Rod Allen could only eat 3. In your face, Rod!

Despite sitting in front of 8 of the rudest, loudest, most annoyingst group of young hoodlums, we had an enjoyable evening at the Tigers/Indians game last night. It was my first trip to Jacob's Field, which I will continue to call it in protest of sponsor world domination. The Tigers even came out on top.

And, as a special bonus, it was dollar hot dog night! Opportunities like this don't come around very often.

As a longtime hot dog connoisseur, it's no secret that I find ballpark hot dogs to be spectacular summer cuisine. I had a goal of eating 5 hot dogs but I fell one short. I consumed a disappointing 4. A letdown to my husband and Kobayashi, the world-famous-hot-dog-devouring champion. I probably could have eaten 5, but I wasn't willing to dip my bun in water to do so. I consider it a feat nonetheless. I'm usually good for one hot dog, but when $1 dogs are presented, I simply must take advantage.

There were some 42,265 hot dogs consumed at the ballpark last night. 9 of those by the MD family from Toledo. Impressive, I say. Even more impressive is my husband consuming a hot dog in one bite. Yep, we are quite the impressive couple. Some circles might even call us classy.

Thank goodness for accrued vacation time!

It's been more than 2 whole months since we went to Vegas, so obviously it's time for another vacation. MD and I are heading to Grand Cayman Island in September in honor of our upcoming first anniversary! I'm so excited. I don't know much about the Cayman Islands, but I'm doing some research. Research like, what time does the hotel swim-up bar open, how big is the pool, does the Cayman Island Chamber of Commerce recommend that I pack jeans because it gets cool at night, where's the closest shopping center, that kind of stuff.

Frequent vacationing probably won't be the norm for us, but we thought we should travel while we can before one of those money-sucking kids comes along.

I have to get a new passport today. The one that I got 13 years ago has gone missing. The forms I had to fill out for a missing expired passport involved everything short of an internal probe. Dudes, I just lost it, I didn't sell it to any aliens, I didn't leave my bags unattended at the airport, I'm not in the witness protection program, I just, ya know, moved.

Tee hee!

I think they should keep her.

I beg your pardon.

I am a woman with shorter hair. It's a cute little, now, kind of bob hairstyle. My husband loves short hair and I am thankful for that because my face is too long to have long hair. I also appreciate the fact that he doesn't think that long hair = necessary to be hot. He's not worried about people misinterpreting me for a dude, he just happens to fancy short hair. Cool. I happen to as well.

So imagine my dismay when I read that Eva Longoria chopped her hair off as to appear frumpy for the upcoming season of Desperate Housewives. Hang on just a second, pal. Since when does short hair = frumpy? I thought short hair = short hair. Or as something to try when you get bored and are looking for a dramatic change. Or because you're freakin hot in the middle of summer and can't take it anymore. Do people go into salons looking to be frumpier? "Eh, I'm feeling too fancy these days, let's cut it all off." Is cutting your hair the new "gain 85 pounds and wear ugly makeup in the hopes of winning an Oscar"?

Ugh. Someone get her PR rep on the horn, I'd like to fill out a comment form.

Photo Parade: Superhero.

This is Nora.

Nora is a superhero because she single-handedly made me a dog person. Prior to meeting her, I didn't much care for them. But this little punkin has changed my mind forever. Of little dogs, anyway. I'm still searching deep within to love big dogs.

Wherever there is danger of someone not liking dogs, she will be there. She'll even drive herself there.

Photo Parade: Excitement.

You want excitement? Well, here it is.

Our 'audience upgrade' tickets. Front row. Booyah.

