My Seussical Life for 2005 June

I've known this since the day I named my blog, but not until now am I fessing up. How awful to have so publicly misspelled "Seuss."

Dave and I aren't of the camp, necessarily, that doesn't watch any R rated movies. There are some that we make a point of seeing. But I am really bothered by nudity and sexuality on the screen. I'm a kind of romantic that doesn't like to imagine my bedroom activities happening anywhere else to anyone else. I feel a sort of revulsion even when I'm watching mouthy kissing in movies. It is partly a privacy thing, I'm sure. So, we thought we'd try the 30 day free trial subscription to "Clean Flicks," a company that edits out language, gratuitous violence, nudity and sexuality.

We've watched some really great movies that we have wanted to see for a long time. Here is my list of favorites so far: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Cold Mountain, Love Actually, and others that are not as worth remembering as the ones I've listed. I realized last night, as we were watching Eternal Sunshine, that some things weren't making total sense. Obviously, having been edited, there were some holes in the story. How ironic. I couldn't understand because someone had erased those moments from the memory of the DVD. So I started thinking. Most of these movies say really meaningful things about life and relationships. They are much more enlightening than most of the PG and PG-13 fare that are supposed to be "good movies," but are little more than mindless garbage. So I should bring those into my life?

Then there is this question: would fabulous movie makers like Wes Andersen, Michel Gondry, Richard Curtis, and Anthony Minghella who made my list of favorites be so happy about their movies being changed? I'm glad that the situations that make me uncomfortable are not playing in my living room, but is that really fair? After all, there is a little bit of sex in life, and I'm sure I see more nude bottoms running around my house in a day than I've ever seen in movies (I'm not saying nudity in movies is the same thing). But how much should art imitate life, and how much do I miss when I explore sexuality by myself, without suggestions from movie makers? Blah, blah, better stop before I start to ramble.

Last night was the Annual Merc Member Picnic. Of course, it rained all day long up until an hour before the picnic was to begin. That means there were lots of puddles for boys to splash in. I look forward to this event every summer. The food is fabulous, and it is The Merc's gift to members, so it is also free. This is the occasion for announcing the board election results and reporting on the co-ops progress over the year. BTW, both individuals I voted for were elected. Yay!

I always look forward to mingling with other members. Merc lovers are pretty eccentric, and some of them are just plain iconoclastic. I am not of the latter camp, obviously, but I do feel like I stick out among my peer LDS crowd when it comes to food. Sometimes I don't mind being considered quirky, but other times it makes me uneasy.

Last week, at a Memorial Day picnic with a handful of church friends, we brought a Mediterranean-like lentil salad with feta, herbs, tomatoes, green peppers and olives, lemon juice, olive oil, yada yada. It was hardly touched by the crowd of 15 or so couples with some children. Granted, food at a potluck is always a different situation when one can't guess who-brung-it. But then we had our emu hotdogs, which caused quite a stir. I can say now that we've officially dispelled the common belief that the Matkins are vegetarians (because we love tofu--why else would anyone eat tofu, if not because of vegetarianism??). What a way to break the news.

Anywho, the fare last night was bar-b-qued free range chicken from Good Natured Family Farms (out of Bronson, KS), tofu from Central Soy Foods (out of Lawrence), honey wheat buns from Great Harvest Bread Co.(Lawrence), and the delicious salads were made from locally grown produce. The bar-b-que rub on the chicken and tofu was delish; I'll have to beg the deli for the recipe. Dessert was strawberry shortcake (which we found out was for the fast eaters, because it ran out pretty quickly), and a dense, moist chocolate cake.

When the Merc does food, they go all the way. Anyone want so sign up for next year??

Frances is feeling bad that she isn't at Melea's funeral today. I feel bad that I've had such a normal day, enjoying Dave, Atticus and Samuel, while faraway loved ones are suffering from devastating loss. Theirs is a tragedy.

I was eighteen years old before I saw my first lightning bugs. Now I get to enjoy them every summer.

