Suburban Island

Suprise Signage

Question: And where did you shop today?

What I Learned: Dressing rooms can be dangerous to your dignity.

Yesterday, I decided to stop at Target straight after work. I love Target because:

• you never have to get dressed up
• it doesn’t matter if your nail polish is chipped
• you can buy the National Enquirer and nobody looks shocked
• hot pretzels and popcorn are available
• they have those great retro commercials where somebody sings Sweet Happy Life

While there, I tried on a pair of cropped pants that caught my eye. I popped into the dressing room, flung on the pants, and satisfied that they looked fine for running up to get a cup of coffee or picking up some groceries, I hastily pulled my suit skirt back on and headed for the register. Another job well done. I am so fast and efficient today. Nothing is getting by me. I feel especially self-satisfied as I happily grasp my bag and stride out of the store towards my car, secure that tomorrow I will have a pair of pants to knock around in that are not made of heavy winter fabric for a change. How easy is this?

A few minutes later, I arrive at my second destination. I hop out of my car and I hear someone say to me in the most dignified and polite voice – ma’am, I think you have something stuck to the back of your skirt. I reach back and there - stuck firmly to the back of my suit - is what looks to be a small peel-back adhesive backing from – gasp… a sanitary napkin. I pull it off of my rear end with an embarrassed thank you and as much grace as I can muster up. Another Target dressing room disaster has just played out in suburbia. One of the many faceless victims of such tricks of fate, I have just been rescued by the simple kindness of a stranger from parading around the mall for an hour with something unseemly plastered to my backside. It doesn’t erase the fact however, that I had sashayed around Target with a questionable sort of ad for a feminine hygiene product glued to my bottom. Nor does it make up for the fact that I had done so with a degree of confidence that I am sure even Always wouldn’t have anticipated.

Indeed, ignorance can be bliss but sometimes a little knowledge can go a long way in this life. And the next time you try something on in that dressing room, make sure you give yourself a quick once over in the mirror on the way out. It’s not vanity – it’s sanity.

DETAILS: Coffee: white chocolate mocha + Listening to: jazz compilations + Observing: flowers blooming + Thinking: I need to spray the roses + Weather: sunshine

Today’s Suburban Strategy: Got a dog? Get some advice...

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Inkdragon - 2003-05-30 09:59:35
You have me rolling on the floor!
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komachi - 2003-05-30 10:03:46
Oh, my!!!
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Tania - 2003-05-30 10:08:29
LOL! That story just made my morning! At least you have cool new pants though.
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tali - 2003-05-30 11:56:03
oh my...thank goodness for the kindness of a stranger.
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Shell - 2003-05-30 13:52:45
ROFL I had to laugh at your telling of the Target fiasco. How embarrassing! I got some capris at Walmart. I normally don't shop walmart for clothes but these actually fit me good and, like you, I felt like they were good enough to hang out in and not have to wear jeans or short shorts. Something "age appropriate" I suppose. *gag*
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Heather - 2003-05-30 15:18:28
*LOL* I had such a good visit to your site today. Your Target story had my eyes watering with laughter! So thanks for that...had we both not been on the Sean Hannity diary ring I would have never found you!!! Glad I did, I will be back.
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Anne - 2003-05-31 01:03:48
Thank you for this smile and for your kind words earlier. Have a lovely weekend!
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kat - 2003-05-31 12:38:40
Hehe. Target rocks. Suburban paradise. Who needs Saks?
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Emergency Room on a Friday Night

Question: Why didn’t I ask for the Twinkies?

What I Learned: Bring a bag lunch.

The crown jewel of last Friday was my visit to the local hospital emergency room. I don’t usually go to emergency rooms – instead I tend to just plod along hoping things will get better. Friday however, I just did not feel like my asthma was responding to the medications in the usual way. Finally, I decided that I needed to make sure there wasn’t something terribly wrong. I imagined all kinds of bad outcomes, which began forming in my mind like a cluster of those little bubbles over comic book character’s heads. The first imagined outcome was just flat out keeling over from what ails you because you were stupid and didn’t go to the hospital when you should have. Then I thought about how people go in to the hospital for one thing and come out finding that they’ve really got something much worse. Then I considered how nice it would be to get just one nights rest in a nice hospital bed where no one except the rotating hospital workers would bug me.

