A Shawn Christmas story

See this picture? Do you want to take a guess what it's all about? First of all the big black lump is our kitty Sasha. She is not a part of this post. She just enjoys laying under the Christmas tree.

As for the significance to the rest of the picture, I doubt you would be able to figure it out so I will tell you.

Thursday, Shawn had VIP.

I've mentioned VIP before but to refresh memories or for those who are newer to my blog or maybe just missed some posts, I will explain that VIP is an ARC program. It's meant for their higher functioning clients. Those who don't need constant supervision. They go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays to do different things around town. They go shopping, bowling, swimming, (Shawn does not go on swimming days, btw, the thick chlorineey air makes him sick, the same as it does with me).

They go to movies, to lunch, things like that. Roughly twice a month they stay at the ARC building and have cooking days, or game days or watch a dvd days.

Shawn loves VIP.

It gives him something fun and social to do. And even better for me, I get two days off a week.
This Thursday they went shopping.

To Wal-Mart.

One of Shawn's favorite places to not only shop, but to also hang out in the Home Entertainment section pouring over every dvd in the place, and, sometimes checking out the games and cd's.
I usually give him some money to shop with. Not more than five dollars though.

I'm not being stingy here. I just know my son.

He has very little understanding of money. If I give him too much he gets frustrated if he has leftovers. I've told him more than once that he doesn't have to always spend every last dime. And in typical Shawn fashion he says, "I know that mom. I know that!"

Then he will come home all agitated because he couldn't find anything to spend his last 62 cents on.

Shawn "knows" lots of things.

He can recite all kinds of rules, and he knows why they are important and why he needs to follow them.

The only problem is that when it comes to acting on those rules he most often doesn't. It's not that he is misbehaving, it's just that a rule that is known and a rule that is actually followed, in Shawn's mind you are talking apples and oranges.

Remind me to expound on this one of these days.

Well, this post does have a point. A very nice one too.

On Thursday I gave him five dollars. I also gave him 35 cents for tax. Sometimes I don't think about the tax. As far as Shawn is concerned, if he has five bucks, and the item that he wants to purchase is five bucks then he has enough money. There is no point in trying to explain to him that you also have to tack on 8.3% for tax.

Like I said earlier, apples and oranges.

So yesterday he came home from VIP. He didn't have any money left over. I asked him if he had spent it all, and he answered that he had. Then he said, with great pride, that he used it to buy a present for me and dad.

This is BIG!

Shawn has been sent on his merry way, to many, many, Christmas shopping excursions. Before he had VIP, his school class always had their shopping day every Christmas season. Just a few days before Christmas break.

I always gave him a fistful of cold hard cash.

I would even give him little pointers on some things he could buy with his money. Usually they would be ideas for gifts for his sister Courtney. Shawn is very devoted to her and was always fond of the idea of getting her a present.

Here comes the rather sticky part.

He would come home from his shopping. I would ask what he had decided to buy. And even as he was telling me what he had gotten for his sis, he would be opening it up and either eating it or using it himself. Of course, he couldn't help but rationalize, that Courtney probably wouldn't like that pack of cookies. And of course he realized that he probably needed that box of band-aids much more than she ever would.

That, in a nutshell, was how Shawn did his Christmas shopping.His intentions were always pure.
Every once in a while he would even go so far as to bring home his purchase, declare it was for some family member, and hide it in his room so it wouldn't be inadvertently discovered. The fact that by that evening he was already opening it and eating or using it hardly mattered to Shawn's way of thinking.

Well, yesterday, I witnessed a semi miracle.

Right after he told me that he had bought a present for me and dad, he took it upstairs to hide it in his closet. I don't know for sure just what he got but I pretty much assume it is one of Wal-Mart's five dollar DVDs. That would be the most likely five dollar item for Shawn to buy at Wal-Mart.

I waited a bit.
I came upstairs to see what he was in his room watching.
I fully expected it to be mine and Don's present.

IT WAS NOT!

He told me to not come in his room because I wasn't supposed to be snooping. The present was in hiding in his closet. I was rather politely told to stay out. Hmm. Could it be? Is it just possible that my present isn't on tonight's TV viewing schedule after all.

Cut to today.

