Ties that bind

As the air gets colder, our steps get a little quicker, our clothing choices a bit warmer, and decisions to venture outdoors are pondered more heavily. You spend chilly November days doing things inside where it's warm to avoid the crisp bitter air.

Today was not one of those days.

Today was the type of day where you race back inside not because it's too darn cold outside, but because whats going on inside is like heroin. It has the power to med fences and build bridges. It has the power to forgive even the most hurtful of betrayals. It has the power to warm you so deeply, even the coldest of air could never cool you off.

My family has had more than its fair share of trials and tribulations. Heartache after heartache, betrayal upon betrayal, dysfunction on top of dysfunction, dislike, anger, animosity, hurt, mistrust, annoyance, and enough challenges to fill a congressional library. But there is something with the power to overcome all of that.

Love...the truly unconditional kind.

The tie that binds family eternally. No matter what has happened, what wrongs have been done, and what challenges we face. The thing that brings us together, and keeps us together. The thing that makes you sit back and realize that you are the luckiest person alive. The type of love that laughs in the face of adversity, and protects us from the threat of danger.

So while this has been an exhausting day...I am the happiest I have been in quite some time. The smell of turkey roasting in the oven, the sound of my brothers laughter, the light from my Father's radiant smile, the wetness of my nephews kisses, the firmness of my boyfriends hugs, the strength of my sister's helping hands, and most of all the overwhelming sense of peace that I am most certain came from the spirit of my mother watching over us.

I was constantly reminded of her today. From the things we ate, to the twinkle of Wayne's eyes, Eddies beautiful smile, and Megan's calming demeanor.

Thank God for Thanksgiving (Even a couple of days early), Thank God for Family, and Thank God for small miracles, that allow people like us to come together in days like these, and be able to enjoy each other so totally.

Wow

Karaoke Stars

What a night it was! We started prepping early Saturday afternoon, so by the time we made it to Sidekicks we were already feeling pretty good. There was supposed to be a lot of people joining us, but for whatever reasons it ended up just being Andy, Stevo, and I. There was the aggravating Andy about various subjects, and me "convincing" him to rip the Cub's DVD's that Stevo brought over. and let me just say it didn't take much convincing...I just gave him the eyes ;-) Then the Karaoke action began. Here is the song list:

Andy - Eight Days a Week (Beattles)
Rebecca - Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
Stevo - Baby Got Back (Sir Mix A Lot)
Andy & Stevo - Regulaters (Warren G - Nate Dog)
Rebecca - Wannabe (Spice Girls)
Andy & Stevo - Lick It Up (Kiss)

All I can really say about it is WOW. Here are some videos for you to judge for yourself. It wasn't just bad...it was really bad!!!






The night ended with a round of darts, and a drunken CTA ride home. The blue line got a nice hot steamy batch of my corn beef & cabbage fortified puke, and the patrons on the shuttle bus were blessed with my version of Go Cub's Go....which I learned later really pissed Andy off...LOL...I wonder if it was the song choice, or my horrible singing????

The morning after included a viewing of a flick starring Mystical, and Lorenzo Lamas...it was called 13 Dead Men....BRUTAL

All in all it was a great night out, next time we need the infamous Chewie, Ryan, and other miscellaneous friends to join in on our festivities.

I will leave you with this beautiful picture...ENJOY!!! LOL

Vacation Pics

Well I haven't gotten around to finishing a wrap up blog of our vacation, but I did manage to get the pictures uploaded to my myspace page...if you are interested go check them out.

www.myspace.com/rebeccabirkey

pEaCe

Oh! The PAIN!!!!!!

So...here we go, another April, another start to the baseball season. Normally at this point I am of course interested in the games, but not all that committed to watching/listening to every single game. But this year is different...much, much different.

Why???? Well let me tell you!!

Andrew...aka...Big Mak...aka my wonderful, awesome boyfriend...decided to invite me into his Fantasy Baseball league. I always wondered about fantasy baseball, but never really knew anyone who was doing it, or how to really get started...so I thought what the hell, it will at least be entertaining to see how bad I get my ass kicked.

And then it started...Me being the over achiever perfectionist that I am couldn't stand the thought of being last place...nor could I stand the thought of his friends and co-workers thinking...man this girl is freakin retarded...so the studying began! don't even know how many hours I spent researching...the web...rifling through his magazines when he wasn't around, parusing the prospectus that was conveniently placed next to the can...etc. The draft went down and I felt overall pretty positive about it. It all happened a lot faster than I thought it was going to, but I got about 5 of the top 20 or so guys I wanted.

