Careful!!!

Just posting the conversation between my husband and the sales lady up at the furniture store in Mooresvile.

Jonathan: Okay, half the money down now and half when it arrives?
SalesLady: Yes, that's correct.
Jonathan: Can you just bill the other part to the same credit card at that time or do I have to drive back up here?
SalesLady: You'll have to drive back up here, unfortunately.
Jonathan: Well that's a bummer, it's so far away for us.
SalesLady: Well, the owners here are Jewish and they are very strict about that. They didn't even want to take credit cards in the first place.
Jonathan: Oh, I'm Jewish too, does that mean I get a discount?
SalesLady: Uhh... I didn't mean... uh...

I guess you can't really hold ignorance against people, but both of us were cracking up.

Seating trials...

The deliberation was heated. The jury was out for weeks, changing from one verdict to another. It was nearly a hung jury. Then, finally, a verdict. Microfiber!

My husband and I get along almost too good. We're like twins, born within two weeks of each other, we like the same music, have the same taste in food and style, etc. We hardly ever argue. But, for some reason, try and get us to make a decision on purchases and we totally clash. Consider something as trivial as the grocery store. I go in with a list, I stick to my list, put the stuff in my cart and I'm out in 20 minutes. He, on the other hand, takes up to an hour. He carefully does the math and figures out what's the best buy, he compares brands and thumps the melons. But, I've gotta admit, when he does the shopping, we spend less and we end up with more. So, I trust his judgment. I am an emotional buyer and he is a smart buyer.

We've had the same living room furniture now for nine years. For the past three years, the debate has been "should we buy new furniture now or to wait until the kids are older, potty trained, etc.?" But, as time went on, it was obvious we had no choice other than to replace it with something more durable, more comfortable and more kid-friendly and cat-friendly. So, then the debate was over what to buy. I wanted leather, my husband wasn't so sure. Eventually, I worked on him and talked him into leather. Then, there was a new kind of microfiber out there, and he talked me out of leather. It was weeks of going back and forth. Finally we both realized that either way, our furniture is at risk. We have two kids who love to jump and climb and eat and smear, and we have two cats who love to shed hair and cough hairballs and scratch. With microfiber, you're covered as far as stain resistance. Leather's pretty good too - unless it's scratched. With microfiber, it used to be that it was a cat hair magnet, but there is a new kind now which is more pet friendly. Sit on leather with shorts in the heat of a Carolina summer, you will stick, but your body sweat will not penetrate and stink up the cushion. It was a tough call.

We finally agreed on a sofa that has the new microfiber, and we agreed to replace it in five years, as opposed to almost 10, if need be. It's not cheap furniture, but it's practical... and maybe after that, we'll get something that's supposed to last a lifetime.

The Next Jim Carrey

Chalky face
Originally uploaded by candy.

I wonder if, somewhere on the five-year-old milestone chart, between "is self sufficient at mealtime" and "understands concepts of time" , there is a place where it says "does impressions." Or, do I have the next big comedian on my hands?

Today, Ethan talked to his grandmother over the phone. Mid conversation, he said, "hold on, Grandma, daddy wants to talk to you" and in his deepest voice, he said "hellooo this is daddy."

Of course, his impression didn't quite pass, but Grandma acted fooled for a moment, then she said, "I don't think this is daddy, I think it's Ethan" giggles ensued.

Moments later, he interrupted the conversation again saying, "Here's Adam" and did his best 2-year-old jargon. Then, it was Gypsy our cat and meowing in between more giggles. Then, things really got silly as Grandma got to talk to his big toe, which apparently sounds like smacking lips, according to Ethan's impression.

Well, maybe one day, our little man-of-a-thousand-voices will grow up and buy me a beach house with my own private lagoon. You never can tell.

The day I joined the PTA

If there is ever anything that confirms you’re a mini-van-drivin’-bake-sale-cookie-makin’-mommy, it’s the moment you enlist yourself in the Parent Teacher’s Association. I was asked to serve on the board as a fundraiser coordinator for the 2005-06 school year. Part of me thinks “great, I’m glad I will be involved in my child’s education” and part of me thinks “great, now I’ll be in charge of getting elementary school kids to peddle cookie dough and entertainment books.” Perhaps I'll have some influence in coming up with some creative fundraiser ideas that won’t involve kids peddling products door to door. At any rate, I’m told by some of the “elders” that this is a great way to get to know people in the community. I'm mostly looking forward to the opportunity, with just a little bit of "what did I get myself into" apprehension.

