Geico does it again

Who doesn't know that Geico sells insurance? Who doesn't know the Geico gekko? Who can't list, without a moment's hesitation, at least three of the company's recent campaigns? I think that's what you call successful advertising.

And I love the newest campaign. The rhetorical question ads, especially the Charlie Daniels one. Charlie Daniels has one of only two country songs I have on my iPod. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Great song. So it was pretty cool to see ole Charlie pop up when the Geico guy asks, "Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle." Tapping his foot, shredding the bow, fiddlin' away.

That's how it's done, son.

Kids keep you young!

It's true what they say! Consider: on a typical night at the Boiler Household when the older kids are away, not a creature is stirring later than 11:30, including that mouse. On weekends, maybe a little later, but not much.

But this Saturday night found us playing board games until 2:00 in the a.m. Okay, so it might not have been like hitting the clubs into the wee hours of the morning, dancing the night away, but one should never be the old person in the club anyway. And when we play board games, we all play like we've bet the house, all in.

Just when we should have been taking our old Boiler-butts to bed, BoilerBaby 1 and I decided, "let's make crepes for tomorrow morning!" And we did. We could have waited, but I like to make the batter the night before.

On Sunday morning, we meant to have a lazy Sunday, when, just like young people, we decided on the spur of the moment to spend the day in the Hill Country. We'd planned to go later in the week and spend a couple of days, but BoilerHusband's work schedule unexpectedly took a change for the worse, so that Sunday was the only day we could all go. So, we packed up the kids, gathered a few snacks, and off we went. That was, after enjoying our very delicious crepes.

Three and one-half hours later, we were standing at the top of Enchanted Rock. A couple of hours later, we were walking the streets of Fredericksburg. A little rock climbing and a little browsing can make one hungry. Auslander was calling. Battered + fried = delicious. And that describes the mushrooms, and the jagerschnitzel. Good stuff.

Back home, we were tired, but feeling oh so young, at least for a little while.

This Christmas

This Christmas, we . . .

-- Stayed home, and a good thing we did, given the travel nightmares as a result of the slow moving storm.

--Had a "white Christmas" sort of, Waco-style, as a result of a slow moving storm. It snowed on Christmas Eve! So what that it didn't stick. It was pretty, and the snow lasted longer than expected.

--Enjoyed Christmas Eve services at church. One of the best services ever, with many beautiful solos.

--Enjoyed dinner at IHOP after church. It's nice to have everyone home again.

--Had a non-traditional meal. Christmas lasagna. A new tradition in the making?

--Laughed and teased as we opened gifts. The gifts were thoughtful. Even BB3 outdid himself. Not the usual run by the gift card display at HEB.

--Had a wonderful Christmas.

We are blessed.

So many apps, so little time

The obsessing is over. I got the iPhone--but not by choice. My Blackberry died.

It's not my fault that it got soaking wet at the football game on Saturday. Rain happens, and I guess my Blackberry can't handle a little moisture. Truth is, I might have helped it along a bit. Instead of leaving it alone to dry out for several days, sans battery and sim card, I turned it on while still wet, quite probably short-circuiting it.

Oh well. You live and learn. I'll put it back together again in a day or so. Who knows. Maybe my old phone will have a miraculous recovery. In the meantime, I have a new love.

To iPhone or Not?

That is the question. My Blackberry Pearl functions perfectly. I don't NEED a new phone, but I WANT an iPhone. And so I obsess.

Reasons to get a new phone.
1. iPhones are really cool.
2. I could get really cool apps like Black's Law Dictionary and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
3. I want one.
4. Professor Torts thinks I should.
5. I can add educational apps for the younger BoilerBabies. That would make me a good mother. 6. All the cool kids have iPhones.
7. I'd be keeping pace with the older BoilerBabies.
8. An iPhone would match my wardrobe.
9. iPhones are really cool.
10. I want one.

Reasons NOT to get a new phone.

