A new life; same as the old life?

AJ's first birthday has come and gone, and like a celebrity she has had 3 days of celebrations. We started on Saturday with a combined birthday and housewarming party, the "public" celebration if you will. Several friends and relatives came to visit, laden with gifts and food. We opened some gifts on the day and partied until the wee small hours. She mostly had a good time, although with the whole stranger anxiety thing still going on even with Jan and Mads, there were some traumatic moments. We had a big cake made by our local supermarket and she had some fun rubbing it mum's face. Mads was seriously delayed getting in, over 6 hours late, but Mikey V, the trooper, assisted by going to the airport to pick her up. Once AJ was in bed, the adults continued the party playing a fun drinking game called What The F&*K . Day 2 of the celebrations were supposed to started by waving off some friends on a Jaguar motor tour of Route 66, but talk about a pissup in a brewery, w...

Today is officially the first day of Fall (Autumn for the Brits) in 2008, it is also two days since the Chicago Cubbies clinched their 2nd Division title in as many years, a feat unmatched since 1908, and we all know what happened that year. I was at the game on Saturday, and the timing could not have been better. I was really worried that the team would clinch on Thursday or Friday, as they could have, however they held on until Saturday and the town was buzzing. AJ's birthday is one week from today. Hard to believe that she is one year old already! We are of course having a party, combined with a housewarming on Saturday. Work is progressing well on the house, and I really must take some pictures again. I have all but finished painting downstairs, and only a couple rooms left upstairs. The main yard work will be completed this week, and I still hope to get the hot tub going by next weekend for the party. My MIL is in town for two weeks from today, and my SIL arrives next weekend,...

For those of you with the slightest interest in the game, this week is very exciting. What game? I hear my British readers yell. Baseball of course. Unfortunately Hurricane Ike, in addition to flooding my garden (I know I got off light compared to Texas, so no letters to the editor please) completely screwed up my playoff chances in the Fantasy Baseball League. I ended up losing by a mere 13 points, including two cancelled games. Some bad lineup decisions compounded the issue with almost 150 points sitting on the bench. C'est La Vie, there's always next year, third time's a charm right? The good news there is that my friend Nigel, also a Brit is in the final and he is winning so far. The Brits lead the way in the game they " Invented " For me though, the real excitement (sorry Nige) is that the Cubs " Magic Number ". The Cubs magic number is 4, so basically the Cubs need to win 4 the Brewers need to lose 4 or we win two, they lose two, etc. When the magi...

I don't think it has stopped raining since Friday night and it is now Sunday lunchtime. We have had a big front move through and now it's all about the after effects of Ike. The Cubs have already had games cancelled due to the storm in Houston and it looks like the lack of games will cost me the playoffs! It appears that the bottom of our garden is a bit of a collector area! And now for something completely different! I really must get a cover for the new grill, yes Steve that's five, count em, five burners, 60,000BTUs.

I know this is going to upset a bunch of my American readers and friends, but a discovery has been made in an old diary that America's Pastime was actually first played in the UK in 1755, more than 20 years before Independence was won. Apparently Major League Baseball has been informed of the discovery, but has so far not commented. The full article is here , but the crux of it, is that a diary chronicling part of William Bray's life, a well know historian and diarist, recently discovered in a garden shed last year details him playing baseball in 1755! Wiki Answers seems to back up this theory that the game was in fact invented in the UK You can click here to hear the news item on BBC's Radio 4. Sorry guys, but at least you still play it and have the "World Series"

Not the Cubs, although hopefully they will be there too, but no; me! I made the fantasy baseball playoffs for the 2nd year in a row and hope to not get my ass kicked in the first round this year. I won my division and have two rounds of play offs before I can win the title. This week I go up against the Epsom Braves, my friend Nigel from the UK. Quite the funny thing, two Brits showing our American friends what it takes to get in the playoffs. So wish me luck in beating my fellow Brit and taking my A game to the "World Series". That is the scores on Tuesday night.

The Radio Flyer wagon is an American institution. It comes in many sizes, designs, different materials, different wheels, etc. I guess it is supposed to be a kid's toy, that they use to haul stuff around in or maybe more likely an adult toy, they use to haul the kids around in, but it does have other uses. Lot's of parents (and some not parents) buy them to take to events such as the Ravinia Festival , or even down into town to take the kids shopping. We recently went to see Tony Bennett at Ravinia and borrowed Hazel's wagon to haul the cooler, tables, chairs, etc, whilst Addy had a comfy ride in the pushchair (stroller for the Americans), it worked great. So now we are hoping to join the American institution, with the purchase of such a wagon for AJ's first birthday/Christmas. The one above is the All Terrain Wagon, with removable sides, so it should be great for multi purpose use, and will hopefully last many years to come for when AJ grows up and wants to actually pl...