The Wonderful Thing...

The wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is Tiggers are wonderful things

Their tops are made out of rubber

Their bottoms are made out of springs

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy

Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!

But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers

Is I'm the only one

The wonderful thing about Tiggers

Is Tiggers are wonderful chaps

They're loaded with vim and with vigor

They love to leap in your laps

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy pouncy

Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN

But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers

Is I'm the only one.

Tiggers are wonderful fellahs.

Tiggers are awfully sweet.

Everyone elses is jealous,

And that's why I repeat...

The wonderful thing about Tiggers

Is Tiggers are wonderful things

Their tops are made out of rubber

Their bottoms are made out of springs

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy

Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!

But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers

Is I'm the only one.

Iiii'mmmm the only one!

Trick or Treat!

Tim over at the Blurred Brain has offered up an excellent post on Christianity and zombie movies. Personally, I'm not into them, but I'm all for finding snippets of God and his redemption in the everyday things.

Tonite we venture out with Tigger to beg for candy. And since he's too young to eat it, the Cat Daddy and I shall sacrifice ourselves to help him out. Rough life, but it's all part of a mother's pain, right?

Pics to follow...

(Kudos to Bowden for the zombie link)

I Don't Care...

...how old or young you are, the color of your skin or hair, your religion, disability, culture of origin, sexual preferences...your position on the color wheel, seasonal persuasions, socioeconomic status, intelligence quotient, parenting philosophies...your gender, degree of style, personality, sense of humor, or lack thereof...your disposition, height, weight, bone structure, body mass index, percent body fat, fitness level, sexy curves, or lack thereof...your political convictions, position on social, state, and federal issues, taste in TV, movies, books, and music...your likes, dislikes, holdups, hangups, issues, and quirks...or your location, niche, and function on God's green earth.

Regardless of any of these--

Gaucho pants are never--never--a good thing. Ever.

Back Off, I'm Edgy...

I believe I have made progress in my continuing quest for edginess. Check out my new journal--



I got it at JoAnn Fabric for a mere dollar--I believe Linda would be proud. :D

I've often been described as "cute" over the years. It doesn't bother me all that much, really, but there's a part of me that wants to be edgy. Not all-out punk or anything, but just a touch of roughness. Usually I fail miserably...I'll say or wear something that I'm just sure will make people think "Wow, that Skerrib sure is edgy. If she weren't so kind to my kids I'd be a little nervous," and then someone says "Oh Skerrib you look adorable!" Nice. The closest I've come is "sassy," which is better than nothing, but still...

There are a couple of especially nice touches about this journal. First, of course, are the skulls & crossbones. Nothing says "edgy" like skulls & crossbones. Just looking at them makes me want to talk like a pirate. What really did it for me, though, was the pink & brown coloring. This color combo is very trendy lately. Far be it from me to go whole-hog on trendy, but hey, why not a little bit, right? Especially in this case, where I really like how it looks. Brown and light blue would have been equally acceptable, but I think the pink adds a femininity which provides an outstanding contrast to those super-edgy skulls & crossbones.

So anyway, at first I couldn't think of a use for it, but then I thought about carrying it in my backpack/diaper bag. I like to keep a pen & paper with me to record lists and other random thoughts, and with its durable plastic cover, this journal will be perfect for just such a function. It says "I may keep lists, but they're dangerous." And then I click my teeth like Iceman in Top Gun.

Oh yes, that's edgy...

An Inside Joke?

The Scareys were in town from OH this week with their daughter, who is 3 months older than His Highness. We had a grand old time, taking in the Boston Children's Museum, a couple of geocaches, and other random fun. Mostly we just enjoyed each other and hung out with the kiddos, sharing funny stories and stories of baby poop.

This morning the kids were playing with the popper-car while the Scareys were packing up to head home. Little Scarey was sitting in the driver's seat, while His Highness was pushing her from behind. Yesterday they both had a blast doing this, but today Little Scarey just wasn't into it. She wanted to drive the car with her own feet. His Highness didn't notice, however, and just kept pushing with a big, goofy grin on his face while Little Scarey became increasingly vocal about her distress.

