Fantasy Football

My husband is really having a rough fantasy football week. He is playing me. I'm winning. He has two guys playing in tonight's Monday Night Football game. Walking into the game, he was down 44 points.

Every time one of his players scores, he updates me on exactly how many points he has until he catches up and surpasses me while reminding me that my team cannot score any more points this week.

We are halfway through the third quarter. He's down by 34. I think it is safe to say that I, Pug Central, will win this week and upset the #1 team, Bob Nokes, in our league.

Take that, Mr. Bean.

Monday Night Football

We are watching Monday Night Football - Washington Redskins versus Philadelphia Eagles. Since the game is at the Redskin's stadium, FedEx Field, the Redskins logo is painted in the middle.

String Bean firmly believes the Redskins logo is the picture of a monkey, just like the monkeys on her pajamas. So, we heard our fair share of monkey noises tonight.

Football Widow

The football season brings great joy to Mr. Bean. He can often be heard singing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year...." as he dons his Chicago Bears jersey. Sunday afternoon naps are scheduled around the game times.

Phone calls to Mr. Bean's brother are frequent during games. Boys are invited over to our house to watch the festivities. And I can't carry on a conversation with any of them except possibly during the commercials. It all depends on how horrible or awesome the play was before the commercial break.

Halftime is my saving grace, but is occasionally trumped by a quick snooze to prepare for the second half.

The final preseason game is on tonight. Its conclusion marks the beginning of the football season and brings along with it temporary widow-dom for me and millions of wives across the nation.

Should I start a support group for this?

This is Nuts

Well, String Bean's allergy is nuts that is. We found out last night that she's likely allergic to pecans.

During our live Fantasy Football draft, String Bean got a hold of a brownie that a friend brought over. I was eating one, too, when I discovered there was a nut in it.

--interruption to story to give some background--
Back in May we were on vacation and String Bean ate something with a (non-Peanut) nut in it, choked and puked a quarter size puke into my hand. We figured it was choking and didn't think much of it.

She loves peanut butter granola bars.
--back to scheduled programming--

I leaned over to Mr. Bean and said, "There are nuts in this we should watch to make sure she does not choke." About a minute later, sure enough, she started making the choking face. We watched and waited. She sat on my lap and proceeded to puke. A LOT. Everything that was in her stomach.

Once the puking stopped, the crying began. Her hands were full of it (as well as my pants and socks) and she began to rub her face. We threw her in the bathtub and when we got her out everywhere the puke had been was red and blotchy. Pretty quickly we could tell they were hives.

Luckily, she did not start coughing and going into full anaphylactic shock. It stopped at the hives. We went to the allergist this morning. Besides stating the obvious that String Bean was fully recovered from the incident, he suggested we come back in a month to do testing for nuts. Because we had given her Benadryl, they couldn't do the testing for a week and the doctor is going on vacation.

Expect an update on how serious the allergy is in about a month.

It is a little ironic that String Bean is allergic to nuts since her BFF is Cashew.







P.S. Mr. Bean asked me if I was going to blog about String Bean's nuts to which I gave him a confused look and then started laughing. It was at that moment he realized how odd his question was.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Looks like our friend Pete Ittersagen signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars! He does not have a job with them, but he does have a shot at a job with them. This is really exciting news for him and his family. It is definitely a lifelong dream for him to play in the NFL. Most people don't even get a shot and Pete will be right there at camp getting his.

Pete grew up in our church and went to the college where Mr. Bean works.

Good luck, Pete!

Baseball

My child and Amy's children will never be able to connect over a game of baseball. Since we live in Chicagoland, we have 2 major league baseball teams: the Cubs and the White Sox.

Mr. Bean is a Cubs fan. Filbert is a Sox fan. String Bean is already saying, "Go Cubs!" and I know Walnut roots wholeheartedly for the White Sox (it is just a matter of time for Peanut and Cashew if they haven't started being fans already). Amy and I count our lucky stars that the rivalry between the teams hasn't affected the friendship of Mr. Bean and Filbert, yet.

Right now the Bean family is out-numbered by the Nut family. At least we can agree on football. The Bears are the team to root for! Go Bears!

Need Unique Christmas Ideas?

I have some hard to shop for people on my list this year. I love to get well thought out gifts for people--things I think they will love. Sometimes that person who has everything makes that difficult!

My co-blogger, Amy, is planning on making Christmas gifts this year. Not me. I'm not so crafty. Instead, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I'm considering getting some special someones in my life. Maybe it will inspire you as you start finish up your shopping.

For Her:

I think I've mentioned previously that I am having a love affair with Etsy. I found this adorable customized rubber address stamp, Funky Swirls, made by designer babyjewels. There are quite a few customized stamps available on Etsy. Just do a search and you'll come up with all sorts of ideas and some shop owners who will work with you to get your own designs in stamp form.



If I were finished having children, I would be tempted to purchase Mommy Cards. What a cute idea to leave a calling card for your family when you meet new moms at the park, at school, or at church. This company will also do Pet Cards, Allergy Cards, Grandparent Cards and more. There are also designs appropriate for Dad Cards.

For Him:
Sports equipment. My man is into football. Maybe yours is into ping pong. Either way, getting some replacement sports equipment for that raggedy stuff that's falling apart in the garage would be a welcomed gift. Say you are getting a football and you just aren't exactly sure which football is the right one (there are about a billion out there ranging in price from $10 to $90 or more), you can always go the route of a gift card to the Sporting Goods store. Or one of those handmade coupons you used to make as a kid inscribed with "Good for one __________ of your choice from Dick's Sporting Goods." Bonus: purchasing a new play toy for that macho male in your home may just promote wellness and fitness!

You know that movie (or trilogy *cough, cough*) that the guy in your life just loves and for the life of you, you can't find any logic as to why? Chances are it has recently come out with a collector's edition that he does not own, yet (or in the case of Mr. Bean any collectible from his favorite move will do). Amazon.com is a great place to look for the latest (and often times cheapest) movies and the old favorites that you can't find on the shelf at the store.

For Anyone:
I love iTunes. If someone on your list has an ipod, you can't go wrong with iTunes gift cards. They come in denominations of $15, $25, $50 and $100 through the Apple Store. At least you know they will love what they get!


I wasn't sure how to graphically represent this idea, so I made the image above instead. Have you considered getting an "experience" gift for someone? One of my best Christmas gifts ever was a swim with the dolphins adventure at Sealife Park in Hawaii. I will never forget that day and I have photos to prove I did it! Think about the within-driving-distance locations with extreme adventures. Think about the people you know or the friends-of-friends that you could call that favor in from. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing: flying in a private plane, deep-sea fishing, shadowing the local meteorologist, rock-climbing, scuba diving lessons, wine tasting at a vineyard, golf lessons...you get the idea.

Good luck with your shopping!

Football and Golf

Don't forget to enter our giveaway which ends 11/30 at noon! As of this post, we have about 20 entries!!

My husband is a huge football fan. We watch Da Bears every Sunday. Ironically, he had to go to a meeting at church today and is missing the Bears Packers game. They are huge rivals and it is probably for the best that Mr. Bean is missing it since the Bears are...well...lets just say it isn't pretty right now at the end of the 3rd quarter.

My husband also loves to watch golf. He's a fan of Tiger Woods; I cheer for the underdog (usually Phil Mickelson) just to spite him.

I'm not much of a sports fan. I generally know the rules of the game, I just don't enjoy being a television spectator. I do OK if I am at the game. For me, sports, especially those played on the weekends, are for naps. It is Sunday, the Bears are playing, String Bean is asleep. I'd better go and... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!