I told my husband that I thought I needed to go to the emergency room. He was tinkering with the car and looked a bit dismayed. He had to wash up first but I guess you have to look your best when you are dragging someone to the hospital. It gave me time to gather myself up so to speak which essentially consisted of putting all my meds in a zip-lock bag and finding a book to read. I was dressed in sweats and sandals. My hair was dragged back in a ponytail with a plastic clip. I put some lipstick on but I don’t think it helped. This was my ER look. It's not going to catch on.

The emergency room on a Friday night is an interesting environment. One hardly needs a book, so fantastic and mesmerizing is the whirl of activity taking place before your eyes and ears. I sign in and sit down – I will be sitting there for over 2 hours before anyone at the hospital talks to me about what’s wrong. In one corner, there are kids in a huge makeshift play area banging around and making appreciative shouts. Many unhappy looking people sit about – some desperately looking through rag-tag magazines on the waiting room tables in the impossible hope that there will something there worth reading. One woman lays newspaper on a series of chairs to make a bed that will probably cause her permanent back problems. There’s a real global thing going on in the ER on this Friday night – many nations seem to funnel their sick into this one big waiting room. It seems it is a small world, after all. Additionally, a date-night theme begins to emerge, as many young couples appear suddenly and sometimes dramatically, clinging to each other in the most romantic of ways, as if stirred up like little moths by the brilliant neon glare of the overhead lights.

My son has come along with me too and I am glad because he got me a big bottle of water at the gas station that we had to stop at as well before we could drive to the hospital. Who would have thought we could have squeezed so much in before hitting the ER. So finally there we were with nothing to do but sit and sit and sit. Eventually husband and son got kind of bored with all that sitting. They decided to make a trip to the 7-11 down the road. And why not, I ask? I asked for a hotdog because that what you should bring back anytime you go to the 7-11. That and a lottery ticket and maybe a pack of Twinkies too but I didn’t remember about the lottery ticket or the Twinkies. Too bad, because about an hour later, I received an ice-cold hot dog on a stale bun along with a couple of packets of mustard. Luckily there was a microwave in the ER waiting room too – they think of everything. I was glad to have the hot dog even if I did have to eat it standing up right there.

Afterwards, I sent everyone home. As they left, my son slipped me a pack of sharp cheese he had picked up on his 7-11 excursion. Now that’s a good kid. I tucked it in my purse, savoring the knowledge that I had a little snack for the extended wait. It was good I did. After over 2 hours of patient waiting, I finally went up to the window to find out what the deal was – how long was this going to take exactly? Well, I guess it might have been forever because about 6 people back on the list was my name crossed through in thick black ink. They had accidentally skipped over me. Oops. Now that makes you kind of want another stale iced-cold 7-11 hot dog, if you know what I mean. I sat down and ate the stick of cheese. It was fairly delicious too.

As it was, I actually got out at about 5 in the morning. My husband came to pick me up and when we got home the birds were singing like they were trying out for a Hitchcock movie. I didn’t care because I heard a louder call – that of pillow and blanket – and I headed right for it.

DETAILS: Coffee: turtle mocha+ Listening to: the ceiling fan + Observing: newly filled bird feeders + Watching: MASH re-runs + Weather: Maybe some sun

Today’s Suburban Strategy: Hang out in a crazy kitchen...

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

bettyalready - 2003-05-27 15:25:42
so what was up with your asthma?
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EH Adams - 2003-05-27 15:38:12
Yikes, sounds like a bad night. Hope you are feeling better!
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Sick Note

Question: What good is a sick mom?

What I Learned: Don’t bother with the doctor’s note.