The Cat Daddy noticed this and commented, "Look, His Highness is going along all happy-go-lucky, completely oblivious to the fact that she is on the verge of a breakdown."

Then we caught each other's eye and burst out laughing...

What...the...

Human Slinky

Transferring...

Well I've done the research and it appears I have no way of transferring my archives from Yahoo to Blogger except to manually copy and paste. So you will gradually see my archives here shrink as I get stuff moved over (until I lose interest and abandon the effort, anyway). As far as I can tell there is no way to move the comments over, so I'll have to think about what to do with those posts.

His Highness is getting grumpy; I'd better sequester myself in the bathroom before the Cat Daddy tries to rope me into putting him to sleep...

10/21/07--UPDATE: Um, yah, it's obvious I typed this one in a rushed stupor. If I'm transferring stuff over here, you should see my archives grow instead of shrink. Duh...

Logos...

You know those tiny little problems you get stuck in your head? The ones that aren't truly of any consequence, but that drive you crazy in the quiet moments between putting out life's daily fires? I get those all the time. Trying to remember who sang "Love the One You're With," the capital of North Carolina, that sort of thing.

Well, most recently I'd been troubled by a certain car logo I hadn't seen in a while. It was sort of a funky circle-looking thing, almost, but not really, like the small "g" you see in certain fonts but could never write by hand (I've tried. I have no idea how anyone came up with that thing). I spent months trying to remember which company it belonged to...a cursory mental inventory revealed that it probably wasn't an American company symbol, since those are pretty easily-recognized and haven't changed much over the years. Then I started clicking through the foreign companies. Originally I could've sworn it was Mazda, but everywhere I look their logo is a stylized "M." Definitely not a funky circular almost-but-not-really "g". And nothing turned up with the common companies either. I remembered Daewoo put out some cars about 10 years ago, and scanned the highways endlessly until I came upon one (they're not at all common here on the East Coast)...and came up with nothing. Theirs looks almost like a creepy snake head.

Finally, I concluded that either I was imagining things, or the logo had been retired. I told myself to let it go, but still in those quiet moments it whispered to me in the back of my mind. This went on for months...I would re-inventory the logos, come up with nothing, and scold myself for beating a dead horse. It gradually became less and less of a concern as I moved on to other pointless quandaries, such as "Carly Simon or Carole King?"

And isn't it appropriate that as soon as we stop trying, the answer comes to us. I have solved countless math problems in the shower. I have recited the Hamlet soliloquy while falling asleep and dreamed useless trivia. And last weekend while we were out & about, the logo suddenly appeared on the car in front of me...a MAZDA! Hah! Immense relief flooded me as I was finally able to put the mystery to rest. And as I looked, I observed that it really looks nothing like a "g" at all, so my mind had altered the image over time I guess. All that remained was mild curiosity as to how the funky-g turned into a flying "M", and this was quickly satisfied by Wikipedia. Where you can find any answer, as long as you take it with a grain of salt.

So, the funky-g logo was in use from 1992-1997, when the present-day logo took over.

Isn't that nice?

PS--Steven Stills. Raleigh. You're So Vain--Carly Simon. It's Too Late--Carole King. Once married to James Taylor--Carly Simon.

Geocaching With the Fam...

My Dad came into town this weekend for a quick trip...got in Friday evening and left early-early this morning. Yesterday we took a drive up Rt 2 to see some leaves. Well, they were so-so, but we got an excellent geocache in.

Geocaching 101--sort of like hiking and treasure hunting rolled into one. You download coordinates from a geocaching site (eg http://www.geocaching.com/), put them into your GPS unit, and go hunting. When you get to the right spot you'll find the cache--usually some sort of container (ammo box, tupperware, etc) with a logbook and doo-dads in it. You sign your name and the date in the logbook and switch out some doo-dads, if you so desire. The rule with the trinkets is "take one leave one." So I left a new pack of Mint-A-Burst and took a tiny geocache medallion.

This particular one included a fairly difficult hike up a hill near a college, and a nifty cave!

Gotta run; His Highness needs his mommy. Enjoy the pic...

Worth the Read...