Note to my new niece, Tess:

I'm so very excited you are here! Please do not get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to those that came before you. You have five D cousins that are fantastic people. I adore them. You will love them. (You've got a boatload more on your mom's side. I've never met them, but I hear they're cool.) And I love that when I married your uncle MD, I got to become an instant aunt. But I wasn't around when they were born. Being an only child, I won't ever get the thrill of hearing my brother or sister tell me they are pregnant or calling me at 12:30 a.m. to tell me they just had a baby. So your birth is as close as it will get and it's very special to me. MD is the youngest of four, and your older aunt and uncle are done having babies, so your mom and dad were my only chance to get this excitement. It's hard to explain, but it's awesome. I even demanded that my friends and co-workers refer to me only as Aunt Michelle the days after you were born. I really did. What can I say, I am proud.

Until I married your uncle, I didn't know what a big family was like. But it didn't take long to figure it out. Big families are amazing. And loud. And this one is pretty great. And your parents are two of my favorite people that I've ever met, and I'd say that even if we weren't related. You are lucky. They are funny and sweet and loving and they know how to have fun. Your dad makes awesome homemade biscuits and your mom is the easiest person in the world to get along with. And they really love each other. Plus, you get to live near Chicago and your mom can navigate those streets and the train system with the best of them. Make her take you there often. And slyly say, "maybe Aunt Michelle would like to go shopping downtown with us? Let's call her to visit." I'll be on the next Megabus.

You and I are the newest members of the D family. So I promise to show you the ropes and I will try not to exert my seniority over you as much as possible. But the minute one of your cousins brushes your hair over mine, I'm gonna have to pull rank and shut you down. Perhaps, you'll be able to do that to your brother or sister or my kids someday, but that is all. I am exactly 30 years and one month older than you, let's not forget that... um, maybe we should forget that... I am exactly 25 years and one month older than you. That's what you will tell people.

You have made your parents very happy already. Your uncle and I cannot wait to meet you and see what a lovely little family the three of you are. I'm sorry, the four of you. I'm sure Lucy can't wait to meet you either. She's heard a lot about you these last nine months, and she wants to know what all the hype is about.

Thank you for allowing me to see what it's like to become an "official" aunt. I've enjoyed it immensely. To steal a phrase from my good friend K, who is an old pro at being an aunt, I am happy you were born.

Love,
Aunt Michelle

...Theyhadababyit'sagirl!

Last night a new little D was born! A girl. She was born at 9:24 Chicago time. 7 pounds, 20 inches long. With a full head of dark hair. They haven't decided on name just yet. She sounds fantastic already. I like her.

I cannot wait to meet her!

Name update: Therese Marian. Tess for short.

Ooh, Tiny you were so close on the date. But not the gender. Good guess.

It's no foul ball, but I'll take it!

Thanks to MD for being the employee of the month (yay!), we got VIP tickets to the Tigers game this weekend. VIP meaning 4 rows behind the Tigers dugout! We might as well have been in the dugout. We also got a free parking pass to one of the VIP parking areas. Unbeknownst to us, they apparently like to put VIPs on television...

That's us on FSN Detroit! In the middle of the eighth inning. Clear as day. Looking like a bunch of VIPs. My dad called us right afterward and said that we just had our 15 seconds of fame. Tiny totally saw us too. Thank goodness MD had the foresight to tape the game so I could watch it 18 times on the DVR. I just think it's hilarious! I mean, we were two of 42,000 people!

And this comes almost a year to the day after we were on tv sitting in the front row at the Late Show. That's pretty incredible. Next stop, Hollywood.

My List. 49-26.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program:

