Not a creature was stirring

Christmas Eve for a five year old is an exciting, happy, nerve wracking time...well, at least it is nerve wracking for the five year old's parents! A has been absolutely giddy all day, as most children probably have been. He ate hardly any dinner and then didn't even complain when he could not have dessert. He has been talking nearly nonstop, singing Christmas songs loudly, and danced through the living room at least four times in fifteen minutes. He is cute, but the constant din was wearing us down.

He was busy late this afternoon drawing a picture for Santa. His drawing is a picture of Santa outside of a house, ready to deliver presents! He also made Santa an ornament for his Christmas tree, and carefully chose a piece of fudge and a Buckeye to leave for Santa, in lieu of cookies. Here is the text of the letter that I will leave next to the empty treat plate:

"Dear A:
Thank you for the goodies that you left for me! The treats were tasty and the ornament will look pretty on our tree. I know Mrs. Claus will be thrilled with the picture you drew.

Your friend,
Santa Claus

P.S. Nigel is exhausted. Can you please make it easier on him next year?

P.P.S. The reindeer said to tell you 'thank you' for the food you left for them. Not everyone remembers to leave treats for my team."

We have always told A that Santa assigns an elf to each child to assist him with the assessment of who has been naughty or nice, and that Nigel is the name of A's elf. And A's teachers sent home a bag of dried oatmeal and Fruit Loops, calling it "reindeer food." It is now scattered all over our front walk and driveway. Let's hope our friendly neighborhood rodents eat it tonight so we don't have any 'splaining to do in the morning.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Evil genius

I adore a good prank, and J alerted me to one that is currently being auctioned on eBay: Drive Someone Insane with Postcards. The seller is going to Poland and will send three postcards to the winning bidder's person of choice, postcards that contain information that a friend would know about the recipient...and the postcards will be illegibly signed. The recipient will be left to wonder who they know that is visiting Poland and sending them these postcards. I love it! It's a great prank AND they are making money on it!

J reminded me that it is similar to a prank I pulled several years ago. I worked with a young man named Ben who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was being paid a lot of money (I guessed, or maybe just enough) to do apparently very little, and he and another privileged friend of his spent weekends traveling to interesting locales. He would return with stories of the women they met, the food they ate, the fun they had and the immense amounts of alcohol they consumed.

One of the places they visited was London. The voice mail system at that company did not record the telephone number of the message, which gave me an idea. I had a British friend who lived locally to call Ben's work number after hours and leave a very cryptic message. It was along the lines of "Hello, Ben, this is Kathy. It was great to meet you last weekend and I had such a good time. Can't wait to see you when I am in the States next month - I'll call you!" Kathy told me later that she nearly burst out laughing while leaving the message, especially since her husband was doubled over with laughter next to her!

Ben was baffled. I had let the other two women in the office know about the joke and they did a great job of playing along, asking who she could be, what he had done, yada yada yada. It absolutely bugged him to no end since he had finally worked out in his mind that it was a joke, but had no idea as to who was behind it. And since I had laid low at this company and he did not know me well, he had no reason to suspect me. The three of us women nearly laughed ourselves sick at his confusion.

It wasn't until months later when I left the company that I 'fessed up. He acknowledged that he never suspected me and that it was, indeed, a very good prank.

[Cue the ominous music] BWAA-HA-HA!

Mi casa, su casa

Yesterday was A's last day of school for the year and he brought home a paper grocery bag full of holiday decorations and creations. Of course, one of the items was covered in gold glitter, and now I am finding glitter all over the house. I swear I have thoroughly wiped the kitchen table a half dozen times and yet I still find bits of glitter adhered to the surface.

Another item was the "gingerbread" house that I made the foundation for earlier in the week. It is rather fragile, with chocolate kisses and pretzel sticks tumbling off at the slightest movement - I am shocked (and perhaps a bit disappointed) that it survived the trip home. As promised, here is a photo of the lovely abode:
In the photo, the plate is resting on a festive laminated place mat that A made. We have put the gingerbread house in an upper cabinet so that Grandma W can see it tomorrow when she arrives and to protect it from the curious claws of Spenser the cat.

But once Grandma gets to see it, I am not promising anything...it may "accidentally" fall off the deck or Spenser might get a chance at it after all!

Go go go!

It has been a few wild and crazy days, starting with last Friday. I had to run around on Friday to take care of some errands: get coffee at our favorite roaster, pick up a pottery ornament A painted that had been fired, and buy the supplies to make the Christmas goodies. No big whoop, but it took some time to get everything done.

On Friday night, J's company had their holiday party. A was thrilled to have a babysitter and we told her that he could stay up a half hour later than usual so they would have more time to play. What fun it was to get dressed up and spend an entire evening just chatting, noshing, sipping, dancing and laughing! Having planned parties in my past, I had a few quibbles with the way this one was organized and executed, but then again, I was happy that we had a company party to attend!

On Saturday and Sunday, we worked HARD to install the rest of our kitchen cabinets. As we have been able to afford it, we have been replacing the cabinets in the kitchen and we were finally able to get the remainder on order in November and they were delivered on Monday the 10th. Our friend Dave worked with us on Saturday, which was wonderful because he is also a home project guru. Saturday was a bit rough at times with one or two setbacks, notably when J hit a pipe while mounting the corner cabinet and he had to scramble to cut off the water! About two hours got used up repairing the pierced pipe.

J and I finished up on Sunday. J did most of the work while I held things in place, fetched tools and made a good suggestion or two. A was a dear and entertained himself most of the weekend, although we found little projects so that he could "help" with the kitchen, too.

So in the 2+ years we have been in this house, we have almost completely redone the kitchen - new cabinets, lighting, counters, sink and dishwasher. What was a dingy, outdated, dark kitchen is now open, light and inviting. Although the actual size has not changed, I swear it looks bigger. And it is beautiful! Once we save up a little more, we can think about getting rid of the awful floor in there.

Then on Monday and Tuesday, I made all the Christmas goodies for J to give to his staff when I wasn't burning the skin off my fingers in A's class. I thought I had three days to make everything, but J informed me midday on Tuesday that several of them started their vacations on Thursday (today), so he had to take the goodies in yesterday. Oy vey. I worked like a mad woman and got everything made and packed in tins. J reported that the goodies were happily received yesterday and that one or two went home empty!

Yesterday I lounged a bit, enjoying not having to go anywhere or having any big projects to tackle. But it is a good feeling to know that we accomplished so much in a very short period of time.

Burn, baby, burn

Yesterday morning found me in A's classroom, using hot glue to affix graham crackers to little milk cartons. They are going to make "gingerbread" houses and since I can't be there on Thursday morning when they decorate them (oh, rats - not really), I thought I would help out ahead of time.

Those that know me are aware that I am not in the least bit crafty; I had never held (fired?) a hot glue gun before yesterday. The teacher and the room parent looked at me in amazement when I confessed that it was my first time to use a hot glue gun - is it really that usual? The teacher also mentioned that I probably should have dressed down; I guess cashmere wasn't the best choice.

After a few missteps, I sort of got the hang of it, and the other mommy and I made quick work of the 19 houses. I only ended up with two burns, and all of the graham crackers did manage to get glued to the milk cartons and not to me! I am very proud.

The cashmere sweater survived unscathed and I did my part to help with the class project. I will post a photo of A's creation once he brings it home on Thursday, if it survives the bus ride.

