Michael Vick – Part II

Way back when, I wrote a post onMichael Vick and I called it Part I with the intention of there being a Part II.    Well Part II is finally here!!  This is the first chance I had to really sit and think about what I wanted to say and not just write my standard ramblings about my in-laws and whatnot.

Although this is Michael Vick Part II, it’s really not about Vick at all, and completely about what he brought to our attention.  

Prior to Vick’s arrest, I rarely heard about dog fighting.  The only thing I really remember hearing about is how “pit bulls are vicious”.   Which is a complete stereotype based solely on the fact that one can train a pit bull – and really many other types of dogs – to be vicious for dog fighting.   I have two dogs that are complete mutts no matter how much they look like labs.   I know my mom falls into the stereotype, so sorry mom – but I am 100% sure that my new puppy Kalas has pit bull in him as its all over his face, and Im 90% sure Charger has pit bull in him.   And they are the sweetest, most loveable dogs ever.    There are plenty of full pit bulls out there that have are complete lovers.   As a matter of fact, I was talking to my vet about pits, and she said that 99% of pit bulls out there have never attacked and are not at all vicious.   And most of the ones in shelters are in there because they were too “soft” for dog fighting.   I honestly never thought of it that way!

Anyways, back to dog fighting.   We all know Vick did a horrible thing, and we all know how I feel about what he did and Vick – but I have to say SOME good came out of it.   We are now all more aware about dog fighting.   Unfortunately, it really hasn’t changed much.   All it changed is those of us who aren’t living in the low-income areas where dog fighting is so prevalent are now more aware of it.   But unfortunately, even with Vick spending time in jail, there is still plenty of dog fighting going on.

Vick has been going out to some of those low-income communities in the local area to talk to young kids about why its wrong and how they shouldn't do it.   Unfortunately, that's about the end of that - there really is nothing else going on to try and stop this from occurring.   People have boycotted and protested the Eagles, but that’s not really affecting those who are active in the dog fighting community.

More needs to be done directly in the communities where “we:” know dog fighting is prevalent.   You have to reach the kids, because unfortunately the adults are already set in their ways most of the time.   Maybe have special assemblies in schools to address the issue, maybe SPCA and PETA can team up and get some cartoon for tv created that gets the point across with still being entertaining enough for those kids.   Maybe somehow get a video game created – cause no matter how poor these families are, they still usually have cable and video games.

These kids are growing up in an environment where they see so much bad that that is what they learn.    It takes a special kid (and usually a strong parent) to grow up around all sorts of bad and somehow work themselves out of that way of life.   

It’s going to take a lot to make the change that needs to happen.   And unfortunately, it goes far beyond dog fighting as well.   

I’m fairly certain all of my readers come from middle class families having grown up in decent working class neighborhoods, eventually having moved to the suburbs.   We never had to experience the life of growing up in low-income areas where you were lucky if you had two parents living with you and you were luckier if whoever took care of you (whether it be a parent or grandparent) really pushed you hard and made sure that you went to school and did good and came home after school and did your homework.   Where it was safe for you to go play with your friends outside and ride your bike around the neighborhood.  

Instead these kids are growing up with parents who send their kids to school and expect teachers to do all the parenting, but then get mad at the teachers when their kid is acting out or doing bad.   Schools are limited in what “punishment” they can enforce because of fear of losing a job and having a lawsuit on your hands.   And there is no punishment at home, so the kids do whatever they want.   In many instances now, those kids are bringing knives to school and having sex in elementary school, joining gangs and doing drugs by middle school, and selling drugs and killing others by high-school.*   If we can’t get it across that all those things are bad, why do we think they learned from Michael Vick’s going to jail that dog fighting is a bad thing?

When you grow up to be someone as high profile as Michael Vick, yeah, you probably should know better at that point – but all your life you learned a certain lifestyle and that’s what you know. **

*Im not trying sterotype to say all kids who live in low-income grow up in this circumstance, but I am saying (and therefore stereotyping) that many kids live in this environment – specifically the ones who get involved in dog fighting and other illegal activities.  

** Im not making excuses for anyone!   It is completely inexcusable, but unfortunately, there needs to be more education out there.   

Here we go again....

The ILs are at it again, although I guess it never stops.    Hubby got a phone call 20 minutes ago while we were driving, so when we got home, he checked who it was, and guess who?   His parents.    He called them back, and they called to bitch to hubby about the fact that he doesn't keep in touch enough.  FIL said that when hubby was unemployed, they called constantly to check in on him (also known as annoying nagging to others outside of my ILs) and they would appreciate if he called them.  

Oh - did I mention, hubby called them last Thursday?


