Believe it or Not

You are never going to believe what my seven year old son and I did this past Saturday. Not in a million years are you going to guess. We were in a movie!

OK, not really. My friend has a son who is a cinematography student in Madison and his assignment had to do with a young boy and his mother. My friend wanted to know if my son could play the part and would I play the mother? (The students were given strict orders not to use students to play the part of either the boy or
the mother who is in her 30's...much younger than me but at least I am not a student).

I agreed but kept thinking the students would find someone else to play the parts because they all said they had people in mind but no one else came up with anyone so Sat., we filled the car up with Luke's bedding and toys (scene involved the boy sleeping in his bed) and headed to Madison. We got there around 11 a.m. and were only two blocks from the capital. (Luke saw the capital and said,"I did not know we were back in Washington DC!). We told him we were the capital of Wisconsin.

Anyway, my friend dropped us off in front of the apt. building where the shoot was taking place and we were met by her son, the director. I got out of the car and went to open the car door for my son and had a vision of opening a limo door for a movie star.

We were using the apartment of one of the students which was in the basement of this building. It used to be offices and businesses so one room had jacuzzis in it and there was a bar in another room. All the bedrooms were large enough but no closets or windows so that was odd.

I got Luke in his pajamas and got dressed myself (script calls for the mom to be dressed in a Bloomingdale's type outfit which I got a chuckle out of...I have one outfit that would fit that description and let's just say it is a tad too small right now). THey decided to shoot Luke's scenes first. He is in bed asleep with a book on his lap. (I brought the book 'Are you my Mother?' which I thought was pretty funny). Mom walks in, kisses boy, takes book and puts in on the nightstand, walks to the door and turns around for one last look and turns off the light. This scene took two hours! Luke did so well...he read the book while they were adjusting lights and did a great job pretending to be asleep. He even followed the director when he asked Luke to turn over and face the camera, still asleep, when mom turns out the light.

After that we had lunch. Then my friend took Luke to the children's museum which was only two blocks away while I had to do two other scenes. I had to lean outside his bedroom door, look upset, then take a suitcase out of a closet (scene two) and the final scene was the mom loading her suitcase with clothes and personal items (I brought a picture of Luke in a frame to put in the suitcase which the students really liked).

THe camera kept breaking which would mean at least an hour of down time. For three mintues of film, it took eight hours! We got done at seven and headed back to Green Bay.

It was a long day but fun and fascinating to watch the students work. The whole exercise had to do with lighting (shot in black and white film). I just hope they do not get graded on my acting but I think Luke deserves an Oscar! (Of course I would say that!!!!)

It was a fun experience but I do not think I would want to do it full time.

Fall is my favorite time of year and always has been. There is something about the cool crisp mornings and the nights seems to be perfect. I always say it is perfect football weather.

THere is another reason why it is my favorite time of year. Yesterday we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. Pete says he cannot believe it lasted this long! He thinks I would have thrown him out a long time ago, and I think HE would have thrown ME out so maybe that is the secret to a long marriage. Seriously, we both make each other laugh.

We went out to dinner, had STEAK and I had a brandy alexander for dessert. Today, I am still full. Usually we do not exchange gifts but this year I looked up what one is supposed to give on the 15th and as it turns out, it is crystal. When I first met him, one of the first things I learned was he collected crystal pieces. Perfect...he says the words 'pink elephant' a lot so I got him a crystal elephant. I wanted to get him a castle but could not find one. I saw a dragon but my daughter pointed out it reminded her of grandpa and not dad so I got the elephant.

I asked him where all his crystal pieces are now and he said in box in the basement. I told him he should dig them out and we will put them in the curio cabinet. But, the elephant is going to his office at work.

"She Stays"

My daughter is in the eighth grade and walks to school with a friend I will call Jenny, who is a seventh grader. When they found out they had the same lunch, they decided to meet in the cafeteria the first day of school which they did. They went to the table where my daughter met up with the same group she ate with last year. They all welcomed her but stopped and stared at Jenny. Jenny thought she would have to leave but my daughter said, "She's eating with us this year. She stays."

With that, everyone went back to talking and eating and everything was fine...no protests or looks.

Jenny's parents called me about two weeks later to tell me the story. When I had asked my daughter on the first day of school, how lunch went she said it was fine and taht was it. But to Jenny, it meant the world and to her parents, it meant a lot as well.

I am so proud of my little girl.

The Numbers Game

Today I cleaned out the fridge and also the family room. It took me about ten minutes to clean out the fridge but about three hours to clean the family room. Keep in mind, the only thing visible were toys, everything else on this list was either inside, behind or under a chair, couch, or ottoman.