Holiday greetings

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The color of Christmas

When you live with a five year old, you are never quite sure of what he is going to say next...and sometimes, you wish he would keep certain information to himself!

A begged me to buy Pillsbury ready-to-bake cookies that are green and shaped like Christmas trees. You simply pull them out of the sheet of pre-cut cookies, put on a pan and bake. Convenient? Yes. Festive? Yes. Tasty? No. Although I have never tried to eat baked Play Dough, I am guessing that it probably tastes like these cookies.

I bought a package and we baked them earlier this week. I have allowed A to eat them for dessert and sent them in his lunch one day; after the first taste, neither J nor I has eaten any additional cookies. Tonight after we finished eating dinner, I asked A if he wanted any dessert. Of course he did, but he informed that he did not want to eat any more of the Christmas tree cookies because "they make my poop green." Too much information, for sure. I managed to not laugh, and assured him that he did not have to eat any more of the cookies. And then also mentioned that there are certain subjects that are not discussed at the dinner table!

The raccoons will be the recipients of the rest of the cookies (two or three per night - don't want any rodent tummy aches). I don't care if the cookies turn the raccoon's poop green, and I feel quite sure that the raccoons don't care, either.

Where's the chill?

It is warm here in Georgia, has been for several days. Out west there is ice coating everything, the Midwest has snow, and we have record high temperatures. I know that I shouldn't complain, but I am...we have so little cold weather here that I want what we are entitled to at this time of the year! And I am always concerned that when the weather is out of whack, that we will be in for it when it finally corrects itself.

We took full advantage of the lovely weather on Sunday by going to one of our favorite places, the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Since our first visit there some eighteen months ago, we have all been entranced by this jewel in the heart of Midtown and immediately became members. We try to visit every couple of months to see the new exhibitions and to just experience the beauty. A especially enjoys the Children's Garden.

Our friend Dave went with us, and it was his first visit. In addition to introducing him to the Garden, we went to see the holiday decorations, and for A to ride the holiday train and visit with Santa. A was excited to be old enough to ride the train by himself and he made it very clear that he did not want any of us to join him.

For some reason, however, A suddenly got very shy and did not want to visit with Santa. Although we were disappointed, we were not going to force him...but the Garden has a beautiful outdoor display in which Santa holds court, and their Santa is fabulous.

We were having such a good time and the weather was so nice that we picked up some sandwiches and headed next door to Piedmont Park. We ate our picnic lunch, let A burn off even more energy playing in one of the playgrounds, and then strolled around the lake.

What a gorgeous day!

It's supposed to be fun, people

Some of the women in my mommies' group have been posting messages about how stressed they feel about the holidays, how much they have to do, that it's not fun, yada yada yada. I thought of them yesterday when I read an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about people who are turning away from a stressful, consumer-oriented Christmas and focusing more on what it means to them. The article originally appeared in USA Today with the title "Boycotters ask, 'What Would Jesus Buy?'", but don't let the title turn you off.

Both of my parents grew up during the Depression and Christmas, like everything in their lives, reflected that experience. While we had great Christmases growing up, our holiday was not overfilled with gifts like so many families. We focused more on being together, doing things together, connecting with family and friends. We were taught to be grateful for what we had and to not mourn what we did not have.

That has carried over to my adult life. Yes, we are going to have some wonderful gifts in our house this year, but probably not the amount that the typical US family has. We refuse to go into debt to buy gifts and understand that more gifts do not equal a great holiday. We do not buy gifts for extended family - we don't really know their likes/dislikes anymore, there are too many people, they live all over the country and there is really no reason.

I enjoy writing and sending holiday cards, and receiving them. I enjoy buying a few, well-thought out gifts for J, A, and our parents. I enjoy making goodies for us to overindulge in! I enjoy telling stories about Christmases past and remembering those good times. I enjoy going to a few parties and having a good time. I enjoy our various traditions and making up new ones each year. I enjoy teaching A to be compassionate by buying gifts for those who do not have much.

And that is why the holidays are not stressful for me. If the holidays ever become a time of stress for me, then that will be my cue to stop, assess what is important, and pare back.

It's a wrap

I spent this morning doing one of the things I dislike most about the holidays: wrapping presents. While I like the pretty paper and seeing all the marvelous gifts, I just don't enjoy wrangling those marvelous gifts into their holiday outfits. But I had a whole morning without any outside-of-the-house obligations and since we plan to put the tree up this weekend, I thought I would just dive in and get it done.

Although I dislike wrapping, there is nothing quite as much fun...to a cat. Spenser, of course, inserted himself into the middle of everything. Honestly, it seemed as though there were at least five cats helping themselves to ribbon, biting the tape and rolling around in the paper. I am surprised that I didn't wrap him! Then again, maybe I should have - it would have kept him out of the way for a few minutes.

It took over two hours, but I got done all that I could get done. My back hurts and my hands are riddled with paper cuts, but I am done! And Spenser? He is exhausted, too, and is now sound asleep.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Today is my mother's birthday, but I won't say which one; although she is not ashamed of her age, I still don't think she would appreciate me sharing that information!

(Side note: the older I get, the more cagey I get about my own age...I will admit to 40-something but the exact number is on a strict need-to-know basis. And most people simply do not need to know.)

When I speak of my mother, I usually use the word "lady," which describes her perfectly. She is kind, refined, conscientious, compassionate, proper, and gracious. She is a good friend and neighbor to many people and always quick to help, but finds it difficult to accept the type of help that she routinely provides to others. Her religious faith is very important to her and her life, for the most part, revolves around her church. Mom can be a bit naive at times and always expects the best of others - an admirable quality, to be sure, but one that often sets her up to be disappointed.

I am not much like my mother, I think. While I can be compassionate, gracious and kind, these are qualities that I have to work at and which do not come naturally to me. I certainly do not share her religious faith and fervor and while I do believe strongly in helping others, my motivation for doing so is different from hers. I don't even particularly look like her or her side of the family - I am all Dad and his family.

So while I do not resemble my mother in looks or temperament, and at times it seems that we have little in common, I do admire her. I admire her resolve, her trust in others and her positive outlook, and I admire the way she has soldiered on after my father's death. She gets lonely, of course, but she refuses to give in to hopelessness and continues to live her life, to have fun, to enjoy her friends and to make new ones.

Happy birthday, Mom - you are an amazing woman!

All downhill from here

Now that it is December, everyone is in full holiday mode and the rest of the month will fly by quickly. A's last day in school is Wednesday, 19 December, which is just two weeks from tomorrow. So if there is anything that I need to get done before I have 24/7 companionship, I had better get busy!

I only have a few more cards to write and address, and will start mailing them next week. With the exception of a gift card for my nephew (boring, I know but he is 18), I am done shopping - I just have the big task of wrapping ahead of me. I am not a good gift wrapper, so hopefully the bright, pretty paper will distract everyone from the thick corners, crooked seams and overabundance of tape.

Another big job for me is the making and baking of Christmas treats. J wants to give a tin of goodies to each of his direct reports, plus his manager and his colleague. That is a total of eight tins. I deliberately bought small ones so I won't be rivaling any candy factories in my efforts, but it will still take a lot of stirring and dipping. I will make chocolate fudge and peanut butter/chocolate Buckeyes (of course), and maybe one or two types of cookies.

