Sort of off topic from the usual blog stuff, but I have to address this.

I'm so disappointed by the news that the Patriots seem to have been cheating by having someone videotape signals from the Jets sideline. I'm not going to attempt to present the facts here. A simple Google search should suffice for that. Instead, I'm going to react as a fan.

I hear that this sort of thing goes on all the time. I don't care. I'm just devastated that my team feels like they have to cheat to win. I never thought that was true. But first, Rodney Harrison is using human growth hormones, now they're using a spy... I always thought that the Pats were a class organization. And who would've thought that with perennial malcontent and rabble-rouser Randy Moss on the team that the first controversy of the season would come from the coaching staff?

I hate that this will certainly cast doubt on any wins they have this season. I hate that this will cause people to question their past Super Bowl wins.

I'm so bitterly disappointed it makes me want to throw up.

I have to get this down before I forget.

Elsa and I are having lunch, and she's singing silly songs she's making up. One of them goes, "Ce-re-al! Nooooo! Ce-re-al! Noooo!" She asks me to sing "Cereal", and I do, and she does the "Nooo!" part. So I decide to try a new song. A call and response kind of thing.

"Ice cream is...." I sing.
"Yum!"
"Taking a walk is..."
"Fun!"
"Caesar (our dog) is..."
"Black!"
"Mommy is...."
Elsa pauses, thinking. Then: "A special kind of color!"

[I need to take a picture for this one... No existing ones will suffice.]

Man, I just don't have much time lately... so this will be quick and without much art.

The other night, when giving Sadie her bottle (about 2:30 or so), I stuck my tongue out at her and made silly faces. To my surprise, she stuck her tongue out right back at me! Thinking it might be a fluke, or coincidence, I tried it again, and she did it again. I stopped for a while and she stopped. I started again, and so did she! It was like having a conversation, is the best way I can describe it. It was like communication. And she laughed and laughed.

And just the other day, a big development with Elsa. She said to me, "How dabout you play in your room?" (translated, "how about I play in my room?") I told her that was fine, and she went upstairs and played with her toys. I listened in on the baby monitor to make sure everything was okay. After a while, I went up to see what she was doing. I could hear her, but couldn't tell waht was going on. So I peek into her room, and there she is on her big comfy chair, "The Digging-est Dog" open on her lap. "I just reading, Daddy," she says. Nice. In fact, she always wants to take a book into her crib with her to "read" by the soft glow of her nightlight. Man, she just couldn't make her Daddy more proud,

I didn't mention it in the entry I wrote over the weekend (at the Shrivers), but Kristy blew out her left front tire on Route 3 going to work on Friday morning. Luckily, she wasn't going very fast, as she was just merging onto the highway. It, however, wasn't such a safe place to be broken down. When AAA got there, the guy had her pull up a ways so he wouldn't get killed by the oncoming traffic. Kristy had tried to call me a number of times but never got through. I was awake, but I was with Sadie and Elsa, and with the AC on, I never once heard her many calls for help. A bit scary, and it has us thinking that we really ought to get a phone upstairs (and replace our stupid kitchen cordless phone that will sometimes not pick up or mysteriously hang up on people).

You know who did offer to help whle I was oblivious? Burly, Marine-type guys.... awesome... "Are you okay, maa'am?" (They always say maa'am, don't they? Right-proper sorts, they are. And often southern, even in Massachusetts...) "Ma'am, have you contacted your husband? Is he on his way? He's doing what? Here, let me pull your car to safety with my enormous, bulging biceps..." It's funny to imagine. Actually, I'm really glad there are guys like that. If she really had been in trouble, it's nice to know that there are people out there willing to help.

By the time I made my way downstairs, Kristy finally got in touch with me. She was five minutes from home. Fat lot of help I was. Anyhow, I was relieved to hear she was fine, and a bit mad at myself because I had meant to tell her that I thought that there was something wrong with the tires the last time I took her car out. I would have never been able to forgive myself if she had gotten hurt. Since she was fine, I redirected my energies into finding new tires for her. I had to get new tires on my Forester last year (they were so bald, you could begin to see the radials, and the guy at the inspection center told me to not even bother until I had new tires) and discovered the thoroughly obvious: there are many options. Not only that, but thank God for the internet, because I was able to research those tires online. When I called the tire place, they ended up having to get the tires from their warehouse (only took a couple of hours) and I was complimented on getting really nice tires. Nothing makes a guy puff with pride like being complineted on a part of his car in front of other guys. Sweet.

So, I went back to that website, Tire Rack, and researched tires for Kristy's Accord. (I have to give that site major props. It is the way to research tires, as far as I'm concerned.) Guess what? Same result. This time, the guy was like, "I've never seen those tires before! They look awesome..." And what do I know about tires? I was riding around in my Forester, which is all-wheel-drive, with different tire pairs in front and rear. Not a good idea! I always complained that the steering wheel vibrated a lot. It was the tires! And having new tires was like getting a new car. It was unbelievable. Kristy's tires aren't quite that much of an improvement, but they're pretty darn good. I mean, she had put 91,500 miles on her first set! That's incredible. And, to be honest, I'm not certain they were ever rotated!

I feel better now, knowing Kristy is riding on new, highly rated tires. They're quiter, they hug the road better. and they're better in inclement weather. Now we have to focus on that new phone... perhaps I'll use the internet!