Mandatory Family Fun

How much fun can you fit into one evening? When it's mandatory, the possibilities are endless! We decorated our advent calendars and put up our Christmas tree and everyone was cheerful and festive---or else!

Sarah and Nicholas before the Alderson-Broaddus Honor Band Concert; Nicholas was giving his "Look at me---I just got my braces off" smile. (Even though he's never worn braces.)Heather wasn't feeling well and sitting on the other side next to me before the concert started.

Because when you are serious about practicing; one microphone just isn't enough.

Feeling like the Grinch, but it's not my fault!

I've gotten two Christmas cards already. I just want to state for the record that it's still November. So to all you people who are sending out Christmas cards a month before Christmas---please stop! Or at least wait until December, so it doesn't make the rest of us feel quite so much like utter slackers and complete losers. That's not too much to ask, is it?

I know there are always the few over-achievers out there who can't seem to help themselves. And on the other end of the spectrum there are those who will finally get their seasons greetings out in time for Valentine's day. But it isn't even Thanksgiving, for crying out loud!

So, in the spirit of love, unity, peace on earth, and all that other merriness like that, I am kindly requesting for everyone to PLEASE hang on to your fancy, handmade holiday cards (with accompanying photos) at least until December.

Ahhh, I feel so much better. So now that I have that off my chest I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy holiday!

It's just a Blemish...

We were driving in the car this evening and my daughter Heather informed me, "You have ruined me, mom." "Probably," I agreed. But figuring she must have a point to her statement, I bit. "What did I do this time?"

"Every time I see a white head on someone else's face, I have an irresistible urge to pop it," she exclaimed. That's not my fault, I told her, that is human nature. Right? I think everyone secretly wants to rid the world of white heads---whether they are on their own face or on the face of a random stranger. Gross? No, it's just one of those things.

Relieved that I had not in fact ruined my daughter's life---yet, I was able to continue on, feeling much better about myself. But just for the record, that's true, right?

Movie Madness!

Twilight premiere was last night at midnight. My friend got my daughters and I tickets to go with them last night to see it. The rational part of me knew it was too late for a school night, but the Twilight fan in me, quickly overrode the rational part. And it was awesome. Okay, so we're tired, but it was definitely worth it. Besides, I figured the kids could find time to sneak a nap in one of their classes today...

We got home at 2:30am and were up four hours later. The no-sleep headache buzzing around will eventually go away. But, the movie will last a lifetime....ahhhh...

After the initial zinger of "I'm sure you'll all enjoy the special showing of "Bolt 3D" we have for you all tonight," (ha ha, that went over really well,) the theater manager announced that they had two movies going on with only one copy of the film (is that legal?). He assured us that they would do everything they could to make sure both movies went off without a glitch. So anyway, we started off with a bang---the previews were all silent. My daughter leaned over and said that she had figured it out. We got the video and the theater next door got the sound...Lovely...but luckily we did end up getting sound by the time the movie started. (Even though we were fully prepared to do some serious lip reading to make the most of our midnight movie experience.)

And it was awesome. Most of the characters were how I imagined them, there were a few disappointments. But overall, I give it two thumbs up. Which is good, since my opinion is important---that, and we're going to be going to see it again tonight...

I knew that!

Either kids are getting smarter at an earlier age, or I'm rapidly losing brain cells. I think I'll go with the kids are getting smarter theory. I was taking my friend's grandkids to the Burger King playland today, so they could get their grocery shopping done. Trying to think of something to talk about, I grabbed the pair of fuzzy dice out of my glove compartment and showed it to them, right before we got started on the drive over to BK.

"Your cousin calls these coconuts!" I told the kids in the backseat, remembering a similar trip I'd had a few months ago with their cousin who was about their same age. "Those aren't coconuts," the little girl piped up in her small voice. "Those are fuzzy dice---you can tell because they are square," she informed me. (A good tip.)

Okay. Trying to keep the conversation going, I unfortunately stuck with the coconut theme. "At least if it was a coconut, if we got thirsty, we could stick in a straw and drink some coconut juice," I told her, obviously not thinking about what I was saying.

"Nope," her small all-knowing voice replied. "Coconuts have milk inside them." Feeling like I was now a complete idiot, I wanted to change the subject, but didn't know what else she was an expert on. Luckily, Burger King was close by, with kids' meal toys for them and free refills for me. We would all be fine---no conversation required. Are two and three year olds born knowing random facts nowadays or have I just forgotten since my own kids were little?

