Where's My Corndog, Mittens?

Ben: On St. Patrick's Day (actually the Saturday before the real St. Pat's), we ate at one of our favorite Italian haunts, Angelina's, before heading down to the United Center to catch the Bulls-Hornets game. We missed the first quarter since we erroneously decided to take the bus, not allotting enough time for delays caused by drunken, pseudo-Irish revelry. Thankfully, our seats were Rock Star 6th row, which really enhances the experience. The Bulls won in rather undramatic fashion, having effectively won the game by the end of the third quarter, but not before we could get a few $6.50 Bud Lights into our bellies. I tried in vain to get a cool video shot of a rim rattling dunk, but no dice. You'll have to settle for some rather tame footage of a Tyrus Thomas layup instead. Try to contain both your excitement and excrement. (Gross)

Katy: I'm just happy that "Benny the Bull" didn't hunt me down that night while I was sipping away on my beer, people watching, and rooting for the Dunkin Donuts coffee dude to win in an animated race on the scoreboard. (Please note, that's not us you hear in the video link, but I almost do cheer to that extent. Yes! The Bulls won and so did my coffee guy, so I get a free DD coffee! Holla!)

Sports characters, like Benny, really seem to love me and can spot me in a crowd. Seriously, it happened on our first date at an Indianapolis Pacers game. I predicted to Ben it would happen, and sure enough, the wacky blue dude, either Boomer or Bowser, was like a magnet to me and dished out some hugs and awkward gropes in my direction. And, speaking of drunken, pseudo-Irish revelry, on that first date, Ben's former boss, Ken, predicted our love was "in the stars." He illustrated his point by pointing out an old window that was all boarded up. Meh, I guess he was right after all?! Who knew the Indy version of Benny the Bull and Ken Jenkins were such intuitive matchmakers?

Ben: The week before that, high school chum Eric Peters made his debut at the Handfelt Hacienda and we caught up on old times across the street at Edgewater Lounge, sitting near a woman who laughed like a goat. We drank fancy beer. No video exists of this encounter.

Katy: If no video exists, does that mean it really happened?

So last weekend, Ben and I also made a trek to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit Ben's brother and his beautiful family. That Friday, the two of us took on babysitting duties while the parents were at work...a fun trip to the playground, a Target run for kid gloves, corndogs, and viewings of Pinocchio and Bolt kept us and the kiddos busy all day. Aside from Griff thinking he saw a scary naked guy at Target (this would not be unheard of), the day went without a hitch. Saturday, however, Ben snuck off to the basement to take a "covert nap". He says (and I quote), "It feels so wrong, yet oh-so-right to lay down here in peace, dozing off to the background noise of children's screams." The parents are horrified by that sentence while those without tikes of their own nod their head knowingly. I also have a new nickname from the weekend. In addition to Katy, Kate, Katy Kates, and Miss Katy, I also now go by Mittens (from Bolt), thanks to my creative nephew!

In the evenings, we adults played very competitive games of Farkle and re-watched SNL Dateline skits all night long. Then we talked in funny voices all weekend. MmmmmmHmmmm...

Ben: I give a solid round of applause to the weekend. Of note was Gretchen's homemade tomato soup, which may have to make a guest appearance on Katy's Kitchen if we can work out the copyright issues.

*Editors note: Since Blogger has some weird issue where Katy's Picasa photo account is "full", it won't let her post any pictures without upgrading, which costs $20. So until we figure out a way to beat the system, I may have to post everything under my name and just have Katy comment like she did here. That $20 fee seems a bit offensive in this day and age.

Uncle Ben and Sienna

From L-R: Bolt, Mittens, Penny

Don't fake the funk on a nasty....uh, layup?