Color Blind

Yesterday, something interesting happened. I found out Megan is color blind...but in the best way possible. Megan and I love to watch the television show So You Think You Can Dance together. It's our thing. One of the couples, Melissa and Ade, danced a ballet as Romeo and Juliet. Afterwards, as they stood in front of the judges, one of the judges commented that she was happy that it was a "black and white Romeo and Juliet".

Megan looked at me and said, "Do you get it? Black and white?"

"Oh you mean because he is black and she is white?" I responded without giving it a thought.

"No," Megan replied. "He's wearing a white shirt and black pants...get it??? Black and white??"

It didn't even occur to me that Megan may not have even noticed this inter-racial couple dancing together as anything but just a man dancing with a woman- not a black man dancing with a white woman.



I remember being Megan's age and being color blind in that way, too. I was in third grade. There was a girl who was in my class and I asked her to come to my house for a play date. She was black- I didn't care...but my Grammie did. She cared a lot. She asked us to play outside and not come in the house. I remember thinking she was behaving strangely, after all she'd always let me play in the house when my "other" friends came over. I still didn't get it until a day later when I overheard her asking my parents, "When did she become friends with the black girl?"

I remember being confused and embarrassed by my Grammie's reaction but not realizing why I felt that way. Megan's alternate reaction (or should I say indifference) to race brought that memory flooding back.

The fishing excursion

When Megan and Jack went to Grandma and Bampa's house for their mini-vacation, Bampa took the kids fishing. It's one of the special things they do together; they dig for worms, get out their poles and head on down to the creek.

This year, the fishing excursion was fruitful. Each of the kids caught a couple fish- with the help of Bampa of course. Grandma was nice enough to video tape it for us. I love how Megan doesn't want to touch the fish she caught and Jack tries to help her out.

We LIVE in a SOCIETY

I'm starting to learn some things about myself now that I've been commuting for a couple months into Chicago on the train. I'm learning that people are fun to watch. I'm also learning that in a lot of instances, I don't like people very much. Sure, individually I like "people" just fine, but I'm finding my tolerance for people who don't follow the unwritten/unspoken social etiquette frankly just drive me nuts.

Case in point:
Yesterday I was getting on the train and the entire car was mostly empty. Now, under these conditions most people know to select a seat not RIGHT NEXT to someone else. But noooo, this guy sits down right next to me when there are like 200 other seats available- really???

Then, as we neared our stop he got up to stand by the door and no sooner had he moved then some other lady must not have liked her seat because she plopped down right next to me. She proceeded to go all narcoleptic on me and fell asleep in two seconds flat. So, my stop is coming up and she's got me jammed into my seat by the window. As the train came to a stop, I started jostling my stuff around to try to wake her up. I finally had to say to her, "Excuse me, this is my stop." Now, under these conditions most people know that the right thing to do is GET UP and let me out, then sit back down. Not this lady- she scooted her feet underneath her indicating to me that I'm supposed to step over her to get out.

Realizing that she's not going to move, I am aware that my ginormous bag I am carrying could be a lethal weapon in these conditions so as I gingerly tried to step over her, I moved my bag to my front so I wouldn't hit her in the head. In doing so, I nailed the guy in the seat in front of me right in the side of his head. As I attempted to apologize profusely to the man, I lost my focus. I moved my bag to my back and took my step to get out to the aisle. I lost my balance and in a one-two punch, I simultaneously stepped on the lady's foot and nailed her in the head with my ginormous bag. I swear, it was like a Three Stooges episode.

The lady had the audacity to give me the Stink Eye. Byotch.

They're baaaack!!

Well the kids are back under my roof. It's nice to have the noise again- and to get back into the groove of things. And by back into the groove, I mean getting back the usual stuff- you know, Megan putting me in my place and Jack putting me on my pedestal.

We were driving to dinner tonight and to make conversation, I mentioned that I needed a haircut:

Me: I need a haircut bad. My bangs are out of control.
Megan: Why are you telling me that? You should be telling it to your hair.
Me: ....

And later while putting Jack to bed:

Jack: Mommy, you are yummy!
Me: Yummy?
Jack: Yes- when I tell you that you are yummy, that is another way for me to tell you that I think you are beautiful.

Playground Turmoil

Megan and Jack are on their "mini-vacation" at Grandma & Bampa's. They look forward to it and I don't blame them- later bedtimes, playing all day, endless bedtime stories from Grandma, donuts for breakfast, and Dairy Queen for dessert??? What's not to love?

And although I miss them terribly, it makes me feel good to know they are independent enough to enjoy time without me- and I know they are in exceptional hands.

I love hearing about what goes on when I'm not around. I check in every day and get the run down on the "funnies". The latest:

Jack and his cousin Amelia were having some playground issues...
Jack: She always wants to play girl things, and I want to play boy things.
Grandma: Why don't you try to compromise and play something you each like?
Jack: No, I just want to be the guy who sucks her brains out.

I don't even know what to say about that...

I'll follow you anywhere

Jay is off to a big adventure today. His friend Steve convinced him a few months back to go on a week-long bike tour through the Colorado Rockies called Ride the Rockies. At first Jay wasn't sure but then they started thinking about it- kids are getting more busy, not less every summer and let's face it, although we aren't "old", yet... rounding the corner to 40 doesn't make you feel like a Spring chicken. So the sense of adventure set in and Jay agreed. And since Jay doesn't do anything half-assed, he fully committed to it. He bought a new bike; he bought new bike shoes, and then bike shoe covers because his feet were getting cold during their rides; he needed to look like a biker so he bought bike clothes...and then he trained...and trained...and trained. He's ready- mostly. But he certainly has some concerns.

