: I am old--I felt totally beat up afterwards.

When we got to PA, all the snow had melted (it rained) but the weather was once again very cold. Even so, we decided we needed to get some fresh air. We headed to Wildwood Lake where my mom volunteers at the Nature Center for a three mile walk. It was about 20 degrees and the wind was howling.

I thought even the geese looked cold.

Pat and I were so cold, we yelled "hurry up, hurry up" while my mom took this picture.

We were so happy to get back to the mild California winter that we went hiking our second day back. Interestingly, it still looks like fall here. Notice Pat's shorts.


And here is a picture from the apex of our hike. No snow, barren trees or howling wind. God bless California!