Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween


Today was Halloween! Yay!

Juanito had Zumba, so my plan was to just go to my parents' house early, get a pizza or two, and then go trick-or-treating with the kids and their cousins. And it technically went according to plan, but what we didn't realize is that everyone else in the entire city had the same plan. The first pizza place we called was going to be over an hour's wait, which would have meant eating after trick-or-treating had started, so we decided to just run to Little Caesar's. And even there, there was a giant line of people waiting to get their "hot and ready" pizzas. So we wolfed down the pizza while i did Katrina's hair, and then we rushed out at about 6:03.

So Katrina was an 80's girl. She borrowed clothes from Beth, my mom, and me, and she looked completely awesome. In the 80's, of course, all of the girls had their hair permed, so we wanted to try to make her hair extra big and curly, but she had school this morning, and she didn't want to look crazy for that. So last night, she took a shower and then i put a ton of little braids in her hair, which i then braided into two french braids. It was just supposed to be a "good enough" hairstyle, but it ended up being super cute, and if it hadn't taken 45 minutes, we would totally do it more often. And it did, indeed, make her hair extra big, though not as curly-looking as i'd have expected.

Zane was a mailman, a costume he settled on over a month ago and was really excited about. Apparently, when he grows up, he now wants to be either a cheese scientist or a mailman. As a mailman, he wanted to hand out letters to people at their doors, and so the plan was that he and Katrina would making lots and lots of little notes. So last night, Katrina stayed up late making all of the notes, because she is a really nice sister. He handed some of them out, but "they give out the candy so fast that there isn't time to get the letter out!" I suggested getting it out while walking to the next house, and that lasted for exactly one house. But the ones he DID give out were happily accepted.

And Houston was "lactose intolerant." He first tried to just tell people, "I'm lactose intolerant!" but most people just looked at him confusedly or said, "Me too!" or said, "Aw. Well, we have some candy that's not chocolate!" And then we cocked our heads to the side and wondered why on earth his costume would just be him announcing that he couldn't have dairy. So then he tried saying, "I don't tolerate lactose!" but that didn't yield any different results. By the end of the night, people would say, "So...you're anti-dairy?" and he's just say, "Yep." But the people who DID get it thought that it was awesome.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Bob Dylan



The library was given tickets for a Bob Dylan concert, so they offered them to the library staff for free - up to 4 tickets per employee. I was like, "I mean...it's Bob Dylan! He's one of the most famous musicians in the world! And he won a Nobel Prize for literature! And he'll probably die soon and it would suck to have had the chance to see him and have passed it up!"

My sister Jackie, Beth, Juanito, and i went, and it was the most bizarre concert i've ever been to. I've been to kind of a lot of concerts by different people, so i kind of know what to expect at this point. And i figured that i might not like some of the music, but it would probably still be a great concert, because...Dylan!

So the opening act was Mavis Staples, who i had never even heard of before, but who is apparently really quite famous. And she was great. She was totally personable and engaging and was interacting with the audience and was just completely adorable and so much fun to see. I really, really enjoyed her part of the concert.

And then Bob Dylan came out, and he just...started singing. I wasn't even sure which one was him at first, because he was behind a piano and wasn't super obvious. And then he sang another song, and another, and another, and he NEVER ONCE said a single word to the audience. Not a "Hi" or "Great to be here" or anything! And he was always either behind the piano or standing way, way back on the stage with the microphone, hiding behind stuff. And then the whole band just...left. They came back for the encore, played 2 songs, and then (this was the most awkward thing i've ever seen) all stood in a row halfway back on the stage - just stood there for about 15-30 seconds - and then left. The end. NO WORDS!!!!

Midway through his concert, Jackie summed it up perfectly: "I'm really enjoying myself, and i'm glad that i came, but i'm also really glad that i didn't pay to come here." It was just such an awkward experience. Beth, Juanito, Jackie, and i all kept looking at each other with expressions of "What is even happening?!?!"

Oh, also!? When he first came out, everyone stood up to cheer, and then sat down as soon as he started playing, but the front few rows all stood up to dance, until an usher came along and made them all sit down! So weird! But to be fair, all of the people who were obviously fans were very much enjoying themselves - singing along (HOW? He's un-understandable!) and dancing in their seats.

So. It was an extremely memorable experience, and i'm really, really happy that we went. And now i never have to go to a Bob Dylan concert again. 

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Books and stuff


Yesterday was our first pizza movie night in weeks, and we watched "Wonder Woman." As we watched it, Zane kept exclaiming, "She is AWESOME!" So yeah, everyone enjoyed it.

