Locked Out Of So Many Memories

Yesterday my daughter Frick and I executed to perfection a commonly played scene at the kitchen table in the morning before school.

ME: "Ah Frick, where's your coat?"

HER: "I have this on. I'll be fine." ("this" being a thin zipped hoodie)

ME: "Ya, no. It's about 21 degrees outside and you won't be fine. So go get your winter coat."

HER: "Really Mom, cmon. You know I can't carry it around all day."

ME: "I don't care if you WEAR it all day, just go and put it on."

Much Frick STOMPING ensues.


Sounds strange?? Did I loose you at, "I can't carry it around all day."? Don't worry bloggers, because that's certainly where I got lost too and I wouldn't have really understood it had I not seen it with my own eyes. I speak of the foreign, high school tradition, practiced by the children of this fine community we live in.

A little background:
One day last year,(Frick's first year) I went into the high school during school hours to drop something off for my daughter. Upon entering the semi-modern, updated high school, at the hallway of the entrance, which opens to the cafeteria on the right, office on the left, I noticed a SLEW of athletic bags strewn across the floor flanking the wall by the cafeteria. It was a virtual sea of athletic bags, literally hundreds, of multiple color, shape and size. My first thought? Fire hazard; but since the massive hallway entrance seemed wide enough to handle the mish mosh, I figured I go directly to the source on this one.

I asked Frick, "what's with the?'' She explained to me that NO ONE in the high school uses their assigned lockers. EVER.
Huh?
"Yup, mom, it's just not the way things are done at the high school," she said. I was flabbergasted. Not use your high school locker? How could this be? It is a travesty, to say the least.

Not only do the children of our community carry around ALL of their books in their backpacks..... further risking the possibility of a community of "Quasi-moto's", but they will not wear the proper outerwear, even in inclement weather, so as to not have to "carry around" said outerwear. But that's not the worst of it. The worst of it is that these future adults of our world are depriving themselves of a simple rite of passage, the locker memories.

I know, many a romance was sealed or doomed by the doors of my hallowed locker. Needed to re-apply my lip gloss or do a quick hair check? No problem, my locker had a mirror and 5 different glosses to choose from. (some things never change). My best friend and I shared my locker, because mine was in a "cooler part of the building" and my best collage art work was proudly displayed on the inside of the door with every teen heart throb represented. We pretended to be busily getting things out of our lockers to avoid trouble, and skipped classes by meeting at our locker, stored contraband in there and generally held just as many secrets in there as in our own minds.

I just don't get it? How can a student not use their locker?

Evidently, the Fire Department agrees with me. They just put a ban on athletic bags in the front entrance of the school. Maybe now they will use their lockers for their intended purposes. Making memories......

Maybe not. Frack says they just made the hallway to the gym their new spot for athletic bag dumping.

Mute Monday: Pain And Suffering

Channeling My Inner Ricky Bobby

Lately I've been feeling quite grateful for the many wonderful things in my life. My children are happy, my family is healthy, together and at this moment in my life, I feel at peace.

While I know that "this too shall pass", as all does, I'm feeling the need to take the time to stop and give thanks.

And who better than Ricky Bobby to put a voice to my very thoughts in the bloggersphere?
Make no mistake, Taladega Nights was one of the WORST movies I have ever seen. In fact, the first words I spoke after the completion of the film were, "That's two hours of my life I want back!" But like most Will Ferrell movies, you can't appreciate the brilliance of his message until after the fact.

This scene was probably worth the price of the ticket alone and GOD DAMN if Ricky didn't eloquently express what I am feeling today.

Have a great weekend bloggers!



my fave line is "thank you for my red-hot smokin wife Carly, who is a stone cold fox"

If I Had A Nickel For Every Time....Mimi And Me

I'm not really one to publish photos of myself on this blog. I think I may have done it once or twice, when I had you all help me decide which pictures to give my mom as a birthday gift and then they were pictures of me and my family. Then I did it once in the wee beginnings of The Daily Dandy, and I was making a face. The only picture of me the blog world has seen on a consistent basis has been my profile picture, which is also my avatar. Even that photo is a photo I took of a photo with my camera so it is no the best quality. BUT somehow, by reading my words and looking at my blurry picture, you all get your own idea about what I look like. Right??

Well, if I had a nickel.....the world seems to think I look like her.

Mimi? Diva? Are you kidding me???

Yet, I get this ALL. THE. TIME.

It's certainly not who I would choose to look like, but at most I get to play the celebrity look alike game with some conviction and I have to admit, that I have seen videos and photos of her that have actually given me the "OMG she looks like me" creeps.
So I'm going to go against my own moratorium on pictures of myself and post Mimi and I side by side and let's get a definitive answer from the bloggersphere and put an end to this crap once and for all.

Look alikes?

See You In The Funny Pages

Just thought I'd share with you some of the unBELIEVABLE crap that I read about in my morning paper today. Some of this stuff makes life much stranger than fiction, for sure.

• Mitt Romney's Hair: Our very own former Governor, on a "Fox & Friends" interview to air this morning, talks about a possible 2010 Presidential bid, Sarah Palin AND his hair?? Romney is quoted in today's Boston Herald saying that if people used "enough glue, every body's hair could be perfect." He also talked about the direction of his perfect coif's growth. "It grows down the middle of my face unless I stick it back there." Well, I'm glad we straightened that out. I really feel like I can now make a more informed decision about Mitt's Presidential candidacy. Whew.