As you might have noticed, my little imood face has been a little sick face for about the last week. For some reason I really couldn’t kick this bronchitis/asthma think as fast as usual. I had so many deadlines at work and a few personal deadlines too – things that just had to get done. Of course, mixed in there were a lot of things that didn’t really need to be done but got done anyway because when Mom is sick:

• everyone just goes along their merry way
• household expectations do not seem to change
• the tipping point is at too delicate a balance not to make the beds and put the dishes in the washer

Furthermore, I notice that when Mom is sick, others in the household seem to behold it as a golden opportunity to slack off. You can bet the darks and whites are swishing around the washer together, dishes are literally tossed into the dishwasher in the strangest configurations all of which are guaranteed to exponentially increase breakage potential, and our resolve to recycle is undermined by my husband who seems to have some elemental conflict with the recycling concept. Also, it’s a fact that if everyone notices that Mom is really sick and actually acknowledges that Mom is sick then perhaps everyone will actually get stuck doing extra stuff and fetching cups of tea and blankets and such. I have learned that nursing the sick in an average household does not have anything to do with anyone nursing Mom when she is under the weather. It refers to Mom dropping everything to address the needs of someone else in the house – who is not she – and feels sick. And yes, it does include food service, cups of tea, and blankets as well as control of a remote control and first dibs on the sofa.

Friday, I went into work to attend an important program off-site for the morning that was just unavoidable. I had to stand in the rain trying to hail a cab going to the program. I had to stand in the rain trying to hail a cab coming back from the program. Umbrella – what’s that? During the program, I sat next to one of the speakers, a dynamic woman who seemed to be wearing a very odd and heavy perfume. It’s not good to be around odd heavy scents in the middle of an asthma flair but all the seats were filled with damp expectant attendees so there was no alternative but to breath this exotic air and hope for the best. After the program, I sustained an informative walking tour of the facilities – good fun if you are not sick – and then headed back to the office for a short check-in with my manager and then the long road home. After, that meeting, I gathered myself up and pushed through the glass doors that lead out to the elevators, only to run into one of the senior managers. I have an overstuffed handbag flung over my arm, and I am juggling handouts from the program, carry-out lunch sandwich in a bag, and a large hot cup of coffee that I had stopped to pick up in the hopes it would revive me. I am sure that I looked like Aunt Clara from Bewitched at that very instant in time, what with the rain-soaked hair, the lack of lipstick, and the surfeit of bags.

Are you going home already? – she asked. She didn’t ask it in a mean way at all but just as if it was a bit of a surprise that anyone were heading out of that already stone silent office before the proper close of business. It was the Friday before a holiday weekend just after 1:30 in the afternoon and I had hours worth of work to do from my home office. In my purse, carefully folded away was a note from my doctor stated that I needed to rest at home. I was tempted to pull it out and show it to her so that she wouldn’t think I was a slacker who didn’t recycle consistently and had not made her bed that morning but instead I provided the valid verbal excuse and pushed the elevator button. I understand. It’s hard to be a manager after all. It’s even worse sometimes that being a mom who is sick.

Down in the garage I noticed the smell of that perfume was still in the air. Was it so powerful that its molecules had clung to me like those little thistles that stick to you pants when you walk through the woods or the smoke that hangs in your hair after a drink at the local bar? Opening up one of the folders distributed during the program, I realized that in it lay a color copy of a flier that smelled exactly like – the exotic perfume. I was so glad that I hadn’t asked the woman next to me what scent she had been wearing.

Seriously though, it did smell a bit like perfume. I have placed it in a plastic sheet protector and filed it away. As is the way of things, I need that document with the exotic smell for future reference.

