Kyra turns the big 1-0!

Me: So how does it feel to be in double digits?

K: It is amazing.

Me: Really? You will never get to go back to single digits?

K: I know. There are only 9 numbers and years that you can do that, but there's like a whole lot of double digit numbers.

Me: (Like I don't know that!) Ya-a! So this is the very last year that you will ever get to be a single digit number on your birthday. The very last time that you only get to use one number. Aren't you a little bit sad?

K: (Thinks a little, then looks at the clock) What time was I born?

Me: 4:30...ish.

K: Well, I'll be 9 for about 4 more hours.

Birthday Traditions

We were asked a week or two ago if our family had any traditions that we would like to share with the ward. I thought a bit and didn't come up with anything I hadn't told people about before. I also thought about the traditions that my mom tried to start after we had started our own families, but were short lived. Somehow traditions just fall in our lap and those are the really good ones. Here's what happens on your birthday if you live in our house...

1. In honor of Harry Potter fans and the-need-to-shut-the-kids-up-about-when-they-get-to-open-their-presents: Birthday children wake up to see their "lot" of presents at the foot of their beds, just like happens in the HP movies. (It doesn't happen like that in the books, but visions of the kids ravenging and throwing paper in the air really brings a smile to my face.) This solves the problems of: when to open them; too much pressure to be excited about something that might really suck; being on display as you hoard your stuff; getting several moments to really enjoy your stuff after you've ransacked the lot. It really has become fun the 2 times that we have done it and already the kids are talking about their birthday morning. (Oh, and the presents do tend to be fairly small but needed items and the kids are more grateful for the surprise in the a.m. than they are the actual present)

2. We sing to the birthday person all day on their birthday. We will just burst into the Happy Birthday song on a whim. By about noon the birthday person is going crazy and rolling their eyes, but at the same time loving every minute of it. By nighttime they are quite done listening to it. It ends if there is a cake and we sing one last time. (Notice I used the word IF there, cake is optional in this house. Cheesecake would be preferred by most, and candles are off limits for 2 of us!) Bill and I also can't help busting out with "You say it's your birthday? bu-nu-nu-nu...It's my birthday too!" even though that's the only part of the song we know. Who doesn't love a little Anthony Michael Hall and Sixteen Candles reenactment?!

3. Thanks to Crystal and her what-can-you-get-for-free-on-your-birthday post, I'm sure we will spend most of these days spending more money than necessary to get that free something for the birthday person. Something is fun about telling a complete stranger it's your birthday and they give you something for it. Weird, huh?

That's it. That's all I've got in the way of traditions. See me again in December for St. Nicholas night. (I can never remember if it is the 6th or the 7th, something about D-Day being the same day or a different day has really thrown me for a loop, and some Germans even celebrate on the 5th. What a mess!)

Isn't Watermelon Yummy?

It is amazing to me that God created watermelon to be ripe in the summer right when you really need it. Right when your AC stops working and it is 84 degrees in your house and you really don't like the heat. (unlike some crazy people that keep the temp. set at 84 degrees) The AC is better now, the repair people are coming in the morning, and the watermelon is all gone. Tomorrow is Kyra's 10th birthday so I better go get a wrappin'...

(Funny, I had a great post in my head on the way home from a great seminar but then I read all of my friends great stuff and completely lost track of my mind. Where is my mind again?)

"The Doctor is In"

I felt like Charlie Brown talking to Lucy today. After yet another hideous attempt to drive someplace with both of my children in the van, I dumped them both at 2 separate destinations and then went searching for chocolate. I ended up at the Marble Slab Creamery on Ray Road and I10 (I had just left Kyra at our dentist out there). The kind owner, Scott, inquired as to how I was doing. Poor guy. It was a simple question and I said, "not good, or I wouldn't be here." Somehow I think this man's wife and/or daughters have gone through some emotional times because he was quite sympathetic to my plea. Even after I just shook my head in frustration he said, "no really, tell me about it" as he placed both hands on his glass counter top and tilted his head in that friendly I'm-listening-and-I-care sort of way. Visions of bartenders cleaning out their glasses and patting poor drunk souls on the back as they usher them into cabs flashed before my eyes. We joked about this ice cream bar therapy and I finally blurted out:

"I just want to be able to get my kids in the car without any screaming and any fighting and I want to be able to drive without having to turn around and break up an argument. I dread going anyplace with them and I stayed home all last week because of it. We didn't get to do anything fun and they missed out on some great stuff that I really wanted to do all because I have such anxiety about even getting to the car with them, let alone driving anywhere! I yell at the stupid drivers on the road and yell at the kids because I'm yelling at the drivers! ...and I bet you can't even guess how old they are?!"

