Month: June 2006

I haven’t done any shameless begging for awhile, so here it is. Could you please, please, pretty please with sugar on top go and vote for my cousin, Travis Hafner*, to get into the All-Star game? Just visit mlb.com and look in the top right corner of the page for the button that says “Monster Online Ballot – 2006 All-Star Game – Click to Vote” Once you click that, a pop-up window will open up. On the American League Team ballot (it was the first one when I voted) Travis is listed under the first baseman as “T. Hafner, CLE”. He plays for the Cleveland Indians.

It would mean so much for him and his family if he made it in to the All-Star game. He comes from the same small town in North Dakota that my Mom grew up in, and his grandparents even got satellite TV just so they could watch his games. They are old and not in the best of health, so it might just be their last chance to see him play in this.

You can vote up to 25 times, and I will be really, really grateful if you do it! Voting ends at 11:59 PM ET on Thursday, June 29, 2006. From Sunday, July 2 to Thursday, July 6, you can return to MLB.com and cast your vote for the final position player for each League’s 32-man roster.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

* Well, distant cousin, but from a really small town where everyone knows everyone so that doesn’t matter. By small, I mean a town of less than 200 people. Really small.

I was reading one of the big name “Mommy Blogs” the other day – one of the ones where all of the cute stories of the things that the toddler does is on display for the world to see. I have to wonder – how will those kids feel later on about it?

As a Mom of a 14 year old, I realize that anything I write about him here is something that he might see. A Google search on my name will bring you to this site, and he actually knows where it is. Any words that I write here, I know there is a chance that he will read them along with other family members. I am ok with that – it is a choice that I made long ago. They are welcome to comment on my site, and while I will not often edit what I say about myself, I heavily edit what I say about him. Oh, I know I have shared a tale or two – some things that happened about 4 years ago come to mind – but I don’t do that now. Even then, it was all about the humor in the situation and nothing more. Now that he is a teenager, it has all changed.

Sure, I could write about the teen angst issues. The drama moments that come out of nowhere over nothing that seems to be everything all at once. The joys of puberty. The stories are not as funny as the joys of toddlerhood, and the photographs? Not as cute. But more importantly, it just wouldn’t be fair to him. If I wrote anonymously with nicknames for my entire family or behind a password protected wall that kept people out, that would be one thing. But that isn’t the case.

So whenever I read those cute tales of potty training and the terrible twos, I wonder how those kids will feel in 10 years.

Mike is going to London for work and this time I GET TO GO ALONG! Wheeee!!! Almost two years to the day from when I left London last time. And I get to take the fancy pants camera this time! I will have lots of time by myself while he is in meetings, which is perfect time for me to explore and take tons of pictures. Last time I went, I kept having issues with my camera battery giving out on me before the end of the day – this time, my camera has a battery that doesn’t give up for days on end. I have a big memory card. I am all set!

Unfortunately, Jason doesn’t have a passport, and even doing an express passport we wouldn’t have enough time to get one for him. I’m going to go and get him one later this summer though, so if this comes up again he can come along too. He is pretty excited about spending a week with my parents, and my Mom is making some fun plans for him while we are gone, so I am sure he will have a good time.

So far, I have plans to go to a knitting group meeting with Ann one night, and I’m sure that a stop in Liberty and Loop will be in order too. (Ann will be out of town when the group meets at Liberty, but I might go on my own.) I want to go back to see the Tower of London, and visit some of the museums that we didn’t go and see last time – Mike mentioned the British History Museum, and I found the Textile Museum and Sherlock Holmes Museum that I want to check out. I always enjoy the little quirky museums like that! Maybe another trip to Kensington Palace too – our time there last time was pretty short because we were leaving for Paris later that day.

To make things really perfect, we are staying at the Marriott right by the London Eye and Big Ben – so no matter where I am in London, I have great reference points to get me back there! Another fabulous thing? Their weather right now! I looked it up last night, and the temperatures are still in the 70s over there during the day – so I can wear knitted goods! I’ll be speed knitting on my Clapotis this week to try and get it ready to wear when I am there! I wonder what else I could whip up in just a week?

So, if you were going to London, what would you go and see? Where have you been that is worth checking out? And if you live in or near London and want to get together, let me know! Which reminds me, I need to let Jen know that I am coming over so I can meet up with her and baby Finley!