Love #3: The Beatboxing Cellist

Now that Biff can detect sounds and hear what is going on around him, we're trying to surround him with  music when we can. So far he's responding most to Eminem (sigh) - kicking away whenever he hears it. If Martha Stewart can listen to Eminem, why not Biff!

In an effort to "class it up" a bit, we've been trying to find cool alternatives. And look no further than Kevin Olusola. Olusola is currently competing on NBC's The Sing Off, but is already most known among his peers at Yale - and now around the world - for his unbelievable musical talents as a beatboxing cellist. You can't help but get into his great music - and we successfully completed our mission when we went on YouTube to find more of his work. Once we played the below link, cue the kicks from Biff!

Week #9: Hug Your Mom!

I sat down tonight to write about Week #9 and instead we're overcome with the loss of our friend.

Today we lost our dear friend Barb Timmer, sister to our "second mother" Lori Allen. Barb lost her fight with Leukemia this morning, having only been diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Barb's prognosis was good to begin - a very beatable cancer - and then things slowly started to spin out of control. To make this harder to piece our hearts back together: Barb and John's 3 daughters, one of whom delivered baby twins just 2 days ago, and another daughter who is due in just weeks. I can't imagine where you even begin.

So instead this week I say, "Screw you Cancer!" In the last year we've watched our sister battle it every day. We found out a long time family friend and a colleague (two separate individuals) both now battle brain tumors. And today, we lost Barb. It's a disease that makes me terrified to bring Biff into this world for fear that he'd have to face loss like this or worse yet have to face it himself, but it's for that same reason that we have to keep giving way to new generations as perhaps that new baby will be the one that finds the cure to cancer some day.

Life's lesson: Who cares that the Colts are the absolute worst team in the NFL... go hug your mother. Or anyone else that you love for that matter and don't ever let go.

Baby Update: Registering at it's finest...

Taylor and I took a deep breath, counted to 1-2-3, and attempted to start our baby registry today. Although I work in retail, my patience in store can some times run short. We needed to get our heads wrapped around all of the gadgets more so than presuming we'd accumulate a lot of swag throughout this process. The people at Petit Green here in our own city were so knowledgeable and helpful. Our new friend Griffin lead us through like a pro. Taylor become her fast friend and I got to sit back and let him make the decisions (I'm saving up my energy for March).

After we finished, we had some odds and ends and didn't want to end up having 6 different lists - nor have to go to 6 different places. Enter MyRegistry.com. This website is amazing! You set up your registry, adding a button to your internet browser. You can go on any website, add any item using the magic button, and it's added to your list. All tidy in one place.

Ladies (& Gents) - if you are engaged, expecting, or just throwing a party for yourself, you'll love it! You'll love it even more because the main registrant in your party won't have to drag you to 12 different store fronts. At one point in our day Taylor had to start making inappropriate jokes about (bottle) nipple sizes just to make the day interesting, so this site will save us all.

http://www.myregistry.com/

Week #7 & Week #8: Happy Halloween!

It is this time of year when men walk around dressed up in costume... and in the NFL, this year's costume of choice is a quarterback. Some have costumes more believable than others. Some are high quality, custom made (i.e. Aaron Rodgers) and others are the thrown together scraps from last year mixed with something you picked up from Halloween Town (i.e. Rex Grossman).

Quarterbacks get too much blame and too much credit. I've endured many years of turbulent quarterback play - at one point throwing a full laundry basket of clothes at the television after I couldn't take it any more, breaking down in tears over the play of a QB who shall remain nameless. Needless to say my Dad wasn't happy about the flat screen and my mom wasn't happy about the folded laundry.

Here are my notables for the last few weeks:

• Tim Tebow - although there was a come from behind victory in Week 7, there were 55 minutes of terrible play before that, which showed itself again this Sunday. We're getting exactly what we thought we would get with Tebow - to no fault of his own. He's not an NFL quarterback - at least not now. 
• Kyle Boller / Carson Palmer / Terrelle Prior / Oakland Raiders - who even knows... Here's to hoping Carson Palmer can make up for time lost. 
• "Matt the King of our Cassle" (as my mother in law says) - have to give it to the Kansas City Chiefs who have somehow figured out a way to come back to be a 4-3 team tied for the Division. 
• Joe Flacco - as wildly inconsistent as the flight pattern of a Raven. 
• Peyton Manning - is it possible that Peyton Manning could win MVP and not even take a snap this year? When Tom Brady went down, the Patriots still figured out a way to go 11-5. The Colts have yet to win a game.

It's also this time of year that teams go off to find themselves like kids in high school, and it's usually at this time that I have a tough time staying committed. Now that I am a casual fan (kind of), I get to turn it off when I want to and pick it back up in December when it gets interesting.

In the meantime, Halloween has come to a close. The costumes come off, November play starts, and the real teams and players emerge.

Baby Update: It's a.....

BOY!!! We found out today we are in fact expecting a little Biff. Cue the trumpets and confetti for my father!

We had a wonderful appointment and received a great health report. Biff is developing wonderfully - and ahead of schedule in size. The Dr. explained she may not be able to get a clear picture depending on the way the baby was laying, but she asked the proverbial question, "Do you want to know if I can tell?" And yes we did... She started the sonogram, and let the chuckles begin. She said "Oh my gosh, this is a boy!" We asked if she was sure, and she said she was 110% sure. (Taylor sat there very proud).

He performed for us the rest of the morning showing us his profile, his feet, his hands, his spine, his face, his beautiful, beating heart - he was quite busy dancing around! Still just the size that would fit in our palms, but you can already see so much.