That was the question that should have lead to the answer to send me over the top. I was sure he would think they were both in preschool or younger and that they were certainly not at the age of accountability. But no, this blessed man shot back with, "Oh, they could be any age. My kids were doing that until they were 20, especially the girls." AMEN! The choir of angels have sung, chimes are ringing, and maybe I'm not insane!

So, although Charlie Brown never did get any really good advice from Lucy, he usually did walk away feeling better. My price tag was a little stiffer than a nickle, but hey, for $5 not only did I get a little therapy, he topped it off with a white chocolate raspberry sundae in a waffle cone.

What is it about Bookstores?

I went in to Borders to buy a boxed set of the Chronicles of Narnia. Kyra's birthday is Thursday, we just saw the movie, she is an avid reader, and heck, I need to read them for MY book club. The set is all together but it's wrapped up in plastic wrap which really makes it less appealing to me. I looked at the individual ones and was tempted. The covers were so smooth. The pages had not been bent. It was a story just waiting to be told, just to me, nobody else. But I went for the set, so the set I bought.

On the way out I considered the buy 1, get 1 half price table. More books with fresh covers. Some had raised lettering, some had pictures, one had a whole in the cover revealing the picture on the next page. Ooh, it has been so long since I purchased a fresh book! And look, there are titles I've heard of. Ones that have been recommended and/or are now movies that I will never go see. Marty and Me, Wicked, Atonement, Those Who Save Us, ...and several others that I can't recall. I want them all! Novels with no purpose other than sheer enjoyment and interest to me. I even think about the many dollars that I owe the library and consider that buying these books might even save me money in the long run. Hmm.

So what is it about bookstores that make you yearn to have these precious new editions of books that you will only read once and then maybe pass on to a friend? Books you are sure your friends own and will loan you, or that you can get much cheaper on Amazon. Books that you know you don't have time to read and might just sit around for a year gathering dust until you finally get to them.

My mother-in-law loved to read. I think she read everything that was ever written if that is possible. If it was on Oprah's list, she had it. If it was a NY Times best seller, she'd read it. I can only imagine her at a bookstore. I can't believe I never went to one with her! I would have left with treasures galore or the promise of, "you can borrow that, I have it at home." Bill's mom was the one that bought Billy all the Harry Potter books as they were written. She had them delivered the day they came out and he was so excited. It was her influence that got me to pre-order the last one.

Nothing sat on mom's shelf unread but she understood when it sat on mine. She was the most understanding and non-judgemental person I think I've ever met. She was inquisitive and could talk to just about anyone about just about any subject. She was a housewife with a high school diploma and a drinking problem, and she was one of the greatest women that I have ever known. She cared about you and your friends and she loved to hear what was going on in your life. I think she really would have loved to talk books with Jaylee and Tori, home births with Crystal, education with April, crocheting with Bridget, politics with Amanda, piano with Sara, mothering with Rachel, Native American traditions with Monique...and the list goes on! She would have taken it all in and loved you all!

So I ask again, what is it about bookstores? What is it that makes you miss people so much?!

Puppy-sitting

Puppies are really, really cute. They have cute puppy breath, can't you just smell it?

They are especially cute when they are frolicking in the backyard with their brothers and sisters after they have done all of their business outside (as opposed to INside).
Puppies are cute when they fall asleep on full tummies and lay with their legs like little froggies and their little heads on their paws.
Puppies are NOT cute at 4 in the morning when they are whining and there is pee and poo all over the bathroom floor. It also doesn't smell very cute.

The American Girl

I took 3 kids to the movie today to see Kitt Kittredge in action. They had all read the book so it was a reward, although they didn't really need a reward for reading :) It was a fabulous movie, I cried about 3 times, and was impressed by the cast. I don't know the names of any of the actors except for Chris O'Donnel, but I'm sure you could look them up on imdb.com if you really care to. Oh, Joan Cusack was another bit part that made the movie as she usually does. But this is not the reason for the post. You should go see the movie, with your kids, but here's what happened after the movie...

The characters are Me (played by me), and 3 kids who will remain annoymous (K1, K2, K3).

The last line of the movie is said, the credits barely get a chance to start rolling and before the lights start to brighten:

K2: I really need to go to the bathroom.

Exit, rear stage, sharp right and directly to the ladies. K1 and K2 enter restroom, K3 and I wait outside.

Wait, wait, wait. K3 decides to go to the bathroom.

Finally, K1 and K2 exit together.

Me: Sheesh, what took you so long?
K1: I was waiting for (K2).
K2: Ya, I took a while. I had to do two things.
Me: (smiling) Oh, I see.
K1 and K2 giggle.
K1: Well...
K2: Well, I really had to do 3 things.
Me: 3 things?
K2: Ya, um... (giggling)
Me: I don't even want to know.
K1: Ya, you don't.

The End

Does anyone have a clue as to what "3 things" could mean?! I still don't know. Silly kids.