September 28, 2007

you will probably want to wash your hands after you read this

There are 39 kids in Charlie’s preschool program; since Wednesday, 23 of them — and two of the three teachers — have come down with stomach flu.

Charlie’s teacher said, “This has to be some kind of record.”

Henry has it today.  I’m sure I will have it soon.  Charlie all better but is riding the wave of constant TV viewing that comes from having a sick sibling.

That’s all I’ve got.  Now I have to go watch more Scooby Doo with my kids and not think about how horrific it’s going to be when I start throwing up.

You’re welcome!

September 27, 2007

Mother Talk book review: The Spendor of Silence, by Indu Sundaresan

American readers often find Indian novels daunting; I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to who have said, “I tried to read [insert name of Salman Rushdie novel here] but I just couldn’t get through it.” We are put off by the intense reliance on magic realism and history, both of which are integral to the genre. American novels — let’s face it — are often divorced from history and fantasy.

But it is precisely this reliance on magic and history that give the Indian novel its remarkable texture and depth. And for readers who are daunted by Rushdie, Indu Sundaresans’s The Spendor of Silence offers a wonderful in: Sundaresan’s novel is both an Indian novel and an American novel, one that unfolds a classic adventure/love story against the backdrop of World War II.

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September 26, 2007

it’s going to get worse before I get better

So right after I said, oh there’s nothing going on here today? Remember that? Yeah.

All hell broke loose.

I went to the furniture store, because nothing inspires you to buy a damn sofa already like hiring an interior decorator (if only because you realize that for $60.00 an hour, you can pick out your own damn sofa). I sat on sofas, I choose fabric, I conned the VERY NICE sales associate into making me a computer mock up of said sofa with the EXACT arms and legs and fabric I want on it. I promised — nay, SWORE! — that I would send Wade back to sit on the sofa THIS VERY WEEKEND so we could order the damn thing already and get on with our lives.

I felt good. Because look at me, on death’s door, but still choosing upholstery fabric! Yay me!

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my handbag is from J. Crew, thanks for asking

I’m sick; I either have ebola or tuberculosis. Or maybe it’s just a head cold. Either way, I feel like crap and I really just want to crawl back into bed. Instead, I think I’m going to go shop for a sofa. Because maybe furniture shopping is easier when your head feels like it’s full of cotton wool.

Speaking of cotton wool, a post I wrote for ParentDish about Zahara Jolie-Pitt’s couture handbag has gotten over 120,000 hits today. Which is even more remarkable when I tell you that I probably spent less than ten minutes on the whole post, and most of that was trying to get the damn picture properly sized. When I told Chris about this, she said, “Don’t people have anything better to do?” I assume she meant the hundred thousand people reading the post and leaving smart comments like “WHO CARES?!?” over and over again, not me. Although I do have to admit that I ALSO read an article about what the tooth fairy brings Maddox (fifty dollars per tooth). But I drew the line at writing about that, because I have my limit. Also because I have a head full of cotton wool.

That’s pretty much it here, which explains why THIS site doesn’t get 120,000 hits a day. Coming tomorrow: a Very Smart Book Review of The Splendor Of Silence, by Indu Sundaresan. I’ll bet 120,000 people are DYING to read that.

September 24, 2007

talkin’ ’bout my generation

This was our first weekend of full-blown pee wee soccer. Henry has played a couple of seasons before this, but it was always in the little buddy leagues, the ones where the coaches are on the field with the kids and no one keeps score and the whole idea is to learn some skills and have fun.

Also, his teams have always sucked. What?!? It’s true.

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September 20, 2007

Catholic school has changed a LOT since I was a kid

In the car on the way home from soccer practice last night.

Henry: Jesus is the light.

Charlie: I did NOT know that.

Henry: I just learned that yesterday. From Mrs. Pierce.

Charlie: Who is Mrs. Pierce?

Henry: She teaches genuflection.