By 11:00 this morning he had referenced the gift hiding in his closet no less than 30 times. Of particular worry was the exciting fact that Jeff and Heidi and Abbey and Lindsay would be here in a few days.
Shawn loves his nieces. He and Lindsay have a particularly close bond. They have been known to sit in his room watching movies and Mickey Mouse cartoons for hours on end. I guess this is what had him worried.
He mentioned over and over that when his nieces, Abbey and Lindsay (specific names are always used. I guess to avoid any confusion) get here he will tell them that they are NOT allowed to look in his closet.
Apparently this is one huge concern for him. It's easy to tell because by 1:00 he has mentioned it to me at least 50 times.

I told him that I had a rather handy little solution to any supposed snooping by two little nieces. This is after I had already pointed out to him several times that the girls aren't likely to even want to look in his closet if he doesn't say anything to them about it.

I mention to him that the best way to prevent any unwanted snooping would be to wrap that pesky old present up.

Light Bulb Moment!

Oh boy! (This said while rubbing his hands. His favorite way to show excitement) I honestly don't think he had thought that far ahead. All of a sudden the new Dollar Store Christmas wrapping paper that I had bought a few days ago, takes on a whole new importance.

Yes you got that right, I got it at the Dollar Store. They have some really good stuff.

Sometimes.

After a thorough inspection of all the Christmas wrap we have at the moment, it is formally decided that the Disney Pluto wrap will be best suited to his gift wrapping needs.

I offer to find him scissors and tape.

Which is quite silly of me. I strongly suspect that Shawn is a big reason why there is never any tape or scissors to be found in our house.
He seems to have things well under control so I get back to my sewing. I have procrastinated to the point that I now have, like, ten things to make in six days.

Not to worry. I can handle it. I've done it before.

A little while later Shawn comes downstairs to inform me that the present is wrapped. Obviously he is awaiting further instruction.
I ask him if he would like to put it under the tree. Oh BOY! Does he ever want to put it under the tree.

It is of some importance to the situation for me to mention that we don't have any presents under the tree just yet. (I'm almost done with the shopping I just haven't gotten around to any wrapping).

I assume that is the reason he felt the need for permission to stick it under that empty tree.

So, at the moment, the Sorenson household has exactly ONE present under our tree. From Shawn to mom and dad.

Now please understand that this is really a big deal. I don't think Shawn has ever before,
A. Gone shopping with real money (plus tax) to buy a Christmas present and not claimed it for himself in the first 24 hours.

And,
B. Actually wrapped said present all by himself, AND placed it under the tree.

As to what it will turn out to be, well, I have no delusions as to what it will most likely be. Remember when Homer bought Marge a bowling ball with the holes drilled to fit HIS hand? Remember when Fred Flintstone got Wilma a set of golf clubs with his name engraved on the bag.

Uh huh. Get my point here?

I am well aware that it is almost for sure going to be a five dollar dvd that Shawn felt our household was badly in need of. In fact, Shawn couldn't resist showing Kelly what he had got for mom and dad.

DON'T WORRY.
Kelly's no bean spiller.
He simply let me know that it is exactly what I would expect a Shawn present to be.
None of these details are of any real importance. The thing that matters to me is the fact that my Mr Shawn has done something that he's never done before.

He went Christmas shopping.

He bought something for me.

He didn't give into temptation and decide he needed it more than I did.

He wrapped it.

He placed it under the tree.

And now,

he will discover that special joy that comes with the knowledge that he has done something nice for someone else,
and,
if he can last the next week without telling, he will be treated to one of the best "happy & surprised" reactions I've ever given to anyone!

I will start practicing immediately.

Sitting here thinking. . .

I know I have been doing quite a few posts lately asking you to first go read another post, but I want you to go read this post that Lisa's brother David published just recently.
Wasn't that a wonderful story about an incredible dog?
Well reading it reminded of something I had been thinking about just last week.

First, a little background

I am a Mormon. I'm pointing this out because having been born and raised in the church I find sometimes that I don't have a lot of knowledge of what other Christian churches believe.
As Mormons we believe that everything that our Heavenly Father has created, that is alive, has a spirit. Someone once told me that other Christians only feel that humans have spirits, not animals. I have a hard time believing this though, so, if I'm wrong on that please feel free to correct me.

I always enjoy hearing about other's beliefs.

Okay, now you will know where this idea of mine is coming from. And let me make it clear that this is entirely MY own idea. As far as I know this has never been official Church doctrine. Of course we believe that we are all able to learn things and figure certain questions out on our own. We believe that each person is entitled to personal revelation. Usually it is meant to mean that we can pray for and receive inspiration to help our family or anyone else we have stewardship over. But a lot of the time it's wanting to know things to help us have a better understanding of God and his good works.
Here is my question, and the answer I have come up with;

Do animals pray?

