Baby Shower Blues

It happens every summer, at least it seems more often that it occurs in the summer.

I can’t say I’m fond of baby showers.  I was more of a tomboy growing up, so the girly girl stuff often doesn’t appeal to me.  You play a bunch of silly games for hours and wonder if you care if you see the girl open the present and/or if she’ll be offended if you leave early (same goes for bridal showers generally).

Of course, those who love baby showers may love this entry for ideas.  And don’t get me wrong (especially if those for whom I attended are reading) it’s not that I don’t want to congratulate them and celebrate with them, it’s those games…..

AWFUL GAME #1 Scoop up the cotton blindfolded into a bucket while being timed and if you get the most you get a prize!!!  Yeah, I’m still not sure how it’s related to babies…  One of those moments where you watch the second hand on the clock and swear it’s moving backward.  Hiro Nakamura where are you?

AWFUL GAME #2 Examine poop in a diaper.  I’m serious, well, except that the poop is melted choco candy bars.  The idea is you melt 10 candy bars into diapers so they look like poop and then let everyone examine the poop choco to see if they can figure out which bar it is.  If it sounds fun, wait until you are looking at a mess in a diaper or better still if someone sticks their nose in and smells….

AWFUL GAME #3 This was a new one for me.  Guess the baby food in the jar by tasting it…with everyone else as you pass it around.  Swine Flu epidemic anyone?  I used my nose on this one, and I’ll give you an easy win.  If it’s green and it smells absolutely putrid, it’s peas.

AWFUL GAME #4 Hand-made baby crossword.  All of the games are timed, except often with these they’ve made them themselves and usually there’s some kind of inside family joke so you’re thinking “I don’t know what Cousin Tom thought would be funny to name the baby and why do I have to answer this anyways.”

Also, anyone know why the treat of choice seems to be salted nuts and mints?  Usually in some kind of baby something?

And speaking of which, the baby shower party supply industry must be making bank, especially in Utah.  I never knew there could be so many useless things produced that people could buy in my life.  (Well, ok, I did happen by the scrapbooking section of a store once.  I guess I can just think of 100 things I’d rather spend my money on that that).

But, I did have a lot of fun with one particular activity, which I thought was pretty unique.  Recently my good friend had a baby shower, poopy choco diaper game and all, but she also had a contest running.  She gave everyone white onesies (the shirt suit that buttons underneath the bum, for those who are baby-language impaired) and told them to decorate them and the best would get prizes.

I took this to heart, and fortunately placed in the top 3 finalists (like 3 1st place prizes).  I got a picnic bowl set, which I do have use for, so all and all a good day.

I used Crayola Fabric markers, which the craft store helped me find after describing for a few minutes what I wanted to do.

They both learned Spanish, so I included some.

But I solemnly swear that if I have anything to say about it, and should I happen to have a baby shower someday in the future, I’m doing a BBQ get together.  Maybe some volleyball and karaoke, etc., no poopy choco diapers, I promise.

Dee Adventures

I’m not great at managing my time and multiple hobbies, so I can’t promise frequency…. Sometimes crazy stuff happens to me and sometimes I draw it. Tell me what you think (and click on it for a larger image). It’s a warm-up for future things I think. I call this one:

Back in 10, pt 1

Rune Factory Addiction

I was playing Virtual Villagers (yes, it’s related, just wait) waiting for something to happen on my slowerish Mac at home and while the trial version is kinda fun, it’s slow and limited…

Telling my little brother about this, he seemed inspired.  Turning on his Wii he told me to check out a current game of his fancy.  Enter Rune Factory Frontier and my new addiction.

I had originally thought the less and less time I was spending with the Wii I owned was due to lack of time.  It turns out I just needed a game I would make time to squeeze in.  RFF is kind of like a Legend of Zelda meets Warcraft (old school), except you don’t go slaughter other villages… at least not that I’ve discovered yet.  But there are caves/ruins to be explored and monsters to kill.

Die defenseless squirrel! Die!!!!!

How did this satisfy the old Virtual Villagers craving?  I mean, what about the farming, building, etc?  RFF has that as well.  There’s actually 4 seasons you play during, so you can grow different crops during each season.  Plus the monsters you’re killing, you can decide to tame and make your farm slaves–er workers to help you with harvesting, etc.

Lazy monsters! Where's my help?!

For all the romantics out there, an array of different girls are available for courting and marrying, but you have to figure out how what they like (which in turn makes them fall in love with you).  You also get to name your main character–though no customization.  That’s due to him taking part in a story line and several anime cut scenes throughout.

For the multi-taskers who get bored w/o 20 extra things to do, you can master cooking, alchemy, blacksmith, crafts (clothes, etc.) or all.  You can fish, swim at the beach, go to festivals, sail around in a boat on the lake–what could be better than actually doing all of this in real life?!

I <3 my new RFF and though it retails for $50, if you’re also an avid ebayer or don’t mind it used, you can find it for a lot less (I got new at $37).  You can buy a guide or… this is a pretty good one.  (I’ve been trying to do it sans-guide, but nearly missed some stuff, so I’m doing 50/50).

Oh, the best part (well, nearly)?  There’s an anime music video at the beginning, all in Japanese.  (^_^)

Rating: A+

What is a “banana freckle?”

Truth be told, my friend could not for the life of her think of what to call the spots on bananas (spots), and laughing I said, “What do you want to call them, banana freckles?”  They also happen to indicate to me when it’s the best time for me to consume one of those golden delights.  But I also see it as a symbol of the enjoyable ridiculousness I enjoy in my own life.

So like everyone else in the internetverse with a blog, I thought I’d contribute to the mass amounts of useless but entertaining text out there.  And since I’m debating ditching another blog I co-contributed to with a friend who has ditched it completely, here’s my newest project.

But I feel like I need to leave you with something entertaining for actually finding this blog and reading this far along, so, for your entertainment: a stupid people photo included below.  Enjoy!  And please come back often and comment just as often.

Held up train traffic and we had to get off the train and walk to the next station since it was going to take too long. The driver claimed they "couldn't see the tracks." Maybe it's just me... but... aren't they fairly apparent? I mean, wouldn't you think "not road!"