Tuesday, July 15, 2008

i am the meanest

Lou: You will never buy me an iPhone.
Me: Nope.
Lou: Then how will I ever have one?
Me: Get a job and save your money.
Lou: But I'm only eight, almost nine.
Me: Which is why you don't need an iPhone or a job.
Lou: You are the meanest!
Me: Yep.
Lou: Can I have a shuffle?
Me: No.
Lou: It was worth a shot.
Me: I appreciate the effort.

Friday, July 11, 2008

the american girls, they are us

The girls are all in love with the American Girl dolls. Bebe wants one for her birthday. They all received mini-dolls and pets for Christmas and they enjoy the books. This morning, Elizabee asked, "How old would someone be if they were born in 1974?"

Me: 38.
Bebe: So Julie would be 38 now.
Me: No, Julie wasn't born in 1974. How old was she in the books?
Bebe: Nine.
Me: Then she was born in 1965 so she's my age.
Lou: So how old is Felicity?
Me: Dead.
Bebe: How about Kit?
Me: She'd be about as old as Great Aunt Nonie. And Molly was in WWII, right?
Lou: Yeah.
Me: So she'd be about Grandma's age.

Maybe when the girls are all grown up there will be an American Girl who was born at or after the Millenium and they can tell their own girls about how Julie is Grandma's age now and the new-er girl is the same age as Mommy.

I think I just imagined having grandchildren -- whoa.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

i got it right!

We had McDonald's for dinner. (Shut up. I really wanted a Big Mac and it's hot and gross and we're not supposed to grill because did you hear? California is on fire.) And I went to the one a little further away because they have shakes. (Don't even get me started about how stupid it is that the Mickey D's close to our house doesn't have a shake machine. But -- they have $1 sundaes. I think not having shakes is kind of like not having fries. But, anyway.) So, Lou was sucking every last tiny bit of shake out of her cup, making that slurping sound.

Archie: Do you know what that sound means in Australia?
Louisa: What?
Archie: The same thing it means here!
[Child looks confused.]
Me: That's wrong! Lou, do you know what that sound means in Australia?
Louisa: What?
Me: The cup is empty -- same as here!
Archie: That's what I said.
Me: No, it's not. What you said makes no sense. What I said is funny. Because, that's my joke and I was the person who told it to you.
Archie: Wow. That's the first time since I've known you that you didn't mess up a joke.
Me: I know! Really, I'm all proud of myself here.

Monday, July 07, 2008

thoughts on le tour de france 2008

1. I love Team LiquiGas. But I mourn when the announcers used to pronounce it "Leaky Gas." Now they say, "Lee-kwee Gas" and my inner twelve year old is sad.

2. I love Phil Liggett.

3. An announcer tonight said, "We'll return to Nantes -- the Venice of the west." I turned to Archie and said, "Um, isn't Venice the Venice of the west?"

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

charlotte becomes me

A very long time ago, when Charlotte was just barely a toddler, she said something very, very amusing. (I'm thinking she was right around two.) I'd put her down for a nap and had taken a shower and put on a little makeup and fixed my hair -- which was a far cry from what I'd looked like when I put her down. (Incredible bedhead, mismatched pajamas, probably unbrushed teeth.) I walked into her room to get her out of her crib and she looked at me for several seconds. "Mama, you are adorable!" Then she looked at my shirt, which was from the Heard Museum in Phoenix and has this Catrina picture right in the middle. "And evil! Adorable and evil."

Today, Cha was the only one of my daughters who fell in love with a pair of fake Vans with glitter skulls on them. She didn't really need any new shoes, but hey! They are very cute and she was the one who enjoyed them (and they were on sale). As we were waiting to get our hair cut, she was admiring them and pointed out that the padded collar of the shoe has butterflies and hearts and flowers as a border. "Mama, they're adorable!"

"And evil!" I replied and Cha laughed and said, "I'm just like you, Mama!" I don't know how she remembered that, but it was obvious that she did. So Ms.ChaCha is achieving her apparent goal of being adorable and evil, just like me.