Father's Day 07

K had a really nice Father's Day I think. He really deserved one, just because he's a great father that does LOADS of things for his kids. Also, for a variety of unforseen reasons, he didn't have that great of a birthday. So I tried to make the day nice for him.

First, we woke up and went to church with him, as he always likes to go and give thanks. Then we came home and made breakfast. I made bacon and The Girl made French Toast for everyone.

Then I did the dishes.

The Boy had to run out and work on yet another project for school, and was gone all afternoon. The Girl wanted to watch the end of "Night at the Museum", so I watched it again with her. She got so excited at some of the parts - let's just say I rarely hear her scream like that. When it was over, she said, "That was great! We should GET this movie!"

We hung out and read for awhile, then K and The Girl wanted to go to the park to break in her new soccer cleats. So I went with them and read on the grass with the dog. It's not often we go to the park anymore, so it was a fun change.

We came home and I started a pot of Gumbo for dinner. I diced and saute'd and got everything to the point where it could cook for awhile on the stove. Then I went outside and we all swam for awhile. It was cool in the water, which felt great after getting tired and sweaty from cooking in the kitchen!

Then I came inside and took a shower, and asked The Boy (home now from doing his project) to start some water to boil on the stove for rice. When I got out of the shower, I added the rice to the water and the meat to the Gumbo.

When the rice was done and the meat heated through, it was time to eat. This Gumbo recipe completely fills my largest pot, and the family ate 2/3 of it last night! K and I ate the rest of it today.

Yummy, that file' gumbo is good stuff. I'll post the recipe soon.

After dinner we watched the other dvd I'd rented, "Ghost Rider", until it was 10pm and time for Entourage.

Another guilty indulgence.

We watched the end of "Ghost Rider" later - K thought it was funny, and he loves motorcycles, so it was all good.

Audition

Monday I took The Girl for a TV show audition she was interested in. To her credit, she didn't want to miss any school for it, so we went after school. I'd never been to one before, so I thought it would be better to go early, but going later turned out well, as it was not crowded at all. We filled out some forms, and were sent to "holding area," walking through a room that was crisscrossed with bands to hold a long, long line. Whew! Glad we missed that!

Before we heard about the audition, we were preparing to send in a tape. The online instructions were to send a tape with just talking - no singing, art, acts of any kind. The instructions for the live audition? Wear a costume! Bring the whole family! Have the whole family dress up in costume! Show and tell or recite something. WTF?

What is the purpose of dressing in costume to audition for a show that doesn't use costumes? Personally I think they wanted us to look as foolish as possible, so they can do a show about the crazy people who showed up to audition. But I'm cynical. Maybe they're really casting a completely different show and didn't want anyone to know.

So The Girl dressed up as an artist (hat, paintbrush) and showed some of her artwork and awards. She was speaking softly at first and kept bending down, but when they started asking her questions, she perked up and spoke more audibly and enthusiastically. I thought she gave some great answers.

It was her first audition, after all. If you don't count trying out for her school's talent show. She was REALLY nervous about that first talent show. So it was an adventure for us, and kind of fun. It was fun to listen to the kids in our group and their answers to different questions. One girl said when she grows up she wants to be a Director, Producer, Mary-Kay Salesperson, or a Talk-Show host. Another was practically a professional, and said she does community theater.

My Girl said it best: "How are they ever going to pick just 25 out of ALL THOSE KIDS?"

I was most happy about getting my parking validated, because paying for parking at that location would have made it a pretty expensive day! Yay for asking questions! Sometimes you have to ask more than once.

On the Cusp

I have no money expected to come in in the near future, yet I have more opportunities springing up than ever. Will I eventually cash in on any of them? Hopefully, several! Thinking positive, right? That's supposed to be the secret.

Also, I have yet to fall into a reasonably productive routine. I've been playing tennis fairly consistently, which is important, but takes up nearly my whole morning 2-3 days a week. The rest of the mornings it's hard for me to get started.

So everyday I ask myself, what's most important today? What things can I do better than anyone else? So I run errands and lately have started some things that needed doing. But most of all, I find myself putting more thought into our meals. Last Sunday I asked The Boy to help w/breakfast, so I (with The Girl's help) made pancakes and he made the rest of it, and it was a really nice family Sunday experience. We cooked together, then ate together.

In my Girl's 4th Grade class Open House, she showed me her essay on the wall of essays titled "My Mom". It was so cute. I guess she really enjoys playing tennis with me (hard core tennis, she called it), and she talked about how good my cooking is. She talked about my recipe for scrambled eggs "Mom's Special Eggs" and how she knows what the secret ingredient is. So she thinks cooking is kindof fun to do together, too.

Other than questionable productivity, another thing that's hard to schedule in is creative time. Even reading seems like too much of a luxury - I feel guilty because I should be accomplishing something. I guess I'm too sleepy for guilt in the morning. It takes awhile for the fog to clear.

Last night K wanted to watch sports, and as he scanned the channels he noticed a hockey game was on. He tuned in, and said, "The Ducks are going to win the Stanley Cup!" They were leading Ottawa 5-2. I watched them play for awhile, amazed that anyone ever scores with the Goalie wearing such big gear and blocking the small goal and everything. Then the Ducks scored again! It was awesome, and I don't even follow hockey. It happened so quickly, the Goalie didn't even see it coming. The Anaheim Ducks were one really happy team.

I don't understand what the big mystery about Phil Spector is. Why so long to bring him to trial or convict him? One look at his hair is all you need to know that he's crazy. Even Ronnie Spector said that he used to hold her hostage in the house with a gun. He told his driver that night that he thought he killed somebody! It's pretty obvious that he did it.

I was so sad to hear about the missing girl from KS being found dead yesterday. Something about the pictures of her exuded beauty and light. Someone tried to jump into the Pope's little car yesterday too. What vibes are in the air? Why do goodness and light sometimes attract evil? It makes me sad. I wish we had more control over what we attract.

I need to attract some money.

Moving Pictures

Over the Memorial Day weekend I kept going to Rosie's blog, and it was great. I like watching her little videos and read answers to lots of questions. My husband and son don't understand - both of them asked me if I was obsessed.

It's not that bad, people!


I must be emotional lately, because movies are making me cry.

Saved
I just got around to seeing this movie, and I really liked it. Mandy Moore is so good and funny in this part. I really liked Patrick Fugit and Jena Malone too. All the actors were good and the story was excellent. It hit close to home, so that's probably why I cried.

Because of Wynn & Dixie
Can you believe I cried? How sappy can you get? A dog is lost and boo, hoo, hoo. The little girl who played this part had the biggest eyes I've ever seen! She's like one of those pictures from the 70's of those little kids with huge eyes. It's a little disturbing, because they're just so beautiful, but they're on the face of a little girl.

Open Water
OK, I just watched the end because I wanted to see how it turned out before I spent 2 hours watching people struggle to stay alive in the ocean. I didn't like the end. It sucked. But I didn't cry. I may still go ahead and watch the beginning now, but it's just so sad. I am NEVER going out with a tour group on the ocean, that's for sure!

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I have a digital camera that runs on a couple of AA batteries, so I probably should get a better one. Any suggestions of a good yet not-too-expensive camera?

When I take a picture, I know that sometime after I hit the button, the camera will take a picture. How long this takes varies, depending on the status of the battery.

If I think something is going to happen, say in a game, I press the button and hope for the best. This has resulted in some crazy pictures, though. Like the matrix-like photo above.

I like it.