Happy Birthday Elijah Kevin Bechdel!!!! Woop-woop! The big 1 year! In some ways its hard to believe it’s already been a year since Kevin and Jen went rushing to the hospital, but in other ways, watching how much Eli has changed, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a year! What a fun year it’s been, too! :)

It seems sorta funny to think about the time leading up February 28, 2006 with the “betting on baby” game to pick the date, sex, length, weight… How could he have been anything but Eli?? haha, it really does seem like yesterday though, getting the phone call that he was born… and then all of the subsequent phone calls, text messages, emails, smoke signals to tell everyone I know… haha.

Well, without getting too sappy… here are some of my favorite Eli pictures from the past year. Also, check out Eli’s site for an AWESOME video that Jen made with pictures and video from the past year (and good music, too, I might add). Also, you can see Eli on the KDKA morning news with the broadcasters saying how cute he is (something we all already knew, but still nice to hear… hehe).

Happy birthday, buddy! Sorry I couldn’t be there, but… only a few days! Have fun partying everybody!!

We at Jeety’s Joint and the Bechdel household currently find ourselves at the “crazy time of year” for birthdays… and in that light:

Happy birthday Action Jackson! woop-woop! Hope your day is grand! Sorry I couldn’t be there, but um… this post will more than likely make up for it? haha, Anyway, here are a few pictures of Jackson in his element…

Happy birthday, pops! Enjoy a High Life for me, eh? wink-wink…

Happy birthday to Qui, happy birthday to Qui, Happy birthday to Quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…. Happy birthday to Qui! yaaaay! haha, I hope you’re doing well and having a good birthday! Take care of yourself and be safe! We miss you!!! Love, Jeet

A “Greatest Hits” of sorts from this summer… Lookin’ good in the Longhorn apparel, I must say. And if you ignore the context, it’s like that delicious cake (as I’m sure we all remember) is for youuuuu! (Lucky you, eh? hehe)

I was messing around with Photoshop the other day… I thought I’d share some of my creations. One of these pictures I didn’t do anything to cause it looked awesome as is… I’ll let you guess.

Basically, this is my only defense against the cuteness that is my main competition, the parent company. (Think about it, it’s a pun.)

So, I’ve been trying to come up with things to write about all week… rather unsuccessfully, I might add (obviously). I hope I’m not losing my touch or something. It’s probably just that… nothing has happened. Well luckily for me, something did happen. Something I had been hoping for since… probably around Christmas. And indeed, a belated Christmas present came to me… Friday night.

What am I speaking of, you ask? Why what else, but the Beaver Bobcats completing a 100%, full-blown losing season of course! Now, before you all jump on me about “but you’re an alumnus, blah blah blah,” please… hear me out. Here is my explanation: I don’t like Beaver Basketball. The end. The reasons why… well, who knows, really? First of all, I find it insulting that basketball is one of the sports that charges for admission. I mean, who are they kidding? When is the last time they put together a season that was even remotely worth mentioning? I would gladly rather pay to see the girls’ basketball team… especially back in the days of Borza and Rybak… (haha, I know those people!). But boys’ basketball? You gotta be kidding me.

Here’s what should happen in order to get me to go to one of their games… First of all, I’m going to need a jet to fly me from Austin to Pittsburgh… DIRECT! None of this “stopping off in Dallas” crap that I have to go through. Okay, so maybe this first request is a little ridiculous, so let’s just assume that I’m the average high school kid. So there I am, sitting on my couch debating whether I should NOT do laundry like you don’t have to do in high school or NOT find my own dinner like you don’t have to in high school. Man, life was tough. I decide not to do both.

Anyway, to get me to the gym, first of all, they’re going to need to pick me up. And guess what’s NOT going to cut it? Anything less than some sort of stretch… whatever. I don’t even care what kind of car… as long as it’s huge. It must also be stocked with the finest juices: apple, cranberry, cran-apple, cran-apple-raz, raz-cran, cran-grape, white grape and orange. Also, I will require one celebrity of at least moderate fame (B-list and up) inside the vehicle, waiting to escort me the 3 or so blocks to the high school. Suggestions include Gillian Anderson, Sam Donaldson and that kid from Roseanne. I mean, honestly people, I’m not asking for much–you probably pass these people on the street every day and don’t know it. If I demanded Jerry Seinfeld, Stevie Nicks and Bono, then sure… you might be a little frantic (by the way, start with them… if they decline, work your way down).

