Twilight and The Emperor Has No Clothes

I found this old post that I never did finish - so I figured the timing is right (release of Twilight movie) to finally post it.

Twilight

We went to Barnes & Noble so that K could buy the next book in the Twilight series. I was glad to see her on to something other than Harry Potter (kind of no choice- last book and all has been read and re-read) and the Warriors series. However, due to Twilight she now believes not only that wizards exist but so do vampires. We have gone round and round on it. We did finally come to an agreement - I have to admit there is a slight chance that wizards and vampires could exist and she will admit there is a chance they do not. Her defense was forthright and surprisingly complicated - the highlights of the discussion are that she told me that we (thank goodness she includes herself in the "we") believe in god and cannot see him, so if we believe in something as good as god, then why not believe that there could be vampires and know that god will keep us safe from them if we truly believe and trust god. Also if we allow ourselves to believe in something evil, then we will know to be cautious of it. This is only the tip of the conversation, but then she finally asked do we have to discuss it anymore (I have to admit it was turning into a lecture).  Thus the agreement.

I can remember watching Bewitched and thinking it was real and that witches must exist so I can appreciate this. It is all part of growing up.  I do not really know the age at which I decided it was not real - kind of like some of the other childhood beliefs - I guess. We are lucky she enjoys reading so much as I believe it has created a knowledgeable young woman.

As the fury and excitement over Twilight seems to be growing - it occurs to me that K is always a step ahead of the curve.  She liked Twilight during the summer - when no one was speaking of it. I like to think she is a trendsetter.  She thrives on being different (yes that has it's consequences) but in the end - the things she does, the clothes she wears seem to always be just a step ahead of the curve.  

The Emperor Has No Clothes

While at B&N - A chose "The Emperor has No Clothes" in the clearance section.  This was (and is) one of my favorite stories from childhood.  So many times as an adult - we stop ourselves from shouting "THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES" when something is not right. (And in my case - I often state it when I shouldn't)  Since I love this story so much - I was excited to discuss it with A after she read it.  I asked her how she liked it and if she thought there was any message behind it.  She said she liked it and that the message was not to believe someone trying to sell you invisible fabric.  I said that is true, but do you think that it could also be saying that it is important to speak up when you see something you believe is not right.  She pondered this for a bit and finally said - "yes you are right"  (I am very pleased with my self as she takes a pause) then continues on to say "Especially when you see someone in an outfit with invisible fabric or if someone is trying to sell you invisible fabric - you should definitely stand up for yourself"

Halloween - Start to Finish

Most people believe that Halloween is one day long - this is a myth. Halloween begins November 1 - this is the day the kids begin plotting what they will dress up as next year and how they will do it differently next year to maximize the candy influx.  Then there is a lull in Halloween thoughts (hopefully), as thoughts turn to Christmas - which is now beginning to take over the shelves in the stores where Halloween merchandise had been.  Actually Target had an aisle 2 weeks ago that was Halloween on one side, then Christmas on the other - yeee gads!  At any rate - Halloween in our house resumed our thoughts at the end of September when A began whining on the way home that she was the only one of all her friends that had not figured out what to be for Halloween.  Luckily talking through it - and while shopping we came up with a costume.  Then we were able to hold off further thoughts until about 2 weeks ago when we decided to go get pumpkins since T was leaving for DC.  We ended up at a small little farm by our house that had the pumpkins already cut, but none the less you could stand amongst the pumpkins for photo opportunity. 

 We started out going to the bigger farm down the road, but there were too many people with screaming kids and we couldn't even find a place to park. I whined that I really was not a "people person" and I was sure that people would be breathing my air (I was a little grumpy that day)- so we ended up at a small family farm down the road that sold pumpkins and some fruits and vegetables.  Simpler and helps out the little farmer instead of the big farmer!!

Then we arrived home and unloaded the pumpkins -

We then carved the pumpkins the next week.  A wanted to make hers into a carriage.  Similar to Cinderella's but you cannot call it that in front of A as she wants it to be simply a "Carriage". She saw the idea in Hallmark magazine and decided that is what she would do this year for her pumpkin.  K likes to do this little Kitty face with it's paws each year.  She is really getting quite good at it.  This year as we were carving - it seemed like we had turned a corner - neither of the girls really needed much help as they carved out the sections.  A wanted me to scoop out the "guts" because she thinks that it is "So Gross!"  It made me simultaneously sad and happy as I realized this is yet another little thing that shows how they are growing up and becoming independent. It all passes so fast.

The next Halloween festivity is the class trip to the "The Farm".  Literally that is what it is called - The Farm.  This is the last year for the trek to The Farm as only K-2 get to go for field trip there.  It is fun and the kids have fun running around.  There is a hay maze in the barn, a petting zoo,  a ride on trailers pulled by a tractor out to the pumpkin field to pick your pumpkin, then a place to have lunch.