And then it got worse...Now I am what some would call a fantasy whore. I check my teams stats multiple times daily...and when the games are on I am glued to my laptop, keeping an eye on my teams batters, and pitchers. And when the games are not going on, I am looking at the available players contemplating possible moves, and keeping an eye on news reports on my injured players etc. It really has consumed most of my free time!!

And just when you think it can't get any worse...the BF goes and gets the baseball package. So now not only can I track my players online via stattracker...I can also channel surf between practically all of the MLB games to both watch my players at bat, or check out new prospects.

I never thought this would consume me the way it has!!!!

But now to the real point of this blog...my excruciating pain!!!! Why oh why do my dear Cubbies have to do this to me! I know that being a Cubs fan can be a very hard task, but man! Its only the second week of the season!! Not only that but we are playing the lowly Butt Pirates!!!!! I mean come on...I am as big a fan as anyone, of bonus baseball...but two blown leads for extra innings, to the same shit team, in one freakin week! I mean...come on...can our bullpen really handle all of these extra innings? Its hard enough for them to make it through a simple 9!!!!! Is this how the rest of the season is going to be?? If so I am going to need a lot more beer! My blood pressure can't handle all of this, nail biting, lead blowing, bull pen ruining a good game, action.

Not to mention the fact that I have Dempster...who was right in line for a nice big W...but NO! The bullpen bent him over and fucked him in the ass!

Okay...I think I'm done ranting now...maybe...its now 9:30pm, and we are still tied in the top of the 13th!

Vacation Day 2, 3, 4, & 5

This blog is going to be short sweet and to the point because...well...I am frickin tired!

Let's just say this is without a doubt the BEST vacation ever!!!!!!

Day 2 was a fun filled day. We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain....which is basically Great America on steroids. There were plenty of great stories to report but like I said...tiredness has ensued so there will be more detail coming later. I will say though that DeJaVu is the BEST roller coaster EVER! Day two also included many of my typical grouchasaurus moments, which we have now discovered are induced by one of three things...me needing a)caffeine, b)food, or c)affection. Another highlight from day two was my first trip to In-N-Out Burger...all I can say is YUM

Day 3 was not quite as thrilling but just as fun. We got a later start than either of us would have liked...but eventually we made it down to San Diego for our Zoo trip. San Diego Zoo is frickin sweet. It is basically Brookfield on steroids. Yeah...basically the best zoo ever! The best part was all of the sex. LOL Yes I know what you are thinking...but NO...I had no sexual encounters at the zoo. However we did witness monkey salad tossing, horny Zebra's, flamingo's "courting", and a tapir trying to get some. We finished off the night with a trip to one of the diviest restaurants I have ever eaten at. On the other hand it was probably the best mexican food I have ever eaten.

Day 4 was suppossed to be a trip to Vegas. However we had been going non-stop for several days and were both tired. The prospect of sleeping in and avoiding 8 hours of Andy's driving shenanigans were looking brighter and brighter. Besides...anyone that knows either one of us knows how frickin lazy we can both be, and how much we both really appreciate a good hard nap! So yes...we were lazy sacks of crapola Sunday. We did venture out for gas and Subway...and then later on for Andy's Birthday dinner at Tony Roma's. But the definite highlight of the day was my three hour nap, and getting to watch the baseball game!

Day 5...Today...was probably one of the best days yet. We made our way back down to San Diego. We started our adventures in San Diego with a couple rounds of mini golf at a kick ass mini golf place called pelly's. Then we made our way to Belmont park for a ride on the historic coaster...the Giant Dipper. We took a stroll along the Beach and ended up passing a quaint little dive bar. We glanced in and both of our faces lit up when we realized all of the walls had TV's and they were all featuring the baseball games. I could hardly contain myself once I realized that the big one featured the Cub's game, which I thought would be rained out. Neither one of us had to think twice about how we would spend the next couple of hours. We ordered our beers, and watched us some baseball. It was GREAT! Not only was the beer...a local brew...really yummy, but there was entertainment. I had on my Cubs shirt...naturally...and Andy had on his Sox shirt. This provoked the bars friendly drunks to engage us in meaningless conversation. The best was with a guy who is apparently from Chicago. By the end of our visit to this friendly little dive bar by the beach this guy was completely trashed...very funny stuff! After leaving the bar...reluctantly...we went to Studio Diner and had some awesome food. I will update with pics later...but lets just say...I polished off a one pound cheese burger, fries, beef stew, and half of a peach cobbler. After rolling out of the diner we headed over to good ol' Petco Park to partake in yet more baseball action. The Padres home opener was really good. The park is really nice, our seats were pleasant, and there was plenty of entertaining moment to go around.