Now that's what sisters are for. If you can't use them as a pillow, what good are they?

I love this picture of Sarah and Heather on a super long bus trip. Sisterly love at it's finest (drool and all)...

Should I stay or should I go now...

I dropped Sarah, Heather and Nicholas off at AB college Honor Band this morning. They went to their various warm-up areas before their auditions and I went to tell them goodbye. Heather and Nicholas both had people they knew from school with them. I went into the auditorium where Sarah was warming up and she was the only one in there. I guess none of the other percussionists had arrived yet.

"Do you want me to wait in here with you until someone else comes?" I asked her. I wasn't sure if she would think it was better to be alone or have her mother sitting with her. "I don't care," she mumbled. I translated and my closest approximation was that she would love it if I stayed. I sat there pondering the big universal question: "Should I stay or should I go now...."

You see, I am not really good at figuring out teenagers when it comes to this kind of thing. For example, last week I went to the high school to talk to the principal. Unfortunately he was on lunch duty so I had to walk through the cafeteria to talk to him. I have found that teenagers don't like it when adults show them recognition in front of their friends, so I looked at the floor as I walked through the cafeteria. That way I wouldn't accidentally smile or wave at someone I knew. I repeated to myself, "I don't exist, I don't exist," over and over again as I made my way over to the principal.

I was surprised to hear, "Mrs. McKibben, hey Nick's mom," shouted by several kids. I looked up and soon found myself smiling, waving and getting high fives from several kids in the lunch room. "I DO EXIST," I thought proudly. By the time I had finished talking the principal, I was quite full of myself. But don't worry, I had to walk back through the hall on my way to my car and had enough glares of "I don't know you---you don't know me" to sufficiently knock my ego back down to size.

So, back to my dilemma. I waited in the auditorium with Sarah until another percussionist arrived. But I still wasn't sure if I should stay. Finally, I got up and told Sarah to call me after her audition. Did I make the right decision? Who knows? Maybe I should have stayed. I'll worry about it for the rest of the day, I'm sure. But if I'd stayed, I would have worried that I should have left...

Anna and her friend Shelby Trick or Treating. It was their last Halloween since they both turned twelve this year. Anna went as a "Cat Burgler" (Notice the stuffed cat she is carrying) and Shelby is an artsy theater type, who reads poems and snaps.

Hurry up to wait in line...

I love to wait. Which is really fortunate, because there are so many things I get to wait for: stop lights, grocery lines, doctor appointments and sometimes I even get a two-fer. Like when you wait in line to buy a movie ticket and then get to wait in line again when the movie starts, for your seat---those are my favorite.

Anyway, I have always wondered why businesses find the unfriendliest and nastiest people on the face of the earth, to hire to meet you at the end of those lines. Not that I don't like waiting in those lines, mind you. But at the end, it would be nice to be greeted with a friendly smiling face. It seems like every receptionist and store clerk go out of their way to make my wonderful waiting experience, end up feeling unfulfilled, like a bad taste left in my mouth I can't get rid of.

Like an old dentist I used to go to, who I loved, for example. He had a ten-minute late policy. I wouldn't dream of showing up late to a dentist appointment, but not because of his policy. I would have had to face the dragon lady and receive her evil glare, which would've probably melted me on the spot. (No need for dental work, I guess). One day after ten minutes of waiting, I got up and headed for the back to see the dentist. "Where are you going," dragon lady screeched. "Ten minute policy," I told her sweetly. "I figure if I can't be more than ten minutes late, neither can you." But after seeing that clearly she could not take my little joke, I went back to my seat and was rewarded with EXTRA waiting time, just for my sense of humor, I'm sure. But that's okay, because if I wasn't waiting for my appointment there, I'd just be waiting for something else. The laundry to finish, water to boil, Godo...

So, when my friend told me about her experience of being thirty minutes late for her doctor's appointment the other day, I was flabbergasted. "And you still went?" I asked her. I couldn't believe she would have the nerve to show up that late! Apparently neither could the receptionist, who was not very happy. "Why are you so late," the receptionist asked my friend rudely. "I was in line at Walmart for over twenty minutes," my friend answered honestly. Instantly the receptionist was a new woman. "Oh no," she cooed. "That is awful, it happens to me all the time. Have a seat and I'll get you right in." Huh. I guess waiting in line is something everyone can relate to. It's a good thing I don't mind.

