Can't argue with that...

I have systematically been going through every room in my house, de-cluttering and preparing for a mamouth garage sale. I am currently in bonus room-hell, but came across a bright spot earlier tonight.

I found a project Two did close to the end of last year. I was aware of part of it, but somehow missed the best part. They had to do a report of sorts on their favorite animal. Take a picture of it and write a bit about it. Two choose his brand new (at that time) puppy. His reasons for choosing the puppy as his favorite animal...
1. They are playful.
2. They will lick you.
3. They will run around.

And if this was the David Letterman show, this would be the number one, best of all-time reason the puppy is his favorite animal...

Their poop is not so stinky.

Joe Biden?

Can someone explain this to me? I can't believe I am saying this, but John McCain is looking better and better. Yikes!

If you are considering...

voting for John McCain, read this.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

Hazmat suits for moms...

That is my idea for a new invention. It's barely 8 a.m. and already I have changed one toxic diaper and cleaned up barf. My idea is to develop something like an onion - several layers that can just be peeled off throughout the day. Ooooh - I know, each layer will be a different color - that will add a bit more excitement to the gross task at hand!

I was talking for a former co-worker the other day about the stresses of the working world. And then he asked me how I was liking it at home. I told him I love it, but it comes with its share of stress. Basically - no matter where you work, we all have crap to put up with - sometimes literally.

Forget cockroaches...

I say the only thing to survive nuclear war will be soap opera characters. I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery the other day and spotted the cover of Soap Opera Digest. It said something about Stefano on Days of Our Lives. I felt like I was in a time warp and wanted to check my watch to see if I needed to rush home and turn on "Days." Seriously. I can remember scheduling my classes at Hinds and then MSU around that soap opera. Stefano and Marlena were battling it out back then. Way back then. Like more than 20 years ago back then. (Not much more, but more.) So, since I am now a SAHM I have the opportunity to turn on the telly in the middle of the day. I could not resist - just a few minutes ago I turned it on and there they were! It looked like Marlena was lying in a hospital, unconscious (probably in a coma) with Stefano at her bedside talking about eliminating her. It was amazing. And pretty pathetic.

I had to turn it off, or I was afraid I would feel compelled to perm my hair, slip into a pair of straight-legged, acid washed jeans and put a big old silver cross around my neck. If you had told me back in college that one day I would rather mop the kitchen floor than watch Days, I would have never believed it. Oh, how times have changed.

My new job

as a 'domestic engineer' officially started today. After the big boys got on the bus, I cleaned the kitchen and put away laundry. Then I sat and drank a cup of tea and listened to the quiet before the baby woke up. I went up to check on him about 8:15 and found him sitting quietly in his rocking chair with his Pooh bear. I thought that was so sweet. Now I am wondering if it was just the calm before the storm...

Hot Memphis, Part II

I took the older boys on an adventure earlier this week. We drove to Memphis and spent four days exploring the city. It's a town that is much like Jackson, only on a larger scale. Lots of great history, lots of social issues and lots of plans for the future. They too have seen an active, busy downtown wither away and are working to bring it back. We went to a ballgame at Autozone Park in downtown, home of the Redbirds, the AAA team for the St. Louis Cardinals. Visited the Memphis Zoo, home to panda bears and all sorts of other creatures. I like their zoo because it allows you to get closer to many of the animals, whether behind glass partitions or well designed enclosures.

They also have a fabulous children's museum. They had everything from a scaled down version of a house under construction to a grocery store to a fire truck and police car, and lots of stuff in between. We spent half a day in the children's museum, and wouldn't mind going back.

We also visited Mud Island and the Riverwalk, a 1/2 mile sculpture of the Mississippi River. It was way cool. It showed the tributaries of the river, the states it flows through and even the bridges running across it. It winds through the park and ends at a fountain and small pool where you can rent a paddle boat and tour the mock version of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. They have a museum there also that tells the history of the river, with a replica of a steamboat and military boats from the Civil War. If you ride the monorail over, and take in the museum, there is a small charge. But you can walk across and tour the sculpture for free. Either way, it's a fun outing for the kids.

I also recommend taking the trolley through downtown. There is a Riverfront loop, that takes you all around downtown. We got off at the Arcade restaurant, just down from the National Civil Rights Museum. The Arcade is kind of like the old Primos on State Street used to be (the one that was on the site where a McDonald's now sits). A comfortable old cafe that has been around forever and weathered many changes in the city. I wanted to take the boys to the civil rights museum but we didn't have enough time on this trip. We will definitely do that when we go back.

We also did not get to see the Pink Palace, another interesting sight unique to the city. It's a mansion made out of pink marble, originally built by the founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. It has an IMAX theater, and came highly recommended to me. And we did not make it to Graceland. I know - that is probably some kind of sin for a Southerner - but I have been before and I didn't really think the boys would be that interested. That is probably a better excursion left to a girls' weekend.

We did see the ducks waddle down and get into the fountain at The Peabody Hotel, and then visited the duck palace on the roof of the hotel. We had lunch at the Rendevous, which was as great as always.

And we ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse, a former warehouse that features a trolley car in their dining room. Great service and great food.

So we had lots to do and see, and left lots for the next trip. Which we plan to take when the weather is cooler. That was the only drawback - we did not go far enough north to escape the Southern summer.