Archive for November, 2008

Ah Thanksgiving. The time for extended families to get together and gather around the turkey ….. unless you are part of the Chabot Family. Since we are currently in the ‘cut out of the will I am not talking to you’  rotation, we won’t see my mother in law for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Which, to be honest, is not a bad rotation to be in since it cuts down significantly on the emotional drama involved when we are on speaking terms.

Not to get into the details, but my personal history with my MIL has been rocky to say the least. I have gone from the “German hussy who married her son for the money and cheap sex” (I am not kidding you) and her not coming to our wedding or allowing me in her house for 3 years, to “she is the best thing that ever happened to my son”, to “she is the reason my son is turning away from his mother and, oh by the way, she has no idea how to raise her kids”. Needless to say the last one put me over the edge and we have, once again, been on non-speaking terms for the last year and a half or so. Oh, sooooo relaxing. Makes me mad thought that my kids miss out on their only ‘local’ grandma .. but that is a whole other post.

On the bright side though, my sister in law Amy and her son Andre were brave enough to weather the Theresa home visit for Thanksgiving (don’t know how she does it .. I would have to be permanently drunk for the entire visit to not start a blood bath) and on their way back they stopped by our house for an overnight visit.

It is so amazing to see how cousins, who don’t see each other for so long, jus kind of reconnect and pick up where they left … Benji and Noah were in Thomas the Tank Engine heaven for 24 hours straight. As if they were twins separated at birth. And Noah actually got Aunt Amy to watch NFL Network with her (you have to know Aunt Amy to understand the oddness of the situation :->), first thing Sunday morning, I come down the stairs and they are both snuggled under blankets in the armchairs watching NFL Network discussing Noah’s fantasy football strategy …. too funny.

It was hard to see them leave again, knowing that it will be a while until we get together again. Those are the moments when I miss my good old German family, where everyone lives 5 minutes away from each other and as much as you hate your relatives sometimes, it is good to know they are just a hop, skip and a jump away if you need them….

Anyways, here are some photos of the cousins in PJ’s ….. silly as usual.

So, let me first say that no children were harmed in the taking of these pictures. Even though sharp knives were used ….the red you see is jelly …

Here is some backgound info: mommy was painting door moulding, daddy was blogging away on his computer … and we both thought the other parental unit was making a jelly sandwich for the short one.Well, what we have here is a failure to communicate.

So, little Benji figured, it can’t be that hard, let’s get the little red stool (dangerous tool, used for much mischief before this event) ….and make myself a sandwich.

The rest is best shown rather than put in words … enjoy:

Ok, so I admit it. Last year I bought into the All-American past time of Fantasy Football. Did pretty well, made it into the ‘Super Bowl’… just to lose because of putting in my favorite players instead of the ones from a team I hated even though they would have scored more points.

I filed the experience under ‘live and learn’ and ‘check your team loyalty at the door when playing fantasy football’ and tried again this year. Have been doing quite well, too. Leading my league … even though in a moment of blind fanemotion, I drafted Tom Brady in the first round as my QB and … well, we all know what happened in the first quarter of the first game of the season … too painful to talk about, still. (Insert painful smile and tear running down the face).

So, I managed to get Matt Ryan and Matt Cassell of the waiver wires. Thinking, how bad could MC be, considering he still has all of the WR’s Brady had. Well, turns out, while the Pats are still winning more games than anyone had expected (take that, Chris Collinsworth ….) .. they are doing it ….running the ball??? And that means lousy Fantasy numbers for Matty C. So, this week, with the Pats playing the Jets and me close to nailing my spot in the Fantasy Playoffs, I decided to sit one Matt (C.) and play the other Matt (R.). Ryan that is, former BC QB. And a hottie. And I don’t mean just throwing the ball. By the way, Jason Taylor is back playing this week. I feel much better drooling over someone closer to my age than some kiddy QB fresh out of college.

Anyways, Pats played Thursday night … and lost. But when I checked the Fantasy score ….Matty C. had, wait for it … 42 points. Over 400 yards and 60 somethinh RUSHING yards. 3TD’s ….That is half a fantasy game, seriously. Could have won my game this week just by starting him. But I didn’t. Went with the rational decision, buried the feeling of betraying Matty C. by not starting him … and see where it got me. Argh.

Matty R. better have a killer game or I will have to claim all of the free Patriot players of the waivers to overcome my feeling of being a fair weather fan ….

To all of you fellow Patriots fans out there, Tom Terrific is back at Foxboro … YEAH! Super Bowl XLIV (that is 44 for all of you non-catholic high school kids out there) here we come! And speaking of Tom Brady … found this video today and it is … well, watch it and judge yourself.