Planning Ahead For The "Big Day"

My son, who will turn 8 at the end of the month, often has a difficult time falling asleep at night. Like his father and his father's father he has a hard time turning off his brain. Frank has no problem sleeping, but has a tendency to start ruminating on a specific topic and then worry about it, then worry about worrying about it.

The apple does not fall far from the tree.

Evan usually vocalizes his worries, which is good in a way. I'm glad he feels he can talk to us about what's on his mind.

However.

When it's nearly 10:00 p.m. and he says, "Who will I take to Prom?" I have a hard time sympathizing.

Yes, this is what keeps my son awake at night: Prom.

He's worried the girl he's planning to ask will say no and nobody will dance with him.

I assured him that any girl would be thrilled to go to Prom with him; he's funny, smart, very kind and sweet, and cute as hell (I left the "as hell" part out).

Then I told him to go. to. sleep.

Prom is nine years away.

She's Of A Certain Age

My 5-year-old lost her first tooth last night and while I've long been aware of the "wobbly teeth" it sort of surprised me that Flynn's at that age when her baby teeth will start falling out of her head, pushed out by the teeth that will (hopefully) remain with her for the rest of her life.

The bottom two front teeth have been wobbly for a while now, slowly but surely working their way out of her head. She was really working the wobblier of the two, prolonging the time when her head should have been resting on her "My Little Pony" pillow. About 9:00 (waaaaaay past her normal bed time) she sat up, reached for a tissue on her night stand to soak up "all the blood" (there was maybe a teeny, tiny bit of blood in her mouth but she's all drama all the time). Not long after she stuffed the Kleenex in her mouth, she got this surprised look on her face, spat out the tissue and along with it her tooth. After showing her daddy and brother her little tooth, she placed it on her dresser and finally fell asleep.The Tooth Fairy paid her a visit and left her four shiny quarters, which she is carrying around counting them over and over again.

I predict the next tooth will join its departed neighbor within a week, it's that loose.

The Best Way To Ring In 2009

Yesterday after a fun-filled afternoon of bowling with my sister, her family and some friends, Frank decamped to the bedroom. He was sick, something he's been fighting since Christmas only this time it was intestinal (ewwww).

So the kids and I readied ourselves for a New Year's celebration that involved a picnic in the family room and Evan eating his weight in shrimp cocktail. After we changed into our jammies, we piled on the couch to watch the peerless Pee Wee's Big Adventure, one of my all-time favorite movies. The kids love the Pee Wee almost as much as I do and I can't think of a better way to welcome 2009 than watching Evan and Flynn dance along to this scene:

When the movie was over we adjourned to my bedroom for a family sleep over.

And I started my first book of the new year just before midnight.

Today we're continuing the celebration by watching the all-day Looney Tunes marathon on Cartoon Network. Frank's feeling much better and is currently building Legos with Evan. Flynn's playing with her new dolls.

So far 2009's turned out pretty good. Hope this bodes well for the other 364 days.

What I Loved, 2008

I keep a little notebook on my nightstand. In it I write down the books I read over the course of a year. In addition to the book's title and author, I usually jot a little note regarding my overall impression about that particular title.

A couple people asked for my favorites of the year. I narrowed it down to the top five in fiction and non-fiction.

Top 5 Fiction of 2008 (it was really, really hard to narrow it down to five):
1. Wintersmith - Sir Terry Pratchett (he was recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth)
2. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
3. An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England - Brock Clarke
4. The Pale Blue Eye - Louis Bayard
5. I Love You, Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle

Top 5 Young Adult Fiction of 2008:
1. Redwall - Brian Jacques
2. The Percy Jackson and The Olympians books (The Lightning Thief, et. al.) - Rick Riordan
3. Soon I Will Be Invincable - Austin Grossman
4. Zel - Donna Jo Napoli
5. The Twilight series - Stephanie Meyer

Top 5 Non-Fiction of 2008:
1. The Areas of My Expertise - John Hodgman
2. The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
3. The $64 Tomato - William Alexander
4. Blood Brothers - Michael Weisskopf
5. The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan - Wendy McClure

Top 5 Comic Books of 2008:
1. One Hundred Demons - Lynda Barry
2. Owly: A Time To Be Brave - Andy Runton
3. The Mouse Gaurds - David Peterson
4. Too Cool To Be Forgotten - Alex Robinson
5. Funhome - Alison Bechtel

With the good, you get the bad and I read some stinkers this year. Stay far away from the following books, the worst I read in 2008, if you know what's good for you:
1. Footsucker - Geoff Nicholson

2. Alligator - Lisa Moore (I have no recollection of reading this book, other than the fact that there are no alligators in it.)

3. Eye Contact - Cammie McGovern (my note for this says it all: "meh.")
4. Generation Ecstasy - Simon Reynolds
5. The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless - Ahmet Zappa (which is too bad because I love the title)

Leeanthro wondered what book I'd like to hear on audio. My choice is Terry Pratchett's bloody fantastic Wintersmith, mainly because I'd love to hear the Feegles (they have Scottish accents and are hilarious).

So there you go. Here's to a 2009 filled with great books, comics, poetry: beautiful, beautiful words.

A Year In Books or Take That, 90.

I know, I know.

I've been M.I.A. for about two weeks now - the longest I've gone without writing here while I've been at home (though I did spend four days in Chicago away from a computer). I've been busy what with Christmas and all (more to come later, especially a picture of Flynn and her new doll, Kit with their matching dresses).