Time is ticking away; Atticus' birthday party is tomorrow. So far, eight of his friends have RSVPed. I am very nervous about this event. Kid-os are hard to entertain, even if only for an hour and a half. We've reserved a pavilion at a park and planned a water balloon fight. We have a piñata with piratey prizes (Atticus requested a pirate themed party). The problem is that the weather is threatening rain. This would devastate a few of our plans, but not all. Gah!! I guess I'd better pull together an inclement weather party schedule.

The boys have played marvelously all day!! I thought I'd better report that, since I only seem to talk about our nasty days in this blog. Thank goodness for a taste of harmony.

I'm stuck in string of fox-chicken-egg days. For instance, yesterday, I had a WIC appointment at the Health Department. While I was scheduling a follow-up visit, Atticus and Samuel ran out of the office. I excused myself, and went to search for them. They were not to be found in the waiting room, not in the atrium of the building, but outside, swimming in the fountain.

I wish I could laugh at this, but not today. I sometimes get into a rut of hoarding my frustrations and perceived indignations. I can't let it all go. I wish I were naturally equipt to deal effectively with my children. Maybe when I'm done I'll know what I'm doing. Maybe I'll at least be a calm and collected grandma.

I have the coolest spider bite on my arm. I noticed it about ten days ago (a Friday). The back of my arm started itching, so I looked at it in the mirror. It appeared to be a large mosquito bite. I put some non-itchy cream on it and forgot about it until the next morning. It was still itching, so I went to put more cream on it, and I noticed it had grown. In stead of a little bite mound, I had a hive the size of an apricot! At the top of the oval there were two tiny, perfectly circular puncture marks where the spider sank his fangs into my flesh. Even today, the area is still itchy, and looks like an old bruise.

So now what do I do? I've always felt that I could co-habitate peacefully with spiders. Poor Charlotte friends. I don't know that I can let them live so freely in my apartment anymore.

This morning, as we were driving to a playmate's grandmother's house to swim, Atticus was surprised, "We're going to Becca's grandma's house??"

"You've got it," I replied, but I could tell Atticus was confused.

"In Kansas?" He queried.

"Yes, in Kansas," I said.

"Ah," he said, with great realization in his voice, "So, some grandmas live far, while other grandmas live close."

Good observation, kid-o.

When I told my mother Atticus had said this, she shot back, "No, some GRANDCHILDREN live far!"

'Tis true that we moved ourselves to this Kansas wilderness. But I thought we were close, compared to Provo, Utah! We all function on our own relativities.

Tonight, in celebration of Dave's birthday (though he is in Kansas City teaching a night class), we made chocolate chip banana pancakes. I almost always make pancakes one of the two nights Dave is teaching late during the week. The boys love Pancake Night. The chocolate chips were a special addition to the pancake batter (in honor of the Birthday Boy, of course). Side note: tonight I sprinkled the chocolate pieces on the batter as it cooked on the griddle, but next time, I'll try stirring them into the batter before cooking. Maybe they won't partially burn that way.

Anyway, Samuel was helping me with the cooking, so I asked his opinion on which chocolate chips we should use in our pancakes. I had a small bag of Callebaut bittersweet chocolate callets with 65% cocoa solids on hand, and a 12 oz. package of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, no cocoa content listed. He thoughtfully tasted a Ghiradelli chip, swallowed, and then tried a Callebaut chip with the same deliberate manner. And what do you think he chose? He liked the Callebaut!! I thought for sure he would prefer the sweeter, milder Ghiradelli chocolate pieces. Ghiradelli produces great chocolate. But he liked the dark, rich, bitter one. I guess he likes his Belgian chocolate better than his American. Little rebel.

I was slicing the last chunk of marble cheese in the fridge, and I didn't even know I was creating a geography lesson for snack time. The cheese is shaped like Minnesota! That reminded me of Leonard's Wyoming cookie cutter discussion.

Kansas City is the featured destination for Southwest Airlines, so air fare is pretty cheap (around $95 for a one way ticket), but only for today. Anyone up for a visit?