DETAILS: Coffee: none (sob) + Listening to: West Coast Jazz and Mozart + Observing: a post office at 4:57 p.m. on Sunday afternoon full of wet people, boxes, and envelopes + Watching: Haiki Tunnel (well last night twice) + Weather: Another day of rain

Today’s Suburban Strategy: Do you ever find stuff that makes you wonder? You’re not the only one.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

plankton - 2003-05-25 22:26:01
Oh, dear. I'm sorry to hear that you are sick. It is hard to be sick and be a mom. I don't expect nursing any more and I've grown grateful for the little things like my younger daughter calling my husband the last time I was sick to say, "Mom just went to bed for the second time and it's not even dinnertime yet. I think we need to do something about dinner. How about you order pizza?"
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the nerd - 2003-05-26 00:25:53
You know, I wish I had known how selfless moms can be. I think I'll call my own now. Thank you for helping me to appreciate her more than I already do. And besides, none of us ever appreciate you enough.
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Inkdragon - 2003-05-26 08:25:07
I know exactly what you are saying about when Mom is sick! That is such a scream about the colored flyer. I really hope you are able to catch up on your rest and feel much better. Y.
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Jule - 2003-05-26 09:23:15
When my mum's sick my dad and I usually try to do the household. The problem is, that we don't really know what to do unless she writes us down what we need to do ;) What would we all do without mothers eh? Hope you're better soon!
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Friday Five - Brands

Question: Who bought the cardboard?

What I Learned: It's better to have soft toilet tissue than a pair of designer shoes.

1. What brand of toothpaste do you use?

Anything that says advanced whitening makes me feel like I am really on the cutting edge of toothpaste technology. Stand up tubes are better than classic tubes, which have been known to destroy marriages simply through one or both partners' improper toothpaste squeezing and capping techniques. Personally I think toothpastes that are striped are enticing because somehow it makes me feel like maybe I am getting two great toothpaste experiences in one. Finally, I'm a sucker for toothpaste with sparkles.

2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer?

Good one - the toilet tissue purchasing battle is always looming on the horizon here. In our house, it's Charmin, Cottonelle or the highway - at least from everybody's perspective but my husband’s. He seems to take great satisfaction in off brand toilet tissue purchases. We never let him out of the house with a shopping list without specifying the brand for toilet tissue, facial tissue, and ear swabs - since these three items seem to send an alien buy-off-brand message from head, to hand, to cart, faster than you can say - stop the bargain buying. We have had bad experiences with almost-cardboard toilet paper, sandpaper kleenex tissues, and ear swabs with cotton tips that unravel when they sense the first sign of impending impact with an ear, due to his questionable purchasing decisions in all three of these product areas.

3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear?

Brand-smand. Whatever I like from wherever I happen to see them. I do think those shoes that you can play basketball in while you're dressed up in a business suit are a must for work. As soon as I can, I switch to sandals - flat or heels - and stay in them until it's just too cold to wear them another day. Designer shoes – never.

4. What brand of soda do you drink? Coke please - diet coke to be exact. I did have a fling once with DietRite but that was a long time ago and I don't exactly know what brought it to an end.

5. What brand of gum do you chew?

Cinnamon is best - any kind. My earliest memory of chewing gum is Dentyne Red which I still really love as it immediately summons up a long ago summer day when I was just a wee gum-chewer.

DETAILS: Coffee: white chocolate mocha + Listening to: myself coughing and what the cabdriver said + Observing: many presentations and a very big library + Weather: Many raindrops + Watching: Nothing!

Today's Suburban Strategy Highlight:
Riding the rails? Shhh…

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

radmila - 2003-05-24 11:57:53
1. What brand of toothpaste do you use? Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Toothpaste. However, that stand up dispenser sounds like a Godsend. No more wiping/scraping toothpaste off of the counter? Heaven. 2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer? Who gives a shit? (hahahah) Seriously, in our house...no one does. Both my husband and I were children in foreign countries in rural areas. Any brand beats the pages of "Illustrana Politica". 3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear? 9 West has beautiful shoes...however, usually it doesn't matter to me. I will look at 9 West twice though. 4. What brand of soda do you drink? No soda/pop drinking in this house. Plain club soda with a fruit syrup sometimes...just like when I was a kid. 5. What brand of gum do you chew? Wintergreen. Any brand. BTW, thanks for your kind compliment on my writing style...I really appreciate it. I didn't think I actually had one until you did. lol.
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It's Ruben

Question: Why can't I sing?

