The Crab Chronicles

Views of the Mountain

We had such nasty weather on Tuesday, that when we awoke yesterday there was pinestraw everywhere in our yard. Major raking needs to be done, but yesterday it was still too soggy and misty to do any of it. I probably have 10 lbs of pine straw in my front yard.

Mike went to Stone Mountain with his class, to study rocks. Stone Mountain is a huge piece of granite. He loves going there. He was disappointed they didn't get to climb all the way to the top. There's something very peaceful about being on the top of the mountain, where you can see the countryside for miles around. The shot below was made in April 08.

 

Mother said when she was in college and would be coming home on the weekends, as soon as she could see the mountain from the bus window, she knew she was close to home.

We watched an old movie last night that's one of my favorites, Adam's Rib, with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Alesia loved it, Mike tolerated it. It's fun to show the kids old movies, especially films that are witty and smart. One of the first shots is them in their room, and there are separate beds. I explained that in those days, married couples couldn't be shown in the same bed, but there had to be separate beds. "What?!" she exclaimed. "That's silly!" Yep. Movies have changed a lot over the years, not always for the better...

 

Martian Child

We started watching a movie last night called The Martian Child, and finished it tonight. It's a wonderful film. It stars John Cusack, who is always fascinating to watch, but he's a more mature Cusack here, a single father with an adoptive son who lives in his own world trying to be a "martian." The father shows remarkable faith and patience with the boy, but this isn't a whitewash of what it's like to adopt an older, traumatized child. It's realistic, but sweet. The ending was a bit contrived, but I still liked it. If you are a parent of any child, adopted or not, I urge you to see this terrific little film. I'm so sorry it got overlooked when it was released a couple of years ago.

We need more movies like this, and fewer movies where people blow things up and run.

Michael's school pictures came home today. He hates them. I think, despite a few pimples, it's not a bad shot. He has kind of a mischevious little twinkle in his eye, which is so Michael, it tickles me.

 

Some months ago I was asked to submit stories written by my kids about adoption. Alesia declined, but I edited a story Michael wrote, with a lot of help from Mother, and he agreed I could send it in. His story is in the book and it's available on Amazon now - Snowflakes: A Flurry of Adoption Stories. The stories and poems are all written by adopted kids, which makes it a unique book, I think. Check it out! 
 

Movies I Want to See!

here are the trailers for some movies I want to see:

Amelia Earhart

 

I also want to see this new movie It's Complicated starring Meryl Streep, who is always interesting to watch. I couldn't embed the video but hopefully this link will work. 

I also am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. I read a number of the stories when I was younger. The new Sherlock Holmes movie stars Robert Downey Jr., one of my favorite actors, and the trailer shows something blowing up, so no doubt I can get the kids to see it. Yay. 

 

Seafood Mood Saver

Well, this will be a quick update because I am eating lunch, but I wanted y'all to know I'm not weepin' and wailin' down here in the ATL. Yesterday was just one of those blackass days, and they happen.

I fixed a good dinner last night and then we started an interesting movie, The Brothers Bloom, a comedy about two con men. It stars Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo. Brody is an excellent actor, always interesting to watch. I loved him in Cadillac Records. Bloom is a quirky little film, and not all that funny, but interesting. I could see it becoming a cult classic.  

I made the best shrimp last night. We had gotten some beautiful shrimp from the DeKalb County Farmer's Market [farmer's market is a misnomer - it's got a huge range of international foods.] One thing I like is the shrimp is not pumped full of chemicals from being frozen. I am very wary of buying fish, worried about contamination. [I still feel strongly that in another life I would make an excellent fish farmer, both because I love fish and because I could raise a fish free of chemicals, something tasty and high quality, but don't get me on that soapbox...]

I have a recipe for sauteed scallops I did the other night, and it involved sauteeing the scallops in a stick of butter and adding several cloves of minced garlic, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice and black pepper. It's muy delicioso.

 
This is what a shrimp looks like with its head ON - isn't that weird?!

Last night I went simpler, sauteeing the shrimp in butter and adding some fresh minced garlic. Michael loves to use the garlic press and his left hand is incredibly strong. I added some fresh black pepper and a squeeze of lime before serving, and they were terrific. Alesia even ate about 6 shrimp, after first declaring she wouldn't eat them. Mother ate boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce.

