my hand is RAW from putting on the SMACKDOWN

I know it's been a few days, but I figured that I would let you know how the wrestling match went.

It was, as promised, awesome. Not only was it officially a date night for Paul and I, which is a rare thing, but it was a date night in a big stadium with lots of pretty lights and things happening. Awesome.

We started the night with a great dinner at a pub downtown. I was able to sample the beer without worrying about it passing on to the little one.


We even got dessert.... which I swear was good. And very pretty. But my stomach acted more quickly than my camera did in this instance...

After dinner, we went straight to the stadium. I was ELATED upon arrival, seeing how many people I was about to 'people watch' allll niiiight looong. Some interesting men and women at these things. I was not disappointed. I was excited to get to my seat so I could just sit back and stare... When we got there, I went in first and immediately struck in the face by a wave of ... 'not-good-smellingness'. As I searched for the source of the smell under and behind my seat, I heard a very loud... what do you call it when someone sucks back a loogey? That noise. I heard that. Right next to my ear. I jumped, turned, and there, sitting in the seat next to me was one of my 'people-watchees'. Classic WWE fan. Not saying that they are all... eccentric. But this guy could have fit in here, a Star Trek convention, and a Dungeon and Dragons marathon so so easily. More power to him for embracing it. But, dude, embrace a shower once in a while.
Sorry. That was harsh.
Anyway, I turned and stared at Paul, who was still searching for the moldy nachos or the decomposing body that was obviously stashed someone near our seats. He caught the look in my eyes, glanced over my shoulder, then grabbed my hand. I was led up the stairs to the standing area, listening to the loogey sound the entire way. We decided that, until the event actually started, we would hang out up here.

After about 20 minutes, the lights started flashing, so we grudgingly made our way back towards our section. We were stopped by an usher who asked if we needed help finding our seats. We said no, and Paul very nicely explained that we had just been waiting to go down because the man we were sitting next to had a 'hygene issue'. Bless his heart for putting it so nicely. Well, this usher, who became our best friend that night, gave a look of... was that pity?!?! He turned, made a motion that we should follow him, and he lead us straight to the little handicapped section on the top... the one that sits right at the top and has the two folding chairs. PERFECT. He said we could hang out there until someone else needed it. We were able to stay there for the whole first show (it ended up being a double show... almost too much for us old fogeys!!). After that, someone who needed the seating area that provided came, so we headed back to our section... low and behold! Our friend stopped us AGAIN! and ushered (he was very good at his job) us to 2 empty CLUB SEATS for the rest of the show. Big old leather club seats. It was awesome.

So the show was great. Very entertaining. The seating was awesome. Multiple viewpoints! The company was tremendous. I would do it again. I guess I can officially call myself a WWE fan. ;)


And... is anyone else an MTV marathon junkie? You know Mike from the Real World (and all of the subsiquient challenges)? Mike. Mike and Coral Mike. The MIZ Mike. Wonder where he went? Yep. He made it to the WWE. Good for him.

6 months old today.

Half a year.

HALF of a YEAR.

HALF OF A FRICKIN YEAR, PEOPLE.

I'm stunned at how quickly these past 6 months have gone. But also stunned because it seems like she's been with us for much more than 6 months. A few lifetimes might be a more appropriate time frame.

People ask if having a child is anything like I had expected it to be. I usually tell them that I didn't know what to expect, so in that respect, no, it's nothing like what was in my head. It's so much better. Yes, I have permanent bags under my eyes. I am usually covered in some type of bodily fluid. I get excited about different things, like Alex having a bowel movement, which she is doing right now (tmi?). Things are different. But this is my normal now. And I love it.

Stats: 13 lbs 11 ounces
25 inches long

If you tick me off, I will throw a chair at your head.

And as of tomorrow, I will know how to do that effectively... although I am not sure that a chair thrown at a persons head can be ineffective. Let's just say that I will know how to do it with some pizazz, and with a show of brute strength. Just a show though. No brute strength here. Just the strength of picking up a ten pound baby all day. Baby strength.
Tomorrow night, my husband and I will be leaving the little one with grandma and taking our awesome selves to the WWE match that will be downtown. I know. I said awesome. Paul has been following these things since he was little, sort of a family past-time, and since we have been married, I've picked up a few things while reading books when the tv is on. I will not hide the fact that I have gone from rolling my eyes with every stupid thing any of them did to yelling at the tv when certain guys come out and actually caring about who wins what matches. I still think it's ridiculous, but I've come to find that that is what makes it so fun. I am not ashamed. A little surprised with myself, perhaps... but not ashamed. And with all of the forms of entertainment out there, I suppose that this is not one of the worst you can come across.
Tonight, because they are in town, one of the wrestlers was down at the mall I used to work at signing autographs. We went to check it out, thinking there would be a few people there, but not many... the line went through the entire mall. He came out at one point to wave to those stuck at back (giving them hope that he may stay around to sign their full-size cutouts of him? perhaps.), and there were girls behind us, "OMG, who is that? I don't know, but he's hot. I'll let him sign anything he wants." Lovely. Unfortunately, we didn't have Alex with us, so we couldn't get him to sign her forehead or anything. In fact, we were not hardcore enough to stay. We left after about 2 minutes, just enough time to actually see how long the line went on for. Who knew. I had no idea that WWE was so huge still. It's like hardcore Harry Potter. Harry 'I'm gonna pound your face in' Potter.

Wish me luck.

and on a side note...

I got a haircut... with bangs. A little hesitant to jump on the bang-wagon (get it?) again, since last time I successfully shaved 10 years off my life, which put me in squarely in the pre-teen area... too young to look younger right now! But I think, with the short hair, I was able to keep my feet planted in the 20-something's. We'll see.

congratulations...

...and many blessings to Amanda and John and their newest addition!
(who, I might add, was just born yesterday and already weighs more than Alex... well done, Amanda!)

Life as you knew it has flown out the window, but I assure you it will be beautiful and wonderful in the most tiring, smelly, crazy way from here on out!