I have realized that I believe they do. Every time I hear about some heroic feat performed by an animal, I can't help but think, wow, that is one righteous dog.

Or cat. Or bird. maybe even ferret.

I think that since animals have spirits, that they are just as aware of a loving Heavenly Father as we are. Now I don't know about the lower life form creatures. I can't really comprehend a slug or frog or rattlesnake being very aware of their God. But then who knows. Maybe having a spirit, no matter how limited their intelligence, gives every living creature some vague, remote, idea, of something out there greater than themselves. I'm not going to tire myself out by thinking about something like that.

I do believe though that the more intelligent animals do have some kind of knowledge of their creator.

I'm sure that everyone has heard stories of people's pets performing amazing acts. How many times have we heard about a dog or cat finding their way home after being left somewhere hundreds of miles away from home?
It's a complete mystery as to how they could do something so amazing. And how about those animals who save people's lives. How do they know that someone is in trouble and needs help? Quite often they even know that something is about to happen before it even does.
They can be trained to sense when their owner is about to have an epileptic seizure. We all know about the wonderful companion animals who provide their selfless service to their blind, deaf or quadriplegic masters.

On the other hand, there are definitely animals who are just plain bad. Dogs who attack and kill for their own satisfaction.
Remember that chimpanzee who attacked and almost killed it's owners next door neighbor? I think that just like humans animals can be wicked as well as incredibly good.

The next time you hear of an animal who has done something amazing, the next time a dog shows up at his home after being lost several hundred miles away, stop and think about how they were able to know what they knew.

I have no way of knowing if it's true, but I think that it is quite likely that they know their Heavenly Father. They know that he will guide them, either back home, or, to find someone who can help in whatever situation where they realize that help is desperately needed.
The next time a cat wakes up his owner because the house is on fire, or the baby has crawled outside and is heading for the pool.

Ask yourself, how?

No matter how mysterious what they have done is, we know that there has to be some kind of explanation. So is it too far fetched to wonder if an animal's prayers are simply being heard and answered?






A last thought;

If this is interesting to you, go and google something like "heroic pets" you might see more and more evidence of Divine influence than you would have ever thought possible.

One last, last, thought;

I realize that I didn't actually define my ideas about animals praying. Animals are animals. they are not humans, so therefore the way they think and act would be according to whichever way a dog or cat would think or act. I didn't mean that they would literally get on their knees and say a formal prayer. That is how we humans pray. I won't presume to guess how different species go about their interactions with God. I'm sure that it is in a much more primitive way than we ever would. My point is that I believe that in their own way they are just as aware of God and his blessings as any human could ever be.

wisdom

A Note of Warning: I know that this post is going to be extra long. I hope you will stick with me though. I think this is going to end up being one of my favorite posts of all time. Please take the time as well, to go to my daughter's post that I refer to and read the list of things that have inspired me to write this one.


I just read my daughter Heidi's newest post. She received an e-mail of beautiful thoughts and ideas written by a very wise woman named Regina Brett. Follow this link to her post and please take the time to read them all. You won't be sorry.

After reading this wonderful list I found that I was quite pleased at how many of these tenets I already have learned to follow. Even though several of them have taken me around 48 years or more to learn. I look at myself and realize how much more I like me, certainly more than I did 20 or 30 years ago.

I know that so many of the things I have learned can usually only come with age.
I sure hope that if I can make it to my 90's that I will have as much wisdom to share as Ms. Brett does.
A few of those little "pearls of wisdom" really resounded with me.

Non-assuming Number 17 struck me like a thunder bolt.

I realized that I already follow this one quite a lot. In fact the thing that I immediately thought of was the 2 dollar bill that I won from David several months ago in one of his blog giveaways.

I will never spend it.

I simply keep it in one of my drawers. Every time I'm looking through them for something and I see that perky little 2 dollar bill, I just have to smile.
The same thing goes for a wooden paper doll that I've had for so long I can't even remember when I got it. I absolutely remember how I got it though. My youngest sister Janice had taken a trip somewhere, again, I can't remember where. Anyway she went into this charming little rustic store, where she saw a display of little wooden "paper" dolls.

I have loved paper dolls my whole life. Janice knows that about me, which is what motivated her to get it for me.