What I Learned: Sometimes everyone IS really a winner.

It's Ruben!

Well, that was fun and quite the close race. They both had great voices but I have to admit that Ruben got my vote in the end - it's the classic dimples/deep voice dividend. But let's not feel too sorry for Clay because let's face it - it's nice to be THE American Idol but the runner-up and even those a few steps down - are not going to have any problems ramping up their musical/show biz careers now.

Frankly, now that this American Idol fever has begun to lift, I find myself excited by the prospect of not being homebound or at least TV-attached come hell or high water twice a week. I don't know about you, but I am relieved to know that at least until the next highly addictive American Idol offering, I have my Tuesday and Wednesday nights back again.

American Idol really put a strain on Wednesday piano lessons nights. Luckily, I was able to stick my husband with the duty of pressing the record button - if the tape was in and cued. After all, I am doing the piano trek every week. Still, it was tense because although he did always press that record button, there was always that little nagging concern...

I am also glad that the whole push-button/tape-American-Idol thing worked out because I still don't know how to program the VCR - even though we got it last Christmas. That's another near miss with home technology neatly avoided.

DETAILS: Coffee: white chocolate mocha + Listening to: sound of fake underwater adventure on screensaver + Observing: more spreadsheets + Weather: More of the damp and dreary sort + Watching: Nothing!

Today's Suburban Strategy Highlight:
Got a cat?

Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

flyinby - 2003-05-22 18:02:55
programmable vcrs aren't really programmable. that's just something they stick on the box to make you wanna buy it. ;)
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Clay or Ruben?

Question: Isn't there only one tonight?

What I Learned: I'm addicted to American Idol.

 

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben

Clay?

Ruben?

Clay... or Ruben?

Who WILL it be?

DETAILS: Coffee: Irish Creme + Listening to: talk radio, West Coast Jazz + Observing: Spreadsheets + Watching: American Idol

Today's Suburban Strategy Highlight:
What she bought...

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Amie - 2003-05-21 21:50:36
LOL...I'm addicted, too. Watching the finale right now, though I wish they hadn't stretched it out over two hours. Getting kinda old. And at this point, I think it could go either way. I rooted for Ruben most of the season, but now I'm sort of pulling for Clay. Oh the suspense!
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Claire - 2003-05-22 04:29:11
no idea what you are on about but I dont like the look of either of them. :o) C xxx
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kris - 2003-05-22 13:43:02
Thanks for signing my guestbook. Your diary looks pretty good, too! :) With the American Idol thing, I heard that Ruben won. I was hoping for him to win the entire season. That show is so addictive.
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Getting the Final Word

Question: What did we do before dryer sheets?

What I Learned: Keep it short.

As I was folding up the pillowcases and towels today, a sudden epitaph – yes, like the kind you put on a gravestone – came to mind. It must have been smelling all that fluffy freshness or something, because the line – she always reminded me to use the fabric sheets – came to mind. I can see it now – beautifully etched in stone with a little angel draped atop the words or even better, maybe that little Snuggle bear.

As you can imagine, I had to give this a bit more thought, what with the scent of the Snuggle Dryer sheets fresh in the air. So, I thought of a few more:

She never made a tuna helper I didn’t like.

A bed undone made her unstrung.

This puts an end to her procrastination.

Her commitment to proper laundry sorting will continue to inspire those with white fuzzballs on our black sweaters throughout time.

Finally – look whose stuck doing the housework now.

You mean this wasn’t a reality series?

Brave Soldier of the Sunday Nite Surprise Homework Battles. She perserved til the end.

Never forget - housework undone, mean extra time for fun.