Now on to Halloween eve -this involves  running around the house making sure everyone has all the parts to their costume, that home work has been done, some kind of nutritious meal served (you know the next day will be full of sugar-so I always try to combat it by a super healthy meal on Halloween eve), and then usually some baking for the class Halloween party.  This year it was 24 cupcakes for the kids in K-2  to decorate.  I finished the baking and frosting the cupcakes at about 11 pm - which is a record seeing as how I did not start baking until about 8pm and was attempting to watch Survivor while doing the baking.

And then the day is finally here - HALLOWEEN.  We of course are late to school  - it is raining and this always throws traffic into a conundrum.  I pick the girls up from school (it is still raining) and we head south to go stop by the house and fine tune our costumes before heading to Kent Station.  As we arrived in Kent, the rain stopped and the sun actually began to break through the clouds.  While we are at the house getting ready - I talk A into letting me take one picture with the feather hat - and she agrees.  

Story about the feather hat - when Aunt L heard A was going to be pirate - she brought us 3 different style hats for A to choose from.  A fell in love with the simplest one - it had gold on it and she did not want to wear the awesome one with the feathers.  In pirate speak - AARGH!!! Thanks to Aunt L for transporting the hats on an airplane.

From the house (yes it is still sunny and not raining) we head down to Kent Station to meet up with Auntie T, J, and E.  We trick or treated for a bit there while we were waiting for Auntie T.  

The girls are running from the movie theater - not because they just stole all the candy, but because the movie theater was handing out movie sized packaged rice krispy treats - the huge ones - they were running to tell me about the loot!  Mind you - when I buy the packaged rice krispy treats - they go uneaten.

It was mobbed and the stores were all running out of candy -yes, even the Mac Store had run out of candy!  A was quite excited to go to See's to trick or treat - her logic was that they would not run out of candy!!! She was right!

Auntie T and her girls arrived and we went to the stores we had not yet been to.  All the while A and J chatting like crazy. They hadn't seen each other in awhile and had alot to catch upon. It was so cute.

We all went back to the house and had some soup and crackers and cheese.  The girls played in the playroom for awhile.  Then Auntie T and the girls had to go home to get to bed.

But wait that's not all - it was only 7:30, it still wasn't raining, so the girls and I went out for some neighborhood trick or treating  - along the way one of the little girls from the neighborhood joined us.  We did the entire block.  It was a slow night for trick or treaters, so most of the houses were giving out handfuls of candy.  The neighborhood trick or treating ended with me deciding to cut through this vacant lot that has this old building on it.  It sits by a vacant house on a dirt road. Well needless to say there was something growling in the tall grass by the building as we went by, then it started to growl louder - so I made all 3 girls run down the dirt road to our street. I didn't know I could run that fast. Luckily nothing chased out after us - but it was a bit of a fright - appropriate for Halloween night.  We made it home and went through the candy.  K sorted her candy (she does this every year - she sorts it by type and puts all the like items together, then counts what she has the most and least of).  A just digs into hers and wants "more - Pleeeease".

Exhausted, we did not get up until 9AM on Saturday!!

We hope you all had a Happy and Safe Halloween.

Weddings - from another universe

First - I am way behind in my blogs - that darn thing called life (work, kids, field trips, etc...) keeps getting in the way. I have a bunch of stuff in my head as well as some pictures in the camera for blogs, so hope to get to it in the next couple of days. I am now going to post about the wedding from the beginning of October.  (Since only about 5 people read this blog, and 2 of them were with me - I guess it was easy to procrastinate!!!) 

The wedding was in Marco Island, Florida at the Marriott Beach Resort - yes it really does look like this - including no one in the pool. Why doesn't anyone swim in the pool? I travelled to Florida meeting up with my mom and my big sis L in Chicago for the final leg of the flight.  Mom was invited to her godson's wedding - L and I were crashing the wedding under the guise of being mom's guests and "helping" her.  We arrived on Friday, saw a last glimpse of the sunset as we were on our way to the hotel.  Saturday was a nice day - spent time at the beach, I swam, and after I got out of the water I watched 3 dolphins swim right where I had just been swimming!  Pretty amazing.  Then the clouds moved in and it began to pour rain - I mean major tropical storm!! We stood under a Chickee Hut until it stopped (about 15 minutes) and then sat on the beach for awhile longer.  We then went to the "welcome dinner" for the wedding guests.  This was supposed to be on the Sunset Terrace, but it was raining too hard, so it was moved inside.   Nice fancy little affair.  It was at this dinner that I realized we were now in another universe - one with tons of money and skinny people.  The groom works for Deutsch bank and the bride is a lawyer in NYC.  They live in a nice little place off of Park Avenue. A portion of the guest list seemed to be heavily weighted with financial sorts!!! The stock market had just taken a dive and these people have so much $$$ no one cared.  These were not my people!!! That said, in spite of the money most everyone was very nice, they just view the world a little different than I do.  Nonetheless, we got to see everyone from the "U" family, see the "kids" all grown up and meet their spouses and little babies and kids. The last I saw the boys was when I was at UMASS 20 years ago. And I hadn't seen Katie since my K was 1 year old.  We also met the bride as we had not yet met her. Here are some pictures of Mom, L, and I - 

