It’s a big weekend in our household, as the Boston College Eagles (Pete’s team) take on the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (my team). We’re headed to the game tomorrow.

 My husband and I thoroughly discussed this prior to having children, because yes this is a big deal.  I joke that I wouldn’t have married my man if I had known BC would be joining the Atlantic Coastal Conference a few years later.  But, alas, several times a year–in football season, then again in basketball season–the battle lines are drawn in our house. 

(Shhhhhhh….Secretly, Charlie is a Tar Heel fan)  Pete and I made an agreement a while back that Charlie could cheer on the Eagles during football season and the ‘Heels during basketball season. 

Here’s my plan though…. I’m going to get up with Charlie tomorrow morning and (wink, wink) let Pete sleep in…  and since I’ll be dressing him, he’ll be donning his Tar Heel shirt.  It’s war, baby.

The following is from “space.com…

Strong Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Early Tuesday Morning
posted: 16 November 2009
08:01 am ET

One of the best annual meteor showers will peak in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, and for some skywatchers the show could be quite impressive.

The best seats are in Asia, but North American observers should be treated to an above average performance of the Leonid meteor shower, weather permitting. The trick for all observers is to head outside in the wee hours of the morning – between 1 a.m. and dawn – regardless where you live.

The Leonids put on a solid show every year, if skies are clear and moonlight does not interfere. This year the moon is near its new phase, and not a factor. For anyone in the Northern Hemisphere with dark skies, away from urban and suburban lighting, the show should be worth getting up early to see.

“We’re predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia,” said Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. Other astronomers who work in the nascent field of meteor shower prediction have put out similar forecasts.

Urban dwellers and suburbanites will see far fewer, as the fainter meteors will be drowned out by local lights.

Behind the Leonids

The Leonids are created by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which passes through the inner solar system every 33 years on its orbit around the sun. Each time by, it leaves a new river of debris, mostly bits of ice and rock no bigger than a sand grain but a few the size of a pea or marble.

Over time, these cosmic streams spread out, so predicting exactly what will happen is difficult.

“We can predict when Earth will cross a debris stream with pretty good accuracy,” Cooke said. “The intensity of the display is less certain, though, because we don’t know how much debris is in each stream.”

When Earth plows into the debris, the bits hit the atmosphere and vaporize, creating sometimes dramatic streaks of light and the occasional fireball with a smoky-looking trail that can remain visible for several minutes.

The Leonid stream is moving in the opposite direction of Earth, producing impact speeds of 160,000 mph (72 kilometers per second) – higher than many other meteors.

“Such speeds tend to produce meteors with hues of white, blue, aquamarine and even green,” says Joe Rao, SPACE.com’s skywatching columnist.

How to watch

The best viewing will be in rural areas. Get out of town if you can. If you have local lights, scout a location in advance where the lights are blocked by a building, tree or hill.

Dress warmly, and take a blanket or lounge chair so you can lie back and scan as much of the sky as possible. “At this time of year, meteor watching can be a long, cold business,” Rao reminds people.

Leonids can appear anywhere, but if you trace them back, they all point to a hub, or radiant, in the constellation Leo – hence the name.

Give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Then give the show at least a half-hour. The hourly rates stated above typically come in bursts, with lulls that may test your patience. No special equipment is needed. Telescopes and binoculars are of no use because meteors move too quickly.

When to watch

Earth will pass through one of the denser debris streams at around 4 a.m. EST (1 a.m. PST) Tuesday. If you have only an hour or less to watch, center it around this time. Leo will be high in the sky for East Coast skywatchers, putting more meteors into view. In the West, Leo will be low in the eastern sky at this time, so fewer shooting stars will be above the horizon, and therefore Western skywatchers should also try to stick it out until daybreak.

Across Europe, the best bet is to watch anytime between 1 a.m. and daybreak local time.

The planet will pass through an even denser stream later, just before dawn Wednesday in Indonesia and China, but that show won’t be visible from North America because it will be daytime here.

