Random Bits

Okay, this post has been sitting around here for several weeks... so I guess it is time to publish it!

While playing an imaginative game, Cecilia referred to something as "yogurt," and Caroline said, "Actually, it's cobbler." Cecilia exclaimed, "Just like corn on the cobbler!"

Chris put on a tie to wear to work a couple weeks ago, which he doesn't normally do. Cecilia asked him, "Why are you wearing a neckentie?"

So, there is a sticker on my bananas that says "Go Bananas After Dark." I have been noticing these stickers for awhile (I think they are Dole bananas that have them)... what does that mean? If I walk into my kitchen after dark, will I find my bananas having a rowdy party?

I had the weirdest dream the other night... so, so strange. It was really long, the longest dream I have had in ages. I won't bore everyone with the whole story line as it unfolded, but it involved the following: me owning a flock of Canada Geese that escaped into the neighbor's yard; taking Caroline and Cecilia to a "fun house" in which there was an inflatable floor and detailed scenes painted on the walls although it was pitch black inside so you couldn't see the scenes; a freezer full of frozen energy drinks and my brother trying to get a stranger to give him some of them; Emerson Hart recording a music video in my backyard and making frosting (very badly, I might add) with my children on a pizza baking sheet in my kitchen - just frosting, not a cake or anything like that; and my mom trying to convince me to go to a $5 dress sale. So weird, so vivid. There was lots of driving involved too, although I can't be sure where I was going!

Today, Caroline was reading a Winnie-the-Pooh book to Cecilia and pausing to try to get her to "fill in the blanks" in the story. Caroline read, "Pooh's head was stuffed with..." Cecilia's eyes got really big and she exclaimed, "He has a cold just like us!!!"

Okay, so here's something that happened a long time ago, and I keep forgetting to write it down... I think it happened way back on July 4th, ha ha. Chris took Caroline out and while they were in the van, a Bryan Adams song came on the radio - Summer of '69, I think Chris said it was. Caroline insisted that it was "a gruff wolf" singing!

Cecilia has some bear friends who live under our bed - used to live under our bed, that is. Keep in mind that Cecilia sleeps right next to our bed, on a mattress on the floor. She started talking about these bears several months ago, that they were under the bed and wore red hats, and sometimes when her feet came untucked from her blanket, she would ask to have them covered back up "so the bears don't eat my feet." She seemed slightly disturbed by the bears, but she also said they were nice and friendly. She also told me that they went back to the woods now... they have been back in the woods for a long time, but yesterday she said, "Daddy chased them away to the woods." She has also mentioned that they wear blue shirts.

Today, Chris had to drop something off at our parish, and he took Caroline with him. They stopped in the church for a few minutes to say a prayer. Caroline was reading the Hail, Holy Queen prayer on the back of the missal, which is one we say each evening as part of the Rosary. She suddenly got excited and said, "Look, Daddy, it's two words!" and pointed to the two words 'toward us,' saying, "It says toward us, not tortoise!"

I got Cecilia three pairs of shoes at a consignment sale yesterday for $12 total... and they all look basically brand-new except for the treads. I love this sale - it is so well-organized and they don't accept junk at their sale like the other one which shall remain nameless. They also don't cram everything on the racks so that you can't even browse, and they even put all the pants of the same size together on the rack, all the shirts together... and they have separate racks for Christmas clothes, pajamas, Halloween costumes... Anyway, Cecilia was quite pleased with her new tennis shoes - Caroline wore a size 8 when she was this age, but Cecilia really needs a 7.5, so Caroline's hand-me-down shoes won't fit her yet. Today I wore a pair of pants that I haven't fit in comfortably in awhile, and Cecilia asked me, "Did you buy those pants at a comminement sale?"

Speaking of, I have lost about 19 pounds now. My goal was 20 pounds, but I think I'll go a few more to get myself down to a nice round number (meaning one that ends with a zero). So far, even a few sweet treats like apple pie and cookies haven't impacted me too much - well, I haven't really lost more since eating those, but I haven't gained back, either.

So my brother's dog - the dog who is living with my parents while he's out of the country, the dog who I am amazed is still alive after five whole years of stupidity and natural selection working against him - cost them $300 the other day. My mom had an unopened box of brownie mix on the counter, and the dog got it and tore it open, ate the cellophane packaging, and ate a bunch of the brownie mix. My mom said she came in to find chocolate powder all over the sunroom carpet. So the dog had to go get shots to make him puke, then more shots to make him stop puking... she said it was the most expensive box of brownies ever, and she didn't even get to eat them! The funny thing is that this was a Trader Joe's Dutch Chocolate brownie mix... and the dog's name is Dutch. He must have seen his name on it and assumed it was for him. Of course, that doesn't explain why he ate a spatula with the word "Pyrex" on it...