I have also always loved making them. When I was a kid I was forever making them and building up their wardrobes to the point that there have probably never been better dressed paper dolls. My most recent paper doll making was about ten years ago for my youngest Courtney. One day I just got the urge and decided to make a series of dolls for her and her best friend Karleen to play with. They took them to school and played with them at recess. After a while several of the other fourth grade girls wanted to play with them too. So I made copies.
It makes me happy to remember those little dolls. I actually still have them and sometimes I bring them out and let Abbey, Lindsay, Alexandra and Lorelai play with them.

My main point here is, that i have a darling little wooden doll that my sister Janice got me years and years ago. I keep it in one of my drawers. I come across her quite often and each time I pull her out, I can't help but smile as I think of my sister getting her for me, "just because".

Another thing in one of my drawers, (i do actually have clothes in them as well. Really.) Is a Happy Meal, International, Dutch Barbie. I am part Dutch and I was thrilled to be able to get her. I almost missed out because she was one of the first distributed and by the time I knew there had been a "Dutch" Barbie, I was told that they were all out of that one. Lucky for me that I have a well developed sense of tenacity. It took a while but I finally snagged one at the McDonald's in Richland.

It's a Long Story.

Again, I've had her for so many years I can't even remember just how long it has been. I've even left her in her plastic wrapper, you know, just in case she's ever worth something? Which is totally moot at this point seeing as how i would NEVER part with her.

Last, but absolutely, not least, of my little treasures, and also the oldest, is a darling china, fat little pink and white piggy bank with the sweetest little wreath of flowers around her head. I got her at a present swap when I was seven years old and in Girl Scouts. As soon as she was opened by another girl it was instant love for me. I tried my hardest to get her when my turn came around.

And I did!

And then nasty little Nancy took her from me.

Ooh, I have never felt such white hot intense hatred towards another person as I did that day in my friend Janey's basement. I have mentioned before that my little Lorelai has that same hot temper that I had at that young age.
I did have enough grace to not haul off and slug her right in her nasty, smug, little face. But what I did do was get up and run upstairs and flop myself down on my friend Janey's couch and burst into a completely uncontrollable crying fit.
I don't remember which girl it was anymore, but one of the girls got it away from stupid Nancy.

Bless her sweet seven year old heart.

I heard footsteps coming upstairs, and I knew I was probably in for a major chastisement. Instead it was sweet little seven year old girl, who's name I can't remember and Janey's mom.
The little girl handed me the piggy bank.
For just a moment I didn't know if I was going to keep crying or if I would laugh.

Again, that is a detail that escapes me.

All I know is that the dusting powder that I had been booby prized with, went home with my sweet little seven year old savior. And the pink and white piggy bank with the wreath of flowers around her head went across the street to my house with me.

It hardly matters that my dear little "Piglet" has been broken three times over the years. Each time due to a naughty little brother.
(Don't worry Mike and Brian, I won't name names)
Each time I lovingly glued her back together. Wait, , , ,now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure that the third time, it was broken by my own child.
Donald always was too curious and inquisitive for his own good.

Today my little "Piglet" sits in a place of honor on top of my dresser. If Courtney didn't want to inherit her so bad I swear I would want her to be buried with me.

These things that I have talked about, for me, are the best kinds of things to keep.

I have so many small things that I really love. Most of them are items that someone going through my drawers would look at and never guess that those seemingly small, trivial, little possessions are of great importance to me.
And you know what little piece of wisdom I realize I have learned from all of this?
I, like most people, would put my family;
my dear husband Don, of 33 years;
My five wonderful children and my cherished son and daughter-in-law;
My five precious granddaughters;
Obviously, I put them ahead of anything else of importance in my life.

That certainly doesn't mean however that in case a fire, once I knew that my loved ones were safe and accounted for, that I wouldn't want to go back in and grab as many of my treasured items as I could.
Consequently, if I was to lose everything except my family I would be sad to have lost these few beloved items that mean so much to me.
The comfort would be, of course, that even if I was to lose them all, I would always have my memories of them.

As I sit here and write this up I just can't help but be thankful for the wisdom I have gained. I know and understand SO much more now at 52 than I would have ever thought possible at, say, 28.

I have absolutely no fear of getting old.

I know that the wrinkles will come, I can only assume that my really bad knees will get even worse. I will most likely lose a little more of my hearing and my eyesight. I may even find that I have no control over whether I fart or not.
Ya know what?
Big deal.
Bring on those years.
I can hardly wait!


side note; my next post will hopefully be pictures of the little treasures I have talked about here. I just need to get Lisa over here with her camera.

