Help Action Basketball

This is Marc commandeering the blog here, for purposes the main blogger is not entirely in accordance with. (Sunny likes to pretend that she writes this just for our family, and this post admits that we have a modest audience. But trust me, dear reader, she knows you're there.)

If you follow this blog closely, you have probably also followed the ups and downs of the middle school basketball team I coach. I'd even like to think, dear reader, that if you had to choose one middle school basketball team to support, it would be our team -- Action.

last year's squad

If so, or even if not, I'd love to enlist your help.

We are doing a fundraiser, but no, we're not selling candy for no basketball team, we are collecting used and broken cell phones (and jewelry, MP3 players, digital cameras, digital video recorders, laptops, radar detectors, and empty ink-jet cartridges).


If you give them to us, we can send them in to a company that will reuse/recycle them and give us some of what they make off of them. The team would be much obliged. You can give them to me in person, or if you're one of our west-coast or international fans and you don't mind paying postage, you can send it to us. Here's the school address: CAS, Marc Wilson, 154 W 93rd St., New York, NY 10025.

1 - 2 - 3 - Action! (That's what we say in our little huddle before we go out on the court.)

On a rainy day

On the rainiest day of the year Harper kept saying she wanted to go to the playground. I showed her all the cats and dogs falling outside but she would not relent. So we put our rain coats on and went outside to jump and play in the large puddle that always forms in the driveway of the apartment building next door. Until my mothering instincts kicked in at which point we moved to a sizable puddle on the sidewalk. At which point a car actually drove into the driveway of the apartment building next door. At which point I was thankful for mothering instincts.

Before she decided to just get wet.

The puddle on the street.

The puddle on the sidewalk. Dora's cousin and mother are drowning in this bucket.

In our tattoo parlor

When we weren't looking Harper painted herself with markers. I didn't even care. And she could have colored all over the couch with these markers and I still wouldn't have cared. They really are what they say: washable.

New York: 9

Cuchifritos

Abraham Lincoln

We joined Jessie for a trip to the NY Historical Society to see the Lincoln exhibit. Whenever Harper saw pictures of Lincoln she said "Daddy." It probably goes without saying, but Marc is mortified that Harper thinks her dad looks like this famously unattractive man.

Midtown

On a cold Wednesday morning we found ourselves in Midtown. I was prepared to beg on my knees at Carnegie Hall for an exchange on my non-refundable, non-exchangeable tickets, and Harper wanted to march around all the designers' stores in a stunning outfit she picked out all by herself that morning. It turns out I didn't have to beg at all. And Harper received several compliments on her outfit. One woman was so enamored with her/it she thought we should have our picture taken by this sculpture/art/statue/sign. I'm thankful for this stranger's thoughtfulness and kindness.

It was cold. And sitting on cold metal in a spring jacket and tights didn't help. We felt lucky we saw a sign on Jamba Juice's door for $1 oatmeal. We stopped in and warmed ourselves up with a bowl for each of us. Which worked out to 1 2/3 of a bowl for me, and the toppings from one for Harper.

On our street

A race and some roars

The racers line up at the starting line.

And they're off.



It was a four-way tie.

A dinosaur roar that even shows tonsils.

A dinosaur roar that shows my more ferocious side.

A nice day at the park

Since the weather has been so lovely here we decided to head to the park. A person observing Harper running around and swinging on swings might have thought it was her first time at a park since she squealed so much and generally got carried away with delight. With such a long absence from the playground came also a loss of confidence. She needed a little convincing to try the twisty slide and a little help at the top of one of the ladders.

More pictures with grandparents and their grandchild

Harper is still figuring out what it means to smile for the camera.
Plus some free advertising for the Strand.

The good Swede from Karlstad, MN in front of a good Swedish couch named Karlstad.
Plus some free advertising for IKEA.

Making music

My dad turns 60 on January 4th so we celebrated a little early with some chocolate cake. It's supposed to be a fish.

If Harper knew what a hobby was she would put blowing out candles and singing Happy Birthday at the top of her list of favorites.

Waiting for Marc to serve the cake and ice cream.

New Year's Eve

We woke up to a lot of nice snow falling outside on New Year's Eve. Harper and I watched the snow fall while we put away our Christmas decorations. Harper had separate piles for sparkly ornaments and Santa ornaments. She loved saying "ho ho ho merry kwitmas" whenever she found a new Santa ornament for her pile.

When Marc came home from basketball practice Harper put on her monster suit, which is what she calls this fleece suit, and went outside with her shovel to help with the snow removal.

Hanging out in our home clothes before getting all dolled up for the Bybarans' annual New Year's Eve party.

No pictures of the annual party. Just memories of Marc calling attention to his designer jeans, Minde's Chex party mix, Cyra and Lulu greeting us at the door in matching red dresses, and a sweet reunion with Adelaide.

Marc opted to ring in the new year by running through Central Park with a bunch of strangers. He left the party early to get to his race on time. I hemmed and hawed for at least an hour after that trying to decide if I should go and see him at the finish line. Rebecca asked me if I was glad I went to Macy's to see Santa this year. Yes. Was I glad I caroled at Washington Square Park? Yes. Then I would be glad when I saw Marc running in the rain. And I was. Plus the fireworks were spectacular. And we got some free nuts.

Marc wins for having the best shoes in the race: a pair of Reeboks he bought in 2004 that he duct-taped together in 2009. Race time: 34:30.