Sundays with Stretchy Pants

I think the storm has passed, so it’s safe to get out there and vote for issue 1 today. You want rec centers, don’t you? You want firefighters, don’t you? You want our old people to have fun things to do so we don’t have to entertain them, don’t you? I thought so. I love paying higher taxes for kick-ass services. I love all the free and low-cost stuff our kids do at the rec centers. And I mean that I love the rec centers in the way that I love food. If you know me in real life, you know that I spend a lot of time thinking about, planning, and enjoying many food experiences. It’s just the same with the rec centers. My kids have taken art, pottery, self defense, homeschool gym, dance, cooking,  gymnastics, and soccer at the rec centers. And, frankly, they’re awesome kids. It could be that they wouldn’t be so awesome if not for the rec centers. Remember Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo? The kids that didn’t go to the community center were baaaaaaad. I don’t want that to happen here. Where else will our kids get the skillz they need for performances like this:

P.S. Sacha Baron Cohen breakdanced (brokedanced?) at his bar mitzvah. You want your kids to be like him, don’t you?

We’re meeting at a local bookstore where he’s doing a reading, but I’m sure our friendship is the real reason for his visit. I think I’ll go cut a piece of my hair and put it in a plastic baggie for him right now. Do you think he’d like that?

Speaking of the gays, here’s a video Dawn sent to me. She knows what I like.

Yes, the baby is fat, but look at that bathroom! Isn’t it gross? But still, I turned out ok. Sort of.  I say this because we’re buying a house with awesomely dated bathrooms. Maybe. You never know until you actually close. We have a closing date (March 19th), time, and location, so we’ll probably close. But still. It’s a great house, great location, just a little dated. The bathrooms are especially dated, with seashell-shaped sinks in one of them. The other one has a dark brown toilet. And those bathrooms always make me think of that old bathroom in that picture up there.

Oh, and! There’s a Florida room. My friends and I get to play Golden Girls in it. I get to be Betty White because she always had a story about back in St. Olaf and I always have a story about back in Chesaning. I’ll let those of you who know Lynne, Kristen, and Dawn guess who gets to be lusty Blanche, straight-talking, offensive Sophia, and steady-eddie Dorothy. It’s hard to pick because they’re all so slutty and offensive!

Anyway, I’m packing. All the time packing.

Can you click over to Studio 35 and see why I love Columbus? It’s the little things. A Big Lebowski weekend? With a Wii bowling tournament? And the inauguration on the big screen? With a parade? Come on. The love bursts forth from my heart (not my loins, those are private).

It was hard to feel anything but cold about Columbus today, but then my friend AmazonMidwife emailed me about the inauguration thing at Studio 35 and my heart leapt. And then I clicked over to Studio 35’s website and saw the Dude-A-Thon and then I squealed (I don’t actually squeal with my voice, but in my heart I am a squealer). The Big Lebowski is my favorite. Now I don’t care about the weather; it will be in the 30s again soon and all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well, in the name of Jesus. Again, not that Jesus, this Jesus.

Maya has a new review up over at Kids Know Stuff. And, if you’re into that kind of thing, there’s a free printable Sudoku-like puzzle for the little ones. Or for big ones who have trouble with that sort of thing. Like me. It gave me a surge of pride when I completed the puzzle after a few tries on my first try. Print one out for yourself and your kid and you could race and then gloat because you won. Unless you’re me and you’re racing against Maya. She’s smarter than I am. It hurts.

Last night, we checked out the new Sprout Soup mother, baby, and child store. It gave me baby lust. Well, baby product lust, anyway. The slings, the diapers, the baby leg warmers. *sigh* It all makes me want to start over with a brand-new, fresh, un-ruined baby. Especially the baby leg warmers. If you are having a baby and I am obligated to buy you a gift, it will be baby leg warmers. And don’t tell Maya, but I’ve got my eye on the Wooden Spinny Speller for a stocking stuffer for her. Actually, I think she might outgrow 3-letter words by Christmas. Maybe I’ll go get it today. I don’t want the last baby to outgrow Sprout Soup before I have a chance to buy up the joint. They also have some cool stuff from Baying Hound, another local entrepreneur. Local! And for those of you who aren’t local, don’t buy local! That’s silly. You’re not helping anybody when you buy local. You could just buy from the sites that are local to me.