My Mom's Egg Rolls

While playing with Daniel this afternoon I held him up near my face and he let a huge...

BUUUUUURP!

To which I commented, "Mmm, it smells like egg rolls."

It'll Be Okay...I Promise

Hey you! Yes, you! The sports n00b in the Celtics' jersey. Back away from the cliff. You don't have to jump! The C's will be okay.

It's days like yesterday that remind me why I don't like to watch sports with other people. People say the craziest things and I swear it feels like they are trolling me. Everyone added their 2 cents on Facebook, Twitter, and every other social outlet about how the Celtics' trades were crazy. I heard things like:

"There goes Banner 18!"

"Danny Ainge has lost his mind!"

"We traded away 5 players and only got back 2!"

Seriously? This is what Boston sports fans are thinking? Clearly an overreaction. People like to think they are die-hard sports fans but most people aren't OBSESSED with Boston sports like I am. I follow the Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox year-round. My sports level is over 9000!

The main criticism was trading away Perkins. He was a solid defender, a good rebounder, and added toughness to the C's defense. However, let's look past that he was a nice guy and good teammate and was one of "ours" and face reality. The C's did not trade away Bill Russell in his prime. They traded Perkins who averages 6.4 PPG and 6.1 RPG for his career. You could argue that Perkins' is invaluable on the defensive side of the ball and whatever offense you get from him is gravy. However, he is not the same player he was pre-injury. He just came back from a torn ACL and recently sprained his MCL in the other knee. He'll also be gone after this year when he becomes a free agent. It was great to get a really good player in F Jeff Green who averages 15.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG in return.

Other people complained that the C's traded away 5 players and only got 2 in return. That's completely wrong. Though the C's got 2 players in return now, they acquired a future 1st-round pick and 2 future 2nd-round picks. Let's remember that Big Baby was a 2nd-rounder.

Let's also consider who were traded. The remaining 4 players were BENCH players. They were not superstars. They are back-of-the roster guys. Robinson (7.1 PPG) has been inconsistent all year. Daniels (5.5 PPG) has a serious spine condition and he's likely done for the year. Erden (4.1 PPG) was injured and did not always play hard. And Harangody (2.3 PPG)...who?!

You have to look past the obvious of trading 5 guys for 2 and try to understand the underlying reasons for the trades. Ainge needed to free up roster slots to be able to sign any number of potential players who soon will be released or bought out from their respective teams. Notable players include: Troy Murphy and Rip Hamilton.

I know the C's are dangerously thin at the center position but we have to consider that Ainge may know something we don't. Shaq might be close to returning. Krstic will be a serviceable backup.

How quickly we forget. For everyone who thinks Ainge has lost his mind, people said the exact same thing when he traded away Al Jefferson and seemingly everyone-not-named-Pierce for future hall-of-famers Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Then Banner 17.

So I plead with you once again. Back away from the cliff. Take a deep breath. Things will be okay. I promise.

Our Growing Family

Money isn't exactly tight but the pressure of providing for a growing family is real. In a world where couples are marrying later in life, focusing more on advancing their respective careers and ultimately having fewer children, Tary and I would like to have 4 children (if God so chooses to bless us with that many). But everything is so expensive.

Daycare is barely affordable with our dual incomes. And that's with only one child. The other parents keep deploying dropping off their biological weapons sick kids at daycare which gets Daniel sick and in turn gets us sick. I'm not sure how we'll afford paying for daycare for even two kids.

We've talked about this a lot lately. Tary has the same work ethic that I do and she feels guilty not being able to provide monetarily for our family. But whatever she earned at work would quickly be negated by the costs of daycare for multiple children. The logical solution would be Tary eventually staying at home with the kids. We won't get as sick so we'll all be healthier. We'd also save a ton of money on daycare tuition.

The downsides however would be that our kids won't get to play with other kids their age as much. They'll miss out on the various activities done at daycare. They'll miss out on being with our favorite teacher, Miss Denise. And Tary will be exhausted taking care of them every day.

With more kids hopefully in our future everything needs to be reevaluated. We'll need to replace Tary's '04 Civic Coupe soon with a larger car. We're leaning toward the Camry so she could open the rear doors to load/unload the kids instead of climbing over the passenger seat as she does now.

I already have close to 60,000 miles on my '08 RAV4 so we'll need to replace that in a few years. Depending on our family needs, we might need to get a larger SUV or maybe even a minivan. We'll probably need something with a 3rd row by then.

Speaking of minivans, Tary has a thing against them. She hates them. And their drivers. Did I mention she hates them? At a recent visit at the dealership while we waited for my car to be serviced, Tary and I spent a few minutes INSIDE a 2011 Toyota Sienna! I'm not sure that would have happened a few months ago. I'm proud of Tary for at least keeping an open mind about it.

