No. 2 son: What can I do around the house to make money that isn't cleaning up my room? I know. I can massage your feet.
Me: But it's Mother's Day. I shouldn't have to pay for it.
No. 2 son: But I'm a professional.
- Kids, don't try this at home
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crcook- May 10th, 18:46
amused
- Three days in the life
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- crcook
- March 30th, 9:56
Friday: No. 1 Son turns 12
Saturday: Spring snowstorm strikes, but daffodils are saved
Sunday: No. 2 son loses then promptly swallows first tooth
I've been busy writing and haven't been keeping up with LJ as well as I'd like. Anyone have any fun news to share from your world?
- Random Monday Musings
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- crcook
- August 6th, 2007
1. No. 2 Son's most recent culinary experiment -- American cheese niblets soaked in pure vanilla extract and water -- spilled all over my kitchen when he tried to add a dash of Tabasco. In case you wondered, yes, American cheese does break down into a slimy facsimile of itself when soaked in vanilla water. On the upside, my kitchen smells like cookies.
2. No. 1 Son appeared in our metro newspaper today as part of a panel of experts who tested school supplies. The feature looked great, with full-color photos of all the kids. In response to the question, "What is your favorite subject in school?" No. 1 Son replied, "Recess."
3. I went to a multi-class reunion mixer Friday night. About 300 of us stormed the local Cheeseburger in Paradise. Poor staff never knew what hit them... I forgot my camera and so am relying on others:
Old friends. We look awesome for a bunch of 40-year-olds! Photo by Dave Minard. Thanks, Angie!
Husband (in green) and I (brown tank) amid 1/4 of the crowd. Seriously. See? Here's another 1/4. of the crowd outside. And this is just 1/2 of the bar. Photos by Sean Tevis, nabbed from the Class of 1987 reunion weekend photos
4. JWKC's Editors Day officially sold out today!! Whoo Hoo! We'll welcome writers from across Kansas and Missouri as well as Ohio, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Florida. Fanboy, stop reading this blog and get back to writing!
5. Heading to a novel writing workshop with Ashley and Carolyn Grayson tomorrow.
6. Taking a family vacation for Husband's 50th birthday next week. We'll return home just in time to get No. 1 son to his first day of school. No. 2 son starts all-day Kindergarten this year. And that means in just fourteen short days I'll have the house to myself for the first time in ten years! What will I do? *grin*
- The Dichotomy of Man
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- crcook
- July 8th, 2007
No. 2 son, stuffing Monopoly money into a black bag: There's a bad guy kid who robbed a bank and he's coming this way.
Me: Oh my! We'd better watch out.
No. 2 son: He has a shirt like this (points to own shirt), shorts like this (points to shorts), shoes like mine...
Me, suspicious: Does he wear glasses?
No. 2 son: Yes.
Me, more suspicious: Does he wear a glow-in-the-dark watch?
No. 2 son, nodding solemnly: Yes.
Me, alarmed: Is he...YOU?
No. 2 son: No. His eyebrows look like this (furrows brows in threatening manner). And he wears a black hat. Backwards.
- serenade
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- crcook
- June 3rd, 2007
- amused
snippets of the songs my sons are singing right now:
No. 1 son - Reunited and it feels so good! Reunited in the under woods!
No. 2 son - Smell like I sound, lost underground. And I'm hungry for a wolf!
ETA: No. 2 son corrected No. 1 son: It's not "reunited in the underwoods." It's "reunited, Jesse understood." You know, Uncle Jesse?
(yep, that Uncle Jesse. John Stamos himself)
- A few things on a Friday
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- crcook
- April 27th, 2007
Don't have ten things this Friday, or even five, really, given that I already shared the wasp story and linked to Hank's brilliance. So...
1. People are weird, first case study:
As Kevin and I strolled through the aisles of Halls department store today after lunch, we came upon a woman walking toward us who apparently took an instant dislike to Kevin. Her eye widened with each step closer to us until we passed, shoulder to shoulder and she, without turning her head, looked sidewise at him as if she were hexing him. We decided, given that he had no idea who this woman might be much less why she seemingly wished him harm, that his aura must be in need of a good cleaning. Or something.
2. People are weird, second case study:
Later, a flustered young driver at HyVee, window open and f-bombs dropping freely, tried her best to ram into two parked cars and run down an old lady in an attempt to exit the parking lot. Not to be trifled with, the old lady shook her handbag at the young driver and shouted, "Are you on drugs?!" to which the girl shouted back, "No! Are you?!"
3. Overheard one morning this week
No. 2 son to No. 1 son: Pretend you see Voldemort at the cemetery. (crouches behind couch and slowly rises) Hi, dude!
No. 2 son rises from behind the couch. (Photo from Warner Bros)
4. Richard Gere and Indian actress Shilpa Shetty recently had arrests warrants issued against them for this:
Personally, I think jail time might just be worth it.
(Photo from AP/Yahoo)
5. Tornado sirens just went off. Gotta run outside and look up at the sky now!
- duly chastised
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- crcook
- April 4th, 2007
On the way home from school:
No. 1 son (tired of answering questions about his day): Mom, you bug me about everything. I take a breath, you say "How did you like that breath? Did anyone take a breath with you? What were you thinking about when you took that breath? Oh, you took a step. How did that step feel?"
- Overheard just now:
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- crcook
- March 15th, 2007
No. 2 son (arm pointed skyward): To the bathroom! Away!
- Earlier today
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- crcook
- March 5th, 2007
- amused
AT LUNCH
No. 2 son (picking sesame seed off his bun): I'm going to plant this in the backyard.
Husband: I'm not sure what kind of plant will grow from that.
No. 2 son: It's a hamburger seed.
AFTER SCHOOL
No. 1 son: I think Aryn C. likes me. I think I like her too. I almost told her I liked her today.
Me: What stopped you?
No. 1. son: Well, when I said, "Hey, Aryn?" she said "What?" and looked kind of mad, and I thought "I really don't want to deal with that right now."
- A conversation in passing
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- crcook
- February 14th, 2007
Earlier --
Me: I'm going to hop in the shower.
No. 2 son: I'm going to smell my armpits.
- Reviews
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- crcook
- April 21st, 2006
- content
OK, I know, I know. Editors, agents and publishers don't care squat whether your child thinks your manuscript is good. But given that I started The Wolf Belt as a love letter to my boys, I very much want them to absolutely love it, even if it sits around our home collecting dust for all eternity and no one else in the world ever reads it.
But I must say my nine-year-old son's reaction to the big climax seems promising:
Son: "Mom, I can't believe you wrote this. This is SO GROSS."
Me (somewhat worried that perhaps I've gone overboard with the gore): "Is that bad?"
Son: "NO! Just don't say the word blood again."
Me (substituting "B" for "blood" as I continue to read aloud)
Son (clutching blanket to neck, looking slightly distressed)
Husband (distressed over son's apparent distress): "OK, time to stop reading..."
Son: "NO!" (hides face under blanket) "Keep going to the end!"
Son (at the end) "That story freaks me out. Can you read a book about horses and flowers now?"
