May 26, 2009

If the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

I have a post brewing on Brain Candy. In my last post on favorite reads, I made it appear that I was some sort of Serious Reader wiling away the hours on her chaise lounge reading thought-provoking books, then staring deep into the distance, thoughtfully lost in her thoughtful thoughts.

You know, thinking.

Oh sure, I usually am reading something High-Falootin', but I always have some Brain Candy tucked away on a side table, too. As such, I updated on that post, "I realize this is a High-Falootin' List of Favorite Books. I am going to put together a list of Down n' Dirty list of reads. Total brain candy - the kind laden with artificial sugar, badly photoshopped covers and S-E-X. And some mystery." I am taking Team Chaos to Redneck Vegas (aka Branson, MO) this week, but the post will probably come out next week.

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We had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday, I took the kids to the KC Jiggle Jam. I am not sure what to say about it. Um, the kids had a blast. As they should have - it was a festival for kids, no? And I enjoyed watching them have a blast. What I did not enjoy was all the cloying kiddie music, the junk food smells, the shelling out of precious, precious dollars for everything, the parking, the manuevering of the stroller on stairs to get between the two stages (NO ramps, NONE) and the sweating. Oh my, the sweating. At one point, I tweeted "Am melted. Actually, am PAST melted. Have gone beyond a liquid form and am now in a gaseous state. Folks, it is HOT."

But.

I met Dee and her family there and it was fun to hang out with someone I never get to see. And again, the kids had so much fun. Which means that I can most definitely see us heading out the KC Jiggle Jam next year and I would even consider making it a Weekend and staying in a hotel near by. While praying for snow, because good grief, it was HOT.

On Sunday, I took the kids to Overland Park Arboretem and Botanical Gardens. I was blown away, folks. WOW. I have always been impressed with the place and always thought it a perfectly lovely place to stroll around, but I only got out there once last year and WOW. They have done some amazing things out there in the meantime! I cannot wait to go back again. What a beautiful, special place to take your family to for a simple Sunday walk. And it is free, folks.

On Monday? The weekend took a weird, odd turn. First, I should explain for the folks just joining the program that X and I are not a DIY kind of people. Actually, I do not mind doing things around the house and truthfully, the tools were all purchase by ME. My children have never graced the aisles of Lowe's with their father. No, that honor was bestowed upon them by Yours Truly.

However, I got frustrated doing everything by myself, so I gave up. And X? I blame it on his being Indian, this reluctance to pick up a hammer, the inability to differentiate between a Phillips versus a Standard. The Sisterhood of the Masala can chime in - perhaps, I am wrong?

When we moved into this house, I bitterly complained about the nasty landscaping in the front. The horrible evergreens. Bleh. The prickly bayberry. However, X got all Gandhi over my ass and said it was silly to kill perfectly good plants. Wasteful! But then? Over the years, our neighbors tore out their nasty landscaping. And a few weekends ago, our next door neighbors tore out their evergreens themselves. Within a single day, the front of their house was transformed. It was most certainly awe-inspiring.

So, X promised to help with some yard work over the weekend - a rarity to be sure. We were going to put some branches that I had already cut out for the pickup, pull some weeds. Your garden-variety yard work. Literally. So, on Monday, we went in the front and for whatever reason, one that I will never figure out - the latent Edward Scissorhands came out in X and he went cuh-razy. After 5 hours, 4 lawn bags, a full yard waste container (hastily borrowed from a neighbor), a curb full of branches and a pending call to the city for bulk pickup, we are staring down the shotgun barrel of 7 evergreen stumps and 4 bayberry stumps. Which we have no earthly clue how to remove. I attempted to take an ax to them, to which I swear I heard mocking snorts emanate from the ground.

Sigh.

KC Jiggle Jam



The Big Butt at the KC Jiggle Jam
Baby's got back? Indeed. This was an entrance to a bouncy house thingie. It looked like a monstrous, giant ASS. Literally, the ass cheeks were parted and then your child entered. Wrong, on so many levels.


Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens




Easy Rider

10 comments:

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

I see some digging to get those stumps out!

My parents are actually kind of crazily DIY-they're okay but not awesome which means you can kind of peg the DIY parts of the home. And we had to ban my dad on the powersaw because he used to use it to cut the weeds that grew in our creek (old house) and he ended up sawing off the tips of some of his fingers over the course of several years (we were a staple in the ER for a while, he'd pick them up and run screaming for one of us to drive him to the hospital). He actually doesn't have feeling in 4 of them as a result.

But, he and my mom actually refinished the basement of our house in Lexington, we redid the home ourselves when we moved in (took off all the carpet, sanded everything, painted everything etc.) and they still do a lot of stuff around the house. It's a little bit of a tragecomedy though-as we all have skin allergies and it's always a treat to see who will be taken down by severe hives over whatever polyurethane, paint, sealer is used.

And they're big gardners because you know they have to have their special Indian vegetables. OMG, watering the bloody aloo patch was the bane of my teenage years.

Anjali said...

What adorable pictures! It looks like it was a grand time!

Candy @ Mommypalooza said...

thank you for coming out and supporting KC Jiggle Jam! I am thrilled your family had a blast! We're already busy planning for next year so mark your calendar for Memorial Day 2010! :)

Candy Tai
Jiggle Jam Board Member
www.mommypalooza.com
www.candydish.typepad.com

Moderndayhermit said...

What great photos!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe Anjali - what a precious doll! And Arun is so cute and getting to be so grown up!

Alex just saw Anjali and said, "Mommy, whose that? She's CUTE!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Dee said...

I'm so glad we got to meet up at Jiggle Jam. It was great seeing you again and I just love that picture of Evie and Anjali!

Olivia said...

We are a DYI household for most minor jobs. I would actually like to do more, like learn how to install light fixtures, but hubby says professionals are needed on all electric.But, I am lazy when it comes to the yard and he is NOT. Our small yard work projects often end up much like yours with X.

We dug out two evergreen bushes a couple of years ago because the roots were growing into our sewer line. It was hell.

CPA Mom said...

We hired a tree guy with a stump grinder when HP chopped down 6 trees. Awesome piece of machinery.

Your kids are just the cutest in the blogosphere. Seriously.

And the ass-opening jumpground? JUST SO WRONG.

Rozanne said...

That giant ass thing is absolutely horrifying. Thank goodness you included some cute kid at the arboretum (which is lovely!) photos to balance it out.

Anonymous said...

that is weird..(the butt thing) and really disturbing the more I look at it..i'm going to stop looking at it.

Miriam said...

I've enjoyed looking and reading your blog! Your children are just beautiful! I want to thank you again for choosing "The Blind Assassin"...I thought it was fantastic. Looking forward to getting to know you better as the book club rolls along. :) ~Miriam