Friday, September 28, 2007

Cozy one bedroom for rent

By K.J. Cardinal

Newly furnished, freshly painted, 1 bedroom in quiet, friendly neighborhood. Bedroom features wall-to-wall carpet, two oversized windows and high ceilings. Bathroom shared with friendly big sister and landlords love children. Free laundry 2 floors down, heat & hot water included.

OK Anna, we're holding the bedroom for you for a few more weeks, but after that we're going to have to post the above ad on CraigsList. Needless to say, we're ready for ya. You're due to arrive in six days, but your room has actually been ready for a few weeks now and the natives are beginning to get restless. Mom is hanging in there and Dad & Sammy are anxiously waiting for the big day, but can you make it sooner rather than later?

Not to be selfish, but it's just that we're really looking forward to meeting you. We've been spending the last nine months thinking about you nonstop and preparing for your arrival, so it's probably no surprise that we're so excited for you to grace us with your presence.

To be quite honest, there are plenty of reasons for you to arrive as soon as possible. First and foremost, your mother could use the weight lifted of her shoulders...or in this case, her belly. Secondly, your soon-to-be favorite baseball team is in the middle of a tight race to clinch the AL East, Tom Brady is poised to crush the Bengals on Monday night and Meme & Papa have a few days off from work.

So, as you can see, it's probably in your best interest to begin the journey South. There are a lot of reasons to visit and a lot of people waiting for you. We hope to see you soon.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Anna + KG = HDTV

by K.J. Cardinal

Thank you Anna and Kevin Garnett. No, Anna’s not born yet. And, no, the newest member of the Celtics didn’t purchase our new home theatre for us. But combined, the two were really the driving force behind us getting a new HDTV and surround sound system. Let me explain.

First off, our livingroom is rather “cozy” so the 42” rear-projection television that occupied a considerable amount of floor space in the corner wasn’t going to work with a baby on the way. We figured that mounting a plasma TV on the wall would clear out some space to make way for things like baby toys and a playpen.

Now for KG’s contribution. When the Celts traded to get Garnett the first thought that came to my mind was “Holy sh*t, Danny Ainge isn’t completely useless” and then my second thought was “I gotta get season tickets.” Both thoughts were natural impulses for a former C’s season-ticket holder and rabid fan, but I quickly came to my senses on the latter and realized that I couldn’t pull the trigger on season tickets with a baby on deck. So, if you can’t get season tickets the next best thing would be to follow the team in glorious high definition with surround sound, right?

Insert Wife of the Year Angela Rose Cardinal. Since we moved into our new house last May I had been salivating at the idea of getting hooked up HD style, but couldn’t quite convince Ang that it was the way to go. When she realized how insanely psyched up I was about the KG trade and that part of me was bummed that I couldn’t get season tickets, she pulled a Belichickian-like team move and gave me the green light to go for the home theatre of my dreams.

Obviously I was like a kid in a candy store and couldn’t wait to get the set up that I had been scoping out for over a year. And, I guess, the rest is history. We purchased the set up two weeks ago at Best Buy (thanks Mike) and it got mounted on the wall today by the Geek Squad. So, thank you Anna for being the bun in the oven and thank you Kevin Garnett for coming to Boston...I couldn’t have done it without either of you...or you too Ang.