On Sunday - it was again overcast and rainy - and very humid.  We hung out at the pool side - they bring you cool cloths freshened with floral citrus to cool you down. Before we knew it - time to get ready for the evening wedding.  This was supposed to be on the Lawn Terrace.  I say supposed to be because as it neared the time for the wedding, the clouds moved in and it began to pour rain.  The wedding planner had it on radar that the storm would blow over soon - so we waited and I actually remembered to take some pictures (unlike Saturday night).

The rain did not stop, so the wedding ceremony was moved inside.  Nice short ceremony and then on to the dinner reception in the grand ballroom.  Here is mom with her godson (the groom) -

The only shots I have of the bride and groom that turned out are these:

The reception was nice - lots of dancing.  How I wish I could dance. The groom played football for Dartmouth - so some of his old football buddies were there - nice guys.  Hilarious listening to them relive that final game against Princeton in the snow, sleet, .... they finished each others sentences about the game.  The father of the groom made a very heartwarming toast to the bride and groom. The bride and groom lit up whenever they saw each other.  It is soooo cool when you can actually see the love in someone's eyes as they look at their partner.  This is how it was at this wedding.  All in all a very nice wedding with a very nice family.  

While I am on the subject of weddings from another universe - I would like to mention one of my favorite TV shows that I highly recommend - My Big Redneck Wedding.  Appropriately it is on CMT. Now before you label me as the redneck -  T discovered it one Saturday afternoon last year.  Thank goodness for Dish Network as then we can set it up in the DVR and we never miss a new episode.  At any rate - the show is about rednecks having weddings (just like the title). Quite different ideas than the above wedding. Usually involves some sort of camo outfit or beer cans.  Nonetheless - the bride and groom most often have that loving look in their eyes - the look of true undying love.  Love knows no economic boundary!!!  Check it out sometime.

Pink Bikini Espresso and What Not to Wear

Recently A has realized 2 career options. This is both good news and bad news. Good news because she realizes she cannot live with us forever and needs to obtain employment. Bad news because – well you decide-
Career Choice #1 was discovered while we were driving home one night recently. We passed an espresso stand – “Pink Bikini Espresso”. Pink Bikini Espresso you ask? Some background- in the NW there is an espresso stand on every corner. In an effort to lure customers there has been a trend for some of the drive-thru espresso stands to require baristas to wear scantily clad bikinis. (Only the female baristas. ) There is, of course, controversy regarding these espresso stands- some groups feel they should be illegal. Although I feel this is exploiting women - I also feel this is America, if there are women who want to apply as baristas and wear a bikini serving hot coffee- well then, so be it. There are plenty of barista jobs which do not require bikini uniforms. Back to A - she saw the pink bikini on the sign for the espresso stand and exclaimed – “Wow – I bet you GET to wear a pink bikini if you work there. Wouldn’t that be cool mom? And it is close to our house, so you can see me every morning on your way to work! I would probably even give you free coffee”. Gee thanks A. Although free coffee sounds quite nice – obviously seeing my daughter in a bikini, in an espresso bar each morning does not!!
Career Choice #2 was discovered while the girls and I were watching “What Not to Wear”. This is the show where hosts Clinton and Stacy surprise an unsuspecting, poorly, dressed person and denounce everything about their wardrobe, hair, make up and in this case lifestyle. The victim in this episode was an erotic dancer. The first 3 or times they stated “erotic dancer”, I was wondering if the girls knew what that meant. Then finally instead of erotic dancer – Stacy stated, “Just because your career is a stripper, and you take your clothes off for a living, doesn’t mean you can’t dress nice when not working!” Well let me tell you – A was lying on the floor – she sat up, looked at me, and said “What does she do?” K said “She takes her clothes off for people” A then lights up and says – “You can do that and they pay you to do it? I want to do that!!!” OHHH MYYY!!! Please be aware – A hates clothes. Even when she was a baby, she hated clothes, pajamas, and blankets. The minute we get home she is out of her clothes. We are constantly asking her to put some clothes back on. “Please even a T-shirt” Although I explained it is not morally correct to take your clothes off in front of strangers and why it would not be a good career choice – A still seems a bit doubtful as to why it would be bad to be paid to take your clothes off. A pivotal moment was when she decided she could be a bikini barista in the day and then in the afternoon or evening, she could be a stripper – she would not have to take much off – only the bikini.
I keep telling myself she is only 7, she WILL change her mind. Until then, we will continue to try to teach her morals, values, right from wrong, and some modesty!!!