Still a Duranie after all these years

Yes, I grew up in the 80s. When I was 10 or 11 years old, I heard the song "Is There Something I Should Know" and I was hooked. Soon, I owned every teen magazine that there was, and all the images of Simon, Nick, Roger, John and Andy were plastered onto my wall. Yup.


In 1984, Duran Duran had a huge tour and came to Detroit. I was too young to drive to the mall and get tickets, and by the time Mom got around to it (which I suspect was sometime after pigs flew,) they were sold out. I didn't go. Heartbreak.

A few years later, I finally went to a Duran Duran-ish concert. Power Station, which had two members of the original band. Then, I actually saw Duran Duran, but without Andy and Roger.

Much later, in 1999, when I was pregnant with my first child, I went and saw Duran Duran in concert again, here in Charlotte. This time they had Warren Cucurillo in the band. Simon still looked great. Ever see a pregnant woman ogle at a singer? LOL. Shame on me, I'm a married woman! But, still, no Andy or Roger or John.


On July 20, all five Duran Duran members will play here in Charlotte. I plan to plunk down a couple hundred dollars for a VIP package this time. It includes, seats in the front, a party and h'orse d'ourves, and a chance (not a guarantee) to socialize with the band. With any luck, I will actually see all five members this time.

Some might think this is crazy behavior for a 33 year old grown married woman with kids. I think it's just my chance to reverse my disappointment from so long ago. I'll try to refrain from crying and fainting, though, which is what might have happened if I had gone in 1984.

Travel Journal - Beach Trip 2005

My husband Jonathan’s brother Mike, his wife Cheryl and their three kids Noah (6), Nyle(4), and Lily(2) flew into Charlotte from Michigan on Friday evening. It was great to see them again as it had been exactly a year since we had made a big family trip to Disneyland. Friday night, they slept at our house. We ordered dinner out from Jason’s Deli, then they played for a while before bedtime. The two boys shared Ethan’s room and Lily shared the guest room with Mike & Cheryl. The boys were so excited, it was hard to sleep, but eventually, the house was quiet. Of course, when we woke, Noah and Nyle had relocated to be with their parents, but at least everyone got some sleep.

Saturday morning, our whole group, save me, went to McDonald’s for breakfast, to let the kids run around a bit before we took the long drive to Surfside Beach. I stayed behind and packed the final gear for the trip. By 11:00, we were on the road, taking the minivan and a rented car. Our kids did quite well on the trip I must say. We had a a couple new kids CD’s, including music from Ralph’s World, which is even fun for the adults. We had a portable DVD player and the kids spent their time watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which is a full 145 minutes (and takes about 60 minutes to get to the main plot point, of introducing “Chitty”, but the kids don’t seem to mind the long setup) We stopped three times, once at Wendy’s for lunch. We arrived at the Dune’s Realty office in Garden City right at the 3:00 check in time.

The house was awesome. Down at the beach, all the rental properties have names. We could have considered The Shag Shack or Looney Dunes, but we finally had settled on reserving Turtle Time. The place was really nice, newly decorated, and contained all the comforts of home. Ethan and Adam shared the bedroom with two twin beds downstairs. They had a blast sharing a bedroom! We claimed the bedroom upstairs with one king size bed and our own balcony and private bathroom. Mike and Cheryl took another large bedroom that had two queen sized beds and a private bath. Noah, Nyle and Lily took the middle bedroom that had two full size beds and a pack n play and their own private bath as well! It was the perfect setup.

(our bedroom)

The first day, we basically didn’t do too much. We unloaded the cars, and then took the kids across the street to the beach. There is nothing like seeing a child’s expression when he/she first sees the ocean. All the kids were very excited. It wasn’t long before Ethan, Nyle and Noah were all soaked. But, we went back to the house and changed. We sent Mike and Jonathan out for food and we unpacked. After dinner, the men went back out and bought groceries.

I noticed that Adam had a huge splinter in his foot, possibly from the wood patio. It was about an inch long. Most of it has broken off and come out now, but some remains and I'm gradually working on getting the rest out.

