Downtown Choral Festival

400 singers from eight choirs in a circular balcony surrounding the audience. It was a hoot.

Tissue?

IMG_0208
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Smiling

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Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Orange mittens!

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Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Swinging

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Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Swinging

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Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Neither snow nor wind kept us off the "big playground" yesterday afternoon.

This didn't work out very well

Audioblogging choir rehearsal via cellphone appears to have limitations. Listen at your own risk. It's awesomely beautiful live. I suppose I will post a decent recording when I get the CD.

Cult of music

Now that I belong to this cult, I feel compelled to tell all of my readers out there that I HIGHLY recommend purchasing an Ipod Shuffle at your EARLIEST convenience. Next, load all of your favorite music onto it and START LISTENING. When the daughter screams because her mother won't pour Fresca in her sippy cup, turn it up! When the husband wants to talk about a rough day at work, just set the volume level low so you can have some pleasant background music to go with the griping. Activities of daily living can be improved with some excellent background music. (Currently playing: Come on Eileen, by Dexy's Midnight Runners.)

It is a cult

I went to the genius bar today to get some help from a genius. Not only did I not get help from said genius but I ended up purchasing two more items from Apple (which will eventually force me to go to the genius bar for more unhelpful but hip and cult-like friendliness).

Maybe this is what The Matrix was getting at.

I may need someone to host an intervention for me.

Monster

Monster
Originally uploaded by Gini..

I found this picture on Flickr. This is the best. I want to meet the the kid who drew this.

One side of a preschooler's telephone conversation

This is the background information you need to know: We sent out invitations for Spidey's birthday party yesterday. The invitation said to come to the YMCA to play in the "space maze." One name has been changed to protect the innocent.
Ring
Me: Hello
Caller: Um, um, this is Leo is Spidey there?
Me: Yes, just a minute. Spidey?
Spidey: What?
Me: You have a phone call.
Spidey: I have a what?
Me: The phone is for you.
Spidey: Why?
Me: It's your friend, Leo. Come talk to him.
Spidey: Did he call me?
Me: Yes, he wants to talk to you.
Spidey takes the phone: Hello?
(pause)
Spidey: What?
(pause)
S: What?
(pause)
S: There's a gym with some basketballs and some hoops.
(pause)
S: There's some climbing stuff.
(pause)
S: There's a net for climbing.
(pause)
S: It has a ladder with holes cut out to climb to the top.
(pause)
S: There's gonna be some cake.
(pause)
S: Okay. Bye. Mom, Leo said he's gonna come to my party.

Nordic girl

Note to self

Lock up all, I repeat, ALL Sharpie pens.
Also, drink more.

Zoo

The camel was cold...



...the monkeys were taking their warm digs for granted...



...and the tigers were angry!

Minnesota kindergarten screening bias?

One of the questions the screener asked was, "What is a lake for?"
Now if you're not a native Minnesotan is that fair? Spidey did okay on it but I can't help thinking that a significant number of kindergarten applicants get turned away by not being able to answer that question sufficiently (i.e., ice fishing, fishing, cabin weekends, snow-mobiling). Lakes are not foreign to us (our neighbors leave us in the dust to "go to the lake" every weekend) but I think that question favors the Minnesota born-and-raised.

Preschool logic

I'm wondering if we don't need one of those gigantic Surburbans (or perhaps a circa 1970 Chrysler station wagon) in order to put some more physical space between the siblings and between the parents and siblings.

Big brother was feeling a little high and mighty after his grueling kindergarten screening this morning. (Aside from crossing his "t" in two steps instead of one continuous stroke it looks like kindergarten is a go in the fall.) Spidey decided to celebrate the event by tormenting his sister on the 10 minute drive home. There was crying and mocking and poking and shouting. There was no blood so I just turned up the volume on the radio. When the backseat noises wouldn't go away I shouted, "What the hell is going on back there?"

Of course, it was all about PLEASING his sister:

See Mom I haddid to hit her to make her cry and then I haddid to imitate her to make her hit me and then I go HEY and maded her laugh and then she feels better, see?

Laser

by Spidey

Valentine

by Tikka

Rainbow Fish

by Spidey
kids art

Piano 101

Drinking the Koolaid

We are being sucked into the Apple cult slowly but surely. I have five hours of music on this teeny tiny thing and that's only about 20% of the storage space. There is no excuse not to run for hours and hours anymore.

The playlist so far:

Jimmie Dale Gilmore
REM
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue
Marc Anthony
Polyphonic Spree
Keane
The Gypsy Kings
Fastball
The Proclaimers
Lone Justice
Dread Zepplin
Nick Cave
Dan Bern
the whole Zero Effect soundtrack
Tom Waits
Nelly Furtado
Beck
Fiona Apple
Rufus Wainwright
Styx
The Clash
REO
The Spinners
Paul Westerberg
the disco version of the Star Wars theme
ELO
O Brother soundtrack
Minneapolis Does Denver
Dave Matthews

REM sleep

Tikka, Spidey, and I were sitting in the very crowded lobby of a fancy hotel, waiting for Oprah. Tikka had to use the potty so I turned to Anthony Kiedis, who was sitting next to me, and asked him if he would keep an eye on Spidey until I returned.

Then I woke up.

Link: dreams

Next time I'm in Chicago

Moto.
Here's more with pictures and discussion.

Food

Dementia check

Three minutes ago I put my bag of popcorn in the microwave to pop. I set the timer for 2:09 and sat down in front of the computer to read. Just a second ago I thought hmm, I wonder who's popping popcorn?