Many of you have heard me refer to myself as a "recovering church kid." Genuineness is a high priority in my life...but as much as I resist it, I do find myself getting all churchy every so often. Then I repent and get off my high horse.

Needless to say, this essay by the iMonk resonated with me.

Dungaree Buttons...

There's hope for my Calvin Bootcuts after all. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times: you can find anything on the internet.

My Best Idea EVER...

Dear Pez,

My cubemate and I were discussing the virtues of Pez, and we agreed that while Pez dispensers are SO fun to collect, we really don't like the candy all that much, and it makes us sad. Obviously there are those who like the original Pez candies, so we're not suggesting doing away with them entirely. However, we were thinking that perhaps some flavor variants in the candy might increase your following and persuade some who wouldn't normally get into the Pez, to do so. Therefore, may we present our ideas (which I'm sure you've heard a million times before, but still)--

Sweet-Tart Pez--This is my number one suggestion. I love SweetTarts, so to combine their luscious goodness with the fun and joy of the dispenser would be a little slice of heaven, right here on earth. If you really want to knock people's socks off, offer both classic SweetTarts and a chewy variety, but nix the hard candy shell on the chewies. My mouth waters even now.

Spree Pez--Similar to the SweetTarts, just another flavor variant, plus a hard candy shell. Personally I prefer only the Chewy Sprees, but I'm told the originals are loved by millions.

Smarties Pez--Um, actually I don't like Smarties much anymore, but I know there are others out there who do. And I think I remember that there used to be a candy along this line that would get fizzy/foamy when chewed, for an added pull with consumers.

Necco Pez--High nostalgia factor here, and almost like eating Valentine hearts year-round. Baby boomers everywhere would clamor for them. I like yellow the best.

There's also the realm of adult candies containing, shall we say, mood-enhancing ingredients, but the legal and liability ramifications likely render this option infeasible outside of the black market.

Those are just a few of the possibilities for your consideration. I believe that most of the above companies will gladly manufacture their candy in Pez dimensions exclusively for the Pez company in exchange for the ridiculous popularity it would bring them, along with a small fee. Now I would imagine it's just a matter of simple licensing and legal somesuch, right?

Sincerely,

Skerrib
Concord, MA

Maggot Eradication...

**High Eww Factor on this one. You may not want to read this while eating. Or at all.**

According to the Cat Daddy, this is the new goal in our household.

You may remember that Zoe eats a raw, frou-frou doggie diet. We mail-order a grain mixture, throw in some raw meat, water, and veggies, blah blah blah. Healthy and not-recalled pet food. Yummy.

The grain mixture comes in bulk...most recently, we've been working our way through a 25-lb bag. I store it in the closet just off the kitchen. Usually rolling down the top of the bag works to keep the critters out, but unfortunately this summer we ended up with a bit of a moth problem. Apparently the moths enjoy a raw, frou-frou doggie diet, and summer conditions are quite hospitable to moths and moth-lovin'. For the most part I can chalk bugs up to a summer reality and ignore them til everything dies out for the winter. Well, not this year. Those moths have been rather brazen, sending their young out & about from the closet to do their bidding.

The Cat Daddy, God bless him, discovered this disturbing trend and took to them with the vacuum, while I went online to order a fresh bag of food, along with an airtight doggie food storage bin. To get free shipping I added in some rawhide chews and a doggie-devil halloween costume. It was late.

Both of us were appropriately grossed out by the whole thing; the Cat Daddy, however, was more vocal in this instance. He declared war on the critters and vowed that henceforth and heretofore our mission in life is to kill ALL of the maggots (though I prefer the term "larvae." "Maggots" is unnecessarily icky.), as well as the moths while we're at it. Or at least suck them up with the vaccuum, from which he assures me they are not escaping and returning to the closet.

As for the food, the Cat Daddy tossed it outside immediately, which I wholeheartedly applauded, although I don't agree that the middle of the yard was a good place for it. No good can possibly come from Zoe trying to eat an entire mountain of dry grain mixture.

So hopefully by the end of this week the fresh food will be safely stowed away in its new, airtight, plastic bin.

And I will have returned the doggie-devil costume to the store.

In exchange for the scarecrow.

Or the pirate. Arrrrr....