• Mount Vernon New Hampshire killer admits regret: But not the regret one would hope for. Christopher Gribble, one of the four horrid youths who broke into Kimberly Cates Mount Vernon home, killed her in her bed then severely maimed her 11 year old daughter Jamie and left her for dead on Oct 4th told police "he was disappointed he didn't feel any emotion following the killing." He also stated that "his only regret was that he didn't kill the child because she now had to live with this." He also said, "if he realized she was alive he would have killed her." The words "an eye for an eye" keep popping into my head for some reason... but death would be too easy for him.

• Springfield, MA mother of nine receives public backlash over story: Tessa Savicki, a 35 year old single mom, was highlighted recently in a Boston Herald article about her lawsuit against Baystate Medical Center, two nurses and three doctors, who she claimed performed a tubal ligation without her written consent on Dec 19, 2006, immediately after the delivery of her ninth child. In the suit, Savicki claims that doctors were supposed to insert an IUD device but instead performed a tubal ligation, preventing her from bearing any more children.....and a reality TV show in the process. OH, I'm sorry, did I write that last part out loud?? My bad. Rest assured, Savicki says in the paper she's been unfairly judged. "She had eight of her nine children while in committed relationships."

• New Bedford Cop suspended for posting photo of dead body on Facebook: Do I really need to go on here?? Crime scene photos are always great to share on any social networking site.

• Charlie Sheen's wife, Brooke Mueller was reportedly in rehab while 5 months pregnant with twins: RadarOnline.com reported that Brooke was confronted about her alcoholism while pregnant after bottles of booze were found in her car. To make matters worse, one of the twins was born with a heart problem, and Charlie and Brooke fought bitterly over it, Charlie blaming Brooke's drinking for the baby's heart troubles. It's no secret that Sheen spent Christmas night in a Colorado jail after his wife accused him of "holding a knife to her throat." A source claims, "they both have drinking problems and neither one of them should be drinking." Sounds like they are perfect for each other.

• Rite Aid Pharmacy Game Card Promotion imitates "The Game Of Life": I think this was my favorite article today. Seems Rite Aid Pharmacy is offering to "pay off the mortgages of two lucky customers and is also giving away 10 'Mega-Kitchen Makeovers' as well as six Infinity convertible sports cars" in a promotion centered around Hasbro's classic "The Game of Life". The author goes on to talk about how he had become re-acquainted with Life over the holiday season, as his 7 year-old-son, received the game for Christmas. What he found was horrifying. If you remember, immediately you must choose your track: college or career. And if you choose College, you immediately go into $100k in debt. Lest we not forget the rent, car repairs, taxes, medical expenses and child care. True to life, the person who has the most money at the end of their Life "wins". The author goes on to describe another game he is well acquainted with; "Cash Flow". "The players are immediately issued income statements and balance sheets to fudge when the IRS comes calling," he writes. Somehow I never manage to win at THAT game.

Should He Have?

It was kind of hard to watch. What do you think? Should Dick have done it?

A Winter Classic For The Dental Maven

My son Frack and Boston Bruins great Cam Neely (Bruins Vice President) at Fenway Park's Winter Classic, January 1, 2010

Picture the scene:

Historic Fenway Park; one time home to The Babe and Ted, hosting two of the NHL's original teams on it's fields, The Big Bad Boston Bruins and The Philiadelphia Flyers. They dubbed it The Winter Classic. Fenway's storied field was transformed into a rare winter wonderland, complete with NHL regulation boards, jumbo-trons, black and gold everything invading the green monster of Fenway, and thanks to Mother Nature, just the right amount of snow from the day before, covering all the right things.

It was the kind of scene that made grown men teary and young children's eyes wide with hope and wonder. For those who were lucky enough to attend, scoring, by far, the most ridiculously expensive ticket in town, it was money well spent and memories made that you could never put a price on. It was a once in a lifetime.

And neither Fenway or The Boston Bruins disappointed. It was a classic alright, from the vintage Boston logo-which was chosen by Bruins VP Cam Neely, from the 1939 team, to Coach Claude Julien's old-time fedora, worn on the bench. Everything seemed perfect. Watching the team you love play outside in the elements brought you back to a time when outdoor pond hockey with the neighborhood kids was an every day occurrence. But this time Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron were your neighbors.

The glitterati were there too, never ones to miss an event as big as the Super Bowl, bundled up in their fur to watch the game. Boston die hards like Dennis Leary and Lenny Clarke to name a few. After the ceremonious pre-game, it was time for the main event.

The game dragged on for almost two periods, scoreless, while both teams over passed and over played each other into, dare I say, boredom. Philly scored early in the second and that's was about all that happened for a while. In fact, it looked like the B's were going home winless and the game itself would pale in comparison to it's setting. But, folks, this is Boston, a sports city first, and this game ended up being one to remember when Boston's Mark Recchi scored the tying goal with 2:14 left to play.

Suddenly the Fenway faithful, who had just belted out "Sweet Caroline" in fine seventh inning tradition, were awakened. It suddenly became a game and just when everyone thought it couldn't get any better, the B's went into extra-innings. In the crowning glory of every Bruins fans dreams, Marco Sturm scored the game winner in sudden death OT and everything was right in the universe or The Nation.

"It's great. It's what we dream of," Sturm said after the game.

Indeed, so many dreams came true that special day on the hallowed fields of 4 Yawkee Way.