Crafty Intentions: NFL and Baby Booties

There's a bit of idiocy about me. You would assume that as a medium height, not-particularly-athletically-inclined woman, I would know certain things. I can’t run a mile in under 10 minutes. I don’t know how to drop kick someone. And I can’t kick an NFL Player’s ass, much less an entire team.

And yet, there’s a part of my brain that’s raring to go – of COURSE I could beat up the Eagles. They’d never see it coming. I’d launch myself at Donovan McNabb like a rabid monkey and claw my way through them all. It may sound ridiculous to you, but I honestly believe I could do this. My husband and I sometimes roughhouse. I’m wiry and have no couth, so I’m usually the one who “wins”. I just simply can not compute ending up the person being pinned, in addition to the fact that Greg says he holds back because he “doesn’t want to hurt me” or something equally sissy. Then again, there are times when he gets this fed-up look on his face, and at those times he’s more likely to pin me down and then stare me in the face and say “You are not stronger than me. Get it through your head.”

I also have a perceptual issue wherein I have a hard time not imagining us to be the same height… despite the fact that the numbers tell us I’m 5’6” and he’s 6’1”. Mostly my laughter in the face of reason amuses him. It also amuses him that when it comes to the Giants, I’m a very animated football game watcher.

It started when I was a wee child, toddling around the house. My father was a Giants fan – not diehard, but the force was strong with him. He’d try not to miss games when they were on T.V. One of the earliest memory-photos I have of my dad is him reclined in his old La-Z-Boy, watching the Giants. Today this seems a touch out of character because I know my father to be a very intellectual man – he has a library of thousands of books that overflow to all parts of the house. He’s one of the top ranked Attorney’s in New Jersey. He works long and hard. And the last time he went to a sporting event in person was to watch my brother in the high school marching band. But he still doesn’t miss Giants games. Anyway, when I was little, any time the Giants would win, my dad would give me an Oreo cookie. At first it was just a delightful random surprise, but I soon learned what the cookie meant.

I know all the rules, I can follow a football game with ease – I don’t find it confusing or off-putting. And, when the Giants are playing, I love to watch. They’ve always been scrappy and unpredictable and they will always be my team. Unfortunately, I married an Eagles fan. Fortunately, he’s neither diehard, nor is he angered easily... so my trash talk washes over him with the effectiveness of a mist-spray bottle.

Yesterday, despite my trashiness, it was all for naught when the Giants went head to head with the Eagles and choked. I waffle from being pissed with Eli Manning and believing he needs a swift kick to the cajones - to wanting to hold his hand and tell him that he’ll do better next year. Such is my relationship with the Giants.

Someone keeps shortchanging me on the hours of my weekend, I never get quite enough time to relax. We tried to invite some friends over on Friday, but we were shut down by the threatening weather which turned out to be absolutely pathetic. Four to eight inches of snow my butt. It turned into maybe an inch of snow… MAYBE. Greg was particularly disappointed because snow is pretty much like catnip to him.

Regardless, we had a good weekend together which included baking up two loaves of delicious cinnamon roll bread which is what my mom did whenever it would snow while I was growing up. (In the interest of full disclosure, it was definitely Greg who did the baking. If you think that with my craftiness I would also love to cook - you would be horribly wrong.)

Also, I completely photographed my dining room and then took down 80% of my dining room Christmas Decorations – which made for a very sad moment. I hate giving up my twinkle lights.

Lastly, I thought I’d share with you the fruits of SOME of my labor over the Holiday break. Whenever I’d travel, I’d take these little guys with me and work on them. The result is that I have 4 completed pairs of baby booties and one pair that’s 95 percent complete. I have photos of three of the pairs. To be honest, I make them to post them to sell. But then out of a combination of concern that they might not fit baby feet or they wouldn’t stay ON baby feet even if you bought them to falling in love with them myself – I always talk myself out of posting them.

Also, I just read about this: http://sites.google.com/site/handmadetoyalliance/

Apparently something was passed wherein all toys and clothing items for children under the age of 13 will have to undergo testing for lead before being able to be legally sold beginning on February 11^th. Yea – uh-ummmmmm what?

Don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. Personally I’m sending it to my dad to find out what he thinks of the actual law.

I’m definitely a liberal person – and I fully support concerned parents who want their kids to avoid lead tainted toys. However, as I understand it, this law is completely whack. It will ruin hundreds of thousands of small business. I keep thinking I should be angry about it, but all I am is sad and dejected.

Meh.

And now here to attempt to cheer you back up again, I present baby booties!

Wingtips!