I Remember Biting...

...into Silly Putty.  Am I the only one that did this?  This prompt was probably referring to food or another human, but I have a distinct memory of pressing Silly Putty into the Sunday Comics (Family Circle specifically) to make a "copy" of the comic.  Then, just like the commercial said to do, I would stretch it out to distort the faces - oohh - the fun we had in the 70's.  But then here's the dysfunctional, Julie-twisted perspective to Silly Putty: "I wonder if I bite it if it will taste like gum?..."  And the answer would be, no - just squeaky, chewy stuff that tasted like how my Barbie doll smelled. Just another day in the life...

Silver Lining:
If "Too much agreement kills a chat,"  I will never have to worry about running out of things to chat about with my husband - too much agreement is not a problem in this house.

What Do You Love About Reading?

I love what happens when I read... the rest of the world goes away for a moment and I am injected into someone else's world.  I like my world just fine, but my world can get monotonous at times. I love holding paperback books.  I love the anticipation of starting a book that I just might love and be able to tell others about.  I love talking about books with other people.

Then there's reading to my kids.  When I was teaching Kindergarten, my absolute favorite thing to do was to read to the class.  I had a captive audience - and if some of the audience was a little unfocused, I had ways of getting them back - like saying, "AND THEN - now you won't want to miss this part..." - and they were all right back with me again... well most of them.

So now that I get to read to my own children every day - I get to use different voices and make those stories come alive.  I LOVE that my five year old wants me to reread Fantastic Mr. Fox to her before the movie comes out in November - she would "like to have her memory refreshed."  What's not to like about reading?

Silver Lining: If I don't like what I'm reading, it's a good way to have some day-dreaming time with no one suspecting a thing.

It was nice knowing you all...

... so I was dancing in the kitchen on the hardwood floors to a little "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting"- and I slipped.  Here's the deal, I was holding a thermometer that I was going to take up to the bathroom... and maybe using for a wee little microphone.  Yeah - a little glass, a little mercury - it's been a good life...

Silver Lining: Dave isn't home to know about the mercury spill... shhhh...

Write about your favorite experience with ketchup...

Oh - this is rich.  Surprisingly, many things to write on this subject:

• My sister having some sort of altercation with the ketchup pump at McDonald's circa 1984 - wearing her brand new "Stadium" coat from Siefert's right before getting dropped off at CCD.  The coat took on the battle bravely, but lost miserably.  My sister at the oh-so-happy age of 16 was not oh so happy.
• A strange run in with a man named Charlie who planted trees for my uncle - ate and loved ketchup only sandwiches.
• My children's affinity for ketchup on... oh, yes - ANYTHING!
• When I spilled ketchup on my favorite Raggedy Ann and Andy t-shirt on the first day of our drive to Florida in 1975.  Turns out, my mom forgot to pack me another shirt - just dresses and rompers.  So guess who is wearing a ketchup stain on the Dumbo ride? And while hugging Mickey?  With Cinderella? Yes that would be me - an oversized 4 year old pretending to Mary Poppins for a week - and all of this was captured in photos - thank goodness.

Silver Lining: The invention of Shout, Spray and Wash, Tide to Go, and Oxy Clean - all in travel sizes!

Writing muscles?

So it says here in my little book that in order to keep my "writing muscles flexed" I should play word games and puzzles - such as cryptograms and crosswords.  Here's the funny thing - I so don't get cryptograms (never have), and I just learned that crosswords maybe aren't my thing either.
I was given a New York Times Crosswords book by my rather wordy sister not so long ago.  I started at the beginning - and even though it was a bit challenging, I was ready to take it on - I was up for it!  Feeling pretty good about myself and my intelligence, I worked through the first 40 puzzles over a time period of about one month.  Not bad, huh?  As I was flipping to the 41st puzzle, I noticed that it no longer said MONDAY at the top - it now read TUESDAY.  Hmmm... this was odd - what's the deal on that?  No matter - I will carry on and move forward.  But this was a bit harder - I mean a lot harder - do I dare admit that I used the answer key to do almost the whole puzzle?  Well, this stopped my 1 - 2 puzzle a day habit with quite a jolt.  Maybe the next ones will be easier...
Turns out - like I'm sure the rest of the world already knows - is that the puzzles in the New York Times increase in difficulty with each passing day of the week - making the weekend puzzles the most challenging - and the Monday ones for ... uh... dummies.
I wonder if reading Face Book for a couple of hours a day will "flex" my writing muscles? 

