6-17-09

This morning at 11 am, Los Angeles is celebrating.

The Los Angeles Lakers brought home yet another World Championship. Everyone rejoice and cheer since our beloved heroes are going to grace us with their presence in a huge parade through the streets of Los Angeles.

Are you out of your mind?

I will preface this with a disclaimer. I don’t like basketball. Never have, probably never will. I have attended one game because we were given phenomenal seats for a Clippers game. I enjoyed myself only because of the amusing music selections determined by who had the ball. When the Clippers had the ball, it was an upbeat selection, and when the opposing team had the ball, it was a menacing melody. It was good guy/bad guy music set to a sport. But even that wasn’t enough to keep me interested.

However, I do recognize that sports are important to a city. I have enjoyed baseball games, hockey games, even football, which is only slightly less offensive than basketball. When your home team wins, it is awesome. I watched the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series and I was elated with pride. I felt the same way about a team that I never routed for before, the Red Sox, when they finally broke their curse with their World Series win a few years back. I even have cheered the Ducks when they won the Stanley Cup, and they are rivals of my Kings! It doesn’t really matter the sport, it just matters that we are enjoyed the game and cheer the victors.

But where do we draw that line? Does every championship need that much fanfare? And more importantly, does the fanfare need to cost millions of dollars?

Athletes as it is, make gobs of cash for a game. They are good at it, and they make a franchise a crap load of money for their talent, therefore giving many people jobs, and even more people hours of enjoyment at the ballpark, local sports bar or even their own home. We could make the argument that all of the places you watch a sport put money into the economy. From the ticket price, to the beers bought at Nationals to the pizza you ordered from your living room. Professional sports are big business, and not just to the owners.

Perhaps we should in fact celebrate their victory with vigor. Didn’t they in fact not only give us entertainment, but they possibly are one of the only things that is still stimulating our hurting economy?

Even though I agree that these are all good reasons, I don’t think they are enough to warrant the parade scheduled for this morning.

I am not the only one who feels this way. There was a lot of backlash about the price tag on this little shin dig. We are a city, we are a state, in financial crisis. Jobs are being eliminated, city workers put on furlough and budgets slashed across the board. Isn’t it a tad irresponsible to throw a party just because some sports team played a game, made lots of money for themselves, and let’s face it, will do it again.

Bernard Parks had the audacity to say, “"I don't think we have a choice, this is one of those things that happen once in a decade."

Has he only lived in LA for a week?

Let’s look at the facts. The Lakers since their creation in 1948, they have only missed the NBA playoffs 5 times. They have 15 NBA titles, with 4 of those championships this decade. 4 out of the last 9 years they won! Hardly a once in a decade sort of situation.

The criticism resulted in today’s parade being paid partially by the Lakers organization and other sponsors, guaranteeing any costs the city would have been responsible for being covered. Great, problem solved, right?

Does this check being cut to LA cover the citizens that got to work late because of the freeway closures this morning? Does it cover the businesses that are likely to be closed along the parade route due to the congestion of fans converging along the route? Does it cover the messes that are not on city property? Does it cover the productivity slum that may occur when employees log onto the live broadcast from their work computers? I realize that these may seem like minor expenses, but what I am trying to say is that by paying the city for this, it doesn’t cover all costs of a major event like a parade in downtown.

In addition to these costs, there is the possibility of violence and vandalism. This isn’t news to anyone, especially since some of the players records PSA’s begging our city to not go stupid. If we really think that there is even the slightest chance of riots, shouldn’t we reconsider rewarding the team and city? When someone is killed by this violence, no amount of corporate sponsorship is going to cover that loss.

Be happy for your win, cheer for your team, enjoy your moment, but don’t for one moment think that this was so important that we spent as a community 2 million plus dollars on a frivolous party when there are so many more important things that need that kind of funding. Hey, Lakers players? I applaud your skills on the court, but instead of us celebrating you, maybe you should celebrate your city and volunteer this morning at a shelter instead of expecting adoration from Angelinos? Homeless shelters, unemployment issues, health care, and any other countless number of things rank higher than a parade right now. We should have an escape, we should have something to celebrate every once in a while, but we need to keep it in perspective. A man in Hermosa Beach was found this week in his apartment with a gunshot wound to his head. It was self inflicted only moments after he set his apartment ablaze. The reason? He couldn’t make rent this month. Do you think he was celebrating a 5 game series?

We are back. YAY! The good news is the drive wasn’t bad at all. We didn’t get home too late. And we had time to swing by to see Scott and Andy before we headed home. All kinds of good. It was an incredibly pleasant trip, aside from night time issues, which I will get into shortly.