The coat that tried to eat me

I needed a new coat. My others had gotten too big. So, a few weeks ago while shopping at my friendly neighborhood Kohls, (neighborhood is actually a bit of a stretch, it's roughly seven miles away) I suddenly realized that I needed a new coat.

The fact that the coats were all on sale for 50 % off was a pretty good reminder.

I started trying on. Eventually I found two that I really loved. One of them was a beautiful black wool coat that I fell in love with immediately. Then, wouldn't ya know, that I just happened to look up a few racks and saw coat number two. It was red with a really warm fur type lining. I had to have that coat. Hmmm.

What to do?

What to do?

Well, I did the only logical thing and got them both.

The black coat is my absolute favorite, so I started to wear it right away. The red coat comes in at a very close second, and, it's quite a lot warmer due to the "fur" lining.
This last week and a half has been really COLD. Yesterday for example was around 22 degrees but felt a lot colder when you factor in the Wind Chill.

Well Saturday, I needed to go to Fred Meyer. It was cold so red coat got her chance to prove her stuff. She did a great job at keeping me warm.

There was just one teeny tiny little problem.

The longer I wore her, the smaller she got.

Go ahead, laugh, mock.
I'm well aware of how bizarre that sounds.

But the truth remains that my new red coat started getting tighter and shorter (in the sleeves and shoulders that is) the longer I had it on.

It took me a while to really notice just what was going on.

Screeeeeeeech, I have to back up a bit and mention the first real sign of a problem. Funny how quickly things can be forgotten.

You see, a few days earlier I had worn her to Walmart. It wasn't too cold that day. It mostly just felt like a Red Coat Day to me. Under that red coat I was wearing a scoop necked sweater with elbow length sleeves. After about an hour things started to feel kind of weird. It took me a while to figure out why. I wanted to try on a few items and in the dressing room I discovered what was wrong. That coat had pulled the sweater I was wearing all the way off of my left shoulder. In fact the neck of my sweater was closer to my elbow than my face.

Weird.

Before I left the dressing room I made sure that my sweater was put back where it was meant to be. That red coat had other ideas. Within 15 minutes I could feel that my left shoulder was no longer covered.

Okay. I have established precedence here. Back to Saturday at Fred Meyer.
Again, it took me a while to figure out why my arms as well as armpits were all of a sudden feeling very tight. I looked down and saw my arms. The sweater I had on that day seemed to have grown in the length of the sleeves. they were about 2 inches longer than my hands. And to top it off, the coat sleeves were about 5 inches shorter than they had been when I had first put it on.

What the??????

I thought about taking the coat off and putting it back on, but I was afraid that with as tight as it had gotten I may not have been able to get it back on. Now this is important to understand. That coat fit me perfectly. It was loose enough that I could wear bulky sweaters underneath. The sleeves were just a little long, they hit around my knuckles. Not a problem for me. I'm used to sleeves being kinda long.

So you can imagine my horror to look down and realize that my coat was shrinking on me.
In fact when I got home, I couldn't even get it off it had gotten so tight. I had to have Don pull those sleeves off of me. That was the only way that silly coat was coming off.

Fast forward to Sunday.
When Donald, Lisa and the girls showed up for dinner, I just had to tell Lisa about my "Coat of Terrors". I knew she wouldn't believe me.
I mean would you?!?!

I didn't even completely believe it and I was the actual victim!

I decided a Show and Tell was in order. I put it on and did up the buttons. It took it a little bit but it started shrinking just as I knew it would.
The first noticeable thing of course were the sleeves of my sweater suddenly growing super long.

See Lisa! SEE?!?!

Well my little presentation had to be cut short.

A. I was really getting way too hot, and

B. I was making dinner.

An activity not exactly suitable to the wearing of coats.
Oh well, I thought. I'll have to wait for another day.

Yesterday.
I had to go over to Donald and Lisa's for something. I realized that I now had my perfect opportunity for Lisa to see my coat in action.

Plus it was really, really, cold.

On with Miss Red Coat. Out to the van. Out of the garage and onto the street. Wait, wait, wait, for the van to warm up. Carefully feeling for signs of coat shrinkage. Not yet. Not YET. Oh but I know you too well Red Coat.

You and I both know that you can't resist forever.

I arrive at Lisa's. Of course I am greeted by a happy little Lorelai. Elisabeth is on the floor. I get down and play with her. She is up on her hands and knees! She is also in complete "I love grandma" mode. Kisses and more kisses. Elisabeth loves giving kisses. She also loves being kissed.

All the while, no matter how awkward, I keep Miss Red ON.

