Books and Other Adventures

On Friday the kids got out of school early because it was their affiliated-high-school's homecoming and the parade was in the afternoon.  This year neither of my kids were in the parade.  The weather was chilly and windy, so they said they'd rather not go.  Ooops I forgot to remind them about all the candy that they will be missing.  Oh well,  So we went to the library instead.  (My kind of Friday afternoon!)  They played the kids computer games and I stayed nearby making sure they followed all the library rules (haha). 

Sisi checked out a book called Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Weirdos.  The book shows kids how to draw monsters, Frankensteins, witches, and other scary creatures.

It's a pretty great book and as Sisi says, "he makes it seem so easy!" 

J-dude checked out a book called The Giver which he has been reading with his class at school.  He wants me to read it, too.  I asked him for a synopsis of what he has read so far.  At first he said, "I can't really remember.  I just want you to read it."  I finally convinced him I wanted to hear what the book is about in his own words,  and he talked non-stop for about 15 minutes about the book.  So...there you have it, I found the magic phrase to open the door:   In Your Own Words.  And I probably said Please, also.

At bedtime the kids and I laid down together and they asked me to read some of the books I used to read outloud when they were preschoolers.  We read and laughed and they kept handing me books.  A clever ploy to stay up later.  I read Grandpa Toad's Secrets,  I read One Fish, Two Fish.  (My what a lot of fish there are!)  Sisi read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Then it was lights out time, and they fell asleep quickly, kind of like when they were preschoolers.

Lanterns

The kids and I journeyed to Akron this weekend to visit The Player and to attend the Lantern Festival.  We arrived too late at the festival to decorate our own lanterns, and I forgot my camera anyway.  Sisi dressed as a cat mime (?) and then played *Statue* in the sculpture courtyard where several people thought she was a sculpture until she moved or meowed or something to scare the bejewels out of them.  That's my girl, the scary cat mime, yes indeed!

On Sunday, my birthday, we went out to breakfast then for a walk in one of the metro parks.  We watched birds and frogs and meandered on trails in spectacular fall weather.  It was a great birthday.

Home Monday, back to school and work.  Still loving this weather and now the full moon, too!

Packing for a Trip

Last night I was tired.  I have worked more than usual this week and for reasons I won't detail, my work has made me more worn out at the end of some days.  Like yesterday.

Then there was a conflict with Sisi over my request to take down the fort she had constructed in the living room.  I wouldn't mind a fort in the living room if my house was bigger, and I don't mind a temporary fort in the living room now, but her intentions were that it would be a permanent part of the home.  Nevermind access to the furniture behind it for the rest of the family.  So...I said to take it down.

Somehow this struck a nerve and it caused her to glare at me, then go into her brother's room (where he was already sent after getting in trouble for rollerskating on the wood floor in the guest room, right before my eyes, 3 seconds after I had politely told him not to rollerskate on the wood floor.)  I heard furniture being moved...the desk being placed behind the door for insured privacy from mom.  Ok, I thought, that's okay, let them have a private gripe session about me.  It will do them good and I will get 5 minutes to myself.

After a while I knocked on the door and reminded them it was time for showers.  The desk moved away from the door and I was allowed in.  Sisi headed to the shower, glowering a bit less, and then I noticed this sitting on the desk:

Why is this on your desk?  I asked the boy.

Sisi brought it up here, he answered.

Sisi, why did you bring the lemon juice up to J-dude's room?  I asked the girl.

I didn't do it, she claimed.

Hmmm.   I mused. 

Silence.

Finally J-dude said, She wanted to run away from home.  She was planning to take that along.

So we had the chat about running away and why and where would you go.  It made me sad.  I still didn't want a fort in my living room, though.  So, we finally agreed if she wants to run away again she just has to take me with her. 

Tonight we will be packing for a weekend trip to Ohio where we will visit The Player and attend a Lantern Festival.  I don't think we will need to take any bottles of lemon juice, but you never know what might end up in her suitcase!

Laying Low

Here are some ways I know it is fall in Central Illinois:

1.  There is frost on the grass in the mornings.
2.  Windows open at night means not wanting to get out from under the covers in the morning.
3.  There may be nightly fires in the firepit!
4.  My neighbor's pear trees get serious about shedding their fruit, and some of them end up in my yard.
5.  The trees turn into mother nature's palette.
6.  My birthday approaches.
7.  Last but not least, it's time for the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk.