Once we get there, I’m going to need a red carpet (literally) and probably 100 or so hired photographers to capture me with my new celebrity friend. At some point during this time, I will pretend to be really put off by the whole thing and leave in a huff… at which point E! News will run a line in their bottom-screen ticker about it. Once inside, I’m going to need some space to myself. One of those upper deck things will do. Up there, five star dining will be provided. Also, in the liklihood that I do not want to actually watch the boys’ basketball game, I’m going to require some kind of canopy thing that comes down and isolates me from the rest of the gymnasium. Flat screen TVs will come from the walls (out of the brick, I guess? That might cause a few logistical problems, but uh… not for me, if you know what I’m saying.) and provide me with a variety of entertainment choices, anything from ESPN to re-runs of Mama’s Family. Be prepared.

So, like I said, no big deal. But that’s what it’s going to take to get this butt in the seats. Here are some highlights from the season:

An 81-47 loss to Mohawk, a 70-21 loss to Center and my personal favorite, a 68-19 loss to Blackhawk. Couldn’t quite hit the 20-point marker on that last one. Tough break, kids. Actually, one of my favorites was the 66-63 loss to Mountour… SO CLOSE! Hang in there, fellers. I’m sure things will pick up, what with the brilliant coach you have. Brandon Ambrose: the 14-year old trapped in a… 20something’s body (although, judging by his hair, he may or may not be in his early 50s). Maybe he’s 30… who knows. The point is, he’s a genius. I have no idea how he’s slipped through D-1 coaching scout’s fingers. Beaver should probably pay him more than any other teacher in the district (besides the sacred football master Jeff Beltz, of course! Let’s not get ridiculous people) and also keep him on as coach. Anyone who can coach a team to a sterling 0-22 deserves the respect of his peers.

So, here’s to next season: may it be filled with as much… self-searching and questioning as this years! Cheers, mates!

I think this about sums it up. By the way, some great portraits in this post, I must say.

Okay, I don’t know the history behind Groundhog Day. All I know is that one day out of the year, all of our strides in modern science are thrown aside and we instead focus on a rodent that we pull out of the ground, who apparently has the ability to forcast the future better than Viper Radar, Accuweather, AMS, etc. Makes sense, right?

So how does this work? I mean, the last time I checked, wild animals aren’t exactly great at making appointments. So do they put this thing in a hole in the ground… just to take him out later in front of the cameras? What a charade! And why the groundhog? I mean aren’t they just beavers without the cool tail? I should know, I think I’ve hit a few hundred of them on Gypsy Glen Road. (Makes a fine stew, I’ll give them that.) Why not bunnies? We could pull bunnies out of the ground and then they could hide their eggs for the children, like at Easter. (Let’s not even get into that. Someone told me the other day that rabbits actually don’t lay eggs. Unbelievable. What’s next, Jesus isn’t a pale blond with blue eyes? C’mon people.)

And the guy that pulls him out… First of all, I heard it’s a new guy this year, which is shocking to me, considering I didn’t realize that there were two men living on this planet that wore hats like that… you know, this century. Apparently it’s some cult that they’re in, which is just great. “Hey kids, you can play with the rodent too, but first you have to spread the blood of a deer in a circle, clap three times between your legs (alternating legs each time) and recite “The Iliad” from memory. Then we’ll give you a hat.” I mean, if I were in a rivaling cult, I’d feel pretty lousy about all the press these top hat weirdos are getting. Is no one thinking of the poor Scientologists?! People hardly ever talk about them. (Free Katie!!)

Oh well. I mean, I’m not one to buck tradition, but I find this to be one of the oddest holidays in our calendar. I guess it’s another twelve weeks of locusts. (What’s that? That’s not how it works? It’s about the lenghth of the winter? That’s ridiculous. Winter ends when the Ice Queen (Hillary) returns to her home (Dante’s 9th Circle).