My assistant was telling me today she likes the Shark mop. I am going to look into buying that. Reviews I saw online were mixed, but my assistant loves hers. We have got to find something that works on the terra cotta tile floors we have in the kitchen and laundry room. Any information you have on that, let me know. Our tile floors are incredibly hard to clean. Alesia cleaned the laundry room floor the other day and was exhausted afterwards. I wouldn't attempt it, not now anyway.

The good thing about the tile floors is they rarely look dirty. Coco can go a long way towards spoiling that, though... 

Say It Ain't So, Harrison

Yesterday was one of those days when there were simply not enough hours in the day. At 11:30 last night I was fighting to stay awake and I remembered I had told Mother I'd help her get her post done for her blog - and it's one of her best, so be sure and check it out. I thought I had heard all her stories about going to Italy with Dad, but I was wrong.

The first time my parents went to Europe, I picked them up at the airport, and asked Dad what all they had seen. Dad said in Paris they had seen the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, etc. Mother didn't say a word, I noticed. I asked what it was like to go up in the Eiffel Tower. "We didn't go inside," was Mother's dry comment. Dad's idea was to "see" things, you drive by. They "saw" the Louvre in about 30 seconds!

Dad, on castles in Germany: "You've seen one, you've seen them all!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I am reading a lovely book, by Deb Amend, called A Dress for Anna. I met Deb because we both belong to a Yahoo group for adoptive parents of children with limb differences. Deb adopted her daughter Anna from Ukraine in 2002. Anna has limb differences of her legs and one arm, but she's an amazing, feisty little girl. Deb writes beautifully. Anna is a champion swimmer now, and doesn't let her limb differences slow her down. She reminds me of Michael.

RANTING

I was horrified to hear that Harrison Ford is considering yet another Indiana Jones movie. I remember seeing him in Star Wars in 1977, when I was in high school, and thinking, I want to marry that man! What a hunk. In the last Indiana Jones movie, though, he was looking his age and the movie stank. I love the first 3 movies, but I hated the last one. So here are my reasons for not wanting to see Harrison make an even bigger fool of himself with another movie. I should send these to David Letterman. I love writing Top 10 Lists.

Top 10 Reasons I Don’t Want to See Another Indiana Jones Movie:

10. Does the Spielberg movie franchise need a new injection of money?! Just write a script for the Wiggles and you’re back in black. Don’t trot out old men to swing on vines.

9. Arthritis will interfere with his use of the whip.

8. So will bellbottoms.

7. Sean Connery now looks like Harrison’s brother.

6. Shia Laboeuf, although great in Transformers, lacks the charisma to replace Harrison in Indy’s adventures. [Who do you think sounds more macho, “Shia” or “Harrison?!” See?]

5. I don’t want to see Indy wearing his pants low, under a pot belly.

4. The next step is Indy as grandpa, and a poopy diaper might be his worst foe yet..

3. Each of the prior movies took place in the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s. What evil folks could Indy do battle with in the 1960’s, the Manson family?! The Viet Cong?! Angry feminists?!

2. There were so many CGI effects in the last movie, it looked like it was filmed with pantyhose over the camera lens. What’s next, a tee shirt over the lens?!

And the number 1 reason I don’t want another Indiana Jones movie:

#1 Nobody wants to see Indy break a hip.

   

Brendan and Paul

Not only did it not rain today, it was sunny and hot.

 

Bruce took me and the kids and that was nice, because while I was waiting to read, he walked around the book festival with them. Michael got to eat his first funnel cake.

 

Right before I read, I watched a man changing his baby’s diaper on the ground right next to the path where everyone was walking. He had her on a mat, thank goodness. The really funny part was that this sweet little baby girl had just tee tee’d in her diaper and he used about 6 baby wipes on her bottom. He must use a whole box of them for a poopy diaper!

 

The reading today was more fun – I wasn’t competing with televised football games – but I only sold a grand total of one book. However, another woman told me she had adopted a child, this time from South America. Yesterday, a lady told me she had adopted her children. I said oh, from Russia? And she replied, no, from Texas!

 

We went to a late lunch at Fuddruckers, then I grocery shopped and picked up the unsold books.

 

I finally had a grand total of ONE HOUR to myself, late this afternoon, and I continued reading Wally Lamb’s The Hour I first Believed. Good book, but rather painful to read, as the main character’s wife is at Columbine High during the massacre.

 

We watched the movie Inkheart tonight. Really interesting. I don’t know why the critics didn’t like it. It’s a good movie for kids to see. The kids and I enjoyed it, and even Bruce watched. It also stars Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany, two guys I love to watch, because, well, they're excellent actors [cough, cough]...