Silver Lining: Many anti-aging skin products on sale now at Target!  Just in time for the big 4-0!

Super Sneaky Mom

So we have a couple of days off of school.  I decided to take the children to "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."  Being the health conscious mom, I thought we would take our own snacks.  So against the judgment of movie theater police world-wide... yes - we sneaked in our own snacks.  This made my children very nervous - probably because I told them we were smuggling and that they should zip their pockets close with their snacks smashed in them.  I thought that I had eased their minds enough to forget about it and before long, we were "3 in a row ready to go" for the previews.  Shortly after, I realize that Maya is slinking way far down into her seat with very watchful eyes.  Then she whispers to me, "Mom, are there video cameras in here?"  I reply in a whisper, "Only on Thursdays - we're safe."  She then slinks down even more and asks me if I can hear her munching.  "Are there sound cameras in here on Fridays?" she whispers back.
Maya is NOT a rule follower in any sense - however, the thought of "movie police" has sent her over the edge.

Silver Lining: No Movie Police on duty today.

If you could be a kid for 20 minutes...

I would run outside and make a snowman in October with less than a 1/2 inch of snow on the ground.  There was a time factor involved - notice Maya's carrot is jammed in backwards and the eyes have already fallen out. No matter.

Silver Lining: trace of snow = happy children

I'm Back!

Small hiatus - but now I am back from my travels.
I can't believe I was afraid of ...
going down the bathtub drain.  As a young child I was known to take a rather leisurely bath - complete with wrinkled up fingers and toes.  I am assuming that my mom, in jest, told me that I would slide down the drain when she pulled the plug if I didn't get out.  I am guessing I took this to heart.  The second I saw anyone even leaning toward the drain pull, I would risk life and limb to skedaddle as quickly as possible out of the tub.
Now here's the funny part: even as a zygote, I am sure I was bigger than the drain opening - I have never been a person of small stature -  so where's the common sense in thinking that I could slip down a drain never to be heard from again?

Silver Lining: Learned a little about the kids at the school my children attend today.  I volunteered to sit in for the secretary and sat at the front desk all morning.  Comments passed on to me as I dutifully waited for the phone to ring:
"My brother thought these were pajamas - but I told him that a monkey could wear this outfit."  Hmmm...

"Are you Joseph's mom?  Can you draw a horse?  Did you bring a lunch? Where do you live?  Have you ever seen a polar bear?  Can I go to the bathroom?" (that was all in one breath)

"Have you ever tried Emergency pills?  They cure EVERYTHING - even my chicken pox.  I never had the chicken pox.  Someone had the chicken pox.  I think."

What story would your chin tell?

When you become rich and famous, what's the first charity to which you'll make a donation?

This is what's great about being an American - everyone has a cause - from securing space so that chickens can move about freely during their numbered days... to growing their hair to make wigs for those who have lost their hair to traumatic medical therapies.  There are so many in need - which gives us all an opportunity to choose a need and make it our cause.
And then there are needs that are worthy but sometimes annoying.  For example, right now I have no less than 4 order forms on my kitchen island with my kids' names stamped officially on them.  They are supposed to be hitting the pavement to sell popcorn, Christmas wreaths, and coupon books.  So in addition to our church, the Lupus Foundation, and Ilsan Children's Home in Korea - my next donation would be to whomever sends home an order form with my kids.  My idea of fundraising is this: kids rake leaves, mow lawns, shovel driveways - get paid for their hard work - give their cash to the "Order Form of the Day."  Service plus hard work equals moms and dads pleased enough with their children to kick in some cash of their own.  Problem solved - no cookie dough, popcorn, coupons, pastries, calendars, greeting cards or otherwise taking up the space of a lawn mower, shovel or rake.

Silver Lining: It's sweater season!