birth control

so this past weekend i went to arizona. nellie's sister-in-law was taking her husband out of town and asked if nellie would watch her kids for the weekend. nellie asked me to go by giving me one of those, 'im going to go do this, i would like it if you came with me, you dont have to though...' which essentially means, 'come with me, if you dont, ill be upset and i guarantee this will come back to haunt you.' it was actually a fun weekend and i didnt mind going. there were a few highlights or thoughts:

1. we got there on friday afternoon and didnt have to pick up the kids until 9 pm because they were being babysat at another person's house. nellie wanted to see an imax movie so we found a theater, but the only imax movie playing that we could see was 'i am legend.' i had seen it, thought it was fine, nellie hadnt and i thought it was worth seeing again, plus i was in the mood to just relax in front of a movie. i am so glad we went. as it turns out, one of the previews for 'i am legend,' only on the imax screen, is the first 6 minutes of the new batman movie that comes out this summer. it....looks....AMAZING. i havnt been this excited for a movie in a long time. i was blown away. i told nellie, and i was completely honest, that i would have been satisfied paying $10 to just see those 6 minutes. i think they are doing a great job with the new batmans. well, they have only done one, but this one looks great as well. they arent so 'comicbookie.' everything is somewhat believable. of course not entirely, but the joker, heath ledger (rip), looks like a legitimately insane guy that could or does exist in our current society. anyways, i was trying to find a clip of the 6 minutes i saw, and post it here, but i couldnt find it. part of me didnt want to because i dont want to spoil it and i cant do it justice with some lame youtube video. anyways, be excited. it looks great.

2. when i told nellie i would go to arizona with her, i asked if we could go out early on friday so that we could see an angel's spring training game. they were playing the cubs. nellie agreed. we left later than we wanted and didnt get to the game until the 6th inning. but it was still fantastic. i dont know why ive never been. i have friends that have gone to spring training in florida, but for some reason ive never been. its major league teams, in small ballparks for cheap tickets. we bought lawn seats that were $6. but we ended up sitting right behind the angel's dugout. nellie saw some open seats and we took them. the old men next to the seats said they were open and no one seemed to care. and that's why it was so great. because no one cared. there were no security guards checking tickets. people were standing in the aisles and no stadium employee came to tell them to find their seats. everyone was there to sit in warm weather, relax, escape their jobs and watch some meaningless baseball. the old man next to me said that he has been coming down for two months for the past 12 years. they are driving back to illinois after spring training is over. first they are stopping in vegas though. he told me its about 1800 miles back, but they break it up by stopping and staying at their friend's houses in missouri and alberquerque. im not sure who planned his trip, but i dont think he's taking the quickest route home. he didnt seem to care. no one did. the 20something year old guys behind us left in the 7th inning so they could make it to their 4 pm tee-time. just outstanding. i dont know why ive never been, but im sure ill be going back.

3. and finally (this post is longer than expected), babysitting is one of the best forms of birth control. really, the kids we babysat were great kids. 3 boys and 1 girl. the boys are ages 8, 5, and 3 (i think) or maybe 8, 6, and 4, and the girl is 2 years old. anyways, they were easy to babysit, but its just so tiring. going from 0-4 kids overnight was difficult. and i know its not like that (unless you have quadruplets like nellie's other sister), but suddenly having to tend kids makes you realize how tiring it really is. the two year old was sick so she woke up every half hour from 4 am on. the boys were full of energy so they wanted to play all day without stopping. anyways, i know that most of my friends have children and so they arent at all impressed or anything that i looked after 4 kids for all of 48 hours, but it did make me realize that its just not something that you should do unless you are completely ready. and these were great kids mind you. but its so much work. which i already knew, but i was just reminded of this weekend. too bad every un-wed sexually active teenager couldnt be put through a full week of having to tend a child or two, or four. maybe it would change things, maybe not, i dont know. i know it changed me. im adopting, and only if the child is 12 years or older.