Our drive up convinced me that I need a portable recorder. I get ideas left and right for things to write about. Or the boys will say something I want to remember. For instance, in Buttonwillow, we were amused that the taco truck there had expanded. It now was a taco truck, and it had its own canopy and seating. Also, along the 5 are several tall water towers that are red and white striped. The boys were both excited because they were convinced the Cat in the Hat was in the field. These were two of the 30 things that cracked me up on the way up. It seems a shame that I can’t remember more of them.

So we got up there around 10:30. The boys were wired, since they had been confined to a car since 2:30. So they ran around while we got settled in our rooms. This was good since they were able to entertain their grandparents and aunt. It wasn’t good since they just couldn’t get to sleep. Ken stayed in their room with them until 3:30 or so, and then finally they drifted and Ken came to bed around 4. I kept waking up every 30 minutes after having drifted off. I knew I needed to get some sleep in case they got up early so that I could take them out and about so Ken could sleep. But I still felt bad that I was getting sleep when Ken wasn’t. So it was a rough night.

Our day was pretty pleasant. The boys played, and napped and we all visited for a while. The reception was in Sac at 5. We left early so we could go and see Jenni for a bit before heading over. I don’t think I have seen her in about a year, so it was cool that she could see the boys if only for a bit.

We then headed to the reception. We got there right at 5. In fact, I think they said we were the first official guests, as there were other people there setting up. The house was so cute that they did this at. It is a friend of theirs who actually performed the ceremony. The only real problem was that there was this cute little pool with a waterfall and rocks. It meant we had to keep a different kind of eye on the boys. They were rather insistent on circling the pool, giving mommy heart attacks each time they sort of stumbled. Although, one lady asked me if they could swim, and I told her that they could not. She said that this was not a problem since, well, the party did consist of several swimmers, all friends of Andy and Scott’s, since they are swimmers. If they boys fell in, we were essentially at a lifeguard convention!

It was so cute how excited Andy was to show off the boys to his friends and co workers. Luckily the boys were mostly in good spirits. At one point early, I did take them down the street to this gorgeous park that was right there. It let them get some energy out. There were these creepy red headed kids there that kept asking me a whole lot of questions. They asked me if the boys were identical twins. The older of the two told me his brother was afraid of Bobby and Dax because they were wearing skull shirts. They were very children of the corn creepy and it was kind of odd. Amusing, but odd. I think Dax growled at the younger kid once when he tried to pass him on the bridge, so that may have added to their concern that my kids might eat them or something. Either way, weird.

We left around 7:45 or so. We got back to the house, put the boys down for bed really easily and came up and ended up visiting with mom and dad some more and Lyn, who had all gotten there as we were coming back up. I thought we were in the clear until we went down for bed. Ken peaked in on them and noted that Bobby was falling off his mattress. This happens a lot with him, so we thought nothing of it. In hind sight, we should have gone in and moved him. It might have woken him up, but it would have prevented the hell that would happen.

He had a bad dream. A really bad dream. It must have caused him to roll off the bed. Not that it was a long fall. It is just an air mattress. But the fall jolted him awake in a way that didn’t allow him to get out of the dream completely. So he started screaming. This was seconds before I was about to drift off.

We brought him out of the room since we didn’t want to wake up Dax. Bobby just kept screaming. And screaming. Oh, and did I mention, he was screaming? It was not as bad as his night terrors, but it was bad. I felt we needed to move his bed into our room just so at least Dax could get some sleep. We were both on edge, and there was a lot of snipping, but I convinced Ken that truly, but moving Bobby into our room was not rewarding him for screaming, but that it was going to allow Dax sleep so that the next day he wasn’t cranky. Because when Dax is cranky, the only person who can kind of console him is me, therefore, I would end up being tired and the only one who could help a cranky toddler. Trust me, this was for my sanity, no one else’s.

He kept screaming and I sat on the floor with him. I tried everything. We offered him milk, choco milk, crackers, a story, a pony. I mean, it just wasn’t working. So at one point, I thought I would try to offer something different. I asked him if he would like a bath. It was as if I had slapped him. He pulled his head out of my shoulder, looked at me like I was an idiot, then proceeded to pretty calmly tell me about his bad dream. This was a huge breakthrough. Not because he had stopped crying, but because he has never told us what the dreams were. He said that all the dogs were getting him. This made a ton of sense (even more later) being that there were 4 dogs over the weekend. Lycos, the two boxers and Lyn’s dog. Not that they posed any threat, and Bobby and Dax adored them all, but still, it is a lot of energy. Ken figured out later, too, that in that room, you can hear the dogs upstairs when they run across the floor. It is pretty loud and ominous. It is like a stampede. So he may have heard that at some point in his sleep, and his imagination took over.