1. Everybody has an iPhone.
2. I don't want to be manipulated by AT&T.
3. I don't need a new phone.
4. There are children starving in Africa. A new phone would be the height of triviality.
5. I've lived 40-some years without an iPhone. I think life would go on if I didn't get one.

Wow! There are twice as many reasons to get a new phone as there reasons not to. So I stacked the deck. So what.

But, I'll continue to obsess.

My Old Man??

BoilerHusband reached a milestone: he's 50!!! A half-century. One-twentieth of a millenium. Ten times as old as a 5 year old; five times as old as a 10 year old. Many men his age have grandchildren.

I may be biased, but I don't think he looks 50. As long as he's clean shaven, no gray hair; minimal wrinkles; physcially active.

So why the question marks following "my old man"? We've been married forever, so I guess that makes him mine. No doubt he's a man. But now that I think about it, he's not really old after all. According to some who've already passed that mile marker, life begins at 50.

Kids won't jump from a moving car

Kids won't jump from a moving car, if for no other reason than self-preservation. That's why the car provides the perfect place and time for all sorts of things involving the kids. It's the perfect time to find out what's going on at school--who's going out with whom; what the wacky teachers have done most recently; etc. It's the perfect time for having "The Talk." There's no better time to find out what's bothering the kids or their opinions.

Valuable time. Time that ends too soon.

So, when I see kids in cars with their eyes glued to the DVD player, I want to shout, "Why are you wasting such valuable time???"

I don't have a problem with the car dvd players in general--we have a portable system that we use for long trips, but come on. Just wait until the kids (and their friends) start to drive. We learned when our older kids started how much we missed that time we were confined to the car.

So what prompted this rant? The kid who sat in his mom's car, watching a DVD on an afternoon when the weather was near perfect. An older sibling was at soccer practice, at a park with a cool playground. Yet another example of time wasted.

I'm just becoming an old fogey, and a preachy one at that, but kids grow up too fast to sacrifice time unnecessarily.

Adventures in kindergarten

Breaking news from Mrs. B's kindergarten class! As reported by BB4, one of the kids stuck a pencil in her ear, and broke off a piece of lead far enough in her ear that the school had to call her mommy to pick her up. My source reported that that the victim (perpetrator??) is NEVER coming back to school!

Oh that I could have such excitement. Then again, there's a reason I'm not an elementary ed teacher.

Should Walmart be held liable for the harm it did in reporting suspected child abuse?

This story bothers me. Apparently innocent pictures of children at bathtime should not result in child protective services removing children from their home and putting them into foster care for a month. If those are truly grounds for taking children out of their home, then I guess we were vulnerable. Like many families, we have cutesy pictures of our children at bath time. I don't believe any of our pictures show any of the kids' genitals--we got them developed at a time when we still used 35 mm film with no problems. But I suppose that in the mind of someone hypersensitive to child pornography, they might have tried to make the case for child abuse.

I'm guessing that Walmart will settle because the story will likely engender more negative publicity than even Walmart can tolerate. If the case does proceed to trial, I doubt that Walmart will be held liable. The photo clerk's good judgement gauge might be off, but the report doesn't appear to have been malicious. If state law doesn't provide qualified immunity for the report, I'm guessing that a court will create some exception that absolves Walmart from liability.

Plus, the real problem is with the local child protective services agency. CPS is vested with the power of the state to take children out of their home, away from everything they know and love. It traumatizes the children. We can justify the trauma when there actually has been abuse or when there are solid grounds to suspect abuse or neglect of one kind or another. But there is no justification when CPS workers take children on only the flimsiest evidence.

CPS should have investigated. The workers have to question the family. And given that a wrong decision can have serious consequences, I understand the CPS practice of erring on the side of caution. But did CPS really need to remove the children from the home in order to conduct the investigation? Did it really take a month to determine that the pictures were simply the kind of pictures the family will pull out to embarrass their girls as they age?

A troubling case.

Wait til next week

I should have known the karma wasn't right for the Baylor/UConn game today. Running out of Lemon Chill barely half-way through the game was a bad sign.