Speaking of Buckeyes, Ohio State is ranked #1 in the BCS and will play LSU for the championship - yea! I don't think that LSU should be #2 with not one but TWO losses to their credit, but I honestly don't know which team I would pick to take their place...perhaps Kansas but certainly not any team that failed to win their conference or has two losses. I just hope this year that Ohio State actually shows up to play the championship game and doesn't disgrace itself or its fans.

Ho Ho Ho!

Going to the candidates' debate

I turned on the CNN/YouTube Republican presidential candidate debate last night just to see Anderson Cooper and ended up watching it for a while. I did fine until abortion was discussed and I got so mad that I wanted to throw a glass at the television.

It was my first time to see some of these people in action. It did not take long for J and I to develop a distinct dislike of Matt Romney - our impression is that of a smug, slick, pompous, pomaded jerk. After he spoke, I felt as though I should take a shower.

Our reactions to the men at either end of the stage - Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo - were WTF? The "W" being "who?" Whoever they are, Duncan needs to find another makeup tech because the bronzer was way too heavy last night.

Fred Thompson is a joke. What I saw last night reminded me of that old Saturday Night Live skit spoofing Admiral Stockdale after his debate with Al Gore and Dan Quayle. He looked, at times, confused and his answers were anything but clear, and not in a deliberate "I'm going to dance around the question" kind of way. He just looked inept.

(Side note: whatever happened to Dan Quayle? Wait, I really don't care.)

We were really qujite impressed with Mike Huckabee and his clear, concise answers. He seems to be sincere, well-informed, humble, and he speaks calmly and knowlegably. Go figure.

Rudy Giuliani did fine, and will John McCain EVER let us forget that he served in Vietnam? I rather like McCain although I don't agree with him on many issues, but as my friend Stephanie says, his handlers probably bite their nails and hold their breath whenever he speaks for fear of him saying something outrageous.

Which leaves Ron Paul, who came across to me as the Dennis Kucinich of the Republican candidates. Except that Ron Paul takes himself seriously. Go figure.

But I play one on TV

I will be the first to admit that I am not a child-rearing expert, nor do I aspire to be one. When I became pregnant, I went against the tide of popular thought and chose not to read every book by every so-called expert. I learned no handy-dandy methods, techniques, schools of thought or theories. Instead, I decided to rely on my average intelligence and my above average common sense. So, truly, I am not a child-rearing expert.

But. You knew a but was coming, right? Yes, indeed, and it is a big but (go ahead, snicker - I want you to). I may not be a child-rearing expert BUT I know dumb child-rearing when I see it. And I saw plenty of it last weekend with J's family.

Each of the following examples should be preceded by the statement "I am not child-rearing expert BUT..."

Example #1
...if you allow a child to snack all day then he/she will not eat well at meals. J's mother leaves food out on the kitchen counters and the two grandchildren that live with her can help themselves whenever they like, all day long. And they do. No surprise here, but when they sit down to meals, they don't eat much. Well, duh!

On Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm, after seeing my four year old nephew eat a handful of grapes for the umpteenth time, I put them away and told him no more snacks. When he whined that he would "get hungry" I told him to wait until dinner (any wonder why I am considered the mean aunt?). Yes, I know that grapes are healthy and I know that children often needs snacks between meals. But sitting a child down to a small snack at one time during the afternoon is not the same as letting them graze all afternoon.

At dinner that night, everyone was amazed at how well the child ate. Well, duh.

Example #2
...there are times when you need to TELL a child to do something and not ASK she/he to do it. The seven year old resident of my in-laws' house dressed herself on Saturday morning, in a sleeveless cheerleading outfit with a short skirt. It was about 40 degrees that morning with an expected high only in the mid-50s. Not snowsuit weather by any means but certainly not sleeveless weather, either. My MIL asked her granddaughter "Don't you think you should put on something warmer?" To which the girl replied, "No."

Well, duh! What answer did you think she would give? I would have told her to go to her room and change into more appropriate clothing. And during the afternoon when the children played outside, the little girl was shivering despite the jacket she wore. Well duh - of course she was!

Example #3
...a child needs to go to bed at a decent time each night so they can get a good night of sleep. J and I are seen as very strict because we make sure that A goes to bed at an early hour every evening. We did relax the rules a bit on Thanksgiving because it was a special occasion, but the next night we had him back on his regular routine. The aforementioned four and seven year old stayed up later than J and I did on Thanksgiving evening, then did not go to bed on Friday night until 9:30-10:00 pm.

The children's mother and grandmother (my MIL) both told me that the children sleep very late in the morning and are often cranky. Well, duh - they are not getting enough sleep! Sure it can be a pain to us adults to make sure that A is home and in bed at a regular, early hour but that is what we signed up for when we became parents. That is our job. And we have been told by many people how impressed they are that A goes to bed nicely each night, without drama or protest, and wakes up happy. Well, duh - he gets a good amount of sleep every night.

So while I am not a child-rearing expert, I think we are doing a pretty good job.

Is it Tuesday yet?

Both A and J were home from school and work last Wednesday. While A went back to school today, J took today off, too. Sigh. I am ready to have the house to myself and to do even the most mundane chore in peace.

I have noticed that since I became a stay-at-home mom, I treasure my alone more than ever and too much togetherness gets tiresome after a while. I guess the Thanksgiving break is a test run for Christmas, when there will be at least a whole week when both A and J are home every day, and my mother will also be here. Maybe I do covet a 10,000 square foot house after all - at least I could hide and reasonably expect not to be found for a few hours!

One more day.

Thankful to be back

I do not like to travel on Thanksgiving, and most years I successfully avoid it. This year, however, with my mother on a bus trip with friends to San Antonio, we traveled to J's parents' house near Charlotte, NC. I did insist that we would NOT drive up on Wednesday with everyone else in the world; instead we left our house early on Thanksgiving morning. I was still surprised at how much traffic there was on a holiday.

I had set my expectations very low for the trip, which I always do when family - either his or mine - is involved. That way, I am rarely disappointed or surprised. Overall, the visit wasn't too bad.

Thanksgiving dinner was held at the home of J's oldest brother, Rick. Rick and his wife, Maureen, are both physicians and moved into their new house within the past year. Their 10,000 square foot house. I like them both and don't begrudge them anything - they have, after all, studied long and hard, and work very hard in their practices - so if they want to live in a 10,000 square foot house with every bell and whistle known to man, then good for them!

I don't, however, particularly care for their choices and I do not envy them in the least. As Rick showed me through room after massive room, my father's voice sounded in my head: "This is a vulgar display of new wealth, a monument to excess." And I agree. It's as though they chose to include every option available with no thought as to whether or not they could really use it. The house and its contents are simply too much for me. I do envy the large size of their kitchen and some of the kitchen appliances, and my clothes really want to live in one of their walk-in closets, but that was really all that I coveted.

Several members of Maureen's family were visiting from Pennsylvania, and I enjoyed talking and drinking with them. The food was good as was the company, so all in all Thanksgiving, while not my choice of how to spend it, was pleasant.

Friday was a blur of whiney cousins and mediocre food, and then we drove back to Georgia on Saturday to our modest 1,800 square foot house. It may not be as large or as posh as Rick and Maureen's house, but it suits us and our lifestyle, and it certainly suits our budget! I just hope that my handbags and shoes never hear about the walk-in closet of my dreams...

