Alot

I try to pay attention to things like spelling and grammar. I mean, mistakes are inevitable and I am not a stickler like some (Uncle Kiki, anyone?), but I do try and keep it as on the level as possible. There are some mistakes, however, that are unforgivable once someone is past a certain age or level of literacy. It's shocking how many people use it's and its incorrectly. Or their, there, and they're. Or your and you're. But my biggest pet peeve by far is the misuse of the word(s) a lot. Alot is not a word. It never has been, it never will be.

I first met my friend Joe 11 years ago on the first day of law school (feels like a million years ago). He is funny, interesting, and incredibly smart, and one of my all time favorite people. And when we first started hanging out, he thought alot was a word. He was somehow convinced that alot and a lot could be used interchangeably.... kind of like how when you have a word that ends in 's' you can either put an apostrophe after that 's' or you can do an apostrophe and another 's' (e.g., Louis' toy and Louis's toy are both grammatically correct). I told him we couldn't be friends until he straightened himself out regarding this alot business.

So imagine both of our delights when years ago we came across this blog devoted to grammatical errors, and specifically addressed the Alot situation.

Now, both Joe and I consider ourselves to be excellent gift givers. We agree that sometimes the perfect gift doesn't come at the most opportune time, which is why I will go for 3 years without receiving a birthday gift from him and then get something spectacularly awesome in November (note, my birthday is in April). He had been telling me for weeks that Norah's third birthday present was in the works and he came over for dinner on Friday and brought it with him. (As an aside, I have obviously been complaining a ton about how much I miss our friends and how sad I am to have left the bay area because of them, but we also have a ton of great friends here. Shout out to you guys...I am glad we're here). Anyway, he brought a big box that Norah tore into and she pulled out this.
It's the ALOT! It's the ALOT! (Go back now and check that blog link so you can really appreciate how truly awesome it is).

Apparently, Joe gave his talented seamstress mom a picture of the Alot and she sewed him by hand, without a pattern. It's truly one of a kind. Along with the actual Alot came the story of the Alot, which Joe had bound into a book:

With a special inscription. If you can't read it here it says, "For Norm*. So you always know the difference between a lot and Alot." (*Joe has called Norah 'Norm' since the day I told him the story of that nice old lady who thought my adorable baby boy was named Norm.)

It was the best kind of kid gift there is because it was actually more for me than it was for her. She and Louis both love Alot, even though the latter has been banned from Alot due to the massive amounts of fur he pulled out of Alot's head.

Joe hung out with us for the rest of the night, ate massive amounts of lasagna, and got conned into reading a certain someone bedtime stories.

And a good time was had by all. Especially Alot.