The definite article

He's the man. That takes the cake. Madonna is the queen of pop. Jesus is the Son of God.

Funny (strange) how we often overlook the powerfully defining three letter word- T-H-E. It just doesn't have the same effect when you say he's a man, or Jesus is a son of God.

What's even funnier (ha ha) is when the is used in conjunction with something not normally defined in such finite terms. And somehow this keeps popping up in conversations I'm having with people, and it doesn't get any less-funny. But what is it about the that makes going to Walmart, versus The Walmart so much more comical? George W. was once quoted saying he used The Google, and my friend Anne Todd in college used to talk about the time when she had The Palsy (Bells Palsy, that weird disease where the whole side of your face goes limp for months at a time!)... somehow using The in front of the ailment took some of the serious edge off her prior suffering.

Last week I had a scare where we thought I might have gestational diabetes for the rest of my pregnancy, and I was in stitches in the hospital lab when mom mentioned that one of her friends had The Diabetes when she was preggers.

If someone can explain just why this is so funny, please let me know. Or if you have other real life examples please share! Maybe I am just simple minded, but until then, I'll just go about my day writing The Blog.

March Madness

I'm at the end of my 6th month of pregnancy, and in one of my baby books I read that my uterus is now the size of a basketball.  After months of barely showing I can no longer hide the baby belly that is filling out my maternity tops, so if you can't beat em, join em!

It's no secret that I love ncaa basketball and live for March Madness every year, and the irony that my stomach is the size of a basketball was too good to be true, so we took the simile and ran with it.  It's true that it's March and I really must have been mad to let them do this to me! 

Easter Parade

The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed!  The Bradley family continued traditions of dying Easter eggs, and we had our yearly Easter egg fight today where everyone chooses an egg, and hits little to little end, then big to big end of another family member's egg.  Ari was our winner this year with her blue and green egg!

Below are a few shots from our annual Easter photo op.  Don't we look pretty in our pastels? Laura griped that we didn't hunt eggs and watched enviously from the kitchen window as the neighbor kids hunted Easter eggs in their backyard!  The Easter bunny came, and then we settled in for an afternoon of basketball.   

Franklin's Finest

Daddy B and I were in downtown Franklin this morning for an appointment, and upon pulling out of the parking garage I noticed a slip of paper under the windshield wiper. Is that a ticket, I asked? Sure enough, we'd been cited. And what may you ask was our heinous crime?? Illegal parking. But not just any illegal parking violation- because I assure you, the parking garage is number one, free to park in, and also had plenty of spaces available. But no, we were parked illegally because apparently "Head-in parking" is required.

So I have an $11 ticket to pay to the City of Franklin because we backed into a parking place. Are you kidding me? If the Franklin police have nothing better to do than patrol parking garages on weekday mornings then I suggest we need more donut shops in the area. I would love to go to court and contest it and ask the judge and officer the very same thing- your policemen have nothing better to do than cite your residents for ludicrous laws that, by the way, I've never seen a sign for in this or any parking garage? But the time off work and gas money it would take to get me to court would be more than the ticket, so I guess this is one battle I resolve to lose.

But just so ya know, don't back into parking places in Franklin parking garages because Big Brother Is Watching You!

Ultimate Peep Show

Someone sent this to me in an email a few weeks ago and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. So in honor of our Lord and savior being celebrated this coming Sunday, I saved this pic for Easter week to post on the blog. Nothing reminds you better of Jesus triumphing over death like marshmellow peeps.

March Miracles

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle.  I retract my statement about the Cats from my last post.  Uninspired (and lacking faith in my Wildcats, you're right- sorry Ellen!) I didn't even watch the NCAA selection show this evening.  In a surprise turn of events though, Kentucky was awarded an 11th seed and has to play #6 Marquette on Thursday.  Here's how I found out:

I'm upstairs in my room talking to mom, and from downstairs I hear a voice hollar up at us, "Kentucky made it!"

"Are you kidding me?  What seed are we?" Mom asked.

"11" the person said.

"Who do we play?" we asked.

"Marquette."

"Sh$t." I said. 

Laughter from downstairs.

It's true.  Marquette is one of those teams Kentucky fans hold a grudge against.  I can remember that horrible game in 2003 when many experts thought Kentucky would win it all, and stupid Dwayne Wade led Marquette to an unexpected upset against the Cats, dashing our hopes of another national title.