Happy birthday, Dad

My father was born on 21 November 1926, so if he were still alive, he would be 81 today. My father was a true character and I always told people that if they were to meet him, they would understand me a whole lot more. I am very much my father's daughter, which most of the time is something of which I am proud...but, of course, there a few annoying little traits of his that I reluctantly admit to having.

People who did not know my dad well would probably think that he was gruff and humorless. He did try to act gruff at times, but I think it was to protect his very sensitive nature. He felt things very deeply, which often led to him taking a long time to get over events. For example, it was years before he could talk about the Challenger explosion without choking up; as a NASA engineer and a member of the NASA community, the accident troubled him greatly.

Dad had a great sense of humor and loved to make other people laugh. The story that is famous in our family is the time back in the late '60s/early '70s when he and my mother attended a PTA meeting with their neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Knoblauch. A rather well-endowed woman was addressing audience, her hands clasped in front of her bosom. Dad leaned over to Mr. Knoblauch and whispered, "If her bra breaks, we will all be flogged to death." Mr. Knoblauch laughed so hard that he had to leave the room, unable to regain his composure.

I miss Dad so much. We had so many interesting conversations about so many different subjects; he was well-read, inquisitive and informed. My tendency to form an opinion on just about any subject comes from him and while we did not always agree, he respected my opinion as long as it was educated and based on sound reason. I often hear news stories, particularly those about something the current inept administration has done, and think "I can't wait to hear what Dad thinks about that" before I remember that I can't.

Seventy-nine is old, and that was Dad's age when he died. He was ill and had been for some time, and I believe that he was ready to go. Unfortunately, we were not ready for him to go and I thought we still had many years together before us. My biggest regret is that A got to spend so few years with Dad and my big challenge is to keep Dad's memory alive for A.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Being thankful

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. How can you not love a holiday that revolves around food and football? All joking aside, I like that we have a day to reflect on the riches we have, the good things in our lives...whether we are thankful to a deity or to other people.

The moderator of our Mommy group posted the following on our board this morning:
"Okay, we all know we are thankful for our husbands and kids and homes and churches and families and friends and blah, blah, blah. Now, let's here the 10 things you are really thankful for - like chocolate, baby nap time, heated seats in your car."

So here are my top ten, in no particular order:

1. Salad in a bag
2. Online library book reservations, shopping and banking
3. NPR
4. Hair color
5. Adult fermented beverages
6. Caller ID
7. Massages
8. Dark, rich coffee
9. Dark, rich chocolate
10. Anderson Cooper

For these things, I am truly thankful!

Between a rock and the wrong place

Today we made our rescheduled trek into Atlanta - no detours for vomiting this week. We started out at the Midtown location of Trader Joe's - what a fabulous store! J and I were content to wander the aisles and peruse the delicacies; A was interested only in the food samples. We tried not to go wild, and limited our purchases to artisan bread, bagels and three types of cheese.

We headed west into Decatur to go to the Dekalb Farmers Market, which is not like a traditional farmers' market nor is like a traditional grocery store. It is an amazing cross-section of food and people from all over the world. I did the majority of my grocery shopping there when I was a poor graduate student and ate quite well for an economical price. It was not uncommon to see a Buckhead matron in a fur coat, punk rockers and large immigrant families (all touching the grocery cart) shopping peacefully side-by-side. We inhaled the rich smells in the seafood section, drooled over even more cheese and stood in awe at the variety of fresh produce. We bought a few more unusual items and added them to our treasure trove in the cooler.

Downtown Decatur was our next destination, where we had lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. J and I enjoyed delicious burgers and A seemed to eat his body weight in chicken tenders and fries. I also indulged in a Bloody Mary, which hit the spot.

Our last stop was the campus of Emory University, my alma mater. I couldn't remember anything about how to get around campus, so we finally parked and then hoofed it. Campus was just as beautiful as I remembered, and I was amazed at the amount of construction taking place. I also marveled at the size and opulence of the Goizueta Business School - not the tiny little building in which I attended classes! A enjoyed running around the various quads throughout campus and I bought him an Emory t-shirt.

J and I were rather sad to leave and drive back out to Hooterville. Decatur is much more our speed: diverse people, shopping, housing, yada yada yada. We felt at home there, which we do not feel living out here in the country. And while we know that living in Decatur is not feasible due to housing costs, job location, etc., it was still a stark reminder that we are living in the wrong place.

One little, two little...

Three little native people! Today was the Thanksgiving feast for all kindergarten classes at A's school. J and I both were able to join our little Pilgrim for lunch; it was my usual morning to work in the class so I was already there.

A was thrilled that Daddy, in particular, was able to come for lunch. While the food wasn't particularly delectable, it was great fun to see A and his classmates dressed as Pilgrims and native Americans, or at least the kindergarten interpretation. At least A's Pilgrim collar did double duty as a bib!

Each child had made a laminated Thanksgiving place mat, and their places were also adorned with a paper tepee and a laced paper canoe along with a tiny pinch pot that they had made.

After the feast, we returned to their classroom to hear Thanksgiving songs and to eat pumpkin pie that the students had made yesterday. I am no fan of pumpkin pie so I passed, but J said it wasn't too bad.

After two hours of working in the classroom, then lunch with excited children and numerous mainly annoying parents, I felt like helping myself to some Pilgrim hooch when I returned home!

TIMBER!

That is the sound of the Ohio State Buckeyes falling from #1 in the college football rankings to #7 after Saturday's loss to Illinois. In the parts of the game that I saw, Ohio State did not play well and Illinois played very well - a lethal combination if you are on the losing end. The big game is this Saturday and all the wins of the season will mean nothing if we lose to Michigan. GO BUCKEYES!

It was an interesting weekend at our house. On Saturday afternoon, a teenage girl who lives around the corner and a few houses down came over to "meet and greet" with us in regards to future babysitting. She is fifteen and seems like a very nice girl, and A took to her immediately. We have already booked her for the night of J's company holiday party; it is going to be nice to have a good babysitter so conveniently located.

Yesterday we tried to take a field trip into Atlanta. I wanted to stroll around the campus of Emory University; I haven't been back since I graduated 18 (gasp) years ago. We thought we would also take the opportunity to go to a Trader Joes grocery store and visit the Dekalb Farmers Market, which is an amazing grocery store and where I did all of my food shopping when I lived in Atlanta during graduate school. It seems slightly pathetic that upscale/unusual grocery stores are a weekend destination for us, but with only standard grocery stores out here in Green Acres, Trader Joes and DFM are treats.

Just before we left the house, A threw up. We weren't too concerned, thinking he had just had too much Cap'n Crunch for breakfast. His color was good and he said that he felt fine, so we proceeded with our plans. Silly, silly us. We got about three miles from home when he announced that he was going to throw up again, so we pulled in a parking lot and I quickly got him out of the car. Once again, his healthy color returned and he assured us that his tummy was fine. But within about ten more miles, we had to pull over again and with that, we decided to go home. We had to pull over one more time on the way home so that A could pollute the roadside.

When we got home, we got A into jammies and put him to bed in the guest room. He slept for about two hours, then got up and was back to normal. He was ravenous and was quite annoyed that I would not let him eat a normal lunch! We kept his food bland the rest of the day, but he clearly felt better already and today is good as new.

So we will try our little field trip again next Sunday, hopefully with better results!

