Little Miss Organized

About a month ago, I introduced my children to the House Fairy. She is a nice fairy who leaves gifts for children who keep their rooms tidy. She is Santa Claus’s sister and also reports to him on the children who are keeping their beds made and their toys picked up. The House Fairy can put you on her list if you go to her web site (www.housefairy.org) and sign up. The web site has all kinds of videos about things like how to set the table, the House Fairy’s magic telescope, etc.

For some inexplicable (to me) reason, Bridget repeatedly watched the video about how to organize your dresser drawers. I thought this one was pretty boring compared to the ones where House Fairy talks to Santa, and thought this task was really too advanced for a 5-year-old to do anyway. One evening, Bridget got sent to time out. When I told her it was time to come out, she stayed in her room. Then, Tessa went back there to see what she was doing. They were back there for a good while and were being awfully quiet. I figured Bridget had found some way to retaliate for being sent to time out. I could just picture the two of them trashing their room . . .

When I went to their room, I was amazed to find that Bridget had taken out her dresser drawers and was re-organizing them!! She actually did an excellent job, too! Maybe this kind of task, like washing dishes, is something that is actually fun when you are a kid. Two weeks later and Bridget’s drawers are still immaculate. She even chides me if I don’t put her things away neatly when I do laundry.

The House Fairy rocks! And so does my little Bridget!!

I Have Noga Powers

Tessa’s 4th birthday was on Wednesday. On Monday, she came to me and told me that she knew one of ther birthday presents was a “boincy ball” (a hop-on ball). I asked her how she knew and she said, “I saw it in a bag.” Now, I was pretty confident that the little one had not actually infiltrated my hiding place, but her comment did shake my confidence a bit, since the ball in question was indeed still inside a Toys R Us bag.

“Where did you see it?” I asked. “In here,” she replied, pointing to her head. “Huh?” I said. “I have noga* powers,” she explained. Then, it hit me. She and Bridget had been watching “Escape From Witch Mountain” the night before. This old 70s gem revolves around a brother and sister who have telepathic and telekinetic powers. The sister closes her eyes and puts her hands at her temples when she’s communicating with her brother or having a psychic vision. My little tot was just using her imagination. Or maybe she really does have noga powers. She was right about the present, after all . . .

* noga means “many or a lot” in Russian.

Metabo-death

A couple of weeks ago Bridget and Tessa pulled up chairs and sat eating Doritos and watching me struggle through an exercise video. Bridget kept saying, “Good job, Mom,” but the Dorito-munching detracted from her words of encouragement. Ah, to be a young Dorito-eater again.

My metabolism has been dying a slow death the past year. Without doing (or not doing) anything very much different, I’ve put on a chunk of weight in the past year. This isn’t the first time my weight has yo-yo’d. I’ve lost the same 20 lbs. at least 4 times in my life. The difference this time is that I need to lose 30 lbs. And my BMI is getting dangerously close to the “obese” level. EGADS!

I really, really want to avoid having this happen again in the future. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. In an effort to learn portion control, I’ve signed up for Weight Watchers online membership. It’s cheaper than the standard membership (only $4 a week) and I don’t have to go to weigh-ins or meetings, just log my weight on my online tracker. There are lots of neat e-tools to help in tracking food and activity points. There’s even a recipe builder that allows me to input favorite recipes and see their points values. I looooove technology, so this aspect of the program is making it fun for me. I’ve also picked up some good hints for tasty low-points foods from the message boards.

My first week on the program went pretty smoothly. I really haven’t felt hungry at all and am eating many of the same foods I usually eat – just not as much of them. When I weighed this morning, I had lost 1 pound. This isn’t bad at all for me – I always lose weight slowly. When I logged in my new weight, however, I noticed that my daily points have also gone down by 1. Ouch!

I’m feeling pretty hungry this afternoon and am wondering if it is all in my head because I know I have one less food point today. I’ve been distracting myself by surfing the net while the girls are outside playing. I found a hysterically funny website called “Nick Rhodes and John Taylor – Masters of the Universe.” (http://www.geocities.com/ladyxanax13/MainPage.html) The chick who does this page has a truly weird (in a great way) sense of humor. She has a list of “101 Things To Do with Nick Rhodes”, one of which is “put him on a diet.” Ethereal as he is, it is true he’s put on a bit of weight. He was always so preternaturally white and thin that I just figured he was one of those people who could eat anything and stay skinny. I can’t imagine him ever dieting or exercising. I found a really funny quote from him: “Don’t give me any of that healthy bread. I want fat, white Wonder bread.” At any rate, he is, at age 44, dating an attractive, 30-year-old chick, so I don’t think I’ll meet up with him on the Weight Watchers message boards any time soon. Still, it’s a bit comforting to know that someone as dapper as Mr. Rhodes is also fighting middle-age spread.

Must dash – it’s finally almost dinnertime . . .