But all in all, I am just pleased to have made the tournament.  It's way more fun to fill out brackets when you have a vested interest.  If you're not already in a pool, Facebook has an application you can add.

one month anniversary

Weird... one month ago today I was at my wedding reception.

A lot has happened in a month, and meanwhile my belly keeps getting bigger. Laura and I watched the baby kicking my stomach yesterday morning- it was so funny to see my tummy rising and falling in the spots where he kicked! Sometimes I am convinced he must be practicing bicycle kicks for his future soccer career or else he thinks that I am a punching bag. The miracle of life never ceases to amaze me though whenever I feel this living being moving inside of me without me having any control over him whatsoever.

I would be excited about March Madness getting started with selection Sunday today, but seeing as how Kentucky lost yesterday in what had to be one of the weirdest SEC tournaments ever, it looks like we're gonna be NIT-bound.

Even basketball can't cheer me up these days, but my babysitters are doing a pretty good job of keeping me occupied.

the Big Blizzard of '08

Beggers can't be choosers I suppose.  We wound up with about 2 inches of snow in Franklin.  Not exactly the 6 inches that I was hoping for, or even the 4 inches I would have settled on, but snow nonetheless.

We bundled up and headed outside after breakfast on Saturday morning only for it 

all to have melted by lunchtime, and today, Sunday, it was in the 50's here!  Crazy Tennessee weather!

Funny Ha ha

Looks like somebody's gotta case of the Fridays, and that somebody is me! Having "the Fridays" is almost worse than having "the Mondays" because the last day of the week creeps by so slowly and the anticipation of 2 whole days with no work is almost tangible but not quite.

Anyways- it's a bleary, gray day this morning with the promise of 2-4 inches of snow accumulation tonight according to the weather channel, and I am half awake this morning. They tricked me into getting to work early this morning (and by early, I mean ten whole minutes) bu luring into an 8 oclock meeting with a "special guest." Turns out the special guest was one of our coworkers, so I feel cheated. And they didn't even give us breakfast. 4 morning meetings in one week and no breakfast for any of them. I feel like a cheap date who didn't get dinner.

But I digress... if you too are suffering from a case of the Fridays, maybe you could use a laugh. I found this hilarious- so much so that I laughed out loud at my cube, and then had to stifle the laugh, lest anyone else notice that I was watching a video on YouTube instead of working. So anyways, here it is- enjoy it at your own risk!

Disaster Divas

Today's friendly public service announcement: Calling all ladies with dresses to donate:

These gals live right here in TN have set up this site and are calling themselves the "disaster divas." They are collecting gently used prom and bridesmaid dresses to donate to victims of the recent wave of tornadoes that have swept through Tennessee.

It's a great cause, and a great excuse to get rid of dresses you'll never wear again (despite the brides who will try and convince you otherwise when you buy those gaudy taffeta monstrosities). Plus these gals claim to be divas like myself and their website is pink... that's a great reason to promote them if I don't know what is!

film reviews

The movie critic is officially: IN

With my lightened load of activities post-wedding, I have enjoyed catching up on some movies I missed the first time around.

First off- Becoming Jane- rented this one, and it was quite the letdown I thought. It was Pride & Prejudice without the hot Mr Darcy. Instead I tried my hardest the entire movie to like James McAvoy. But try as I might, I just cannot cast him in the role of a convincing strong leading man. Apparently everyone else in Hollywood thinks differently since he's become quite the "it boy" of films this year, but for me, Anne Hathaway could have done so much better for herself!

Secondly- Across the Universe- a quirky film, but a must-see for any Beatles lover. The avid fab four fan will love the song references in character names, one liners, and the music incorporated throughout. It has rekindled my love for the Brit band and have added them back into my daily repertoire of itunes mixes.

Finally- I went to the theater to see No Country For Old Men. As this year's best picture winner, and one I originally intended to see anyways, it did not disappoint! Javier Bardem's best supporting actor win was warranted with his portrayal of a bleary-eyed assassin, and merited the win on his bad paige boy haircut alone! In true Coen Bros. fashion, the drama definitely had its share of dark comedy moments which balanced nicely with the suspense of the film. It's for sure one of those movies that draws you in, and leaves your mouth gaping when the credits roll!