It's hard not to fantasize dream about the features of the highest trim levels for the Sienna. AWD would be great in the winter. The integrated backup camera would be nice to avoid parking like a stereotypical minivan driver. And the dual-screen option allows the kids to watch a movie on one screen and play a video game on the other. How cool is that?! Anyways, the need for something as large as a minivan is still years away and those features are very cost-prohibitive.

It's scary thinking that I might be only source of income for our family pretty soon. I'd love to add another source of income somehow but I hardly have enough time as it is. Freelance work is too time-consuming. Part-time jobs don't pay well enough to offset the time away from my family.

After a long day of work, all I want to do is be with Tary and Daniel. I barely watch TV and have completely stopped playing video games. I'm just tired to do anything else. I love giving Daniel baths. I love our bedtime routine of feeding him and holding him until he falls asleep in my arms. I enjoy being a Daddy and not just a father.

So right now I'm trying my hand at mobile app development for the Android platform. Android phones are the most popular devices right now. If I could somehow write an app or two that millions of people download and pay for, that could provide extra income for our family. It's tough finding the time and energy to learn how to develop on the platform. All I can do is chip away at it each night after Daniel has gone to bed. Maybe one day I'll have something to show for it and that new Sienna to drive us around in.

Cognition 3.04 and Fix for Contacts Icon

I got tired of waiting for AT&T/Samsung to release an official update for my phone (Samsung Captivate) to the Android 2.2 OS. It kills me knowing my phone is still running an OS that is 3 releases behind.

So I did what many other disgruntled users have done; I upgraded my phone by flashing with the Cognition 3.04 custom rom.

I'm pretty happy with the experience so far. My phone is much more responsive and doesn't feel like it is running through molasses. Text messaging, phone calls, and GPS still appear to work. The browser is improved. I will continue to make sure everything works but so far so good.

The only problem that I had so far was that when I pressed the Back button from within the Contacts, it would not return to the Home Screen. Well it drove me crazy so I figured out how to fix it. If you have the same problem, here's how to fix it:

1. Long-press the Contacts icon in the dock.
2. Select Change shortcut.
3. Select Applications.
4. Wait for the list of applications to be displayed. Scroll down and select the Contacts app.
5. Select LauncherPro icons.
6. Select the Contacts icon.

Now you should be able to click the Contacts icon in the dock and click the Back button to return to the Home Screen.

Daniel's Progress

Time has flown by since Daniel was born a little more than 9 months ago. It seems like we're discovering something new that Daniel can do on a daily basis.

Daniel recently surprised us by crawling with a sippy-cup in one hand to a folded blanket on the floor. He placed his other hand down to cushion his descent. He then rolled over and casually started to drink from his sippy-cup. He never ceases to amaze us.

Daniel is very mobile now. He crawls everywhere and sometimes pulls himself to a stand. He can go forward, backward, and turn while in his walker. It'll soon be time to install the baby gates and finish baby-proofing the rest of the house.

One thing I really love about Daniel is how affectionate he is. He loves snuggling before bedtime and insists on falling asleep in our arms each night.

I think Daniel's teeth are about ready to come out. He has been drooling like crazy lately and you can feel something just under his gums.

I'm not sure what Daniel will learn next but I'm excited to find out.

Thoughts after the NFL Playoffs Divisional Round, Jets vs. Patriots

The Jets ran their mouths all week and it kills me that they backed it up. The Patriots struggled in all 3 phases of the game and picked the worst time of the year to do it. The Pats played from behind most of the game and were eliminated from the playoffs by the Jets, 28-21.

Offense

The offense came out without Welker who was benched for making several foot/toe references in a press conference alluding to the Jets' coach Rex Ryan's foot fetish. Though I think the punishment was a bit harsh considering it was a playoff game, I understand that Belichick had to make it clear that he does not approve of his players getting into personal attacks and providing bulletin board material for the other team. At the end of the day, the benching of Welker did not affect the final outcome in any way.

The Pats were able to move the ball well on their first two drives by mixing up formations and using several runs to the outside. However the first drive ended with an INT resulting from a horrible overthrow by Brady trying to set up a screen play to BJGE. The Pats were able to get a stop on defense and the Jets missed a FG keeping the score tied at 0.

The offense was able to march back down the field on their 2nd drive into the red zone. However the Pats had to settle for a FG after Crumpler had a bad drop in the end-zone. The Pats had two possessions deep into Jets territory and only 3 points to show for it.

The Pats struggled for most of the game after that. The Jets had a great defensive game-plan of rushing only 3, leaving CBs Revis and Cromartie to handle the WRs on the outside, and then putting the remaining defenders in the middle of the field to limit Welker and the TEs. Brady was sacked 5 times with many of them coverage sacks where he had to hold the ball longer than he normally would because he could not find many open receivers. Even when receivers were open, it looked like Brady was a little gun-shy after the INT on the first drive. It seemed like he was afraid of causing another turnover.

One problem that I've noticed with recent Patriots teams is their inability to make game-time adjustments. With single coverage to the outside, the Pats lack of an explosive WR really hurt them in this game. Branch was blanketed by Revis so he was a non-factor for most of the game. There wasn't another WR on the other side of the field that the Jets had to respect.