Elisabeth's therapist shows up so I get ready to take off. I go to the bank to make a car payment. I almost head for home, but,

GUESS WHAT????
Red Coat has done her incredible shrinking act on me yet again!
I head right back to Lisa's. Therapy is still going on, but I know my dear Daughter-in-Law.

Lisa absolutely can NOT turn up a chance for a good Photo.

She takes pictures of me in my shrunk coat.

Tah Daaah!

YES!

Finally!

The photographic proof I needed!

Now they will HAVE to believe me.
So, to prove that I am not crazy. And also NOT Paranoid.
Here are pictures to prove that my coat comes alive and tries to squeeze me to death.

Here we see Miss Red Coat shortly after I put her on. See how innocent she looks.

Okay, here we see that she has started her nasty little shrinking fit. Trust me, it gets even worse, the longer I wear it.

Do you believe me now?

Oh. And since she is still my most favorite. And she does NOT shrink on me. And even though she may not be as warm as Miss Psycho Red coat. I still really love her. So, she gets her picture on this post too.

Clever Clever Me

Sometimes I am so resourceful and clever that I even amaze myself. I'll let YOU be the judge here.

All I wanted was a nice little pair of Blue Shoes.

I say "nice" and "little" as in, I didn't want to pay over thirty dollars for them. In fact under ten would have been nice.
I have been searching the Internet trying to find a pair of dark blue shoes that
A. don't look orthopedic
B. aren't too dressy
C. aren't too casual
D. are flats
And
E. are CHEAP!

Wouldn't you think that with all of the Internet, that finding just the right shoes would have been a walk in the park?

HA! As if.

The other issue at hand is that I'm really irresponsible when it comes to sending things back. Even when they pay for it. I knew that this would most likely be a problem because I have a monster of a time finding shoes that not only fit, not only are comfortable, but that will also stay on my feet.
I honestly don't know why but with a lot of shoes, even though they might fit just fine, after the first step or two they will not stay on my heels.

It's like I take a step and the shoes don't.

I certainly can't keep putting my foot back into my shoes every two or three steps. Does anyone else have that problem?

Well, a few weeks ago, Payless Shoes teamed up with Oprah. For two days at the end of October, you could go to Oprah's web page and print out a coupon for 50% off everything in the store.
My daughter Heidi was the one who alerted me to it.

Thank you Heidi!

I got there an hour and a half before they closed. On the last day for the coupon. Things were sort of picked over. I did find a couple pairs of shoes, a nice purse, some socks and even a cute necklace though.

One of the pairs of shoes was a cute little black and white tweed number. For less than nine dollars even.
That was with the half off.
I wasn't entirely sure what I would wear them with at the time, I just thought they were cute and being half off made them even cuter.
Here is a picture of them.

Well, for the next few weeks I wore them only once. It just seemed like they didn't go with anything as well as some of my other shoes did. I started to feel like those sweet little black and white shoes were becoming the Elephant in my closet. I kept seeing them and feeling guilty for neglecting them but what could I do?

I certainly didn't want to take them back. How could I not keep them?

They had only cost me 8.50$.

This is when I started toying with the idea of somehow taking those nice little shoes and making them useful.

I couldn't help but notice all of the white on them. What is white mostly good for, I asked myself?

Why, to be colored any color you would want. I answered myself.

Hmmmm. Black and White shoes. A need for some dark blue shoes.

think think think think think

YES! I will color those little white sections BLUE!

Now for the

"Method"

I considered RIT dye.

Much too messy.

Also anything I have ever dyed has always bled onto everything else.

Not an attractive quality in a pair of shoes.

That's when I thought of my rather large collection of Sharpie Markers. Have you ever accidentally gotten sharpie marker on an item of clothing? Yeah? Just try and get it off.

If it won't come off when you accidentally get it on something then it certainly stands to reason that if you purposely put it on something it won't be going anywhere.

WHOOO HOOOO!

Problem solved.

Blue shoes coming UP!

I have to admit that it was hard to start. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I might just be ruining a perfectly good pair of shoes. That, of course, is the beauty of having a cheap pair of shoes that you've only worn once.

I mean, how bad could it be?

I started coloring. It was much easier than I had imagined it would be. Those shoes were practically begging for that color.

The only problem was that they started to look almost more purple than blue. The fact that I've also been after a nice pair of purple shoes didn't escape my attention. But NO! I was going to have blue shoes no matter what.

I finally decided to get my light blue marker and go over them with it as well.

