Be Merry Be Bright

We Talk. We Shop. We Attempt to Refrain from Farting or Burping on Others.

 

A kid in a growler shop? Why not? All beer is good – Even beer of Root!

 

When our son was a baby all I wanted him to do was talk. Now that he can talk I often times wish he would just be quiet. I know that children are a blessing but dang son – do you have to keep talking about farts? I must admit though there are times when having a kid that can form complete sentences is great. We are able to have conversations and share opinions on random things and it is a joy to see his personality develop.  Every so often he says some amazing things. Sometimes he says things that shock the heck out of everyone around us. And then there are times that he makes me say things that I immediately have to translate for non-Pinkelton folk. Here is a brief but true list of just a few of those things…

  1. Walking into a liquor store with the four year old he announces, ” They have my favorite drink here!” Every fucking body turned around and stared. He is talking about pink grapefruit juice by the way.
  2. While in the produce department the boy yells, “I want artichokes/asparagus/pomegranates for dinner!” You’d think folks would appreciate his adventurous pallet. Nope, they all turn around and stare at us both.
  3. “Can we go to Circle and Dot? Short grandma took me to Circle and Dot and we got lots of toys!” Short grandma = mother in law who is 5’2″ tall. Circle and Dot = Target. (We are trademarking that kickass nickname so don’t even try to snag it Target.)
  4. We celebrated his fifth birthday at Catch Air where they showed a slide show of photos of the birthday boy while playing his favorite song.  I hand the party planner my thumb drive of pics and she asks, “What’s your son’s favorite song?” My response, “‘American Woman’ by Lenny Kravitz.” From the look on her face you’d think I’d asked her to play Body Count’s “KKK Bitch!” Come on people. Not every kid listens to “The Wheels on the Bus” on repeat all day long.
  5. While walking in the park he says, “Do you know why children aren’t in jail?” I was dying to hear the answer to this one. “No, I don’t son,” I replied. “Because they are so small they would just climb out between the bars. Grown ups are big so they can’t do that. But a kid- they would just slip out and roll away.” Not because kids don’t do crimes that warrant being punished in such a way. It’s only the width of the rails that keeps the little criminals out of the slammer.
  6. After his first day of Pre-K I asked, “How was your day?” His response, “I didn’t fart or burp on nobody.” Well damn kid, I guess that’s all one can ask for. I am rarely able to say the same at the end of the day so hats off to you.

Stay tuned folks. He is a chatty little dude with an ever expanding vocabulary and I’m sure more gems are soon to come.

What We Are Reading – Febuary 17th

One of our favorite spots to visit when we travel to my husband’s hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina is the Edward McKay Bookstore. It is a used book shop that also offers movies, music and assorted bookish novelties. My mother-in-law is always willing to take the kid off of our hands so that we can go and stroll the aisles without distraction. Bibliophiles rarely leave a store like this without buying something, especially when most of the stock is secondhand and deeply discounted. Our grand total this trip was under $20.00. This is what we purchased…

 

ahouseforhermitcrab.gif

For the kid we purchased  A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle. We just added two hermit crabs to the Pinkelton household so we thought was fitting. Carle’s stories always have a good lesson to learn and the pictures are beautiful. Cost for us – $5.00.

 

imbibe

Joe is always looking for books on food and drink to add to our culinary library. On this trip he picked up Imbibe! by David Wondrich. Through a combination of recipes and stories this book entertains and builds your cocktail creative capabilities. While I hate to take money away from writers, this book was originally $23.95 and we paid $3.25 for it.

When I saw a copy of Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck  on the shelf I automatically picked it up.  I’ve been in love with Ephron’s style  since I saw When Harry Met Sally so many years ago and have yet to read this story. Sometimes you need to read some fluff to reset your brain. I am just beginning to find the time to read this book, and I know that I will need some lighthearted fluff  to enjoy when I am done. Second hand price $6.00.

 

How could I not buy a book with the title Mennonite in a Little Black Dress ? I know I said that the Ephron book was the fluff that I needed, but I am still recovering from a Canterbury Tales class I took in college back in 1993. Fluff options are important in my world. Cost for this one…$3.00.

There you have it folks. Four more books for the already bulging shelves at Chez Pink. I do promise to the KonMari worshippers out there that if these books don’t bring us joy I will cast them off for others to love.

Do you have a favorite used bookstore? I’d love to hear about it.

Photo courtesy of Classy Sassy and Trendy Inc

New year! New you? Hell no!

Photo courtesy of Classy Sassy and Trendy Inc

Little tub of magic. Photo courtesy of Classy Sassy and Trendy Inc.

I recently went into a store that shall not be named.  Let’s just say they have a large selection of makeup and they have a lot of spray ladies ready to spritz you. They are also filled with pots and bottles of magic serums meant to transform you into a younger, brighter, better you – or so we have been told. The powers that be give us the full court press of those pastes and potions during the month of January. Out of the woodwork they spring as soon as you are within earshot.  It’s a new year, isn’t it time for a new you? Don’t you want this year to be the year you feel amazing? Your skin is not firm enough, your pores are not small enough and your eyes…. well crows feet aren’t pretty on real life crows. You surely don’t want them around your eyes. It is a sales pitch, wrapped in tissue thin constructive criticism with a chocolate coated insult filled center. We stop, and we listen and we eat it up. Why do they push these products on us you might ask? Well if we weren’t buying it they certainly wouldn’t be selling it.

 

I used to listen to their well practiced voices and think them so wise. “They must know what they are talking about,” I would say to myself, “They’re wearing lab coats.” I bought several tubes of this and bottles of that. Until one day the pitches no longer had the same effect on me. Was it my clock striking 40 years or was it the fact that I no longer had endless hours to devote to vanity? I may never know the reason but it has stopped. Aside from a bout of midlife acne I look great. And not “great for my age”, just great.  My cellulite looks wonderful (it occurs naturally you know?) My buns nor abs are made of steel, but my back is straight and I am able to proudly stand tall. The funny thing is these things are never discussed when I am with the true authorities in lab coats, my doctors. My gyno has never once discussed the importance of having my boobs be perky through surgery, only the importance of having them be healthy through monthly breast exams. My internist has never talked up liposuction for sexy abs, only calcium and vitamin D for strong bones.  And neither of them has commented on the number of lines on my forehead, but we have discussed my cholesterol numbers and how many glasses of water I drink in a day.

 

So do I need a new me? No thanks. This one is doing great with it’s saddle bags and weird under arm wing flappy things (what the hell are those called anyhow?) My family is happy, my friends are wonderful, and my soul is bright so this me… is kicking ass. Do you have a bottle back there with Maria in it? You should because this is what folks aspire to. This is the awesome sauce.  This is what new year’s resolutions are based on. This is body confidence and self love and it’s not based on the calendar but on your state of mind. Did I mention the best part? It’s free!!!!