Big date

This summer, at a swim meet, I bought a raffle ticket, more to support the meet than anything because I felt bad that so few swimmers had come after all the trouble the hosts had gone to in setting up the meet.  Wonder of wonders, I had a winning ticket and I won a certificate for two tickets to any play at the Shakespearean Festival!  


A couple of weeks ago, B and I cashed in the certificate (just one week before the Festival ended for the season, shows ya how things go around here!).  For our big date, B and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants--where we haven't been in YEARS--and then we went to Noises Off, a funny farce, and laughed and laughed.  Because this was the 50th anniversary of the Shakespearean Festival, "they" were reprising favorite shows from the past and Noises Off was one of them.  We had a great night.  We haven't had a "big date" like that in . . . well  . . . a few years--it was high time.

Going "hobo"

Yesterday, L needed to dress up like a hobo for the "El Cheapo" dance at the high school.  We went to the local store and bought a white T-shirt.  


L proceeded to give it hobo style the minute she left the store.  She repeatedly threw it down on the asphalt and sidewalk and flailed it against our van tires.  She got more than a few stares particularly because she was so vigorous that she kept dropping her cell phone and wallet over and over again in the process!  


Then she came home and cut off all the hems, and all of the neckband and most of the pocket. She painted the t-shirt with muddy grey-black water colors and then she used the car to run over the it.  Afterward, she scrubbed the t-shirt around in the grass. (This sounds like preparation for a laundry detergent commercial, doesn't it?)  She then decided to make little cuts in the body of the shirt and random cuts to make the hem, arm holes and neck holes more tattered.


Once this shirt was deemed "hobo" enough, she paired it with a pair of pants that were well worn and holey at the time when she bought them brand new and that her brother J refers to as her "troubled pop star pants."  


She carefully "sloppily" braided her hair (over and over until she felt it was just right) and tied her braid with a remnant of her t-shirt.  She topped all this off with her oldest and dirtiest used-to-be-white Keds.  It took about three hours to attain that look, not to mention all the planning beforehand!  


Then, she and her friends showed up at the "El Cheapo" dance, decided it was "lame," and left after about ten minutes. Ah, the life of a teenager! 

L's artwork

Art by L

We recently framed and hung up this artwork by L.  I think she painted it back in 8th or 9th grade.  It has been one of my favorites, so I wanted to share it here.

Stinky snail mail

A while back, I saw a teenager's Facebook request that stated, "I need [your address] so I can write you creepy letters in the snail mail like old people do."  Of course I laughed, but I also sighed.  I LIKE letters.  I LIKE snail mail. I am NOT old.  I remember when we would go to the mail box every single day to see if we had received any letters. It was a happy day if we did.  My aunt was a letter writer and I "inherited" that trait from her.  I just like writing letters.  I like receiving letters.  Now, the times are changing and I write considerably fewer letters and I receive almost no letters whatsoever. I worry about the US Postal Service and about life without snail mail. So there's only one thing to do about it. "I need your address so I can write you creepy letters in the snail mail like old people do."  Happy snail mailing.

I need clones

Boy, do I need some clones to cover some of my life!  This last week was beyond busy. I felt like I was on the go from 3:50 a.m. on Monday until, well, right now.  If I had been cloned for this past week, I would have had one clone do all the sleeping.  I would have had the other clone show up at work.  I would have had another clone stay at home with a sick son and busy doing all the things that aren't getting done (read: LOTS).  I would have had the other clone do all the swim stuff (fund raiser, practices, this past week's parent meeting).  Whew.  Then, I would have started all my days off with enough sleep for me, I would have had a leisurely breakfast (cooked by a clone), and have had plenty of clean clothes to wear (also washed by a clone), a clean house to walk through (again thanks to a clone) and so on.  Hopefully, "my cloneless self"  will have a calmer week ahead. (Make photo @ fotoflexer.com.)