One truth about the Leonids: They always produce, and they sometimes produce spectacular, unforgettable fireballs.

Tony Petrarca

How do you mesh a nearly-1-year-old and a Christmas Tree and have both survive the holiday season?  I can’t fathom NOT putting up a tree this year, but I also envision constantly chasing after my speed-crawler and worrying that he’ll tip the tree over, choke on one of those ornament hooks, get tangled in the lights and any number of other hairy situations.

Moms, Dads, Grandmas… somebody… what’s the secret?

Those that know me, know I am a closet holiday music lover.  Looks like my little guy takes after me, too!  (Please excuse the dark and grainy cell phone video)

The extremely popular and reputable stroller company Maclaren is set to issue a massive recall tomorrow.  Here’s the story from the CBS Early Show this morning:

(CBS)  A major stroller manufacturer is set to make a massive recall Tuesday over concerns that children can have their fingertips sliced in a hinge.
Maclaren will recall all strollers dating back to 1999 – one million in total – a source tells the New York Daily News.
“Parents should stop using these strollers right away,” the source told the newspaper.
Twelve children who allegedly had their fingertips chopped off after getting caught in the hinge sparked the recall, the newspaper reports.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which plans to announce the recall Tuesday, declined to comment.

Yikes!  ALL STROLLERS!  My hubby and I just bought a Maclaren Quest last week!!  I’m going to be safe-guarding my little munchkins digits until then.  Apparently Maclaren has designed a cover to go over the faulty hinge which will protect those precious fingers.

There’s a push to get better screening and testing done of common household chemicals, and now mommies can get on board. 

The company, Seventh Generation, has an internet campaign called the Million Baby Crawl where you can sign up to support toxic chemical reform.  According to Seventh Generation’s website, the Environmental Protection Agency requires safety testing on only 200 of the more than 800,000 chemicals on the market.  The hope is to get a million babies signed up to support legislation that will be presented to congress for a stronger chemical law to keep our families safe and healthy.  Sounds good to me!!

While I don’t always use Seventh Generation products, I have become more conscious of the cleaning products that I use around the house.  I’ve tried to ”go green” with most of the products.  For example, I use good ’ole vinegar water to clean Charlie’s high chair, etc.   It’s simple and cheap!

It only took 4 nights, but it appears my 9month old’s internal clock is finally back to Eastern Standard Time.   He woke up at 6am this morning.  Yay!  Yes–that’s a big improvement from earlier in the week, when he was happily babbling “dada dada” at 5am. 

So I have another item to add to my list of things every new mother should know:  The joys of “falling back” and getting an extra hour of sleep when Daylight Saving Time comes to an end now represents having a few very early mornings and cranky evenings with your infant as you try to reset their internal clock. And if anyone could use an extra hour of sleep, it’s a mom!

Something inside me fires up when it comes to my little guy…. an instinct stronger than any other to protect him.  It brings out a pushy side of me I haven’t seen too often. 

So when I heard my son’s pediatrician’s office got a shipment of the H1N1 vaccine on Friday afternoon–it was pure luck that we happened to be there for his 9month healthy check-up– I made sure he received one of the shots.  Seeing as he’s an asthmatic infant, we were towards the top of the list anyway.  But I’ve learned that sometimes you have to be a little pushy, and on Friday I wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

I couldn’t believe it, though, when his pediatrician told me 1) she’s pregnant! 2) she hasn’t been able to get the H1N1 vaccine yet.  Can you imagine being coughed and sneezed on all day by sick kiddos and at a high risk of complications due to pregnancy and NOT be able to get the shot? Scary. 

I’ve heard many stories similar to mine from people who were able to get the vaccines through a little luck and persistence.  A pregnant co-worker called her OB’s office every morning until she called the day they got a shipment of the vaccine in.  She dropped everything she was doing and headed straight to the office.  You gotta do what you gotta do, right?