Or how about going with a classic – one you may see on the stones resting in some graveyards in the South – She Done The Best She Could. Does that ever tell the tale. It just spits it right out there. Look she did the best she could so just shut up, put down the flowers, and take a hike.

This put me in mind of W.C. Fields whose gravestone I once heard read simply – I’d rather be in Philadelphia . Or maybe that’s just what he said he wanted inscribed there in a wittier moment. Either way, that’s a good one WC.

I thought I’d take a look at what some other famous people, or at least those who had to spring for their headstone, had to say in granite and marble. Here’s a sampling but if you want more – and how could you not? – then stop by Brain Candy and get another dose of closing words.

I had A Lover's Quarrel With The World
Robert Lee Frost

Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime
Dean Martin

Faithful to the cause of Prohibition -
She hath done what she could
Carrie Amelia Nation

"That's All Folks!"
The Man of a Thousand Voices
Mel Blanc

Sleep with a smile.
Sammy Cahn

Quoth the Raven,
"Nevermore."
Edgar Allan Poe

I never met a man I didn't like.
Will Rogers

In loving memory from the Family
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel

DETAILS: Coffee: white chocolate mocha on ice + Listening to: talk radio + Observing: doctor’s waiting room + Watching: American Idol/Mr. Personality + Weather: sunny and perfect.

Today’s Suburban Strategy: Get nosy about your city and take a peak at the Census 2000.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

Inkdragon - 2003-05-20 08:32:17
"This puts an end to her procrastination." That's the best!
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foxgallagher - 2003-05-21 06:51:42
You are like me - when you're doing some mindless activity, you think weird things. :)
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Just Feeling Sick

Question: Why is there always a bird who sings in the dark when you've been up too late?

What I Learned: Don't add a favorite link if you can't put it in a folder.

I've been sick this weekend with a respiratory thing. The big event in the works was my son's piano recital which was this afternoon. He was sick too - and the slightly unhappy/slightly happy result was that we were unable to go in the end. I was glad because I was feeling so dragged out that I was relieved to be able to just stay home and rest. I did feel bad missing the recital though because he had put in some real practice and his piece sounded pretty good.

Frankly, I think the kid gave me this wheezy thing that has got me on inhalers and antibiotics and steroids. I don't know - I really don't feel as well as I thought I would be by now. I am up late though - yup, every night.

At 4:00 a.m. last night, I found myself in front of my computer cleaning up my Internet Explorer favorites which had grown so large that no matter how long I scrolled there never seemed to be an end to it. Reviewing links, cutting links, pasting links, deleting links, making new folders for the links - I was working away like a happy little drone. I must get it done. I must get it done. Every one of those links was in a nice folder when I finally turned off the computer. Unfortunately, the night wasn't over for me yet, I was still tossing and turning until after 5:00 this morning. There's just no rest for those tirelessly pursuing digital order on their laptop.

Some crazy bird starting singing at 4:30 this morning. It was still dark. How could it see to sing. Talk about positive anticipation of the day to come. How very annoying.

With all of this in mind - my health and a recognition that my computer chores are endless anyway - I am going to try to go to bed right now. I hope the effects of general exhaustion will overcome the sleep-depriving side effects of my meds. I've got a stack of books by my bed just in case. Funny, I'm too tired to really read a thing though. Why do I feel like I will be anyway - like it or not? Wish me luck.

Details: Coffee: Turtle Mocha (delivered to me by loving daughter) + Listening to: West Coast Jazz + Watching: The Osbournes and Dumb & Dumber + Weather: Rainy

Sudden Concert

Question: What concert?

What I Learned: Good things are worth getting wet for.

It is interesting how many surprises are held in day-to-day life. For instance, last Thursday was the Spring Chorus Concert at my son’s middle school. Now, my son is in the chorus and I noticed he was doing a bit of after-school practicing but he assured me it was for an upcoming competition. In fact, at the time I was suspicious enough to ask him if there was something coming up that I need to put on my calendar. No, he assured me.