My parents were able to join us and what a special moment. Now, we can start the shopping :)

This picture will certainly embarrass him later in life, but as our little friend Naz would say, he showed it to us :)

His handsome nose, chin, neck, chest, spine... Amazing!

Week #6: Rest in Peace... Old School Football

As I sit here and watch the end of the Sunday games wrap up for the week, I keep thinking about Pat Modell.

Pat and Art Modell together - as they always were

Patricia Breslin Modell, wife of Art Modell (former owner of the Baltimore Ravens), passed away this last week and oh what a void she leaves. I still remember meeting Mrs. Modell for the first time and I can still recall the smell of her perfume and her beautiful presence when we'd meet her after the games in the suite. Although we knew her as an owner's wife, Pat was so much more than this. A tough cookie in her own right by what she withstood in her time in the NFL, Pat was a great actress. Until Lucille Ball came along, one of her good friends, Pat had more TV appearances than any other woman of her time. I will miss her husky and candid voice. I will miss all that she was - and I thank her for all that she gave to my family.

The NFL lost another icon last Saturday in Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders. Despite the good and the bad that came with Davis, and some would argue the Modells (although it is blasphemous that Art has yet to be inducted in to the NFL Hall of Fame), they represented the old school days of football. The owners of today are "new money" businessman, all of whom can be credited with helping adapt the league for survival, but a group who has also had to learn that perhaps the generation before them really knew best. Often, we're the victims of our own progress; and, I wonder... will we ever know football one day for the way it used to be?

Life lesson: Look to your own heritage and history before evolving into something we don't recognize.

Football in a simpler time

With some advances...

And as we know it today.

Week #5: Show Me the Money!

Let me preface this post by saying this is ridden with personal opinion and I'm hormonal, thus it's long...

I'll post a list of Week 5 breakdowns at some point this week as there was a myriad of fun stories (Cam Newtown, Jermichael Finely, the Packers defense, Tim Tebow...), but right now I want to write about agents... well Drew Rosenhaus actually, as most in his industry don't always like to acknowledge he shares their profession.

If you didn't get a chance to see the 60 Minutes special on Rosenhaus, it's an interesting one to watch (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7384066n). Here's the (biased) recap:

• My father was and is called many things, one of which is always arrogant, so I tend to empathize with someone who is always labeled as such. But, there is a difference between the "arrogance" my Dad carried around and the arrogance Rosenhaus does. My father's was common sense. Rosenhaus' is a compensation technique. 
• People feel sorry for Rosenhaus that he doesn't have a family, a girlfriend, as a consequence of his work ethic. As far as I know, Drew doesn't outwork any coach or player, and last I looked, my parents had been married for over 27 years when my dad left coaching. It's not your work (ethic) that leaves you alone, it's how you handle it. (Note that I said "doesn't outwork" - I don't deny that Drew Rosenhaus potentially works as hard.... potentially.)
• Rosenhaus claims to have 170 active NFL clients - Google those clients... there's a reason he represents who he represents. They don't all carry the same persona, but there's a resounding theme among them. You know what they say (they being me): big shoes, big [fill in the blank]. Big agent, little [fill in the blank].
• He has a phone for texting and calling, another for emails. Get an iPhone.
• DR has nearly 50 grievances filed against him for "stealing" people's clients. Wouldn't you rather the first one to sleep with the prom queen? 
• And here's the good one .... Rosenhaus claims the NFL could not carry on without him - comments which he quickly took to Twitter to clarify as meaning the NFL could not carry on with out agents. This only after he realized the impression his comments left. Let's blame it on editing like every Real Housewife from here to Orange County does.

The real story is this: Owners and Coaches talk to agents because they have to. It's the only way they are left to communicate with players on certain topics. I guarantee you if you put an owner / coach and a rookie in one room to negotiate a deal and Rosenhaus and owner / coach in the other, the former's deal would get done first. This is where the cynics would say it's only because the owner / coach was able to take advantage of the player. As Ozzie Newsome with the Baltimore Ravens will tell you, both sides have to win. What does either side stand to gain by screwing the other?

So, attention future players to come - use your head. Hire a good lawyer and save the 3% (the highest commission percentage currently allowed in the NFL). The value of the used car Rosenhaus sells you for a great deal can me made up by taking a lesser deal, saving the commission you'd pay, and running less chance of pissing off your future coach / owner that you hired Rosenhaus as your agent. However if you do opt for an agent, find one that doesn't feel the need to use arrogance to justify his professional worth. Find the one that doesn't have to go on television to talk about how good he is. Find the one that doesn't center his business strategy around his Tae Kwon Do training or put his fist through a flame of bricks to prove he's resilient enough to go to "battle" for you.

If Drew Rosenhaus saw this, he'd tell me to go play with my barbies because you just don't get little girl. My response - I'm not the one wearing around a batman t-shirt at the age of 45. I think the problem here is that you don't get it, Drew. The only reason you still exist is because someone out there will always be foolish enough to pay you and you know how to sell that.

Perhaps the next time I answer the Table Topics dinner card of questions of who I would most like to eat dinner with, I'd say Rosenhaus. There's got to be more there... and you can't bullshit a bullshitter when you sit with me (sorry for the language, Mom - but I did say it was coming).

Life's lesson: Nothing revolves around one man.

(Post Script: Rosenhaus' redeeming qualities: He went to Duke University law school and he was bullied as a child - the former an excellent accomplishment, the latter nothing anyone should ever have to put up with.)