Things that go bleah in the night

There are times when I wonder why we have a cat. Many, many times. Spenser has been a royal pain in the tookus lately, even more so now that the weather has turned cooler. I guess the cold bothers him more since he is a senior (he is 10+ years old), but I can hardly sit down without him trying to climb on my lap. I know that I am nothing if not warm furniture but does he have to be so obvious?

Spenser also sleeps far more than he used to and since he sleeps at night on our bed, he expects us to go to bed when he is ready. He glares at us and blares his loud meow when he thinks it is getting late. Nothing will quiet him down until we go to bed and he hops in after us.

In the wee hours of this morning, we were awakened by the sound of, well, heaving. No delicate way to put it - Spenser was getting ready to throw up. If it would have been light enough to see, we would have been treated to the sight of his whole body undulating...each heave starts at the end of his tail and works its way in a wave to his head. And he is LOUD; no delicate upchucking for him.

I decided that I was too warm and comfortable to get out of bed and try to move him onto tile. Several months ago I tried a similar maneuver in the dark, only to hit the recliner in the corner while running. I dropped Spenser, hit one armrest and flipped over onto the floor. Although J gave me a 9.8 for difficulty and 7.3 for style, I ended up with a hideous bruise on my side and Spenser still threw up on the carpet.

So I let him heave in peace last night, knowing what would be waiting for clean up this morning. To my surprise, after all that heaving and horking, only a quarter size spot was on the floor by the bed. Much ado, indeed, about nothing.

T is for tutor

I finally started as a reading tutor today. It was something I had done years ago in North Carolina, when I worked for companies that encouraged volunteering during work hours. It was a nice break during the week and really helped me keep my so called "issues" in perspective.

I signed up with the BOE to be a tutor long before this school year started and have been rather impatiently waiting for a student to be assigned to me. I had requested a student at A's school but the coordinator said that there wasn't a match at that school for me - either they didn't have any requests (hard to believe) or perhaps they had all the tutors they needed, I don't know. So the coordinator of the program asked if I would consider another school and since the one she suggested was not too far from our house, I said yes. In hindsight, it is probably better that I am going to a different school; A is at an age where he can be quite possessive of me and if he saw me in the hall but I wasn't there to be in his class, there might be hurt feelings.

I met my student this morning. He is in the fifth grade and is a very outgoing young man. We spent today's 30 minute session just talking and getting to know one another, and will start in on the reading next week. It will be good for me to work with someone older than A, to move beyond the "Jack and Jilly" stories that can be quite tiresome!

It's nice to be nice

Now that we are full-force into the holiday season, A - like most children - has a serious case of the wants. If I tallied up all the toys and games that he has said that he wants, the number would probably shock me. I have to watch the mail and newspaper carefully so that he doesn't seize any more toy ads and add to his list!

One of the lessons that we want to teach him as he grows is that not everyone is as fortunate as we are, and that we should share some of our good fortune. I decided that this year we would participate in Operation Christmas Child, which sends gift-filled shoe boxes to children throughout the world. While I am not wild about the second part of their activities, the evangelizing, at least they are doing something tangible for these children.

We decided to pack a box for a boy in the same age range as A. We went to our local Walgreens on Sunday afternoon and had a great time choosing items for our box: crayons, colored pencils, drawing pad, stuffed animal, Hot Wheels, flashlight, mini Etch-a-Sketch, a ball, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, hard candy...and a few other items that I certainly forgot. All three of us enjoyed shopping and I liked seeing A pick up an item and say "I think he would like this." Of course, we had to occasionally pry an extra toy out of A's hands, but all in all, he got into the spirit of giving to someone else.

The real challenge came when we got home and tried to fit everything into the box! J did a great time of arranging and rearranging, and managed to get everything except one small ball into the box. A and I will drop off the box next week at one of the collection locations - I want for A to have the experience of carrying the box in and seeing it with the other boxes.

Compassion and generosity are not easy lessons to teach, but we are trying.

Boo!

The 31st was quite a busy day at our house. A and I had the school field trip during the day and the time after school also proved to be action-packed. A insisted that we carve the tiny pumpkin that he picked out at the farm; while it was easy to remove the small amount of seeds and pumpkin goo, it was tough to carve something that small. Somehow I managed to cut out two eyes and a toothy grin without severing any fingers, but we soon learned that we had to tilt the lid in order to give the candle enough air to stay lit.



A masterpiece, it is not.

We put on A's costume and headed over to our local Publix grocery store, which had treats for the children. A received quite a lot of candy from three different stations within the store and delighted several shoppers with his super hero poses.

Then we went over to the Tae Kwan Do school, which was having a Halloween party for each class. It was quite funny to see Mr. Gable and Master Shim wearing costumes! J had been sent home from work early, so he came directly to the school, which was a nice surprise. Mr. Gable and Master Shim played games with the costumed students (yay - burn off that sugar!) and then handed each child a goodie bag. We were already loaded with candy at this point, and trick or treating in the neighborhood was yet to come.

After a quick dinner, we headed out for trick or treating in the neighborhood. It was still light out, but we could not wait for dark and keep A on any kind of an evening schedule. We had a good time going to the various houses out on the main road in our subdivision and it was completely dark by the time we finished. We had no trick or treaters on our cul-de-sac, down from last year's high number of one.

We let A survey his haul (quite large) and eat a piece or two of candy before getting his bath, brushing his teeth VERY WELL and going to bed. He was exhausted from his busy day and crawled into bed only 15 minutes later than usual. All in all, it was a good day for Captain Heartbreaker and his entourage.

Down on the farm, part 2

On Halloween, I went with A's kindergarten class on a field trip to Minter's Farm, where we went to Inman Farm Heritage Days back in September (see "Down on the farm" - 17 September). It was a beautiful fall day and all five kindergarten classes from the elementary school were very excited to be out of the classroom.

There were five parents total from A's class, so with the teacher and the para professional, we had seven adults for the 16 students in Mrs. G's class. All in all, they were fairly well-behaved; they were just energetic and keeping them in line was akin to herding cats. Giggling, talking, squirming cats.

We went inside a log cabin , known as Miss Quinnie's cabin, which is an original 1870s log home. Mr. Minter told the students how two sisters lived in that tiny cabin (maybe 12' x 12' total?) their entire lives, cooked their meals using the fireplace and had no indoor plumbing or electricity. Then the children made a simple corn husk doll, picked cotton, ground corn with a hand-cranked grist mill to feed the chickens, cows and donkeys, went on a hayride, picked out a small pumpkin to take home, and helped to make, as a class, a hand-twisted rope to take back to the classroom. Then we unpacked our bag lunches and ate outdoors. One of the moms had made Halloween cupcakes, which we enjoyed.

Once all five classes had finished all the activities, they loaded back onto the buses and drove back to school. I drove home and put up my feet when I got in the house! It was great fun, but four hours of farm fun with five and six year olds had me a bit tired, but also appreciating my indoor plumbing and electricity.

The "H" word

On Saturday evening, we went to the Fall Festival held at the big honkin' church down the street. Trust me, this church is really big, so big that I use it as a landmark when giving people directions to our house - "our subdivision is .7 miles on the left after the big honkin' church".

Fall festivals are very popular with protestant churches here in Georgia and are usually held the weekend before Halloween, or sometimes even on Halloween night. Children are encouraged to wear costumes and candy is distributed, but the word "Halloween" is never mentioned. I think that if I yelled "Halloween", a hush would fall over the crowd and all would look at the vile person who said the dreaded "H" word.

