Run With The Fishes

Lack of posts this week courtesy of weird illness. I’ve had some kind of sickness with high running fever and sore throat since Monday. It looks like the fever is just about gone (knock on wood). So far no one else I know has fallen prey to whatever bug I have/had (more knocking on wood).

On the days I stayed home from work, Allison would tell me/ask,”Mom? you’re not sick anymore! Yeah!!”. Followed by my answer of, “Sorry, kiddo. I still am”. She would then argue with me that I wasn’t sick anymore. If only that could have made it true.

I have been trying to broaden my book reading horizons, so ventured into the non-fiction section. I picked this book up soley based on the cover and because I thought it was going to be about fashion. No, I didn’t read the dust jacket. Most of the time I do, but I guess I thought it was obvious what this book was going to be about. I was pretty sure it was going tell how clothing styles were different for her parents’ generations vs her own. That’s nowhere close to what was actually inside.

Noelle Howey’s ‘Dress Codes:Of Three Girlhoods – My Mother’s, My Father’s, and Mine‘ is not at all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is well written and insightful. It tells of how she (and her whole family) came to terms with the fact that her father needed to live as a woman.

There are a few circumstances that are really glossed over (like her depression), but since it is her memoir, she can write about what she wants. After I read it, I went to see what other readers thought. Most of the reviewers were people who were going through (either themselves or family members) gender identity issues. While I don’t think I’ll ever come across this situation, it was interesting to read.

Today Nathan’s team had their first play-off game.

Down 18 to 20. 1 minute to go, none of the boys seem to realize the clock is ticking down. They waste precious seconds in their huddle as all of the parents yell from the sidelines, “THE CLOCK IS RUNNING!!!! HUSTLE IT UP!!”, or if you were me, you dropped half of the g’s at the end of your words, “You’re wastin time!” and “The clock is runnin”.*

They run their play and CJ busts through the middle for a first down. The clock is still running and there are about 25 seconds left at the beginning of the play. The coach calls Nathan’s play number (18 lead). Nathan has run the ball 2 other times this season. Once for no yards and one time for 6 yards and the first down. This time Nathan ran a little further.

He ran about 35 yards, broke 3 tackles, and pulled some incredibly jukey moves for the game winning touchdown. It was super exciting. I managed to catch the whole thing on the video camera.

Unfortunately in my excitement, I missed the jukey moves and mostly captured the fans on the sidelines. They are almost as much fun to watch as Nathan’s touchdown was. There were moms and dads jumping up and down. People were hugging each other. It was very cool to see everyone else caught up in the moment. I had to turn off the camera because I was jumping up and down with all of the other parents and didn’t want to fall out of the press box.

Greg has a much better recap of the game, and most of the season, at our fantasy football forum.

* I don’t like to hear myself on the video camera, but this is the most embarrassing I have sounded. From watching other games of his, I know that I don’t generally sound like a redneck. Usually, I am just saying incredibly nerdy things like, “Very good run!” and “Great Decision!”.

Last night when the boys came back from football practice, Allison went outside to welcome them home. Alison ran in the door beaming with excitement. “MOM!!!!! THEY FOUND IT! Dad’s the best DAD EVER!”

One little girl was incredibly happy.

With this entry I realized that his teacher must be giving them words that they need to use in their daily journals.

Dear President Bush,

I think [our town] should be the next capital of the United States. Don’t you want to live in the country? We need something big in this town. Because it is so small the stores don’t get near as much money as big cities. We need something big to get more consumers and we need more friends.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Thank you,
&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Nathan

We all really do need more friends.

Last Friday, the inevitable happened. Allison lost her blanket.

She has had this blanket since before she was born. It was snuggly and soft, and she woudn’t sleep without it. Anywhere Allie was sleeping, the blanket went with her. We tried to make sure that if the blanket travelled around town with us that it stayed in the car. You know, to keep it clean. At least that’s the reason we gave Allison.

Friday at Nathan’s football practice, Allison was cranky and tired. It was also starting to get cold outside so I thought it would be ok for her to snuggle up in her blanket. Warmth and non-fussiness ensued. On our way to the car after practice, Allison called out, “Hey, where’s my blanket?”.

As soon as she said it, I just knew the blanket had vanished forever. We looked around the practice field, asked some other moms, but didn’t see it that night. We were hopeful that maybe one of the other parents picked it up and it would be returned at Saturday’s football game. No such luck. Noone had seen it.