You know? So as to increase the blueness?

It worked. That light blue added not only a little more blueness to those shoes but also a bit more depth and dimension.

Am I happy with the results?

Do dogs pee in the snow?

Yes I am HAPPY!

I now have me some lovely BLUE SHOES!

And I did it all myself.

So go ahead and color me HAPPY!

And now for the pictures

I've been thinking that some olive green shoes would be nice.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Do they make olive green sharpies?

To further the Controversy

First of all, for this post to make any sense you will need to go to my daughter's blog here to read about this scandalous family happening of ours.
Be sure and read all the comments. They're actually the best part.

Go ahead. I promise to wait.

I have decided that since one of our family's most sacred recipes is "out" I might as well stoke the fire by publishing our very most private, never before heard of by anyone outside of the family, secret, no make that super secret, handed down from mother to daughter for more years than anyone can remember, secretest of secret, family recipes.

You can only read the recipe if you promise, on all that you hold sacred and dear, to never, NEVER, ever, even on pain of death, share it with anyone else.

Okay. I realize I am taking my very life in my hands here. I figure though that it is high time that we share this most secret recipe with the rest of the world.

It's really the only decent thing to do.
Drum roll please.
Tataatatatatatatatatatatatatatttttaaaaatttttaaaatttttt

The super secret Brinkerhoff (my maiden name) Family recipe never to be shared with anyone outside of the family. . . . . . . .

You realize, that I will probably lose my rights to the family cookbook after this shameful betrayal.


***************Cinnamon Sugar*****************

1cup sugar

1 T cinnamon

Works best with a food processor. If you don't have one a bowl and spoon will do in a pinch.

CAREFULLY measure out ONE cup of sugar. Absolutely must be ONE cup. Not one cup and one half teaspoon. Not one cup minus a fourth of a teaspoon. EXACTLY ONE CUP.
Just as carefully measure out one tablespoon of cinnamon. Same stringent rules apply as for the sugar.

Now this is where it gets really tricky.

With the utmost of care, pour the sugar into food processor making sure to not let even one grain fall on the counter. As stated earlier, in case of no food processor a bowl may be used.

(Results not guaranteed with this method however.)
With equal care pour in the one tablespoon of sugar.
Now, turn on and process for exactly one minute and twelve seconds. If doing by hand set timer to one minute, twelve seconds, and stir carefully so as not to cause any to fly out of the bowl.

If you have followed these instruction to the letter hopefully you will have a successful batch of Cinnamon sugar.
I realize that with a recipe of this extreme difficulty that it sometimes can take years to perfect your technique. Don't be discouraged. Keep at it and one day you will be able to make a cinnamon sugar that even great, great, great, great, (twice removed) aunt Bertha would be proud to call her own.

Suggested uses for cinnamon sugar:

Sprinkle on toast after buttering.

Sprinkle over any baked apple recipe.

This is also the secret ingredient for another super, super, secret family recipe called Cinnamon Rolls. I don't dare mention anything more about what those are however. I do have to live with these people in my family you know.

Well, I have risked quite a lot to sneak this secret recipe out of the family recipe vault. I'm sorry for the level of difficulty, and I most sincerely hope that you can master it and try for yourself the heavenly delights of
Cinnamon sugar

Shhhhhhhh, you didn't hear it from me.

Oooops. Thank you little brother for pointing out my mistake here. I said to put in a Tablespoon of sugar. I meant cinammon of course. I think that my inate fear of the atrocity I was committing must have overcome me. So take away that extra tablespoon of sugar and make it cinammon.

Oh NOOOOO!
I think I hear them coming!

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Three Movie Reviews. Caution! May be Extra Long.

I thought it might be fun to give a few movie reviews for my most recently seen films. These are all movies that I saw with Shawn. For the most part I would have to say that he enjoyed all three of them,
but only one of them earned his highest stamp of approval.
That would involve him telling me, as we walk out of the theater, that he wants to get it on DVD.

First up would be;



I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this film. I would love to be able to say that this was a beloved childhood book for me, but it really wasn't.

According to the stats, it was written in 1963, which would have put me at six years old. I have no memory of it at that age though. I don't think I was even aware of it until my little brother brought it home from his elementary school library. I must have been around 15. I thought it was a pretty cool little book, but nothing too remarkable.

My point here, is that I came to the movie without any preconceived notions.
I liked the movie. I even feel that it should be seen on the big screen. Not just as a rental.
I wanted to love it but didn't. I did however fall in love with Max Records.He's the boy who plays Max in the movie.

