Thursday, April 17, 2008
Picture from yesterday...
I forgot to post it last night.

Written at 8:28 PM by Highlandgal.
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Role-playing
Emma is big on assigning everyone their roles in our daily drama. Usually we're assigned characters from Backyardigans. Or she'll announce that I'm Annie and she's June. She'll even assign roles from shows she's only seen once. Last night she saw a little bit of Jimmy Neutron and decided that she was Cindy Vortex and Daddy was the boy with the brown hair. I was the girl with the spaghetti hair (Libby). I can't tell you how many characters I've been in my life. Yesterday afternoon was a bit confusing when she was Alicia (Diego's sister), I was Alicia and her baby was named Alicia too. You have to call everyone by their assigned names or she'll correct you.

Today she picked entirely new roles for us. She decided she was Cousin J., I was Cousin M. and Daddy was Uncle B. Interesting choices all around.
Written at 8:22 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tonight's family project
Began with this. When I parked the car in the driveway and got out to let Emma out of her seat I could hear a distinct hissing sound. I watched as my front tire deflated. I figure I punctured the tire on something in our driveway, because the tire went down so quickly I couldn't have made it home from town if it had happened there. Since the last flood ran down and driveway and washed away and layer of gravel we've been finding old rusty nails. Nice.


Not sure what Emma was doing with the screwdriver, but she was insistent on helping.


She kept telling me to ask if my tire was done yet. I'd ask and she'd say, "Not yet, but it will be done soon!"


Waiting to be called upon.


Securing the temporary tire. Now we're all done.

Written at 8:16 PM by Highlandgal.
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More gross flies
Soaking up the sun.

Written at 8:13 PM by Highlandgal.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
All hail!
Princess Emma put all this on herself. What was cute was when she walked away and I saw that the skirt was pulled up right below her butt.

Written at 8:09 PM by Highlandgal.
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Busted
The tabs are gleefully pointing out where Beck's eyes are in this picture. Now let's be honest here...if that stood up in front of your face wouldn't you be looking too?


Source: celebslam.com

On the other hand...

If these puppies were shoved in my face I'd be doing eyeball gymnastics trying to look at anything but!



Source: Splash News. Picture by Johns PLK.
Written at 7:48 PM by Highlandgal.
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Spring is back!
The thermometer made it back up to 60 degrees today so we went for a stroll outdoors. We had to make our obligatory visit to the tractor. I let Daddy worry about what's she'd doing to the farmer's machine. She does seem to fiddle with every knob within reach.




Written at 7:45 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Twelve reasons I should be dead by now
1. I was a latch-key kid, starting from the time when I was eight. I wore our front door key on a chain around my neck. We took it literally.

2. I rode my bicycle with no helmet, skateboarded with no pads and jumped off the high dive.

3. I went to the pool with no sunscreen. My elders laid around baking in coconut oil.

4. I left home for hours at a time, roaming the neighborhood and playing with my friends.

5. I rode around in the bed of the truck, sometimes sitting up on the wheel well.

6. I drank Kool-aid with cups of real sugar in it.

7. I rarely wore a seat belt; it was more of a novelty. My favorite place was straddling the hump and hanging between the two front seats so I could listen in on the conversation up front.

8. I played with pocket knives. Our favorite game was a game of chicken which consisted of trying to land the knife blade down in the grass near your opponent's foot.

9. I skied with no poles at the age of eight, down the adult slopes. Then I grew up and discovered fear.

10. I sat in the car by myself (or with my little brother) while my mom went into the store, sometimes for twenty minutes or more at a time.

11. I rode my first motorcycle at age nine.

12. I lived in a house with medicines with screw off caps.

Now, you tell me how lawyers and the 24-hour news cycle has improved our lives. And while you're at it...get off of my lawn!
Written at 8:32 PM by Highlandgal.
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Death, death, death
Well, the seal is broken. Emma's four year-old friend at Mary's has initiated Emma's death education. Thankfully the friend's Dad is a minister so at least she's being taught the judeo-christian view of death.

As Emma explained it to me she was going to step on the big bear's foot and kill it and then it would go to heaven. Personally, I suggest that you not try this at home.

When she talked about her princess killing my princess I figured it was time to reel her back in a little. We discussed it and agreed that were weren't going to play any more killing games.

Unfortunately Emma's little friend seems to be a bit obsessed with death lately so I'm having to hear about it more often than I'd like. I'm pretty sure that Emma still doesn't really know what she's talking about.
Written at 7:54 PM by Highlandgal.
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Biker baby mama
Ready to roll with her baby.

Written at 7:52 PM by Highlandgal.
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Monday, April 14, 2008
Greetings from Jerusalem!
Today I received a post card from my brother who just spent time in Israel. He sent us regular email dispatches with photos, but he knows I like my post cards so he made sure to send me a good one.