It's that time of year when I list all of the books I read over the course of 2008 (I'm a day early but I'll finish my current book tonight).

(Deep breath in) Here goes:

1. The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
2. Toast - Nigel Slater
3. It's Not About The Tapas - Polly Evans
4. The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
5. Saturday - Ian McEwan
6. The Solace of Leaving Early - Haven Kimmel
7. Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony - Eoin Colfer
8. Alligator - Lisa Moore
9. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club - Laurie Notaro
10. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
11. Holy Cow - Sarah MacDonald
12. My Life As A Fake - Peter Carey
13. The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau
14. Mr. Timothy - Louis Bayard
15. Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music - Stephen Fry
16. March - Geraldine Brooks
17. The Pale Blue Eye - Louis Bayard
18. The Book of Ralph - John McNally
19. Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer
20. Tabloid Love - Bridget Harrison
21. The Death of Ivan Illyich - Leo Tolstoy
22. Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
23. The Meaning of Night - Michael Cox
24. Nature Noir - Jordan Fisher Smith
25. The Magic Circle - Donna Jo Napoli
26. Sirens - Donna Jo Napoli
27. Zel - Donna Jo Napoli
28. Spinners - Donna Jo Napoli
29. The Prince of The Pond - Donna Jo Napoli
30. Stones In Water - Donna Jo Napoli
31. Beast - Donna Jo Napoli
32. Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
33. History Lessons for Girls - Aurelie Sheehan
34. Everything Here Is Mine - Nicole Hollander
35. My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big Boned - Nicole Hollander
36. Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell
37. The Dead Beat - Marilyn Johnson
38. Girl - Blake Nelson
39. I Love You, Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle
40. The Areas of My Expertise - John Hodgman
41. What Did I Do Last Night? - Tom Sykes
42. The White Mountains - John Christopher
43. Interworld - Neil Gaiman & Michael Reaves
44. M Is For Magic - Neil Gaiman
45. Exile - Blake Nelson
46. Take The Canoli - Sarah Vowell
47. Footsucker - Geoff Nicholson
48. Paula Spencer - Roddy Doyle
49. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
50. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
51. Eye Contact - Cammie McGovern
52. The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin - Richard Lourie
53. I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith
54. Finbar's Hotel - Dermot Bolger, ed.
55. Peony In Love - Lisa See
56. Him Her Him Again The End of Him - Patricia Marx
57. After Dachau - Daniel Quinn
58. Candyfloss - Jaqueline Wilson
59. The Apprentice - Jacques Pepin
60. The Mouse Guards - David Peterson
61. Flying Dutch - Tom Holt
62. One Hundred Demons - Lynda Barry
63. Owly: A Time To Be Brave - Andy Runton
64. Too Cool To Be Forgotten - Alex Robinson
65. I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
66. Cat Getting Out Of A Paper Bag - Jeffrey Brown
67. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander MacColl Smith
68. Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
69. Bighead - Jeffrey Brown
70. Clumsy - Jeffrey Brown
71. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon
72. The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan - Wendy McClure
73. Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
74. Happiness Sold Separately - Lolly Winston
75. The Italian Secretary - Caleb Carr
76. Complications - Atul Gawande
77. Pigtopia - Kitty Fitzgerald
78. Eat This Not That! For Kids - David Zinczenko
79. The Places In Between - Rory Stewart
80. A Zoo In My Luggage - Gerald Durell
81. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
82. Georgie - Malachy Doyle
83. Now Is The Hour - Tom Spanbauer
84. Eat This Not That! - David Zinczenko
85. The Great God Pan - Donna Jo Napoli
86. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and D.O. Relin
87. Don't Try This At Home - Kimberly Witherspoon & Andrew Friedman, eds.
88. Mixed-Up Max - Dick King-Smith
89. Generation Ecstasy - Simon Reynolds
90. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
91. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
92. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
93. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer
94. Funhome - Alison Bechdel
95. The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Kelin
96. Nation - Terry Pratchett
97. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
98. Mississippi Sissy - Kevin Sessums
99. Snakes and Earrings - Hitomi Kanehara
100. Half-Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer
101. The Amulet - Kazu Kibuishi
102. Absurdistan - Gary Shteyngart
103. The $64 Tomato - William Alexander
104. Beautiful Stranger - Hope Donahue
105. S/He - Minnie Bruce Pratt
106. Wish I Could Be There - Allen Shawn
107. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
108. The Kiss and Other Stories -Kate Chopin
109. Undead and Unemployed - Mary Janice Davidson
110. Blood Brothers - Michael Weisskopf
111. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
112. An Arsonist's Guide To Writers' Homes In New England - Brock Clarke
113. Twelve - Nick McDonell
114. Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
115. Dragonslippers - Rosalind Penfold
116. The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless - Ahmet Zappa
117. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
118. The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan
119. The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan
120. Redwall - Brian Jacques

whew.

Yeah, one hundred and twenty. That's a lot of books.

Gingerbread House

Flynn and her fellow kindergartners made "gingerbread" houses today in class. The house is constructed with graham crackers and a milk carton. They had a blast and could hardly wait to take it home.

Flynn shared hers with Evan and they dove in almost as soon as we walked in the door.

They're so sugared up right now I believe they're vibrating.

I think I'll send them outside to play in the snow.

Lykke Li with "Little Bit"

This song, Little Bit by Swedish singer Lykke Li, hypnotizes me every time and I've been grooving to it for a couple of weeks now. It just crawls inside my brain and makes me want to move, if not like the dancers getting their freak on in this video, then something very similar.

Anyway, hope you like it as well.