Here I sit, just days before Thanksgiving, and I'm trying to organize my thoughts. Obviously, this requires a new blog entry.
As I gather my mental "to do " list, my mind keeps creeping back to this morning's task which was to remove all the shoe polish from the downtown merchants' windows that the cheerleaders so enthusiastically slathered onto the glass homecoming weekend. That means that the shoe polish has baked in the sun for about 2.5 months, and therefore was dangerously close to being a permanent display. With Festival of Lights quickly approaching (Dec. 6), it would be completely inappropriate to keep our football references visible. It's like having your Christmas lights up in July except even more tacky. Don't get me wrong -- the spirit slogans were very upbeat and everything was spelled correctly, but no one wants to be inundated with tiger paws and megaphones as they try to imagine themselves in a winter wonderland. Even if this is Texas.
Why was I charged with this mission, you ask? Because I am an employee of the Chamber of Commerce (who hosts Festival of Lights) and a cheer mom. There are zero degrees of separation. My daughter needed the community service hours (she has to perform 15 hours for cheerleading and probably some for student council...can't wait to find out what that will entail!) so she earned exactly two hours of credit before she had to be at theatre rehearsal this weekend and last weekend. So that left little ole me scrubbing the windows with vinegar and water plus a dash of Windex. (It makes for a tantalizing scent...in fact, that's why my mind keeps drifting back to this morning. I keep catching a whiff of myself.) So I was left with a dilemma...do I wait for her to help me finish this job or just go ahead and complete it myself?
Well, let's think it through. We're up against the clock (Dec 6). I don't feel like listening to her complain with every stroke of the towel she makes across the window. I can't very well leave a window half-done so that it reads "We are" when it previously read "We are #1". That's just an open invitation for some juvenile reprobate to complete that sentence with his own brand of vulgar humor. So...I concluded it would be best to just embrace this project as my own.
As I stood alone on Main Street, scraping and scrubbing away the Tiger Spirit, passerbys would comment to me such things as "What did you do to deserve this?" and "That looks like fun". Then, it occurred to me that they probably thought I was performing court-ordered community service. I was so embarrased by the prospect of being confused with a thug of some sort that I worked extra briskly just to get out of public view. Humiliation is always a good motivator.
At one point, the shoe-polish writing was so high up on the window that I marveled at how the cheerleaders were able to reach that height. Were they performing stunts as they decorated? It amazed me much like one would be amazed by Stonehenge or the pyramids. With the limited amount of tools and implements that were available to them, how did this result? Was it divine intervention of some sort? Alien involvement? Once I got past the initial amazement, it occurred to me that I too would have to reach radical heights to erase these markings. Crap.
The shop upon whose windows these markings appeared just happened to be open this morning for a few hours so they were kind enough to lend me a chair to stand on. Upon closing time, they repossessed their chair and I was left to my own devices. The window ledge was a good 6 inches, so I hoisted myself right up and began scrubbing. I felt like Spiderman. Then, I laughed as I imagined someone walking by while I screamed "Stay away from me or I'll jump!" That thought, in turn, made me chuckle and I lost my balance, plummeting three feet to the concrete surface below. Like a cat, I landed on my feet and was unphased but I quickly looked around to make sure no one witnessed this event.
Speaking of witnessing events, the four of us plus four of my daughter's friends went to see "Twilight" last night and I have to say I don't get all the fuss. I'm sure it's because I was the only person above the age of 12 who hadn't read the book prior to viewing the film. Half of the trip home from Austin last night was spent discussing what was wrong with the sequence of events and who was completely miscast in the movie. The girls' conversation made me more interested in reading the book than the movie did.
Forget Thanksgiving planning....I'm gonna veg out with Twilight. Then, when we go to the theater to see the sequal, I can wear an Edward t-shirt and audibly swoon when he appears on screen like the 6th grade girls in the row behind us did last night.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Computer gremlins and Halloween goblins
I logged on to find cobwebs collecting on this blog. Sorry for the extended vacay, but there's so much to be said that I can't succintly yet adequately express myself. I'll just hit the high points.
First, we all know the outcome of the election. May I refer you to the South Park episode that wraps it up so nicely like a Food Saver? It really captures the extremes on both sides with hilarity plus an Ocean's Eleven twist.
We lost one of our computers this past week, although temporarily. It's "in the shop" for an undetermined period and we have found it necessary to coordinate our computer usage among the members of our household. We even resorted to taking turns and using our computer time efficiently! (Body shiver) It was like living at the library except there are children talking loudly and other various distracting background noises. (So in other words, it's like living at the Smithville library.) Anyway, that could not stand for long. Neal quickly rushed to Best Buy and ushered in the newest member of our family, a bright red laptop. Its main stated purpose is for the new EMR system at the hospital but right now, it's used purely for entertainment. We all felt a little more normal when the person-to-computer ratio was restored to its previous level.