My friend Angelika went to Israel in the fall. She sent me a post card too. It's on the right. I have an awesome collection of post cards from her world travels.

Both post cards are from the same publisher, even the same photographer. I can see that they both cared enough to send the very best ;)

Written at 7:40 PM by Highlandgal.
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Hugs for Popi
...as Noni sat across the table imploring Emma not to give Popi hugs.



Written at 7:37 PM by Highlandgal.
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Carnivore extraordinaire
Noni made rib eye steak for supper last night. I split mine with Emma, giving her a generous portion because I know how that girl loves steak. She ate all her meat, practically ignoring the mashed potatoes and applesauce on her plate. When she had finished all of the meat on her plate she eyed the other steak left on the serving plate and said, "Hand over the meat!"

I laughed out loud. Did I hear what I thought I heard? I asked Noni. She heard what I heard. We made her ask correctly and then gave her more meat. I wondered where she had learned that one.

Last night when I came home I tried to relay the story to M of what Emma had said at supper. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember for the life of me how exactly she had said it. "Lay some meat on me?" "Hit me with some meat?" Arrgh!

I was trying to recall it again this morning so I could post about it. I even left a message on Noni's machine in case she might remember exactly what Emma had said.

Then at nap time the mystery was solved. I put down Emma for nap today. It was one of the rare occasions that I do that job. She chose her current favorite story for me to read to her. As I read through the story the words jumped out on the page. "Hand over the meat!" spoken by the Captain to his crew in the story, "How I Became a Pirate."
Written at 1:14 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tempest in a Cocktail
This little saga has been amusing to me. If you hadn't caught the "news," Absolut vodka stepped in it by running this ad in Mexico.


I'm sure most Mexicans had no problem with it. However, many Americans did. People were righteously indignant that an "ideal" world would have a large chunk of US territory belonging to Mexico again. Some political bloggers made hay over the ad. Many people vowed to boycott Absolut vodka and planned to switch to anything other than Absolut. For me it was an education in other vodkas. Ketel One and Grey Goose were often mentioned.

Now, in my opinion the ad wasn't that big of a deal. It was pandering to the Mexicans as the expense of the United States. A very populist and clever angle. However, to quote the Pegu Blog:

I will say one serious thing. I do hope that ad companies take the right lesson from this. Don’t run ad campaigns that depend on nationalist sentiments at the expense of other nationalities. The same ad, run in the context of Tibet/China, or Israel/Jordan, would likely result in some measure of bloodshed.

Absolut didn't appear to understand the seriousness of their situation in the United States at first. They started out with the obligatory lame apology and then as the realization began to dawn on them that things were serious, they became more sincere. Malkin documents the evolution of their sincerity on her blog.

Meanwhile, the whole episode took on a lighter tone when Skyy Vodka jumped on the opportunity to remind everyone of their domestic bona fides:

SKYY® Vodka, Made in the USA, Proudly Supports Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

America’s Most-Popular Domestic Vodka Decries Absolut® Vodka’s Suggestion to Redraw North American Map

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-America War (1846-1848). With the signing of this treaty, the United States gained control of what was to become the Golden West, including California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Today, SKYY® Vodka, the number-one vodka produced in the United States, spoke out against suggestions by Absolut® Vodka to disregard that treaty, as well as the joining of Texas to the Union in 1845, as depicted in Absolut’s recent advertising.

“Like SKYY Vodka, the residents of states like California, Texas and Arizona are exceptionally proud of the fact that they are from the United States of America,” said Dave Karraker, SKYY Vodka. “To imply that they might be interested in changing their mailing addresses, as our competitor seems to be suggesting in their advertising, is a bit presumptuous.”

In the ad, an “Absolut World” is depicted where the map of North America is re-drawn with Mexico claiming much of the Western United States, negating the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, as well as the Gadsden Purchase (1853), and the independence of Texas (1836).

“Don’t get me started on the Gadsden Purchase,” continues Karraker. “I think the folks in Tucson and Yuma would be rubbed the wrong way if they hear this landmark deal was somehow nullified as suggested by Absolut, a Swedish-owned brand.”

SKYY Vodka was founded in San Francisco in 1992 and continues to be produced in the United States. Premium SKYY Vodka is made from American grain carefully selected from the Midwest and 100% pure filtered water. SKYY’s proprietary four-column distillation and three-step filtration process consistently ensures exceptional quality. SKYY Vodka products include luxury SKYY90® and new SKYY Infusions™, a unique, all-natural infused experience made with premium SKYY Vodka and succulent real fruit.


Personally, I don't buy Absolut vodka because I don't buy vodka for the taste. Absolut is one of the more expensive ones, and for that matter, so is Skyy. Since I can't taste it anyway it wouldn't matter what brand I bought. Honestly, I don't even buy vodka. I'm a Jim Beam gal, myself.
Written at 11:47 AM by Highlandgal.
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