First and foremost is the luggage. You can only have one bag and it has to weigh less than 70 pounds. When you factor in a tent, sleeping bag, and clothes for a week, that's just not a lot of space. So for the last 5 days, I've watched Jay pack and unpack and pack and unpack-lament about the lack of space- and pack and unpack again.

A larger concern is missing the family. He's never been apart from us for this long and really, never been away from the kids for longer than about 4 days. He's going to be gone for 10. Megan is old enough to understand lengths of time and she's already missing him and he hasn't even left yet. She asked me the other day if Daddy's trip would be longer than my trip to Brazil was (when I went there for 6 days a couple years ago) and when I said yes, you could physically see her getting bummed out.

Anyway- in order to keep in touch, Jay has set up a Twitter account to "tweet" about his trip, post pictures, etc. The friend that he's going with set up a Twitter account, too and I'm looking forward to seeing their banter. I'm expecting some real hilarity because there have been times when I've called Jay's friend, "his other wife". They bicker like an old married couple and have been friends since they were kids. Now I'm just hoping someone else besides me, his friend and some girl named "Horny Sophie" follow him to enjoy the 140 character or less banter!!

Life Lessons by Jack

Driving in the car today, I overheard Jack telling Megan about a girl at daycare who is "so annoying".

Me: Jack, don't you think it would hurt her feelings if she knew you called her annoying?
Jack: (pause...pause...) Maybe...I guess so.
Me: Well then maybe you should think about that and not call her annoying.
Jack: But that's the way life works.
Me: What do you mean?
Jack: Some people are annoying.

I just left it at that. How can you argue with that bit of truth?

Some of the best conversations happen at bedtime

The other night I put Jack to bed. As I turned to leave, he asked me to snuggle with him for a minute. So I did and about 30 seconds in, he became very chatty.

Jack: Do you like to snuggle?
Me: Sure I do.
Jack: Lots of married people, and people who are boyfriend and girlfriend and live together do some snuggling.
Me: Uh... uh huh.
Jack: How long have you and Daddy been married?
Me: Almost 12 years.
Jack: Wow!
Me: That's a long time, right? July will be 12 years.
Jack: So I bet you and Daddy snuggle on your anniversary?
Me: Um... well... usually more than just on our anniversary. *snicker*
Jack: Uh huh. Where did you meet?
Me: We met in college.
Jack: College? Did you see him and think you wanted to marry him?
Me: Pretty much! Once we actually met, we saw each other pretty much every day after that.
Jack: Did you go see romantic movies?
Me: Sometimes.
Jack: Did you go on a lot of romantic dates?
Me: Not really. We didn't have much money so we pretty much hung out and watched TV or went to the library.
Jack: Did you ever sit on a bench and watch the stars together?
Me: Not that I can remember.
Jack: When I have a girlfriend, I'll take her on romantic dates and we will sit and watch the stars together.
Me: That sounds nice, Jack. That's going to be one lucky girl.

And then I kissed him goodnight.

Love is all around

Jack was feeling particularly "lovey" this morning. From the moment he woke up, until we left for pre-school, he was telling me how much he loved me, Megan and Jay. Not that I complained about that one single bit!

Jack: Mommy, I love you more than anything!
Me: I love you too Jack!
Jack: I'm going to love you even when you look old.
Me: Thanks Jack! It doesn't matter what you look like, it's what is on the inside that counts, right?
Jack: Uh huh.
Me: So even when I look old, I'll still be the same person on the inside. And when you get older, you'll look different but I'll still love you just the same.
Jack: When you get old, you are going to move to a different house, right?
Me: Well, maybe. This house will be too big for me and Daddy once you and Megan grow up and move out.
Jack: When you move to your new house, will you give me your address so I can always find you?
Me: Of course! We would love it if you come to visit! And if you have kids of your own, maybe Daddy and I can babysit them- would you like that?
Jack: Uh huh!

***Then a few minutes later I walked into my bathroom. Jack followed me in there***

Jack: I know where my love bone is.
Me: Uh, what?
Jack: My love bone. I know where it is. It's right here-in my heart.
Me: Aw, that's sweet Jack.
(Jack walked out of the bathroom at this point)
Jay: I have a comment about that.
Me: Really? What?
Jay: The love bone...actually Jack, when you get older, the love bone moves further south.
Me: **giggle**

Oh, Jack- it's not filled with pee...not really

Yesterday morning Jack waddled into my bedroom at about 4:30 am, naked as a Jay bird, because he wet his bed in the middle of the night and he needed a new place to sleep. I was half asleep as well so I let him crawl in and sleep with us.

After I woke up and showered, I nudged him and told him it was time to get up and get ready. I kind of forgot that he was totally naked so when he hopped out of the bed, I just kind of laughed and shook my head. But there was a little something that caught his eye. He looked down at his uh... "morning wood" and told me and Jay, "Look at how big it is! It's filled with pee- that's why it's so big!" And then he disappeared into the bathroom.

Jay and i just looked at each other and giggled at that one.