Well it is now 12:30, and there is plenty to do and see tomorrow so I will wrap up by saying this...

I know I have said many times that this is the BEST vacation EVER....but I don't think I can say it enough. I couldn't ask for better activities, better food, or better company to be in. This vacation has put a lot of things into perspective to me. It has vanished and shadows of doubt, and clarified my perceptions of my relationship. How could a vacation be any better than that...and what more can a girl ask for???

Vacation Update...Day 1

Well here we are! Sunny California is awesome! Day one of our vacation has been eventful, yet surprisingly relaxing...and as always entertaining. Here is a break down of our day!

The flight...surprisingly pleasant. Usually a flight is just a flight. Seats that are too small, nothing to do or see, a creepy old man or woman who wants to tell you their life story, and of course the stale pretzels/peanuts. Not this one! Jet Blue does a really good job of making their flights as comfortable as possible. It seemed as though the legroom was much more ample than I had remembered planes of a similar size being, it also seemed cleaner, and far less stuffy. The guy who sat next to us...well...Andy...was neither smelly, nor talkative. The in flight snacks were really great. Really quality selections! The best part of it was the free Direct TV! Andy and I both had our "grouchasorous" moments...but by the time we landed at the rinky dink LGB we were all smiles again.

The rental car...the little Prius we reserved is both cute and scary. Now, I think Andy has the whole operation figured out pretty well, but the beginning was freaking me out a little bit. You kind of have to go through a little process to both start and stop these little Hybrids. There was a debacle with the windows in a Walmart parking lot, and me freaking out multiple times that the car had "shut itself" off. I wish the car itself was the only thing that scared me! But the driving is even scarier. I always thought driving in Chicago was bad...man this takes the cake. People whip around here like freakin maniacs! Then we also have to remember that Andy is the one driving, and I am stuck in the passenger seat praying for my life! (Both because of the CA maniacs...and my sweethearts "wonderful" driving skills)

Getting Acclimated...upon arrival we realized there were some things we had forgotten to pack. For once...I am not the only one who forgot/overlooked packing something. Andy needed sunscreen, and a hat. I forgot both my wireless card, and my flat iron for my hair. But we needed to stop at a Ralph's to search for discounted Knott's tickets, so that was stop #1. There were no coupons at Ralph's but we did pick up some breakfast fare, and sunscreen...and the cashier willingly steered us to Albertson's for the discounts we were in search of. Stop #2 was to Albertson's where we picked up a deli sub, and some chips for lunch, and the coupons that saved us over 20 bucks each! The best find of the day...and possibly the entire vacation was Andy's new hat...see picture below...those of you who know Andy will probably get at least a little bit of a laugh out of this...oh by the way...the hat cost a whopping $2.99






Knott's Berry Farm...a very pleasant theme park! The best ride of the day was the Xcelerator! Short...but very exciting! We also got on the Silver Bullet, Jaguar, Montezuma's Revenge, and Ghost Rider. Of course we had to go the the infamous restaurants to get our fill of fried chicken and boysenberry pie. We both ate enough to make us almost to sick to ride the rides...but not quite...

The hotel...Crowne Plaza Fullerton is just about as nice as it looks in the pictures. However the Non-Smoking King room we reserved well over two months ago was not available. We had to choose between a smoking room, or a queen. So we begrudgingly took the queen in hopes that someone would check out soon and we could switch rooms. That is still yet to be determined. After we got checked in, and found our room, we went back to the Prius to bring in the rest of our bags. We were bombarded by a bus load of high school band geeks. We were both mortified to think of the chaos that is probably going to ensue here this weekend. Somehow though, night one, wasnt noisy at all.

Okay...now for the highlight of the day! As we were waiting in line for the silver bullet we heard some loud music...you know that annoying line dance that everyone seems to have to play at any party/wedding...what is it called...the cha cha slide? Then that was followed by the Macarena. Well, a little while later after riding both the silver bullet, and the Xcelerator, we found the source of this bad music. There was a Country Dancing lesson/show! Are you scratching your heads yet? Cause we were! Especially if you saw what we saw. Luckily my digital camera has a video mode, and I had fully charged batteries and a nearly empty SD card, so yes...you can all see for yourselves the irony in this classic entertainment!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy a short clip of our super exciting day in California.
stay tuned because, with the two of us, I am sure there will be lots more shenanigans to report on!