Good News, Good Eating, Good Weekend

The weekend was a lot more enjoyable than I expected it to be, extra weight I packed on notwithstanding...

Friday night we took the baby to dinner with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and his girlfriend. We found out that brother-in-law Brian got a very cool job that he interviewed for last week. He had a rough go on the job search upon moving to Brooklyn, but found something that he didn't see coming. We are all very happy for him. The food at Rino's was very good, I had gnocchi and meatballs, and loved every bite. The Man Zachary is top-notch behavior-wise in public. I must say he has been better than I could have ever expected. He enjoys being around people, and he flirts like crazy with any pretty women that we encounter. Whether its a shoe sales girl at the mall or a waitress - he is all over it. Should Kim ever ditch me, I am taking Zachary out on the road.

Saturday night was Kim's cousin's wedding. I wasn't sure if it would be a good time, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Neither of us had to drive, so we cut loose a little bit. No scene was made, some good pictures were taken and no one got hurt. All-in-all, a successful outing.

Sunday morning saw a slow recovery, but we were expected for brunch near King of Prussia at 11:30. Picked up The Man and Gramma and made our way north. Had myself a fantabulous two-plate brunch which more than hit the spot. Zachary charmed the family and everyone seemed to enjoy hanging out with him. Went home, the baby took a three-hour nap, and so did I after failed attempts to raise some of the fellas for an impromptu card game at a buddy's house. Woke up from the long nap and no one felt like cooking, so we ordered out and had another very good (though not good FOR us) meal, watched The 4400 and The Dead Zone, and went to sleep. The only drawback to the weekend was my missing some World Cup matches, but I will get over it.

Got into work today and checked my email to find that two of the nicest people I have ever known (James and Jess) had their first child! Anthony Domenic. What an uber-cool name! Mom and baby are healthy and that is what counts! I am also happy to report that over the past few weeks, some very good and very old friends have managed to track me down through MySpace. While it may be creepy, and I have been tempted to kill off my account on it, it has helped me touch base with some people I might not otherwise have ever been able to track down again (Nolan, Mike, Dave...). Also on the good news front, my main man E-Dog was found not-guilty of the ridiculous charges thrown at him stemming from an incident at a baseball playoff game last year in San Diego.

There was one other downer on the weekend. During my couch-intense tv-and-nap-a-thon session Sunday, I saw a documentary on HBO that brought me to tears. It is called "Chernobyl Heart", and it documents the hardships of so many children born in the contaminated area of the Ukraine that was so badly damaged during the infamous nuclear disaster of April 26, 1986. The kids that they showed on the program, born with what can only be called unimaginable defects caused by the radiation their parents were exposed to, I could not help but cry for them (one child was born with his brain outside his skull - and . Most of the children have been abandoned by their parents. I felt so horrible for these kids who were born with no shot whatsoever. It reminded me of a SportsCenter piece that highlighted a U.S. family that adopted a Ukrainian boy with no legs - who turned himself into one of the leading scorers at the Para-Olympic games in Italy. So many of these kids need help, and their country is too backwards to help them properly. The volunteers who have gone to the region to help these people are true heroes. There will be a special place in heaven for them. I highly recommend checking the documentary out if you have the means. I will say that it made me thankful for a great many things - including our having a very healthy son, and our being able to live in a country where top-level medical care is available to us.

[Currently Listening: Phil Collins - "Long Long Way To Go"]