The fact that the Bears had two trunovers less than 90 seconds into the second half was probably another bad omen.

Oh well. The kids had fun. We all had fun.

Lesson learned for today: Get the Lemon Chill early.

An edgier Project Runway?

The designs are supposed to be edgy, but the designers brought their knives for this week's episode. Not the most original challenge--design with newspaper? We did that as a rush event back in the day. But there was enough entertainment from backstabbing. Everyone (but Shirin) thinks Shirin talks too much. Everyone (but Johnny) is just plain tired of him, and that includes Tim. Nicholas attempted to throw Johnny under the bus, right before the judges threw Nicholas under the bus, likening his dress to an insect.

Even Heidi wasn't immune from the snark. Eva Longorria Parker condescendingly explained that, "Tommy doesn't iron, honey" and then cackled madly when Heidi questioned Tommy Hilfilger about how much a steam iron could have spit on Johnny's dress. Let's see if Mrs. Parker gets invited back.

But when it was all said and done, Johnny suffered the fatal blow.

Lessons to be learned: don't lie and don't do crossword puzzles when there's work to be done.

Michael Jackson is timeless; I'm just old

BB3's slumber party was Friday. It has taken me this long to recover. Ten giggling, squealing 9 and 10 year olds, overtaking the house. BoilerHusband, a veteran of past festivities, escaped with BB4 before the first guest arrived. Too bad for them. They missed the scavenger hunt. They missed decorating the t-shirts. They missed pizza, grapes, popcorn, puppy chow, soda, lemonade, and who knows what else.

And, they missed dancing to Billie Jean and Thriller in glow-in-the-dark t-shirts with glow sticks. At least half of the girls knew most of the words to songs recorded years before they were born.

Somehow, I don't think that the boys thought that they missed anything. They certainly didn't miss their sleep. I did.

But it was worth it.

Happy Birthday, BB3

Today, BoilerBaby 3 celebrated her birthday. One child and her new family celebrate. One mother cries?

I don't know if BB3's birth mother is sad today because she is not able to hold her baby and celebrate another milestone with her, but I wouldn't be surprised if she shed a few tears. I understand that that is often the case with birth mothers.

When I laugh with my children, hug my children, and even fuss at my children, I often am reminded how fortunate I am that I have them. Days like today remind me of the courage it takes to give up one's child for adoption.

So tonight, we celebrate, but I suspect that someone quietly cries.

Be Wary of Barry

Did you hear about Pres. Obama's latest ploy? You simply can't trust those Ivy League-trained liberals, trying to spread their socialist agenda.

But not this time Presiden BO. Not in my back yard or in my kid's classroom. You will not indoctrinate our children with your message to school children that says:
1. Take responsibility for your education.
2. Work hard in school.
3. Set goals for your education.
4. Be responsible for learning.
5. Students, parents, and teachers must all take responsibility for your learning.

That kind of anti-American talk could get a president impeached.

Heck, the next thing you know, Obama will be telling our good red-blooded American children that anyone can be president, even a African-American born in "Hawaii."

Random Sayings and Observations in the Airport

1. If you're Stedman Graham, traveling from Waco to Chicago, when you land at DFW, you need not bother to walk four gates to catch the Skylink, like the rest of us mere commoners. Rather, a nicely dressed woman will meet you as you get off the plane and accompany you to the golf cart that will drive you to the Sklylink escalator. She will continue to accompany you to the departure gate, giving you acccess to your first class seat even earlier than the other first class passengers. I know this because Stedman was on my flights to Chicago this past Friday.

2. "Two weddings!" That's what it means to have two girls, approximately 15 months apart in age. That's what I overheard the young mother of the two girls exclaim during her conversation with another young mother. Not, "two college tuitions!" Not, "Two doctors in the house!" Rather, "Two weddings!" Guess she's more traditional than me. Guess she has different expectations for her girls than I have for mine.

