Running late for school, I quickly got the kids dressed at headed for the door. Digging into my purse I pulled out money to put in their bags.
Mom "Here is some lunch money. I'm too stressed out to make lunches."
Ethan, "Great. Can we buy lunch everyday!?!"
Mom, "No. This is only for when Mom is stressed or running late."
Ethan, (quite reasonably, I must add) "Well. Can you be stressed on Thursday? They are having Nachos."
Alaina was telling her brothers that her friend's grandma had just turned 99. Ethan couldn't believe what he heard and came over to me, shaking his head. He solemnly told me the sad fact he had just heard, "Kylie's grandma is 99. "
I just found a cartoon video of Ben Hur, with the main character voiced by Charlston Heaston. I had to buy it because it made me think about Mom. After we watched the show, Alaina came up to me extremely concerned. "How do we catch Tiger?" That one took me a minute. Finally, I realized what she meant. "You mean, leprosy?" Glad I finally understood, she sighed, "Yes. how do you catch leopard-sy?"
These last few days, Alaina has been fixated on the history of Martin Luther King and is incredulous how people were willing to be so discriminatory. She has become a faucet of questions and comments about the subject. One comment that especially moved me was concerning a video she saw. "I am so proud of those kids who got sprayed by the fire-hoses. They really controlled their emotions and didn't want to fight or yell or anything. But I don't understand. Why did the firemen spray them? I thought they were suppose to be good guys!" It is so true. It is a hard history that we have to learn from. We talked about how hard it is to stand up when you are the only one who is willing to do what is right. It is so much harder a task than when everyone around you is making good choices. And even good people can make bad choices and how some bad people can have important jobs. Whew. That girl jumps into the heaviest conversations so early! And then there are the boys. "I just colored a picture of Martin Luther King. Cool." End of story.
On a much lighter note, I just saw the most wonderful sight I've ever seen at church. A woman with long, very pretty, gray hair, down to her waist with a short, but not quite mini skirt was sporting, I kid you not, midnight blue, solid tights that glowed with a purple iridescent hue when she moved. Awesome. I had to look back. Twice. The best part is realizing that it is most likely impossible to find tights like that in the stores today. I haven't seen them since I was in high school and painting my lashes with blue/green or purple mascara...all dependant on my righteous, totally rad outfit I had picked out. So, she's had to hold on to those babies and keep them in pristine condition for at least 25 years. Like I said. Awesome.
As if that wasn't enough to plaster a smile on my face. A few nights ago I saw an interview (I'm not sure from where, 'cause I missed the beginning, but I'm assuming Portland) with a man in a home-made super-hero costume. Apparently he's been out and about 'doing good' and standing strong in the face of crime. When the interviewer mentioned that the police had asked him to stop because he was putting himself and others in danger, his (very classic) reply was, "Well, you know, I train for this. I wouldn't just come out here willy nilly." That's right. This super-hero would never do anything will-nilly! That would just be silly. I'm still laughing. It even rivals the time that the guy in Colorado armored up his tractor and plowed over city hall (and accidentally the library) in protest of losing a building license. Sometimes the news IS uplifting.
