Why I Oughta...

Tomorrow, the Babe's "Aunt Cici" is getting married and guess who's going to be the flower girl?  Here she is all dressed up at the rehearsal in a brand-new dress that her Grammy made for her.

There's a pretty great post up on the Public Sector Blog about "live" search trends.   Go check it out here .  More on trends coming up soon.

The Babe went to her first art class this am.  She came home with this.  She was very proud of herself. I think we have the next Picasso or Rembrandt on our hands!  Even though I'd want her to be a computer scientist!?!?

This guy was just screaming to me at Menards.  I just had to take him home before they sold out.  We already have the Santa and one reindeer, so I figured it was time to add a second to the herd.  Clark W. Griswold had them in his front yard ( see them here at the beginning of the video ), so if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for the Parrillos!

Last week, we were fortunate to be invited to see a special screening of a movie titled "The Way" in the city at the AMC River East.  The screening was hosted by Home Run Inn Pizza (the #1 frozen pizza in Chicago!) and their marketing team put together a pretty great event.  We were not only treated to a free movie, but also ate tasty pizza! Oh, and did I mention that both Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez showed up at the screening?  And...at our tailgate in South Bend over the weekend?  All thanks to the good folks at Home Run Inn. The movie, directed and adapted by Emilio Estevez and starring his father Martin Sheen was a heartstring-puller.  Focusing on a father/son dynamic set on a pilgrimage on the Camino , the movie is a neat combination of family dynamics and history.  My one quibble with the film is that it is just a bit too sad.  I LOVE going to the movies, but I go for the escape quality that the deliver.  Being a parent - and thinking about my relationship with

Our good friends took Nat and I to the ND-MSU game this weekend.  I only heard from 2 comments about my gear all day.  Either the Illini don't even register on the ND radar or I guess those Indiana Catholics aren't as confrontational as us Illinois ones. And...for the record, my loyalties lie: 1.  Team 2.  Conference 3.  Everyone Else

Costco may have beat them to the punch, but the fine folks at my favorite store - Menards - are hard to top when it comes to Christmas setups.  I took the Babe there this weekend and while most of the Halloween stuff isn't even on sale, they've already set up a bunch of their enchanted forest.  They have a ton of blowmolds and I may have even picked up something for our yard this season!