 

Mother did a funny post about the horrors of stockings and girdles, on her blog. You can check it out here. Happy Labor Day!

Our Favorite Restaurant

We've had a really nice day. Michael went to a friend's house and played Wii sports all afternoon. Alesia went to the mall with Elena. I went out to see the movie Julie and Julia with my friend Dana, who I haven't seen in ages. It was wonderful! Enchante!

It was a bit weird seeing a movie about a blogger, though, in all honesty. I sure wish my blog would attract that kind of attention. I don't like to cook that much, though.

Since I just finished the book by Julia Child, My Life in France, I found all the Julia Child parts really fascinating. She was 6'2 and her husband was about 4 inches shorter. Meryl Streep is 5'6 and the actor who plays her husband, Stanley Tucci, is 5'8, but she looked a lot taller than he did. It was amazing.

We had dinner at Bambinelli's. Our favorite place. Such a funny dinner.

At one point Alesia was sitting with half her fettucine alfredo in front of her, declaring "I need a go box for all this!" and there were 3 boxes sitting on the table already. As I handed them to her, Michael said to the nearby waiter, "Sorry, my sister is such a blonde!"

Michael was talking about how a friend of his is kind of spoiled, and he said "He won't fix food for himself, he makes other people wait on him!" [My kids know how to fix their own food and never ask to be waited on.] Alesia listened to him rant for a minute, then said "You know what that's like?"

Michael: "Yes, it's like people who work for the government!" Mother and I laughed really hard at that one.

Michael ate all his ravioli with pesto sauce, part of my chicken canneloni, one of Granny's scallops, two garlic yeast rolls, a huge slab of tiramus, part of a huge piece of chocolate cake, and part of Alesia's dessert. I am amazed he could walk out of there.

We got to the car and Michael said "That is my favorite place!"

Well, duh.

Alesia was highly insulted because when she was paying the bill for us [a chore she loves] the woman at the cash register called her "little girl." Alesia got in the car with a murderous look on her face. "She could've at least called me young lady! I don't look like a little girl!"

Yes, what an elegant young lady, wearing sweat pants, a tee shirt, and flip flops...

Driving Miss Dee

I slept for almost 10 hours last night. I NEVER do that. I woke up with a slight backache, which is why I never sleep that long. Usually 7.5 is just right for me, but hey, I had not slept much Friday night and my body just was glued to the bed. What an attractive picture...

Alesia got to drive today. A lot. She drove to Michael's hair cutting appointment. He got to tell the stylist how much to cut, and didn't have a fit afterwards, so OK. He's over 5 feet tall now and has pimples I figured it was time for him to look as weird as all the other little boys. I am mellowing. Or maybe just tired of the sulking. Who knows.

Anyway, we drove a little more and she kept missing stop signs. I freaked, a little. Tried not to show it. Then, I smelled something funny. Alesia had left on the parking brake for a couple of miles. Stunk BAD. I was ticked but trying not to show it. That always works SO well, me hiding my emotions. Alesia declared "I an NEVER driving any more! I told you I didn't want to drive!"

So I made her drive the rest of the day.

She drove to Steak & Shake for lunch, her second favorite place. She drove to the movie theatre. She drove home. She drove more than an hour and a half.

Except for an unfortunate incident of giggling and turning the car in weird directions at Steak & Shake, she did fine the rest of the day. Except for the fact that I was sitting there praying and saying the Hail Mary in my head the whole time [and I'm not Catholic] it was all good.

The kids went to see GI Joe The Rise of Cobra, and I went to see Adam Sandler's new movie Funny People. I HATED the movie. I love Adam Sandler. LOVE HIM. He must've been smoking crack to ever even consider making that movie. Yikes. Depressing. Not funny. Ugh. I left before it was over. Be warned. 

HUMOR

I AIN’T GOT NO BODY!!!

 Before I retired after teaching for 32 years,I collected the beguiling observations of my students concerning body parts.Here are some of them:

 Skin is used to help hold people inside  themselves.

 When people are just skeletons,they are still themselves but their looks are gone.

 Bones are  what keep us  from being too floppy and relaxed.

 The humorous vein supplies blood to the funny bone.

 An appendix is something found in the back of  a book.Sometimes they get in people and have to be taken out.

 Sound would not be all that important to study if it was not for ears.

 Most doctors can tell about your heart by using their horoscopes.

 There are cavities all through our bodies.Don’t worry because that is all right as long as they don’t get into our teeth.

 Digestion is best done on an empty  stomach.