When did Halloween become such an awful event to a certain segment of the US population? When I was a child in the '60s and '70s, a person could be religious and a regular churchgoer, and still openly celebrate Halloween. I can even remember my parents attending a Halloween party at our church; they were dressed as Raggedy Ann and Andy (if I ever get my hands on a photo of them, I will gleefully post it). Now it seems as though Halloween is something to be preached against and certainly not acknowledged by so-called decent, moral people.

Puh-leeze. Halloween does have its roots in pagan traditions but it also has a healthy dose of Christian tradition mixed in. Yes, many of the images associated with Halloween are witches, devils, vampires and other scary beings. But sometimes a witch is just a little child in a costume and not an evil, spell-issuing crone. And if we are really going to nitpick and over-analyze every holiday, how many of "Christian" Easter and Christmas traditions started with the pagans?

So while we enjoyed the cool weather, the free food and the carnival games that yielded A a good supply of candy and cheap plastic toys, it still grates on us that Halloween has become in some circles a obscene word and that some people are trying to ruin the innocent fun for everyone. Sheesh.

Report card

A brought home his very first report card on Tuesday. It is hard to believe that he has already completed nine weeks of school.

All in all, we are quite pleased with his report; he is working at or above grade level on all levels of academic achievement. He is also "satisfactory" in all specialty areas and character and academic traits except two: "uses self-control" and "stays on task." No surprise there - he is, after all, five years old and still has difficulty not acting on all impulses, and can be distracted if he isn't totally interested in what he is doing. We have no worries; we simply need to keep working with them.

The comments added by his teacher made me smile, and I offer the following tranlations.

Comment: "A is an energetic boy."
Translation: "A can't sit still to save his life."

Comment: "He enjoys adding to class discussions."
Translation: "He never stops talking!"

The third comment, however, stated that the teacher is pleased with his progress...and we are, too. I continue to be amazed at what he has already learned, the words he can read, the basic math he can do. I have no illusions that he is a genius, but he is certainly a bright little boy who is learning on schedule. Life is good.

Halloween party

The mommies group to which I belong had a Halloween party on Sunday afternoon - what fun! The party was held in the backyard of our cruise director's house, and the afternoon was just about perfect: warm, but not too warm, with a light breeze, and the backyard was almost completely shaded. We set up chairs, spread out blankets on the ground and proceeded to have a great time.

The children (and a few adults) were dressed in their Halloween costumes. There was a rooster, several fairies, a princess, a devil and an angel, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, a police officer, a knight, and our own super hero.

When A asked to be a super hero for Halloween this year, I gently steered him away from those licensed characters that I detest, and convinced him to create his own super hero. We already had the Captain Heartbreaker pajamas, and I added a cape and mask...tada! Instant super hero!

The children had a wonderful time running around the backyard, playing pin the nose on the pumpkin, and snacking on the fun Halloween food.

But the most popular event by far was bobbing for apples. Our hosts had filled a large tub with water and added apples; after a few of the older children had successfully procured apples, the little ones took over. They didn't bob for apples, they bobbed the apples! They picked up the apples and threw them in the water, splashing each other and anyone that was nearby. Each time they did this, they would all shriek with laughter. They were getting their costumes soaked but were having such a great time that none of their parents wanted to stop them. And each time one partucular little girl, the devil in the picture, shrieked and giggled, we all laughed with her - she has an infectious belly laugh!

Several of the mommies had prepared goodie bags so each child took home some candy, snacks and toys. It was a lovely afternoon to enjoy the pleasant weather, the good company, the yummy food and the delight of the children.

There is no joy in Mudville

First, the good news: over the next ten days, I will have more time to read, I will go to bed at a reasonable hour, I will not pace the floors and, unless I eat something that does not agree with me, my stomach will remain knot-free.

The bad news: the Cleveland Indians did not win the American League championship last night and will not be playing in the 2007 World Series.

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out."

And this morning, I hate baseball.

Pins and needles

The Cleveland Indians are doing it to me again. They are causing me to pace the floors, furrow my brow and get a knot in my stomach. Oy, vey.

After Tuesday night, the Indians were up three games to one over Boston in the American League pennant race. Things were looking really good for the Tribe and I felt reasonably comfortable. On Thursday night at Jacobs Field, the Indians began to falter and lost the game 7-1. Still not too bad but I started to feel a twinge of that old familiar feeling. Of dread.

Last night, the dreadful feeling came back in full force and socked me in the gut: Boston won game six by a score of 12-2. Oy, vey indeed. The series is now tied at three games apiece and the winning game will take place tonight at Fenway Park - whoever wins tonight will meet the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

The Cleveland Indians last won the World Series in 1948, so I think we are due a championship (please don't confuse the issue by saying that the Rockies have NEVER won a World Series - it's all about the Indians and me, not about them). I want to see my team succeed, which is a rarity for a Cleveland anything fan. I want Kenny Lofton to finally get his World Series ring!

So I will be in front of the television tonight, pacing and occasionally uttering "I hate baseball" and other unprintable phrases. Please please please let the Indians win tonight!

The Kindergarten Master Pickup Artist!

My friend Stephanie, back in NC, sent me an email message yesterday about her son, who is six weeks younger than A and also in kindergarten this year: "The little Lothario came home with his first telephone number from a girl yesterday. It was only four digits and one of them was written backwards, yet he was very proud of himself." As well he should!

Lunch date

Today I had lunch with my favorite cutie-patootie, A, and 17 of his closest friends. I volunteer in A's kindergarten class every other Wednesday morning and today was my day at school. The class goes to lunch immediately following my scheduled time, so I told A that I would stay today and have lunch with him. What an experience.

A is permitted to buy his lunch two days each week and today was a buy lunch day. There are three choices each day, and I told A that he could choose for both of us. So I lined up with the class, by lunch choice, and marched in to get my cheese pizza and peas. A and his classmates showed me where to get my tray, fork and napkin, and then how to move down the line. I followed them to the assigned table for the class and sat down to "enjoy" lunch in less than 25 minutes.

"Bedlam" is the only word that comes to close to describing the atmosphere in the cafeteria! It seemed as though every child in the room was talking at the same time and my child was one of the ones doing the most talking. The five children sitting around me competed to talk with me and I now know more about hair bows, fishing, coloring, jump rope and playing "bad guys" than I ever thought I would know. Or ever cared to know.

Despite the noise, I was impressed that most of the children stayed in their seats, ate a good part of their meals, and followed directions. The staff know how to keep the students on task with only minor aberrations. And once again, I am thankful that I do not spend more than a few hours every other week in an elementary school!

Into the wild blue yonder

On Sunday we went to The Great Georgia Air Show in Peachtree City. What fun! J's parents came into town to go with us - J's dad is quite fond of air shows. It was a gorgeous day, about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and a clear blue sky.

The event was very well run; we parked in a satellite parking area and then rode a school bus to Falcon Field, and there were no traffic congestion problems either at arrival or departure. I struck up a conversation on the bus ride back with a couple from Cleveland; he was wearing a Cleveland Indians' cap so we enjoyed a good conversation about the series with Boston. Go Tribe!

