I did something I rarely do on Saturdays. I got up early. Well, 7:30 – early for me. I hustled around and got the children and mother up and we had eggs and sausage for breakfast, then headed out to get haircuts for the kids.
Fantastic Sam’s is not my favorite place for haircuts, but they are cheap, and I am trying to conserve money. I will skimp on haircuts, but not on things I think are educational. I just ordered some rather expensive educational books, and I feel like that’s a better use of my limited money.
Michael’s hair is quite short now. That’s good. I was getting tired of the nightly battle to get a comb through it after his shower. Now it’s at a length short enough so that we likely won’t have to get it cut again this summer.
Alesia’s hair is also shorter, by about 3 inches, which she wanted. It now takes her less time to straighten it. She demonstrated that as soon as we got home.
We picked up Elena at noon, and headed out to Goodwill, one of my favorite shopping experiences. We found 2 hardback books, 4 paperbacks, a picture frame, a belt for Alesia, a DVD of a recent movie,shoes for Alesia, and a used VCR [ours is dead] for $35. I know you’re saying, why the heck is Dee buying a VCR?! Well, I happen to own about 50 VCR tapes and I would like to continue to watch them as long as possible.
In 1981 I stayed up all night and watched the coverage of the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and taped it. I also have tapes of my father, tapes of family reunions, etc. Call me an anachronism, but I need a VCR.
We had lunch at Folks. When I was a kid, Shoney’s was the same sort of place – good American food, reasonable prices. The kids ate well. Elena and Alesia actually ordered fried okra.
I took the kids to the Fernbank Museum [www.fernbankmuseum.org], to the IMAX movie Grand Canyon Adventure. I love IMAX movies, but they are somewhat discombobulating. We were about 5 minutes late, and we walked in and I instantly felt like I was going to fall, even though I was standing still. The screen is so HUGE [3 stories] that it feels like you are there. The film was awesome. It felt like I had been hang gliding in the Grand Canyon, a truly awesome natural experience. Now I don’t have to go there.
I will never again travel to a place where there are no clean bathrooms with real toilets. I don’t camp. I don’t hike. I also can’t tinkle au natural and avoid pee on my shoes, so that should explain my reluctance to experience the great outdoors. Well, bugs also factor in. Bugs love to bite me.
One really nice and unexpected aspect of the movie was that it spent a few minutes talking about John Wesley Powell, the man who first went down the entire length of the Colorado River, in the late 19th century. He had lost one of his arms in the Civil War. He mapped the river and was a very distinguished explorer and scientist. [Here’s a link to learn more, if you’re interested: www.powellmuseum.org/MajorPowell.html]
When we got out of the movie, it was raining lightly. By the time I got to the car, I was soaked. We drove home in torrential rains. I hate driving in that stuff so I prayed a lot. Several traffic lights were out. We get home, and there has been NO RAIN! It’s only about 6 miles from the house as the crow flies. Aaaargh!
In case you think my blog has no objectivity whatsoever [snicker snicker] I want to report this remark made by my mother today. I was telling her about a sassy retort Alesia made to me this afternoon, which wasn’t disrespectful so much as it was funny, and Mother quipped:
“When you were that age you, were a LOT more mouthy.”
I thought for a moment. I recalled myself as being quite grownup and delightful at the age of 16. Time, however, distorts everything, of course.
“I do not remember that. I’ll tell you this much, though – Michael is on his way to getting there. He just doesn’t have enough vocabulary yet to really be smart mouthed.”
I have looked at Michael’s haircut all day and thought wow, I see now the man within the boy. I can see him as a grown man. He is going to be really handsome.
Dinner was salmon, baked in the oven. I love grilled salmon, but the kids don’t. I doused the fish pretty well with onion powder, seasoning salt, and pepper. I then covered it liberally with mayonnaise. Yep, mayo. That, plus some dabs of butter and a sprinkle of lemon juice, and that was yummy, I’m here to testify. Thirty minutes in the over at 350. It’s a great recipe for any kind of fish, and so, so easy.
That plus some pasta with butter and garlic, and fresh sliced tomatoes, and you have a feast, my friend.
Our movie tonight was “Flawless” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/] a thriller with Michael Caine and Demi Moore, about a theft of diamonds from a huge London company. It was very clever and interesting. I really enjoyed it, except for one thing. The sound quality was bad – I often couldn’t hear the softly mumbled lines of the actors. Of course, I mis-hear things all the time. I don’t know if I need to get my hearing checked or just enjoy it as long as possible..
[Oh, and Jane, don’t feel bad about laughing about my remark about Michael not cutting his fingers off with the hatchet. It would be impossible, which I thought was sort of humorous, because I have a dark sense of humor. I’ll let you know if he slices off a toe – that would shut my big mouth, huh?!]
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->