Items Found in the family room:
At least 8 dog toys...I had no clue he had that many and I don't think the dog knows he had that many!

Two pants

Three shirts

Three baseball caps

Two socks (actually quite low)

Seven shoes, none matched.

Enough scraps of paper to fill two wal-mart bags.

Two paper plates

A paper bowl

Two remotes

Three books

Two Popular Science magazines

Two People magazines

Three children's books

Six stuffed animals, four were Webkins

A notebook

The playing cards we bought in DC for Pete's parents.

Several Advil wrappers.

Band Aid wrappers

An empty soda can.

Several beef stick wrappers.

Pretty much every thing else was toys which I had Luke purge from six containers to three.

HIs sister played a mean trick on him when he got home from school he wondered where all his toys went and she said "Mom threw them out!" He immediately started crying but I told them there were in the bathroom waiting to be sorted (the bathroom connects to the family room).

Interestingly enough, there were a few things I normally find but did not find this time...usally I find several pens and pencils...did not find one! I usually make a killing on loose change. I only found 26 cents. For once I did not find any underwear.

I know what you're thinking...why so much stuff in a family room? I am wondering the same thing. Tomorrow I tackle the cubby holes in the dining area. Perhaps I will find some underwear there.

Feeling a little tired today, I ended up taking a two hour nap! While deep in slumber, I dreamt of my maternal grandparents house which has been common lately. They lived on a farm in a two story house with a barn across the street. My grandparents lived on one side and my aunt Inez and Uncle Vilas on the other side. My grandparents are long gone but my aunt and uncle still live there. This dream I was there with my family and we were getting ready to leave but I had to repack all the clothes and they were still in the dryer. I went to get the clothes and my aunt walked in wondering why I was doing laundry in her house. As I was taking the clothes out, I was also finding cupcakes which I was eating as I took them out so she would not think I washed the cupcakes in her washer and dryer. I have no idea what all this means but I woke up hungry for cupcakes. I wish it would have made me feel like doing laundry but that would involve a miracle of some sort.

An interesting day yesterday. First my mom called and said due to Neil Diamond postponing his concert, 100 people turned in their tickets. I got online and sure enough, we got two tickets!!! We are seeing him next week and we do not have to leave town. Whoo...hoo...I was supposed to order the tickets when they first went on sale but totally forgot all about it because I was planning my son's two birthday parties and the tickets sold out in an hour.

Then I went to my doctor appt. and ended up getting a physical which is fine because it has been awhile since I had all that stuff (and by stuff I mean things I cannot and do not want to mention) done. I am scheduled to go in for blood work and a mammogram (first one) in the next couple weeks. It will be good when it is all done. FOr those of you who need to get one done, there is no time like the present...get 'er done.

It is Friday and I am always tired on Fridays because of getting up so early all week (for me, early is six) so today I will do minimal housework (laundry, dishes, make my bed, do bills, make a few calls) and then LUNCH! Read the paper and by that time, the kids will be home from school.

This is the first time I have watched both the Democratic and Republican speeches and even Breanna is into it (could have to do with the fact that she got to stay up later) but they are historic and she and her dad are really into it. I am not sure I believe what anyone says anymore but I did like McCain's story and the statement "American Saved Me". The media did not like it that much but I thought it was good...I always seem to be in the minority when it comes to politics. I guess I do not understand it very well. I really liked what I saw in Palin's speech. (I missed Biden so cannot comment on his).

Have a good weekend, people!

Finally, we got our son to sleep in his room. He is still not sleeping in his bed (sleeps in a chair) but at least he is near his bed...getting closer.

Yesterday was the first day of school. He got a card to put in a prize drawing (he "got caught being good") and told us all about it when he got home. Then, when it came to bedtime, he said, "Since I got caught being good, can I sleep with you?" I almost caved but said not on a school night but maybe this weekend. Instead I let him stay up an extra fifteen minutes and read him a story...actually I read his toys the story because he already read it.

My daughter had a good first day as well. She told me a girl she does not like is in one of her classes (bully from last year) but she said "Oh well, I ignored her and she is only in one class which is right away in the morning so she is probably too tired to bully anyone then!"

Me, I finally go to the doctor tomorrow. I don't want to go...but I will go. Pete is taking the afternoon off to hold my hand...he is really good about that. He said if I went to the doctor,without whining, we could go out for ice cream after...so I am going. He knows how to get me to do things I do not want to do.