This year I took both kids to the Walk.  The theme this year is "Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War."  While this is only the 3rd walk I have attended, I would say it was very much my favorite.  The actors were all so very good.  The scripts were wonderful, too.  Our tour guide had a sense of humor.  AND, Colonel John McNulta taught my kids how to avoid enemy fire:'

Don't do THIS, he said.  Instead, do this:

Good advice.  I hope they never need it, though.

October

How did the 10th month of our calendar get the name October which has the Latin root for eight in it? 

My big red dictionary was no help, though I did see another humorous word pairing at the top of the next page...octogenarian* odor.  No offense to those of you in your 8th decades, of course.  Because someday I hope to join that crowd and not have young 50-something whippersnappers snickering about odors real or imagined. 

Friday's word of the day was zarf, an excellent word to know for Scrabble, which means a chalicelike holder for a hot coffee cup, made of metal, used in the Middle East. 

Today my friend Cindy is to arrive for a short visit, from Chicago, via Amtrak.  The weather looks good for a walk out at Parklands this afternoon.  Dinner out somewhere.  Then we will probably play Scrabble.  Cindy claims I lost my competitive edge at Scrabble when I became a mom and was in the habit of letting the kids win games.  I think perhaps my vocabulary also went back to a 1st grade level.  Perhaps I won't win the game but maybe I can wow her with one or two cool words like Zarf or Keck.

Tomorrow the kids and I will be going to the Cemetery Walk in the afternoon.  I hope the beautiful weather holds (it's supposed to) and that they enjoy it.  I know I will.  See you there Ms Kathleen!

Yellow Alert

This morning Sisi came out of the upstairs room we use as a guest room/TV room and declared "Some Guys have taken over All the TV Stations!!"  Fearing terrorist (or Tea Party) attack on the media, I dashed upstairs.  As it turns out, she just couldn't get the channel changer to work quite right and needed help to get to the PBS station she watches in the morning.

Whew, glad I was able to return us to a normal state of viewing Martha Speaks.

Which, by the way, is a great kids cartoon about a talking dog.  Martha, the dog, eats alphabet soup and it goes to her brain and she is able to talk.  In English.  Except once when she is kidnapped by a bad guy who gives her Polish Alphabet soup and then she speaks Polish. 

The boy has begun the phase of childhood now known as "I'm Reading Harry Potter."  He says he is addicted.  True?  Or just an excuse to try to stay up later at night.  Who knows.  Still, any phase that begins "I'm Reading..." is probably a good one.  Is it true there are seven long books?  Momma like.

I am reading The Geography of Bliss for my next book group.  I am only through the first couple of chapters, but every time I read one of these "I was a journalist and then I decided to write books so I got someone to pay me to travel around the world so I could write a book..."  I want to bang my head against a wall and scream "Why Didn't I Become a Journalist???"

So far I have not really ever done that.  I might bang the book against the wall, or my head, or whisper the words in an irritated voice..oh, wait, I love my job.  Never mind.  In fact, I really love my job.  And I do get paid to travel.  Yes, I travel to Pontiac and Lincoln and Hopedale and Farmer City.  The Paris and Milan of Illinois, for sure.

Confucius Say

It's Confucius Day, September 29th.   Every year on the same day, there is a chance to honor the Chinese philosopher who really did, apparently, according to Wikipedia, say Do not treat others in a way you would not like to be treated yourself.   I call that the double negative golden rule.  It would be bad not to follow that advice.

The current day legacy of Confucius is, of course, the Confucius Say jokes.  Here is one:

Confucius say:  Man who live in glass house should change clothes in the basement.

And so on.  I think we are done now with Mr. Confucius.

On to the next topic today, baseball.  The regular season ended yesterday.  The playoffs start Friday.  I won't be watching them because they are on TBS which is not on my basic cable plan.  I actually considered adding to my plan so I could watch the playoffs, but the only team I care about is "whoever is playing the damn Yankees"...yes, I will be rooting for the Detroit Tigers this next week. 

Of course if I did get expanded cable then I could watch even more sporting events on a regular basis.  I suppose I should stop by the Comcast office and see how much that would cost.  Confucius say,  Money can't buy happiness but it can get you TBS and ESPN and every Cubs game next year.

Oh, yes, next year...