When i was at work yesterday, i noticed that "The Dangerous Book for Boys" was categorized in the same area as books like "Ripley's Believe it or Not" and "Weird But True," which makes lots of sense, because it IS full of facts and randomness. And then there's "The Daring Book for Girls," which is almost exactly the same, but THOSE are categorized in the same area as the "How to do your hair to look pretty" section. And that annoys me, because sexism! There's absolutely no logical reason for those two books NOT to be filed right next to each other.

So anyhow, i wrote the shorter version of that on Twitter, and included my library into conversation, expecting nothing. And they DIDN'T reply at all. But! This morning, "The Daring Book for Girls" was on the list of books that i had to pull off the shelves to send to other libraries, and it was being sent to the main library. So there's a chance that they're going to change it. And if they did, that would be awesome!

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Marley



I've been reading "Marley & Me" to the kids for the past few weeks, and they've all been laughing and loving it. We're now at the end of the book, and the dog is getting older and sicker and i felt the need to prepare the kids for the eventual sad ending.

Me: "So...this IS a true story, and Marley IS getting older, and the book is almost over, so...."
Houston: "WAIT. This is a true story?!?!?"
Katrina, Zane, and me: "Wha.......???? You didn't know that?!"
Houston: "No! In fact, there were several parts where i thought, 'Well, that's kind of far-fetched.'"

I'm completely amused that we made it through basically the entire book, and he never realized that it's nonfiction. Especially because it seems so completely obvious to the rest of us.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Conferences


Houston's school had parent-teacher conferences today. They set it up so that all of the teachers are in a giant U in the gym, and you just wander around and find the teachers that you want to talk to. We talked to all of Houston's teachers except two - they were both "unable to attend," which was a bummer, because those are the two i most would have wanted to talk to. One was his multi-media teacher, who i met at the beginning of the year, and i wanted Juanito to meet him, because he is daunting. He's the most physically intimidating person i've ever met. Also, it would have been fun to hear what he thinks of Houston, because his class is making a video wherein they have to explain how to do something very simple, and Houston's video is "How not to not be not dangerous." Because he can't just do something simple. (He is SO Juanito's son.)

The other teacher i wanted to meet was his history teacher, because he's the only teacher i haven't met yet. At the beginning of the year, when we had the whole "Meet the teachers!" night, Houston's history teacher was missing, and we found out the next day that he had quit. And then Houston had a substitute for a couple of weeks, and now he's got an actual teacher. So. It would be nice to meet him.

We did get to meet his other teachers, though, and, unlike last year when just about every teacher informed us of all of the assignments Houston was missing, this year they all had nothing but nice things to say about him. Almost everyone greeted us with, "Aw, Houston!" and then some version of "He's so great." So we probably didn't NEED to go to the conferences, but it's always nice to hear that people like your kid.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Braces!


For the past couple of days, Katrina has been getting more and more unhappy as this afternoon got closer and closer. She did not want braces. She did not need braces. Why was i making her get braces???

She has a friend who got braces recently and has been telling her how much pain she will be in for a few day, and that, combined with her experience with the expander, had her convinced that she was going to be in the worst pain in the world. Houston's reassurances that "It really doesn't hurt very much. Just a little bit for a couple of days," did nothing to calm her down. Nor did my reassurances that the expander probably hurt much more than the actual braces would.

I was a meanie and made her get braces anyhow. Afterwards, she gave me dirty looks on the way to the car. I asked her, "Are you mad at me?" and she humphed, "Yes."

So i bribed her back into liking me by stopping at Steak 'n Shake on the way home for shakes, and within minutes i was back in her good graces. One awesome thing about Katrina: She doesn't hold a grudge.

Anyhow. Katrina got pink rubber bands on her braces. Houston got blue again. They both look adorable. And her braces have only barely bothered her. So. I'll take it as a win.

Monday, October 9, 2017

And i'm back


I can explain my entire 3-week absence in one word: ArtPrize. From the time it started until the last day (yesterday), i was at ArtPrize for anywhere from around an hour to 8 hours. To be fair, the 8 hour day was a one-off, the Monday that Beth took off and we were downtown forever. Most days we were downtown 2-4 hours. Juanito, Beth, and i went every chance we could. Katrina came with us most of the time. The boys came sometimes, but Houston had a homework and Zane isn't as interested, so it was usually the 4 of us. And it was awesome. And Beth and i both saw everything. And i am exhausted and a little bit happy that it's over. I'm ready to get back to routine and having evenings at home and actually having time to eat actual food.

And, for posterity, here are the pictures of some of my favorite things from this year's ArtPrize:
My Favorites!