We got him some choco milk and he and I sat on the couch in the living room for a few minutes while he calmed down. He was ok with going back to bed, if I lied with him for a while. No problem, I figured. Except that his mattress didn’t really fit two off us, and this meant I was on the floor. Ouch. I laid for a while. He didn’t fall asleep right away, but he was quiet. Plus, every time I would go to move, he would look back at me, and he didn’t want me to leave. Dax also woke up at one point, but it was minor. This of course woke up Bobby a bit. I was finally able to sneak into bed what I think must have been like an hour later.

I thought we were in the clear. I was wrong. He woke up again, noticed I was gone, and he flipped out. Luckily, it took less time to console him, and he curled up with me on the floor. This was all fine and good, except that he was lying on my arm, which meant that getting back into my bed would be a challenge. I felt like one of those asshole guys that leaves the one night stand in the middle of the night.

I got a couple hours of sleep I think. I got up at 7 to pee and I noted that Dax was now up. So I gathered my clothing quickly so I could keep him in his room and let Ken and Bobby sleep some more. The good news? Dax was bright eyed and bushy tailed all morning. An absolute delight. He was funny, amusing and it was perfect since it allowed his grand parents to actually play and visit with him, which sometimes doesn’t happen if he is in a mood.

Ken and Bobby slept late, so we did end up heading out a little later then planned, but not too much so. We had decided to go earlier then normal, which would allow us to go by Scott and Andy’s place briefly. We didn’t get to visit with them much at the reception (there were so many people, it was cool!) so this allowed them to see them one on one. We got out of Sac around 2.

The drive was pleasant enough. Although, I got to experience my first set of “Are we there yet”’s This was toddler style. Dax, no kidding, said to me at least 5 times every 45 minutes, “Where we going mom?” Sometimes, he would ask 5 times in a row. Every time I answered, “Home”. I know I started answering other stuff like Disneyland and the circus, but he was relentless. Bobby even started trying to answer him. Ken and Bobby would both try to distract him with their answers, but Dax was having none of it. He wanted me to answer. Can we say exhausting?

We got home around 8:30, boys were passed out by nine. All good. They also seem to have slept all night. This morning was bad since my car battery was low enough that I was unable to start my car. Un fun. You have no idea how tempted I was to call out so I could just sleep all day today. But I got Ken up and I am now at work. Bleah.

I have a stack of work here, but I have no desire. But I suppose I need to suck it up. Especially since it isn’t hard.

I was freaked out by my thoughts. Friday night, as the boys watched Cars, I thought to myself, “I wonder how Paul Newman is doing? Nothing else seems to have been said about his cancer.” I found out the next morning that he was gone. So sad. Such a beautiful person.

Other freaky is that I often will say stuff that I think people on tv should say. Then they seem to always say it, as if I put the thought in their head. Last night, we were catching up on the news when there was this story on this giant butter sculpture. The lady anchor says something along the lines of what do you do with all that butter once the exhibit is done. The male anchor and I answered at the same time. Pancakes. Creepy.

Ok, you had to be there, people.

I gave Bobby his own universe yesterday.

In my cleaning process, I came across a little bucket of these little flashy lights that have a magnet at one end. Basically, you can fasten them on your shirt with the magnet. Think raves, people. They are small, the light isn’t much bigger then your finger nail.

I was about to toss them, since not all of them worked, and really, what was I going to do with these? We use them at Halloween, but other then that, not so much. Then all of the sudden, I had a brain storm.

I took them into Bobby’s room and started putting them all on Bobby’s bed tent. By the time I was done, when you lied down in bed, you got a bunch of twinkling stars staring back at you. The effect was pretty cool.

He liked it a lot. It helped that I also had come across this Eric Caryle book about this lonely firefly. The last page of the book has all the fireflies there, and they had put in the book little lights that make them all light up. When I read this, he says, “oh! Just like up there, mommy!” Awesome.

Other then that, my afternoon and evening was pretty standard. I cleaned like a crazy woman. I did a few loads of laundry. My house looks pretty good, and I figure if I get through the other couple of loads tonight, I can pack and we will be good to go tomorrow.

6 more days till Pushing Daisies.

My boss is already here. It isn’t even 6:30, and the man is here. It isn’t fair. He just sent a mail that he is leaving early. 3:30. Like that does me any good.

I have been looking into my schooling. I have this daunting school loan looming over me, and so I thought that it would be a good idea to make sure all that money doesn’t go to waste. I emailed UOP to determine what I have left. 20 elective credits. Yup, that is like nothing. 7 classes, all electives. Then I have a BA in Business Management. Dude. I need to get my butt in gear. So today, I am going to look online to see about finding an online class here or there that I can take in order to get done with everything. I can probably do some or most of my class work at work. Especially since they have let us do other class work here, and my boss would like me to complete this program. I think it will help in getting me a good raise come review time (as long as the raise freeze is gone). Heck, it may even get me a promotion. So I need to get on it.