With the Jets only sending 3 rushers, the obvious way to beat that is to run the ball. Unfortunately the Pats took 3 quarters to figure that out. The Pats were finally able to move the ball but there was no sense of urgency from the offense! They wasted more than 7 minutes and ended up turning the ball over on downs. Such poor clock management reminded me of McNabb in the Super Bowl many years ago.

Defense

Overall I think the play of the defense was just okay. They got several stops throughout the game but were unable to make any game changing plays when it mattered most.

The main problem was that the Pats could not get any pressure on Sanchez. Even an average QB like Sanchez can make plays when given enough time to throw and he did just. He threw for 3 TDs on 16 of 25 throws for 194 yards.

The Pats did not commit enough to stop the running game. The Jets were able to rush for 120 yards at over 4 yards/carry. The Pats should have loaded up the box to stop the run and forced Sanchez to throw more. Instead, Sanchez was able to take advantage of play-action and play efficiently.

After allowing a long return by Cromartie on a failed onside kick attempt, the defense HAD to make a stop from their own 20 to keep it a 1 TD game. However they gave up a long TD run which pretty sealed the deal.

I think Meriweather had a horrible game. He attempted to make too many shoulder tackles instead of wrapping up which allowed the ball carriers to gain extra yards. He definitely took a step back this year.

In the 2Q, CB Butler got beat deep again yielding a 37-yard completion to Edwards. I had such high hopes for him considering how fast he is but he cannot make the play. Hopefully Leigh Bodden will be healthy and ready to go next year.

Special Teams

The special teams play that stands out is the fake punt late in the 2Q. It seemed like a bit of a panic move with the Jets only leading by 7-3. It was a gutsy call and unfortunately, it was horribly executed. Chung fumbled the snap and could not pick up the first down after recovering the ball. This play left the Jets with a short field and they capitalized and extended their lead, 14-3 heading into the half.

After the Pats kicked a FG to make the score 21-14 late in the 4Q, the Pats lined for an onside kick. They were not able to recover the onside kick and then compounded the poor execution by allowing Cromartie to pick up the ball and rumble all of the way down to the NE 25-yard line. The Jets proceeded to score another TD 2 plays later, 28-14. The last glimmer of hope that the Pats could miraculously come back was extinguished on that play.

Other Thoughts

I can't stand the Jets. There are so many hate-able guys on that team: Rex Ryan, LT, Edwards, Revis, Cromartie, and Bart Scott just to name a few. It kills me that the Jets dashed our Super Bowl dreams this year but I'm relieved that they were beaten the following week by the Steelers.

The Pats did not play very Patriot-like in this game. Welker was benched. The offense struggled for most of the game. Belichick made a mistake challenging a completed pass early in the game. The Pats were unable to make the necessary adjustments in-game until it was too late. There were bad penalties like the Mankins' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that killed a drive at the end of the 1st half. When the Patriots were finally able to move the ball late in the game, there was no sense of urgency and lots of time ticked off the clock. At the end of the day, the Jets played well and the Patriots didn't and the final score showed that.

It was a great run this year but unfortunately the Patriots came up short again. The Patriots have several holes to fill but here is my wish-list:

1. Passrusher. Other teams' QBs are too comfortable and too many average QBs look like superstars. The Pats need a passrusher to force the other QBs into rushing their throws and making poor decisions. This should help the young secondary as well.
2. Game-changing running back. I love BJGE's quiet workmanlike attitude but other teams won't game-plan around him because he's not a homerun threat. The Pats need someone who can break tackles, make people miss, and potentially break off a long TD here or there. If the Pats could get a talent like this, other teams will have to respect the running game which should open up the field for the receivers and enhance the play-action.
3. A legit deep threat. The Pats don't have another solid WR to line up opposite of Branch to help stretch the field. Tate is a nice special teams player but he doesn't command any respect when he streaks down the field. The Pats dink-and-dunk too much and other teams have figured this out. It's time to get a speed-burner and to send someone deep every once in a while.

Conditioned

I've been neglecting this poor blog for weeks in a futile attempt to avoid writing about my thoughts on the horrible playoff loss to the Jets. That post is coming soon and will be ready at some time today.

So why am I writing this? Part of me is excited to try out the new Blogger mobile app for Android. That's right, I'm writing this on my phone. Having Swype makes typing a lot easier.

But no, the real reason I'm writing this is my poor body is conditioned to wake up at 5 AM every day to take care of Daniel regardless if he actually needs me. I can't fall back asleep!

I'm staring at the baby monitor and Daniel is sound asleep. A part of me wants him to cry for me so I can be the Daddy Hero and come swooping in to save the day and soothe him back to sleep. It's my way of squeezing more Daddy-Daniel time out of the day.

My internal Daddy signal woke me up today. It was a false alarm. But I'll be up again tomorrow at this time. Daddy Hero will be ready should Daniel need me.