49. Having the whole bar get quiet when my college friends and I would loudly sing "Like a Prayer" nearly every weekend.
48. Calling everyone we know telling them about our engagement. And the way his brother made me cry. And seeing MD cry because I was crying.
47. Waiting with Sarah for two hours to touch a dolphin at the dolphin pool at Sea World.
46. Watching the Wizard of Oz every year with my dad, cousin and uncle. My cousin and I would always leave the room when the Wicked Witch of the West was on. And we would beg my uncle to do his spot-on impression of the Lion.
45. The first time I got flowers at work.
44. Having the cool mom who always made blue Kool-aid for our summer softball games and always had the new, fun snacks.
43. Seeing Jerry Seinfeld. Twice.
42. My Slip 'n Slide in our backyard.
41. The hot dogs at Tigers games.
40. Playing the piano every Christmas. The same 10 songs.
39. The Hoopla dance my cousin and I made up and always performed for the whole family.
38. Nora.
37. Asking my parents to move their cars out of the garage so I could roller skate on the smooth surface while listening to all the great 80's music.
36. The smell of Fall in Northwest Ohio.
35. The matron of honor and best men speeches at our wedding.
34. Chicago, New York City, Boston, Denver and the feeling I get when being in a big city.
33. Being invited to the Young Writer's Workshop in third grade.
32. Sarah and I laughing about nothing for hours.
31. My first taste of Pinot Grigio on my 23rd birthday.
30. The home movies from when I was a baby that my dad had converted onto dvd. (They were old projector film that we used to watch on a large pull-out screen in our living room.)
29. My fantastic 30th birthday parties and all the love that went into planning them.
28. Learning to ride my pink Huffy bike without training wheels. My dad letting go without me knowing it and hearing him yell excitedly, "You're doing it, you're doing it!" as I got further and further away.
27. Picking my lip.
26. The day I won 4 tickets to the Late Show with David Letterman.

My list 74-50.
My list 100-75.

baby pool.

My sister-in-law is due July 25 with her first baby. They don't know if it's a boy or a girl. We had a shower for them over the weekend and she doesn't think there is any way she'll make it to the 25th. Which means it could be any day now! I've always enjoyed trying to guess things. Like guessing lottery numbers right before they announce them on tv and guessing the exact time I think we'll pull into the driveway after a long trip, so I'd like to make a game out of this joyous occasion. Since it's on my blog, it will be in print and official. So when I'm right, I'll have my blog as proof and y'all as my witnesses.

Here's what I predict:
The baby will be born on JULY 18 and it will be a BOY.

If you think you're a good guesser too, feel free to play along. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the pregnancy of a woman they don't know of a baby they'll never meet.

Life with a tween.

Day #1: So far, so good. She's really adorable and pretty mature for her age, she seems so much older than 12. And she couldn't be more thrilled to be spending the week with us. She told me she was just happy that we even asked her to come, that we liked her so much that we want to spend time with her. That made my heart smile. What a sweetie. Here's what I've learned so far:

• Hannah Montana is for 4 or 5 year olds. Certainly NOT for 12 year olds.
• 12-year-olds love to read. And they like big, thick books. Even non-Harry Potter books.
• Cell phones must have a texting plan.
• Even tweens love shoes and shoe shopping.
• Tweens are more "developed" than 30 year-olds nowadays. (Which doesn't take much, let's be clear. But, boy, what a depressing realization. Most of my week will be spent stuffing to make sure everyone knows I'm the adult.)
• 12-year-olds really are aware of what's going on. They aren't stupid.
• They also don't mind being told to 'shut up'. We didn't tell her to shut up, of course, but she said we could if we thought she was talking too much. (What a different world this would be if only that offer applied to everyone.)

I think I will totally learn more from her than she will from me.

Flashback: July 3, 2007

One year ago today, a magical event took place. It was a day I had dreamt about for more than a decade. It was most certainly a day of ups and downs for my emotions, however. But in the end, it will go down as one of my most exciting days ever. Read all about it here.

Blog monkeys, blog.

I hope everyone knows how much I enjoy reading their blogs. I don't know if you can tell how many people are looking at your blog on Blogger, but if yours is an inordinately high number, I bet it's because of me. It's almost like a tick, I don't even realize I'm doing it. Like every 5 minutes I think, "Surely someone blogged recently." or "I bet someone has left a comment on someone's blog in the time that it took me to type that email." Then I proceed to check all the ones I have saved in my favorites. In my head, people are just sitting at their computers typing away for my enjoyment. You are all my monkeys.

I thank you and curse you all for being so entertaining.

(I'm totally going to run through my list now. Do not disappoint me.)