There were many airplanes and since this is not my subject of expertise, I won't even try to detail which ones were there...but it was great fun looking at them. J's mom stayed with our chairs as the rest of us wandered around, oohing and ahhing and peeking into those airplanes that we could access. A enjoyed climbing into the cockpit of an airplane - unfortunately, we did not note which type it was, although J thinks it was a Warhawk. Here is a photo of A and a new flygirl friend:


I particularly enjoyed the performances by he Talon Eagles from Red Eagle Air Sports and the AeroShell Aerobatic Team, and flybys from a World Airlines MD11 and the Delta Air Lines' pink Boeing 757, aka the Delta Pink Plane. I also bought a Delta Force for Global Good t-shirt, which benefits The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

We were there about five hours in total, so we were tired and a bit sunburned when we left, but a great time was had by all.

At last, a chill in the air

We woke up to delightfully cool temperatures this morning: it is about 50 degrees F with an expected high of only 71. Yippee! I am so tired of hot weather so the cooler air is a welcome respite. I have most of the windows in the house open, filling the rooms with the fresh air. Spenser Cat loves it - he runs from window to window, pressing his nose against the screens.

Of course, the only person in the house born in the southeast - A - grumbled that it was "cold" this morning (see "Baby, it's cold outside - not"). I did dress him in long pants today, but a short-sleeved shirt. 71 degrees is hardly long-sleeve weather!

I hope that the cooler temps hang around for the duration. Now, if it would only rain...

Monday, Monday

Can't trust that day.

Well, we are three games into the Indians-Yankees series and the Tribe has a 2 games to 1 lead. I fully expected the Yankees to win yesterday's game and they did - they are an excellent team and were back on home turf, so it just made sense. But now it is time for the Indians to finish off the series and get ready for Boston.

J is back home - yay! Always good to have everyone back under one roof.

Sick day

It's fall and here in the castle, our allergies are going wild. We sneeze, we cough, and generally we sound awful, but at least we sound worse than we feel. A seemed fine when he got up this morning, coughing just a little more than yesterday so I gave him a dose of the cough suppressant / nasal decongestant before we left the house to wait for the bus.

The school nurse called around 9:30 to tell me that A was running a low grade fever, coughing, and complaining of a headache...and I needed to come and get him. Sigh - so much for running errands today. We got home and he immediately asked to eat a snack and watch television, in that order. We had to have the "how it is when you are home sick" talk; in other words, we don't play and watch television all day. I fixed him a snack of toast, then made him lie down for a rest. Funny, but until he climbed into bed for his rest, he had not coughed at all since I picked him up!

Since the school said he was constantly coughing but he has coughed only sporadically at home, I think one of three things happened. 1) A was coughing a little but quickly realized that coughing a lot would get him attention; 2) A coughed a little at first but as he coughed, he got hot, which caused him to cough more; or 3) the school overreacted. In regards to the last one, I know that many children are sent to school when they are sick, but rather than give A the time to relax and calm his coughing, they called me to get him. Last week they sent him home for having pink eye, which turned out to not be pink eye but just allergy-irritated eyes.

So while I appreciate that the school has a difficult job determining which children are truly ill, I hope that a pattern is not being established and that I will have to fight to convince them when he is fine. In the meantime, I need to make sure that he does not have too good of a time being home sick today!

Or are you just happy to see me?

Yes, that is my child with a toy telephone and flashlight in his pajama bottoms. And, yes, that is a toy airplane - that is also a whistle - in his mouth. But there is really a good explanation...

A was feeling a little puny yesterday because he was missing Daddy. He asked if he could stay in his jammies all day and I said sure, why not. So he did. I was fixing our dinner when I decided I hadn't heard much out of A in a while and needed to check on him. I walked into the sun room and there he was, just as he is in the photo.

When I asked why he had a telephone and a flashlight stuffed in his pants, he told me that he was a police officer and he had his airplane whistle in his mouth because "police officers have whistles to tell people to stop." He then proceeded to walk around the house - telephone and flashlight still in his pants - and write tickets to any law violators.

I got a ticket for leaving my library bookbag on the floor.

She who slays dragons

Okay, not exactly dragons...but at midnight in a dark house, it seemed almost as daunting as a dragon!

When we moved in two years ago, we were not happy to find quite a number of cockroaches living it up in the house. Why there were so many, we are not quite sure; could be because the house had been vacant for several months or because no one had ever taken the time to seal up cracks and crevices or because he previous owners were careless and trashy (my personal choice) or some combination of all three. It did not really matter to us why they were there or from where they had come, we just wanted them gone. Especially me. I huddled in the corner of the kitchen and cried the night we found three huge cockroaches peeking out from under the countertop KitchenAid stand mixer. Even Spenser the cat was afraid of those mothers.

It took months of pest control services (indoors and out), diligent cleaning, new siding, and the sealing of cracks and crevices to finally get rid of our unwanted freeloading guests. For the most part, on the rare occasions now when we see a cockroach, it is either dead or on its way to being dead - a much better situation than the cockroach rodeo we had when we moved in.

But that all changed last night. My nerves were on edge anyway, since it was J's first night out of town for a week-long business trip. Although it makes me sound like a ninny, I admit that I don't sleep as well when he is gone and that I freak out at every odd sound. Spenser was parked at the top of the stairs, staring at the wall and meowing. I kept shushing him and making him move away so he would not wake up A. But the silly cat kept returning to the same spot until I thought that the squirrels had found their way back into the house (that's a pest story for another time). I even stood at the top of the stairs in the dark for about five minutes, trying to listen for any squirrel-like sounds. No luck.

I finally had enough of Spenser's behavior and decided to get him moving along. I flipped on the light at the top of the stairs in the upstairs hall and then saw the object of Spenser's attention: at the top of the wall was a cockroach, about an inch and a half long (body length only - legs and antennas made it even longer). It was located just above where I had stood for my five minute listen session and it was Very. Much. Alive.

Great. I armed myself with the rod from the towel bar I had broken earlier in the evening (again, a story for another time) and one of J's shoes - no way was I going to use one of MY shoes! I poked at the cockroach with the rod, trying to stay at an angle from the beast should it fall straight down. It took several jabs before it fell to the floor and ran straight at Spenser. So much for my fearless burly cat - he turned tail, literally, and ran down the stairs. I chased the cockroach and pounded it with J's shoes until it was Very. Much. Dead.

Sometimes a queen must do the work of a knight. But did I mention that the pest control service will be here on Friday for our quarterly treatment and will be spraying inside?

Baseball has been very good to me

If not already evident, I am wild about baseball. I adore the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd and all the zillion different traditions of teams and stadiums throughout North America. There is no falling on the ball to run out the clock, there is no ditching of the ball, there is no onside kick; every out is played at its own pace.

One of the things we miss most about North Carolina is the Durham Bulls. Each summer, we usually bought an eight-game package and spent many hot summer nights at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), which has to be one of the nicest minor league ballparks in the country. Minor league baseball is, admittedly, an entirely different species than major league ball but on most days, I prefer it. The players are still humble and hardworking, the seats are close to the field, the tickets are economical, and the people watching is spectacular.

And the DBAP is just where it should be, in the heart of downtown Durham. The modest Durham skyline is visible from the seats and the trains that chug through the city just beyond the outfield always sound their whistles and disrupt the game. The food at the DBAP is great and I always started every game with a burrito from the Flying Burrito, washed down with a cold beer. There are many other tasty treats available but that was always my absolute favorite. And it wasn't a great burrito unless I ended up wearing part of it!