Additionally, he wants hubby to send him my future brother-in-laws email address - presumably so he can send him his resume.   My (future) BIL is in a similar business only if you consider a doctor and a pharmaceutical sales rep in a similar business because they are both in the medical field.    Mind you, I don't really understand what either does, but I understand enough to know that they are under the same general field heading, but completely different jobs.

Oh - did I mention that when hubby got laid off for a second time in our time together (which hubby got an interview at because of someone his dad knew,), FIL blamed it on hubby and told him he wasn't putting him in touch with anyone else because he was just gonna screw it up.


Their selfishness just reaches a whole new level every single time we talk to them....

My wishes for the coming year

Now that I just survived another Yom Kippur fasting, and asked G-d for forgiveness for all my sins known and unknown and prayed for a good fate to be written into the book of life for the next year, Id like to share some of my hopes/prayers/wishes for the coming year that I didn't cover in services:

- I wish that the Phillies would stop failing so early in the postseason.   At this rate, they won't even make it to the postseason next year, based on their continual slope in the postseason since winning it all in 08 (09 -lost in the WS, 10- lost in the NLCS, 11 - lost in the NLDS (and lost Howard for significant amount of time))

- I wish that my in-laws would magically become normal people and have a normal relationship with their family members.   Oh wait - that would never happen and honestly I could care less anymore

- I wish that someone will come knocking on my door and tell me I am the next Publishers Clearinghouse winner.   Wouldn't that be nice - well I guess a huge jackpot from powerball or megamillions would be more awesome, but Id actually have to enter the PCH sweepstakes or buy lottery tickets for any of those to happen.

- I wish that my brain would work and I could remember some more of the wishes  I had going through my head, but seeing as though I starved for 26 hours and then stuffed my face with food and its now midnight - I got nothing left in my head...

So goodnight all - I hope if you celebrate the Jewish holiday, you had an easy fast and that you had a good fate inscribed for you for this next year.   And if you don't celebrate - well, I hope you enjoyed all the yummy food and drinks you got to indulge in, and if you are a Phillies fan, I hope you were able to indulge in a bunch of adult beverages to soothe the sting

Francis Ford Coppola Winery

For those who have not drank Francis Ford Coppola wine – you are seriously missing out.   It is some of the yummiest, smoothest wine out there.   My favorites are the Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio.   I typically go for the Noir as Im a red person.

Recently my experience with the winery has extended past their wine, and I have to say, they just continued to impress me.    

Earlier in September (when the ILs came over), I opened a bottle of the Pinot Noir, but I had some issues opening the bottle.   I used my nice corkscrew – which is just like a rabbit.   You just put the handles around the top of the bottle, push the lever down and pull the lever up and wha-la, your bottle is opened.   When I went to do that this time, I pushed down and pulled up, but it would only come up about a third of the way.   I kept on pulling and eventually the lever popped and my corkscrew broke while it was still in the bottle.   I eventually got the corkscrew out by twisting it around, but the cork was stuck in there and was now in bad condition.  

I took one of my lesser corkscrews (which was still a good one) and started to get out the cork, but, as I suspected would occur, the cork broke in half.    I took the corkscrew out, cleaned off the top part of the broken cork stuck in the bottle (so that when I got it out, it was less likely to fall into the wine) and finished taking the cork out.   I continued to have a hell of a time getting the cork out, I guess the bottom was just too big to fit back through the neck or something.   Eventually it got out and I drank the entire bottle of wine (see: how to survive the in-laws).   The next day, I decided to contact the winery, as I never had that occur to me and I was now down one good wine opener.

Amazingly, I not only heard back from them, but they offered to send me a new bottle of wine, or if I lived in a state that didn’t allow the shipment of wine (which I do), then a check to reimburse for the bottle.   I emailed them back and thanked them for the offer, but said that I would continue to drink their wine and would rather if they could send me a new corkscrew, and I sent them a link to an example of what I had.   

I just heard back from them again, and they said they don’t have those types in stock, but are sending me a check for the cost of that wine opener, plus one of their waiters corkscrews that they do have in stock.

I was quite impressed with their customer service and their wanting to fix the situation right away.  I'm so used to hearing “sorry for your experience” and that’s the end of it.   They really go above and beyond to keep their customers happy.    With that, I encourage you to buy their wine, because they have great wine and some great customer service!

What it takes to handle my MIL

Back in early September, I wrote about how my ILs made such a big deal about us seeing them, but yet they didn't make the effort to see ushttp://lifes-like-a-box-of-chocolates.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-important.html.    Well, we ended up inviting them over for a barbecue the very next Saturday, and amazingly, they took us up on the offer and came over.  

When I know I'm gonna see my MIL, I get very "anxious" because I know the ball will drop during the visit and they will bring up some issue they have with how we live our lives or cause some disagreement of sorts.   Additionally, its virtually impossible to have any sort of conversation with my MIL - yet she expects to have this amazing mother/daughter relationship (eventually I’ll tell that story when I have the time).