Mysteries of Life

Whenever I hear the song by John Mayer on the radio, I keep hoping that he will just say whatever it is he needs to say and get it off his chest. Obviously it is really bothering him or he could say it and move on. Until then, I'm afraid we're going to have to listen to the song over and over again, waiting to see if this will be the time he will actually get up enough nerve to say it---whatever that is.

Okay, JUST SAY IT ALREADY! But, the song ends and he still never said it. It's one of those things that will stay on my list of life's mysteries.

Like belts, they hold up pants. And belt loops hold up the belts, so it really isn't clear who the real hero is down there. I was never even aware of belt loops, totally disregarded them until Heather brought up this disturbing fact. Now it bothers me. Belts have been getting the credit all these years and no one ever thinks about belt loops. Don't they matter? I just don't know---another mystery.

And spam. I hate to even think about it, but who eats that and why do they even make it, anyway? I figure if you have to pop open a can of meat that isn't even self-respecting enough to go by the name of meat it is, how can you feel good about eating it. Besides, why would you eat spam---if you were truly bent on meat in a can, there is always canned chicken or tuna?

Alas another mystery to ponder.

Standards? What standards...

Two weeks ago, on Halloween night the candy bowl was overflowing and we had our pick of all the good stuff: Snickers, Mr. Goodbars, Kit-Kat Bars---you know what I'm talking about. The good candy. In fact, we were candy snobs.

Now we're left with the dregs. The coconut and cotton candy flavored Dum-Dums, Heavenly Hash marshmallow eggs (who buys those anyway), gummy body parts; okay I think you get the general idea.

And yet every day there is less and less of this candy in the bowl. It gets picked through more and more each day and the candy that two weeks ago we once turned our noses up at, now doesn't seem quite so bad. In fact all of the tropical fruit flavored Starbursts are now gone as well as an assortment of previously untouchable candy.

I'm guessing that by this time next week, even the disgusting candy will finally, as a last resort to eating something healthier, be eaten. Honestly, in good conscience, I should just throw the rest of the candy away now---no one in their right mind would eat it anyway. It's just that you never know how tempting a hard-as-a-rock, extremely sour, Sourhead will taste when you're coming down off a three week sugar high...

Fast Food Musings

I was dropping the kids off at a morning choir performance across town and afterwards, we decided to stop by McDonald's to grab lunch on our way back over to school. The kids are older now and haven't had Happy Meals in a while, so we thought we'd order them and see if they had changed in the past few years.

Anna and her friend were shocked when they opened up the plastic barbie toys that were included with the meals. They were wearing short skirts and their mid-drifts were showing. You'd think McDonald's could afford to give Barbie a sweater to cover her up a little more.

The girls were going to throw the dolls away, but I told them I would give them to a little girl who comes over to play sometimes with her mom. "As long as you tell her not to use Barbie as a role model," Anna instructed---the little girl is only a year old and will probably only drool on it, but okay. In fact I did tell her mom to refrain from dressing them in matching outfits. But it did make me wonder why McDonalds has "Immodest Barbie" in their collection of happy meal toys.

Anyway, just for future reference, even with the disappointing toy aside, the girls did feel slightly more happy after eating the happy meal than before they had eaten it. So, go happy meals! (Just get some better toys, okay?)

Good Morning one and all

We were running this morning and as we passed by other people we noticed something very interesting. When did people stop saying "Good" with their greetings? Everyone called "Morning" as they passed, but no one said "Good morning." At least that we could find anyway.

Is it because we are too lazy to add the good part at the beginning or is it because mornings are no longer good? Or maybe a little of both... Just something to think about as you eat your cereal tomorrow morning.

It's that time again

Today is the big voting day---trust me, there is no way I can forget. Someone has called me ten times a day all week. Every time the phone rings one of the kids will answer it, pause for a few moments and then hang up. "It was for McCain," they tell me. "Why didn't you tell them he isn't here anymore?" I ask them. (It's a joke from when we had a cardboard cut out of him in our bathroom for over a week). I'll be glad to put an end to the phone calls, they even leave messages, which I think is over the top.

At school the kids even got a chance to vote in a mock election. Of course, Anna voted for Ralph Nader. "How cool would it be to have a president with the name Ralph?" she wanted to know. If names were really all that mattered, the candidates would have re-thunk their signs. I drive by and see: "McCain Pain" and can't help but think "Osama Bin Laden" for the other one. Bad signs this year.

Hopefully not in more ways than one.