The Little Things

So, I'm sitting on the couch this morning playing Angry Birds and listening to iTunes (my 4 Stars playlist, if you're interested . . . and yes, I know . . . what a productive Saturday morning!) . . .

. . . and as I'm trying to work out how to destroy this batch of stupid pigs, my shuffle throws up The Remus Lupins "I Was a Teenage Werewolf."

(By the way, I should point out that Sarah is across the room reading the Hunger Games on the opposite couch. And that Lynda and Grace and Hannah are off getting party supplies.)

Andbutso . . . the Remus Lupins is (are?) singing about how challenging it was to be a teenager and dealing with the struggles of lycanthrope and being misunderstood and whatnot. And I'm fighting the pigs. And Sarah is reemersing herself in the much more dire stuggles of Katniss Everdeen.

And a lyric in the song comes up as follows "At Hogwarts, its true we ruled the school/and you could never be as cool/as you are with Marauders at your side . . ." etc, etc. etc.

The point was this/that was just building the scenery . . .

(Providing all of the backstory is HARD . . . and I'm not even done.)

And so, as this song lyric is floating across the room from my iPad to Sarah's couch, I lift my head and look across at her. And I see (as I suspected) that she was doing the same thing to me--looking up and looking across.

(You see, just a few days before, we were watching Harry Potter Puppet Pals, "The Vortex" and we were laughing at how Puppet Harry was acting so differently than actual Harry every would--getting angry and resentful  and arrogant and saying "I'm Harry Potter; I rule the school!" and here was this random moment where The Remus Lupins was using that same phrasing of "ruling the school" and I look up and Sarah looks up . . .)

And we made the same wordless, eyebrows raised, head bob manuever to each other and then just started laughing.

**

I suppose, from another perspective this seems very narcissistic of me . . . but I found it affirming instead. To know that I have made an impact in her life--even if that impact is (in this case) a shallow one that may not mean much in the larger scheme of her life development . . . well, it is these things that I as a parent cherish.

Grace's 8th birthday signals the start of another Party Month

The Official Hat of Summer 2011 is Revealed

Thanks for voting everyone. Now, on to other programming.

Happy Fathers Day

Hannah brought this home from daycare the other day. I thought it would be a nice thing to share on this special day. Happy Fathers Day to my dad and to all of the hard-working Dads out there who make their children's lives special.

*****

Happy Fathers Day 2011!

My Dad's name is Daddy-O.

My Dad's favorite sports team is Basketball.

I like to play hide and seek with my Dad.

My Dad's favorite food is pork chops.

My Dad and I like to read library books together.

If my dad had a superpower it would be Batman.

When my Dad goes to work he listens.

My Dad really likes it when I put my patch on.

I have the greatest Dad because He is.

Love, Hannah.

The Official Hat of Summer 2011

I need your help.

 

I am in need of advice on which of the following hats I can declare the Official Hat of Summer 2011. As you may recall, I chose an Official Hat of Summer 2010 and as such, I wore that hat throughout my summer adventures, such as they were. But this year, I thought I would toss the choices out to the viewing public and see what they preferred.

 

So, here are the contenders.

 

Option A: First up is a hat given to me by my dad several years ago. It is a royal blue cap in the baseball style.The white lettering says South Georgia Seniors. This is the golf group that my dad is a part of and with which he was the treasurer one year. The emblem above the lettering shows rampant lions flanking the letter "G."

Option B: Next is a woven cowboy style hat with a simple black cord circling the hat. The material is probably a synthetic reed or something. Truth be told, the hat is slightly small for my head, but I include it for completeness sake. (I hesitate to admit this, for fear that it will sway the votes, but this is MY least favorite option for many reasons. As I said, it is a bit small and it is probably the least flattering choice and the one that provides the most difficult clothing accompaniment choices. Fair warning, then, that if this is chosen, I probably will go hat-less more often than not. You may waste your votes accordingly, if you wish.)



Option C: This faded, sweat-stained Ohio State visor has my tennis-playing lid of choice a few years ago when I was playing tennis every week. As you know, I haven't had much time to play in the last 13 to 16 months. The visor is scarlet with a grey (or silver) block O emblem in the middle. Underneath the visor is a notification to myself that I bought the visor in a recent year that the OSU basketball team won the Big Ten Tournament. (This was back several years ago when this was a less frequent occurrence.)



Option D: This is my latest Atlanta Braves hat incarnation. It is modeled after the early 1970s Braves uniform style that the team first wore when it moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in the late 1960s. On the back of the cap, opposite the "A" is the year 1974--the same year that Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record. This hat is very patriotically-colored and has often been worn on July 4th, as the non-sports fans might mistake the A to stand for America.



Option E: This baseball cap is another Ohio State option. I bought it at a local golf course several years ago. The scarlet and gray coloring on the front is contrasted with white mesh circling around the back of the head. The Velcro adjustment band on the back is stitched with Buckeyes. This hat, of course, can be worn without fear anywhere in the state of Ohio and might even be suitable for a state dinner with the governor.



Option F: This green baseball-style cap is one of many Pioneer Hi-Bred hats that I have worn over the years. This is much like many that were worn in the fields of South Georgia and across the corn belt as kids learned the ins and outs of controlled hybridizing and (so I'm told) de-tasselling. Though I prefer the all-mesh variety (which helps cool the sweaty head during the hot summer months, it is very old, very dirty, and not suitable for public viewing. This one is clean and not frequently worn. Perhaps now is the time to end that? It will be up to you to decide.



Option G: Finally, the yellow bucket hat that was the most recent (and my first) Official Hat of Summer. It could be so again. It has the casualness that says "Summer" and the sunny color that makes you forget the chills and overcast days of Autumn and Winter in Ohio.

So, what say you? Make your choice and leave it in the comments below. I promise to abide by your decision. I'll even leave the voting open until the kids elementary school closes in early June, close to the Summer Solstice.