The only thing I dislike more than these scenarios is going over to their place because it’s the same scenario PLUS they make dinner which consists of one of two things:

-          Overcooked bone-in and skin-on chicken.  Many people like bone-in and skin-on, but I prefer boneless and skinless because it takes less cooking time (therefore less likely that my mother-in-law will overcook) and is much healthier.  And for me to say the chicken is  overcooked is a BIG understatement!   It sits in the oven for like 3 plus hours.

-          Barbecue chicken LOADED with barbecue sauce cooked on a charcoal grill that they don’t know how to use properly.   This means that the chicken typically gets served to you completely raw on the inside and completely charred on the outside

-          For both of these entrée’s, our sides consist of either:

o   Raw green beens loaded with olive oil – which isn’t horrible, but once in a while, but all the time is annoying.

o   Lettuce and no healthy salad dressing choices – not salad or even a spring mix, just iceberg lettuce

This means, hubby and I leave their house completely annoyed because we are starving and had a bad night – so we usually try to stop at Wawa or Subway right after – but we are already cranky.

Anyways, back to the story.  

Since they were coming over for dinner, I figured I would drink some wine to make it a bit easier to handle them.   I planned to have a glass of wine before they came over, and expected them to come a full 30 minutes earlier then the time we invited them to come (my MIL got to my sisters bridal shower FORTY-FIVE minutes earlier than it was called for, so we were all setting up).   Amazingly, they got to our house right when they said they would - which was a complete shock.  

Since I expected them earlier, I started my drinking earlier, so by the time they got there, I had finished 2 and a half glasses of wine (I was drinking Francis Ford Coppola Pinot Noir – so its really easy to just keep drinking) and very little to eat, suffice it to say I had a good buzz going.   When they got there, I was much more friendlier than usual from the get-go because I was much more relaxed.    Over the course of the next hour or so, I ended up drinking the last 2 glasses of wine left in the bottle (oops!), but I was never quite drunk – as I was starting to eat and I have a high tolerance.

In the end, the night ended up going very smoothly and conversation was fine.   Of course my MIL had very little part in the conversation, it was really my husband, FIL and I.  

So apparently the best way to handle my ILs is to knock back a bottle of wine.  

It's a girl! Oh wait....it's a boy...

So we just adopted a new puppy!   But life is never simple when it comes to my life...

My mom and dad graciously helped my hubby and I out - I was in Boston visiting my roomie and hubby was working.   I never really thought to give my parents a full description of the dog we were getting and the other dogs on the transport because they new we were getting the female chocolate lab, and I figured the driver of the transport knew who all the dogs were (and could tell the difference between a female and male).  Can you tell where this is going?

My parents sent me a couple pics while I was in Boston, and looking at the pictures, it didn't really look like the dog I was looking at, but I figured they had the right dog, she just looked different from the pics they sent.  

Well guess what?

The driver of this transport made a big mix-up!   The driver couldn't tell the difference between a female chocolate lab with white on its feet and a male chocolate lab with white on its chest - so we ended up with the male.

The funnier thing - no one else noticed.   Not my parents - although they didn't really think to look, and I wouldn't have either; not my hubby who spent 24 hours with the dog before I came home and watched him pee, not even the other family.

I of course noticed as soon as I got home and met the dog.  

So our girl dog is now a boy dog.   We talked to the rescue and the other family and both dogs and family's are happy with their current situations, so there is no reason to change anything.   Eric/Kalas (his original name/his new name) gets along great with Charger and Adam and I love him already.   He might not cuddle up to Adam like Kali/Kalas would have (based on her description), but time will tell.

Moneyball Review

I went to go see Moneyball last weekend with a bunch of friends - most of which are sports fans, one of which could care less about sports.   I read the book, but Id guess that no more than half of us (if that) read the book.

With that being said, I would say its a great movie whether you like sports or not or whether you read the book or not.    I haven't read the book in a while, but it wasn't much of a story book, so I was curious to see how they would turn it into a movie - and better yet a movie that isn't geared towards a niche audience.  

Casting Brad Pitt was their first step and their second step was creating it into a larger picture storyline.   They really bring the full storyline into it with Billy Beane's history and his current family life.  

I only had two negatives.   One is that many of the baseball players they casted looked NOTHING like the real players.   I know you can't cast the real guys, but they had a 2 second clip of "Raul Ibanez" and no joke, the guy playing him was three times as dark as him and a foot shorter.   Of course - I only noticed that because Im a baseball person and Raul plays for the Phillies now.

The other negative is that the ending was kinda drawn out.   They could have easily cut 10-15 minutes out of the last half hour without losing anything.   But with that - it was still a really good movie.

(Let's Go Phillies!!)