Quote of the Day

"Mom, there's something cool going around town...a garbage truck!"

Mrs.

Donny was playing at the neighbor's house this evening. He was running around the yard with his new friends and they were all spraying each other with spray bottles. When the father came home, I heard him scold someone. Later I asked Donny who Mr. scolded and Donny told me Mr. had scolded all of them for spraying each other. I asked Donny if he listened and he replied, "I didn't spray anyone again, but his wife told we could spray each other, he told us to spray the plants."

Piqua/Glee Connection

A hometown boy involved with Glee will try to work Piqua into the script. Here is a link to an article that explains the connection. Also, is it just a conicednce that I am reading 'Eat, Pray, Love'?

http://www.dailycall.com/main.asp?SectionID=86&SubSectionID=164&ArticleID=165782

Screening 45365

Big Daddy and I went to the city last night to see 45365. We both enjoyed the documentary and agreed we would have watched it if we found it channel surfing and didn't know where it was filmed. I found the movie to be very sweet and put together beautifully.

Grand Central during rush hour.
Anthology Film Archives in the East Village

45365 Poster

The very small screening room.

I love this shoe store. It reminded me of a cafeteria.

There is a coffee shop inside this building.

Afternoon Fun

Donny and I picked up his cousin Molly after school. He was so excited to see her because he knew she was coming with us for the afternoon.


Donny and Molly decided to have an iced tea stand. When Donny found out people were going to give them money, he requested a bowl to put some chips in so he could sell them. He had stars in his eyes, I could tell he was looking for things to sell. They charged a quarter for each glass and provided water for the dogs.

The first customers of the day. Donny and Molly made six dollars in sales.

I walked Abigail up and down the block about 100 times waiting for the entrepreneur's to run out of iced tea.
After I had everything cleaned up, I went out the front door and found the cat on the front porch with a baby bunny. I put the cat in the house and told Molly to come take a look.

Molly decided the bunny must be hungry so she gave him some lettuce.

Molly sat on the porch until the bunny ran away.

Steamer

For those of you who don't know, we have relocated to Larchmont for a few weeks. We are staying with Grandma and having a great time. The kids have never been so tired, it's great!Yesterday morning I had some free time so I decided to mop the kitchen floor. Donny was out with Big Daddy and Abigail was watching me from the gated community.

I couldn't find a mop or bucket and I'm still not sure what the housekeeper uses to mop the floor. However, I did find a steamer and thought my task was going to be a lot easier, boy was I wrong! I filled the tank with water, turned it on and waited for the steam. When steam started to come out I began to move the steamer over the floor. When I put the steamer to the side I realized that water was pouring out of the machine and I was just pushing the water all over the floor.

I found a box of items that came with the steamer. There were several clear bags filled with white cloths that were shaped somewhat like the bottom of the steamer. I tried to get them on, but they just wouldn't fit. I couldn't figure out what they were for, but then I had an idea. I needed to soak up all the water left by the steamer.

I put a cloth on each foot and thought about skating across the floor to soak up the water. In the end, I used towels. Aunt Karen informed me that Grandma has two steamers and the cloths are for the hand held steamer that I have yet to find.

Morning Walk

Big Daddy took Donny and Ashley up to the house last night to mow the lawn and check on things. Abigail and I had the entire morning to ourselves, so I took her for a nice long walk down to the Manor. She loved saying hello to all the men walking to the train station, I guess all the women either drove or got a ride this morning.

Father's Day

Still Here

Hello everyone. I am still here, but have been too busy to write. We have relocated to Larchmont for a few weeks. The kids are keeping me quite busy. I am hoping to start posting daily as soon as I get settled. Big Daddy and I are heading to the East Village tomorrow night to catch a screening of 45365, can't wait. Please don't leave me, I promise I'll be back quickly.

45365

I would like to thank my dear friend "the mel" for bringing the documentary 45365 to my attention. For the Ohio readers, you should recognize the number as Sidney's zip code. The documentary, which was filmed in 2007, is a film about small town life. I absolutely love documentaries. I have an entire file dedicated to documentaries I want to see. I will have to put this on the top of my list. Looks like I am heading to the East Village to see what Sidney looks like on film.

Link to 45365 web-site:
http://www.45365movie.com/

Link to the trailer:
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/457375/45365/trailers?trailersdir

Link to the NY Times review:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/movies/17four.html

Sunscreen

Why oh why, must everything be so complicated? I recently heard that some sunscreens on the market are bad for your health, so I put research sunscreen on my to do list and finally did. My two bottles of sunscreen rated a 3 and 4 on the the Environmental Working Group scale, 1 being the best and 10 the worst. Looks like I will be purchasing new sunscreen before we hit the beach. Here is the link so you can rate your sunscreen:

http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Touchdown Jesus

The beloved "touchdown Jesus" was struck by lighting and has burned to the ground. I guess somebody didn't like this particular likeness or maybe he was tired of being the H in Ohio.

http://www.whiotv.com/news/23901668/detail.html

Stew's

We were quite busy shopping today. We started at the mall and finished at Stew Leonard's.

http://www.stewleonards.com/

Tradition

Summer brings many traditions like BBQ's, fireworks, swimming, vacations and for our family digging up the front yard. Donny had a meltdown yesterday when he looked out the window and saw the neighbor with his rototiller in the front yard. "Please don't take my yard! Daddy told the neighbor he could dig in the yard!" I had to explain we were just adding soil and replanting grass, but that didn't matter to Donny. He went to the porch sat on his little chair until they were finished with the project. I even gave him his dinner in the chair. I don't remember the last time he sat still for such a long period of time. I hope this is the end of the tradition, I'm really sick of dirt and rocks.

Big Red Ride

While Abigail was napping yesterday, I took Donny for a ride in the fire engine. We didn't go very far from home but he had a good time. He made concentration very difficult because he talked the entire time and wanted me to put the lights and sirens on and speak to the cows over the loud speaker. He and Big Daddy obviously have a better time when they go for a ride.

Filling His Shoes

I was reprimanding Donny for something he had done when I noticed Abigail had left the room. I found her standing in front of the toilet, with my make-up case in hand, dipping it in and out of the water while chanting, "Dip, dip, dip." I guess it is safe to say, she is going to be just like her brother.

Oh Boy!

I was going through blogs when I came across this article. I'm pretty sure I will be depressed for the rest of the day and hugging the kids every ten minutes.

Ann Melvin Dallas Morning News 1998 Column on Graduation


The tumult dies.


The graduating seniors in their Ford pickups and secondhand Nissans depart.

For jobs, for the pool, for Grandma’s, for college, for a last, long loopy summer.

Forever.

Or until they need their clothes washed, whichever comes first.

Growing up a child is a series of leave-takings, from the first wobbly step away from the parent’s hand to the first day at school to the first slumber party to the first time he drives out of the driveway with a license.

But high school graduation is a leave-taking of high celebration and of irrefutable recognition that the child will be gone soon.

Too soon, when you remember the night we ran across the dark yard and laughed in pursuit of fireflies. Or the summer evening we drove through St. Louis and rolled down the windows as we crossed the Mississippi, singing “Ole Man River.”

Too soon, when you hear the back door slam and the call, “Mom, I’m home.”

And too soon when you review your own inadequacies as a parent.

As the slow line of caps and gowns files by, the parent sits suffused with pride and fear. “Doesn’t he look handsome?” mingles with a collage of worry:

“When was the last time we talked about God? Nietzsche? The balance of trade? Does he know how to balance a checkbook? Can she check the oil in her car? What about Winston Churchill and ‘The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere’ and Aunt Maggie, who worked as a welder during World War II? Did we tell ‘em that?”

Parents universally want to stand up and holler, “Stop, these kids don’t know enough yet. They don’t fasten the twistie on the bread sack or hang up their clothes or put the milk back in the refrigerator, and you want to turn them out on the world?? Stop!! I forgot to make sure that he prays every night and that she understands HMOs, Social Security and the Roman influence on modern jurisprudence, and did I tell him often enough that I love him?”

“Another year, I need another year.”

But the caps are in the air, the gowns are back in the rental barrel, and we all are standing out on the sidewalk, smiling and crying. Then we go home.

An old carnation begins to shrivel on the bedroom mirror. Notes paper the wall around the telephone, and schedules are leafed like shingles on the refrigerator.

Dress shoes lie askew under the chair, the celebration ham gives up leftovers, and old snapshots spill out of a shoe box on the table.

The first baseball uniform, Christmas at Grandma’s, the seventh-grade gang posing in front of the school bus at the Alamo, the first bicycle with training wheels, party photos from the prom . . . a Kodak collection of split seconds in the start of what you pray will be a good life.

The graduate is in the driveway, leaving again.

You go out, moved to speak your mind.

“I hope you were happy,” you want to say. “I hope life will go well for you. I hope you know I tried my best, and while I know it wasn’t always perfect, I tried to do the best I could for you. Whatever you have learned from me, it isn’t enough, not about life or the world or anything.”

“But I hope you can stand on my shoulders, reach higher and go farther with the little boost I gave you.”

Instead you say, “Do you have enough money? Fasten your seat belt. And call me when you get there.”

Wherever that may be.

Turtle Park

We spent the day in Larchmont again today. I took the kids to Turtle Park to play and they loved every minute. I can't remember a time when both of them were so happy at the same time. Abigail sat in the sand and chatted toddler talk to the others while they played. Donny made friends under the slide and declared it a construction site. It was a perfect day at the park.

When we arrived home, I realized as soon as we pulled into the driveway my house keys were sitting on a dresser in Larchmont. I let Donny out of the car to help me. When I turned around he had his pants around his ankles and was peeing in the yard. He is really making a habit of this. On Friday, he was out of the car for two minutes and peeing on a tree. Meanwhile, his sister had a piece of sidewalk chalk in each hand and was rubbing them all over her face saying, "Pretty, pretty, pretty." One was blue and the other white, she looked like Kate Winslet in Titanic.

With help from my little man, we were able to get into the house just in time for dinner. Once they were fed and bathed, two little children fell asleep within ten minutes.