Thursday, when my son came home from school, he asked me to iron his black pants because he had to sing that night at the Spring Chorus Concert. You know, like the kind of concert all good moms have to attend. Luckily, I had nothing on my calendar except the delightful plan of sitting my feeling-like-I-am-coming-down-with-a-sinus-infection butt down on the nice soft sofa in front of the TV and just relaxing and alright maybe getting in a little extra office work in just for good measure – the wonders of technology mean work is always an option or perhaps a requirement for me even while at home. It was not to be.

By concert time, the rain was coming down the way that water runs out of a shower head when turned on full blast with the hot water off. I was going though. More than that so was my daughter. She did the good deed – the sisterly thing - because you know heading out to a surprise middle school concert must have not have been too high on her teen list of things to do on Thursday night. She did it though. The funny thing is that we had fun. It was much more entertaining than expected - with a particularly splendid rendition of a Wizard of Oz melody and a Whole New World duet that ended in what I am told was a surprise kiss on the cheek – just too darn cute.

The thing about Middle School Chorus Concerts is that you can always expect most/all of the following:

• It will cost to get in,
• The program is extensive
• Your kid’s name may not be spelled right,
• Once the lights go down you’ll never be able to read the program anyway,
• The teachers let kids pick solos that are sometimes well above their budding vocal abilities,
• You will have to suffer with these kids as they struggle through their 2-3 minutes of singing trauma and you will really clap for them because they were brave enough to get up there and do that,
• You can sometimes catch a glimpse of a rising star,
• For some reason a kid does a dance number in the middle (but maybe that’s an anomaly),
• Sometimes you like the dance and when you do you are surprised because it bothers you that a kid is dancing during the chorus concert,
• Your kid will be the one talking to his/her neighbor or perhaps even worse, yawning, when the spotlight pans over the chorus,
• When the whole thing breaks up, your kid is one of the last ones to straggle out of the chorus room to which the whole merry band has retired post-concert,
• You feel uplifted and glad to be alive when you walk out of there.

Afterwards we walked though the downpour to our car which was parked in the very last row of the school parking lot – satisfied by our musical interlude, even if a bit the worse for the weather.

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Comments to Alice in Suburbia:

flyinby - 2003-05-17 21:09:41
maybe my daughter will do me proud in a year or two when she can start singing away in chorus. *sigh* for all the pain in the rear, it's still worth it.
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Inkdragon - 2003-05-18 10:09:35
These are the things our mother hearts will recall well after our children grow up!
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radmila - 2003-05-22 20:31:30
You pay for your kids concerts? I should start charging for ours! It never even occurred to me! It's so wonderful to watch them. Whenever we put on a concert, I always, always get teary. It's a moment in time and then it's gone...they grow up and change so fast. Thanks for linking to me. I'll be linking to you as well.
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Friday Five: Favorite Foods

Question: When does he buy the canned corn?

What I Learned: When you buy bottled water, tell the kids to bring in the groceries.

1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.?

 

Bottled water is good - especially if someone else carries it into the house and I remember to stash it in the fridge. Otherwise, we are looking at tap water with ice.

2. What are your favourite flavor of chips?

Fritos – but they’re just so wicked. Utz chips are good too but same problem. Give me ripples in my chips. Flavor – just plain please.

3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most?

Butterfly noodles pan-fried in butter (or in our house I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray), sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese or the powdery bottled kind, if you like that kind better. The noodles get really brown and crispy. This is a big favorite in my house.

4. How do you have your eggs?

I love them over easy with a ton of toast but usually wind up getting them in an omelet with cheese. There is a restaurant we used to go to every Sunday morning for breakfast and the waitresses had my order memorized – Greek omelet (filled with feta cheese and chopped up tomato) with rye toast and potatoes. So good.

5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out?

I guess my husband would probably be that person and his meals are quick and serviceable. Canned corn is okay with him. Do I need to say more? At least the guy is putting a meal on the table once in a while so I am not complaining but I do not eat canned corn.