Champion of 'Sweet'

Now, don't get me wrong. Dr. Pepper is definitely one of my top 4 sodas (1. Coke, 2. Sun Drop, 3. Cherry Coke, 4. Dr. Pepper). But their new commercials takes on a whole new level... no... genre... no... INDUSTRY of everything sweet. Honestly, I didn't have a problem with it until I saw a commercial where Diet Dr. Pepper (yes, DIET!) puts itself up against ice cream. ICE CREAM! And claims that it is a perfect substitute for that cold, traditional treat!

If this means I'm getting old...well...fine. But ICE CREAM!!! There is no substitute! And you know this. Let's see...we've had frozen yogurt (nope), sorbet (nope), "gelato" (yum...but NO!). Ice cream is irreplaceable. The best comfort food. The best thing to put in a truck with a special song that gets kids racing toward it.

And my ultimate evidence is the "float".

Floats are awesome. I haven't had one in years, but I love them. So what do you do when you want a Dr. Pepper float? According to DDP...Pour your DDP and then put a scoop of DDP in for that perfect float!?!?!?!?!

I certainly give it to them. They've taken on a worthy opponent. And being a fan of both clearly presents a problem for me. But it's really no contest. Not even close. It's like Montana and Neela playing the Tar Heels in an exhibition. Funny. But not even a game.

There's no substitute.

COW Alley

We just spent the last five days with Will, Christy, and Owen Alley. They took their 2nd week of vacation to come enjoy the sights and sounds of the North Shore. Of course, a nor'easter had to come our way, so they got the full treatment of NE weather. Despite the freezing cold wind and rain, we had a fun time. On Saturday, we visited Newburyport, a harbortown about 15 min. north of us. Sunday, we used our sweet library pass discount to go to the New England Aquarium in Boston. Ferocious wind and rain couldn't stop us from seeing penguins, sea turtles, and sea horses. We also dined at two of our favorite restaurants, Fortune Palace and Nick's Famous Roast Beef. Yes, I said roast beef. Trust me, it's amazing. Every night was capped off with a round of Settlers and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

random things we accomplished: playing endless rounds of Need for Speed; introducing them to facebook and blogger (check out http://cowalley.blogspot.com); discovering that owen can sleep even when the floor above his head is being hit with the world's heaviest vacuum; teaching owen how to say "bonjour"

Here are some pics of our adventures. Most of them are of Owen, obviously.

Alley's visit

So much for the element of surprise

"Exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky has said he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Vladimir Putin from his base in Britain... [read the rest]."

Breaking News...

You know you're in baseball country when the flashing red "BREAKING NEWS" box on the local news website says this...

WEATHER ALERT:
Thursday night's game between the Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox was postponed because of inclement weather and rescheduled for May 3 at 7:05 p.m.

I guess I'll learn how to be a baseball fan.

We're back...

...to the normal life after our great trip to NC. We had a whirlwind trip seeing family, friends, and getting some work done in preparation for this summer. We toured the better parts of Marion and Winston-Salem in our sweet mini-van. (yes, that's what you get when you rent a car during the furniture market...) And, I'm not sure if it was a good or bad thing that we experienced the 80 degree weather. Maybe both. Now we're back to the rainy 40s that will accompany most of March (so I hear). And, we may have our first snowy Easter ever!

Speaking of Easter, tonight I celebrated the traditional Passover Seder with my small group. It was an excellent reminder of what this week represents. How amazing that we can celebrate our redemption through Christ's death and resurrection by observing a traditional Jewish meal. May we all keep our thoughts on him during this Holy Week.