Tender Hearts

My daughter Tessa is definitely a tender heart like her mom. The little sweetie recently broke down in sobs watching two movies that are supposed to be comedies.

We were all watching “Over The Hedge,” an animated movie whose plot revolves around the efforts of a raccoon to procure enough junk food to replenish the stash he stole from a large and quite angry bear. He journeys to the suburbs and finds a group of animals whose forest has been invaded by a subdivision while they’ve been hibernating. He teaches them the ins and outs of stealing and eating human food. Long story short, at one point a victim of their burglary hires an exterminator to get rid of the pests. He captures them and puts them in cages. Tessa was absolutely wailing when this happened. I tried telling her, “I bet they’ll get away. Don’t worry,” but she was inconsolable. She recuperated after the animals escaped, but we didn’t watch that movie again.

My next effort at humor was a movie called “The Great Outdoors.” It’s a silly movie about not-so-friendly in-laws spending a week at a cabin where they have an encounter with a bald-headed bear (who also winds up with a bald butt at the end). There’s a really funny scene where John Candy is giving his son pointers on water-skiing and winds up being pulled behind the boat. He goes for a really wild and hilarious ride. Tessa was mad and me and her Pop for laughing at his antics. “It’s not funny. He’s gonna get hurt.” I could have given her a long discourse on how most humor is based upon the misfortune of others, but I just said, “It’s supposed to be funny. He’ll be okay.” She wasn’t buying it. Then, she felt sorry for the bear when it winds up with a bald butt. “That bear was nice,” she opined. “It’s not nice to shoot his butt.” Yes, she did shed a tear or two at this part.

Then again, me criticizing her sensitivity is definitely the pot calling the kettle black. I cry at the drop of a hat and have been called “oversensitive” many a time. I usually think of Bridget as being the strong type, but she has her weepy moments, too. The other day we were watching another comedy, “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”. The girls were really liking it, up until the part where “Anty” (an ant who aided the kids in their efforts to cross the back yard) gets killed by a scorpion. This time it was Bridget who was crying really hard. Tessa was sad but, curiously, did not break down this time. Nope. This time, I was the other boo-hoo’er. It really was touching because Anty had saved Ron’s life. Sob.

Maybe we should stick with horror movies. Damn! I just remembered how Tessa broke down crying when the police came and took “Bad Ronald” away at the end of the movie. Guess there’s no cry-proof entertainment with three tender-hearts in the family.

This Charming Man

My husband is surrounded by women. When he’s at home, that is. He lives with me, our daughters Bridget and Tessa, and our dog Ginger. He is the only source of testosterone in our household. I sometimes wonder if that bothers him, but he seems to love it.

He is such a good sport about playing with our daughters. As you can see from the photo, he lets them dress him up in crazy clothes and fix his hair. He is just a wonderful dad in general. He pitches in giving them their baths and putting them to bed. He wrestles with them and carries them on his shoulders. He plays board games with them. This past weekend, he even took them to a birthday party on his own. I had taken Bridget to the most recent party, so he figured it was his turn. He wasn’t the only dad there. In fact, he recognized some of the other dads from the “Donuts with Dad” get-together he attended at Bridget’s preschool a couple of weeks ago.

He’s a very involved dad and a very supportive and loving husband. It is so wonderful to have a real partner for a husband.

And, what did I do whilst the hubby and kids were away for 2-1/2 hours on Saturday? Watched videos on YouTube, natch!

p.s. I did ask his permission before I posted this funny picture. Once again, he was a good sport.

Wait 'Til Next Year

I enjoyed watching the Super Bowl yesterday, but it was a mixed blessing. I was happy to see Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning vindicated. So many observers of the sport had tagged them both as guys who “couldn’t win the big one.” It was nice to watch a Super Bowl where I liked both teams. The halftime show this year was the best one outside of U2’s halftime a few years back. There was a lot to like. But it was all bittersweet because it means that football season is now over until the fall.

As a longtime (25 years and counting) diehard Atlanta Falcons fan, I am very familiar with the phrase “wait ‘til next year.” My team has never won a Super Bowl, so I utter that phrase ad nauseum at the end of each unsuccessful season. The Falcons have never even put together back to back winning seasons, so it is often frustrating being a fan. Still, I stand by my team. I will continue to do so, but my patience has been tried a lot lately, between the questionable decision on a new head coach and the Vick airport controversy.

I thought the firing of Coach Jim Mora was necessary. As a person, I liked him. He is young, fit, enthusiastic and very friendly. I met him at training camp the first year he was coach and he was very approachable. As a coach, I really think he was too friendly with his players and that his personal relationships with them got in the way of him holding them accountable for their on-field performance. The level of play was so flat so many times last year and this year, like guys didn’t feel like they had to continually earn their jobs. When Mora was first hired, I was shocked because I hadn’t even heard his name mentioned as a candidate. I really thought the Falcons would hire Lovie Smith, who had ties with Rich McKay from his Tampa Bay years. At first I hated the Mora hire, then convinced myself it wasn’t such a bad decision. I am trying to do the same with the latest hire.

Like Mora, Bobby Petrino wasn’t even on my radar. I really thought (and hoped) the Falcons would hire Ken Whisenhunt or Ron Rivera. Whisenhunt seemed like an obvious choice. He went to school at Georgia Tech and even played with the Falcons a few years. (Yes, I do remember his playing days. I am officially old as dirt.) When I heard about the Petrino hire I was first puzzled, then upset. I really don’t like the idea of a college coach leading my team. Yes, he’s had some NFL experience, but not much. I think he must have been hired because owner Arthur Blank and GM Rich McKay think that he can design an offense that will utilize Michael Vick’s special talents and help him reach his potential.

I hope that will be the case. So many people are so down on #7 lately, and I truly think it is unwarranted. The man does everything in his power to help his team win games, but he can’t do it all. The whole idea of trying to turn him into a “West Coast Offense” quarterback was ill-conceived. That style of quarterback play was designed for QBs who don’t have the arm strength to throw the long-ball, so it relies on a shorter passing game. We all know that #7’s arm strength is one of his great assets, along with his legs. Greg Knapp’s offense had a lot of “designed runs”, but I think Vick did better pre-Knapp, when he just ran if a passing play broke down, or if he saw a big hole that he could run through. Those broken-play runs he made during 2002 and post-injury 2003 were the plays that cemented his reputation as the NFL’s most exciting player.

Well, I could go on and on about #7 and how I feel he is unfairly maligned, but I’ll just stop here and say that one day he will be vindicated and the selfsame bandwagon fans and media know-it-alls who are hating on him now will be loving him and claiming they never doubted him. I hope that vindication will come in Atlanta under Coach Bobby Petrino. But, if that is not to be, I still think it will come sometime, somewhere in the NFL.

As to the Falcons in general, I am anxious to see the Falcons’ offseason moves and looking forward to next year. I can once again officially start saying, “Wait ‘til next year” and “The Falcons are undefeated this year."

Addicted

I have found a new drug of choice to which I am becoming increasingly addicted. I admit that I have even encouraged my husband, and to a smaller extent, my children, to become users. I guess I am behind the times, since I only just discovered it this week. But, better late than never, right? My new addiction is www.youtube.com.

I got turned onto it by a link posted to John Taylor’s message board, which directed me to an 80s quiz show where Duran Duran battled Spandau Ballet for trivia supremacy. Of course, DD walloped SB 52-40, in no small part due to my man John Taylor. I don’t think he had a single wrong answer, and if he did, I didn’t notice it because I was blinded by his ample charms. I could discuss my 25-year obsession with His Royal Hotness Nigel John Taylor, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog entry. Suffice it to say he is worth my attentions -- as the recent photo posted here shows, he is still gorgeous after all these years.

From the starting point of this one very entertaining video, I started searching for and finding all kinds of stuff. I found old clips from Saturday morning kids shows that haven’t seen the light of day for 30 years or more. I found a great clip of Morrissey and Johnny Marr of the Smiths appearing on some weird 80s British kids’ show called “Charlie’s Bus”. They take a trip to a park with a load of kids. One of the kids asks Morrissey, “Where are we going?” to which he replies, “Mad.” That Moz – who knew he was so good with kids?

I also found some very raw footage of the New York Dolls performing “Frankenstein” live in 1974. Priceless!! I was able to show the girls Queen’s video for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which they love. (Tessa is so cute singing, “Galileo”). I also showed Bridget a KISS video for “I Was Made For Loving You.” She was hugging and kissing my screen whenever Paul appeared. Too cute!

For years, Dwayne has told me about this 70s game show he used to watch called “Make Me Laugh.” I’d never seen it until last night. We found a clip of Frank Zappa appearing on the show. Gallagher and two other comedians had 60 seconds to try and make Mr. Zappa laugh. As I expected, he was able to keep a straight face. It was hysterical to see Frank Zappa and Bobby Van (the host) in the same clip. Does anybody else remember Bobby Van? He used to be a “celebrity” panelist on a lot of 70s game shows. I don’t know what he ever did to become a “celebrity” other than being married to Elaine Joyce, a minor actress who didn’t do much acting, but did manage to appear in two of my fave cult movies, “Motel Hell” and “Trick or Treat”. Anyway, this clip was classic!! Bridget loved it, too, and wanted her papa and me to play the game with her. She laughed every time Dwayne or I made a silly face. I laughed when she made silly faces and danced all funny. Dwayne, of course, kept a straight face through all our antics.

This site is a veritable treasure trove!! I’ve only looked in the music section so far, but there are also sections for sports, news, pets, travel, the arts. It’ll take me a long time to plumb its depths. In case you’re worried, I am not letting my addiction go to the point where I am neglecting my house, kids or husband. But, let’s just say, when Bridget woke up with a nightmare at 2 a.m. this morning, she found me at my computer watching a Suede video . . .