Halloween was awesome this year. Neal dressed like a beer and I as a beer waitress. The weather cooperated so we were not forced to cover our outrageously-priced costumes with jackets. My daughter went dressed as a Greek goddess and my son had a dual Halloween....he went to school dressed as a space commando -- until that high-priced, low-quality garment ripped at the waist, exposing his midsection. (Good thing he wasn't authentically "commando" if you know what I mean.) Therefore, we were pressed to compose a new, homemade costume just an hour prior to the commencement of trick-or-treating. We threw together elements of previously worn costumes plus old clothes and he emerged as a nerd. (I should try out for "Project Runway".) The best part was that he hardly broke character all night as we combed the town for candy. He would tell strangers "Did you do your geometry homework?...Because I did mine five times!" and then kind of snort-laugh. He also talked about Star Trek conventions and Lord of the Rings quite a bit. He was so convincing. I wonder where he picked up all that nerd culture? Hmmm....
Football season reached fever pitch after Smithville's first victory over La Grange in a decade but then quickly declined as we failed to capture another win for the remainder of the season. The team played better than anyone can remember and had a couple of close games that could easily have gone our way. Hopefully, we will at least shed automatic "whipping boy" status in our district. That will be measured by how many of our "away" games are the home team's "homecoming" games.
This past weekend, Neal and his 2007 first-place cookoff team attempted to defend their title at "Cookoff on the Colorado". Last year, Neal's ribs placed 7th overall and his team's chicken was unabashedly proclaimed #1 by the judges, helping to catapult them to the team title. This year, not so much. They didn't have an entry that placed in the top 20 for any category. It was deflating to say the least. Oh well, any day spent sitting around drinking beer, eating meat, and watching football is a day well spent no matter the outcome. Even if the Aggies gave up more points than ever in the history of Kyle Field. (Aggie Football -- breaking new records every week!)
First, we all know the outcome of the election. May I refer you to the South Park episode that wraps it up so nicely like a Food Saver? It really captures the extremes on both sides with hilarity plus an Ocean's Eleven twist.
We lost one of our computers this past week, although temporarily. It's "in the shop" for an undetermined period and we have found it necessary to coordinate our computer usage among the members of our household. We even resorted to taking turns and using our computer time efficiently! (Body shiver) It was like living at the library except there are children talking loudly and other various distracting background noises. (So in other words, it's like living at the Smithville library.) Anyway, that could not stand for long. Neal quickly rushed to Best Buy and ushered in the newest member of our family, a bright red laptop. Its main stated purpose is for the new EMR system at the hospital but right now, it's used purely for entertainment. We all felt a little more normal when the person-to-computer ratio was restored to its previous level.
Halloween was awesome this year. Neal dressed like a beer and I as a beer waitress. The weather cooperated so we were not forced to cover our outrageously-priced costumes with jackets. My daughter went dressed as a Greek goddess and my son had a dual Halloween....he went to school dressed as a space commando -- until that high-priced, low-quality garment ripped at the waist, exposing his midsection. (Good thing he wasn't authentically "commando" if you know what I mean.) Therefore, we were pressed to compose a new, homemade costume just an hour prior to the commencement of trick-or-treating. We threw together elements of previously worn costumes plus old clothes and he emerged as a nerd. (I should try out for "Project Runway".) The best part was that he hardly broke character all night as we combed the town for candy. He would tell strangers "Did you do your geometry homework?...Because I did mine five times!" and then kind of snort-laugh. He also talked about Star Trek conventions and Lord of the Rings quite a bit. He was so convincing. I wonder where he picked up all that nerd culture? Hmmm....
Football season reached fever pitch after Smithville's first victory over La Grange in a decade but then quickly declined as we failed to capture another win for the remainder of the season. The team played better than anyone can remember and had a couple of close games that could easily have gone our way. Hopefully, we will at least shed automatic "whipping boy" status in our district. That will be measured by how many of our "away" games are the home team's "homecoming" games.
This past weekend, Neal and his 2007 first-place cookoff team attempted to defend their title at "Cookoff on the Colorado". Last year, Neal's ribs placed 7th overall and his team's chicken was unabashedly proclaimed #1 by the judges, helping to catapult them to the team title. This year, not so much. They didn't have an entry that placed in the top 20 for any category. It was deflating to say the least. Oh well, any day spent sitting around drinking beer, eating meat, and watching football is a day well spent no matter the outcome. Even if the Aggies gave up more points than ever in the history of Kyle Field. (Aggie Football -- breaking new records every week!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