3. "That means you have to bend over 36 times!" What? What could the gentleman who uttered these words possibly be talking about? Golf, of course. His point was that during two rounds of golf, 18 holes each, the player would have to bend over 36 times to retrieve his ball. Why make this point? Unfortunately (fortunately?) I don't know. I missed eavesdropping on that part of the conversation.

That's enough for one trip.

Are you smarter than a Project Runway contestant?

The challenge this week: design something for the very pregnant Rebecca Romijn, who's carrying twins. Fine. I think that's called "maternity wear." But, not on PR. They keep referring to it as a "pregnancy outfit."

Is "maternity" too big of a word? Too many syllables? Too Latin? If Tim Gunn can use "viscera", as in, "If it doesn't feel right in the viscera. . .", then surely we can call it what it is: maternity clothing.

Just sayin'.

Things change?

Then, it was the Coca Cola Starplex.
Now it's the Superpages.com Center.

Then it was "My Girl."
Now it's "Love Hurts."

Then it was the Temptations.
Now it's Incubus.

The difference in my concert-going days in Dallas some 20 years ago and BB2's concert this past weekend.

But, the Incubus set ended with Prince's "Let's Go Crazy."

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Emptier nest

My nest is growing emptier. Tonight marks the last night that all of the chicks will be roosting in the nest. BB1 leaves tomorrow; BB2 leaves on Sunday. BBs 3 and 4 will still be here of course. But I am growing a bit melancholy in a way that I wasn't when BB1 left for college.

There's a difference when there are two children in college as compared to one. If there's only one, when that one comes home for the weekend or holidays, the family is likely to be complete again. With two off to new horizons, one coming home for Fall break or a spontaneous weekend visit may mean we are still incomplete.

It is the new reality. Kids aren't supposed to live in their childhood bedrooms for the rest of their lives. They are supposed to fly the coop. And at this point, two of the four are still fully here and the other two aren't entirely independent. But I'm not sure I like this taste of things to come.

A Major Dilemma

Substance or fluff? Politics or fashion? Heidi or Chet?

What a dilemma I faced when Chet Edwards selected the night of the Project Runway premier to host his telephone town hall on health care. Ours was one of the 200,000 households randomly selected to listen in on the health care debate. I got the call just minutes before PR's All Star Challenge was set to begin. Whatever would I do?

Oh, how I wanted to be serious. Oh, how important knowledge is to me. Oh, how I love catty reality TV dressed up to look like it requires intelligence and talent.

So what did I do? I love life in the technical age. I recorded PR and listened in on the town hall. Problem solved.

I'm not Barbie

BoilerBaby2 has an ex-roommate, and move-in day is still weeks away.

Surely, that must be a world record? A national record? A state record? Either way, here's how it went down: the mother of BoilerBaby's now ex-roommate called him and asked that BoilerBaby 2 switch rooms with her son's best friend because they really wanted to room together. According to Barbie, it'd only be switching to the room next door. Yes, I did write that the ex-roomie's mother called. And yes, I did write that the two best friends were only going to be separated by a wall. But I guess they need to breathe the same air. And yes, the mom's real name is "Barbie."

There is a lot wrong with this, in my opinion. Why is the kid's mother calling for him? Is he incapable of working his own i-Phone? Did he know that his mommy is taking care of things for him? Is his mommy going to tuck him each night? Do his laundry each weekend? Ask his profs for extensions on his assignments?

And why is Barbie calling my son? Scared of talking directly with me as opposed to an 18 year old boy? What kind of reputation do I have?

When it's all said and done, we've had great fun with this. I'm convinced that Barbie is the prototype of the "helicopter mom" who will likely tuck her little pumpkin in each night and have warm cookies and cold milk waiting after a hard day at college. BoilerBaby 2 keeps asking for little favors and reminding me that Barbie would probably do it.

Whatever.

BoilerBaby 2 agreed to the switch. Probably a good move.

Middle Class Ghetto?

The ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one-by-one,
The little one stops to pick up his GUN . . .