 Laps are so that more than one person can sit on a chair at the same time.

 Without red cells ,the blood would bleed to death.

 Going down our human  neck, we find the sacoughagus,telling us when to cough.

        Harold Dunn, “Traveling Light”,reprinted from THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KIDS

Why We're In Trouble, Just Like Harry Potter

OK, so Michael and I have been reading the Harry Potter books now for a couple of weeks, or rather I have been reading them to him. Today we saw the latest movie, The Half Blood Prince.

I like Harry Potter. I think I can stick it out through the entire book series. However, I was not fond of the newest film. Having just re-seen the first movie last night, it was jarring to see the last movie today! Suddenly the cute kiddies are huge and grownup and "snogging" [English word for kissing] all over the place. The film could have been entitled Everyone Loves Ron Weasley.

It's also very dark. Voldemort is everywhere.

I had the depressing thought as the movie opened, and the Death Eaters were whirling around everywhere, causing chaos, and wizards and witches were all afraid of Voldemort, that the tone reflects that of our country at the moment. So many people are out of work. So many homes have been repossessed. So much is at stake, and it seems like the economy will never get up and running again.

I don't normally discuss politics, but I feel compelled to offer some gallows humor. Mother sent me this today and it was almost too painful to read. I don't know if it's true, but I bet at least some of it is true. If not, it's still funny.

Why our country is in trouble                                             
                                                                            
A DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of 'why' our country is in trouble!                                                                   
                                                                            
1. I had a Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)                                                            
                                                                            
2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts .''                                                          
                                                                          
Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa ''                                
                                                                            
his response -- click.                                                     
                                                                            
3. A Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.          
                                                                            
He replied, 'don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!'' (OMG)   
                                                                            
4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from Canada ?'' 
                                                                            
I said, ''No.''                                                            
                                                                            
She said, ''But they look so close on the map.'' (OMG, again!)             
                                                                            
5.An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas . When I asked him why he wanted to    
rent a car, he said, ''I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)                      
                                                                            
6.An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.                                      
                                                                            
I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.                                                 
                                                                            
7. A New York lawmaker, called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?'                           
                                                                            
He replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on  my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!''                                                                    
                                                                            
After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca. is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a  
destination tag on his luggage..                                           
                                                                            
8. A Senator John Kerry aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?''   
                                                                            
9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman from Alabama who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get on?''               
                                                                            
I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.''     
                                                                            
10. A Louisiana. Senator called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.''        
                                                                            
I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ''Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!''                              
                                                                            
12. A New Jersey Congressman called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .''                             
                                                                            
I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?''   

'Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the man.                         
                                                                            
After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, sir, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino anywhere."        
                                                                           
''The man retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!''                                                                                                        
So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo , do you?''          
                                                               
The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''                       
                                                                            
Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it's in!                                                                             
Could anyone be this DUMB?                                                 
                                                                            
YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED.      
                                                                            
                      
                                                                          

Cake Wednesday

Woke up with a terrible sinus headache, and then the toilet stopped up. What a way to start the day. The headache persisted all day, although it got better around lunchtime. If we could just go ahead and get a good rain, I think it would help.

 

I had to wait for the plumber, so we didn’t go anywhere today.

 

When I went downstairs for lunch, Michael told me “The house feels empty without a cake!” So we got out a Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix and made a lemon pound cake. The kids really did it, but I supervised and greased the bundt pan we have been making cakes in since I was a kid. I am particular about greasing cake pans. The cake turned out really yummy.

 

I had a call from an attorney about a possible job, and I am going in for an interview on Friday morning. I am hopeful it may work out. It’s part-time but the office is close to here and there would be benefits.

 

Alesia put a pork roast in the slow cooker for me this morning. She has gotten to be such a good cook, it was fork tender at dinner. I am trying to train myself to buy less expensive meat and slow cook it until tender – saves money. The roast was a Boston Butt – I’ve always thought that such a funny name. My father used to cook them on the grill all day until they fell apart, then he’d chop the meat and make delicious barbeque. I don’t have the patience to tend a grill all day but the slow cooker did really well.

 

The kids have spent most of the day playing games – cards, Sims, computer games. On quiet days they are really good about entertaining themselves and as they’ve matured they’ve become good buddies.

 

We finished watching Benjamin Button tonight. I am not a big fan of Brad Pitt but he was wonderful. He should’ve gotten an Oscar. It’s such a contemplative, beautiful film. I am amazed it did well at the box office, but glad it did.

Here's a nice still from the movie: