cozy

I got the new issue of Vanity Fair in the mail the other day, and as I was flipping through the pages, I came across something that surprised me:

SNL guys looking kinda hot. Yes, even Fred Armisen and Will Forte.
And Jason Sudeikis? Wow. Even Paige thought he looked really good, and to her, he's an old guy (he's 33). Seth Meyers is always adorable, and I love his hat.

I am so buying Wayne a sweater from Gap for Christmas.

blindsided

I volunteer every Wednesday in Maya's class for 1 1/2 hours during their literacy block. Today her teacher asked me to read a book aloud to four of the kids. They were on the final two chapters of a book called Stone Fox. Stone Fox is a Native American man who has won the same dog sled race every year that he has entered. The story is told in third person with Little Willy as the main character; he is 10 years old and has a beloved dog named Searchlight.

[Spoilers ahead, for those of you who haven't read this book]

When I began the last two chapters, Willy and Searchlight are racing in the annual dog sled race that Stone Fox always wins, and they are ahead of everyone. There is some business with Willy's grandpa getting out of bed to watch the race, so I inferred that the grandpa must be ill, which is why Willy is racing so hard.

Oy.

Let me tell you: the teacher could have warned me how this books ends. I started to have one of the kids read, and as she was reading, I saw she was actually reading about Searchlight's sudden and unexpected death! I stopped her, so I could read it because I thought, how lovely...have the kid read about the dog dying.

So here I am, 37 years old, reading aloud to 1st and 2nd graders, trying not to cry as Little Willy holds his dog, who has collapsed from an exploding heart. Stone Fox ends up not being so stone afterall, as he does a very noble act to allow Little Willy and Searchlight to win the race. I was all wavery voiced, as we finished. One little girl was wiping tears from her eyes. It was so SAD! I only read two chapters; I can't imagine what it is like to read the whole book only to have the damn dog drop dead mere feet from the finish line.

It was a good book, though, from what I read; I kow Maya loved the book when her group was reading it.

I love sad books, though. Two of my favorite sad children's novels are:

I remember reading Where The Red Fern Grows to Brittani and Paige when they were about 8 & 10, and I was bawling and snotting all over the place, as we got to the end. It is such a beautifully sad book.

Bridge to Terabithia is extremely sad, too, because it deals with the sudden and unexpected death of a best friend, and we get to see the boy in the story go through the stages of grief. Heartwrenching.

I've read both books to Maya...with a big box of Kleenex at my side. She cried at the end of Bridge to Terabithia, but I think she was a little young to get what happened in Where the Red Fern Grows. She was 4 or 5 at the time. Maybe I'll read it to her again.

lately

Facebook has sucked me in.

Obama's election has me thrilled beyond belief. We had an Election Night party, which went well. I have pictures, but my computer has no room for more pictures. I need to dump my pictures onto my external hard drive before I put more on my computer. Such a hassle.

I am blown away at the hatred that is spewed about Obama; I hope that it dies down now that he has been elected so overwhelmingly. Even Elisabeth Hasslebeck was gracious when speaking of his win.

So much has happened since I've been so infrequently posting.

Maya had her 8th birthday party. She is now the same age Brittani was when Maya was born. It's so odd.


She actually turned 8 a few weeks prior, but we are slacker parents and procrastinated planning her party. It all worked out, though. Here are some pictures of Maya on her actual birthday.


This is what 8 looks like.



I made ice cream cone cupcakes for her class. She has another classmate who has the same birthday, so his mom brought in ice cream cups. Next year, since we know who our teacher and classmates will be, we know that there will be three kids in Maya's class who share the same birthday, so we three moms think we will do a "make your own sundae" bar. It should be fun.



She got a new bike!! Finally!!

So, about 6 days after Maya's birthday party, we had some Paige Drama. Paige is always so the drama.

We're in a really weird place with her right now...not so weird because I am sure MANY 18 year olds go through it with their parents, but it just isn't the same. She's asserting her status as "adult," though that status is really only for leaglpurposes. Aside from chronological age, she is not very adult or independent right now. She is no more independent than she was when she was 14, as far as I'm concerned. No job. No money. No responsibilities. No chores. Nothing.

So it's annoying when a kid is disrespectful and acts as though she is put out, mistreated and unloved, when that is obviously so not true.

Without going into details, Paige decided to not go to Wayne's birthday dinner and the pumpkin patch beforehand, and it turned into a HUGE blowout, and she left to party for the weekend with no parents breathing down her neck. So apparently we are in this place where Paige wants to live "independently" while being completely supported by her parents. Ha. Isn't that funny?

You know how when you were a teenager, you thought to yourself, "I am never going to say that/do that when I have kids..." well, I am convinced that since all kids do the same stupid things, parents always end up saying the same stupid things. It doesn't change. What I am trying to say is that I now find myself saying things I swore I'd NEVER say. Like: "If you live under OUR roof, there will be certain expectations of you..."

She was back after the weekend was over. Of course.

I am fairly certain that to everyone she spoke to, she portrayed herself as the victim and not as the instigator. I don't understand how we can love someone so much and so unconditionally, and she can be so hateful towards us. It is exhausting and hurtful. I can't wait until she's beyond the "I hate my parents; they're f'ing idiots" phase of her life.

Yesterday Wayne and I celebrated our anniversary. 4 years ago we married in New Orleans. It was such a blast. We've been together for 12 years now, and it really just feels like a blip in time.

Wayne always goes all out for our anniversary; usually we stay in a cabin for the weekend and have a day at the spa, but this year money is tight, so no cabin and spa for us. Instead, Wayne created a spa in our bedroom. It was so cool! He cranked on the space heater to make it nice and warm in the room, heated some stones, had some nice massage oil and even spread rosepetals on the sheets, so I got a heated stone massage! It was lovely.

Last night we went to dinner:



I love The Melting Pot. And Wayne, too.
It was a great anniversary.

Saturday Maya has her first swim meet. I thought she would only swim the 25 yd freestyle, but nooooooo...they have her signed up for back AND breast, too!! Back is no problem, but BREAST???? I am so worried. And she has to dive off the platform. She has never done that before, so I don't know what's going to happen. It should be interesting.