Updates before my sabbatical

From time to time, it's important to take some time off. I learned this by watching Dubya for the past year and a half. So, I've decided to take a little sabbatical from the blog. Besides, Stew has to finish editing his short-story entry for the Tamarack Award, a writing contest sponsored by Minnesota Monthly Magazine. And by "finish editing" I mean "start writing." The deadline is May 15th. And if I know Stew like I think I do, there's a very good chance he'll spend every other day re-writing what he wrote the day before, and the finished product will be close to the draft he started out with on the first day. The grand prize for the contest is $10,000, which would undoubtedly buy me a lot of doggie biscuits. So, before my sabbatical, I want to provide you with a couple updates on some past entries...

CLAIRE (STILL) HATES LOVIN' SPOONS FULL OF MUSH...

You might recall we recently started Claire on solid food. Unfortunately, she didn't take to eating out of a bowl or with a spoon too well. In the previous blog entry,
(http://stay-at-home-dog.blogspot.com/2007/04/solid-attempt-at-solids.html)

I posted pictures of Claire's first meal of baby cereal (delicious organic rice flavored). Well, here's a picture of her 2nd meal later the same day. Now for the good news... last night, Claire actually ate some cereal for the first time without [I'm quoting Stew here] crying like a little girl... which Stew knows a thing or two about.

NCAA MARCH MADNESS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WAS FIXED!

It's been bothering me big time that my Georgetown Hoyas were robbed of the NCAA men's basketball title. Apparently, Florida never got the memo that said it's nearly impossible for a team to repeat as NCAA champions. Also, Ohio State University obviously ignored the fact that their team is simply too young to go as far as they did in the tournament (knocking off Georgetown in the semi-finals to advance to -- and lose -- the championship game). Now, thanks to Don Imus and his comments about the Rutger's women's basketball team, I'm not able to share my true feelings on how I feel Georgetown played in their final game. Clearly, the Georgetown team that showed up to play Ohio State in the semi-finals was NOT the Georgetown Hoya team I was counting on to win the championship. So, if Don Imus had not made his racist and sexist comments, then I probably would have said something like the Georgetown team played worse than the St. Joseph's 3rd Grade Girls Basketball Team. But, I don't want to offend any girls out there, let alone any 3rd graders. I understand it's tough enough just trying to hold your own in a school made up of a bunch of mean 4th, 5th and 6th graders (not to mention nuns with rulers and itchy trigger fingers). And, I certainly don't want to offend any Catholics out there because, as Stew once told me, they can cast spells on me... and I really don't want that. So, let's just say I'm disappointed in Georgetown's play and leave it at that.

CLAIRE IS EXCEPTIONAL!

At her 6-month baby check-up, Claire got high marks (again) for her length, weight and head size. She's in the upper 92nd percentile with her 27" length (she's currently wearing 9-month size baby clothes). Her weight of 17lbs 6.5ozs puts her in the upper 80th percentile. And her head size of 17.25" means she can now wear Stew's baseball caps (remember, Stew is somewhat of a pin head). Even though none of us know what these percentiles really mean, we equate them to brilliance. Stew is CONSTANTLY telling Linda how he was in the upper 99th percentile for math and english according to something called an SRA test given to elementary school kids in the 1970's. Well, I'm sure his mother is proud that he really put those smarts to good use... Stew now realizes she was right all along and that he should have been an Actuary. He would've saved a ton on wardrobe -- instead of wearing the suits he wore as a salesman, he could've gotten by with just one knit tie, a couple short-sleeved button-down shirts, and a pocket protector. Mothers do know best...