Bridesmaids, Blessings, and Birthdays

I've been distracted lately and haven't been able to write full blog posts. I like to write complete, coherent essays for each post instead of a list of nonlinear or unconnected thoughts or ramblings. I also don't think of this blog as a journal where I can just tell you what happened today. But recently I haven't found the time or, really, the inspiration to write a complete post.

Case in point: School has been out for over a week and I still don't know what to write about it. It was a strange year at my job, what with me taking off the equivalent of a summer vacation in the middle of the school year to be a stay-at-home dad, not to mention a tiring and frustrating year due to the country's current view that teachers are lazy, ungrateful water-flies. I hope to be able to make something of it soon, so I can post an end-of-year review.

I somehow have found the time to add a couple of tabs at the top of this page. Check out the new About Me tab. Fascinating stuff.

A new breed of chick flick posters.
Now to completely break my own blog posting rules and tell you about my week in disjointed, incoherent fashion.

It's been all Xander, all the time. Which I love. And still, it was with some relief that my wife and I were able to get away last night to celebrate our anniversary. We saw Bridesmaids, which is funny and sweet and gross in that Apatow way even though Wilson Phillips never did anything for me. Then while my in-laws stayed with the baby, we stayed at a local Westin hotel for a little luxury. The accommodations were a mite disappointing, but it was satisfying to sleep without a night light again.

Regarding Xander, he's off the oxygen during the day. Recent photos coming up:
Xander in his blessing outfit. He's a little old for his church blessing, but remember we didn't take him out of the house for five months.

Clifford doesn't taste very good.

Still with the oxygen cannula in this one, but babies are always cuter in hats. 

Photographing crazy-cute shots of the boy is getting more and more difficult. He seems to recognize the camera now, so he changes his expression when he sees we're about to take a picture. He gets all stoic, as if to say, "You can't make me be cute."

As you can see, Xander still has those sticky pads on the side of his face so we can pump oxygen up his nose when he goes to sleep. The doctor says that in July they'll send someone out to do a sleep test on him to make sure he's getting the oxygen he needs while he's asleep at night. Until then, it's pleasant enough to be able to take him places and not have the oxygen tank dragging us down.

Finally, my birthday was this week. I'm one year into the second half of my life. I've made peace with it.

My wife and I went with a couple of friends to Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian churrascaria that's rapidly becoming my favorite destination for meat. It's expensive, but we get these 50% off coupons or we'd never go. It's worth a birthday splurge. The only real authentic Brazilian taste you get is from the feijoada (kind of a bean stew with meat parts that, in Brazil, are anybody's guess; kind of a "parts is parts" situation). Even the rice is fancied up a bit with jasmine or something. But everything is yummy and the meat is double yummy.

By the way, we went there BEFORE we saw Bridesmaids. Once you see the film, you might think twice about eating at a churrascaria. But Texas de Brazil is kosher. I swear.

In conclusion, I've been reading Tiny Fey's Bossypants. I like her because she's nerdy in all the right places and she's exactly my age. This is what she says about being forty: "What Turning Forty Means to Me: I need to take my pants off as soon as I get home. I didn't used to have to do that. But I do now."

Cheers.

Comments

  1. I haven't seen Bridesmaids, but I really want to! And I like reading about the random things that you do. It's your blog. You should write about whatever pops into your head.

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  2. hey man, it's your blog. Do what you want! That's the coolest thing about blogging. No rules, no restrictions, no expectations. The blogoshere is a blank canvas waiting for you to dab it with your own style of paint. Of course you let on that you are intelligent and witty so we all expect that from now on.

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  3. Thanks, Chanel and darev. The problem is that what pops into my head isn't usually ready for anyone's consumption, let alone the Interworld of Bloggington. I like to stew and ruminate and process until I sound as brilliant as The Brain. Otherwise I sound like Pinky. (probably not a good analogy...)

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  4. There's one really great Brazilian restaurant in New York that had better food than anything we had in Brazil. We were really disappointed with the food on that trip, actually.

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  5. Happy Birthday!

    I like Rodizio Grill...it's a Brazilian-style eatery here...grilled pineapple is awesome.

    I thought Bridesmaids was really funny. However, the awkward sexual humor thing wore really thin for me by the end. I also thought it was way too long given its simple message. Additionally, I'm tired of seeing movies where "extreme wealth" gets pawned off so naturally. The "billions" that Heather had access to sends a message to the viewers of "entitlement". I saw this movie with friends that said, "Oh, I'd love to have a wedding like that..." or "My wedding is so going to be like that..." and I kept my mouth shut knowing that even the invitations were at least $1,000.00 each. However, it doesn't stop young ladies from believing that they are entitled to that lifestyle which makes them overly picky of the kinds of men that are available. I guess it's good for the romance book business because when the "dream" doesn't come true, and they realize both parents need to work to support a family, then they start buying romance books from Harper Collins.

    When I see movies like that my brain puts together price tags in my head just to figure out if what I'm seeing is even possible with an average income of say $50,000 a year.

    Thing is...our protagonist and even her friend that was getting married seemed pretty average to me. It just entirely ruins the suspension of disbelief that average people could be friends with "Melinda Gates" or someone similar to that. There's a reason behind the saying "birds of a feather flock together". Plus...again...I think it popularizes extreme wealth as if it were easy shmeazy when in fact it is only for the likes of Kate Middleton that such weddings are even possible.

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  6. McKenzie: Most food in Brazil is nothing like what you get at a good churrascaria in the states. In Brazil it's mostly plain rice, plain beans (or feijoada), thin slice of beef, and sometimes pasta with ketchup. They do have good churrascarias in Brazil of course, but I never ate at one like Texas de Brazil.

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  7. Michael: I agree. The wedding was incredibly extravagant and didn't have to be to show the rivalry of friends.

    Someone actually said they're wedding is going to be like that? Wilson Phillips and everything? Even if you could afford it, why would you want it?

    By the way, there's a Rodizio here, too, but I prefer the Texas de Brazil.

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  8. You would be surprised at how many people have no concept of how much things cost. Young girls especially who want to not have to work, have a handsome Prince Charming, and drive an Audi just like in the t.v. shows they watch.

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  9. @ Michael: Disney's done it's job then.

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  10. Yay for birthdays, anniversaries, and baby blessings! Xander looks great, I'm glad he's making such good progress with the oxygen tank.

    I like to think about my blog posts before writing them, too. But I've also been known to do the random thing from time to time. Those ones can be fun. :)

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  11. Thanks, Candice. Xander's doing great, but he's woken up cranky for a few days now. My wife worries about his nighttime oxygen. But I think he's okay at night.

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  12. I want to see Bridesmaids in spite of myself. Knowing my track record with movies and my filled-to-the-brim Netflix queue, that'll probably happen in ten years.

    Also. TINA FEY'S BOSSYPANTS. My reading list is as long as my Netflix queue...so again, probably ten years.

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  13. Nicki: Bossypants is an easy read. Doesn't take much out of you. Give it a whirl. And you're really not missing much to wait for the DVD on Bridesmaids. It'll still be funny later.

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