Purple Tinted Glasses

(Yeah, yeah army wants YOU, Marines do Toys for Tots. It’s charity for crying out loud!)

I saw on the news this morning that after a record breaking year last year and the toy recall scare this year, Toys for Tots is experiencing an extreme toy shortage and that possibly half of the families requesting toys this season may not get them. Toys for Tots sorts all toys and has a 13 page list of recalled toys that will be pulled from their donations.

I am making a monetary donation, seeing as how I bet they can get better deals with cash than I can (and they have that nifty list of no-no toys), and if I see some kids toys on sale, I’ll pick them up and drop them off at one of their donation centers.

Here are the New Orleans area drop off locations (unfortunately, misspellings are straight from their website):

I’ve decided that every so often, a good old fashioned temper tantrum is in order. Or maybe well deserved? Alright, fine. I threw a hissy fit yesterday and I really can’t think of a way to justify it. I managed to throw a lot of things around (mostly soft things like bed spreads) and kick everything on the floor (hurting my right big toe) except for the pile of clothes on the bathroom floor. This very same pile later revealed what I was looking for.

I misplaced my badge to get into my work building. Had I not woken up at 5:30 am to ensure that I would get there a little early to catch up on some things, then maybe I would not have been so angry. Stack this on the fact that my house feels like a human pig sty. It’s not filthy. It’s just cluttered, misplaced and thrown about.

I wouldn’t say that I don’t have time to clean it. I just don’t know what to do with all of my crap. My house is not that big. I don’t have THAT much stuff. The only way I think I can feel comfortable is to just get rid of everything. Unfortunately, I’m a pack rat with a neat freak complex.

This is starting to feel like a homework assignment gone bad.

As I was falling asleep last night, I had a semi-decent idea in my head as to how to start this story off. Now, a little more than 24 hours later… gone. Well, here goes nothing.

Once upon a time, we skated together. Today (or approaching a couple of weeks ago now) we meet again, bearing opposing jerseys, ready for battle (on the track that, is).

The score was close. We played hard. The Antoinettes took the victory that night. (Hey, that’s us!)

The worst part about being undefeated is the urge of the majority to cheer for the underdog. It is really disheartening when you hear the yells and cheers when YOU’RE the one getting nailed to the ground and knocked out of bounds. I could say that I got over it quickly and went on with the rest of the game. I mean, why should it bother me if people rejoice when I fall? Meh. Let them eat cake!

The most memorable event of the whole night was probably the after party. Too bad it was a Sunday and I had work the next day. It was turning into a good old-fashioned LNK night. I think it was 3am before I even realized I wasn’t in bed yet.

I guess I would have called it a night at the same time regardless. You see, I was catering (as best I could) to my broken butt, referee boyfriend (took a skate wheel to the tailbone). At this point he’s healing nicely, so you can see how much free time I’ve had lately to tell this story.

As for now, the Antoinettes are looking ahead when we take on our next opponents: The StoryVillians.

Hope to see you there (and cheering when I do something good).

And as a side note (my favorite moment from the BERG Blog)
After the bout and most of clean up:
Not Mel (Mr. The Countess): Have you ever seen Fred Astaire dance?
Beatrix: Well, yeah. In commercials and stuff.
Mr. The Countess: You skate like Fred Astaire dances.
Beatrix: Awwww, thanks Mel!