I think this kid could very well be the next Dakota Fanning.

First of all, he is an absolutely beautiful child. And as for his acting skills, he was incredible. His performance was so natural and real that it was easy to forget that you were watching a movie. He was that spot on perfect. His "Max" was completely believable as a rambunctious but also troubled little boy. You weren't supposed to hate him. And I didn't. Maybe because I have raised three boys myself, I could see his vulnerability and confusion at being the youngest in a somewhat chaotic environment. He wasn't a bad child by any stretch of the imagination.

He simply was part of a world where he had no clearly defined place.

Max ends up traveling to a new world where he finds himself in the same predicament.

The community of Wild Things turns out to be as much a place of disorder and confusion as Max's real world had been


With one big difference.
In this world, he is able to take control and establish himself as the leader and rule maker.

For a while at least.

As he becomes the one responsible for order and stability Max starts to realize how hard life is for the person in charge.
He learns that, being the leader, becomes a matter of employing one big bluff after another. His new friends/dependants the "Wild Things" end up wanting the same things from him that he had previously expected from his mother and sister. Things that he doesn't know how to give them. The more he tries to give his new "subjects" what he thinks they want, the more dissatisfied and discontent they become with him.
They even suggest that destroying him (death by being eaten), if he can't satisfy their expectations, is by no means out of the question.

The film is visually quite stunning. His new world seems to have an unending array of different environments and climates.

The story, what there is of it, is neither easy or hard to follow.
It just "is".
It turned out to be, for me at least, one of those rare, odd, movies that I find it hard to have a definite opinion on. However I can say that, I liked the originality of it. I thought the acting was superb. The "Wild Things" which the Jim Henson people get the credit for bringing to life, were fun to watch.
All in all, I think the best recommendation I can give it is this; If you have a nice, vivid, unlimited imagination, then you will most likely find something about it to like. And, even if you decide you don't like it, you will most likely at least "understand" it.
On the other hand, if you prefer your movies straight up, with not a hint of ambiguity, and very little plot to speak of, then you might want to miss this one.

Next up;

No hidden meaning or agenda to this movie. Just a lot of good sticky, messy and stinky fun. I doubt I will ever watch it a second time, even if I do buy it for Shawn when it comes out.

Yes this is the one he liked best.

It's a cute story about a young man trying to find acceptance from his peers. He is an inventer, who comes up with a way to have food of all kinds fall from the sky.

Like if the army's MRE's were to breed with a well loved restaurant, and then turn into weather.

As can be expected, things go from wonderful to sketchy to world wide devistation in less time than it would take to eat even a fraction of one of those heaven sent meals.

And of course, things look quite desperate and hopeless for a while. In the end though, everything works out well, our hero ends up with the girl, a huge mound of orange jello is involved, and he goes on to invent for another day.

This really was a fun and colorful movie.

I loved the "IceCream, Snow Day".
To sum it all up, there were lots of colors, lots of action, lots of fun characters. Along with an easy to follow story. A really good family film that even the youngest children should enjoy.




And last but not least;

This one is my favorite of the three. Shawn? Not so much. I really enjoyed every minute of this movie.
It told a good story.
I loved the look of it as well. Very clean looking animation. I won't get too far into the story for two good reasons.
1) This post is already going to be too long.
and
2) The story is the movie, more or less. It's more fun to discover it on your own than to hear about it through the third person.

One quick note here:
I wouldn't take young children to see it.

The young hero Toby, is killed rather early on. Shawn was quite disturbed by his death. I think it kind of tainted the rest of the movie for him. Without going into details a new "Toby" is created and the movie is more or less "his" story.
At times it's a little predictable. But, at least in my opinion, it didn't ruin things one bit. There are definitly some political themes running through the story as well. Nothing too controversial. Just enough to get your attention.
The whole matter of what makes up humanity, an idea that has seen the light of day in several books, plays, TV shows, and more than a few other movies, is explored.
Again, nothing earth shattering here. Just a nice little film, with a nice little moral, told in a completely non-threatening, but nicely colorful way.

That is it for my movie reviews. There are quite a few other movies I expect to go see soon.
"The Men who Stare at Goats"
"The Vampire's Assistant" (might be too late, have to check)
"Disney's Christmas Carol"
"Planet 51"
"The Blind Side"
And, after all of the ridiculous furur has died down,
"New Moon"
What films have you seen (and liked or not).
And which ones are you looking forward to?
I'd love to hear.