What??? That's not the way I learned the song. It is the way BoilerBaby 4 sang it tonight. Where did he learn that??? His answer (logically) was, "it rhymes!" Okay, but we don't do guns at our house--at least we try to limit the gun-talk, although no mother of a son could ever expect 100% success. Either way, where did he come up with this?

For a period of time, BoilerBaby 2 went through his "ghetto" phase. He talked in a way that made it sound like, in his opinion, he was from the 'hood." He and his other pampered pals thought they were so cool. BoilerHusband and I, having actually grown up in the 'hood, could only roll our eyes and suggest that he not pull that outside of his prep school--it wouldn't end well.

Kodak Moments

As much news as there is in the world, every news site and every morning news show reported on the breakup of Jon and Kate of Jon & Kate Plus Eight fame. Until earlier this year, I'd never heard of them. For the past 93 weeks (or maybe the last 7 or so), they've been on the cover of Us Magazine. Their claim to fame? Their giving birth to one set of twins and one set of sextuplets (hence the "eight") and their willingness to allow TV cameras into their lives. EdTV for real. Now they're divorcing.

What may have been a good idea at first--a professional album ofthe children's early lives--the fun, the chaos, the challenges, and the triumphs-- far more complete than what most kids will ever have, will now be the proof of what used to be and how it all ended on the junk heap of the divorce court.

Blast from the Past

Every now and then, there are those reminders of the past, and why living in the present is a good thing. I heard on the radio the 80s classic The Rain, by Oran Juice Jones. The sound ofthe 70s, updated to the 80s, with a cheating girlfriend, who is "cold busted." What lyrics: "I saw you (and him!) walking in the rain. You were holding hands and I'll never be the same."

Living in the new millenium means YouTube and iTunes. I can buy the song for 99 cents if I want, or better yet, I can watch the music video! Wow! Eighties hair; 80s attire; 80s dance moves. It looks funny now, but it was the jam back then, in an era BBB.* Fond memories.

*Before BoilerBabies.

Reality or Reality TV?

Yesterday, MSBNC ran a story about Pres. Obama's outing with his daughters to get frozen custard. Sweet story, yet there were some snarky comments questioning the newsworthiness of this article. Hm-m-m. There is a lot going in Iran. Plus, the economy is still in the tank and people are losing their jobs and their homes. Maybe the critics have a point.

But wait! This is Father's Weekend. And it beats the heck out of yet one more story about Jon and Kate and their big break.

There is a lot going on in the world. A fluff piece on the normalcy of the Obama family is a welcome diversion.

Kissing Cousins

BB4: Mommy, I have something to whisper in your ear!
Me: It's not polite to whisper when other people are around. You can tell me later if you want.
[BB4 wiggles, and is clearly about to burst with his "secret."]

BB4: Mommy, please can I whisper a secret in your ear?
Me: You can tell me later.
[BB4 becomes more anxious. He's just gotta tell!]

BB4: (stage whisper): Mommy, I kissed Boiler Cousin TD! [pause for effect] On the lips!
Me: Oh?
BB4: Yeah! Two times!
Me: Wow!
BB4: Tell Daddy!

They say you never forget your first kiss. I don't know if that will hold true for BoilerBaby4, but we'll never forget it. The details? The date: June 6, 2009 (so I'm a little late in memorializing it). The place: our sunroom. The kissing buddy: First Cousin TD.

With all of the fam, including the cousins, in for BoilerBaby 2's HS graduation, there was much activity in the house. It struck no one as particularly odd that the 5 year old cousins were playing well together in the sun room--they were born only weeks apart and get along quite well, notwithstanding that they see each other only a few times a year at best.

Oh what a night. BoilerBaby 4 went from wanting to whisper his secret to encouraging me to share his news with his father and everyone else, for that matter. He was quite thrilled and dare I say, proud, of his feat. It was all very sweet, and of course, leaves me with a story to trot out for BoilerBaby 4's graudation!

Life Goes On

A new year, a new president, a new attitude? Probably not on the last one, but who knows? Maybe I'll surprise myself! Maybe I'll get back to posting. Actually, maybe it's just the same old attitude: it's all about me!