Mrs. Bickerson: Too pooped to sleep

Prednisone has messed me up, sleep-wise, so here's a little Minnesota humor to help pass the time:

The Ten Commandments Minnesota Style

1. Der's only one God, ya know.
2. Don't make that fish on your mantle an idol.
3. Cussing ain't Minnesota nice.
4. Go to church even when you're up nort.
5. Honor your folks.
6. Don't kill. Catch and release.
7. There is only one Lena for every Ole. No cheatin'.
8. If it ain't your lutefisk, don't take it.
9. Don't be braggin' about how much snow ya shoveled.
10. Keep your mind off your neighbor's hotdish.

Urgent care

The services you receive there are neither urgently nor carefully delivered. Why the false advertising? Long story short, I got my medicine and I'm going to wait patiently for the miracle cure to take effect.

Bon soir mes amis.

40

Happy Birthday to Me
Happy Birthday to Me
Happy Birthday Mrs. Bickerson
Happy Birthday to Me!

Oprah says that 50 is the new 30, so by my calculations 40 is the new 24. I can live with that. (Props to Mr. Bickerson for the algebra review.)

On the agenda for the day? This. Because we're turning into groupies for bloggers, that's why.

4 Julie

Dinner

This little guy has been sitting at this table for 45 minutes, working very carefully on his valentine cards for his classmates. I'm helping him write the R's. Other than that he's done it all on his own.

Lunch

She is jonesing for the candy, man!



She said:

Mama, can I have some of that sign candy Grandma Hanson sent me in the box, p'ease?

Breakfast

Grandma Hanson sent a nice box of Valentine gifts for the kids, including some Spiderman chocolates. Both kids can smell a chocolate chip three blocks away so I was not surprised to find Tikka hiding in Spidey's room, shoving chocolates in her mouth as fast as she could. I scolded her, took the chocolates away, and 30 minutes later she comes around the corner yelling at me:

MAMA! I WANT MY P'IVACY WHEN I EATING MY B'EKFAST! YOU DON'T TELL ME NO EATING CANDY!

Insanity

Can one be driven insane by the sound of one's child coughing endlessly through the night? I had just made peace around midnight with the fact that he was probably going to cough ALL NIGHT when the coughing sound combined with the pitter pat of his feet, bringing the cough to sleep with us in our bed for the rest of the night.

cough cough
kick me in the ribs
cough cough
kick me in the kidneys
cough cough cough

ALL NIGHT LONG!!

How to make it through the day since neither child can go to school with this bug? I'm taking a tip from my friend Mary and we are headed to the zoo. I just hope we don't make the animals sick.

The magic of Mr. Clean

Instapundit is blogging about the power of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Two writers have chimed in about how addictive cleaning becomes when Magic Eraser is put to use. I agree! I bought some Magic Erasers on the recommendation of my next door neighbor and I almost couldn't stop cleaning. In fact, my hands were getting a little raw after using one and a half erasers in one cleaning session. It makes me want to clean right now. (Thank goodness they sell for less than the price those Apprentice goofs asked last season. $20/two erasers? I think not.)

Analyze this

I made some experimental cookies with fake sugar last night and fell asleep on the couch. I know this was a Splenda-induced effect:

I was at a high school reunion with two classmates. We had just finished watching a play in a large garage when we walked past the performers. Lo and behold, the lead actor was none other than Ashton Kutcher! One friend said to him, "Big fan!" and asked him if he knew how to get out of the building in which we were trapped. He was no help.

I was worried to find that my car had been locked in the building and there was no one with a key. I wondered how I would get my car out so I could have lunch the next day. Magically, I got into the building. As I tried to back my car out of the parking garage I hit a small patch of ice and slid into an eldery lady behind me. She was unhurt but angry. At the same time I saw my high school principal, Mr. Redmond, sliding down a snowy hill in front of me. He fell on his back; someone called an EMT and he seemed to be okay.

Suddenly I was with my mom. She wanted a ham salad sandwich. I had invited her to a party but got separated from her. I found her waiting for me to go with her in search of a better sandwich than the one she ordered. I felt bad for the cook who tried to make a better sandwich.

Just before I woke up I had been on a boat with my family. I was separated from them by a door (I think I had been in the bathroom) and the boat was really tossing in some big waves. My mother-in-law said, "Look at her walking!" as my daughter walked up to her on the deck of the boat. Next, the boat pitched really high and we tipped over. My last thoughts before waking up were, "I know Mr. Bickerson will take care of Tikka."

Marathon finish

Do we even look like we're moving?

Marathon start

This is a picture from the start of the race Sunday that I took with my cameraphone but didn't bother sending to the blog at the time.

Back home

Funny, we were talking about how much more interesting the race in Las Vegas might be if it ended on the strip. I found this and it mentions that the course will go through town next year.

It was really windy! The news that night said there were wind gusts of 35 mph during the race. I believe it. There was steady wind that made your eyes tear and nose run nonstop from at least mile marker 10 to the end. It was heavenly to turn the corners near the end and let the wind blast you sideways instead of head-on.

I was so proud that Spidey seems to have grasped the marathon concept that the goal for people like me is to finish and not win. We had several discussions a few weeks ago about the upcoming event and it was really hard for him to understand why someone would run such a long race if she couldn't come in first. When I called him Sunday and told him the race was over his first words were, Did you finish, Mom? I was so glad I could tell him I didn't quit. (It was tempting, too, because there were sag wagons!)

Vacation food photos

There's always room for pasta, pizza, and some buffet dining.

Behold, lobster ravioli:



Pizza margarita:



Penne with sausage:



Buffet sampling:



In case you're wondering, people do look at you funny when you take pictures of your food.

Food

What happens in Vegas...

Can you guess by the smile who was feeling more optimistic about completing the marathon?



What's the best part of a marathon? The end of it!



We found a giant bench for resting feet at the Aladdin Hotel.



We pretended we were in the Sahara Desert with a conveniently located source for margaritas.



We were not surprised to find Zeus waiting for a table at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace.