Holiday Cheer... and a subtle warning to the neighbors

I saw this in the craft store, and thought it would be the perfect holiday gift for our neighbors... you know, the ones who let their pet peafowl run wild and poo all over our backyard?

Just saying.

Sprint Car Racing

The husband and I went to lunch with our boss last week.  The restaurant had those TVs that are mounted to the ceiling, and at one point my husband and my boss were distracted by a NASCAR-type race.  Only instead of NASCAR cars racing around the track, it looked more like matchbox cars with trays mounted to the top of them.

We watched them for a bit, as they took a series of continual left turns, until I decided to ask a question.

"There aren't actually people in those cars, are there?"

I could tell immediately from the look on my husband and my boss's face, that this wasn't the most astute question I could have asked.

"What was the question?" my husband asked me.

Alarm bells were going off in my head, and I knew it was a bad idea to repeat the question, but I was already committed at this point.

"There aren't any people in those cars?" I asked again, trying to make it sound like I knew the question was ridiculous and was just testing them to see if they knew.

They weren't buying it.  Chris's eyebrows went up.  "Yes, there's people in them."

"Can you actually fit a person in those cars?  They look so tiny."

"How do you think they get around the track?"

"Um, remote control?"

The Office Football Pool

Our office, like many across the country, has a group football pool.  And doesn't it always seem like it's someone's random girlfriend or wife that seems to win?  It's not the dude who lives and breathes football and can recite every team's stats by memory.  No, its that dude's roommate's girlfriend's best friend from college, who knows nothing about football, and just put her $5 into the pool on a "whim."  The win comes out for the week and everyone's like, "Katie?  Who's Katie?  Does she even work here?  Didn't she win last week?!"

I, also, know nothing about football.  And yet, somehow every week I am suckered into putting my money into the pot.  I don't win very often.  Or, like, any week this season except for the first one where I was just eeked out on points at the end of Monday's game.  But I also did once win the office March Madness pool, for the whole season, so my theory can't be all wrong.

So here it is, the big secret.  How people who know nothing about sports pick the winners for the office pool.


Rule #1: You always pick your all-time favorite team to win.  No matter what the odds.

Rule #2: You also pick any team from any city or state you've ever lived in.
-- If two teams from the same state are playing each other, then you pick the one with the prettier uniforms.
-- Unless one of those teams is the Raiders.  You NEVER pick the Raiders.

Rule #3:  If the quarterback of one team is dating a celebrity, then you pick that team.

And finally... if in doubt, google the game to check out the odds.  Then pick the one with the best odds.  Except every once in a while, pick the underdog.  Because it's nice to root on the underdog.

Good luck, and happy playing!

I'll let you know if I win this season.  Although so far, it's not looking good.  That darn Katie.