Out here in Green Acres, there are no minor league baseball teams within an easy drive. And, there is no way in hell that I am going to see the Atlanta Braves - 1) too expensive and 2) can't abide the Braves. So we have been missing our minor league baseball in a big, big way.

When we visited my mother in Knoxville in late July, J and I went to see the Tennessee Smokies, the AA minor league baseball team out in Sevierville. What a cute little ballpark, and "little" is the operative word. It was Natural Gas night and I was almost sorry that A had stayed home with Mom since he could be their poster boy (except the poster would be blown off the wall - the child is toxic sometimes). We had great seats in the second row behind home plate and had an excellent time, drinking beer and people watching.

Unfortunately, the food at that park is not even close to the great eats at the DBAP so we left hungry. Can you imagine? Leaving a ballpark hungry? Shut up! We stopped at a Krystal burger on the way back to Mom's house and let me tell you, that is a great place late at night when you have a slight beer buzz - everything is funny instead of scary. And believe me, in the clear light of day and stone sober, the sights would have scared me speechless.

So we had a fun outing to the ballpark but it didn't even remotely compare to our beloved Durham Bulls. Sigh.

It's a beautiful day for baseball

The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League Central Division championship today with their 6-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics, on none other than Fan Appreciation Day. We are off to the post-season, which is a good-bad scenario for J. On one hand, he is happy for me, but on the other hand, he knows that he has to suffer through my baseball angst for at least a few more weeks.

GO TRIBE!

Herding cats

Yesterday was my first volunteer stint in A's classroom, which confirmed my belief that there is no amount of money that anyone could pay me to be a kindergarten teacher. Holy cow, it is difficult to find just the right words to describe the activity, the noise, the energy. And through it all, Mrs. G was in charge, calm and in the know about what was taking place in every inch of the classroom. For once, my role as the Queen was deposed and I was glad of it!

My task yesterday was to give a computer-based book quiz to all 20 students in the class. Mrs. G had read the book several times to the class so the quiz tested their comprehension and memory. One student was absent and one was in speech therapy, but that still meant that I read the same five questions 18 times. Just ask me about school bus drivers - I know it all now! The students were very polite and sweet but it will take me to the end of the year to tell one little blonde-haired girl from another!

A, of course, was not having a great day behavior-wise; the parapro had warned me when she saw me checking in at the office. Most of the time, he gets reprimanded for not listening and not following directions, which are the same behaviors that most often get him in trouble at home. Yesterday, however, he also had been doing forward rolls when he was supposed to be doing work at his seat. The teacher and parapro tell him to stop doing things before he gets formally reprimanded; I tell him over and over that when he is told to do something (or not do) by a teacher, then he is to do it immediately and that will keep him from getting into trouble.

But my discussion with Mrs. C (the parapro) yielded that he is not unusual, that it is normal for a child his age to have this difficulty in school and that with work, he will get better. And my time giving the book quiz showed me that in comparison with his classmates, A's speech and comprehension are excellent. Working in his classroom will provide me with those comparisons, help me see how he acts in class and what is expected of him in class.

I was exhausted after only 90 minutes. Mrs. G and Mrs. C - my crown is off to you!
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THREE! THREE! THREE! The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers yesterday afternoon, so the magic number is now 3. Bring on the Oakland Athletics and let's get this done.

Party like a pirate!

Avast, me hearties - it's Talk Like a Pirate Day! This be t' one day that we land lubbers can pretend t' be pirates on t' sea. So hoist a grog and make a toast t' the pirate way o' life - eye patches and peg legs optional.

Why celebrate? Why not?
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Arrr! Me Cleveland Indians are back on t' track to win the AL Central Division with last night's 7-4 victory over those bilge rats, the Detroit TIgers. Aye - t' magic number be FIVE now!

Down on the farm

Yesterday we went to Inman Farm Heritage Days at Minter's Farm and had a FABULOUS time. In addition to what seemed like a gazillion tractors and engines, there was a steam traction engine, sawmill, syrup mill and pot, grist mill, threshing machine, log cabin, and blacksmith shop. I read later on their web site that there was also a moonshine still, but we did not see it.

A got to hull corn, pet donkeys, pick cotton and ride on a huge John Deere tractor. The people there were so kind and friendly, and we enjoyed hearing about how things used to be done. The only downside is that I kept getting verklempt as I thought how much my dad would have enjoyed such an event. Every time I saw a little old man wearing a cap (and there were a lot of them there), I thought of Dad - and while I like thinking about him and remembering him, I teared up each time.

Of course, the people watching was spectacular. As the morning progressed and more people arrived, the sights got more and more entertaining. The best sight of all took place as we walked to the car: a guy wearing a full-out mullet hairstyle! He had it all, the bangs cut straight across his forehead and the long hair in the back down to the middle of his back. Completing his look was the Michael Vick football jersey.

The sky was overcast, the humidity was low and the temps in the mid-70s, so it was very pleasant. It was nice to have something nearby to do, since it seems that very little takes place in out here in Hooterville.
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The magic number for the Cleveland Indians is 9. The Detroit Tigers have won five in a row and the Indians have faltered a bit, so the number has slowed down in its progression. Oh, the drama!

Book chat

Thursday evening was the monthly meeting of the book discussion group at the library. I have been a part of this group since its beginning, just over a year ago. I enjoy reading books that I might never choose on my own and discussing the monthly book with other people who also enjoy reading. Five of the usual members were there, plus two new people. Since our numbers have dwindled over the year, it is good to see new people joining us.

I chose this month's book and led the discussion: Wait Till Next Year: Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Ms. Goodwin tells her story of growing up a Brooklyn Dodgers' fan on Long Island during the '40s and '50s. It is a tender, sweet book that tells of a period in the US that will likely never exist again, when life centered around your immediate neighborhood and the baseball team that you cheered for seemed to really be a part of the community. Ms. Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, has a damaged reputation due to charges of plagiarism in other books, but this book is delightful example of good storytelling.

One particular passage in the book really jumped out at me: "But thanks to teachers of uncommon skill and breadth, patriotism would never again mean unthinking adherence to things as they were. I would not confuse the temporary leaders of a country with the country itself." I read this passage aloud and a rather spirited discussion of patriotism ensued. One of the women asked if we thought that free speech had been suppressed in the period after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, and I said yes. Another woman said that she thought it was not what you say but how you say it that is important, and somehow the Dixie Chicks were mentioned. I won't go into the entire discussion but what it boils down to is that two of the women believe that US citizens should never criticize - or "trash" in their words - the US in front of foreigners. I said that thoughtful criticism is not the same as trashing but then one said that there was a fine line between the two...I said that in my mind the line was much broader.

I was glad to finally see a difference of opinion in this group, because too often we all think the same about a book and the conversations aren't too complex. Although I heartily disagree with two of the participants, that is fine by me...no one got upset or rude, and thoughtful opinions were expressed.

And I don't see anything wrong with pointing out what I dislike about our country, no matter who is listening. I believe that our system of government works better than any other system in the world, and that the US is one of the leading countries in the world. But that doesn't mean that we still don't have room to improve and that we make mistakes. And I don't ever want the citizens of the world to think that everyone in this country is just like and shares the opinions of the President, whomever he or she may be. I certainly don't want anyone to lump me in the same category with George W. Bush - "That Man" as I usually call him.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."