Check Out the Kicks

Giving Thanks for Our Clown

Me: Ella, Thanksgiving is a day when we give thanks for all of the wonderful things in our lives. We give thanks for our family and friends, the sun, the trees, our food...
Ella: And clowns and oranges?
Me: ....yep, those too.

Much anxiety leading up to Thanksgiving this year as my mom decided to skip town. Smart woman. She left us and a slew of Johnsons to fend for ourselves as she enjoys a quiet holiday with my brother and his girlfriend in Denver. Mom, her chocolate pecan pie and her free-range turkey are taking a well deserved breather this year.
This was our first official stab at a turkey (not sure if I should count that Boone's soaked Thanksgiving in college). A turkey, Jerry's mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing and cranberries were a must. I knew we could easily navigate our way through the sides...but a turkey? The turkey is the main event and the Thanksgiving feast is only THE most important meal of the entire year. 364 days of waiting for this grand bird (cuz who eats turkey any other time?). Call it beginners luck, but we rocked that turkey. Bret Michaels would have been jealous. It was flavorful, juicy and shellacked to perfection. Ella only stated that she "didn't like it" once; which in our book is an unequivocal win. Served on Mom's Wedgwood china, over twenty four hours of careful preparation to be eaten in ten minutes. Such is life with a toddler and infant.
The tradition of Thanksgiving pancit, dinuguan and ensaymada lived on at Tita Cora and Tito Joe's home later that evening. Relatives and friends from far and wide feasted on a Filipino buffet fit for a Marcos. Once the plates were cleared, circulars littered the tables and excited chatter commenced as the bold and fearless strategized for Black Friday. Kids whipped themselves into a frenzy as their parents shuffled back up to the buffet. I was like a bird that ate too much rice, stomach ready to explode. Like a glutton for punishment, I kept making my way back for more egg rolls and siew bao. The long ride home from Plainfield is the perfect digestif. And it's that ride from Plainfield to Oak Park late on Thanksgiving night that rings in the start of the holiday season for me. We allowed ourselves to tune in to Delilah on "Chicago's Home for the Holidays", FM 93.9. Listening to her syrupy soft voice is just as much Christmas as Bing Crosby.
As I get older, I am starting to realize the importance of creating and preserving traditions. And our holidays are steeped in tradition. From Thanksgiving morning with the Rockettes and cinnamon rolls to Jerry's uncles happily watching their family's commotion through the bottom of a whiskey tumbler. These are the snapshots of our Thanksgiving. Foods and events that have been brought together by two great families that are uniquely ours. And for that I am so grateful. Happy, happy thanksgiving.

Total Loss of Control

Vivian looks stunned by the absurdity whereas Ella has adapted to our "norm" over the years. It's a means of survival Vivian...learn from your big sis.

Found: A Cast Aside "To Do" List

Who is this woman and why can't I have her life? She actually needs to write a "to do" list that includes hair, working out and shopping? As if it's some tedious task! I want to meet this woman and simultaneously bask in the aura of her wonderful life while ferociously slapping her. I would hate to break a nail though...a manicure hasn't made my "to do" list in months.

Trumped by Technology

My brother-in-law is an early adapter. He's the first to know of the latest technological craze and usually has five on back order. I would unfortunately classify myself as a reluctant adapter. When it comes to technology, I am thirty-four going on eighty. I thought cell phones were unnecessary, an intrusion and a nuisance. I held on to a hand-me-down bag phone convinced I wouldn't need an upgrade until I got tennis elbow just trying to lift the thing. I prefer pen and paper over the computer. Paper-less credit card statements...scary. Figuring out the DVD player requires patience that I do not possess. And texting was for those who were uncomfortable with human contact. Until recently. Until I had two. Now I embrace the technological advances that have been bestowed on our generation. How naive I was to turn my back on texting. Semi-live conversations with friends minus the Ella and Viv soundtrack in the background? Being able to communicate without waking the baby? Never wake the baby! And what did our parents do without Tivo? Live television is for suckers. Commercials waste precious viewing time! I was talking to another parent this weekend at Ella's gymnastics practice. He recalls afternoons of soap operas and Phil Donahue. How did we survive? How did our parents make it through one stinkin day without Dora on stand-by? What's next? Will I eat my words about a Seqway?

What parent can't resist putting over sized sunglasses on their kid and taking a picture? It's that same parent who thinks nothing of tossing their kids in a pile of forest preserve leaves just asking for ring worm and Lyme disease...now smile for the camera! Look like life's a ball!

Veteran's Day 2010

Q & A

Why didn't I pay better attention in school? While I was busy passing notebooks in class and worrying if Darren Schumacher was still infatuated with me I could have been learning stuff. Important stuff. Stuff that my almost three year old daughter is stumping me on daily. She wants to know how the leaves turn color and why some trees are bare and others are not. She wants to know how long it takes to get to the moon in a rocket "chip". All I can say is that I haven't been. She wants to know why the moon makes different shapes and what it's made of...cheese right? It's a barrage of questions daily and her daycare isn't helping. They studied a praying mantis today and I'm bracing myself for the fallout of questions. What the hell do I know about praying mantises (is that even a word???)? Each day is a pop quiz with this kid...and I ain't earning any gold stars. I'm sorry Mrs. Olson, and all of my science and math teachers; my failure is not a reflection on your teaching abilities. Now off to invest in a set of encyclopedias.

She's Hit the Sauce

Hot chocolate with the parental units.