Friday night bedtime was rough. Saturday I thought that maybe we could find an identical copy of her blanket at Walmart. This year they have a new style of blanket, so that option was out. Instead I got her a new, big girl blanket. Same snuggly softness as the orignal, but 3x’s bigger. For the first 5 seconds she was excited to have it. Then, she threw it down and told me to “TAKE IT BACK TO WALMART! It’s not my blanket, I need MY blanket.” Crying, “Please Mom, I just want my pooh bear blanket”. Yeah, I felt terrible.

She holds onto the new blanket, fusses that it isn’t her old blanket for a while, then goes to sleep. Each night since then, it has gotten a little better. Except when she wakes up in the middle of the night crying because she doesn’t have her blanket.

Time for an entry from Nathan’s daily journal.

I would see me playing video games five years from now. I would be beating everybody in the world! I would become the King of video games. I would make video games for everybody in the world. But when I die the person with the highest score on my video games would become king! It would go over and over for generations. Better get back to the party!

Ok. So, just like I predicted I haven’t really kept up with the book reviews. It’s not because I haven’t been trying to read. It’s just that I had not made it to the library to get a new book. It’s very hard when it only stays open until 6pm on weekdays and closes at 1 on Saturdays. Ok, enough whining about our local library. They do have a pre-school reading time and the librarian is working with what resources she has.

Plus, some of the books I picked out weren’t exactly winners. I’m not entirely sure they warrant a review except to say, “This book wasn’t really for me”. Sad thing, I can’t even remember which books they were, except to say there were 2 of them and it’s been a few weeks since I read them. I’ll ask the librarian the next time I am there what books I have checked out lately. I’m sure that will help trigger something.

Anyway, on with the review of a book I actually remember. Jeffery Archer’s ‘First Among Equals‘ is one of the books that I had read before, but didn’t remember that until I started reading it again. Man, am I absent minded or what. Maybe I will invent flubber or something and get rich.

The opening of the book really dates when it was written (1984) and made me laugh out loud. It tells us how King Charles had a difficult decision ahead of him to determine who would become the next Prime Minister.

Amazon reviewer chandra_sekhar sums up exactly how I feel about the book, so I am just going to be lazy and quote him or her.

“This story by Jefferey Archer is typical of his style.The main characters are all highly driven, ambitious and hardworking. The tale revolves around four MP’s who are elected into the british parliament, in the 60’s. Each of them is a stereotype; an academic,a scotsman, a viscount’s son and another lawyer. Its thoroughly balanced, interms of what the characters deserve; Jefferey Archer establishes an intricate web of give and take with exact equivalence. So this is definitely not a classic. After reading the book one doesnt feel more experienced. However, this book has some strong points. The description of the British political system is credible (though three of the four characters are hardly political), and the pace of the story ensures that you keep turning the pages. The major political stepping stones of the characters are well distributed (but too smooth). On the whole, its a good one-time read.”

I have lots of stuff to write about from our long weekend away, however last night Allison’s stomach “needed to spit all of the bad stuff out” (in her words). It was the nastiest smelling puke I think I have ever smelled. Since there seems to be a stomach virus going around our wee little town, it is 1 down and 4 to go in our house. Maybe, unlike last year, we will get lucky and only have 1 victim.

Here’s a little bit to tide you over.

Last week the kids and I were watching Avatar, The Last Airbender* when Allison pointed out something. “Hey Mom! They are coconut heads, just like you!”.

“What is a coconut head?”, I asked. Earlier in the day, the girls had been talking about how Allison has blonde hair and Zoey is a brunette**. I knew what she meant to say, but wanted to see what her explanation would be.

“Yeah, You know Mom! They have hair that is brown and fuzzy. Like a coconut”. Pretty hard to argue with that logic.

*Admit it, you watch cartoons with your children also.

**Don’t ask me why they were talking about hair colors. Sometimes, they pull out the oddest topics.

Recently Nathan brought home some of his daily journal entries from the first 6 weeks of school. I think I am going to post 1 a week up here. These are some pretty funny writings. I haven’t changed the spelling or punctuation any.

Dear Student,

Here are some tips for kindergarden.
1. Listen to your teacher and do stuff when she tells you.
2. Stay away from bad things.
3. Make a habbit of going to school every day and on time.
4. Try not to cut your hair!

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbspYour friend,
&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbspNathan

I guess it should be noted that in kindergarten, Nathan gave one of his friends a hair cut.