My City My Chicago

Paul Konerko, 1st baseman...perhaps discussing college football with a Detroit Tiger?

We have a family secret...we are cursed. It seems as if the Chicago White Sox can not win a game if we are inside park boundaries. The curse has settled over us for about 5 years now.

Last night, we attended the Sox vs. Tigers game at the Cell. We had great seats. The weather was perfect. We knew going in to the game there were no playoff dreams. It didn't matter--it was a beautiful night for baseball.

In the 5th inning, the score was 5 to 0, Sox were up. Rob and I looked at each other and without exchanging ONE WORD we reminded each other that yes, this could be the night the curse finally ended. We knew that if we spoke the words out loud, we would jinx the lead.

Apparently, the curse doesn't care if we speak our thoughts or not. During the next 4 innings, the Sox managed to bungle their lead (that's an understatement) and eventually lost by an unbelievable 7 runs. (Final 12-5 Tigers)

It was embarassing. There were so many Detroit Tiger fans in the stands that it was hard to remember we were actually IN Chicago.

Sam cried as we left the Cell, realizing that in his 5 years, he's never actually seen the Sox win a game in the ball park.

In the car on the way home, we decided to take a break next year and stay away from the Sox park. However, both boys chuckled at the thought of attending a few Cubs games next year...will our curse follow us? ; )

Pure Joy!

Ah the joy of being tossed in the air by a loved one!

My City My Chicago

The view from inside The Bean (Cloudgate) sculpture in Millenium Park

Apparently, this was a wise purchase

Last night, we hung a world map in our boys' room. We had it up in a common area in the old house, but here, it seems to fit best in their room. Sammy walked into the room and immediately said, "Oh look, here's the Phillipines," and he correctly pointed to the Phillipines. I assumed it was something he learned in Kindergarten during these past few days because there are a few Filipino children in his class.

Then, he pointed to Brazil (again, correctly). This time, I figured he read the word.

Next, he pointed to Papua New Guinea. Not only did he pronounce it right, but he was spot on with his i.d. of this rather obscure, smallish country which shares half of the island of New Guinea with Indonesia. He even pointed to the right side of the island. I was pretty sure he didn't learn about Papua New Guinea in school, didn't think he could read the words with such proper pronounciation, so I started to wonder.

Next he pointed to the teeny, tiny African country of Djibouti. I doubt most people have even heard of this country, let alone be able to identify it on a map. I was certain this time that he wasn't reading the word, because Djibouti sounds like Ja-boo-ti and that is exactly how he pronounced it!

Sam continued to identify really obscure countries for a few minutes until finally, we asked, "Sam, how do you know about these countries?--" wondering if perhaps he has the best kindergarten teacher ever.

"Scientific Smart Globe," he replied....

Apparently this was a VERY good use of our money!

My City My Chicago

Man face at the Crown Fountain--this one made my kids laugh out loud!

Remembering...