We went somewhere every day, but the rest of the time was spent either at the beach or at the private pool. On Sunday, we went to Broadway On The Beach, an outdoor shopping mall set on a man-made lake. On Monday, we went back to the same area and went to Ripley’s Aquarium. On Tuesday, the older kids went with Jonathan, Cheryl and Mike and did putt-putt golf. I stayed behind and played with Adam and Lily and took them for a walk in the rented double beach jogger. On Wednesday, the families went their separate ways as they went to some flea markets and we went to the Coastal Grand Mall. On Thursday, more local shopping and lots of time on the beach, which is where Cheryl and I got our backs completely sunburned. Friday was spent mostly relaxing as it was the first day of bad weather we had. The kids watched Racing Stripes and played indoors mostly, while we packed and cleaned up. Saturday morning, they got up at 4 am to return their rental car and catch a 6:30 flight out of Myrtle Beach and we got up, went and had breakfast at Big Apple Bagel, came back and packed up the car and checked out.

The two families got along quite well, despite some obvious differences in our parenting styles. It was actually interesting to see how other people raise their kids and we took home a couple good ideas, as well as some appreciation for the things that we feel we’ve done a good job on. Our discipline styles were dramatically different. People who know us know that Ethan and Adam have never been spanked, hit, slapped or otherwise harmed on purpose to get some kind of a point across. So, it was interesting to see how kids who are used to getting dealt physical punishment behave. By the end of our trip, we definitely confirmed that we made the right choice for our boys by using other means of discipline. I really can't imagine ever doing it or running out of non-violent choices of discipline, but I do understand that it makes sense for other people, and I've learned the art of biting my toungue.

But, on the other side of the coin, we were inspired by mealtime rules that their family had, that we had been quite slack on. For instance, we had never thought twice about the boys bringing a car or other toys to the table with them, we just figured it would keep them entertained so we could finish our meal. But, we soon saw that a strict “no toys at the table” rule was quite helpful in getting kids to actually eat their food.

We also quickly learned that Ethan is one of those types of kids that is eager to please and likes to make others happy, therefore, he’ll go along with anything. If his cousins told him to jump off the bed, he’d do it. So, we’re definitely going to nip that in the bud and encourage Ethan to use his conscience as his guide. Of course, on the times he does use his conscience, he gets great pleasure in taddling. LOL.


All in all, there was no tension and our time together was fun and enjoyable. The last night, the kids said their goodbyes by playing a bit of ring around the rosie and hugging each other. We’d definitely rent a beach house with family again. I'm sure the kids will have many fond memories of this trip.

Off We Go!

Unless I am lucky enough to get a wi-fi connection while on vacation, this will be my last post for a week. Today, my husband's brother, his wife and their three kids will be flying into Charlotte. Together, we'll all drive out to Surfside Beach.

We will be renting a five bedroom house, that will hopefully be spacious enough for four adults and five kids, ages 2, 2 1/2, 4, 5 and 6!

The house has it's own pool and lots of amenities. Still, I'm packing up a storm today, filling the van with many of the home comforts that will make our beach house a little more kid-friendly; potty chair, booster seats, safety gates, bed guards, toys, DVDs, etc. I'm sure I'll have lots of pics when I get back.

All Creatures Great And Small

Injured Bird
Originally uploaded by candy.

Why oh why do helpless animals always seem to find me and need my help? First, there was the gopher huddled inside a lady's car under her hood, the turtle stuck in the dryer vent hose, the baby duck that fell down the sewer drain, the fish that jumped out of the tank at the Bass Pro Outlet store.... and now, a little bird who is obviously injured, perhaps by my lanscapers or someone's cat or dog.

Well, unfortunately, there is not much I can do right now for this little guy. I believe he's a fledgling mourning dove and I'm guessing a male because he has more coloring that other doves. He decided to huddle at my doorstep on this cold, rainy morning. I have now left messages with five bird rehabilitators and so far no response. The poor thing has no use of his legs, his tail feathers are missing and one eye appears to be swollen shut. I feel so bad for the poor thing. If I don't keep him wrapped, he ends up on his back as his wings seem to work just fine. I sense that this story will not have a happy ending. Poor little guy. I will post an update later.


Update: The bird passed away sometime in the 20 minutes I went to pick up Ethan from school. Well, I did everything I could. Still, it's very sad. I told Ethan about the bird on the way home and he was looking forward to seeing it, and then I had to break the news. Of course, we'll have to have a funeral.

My Beef With CafePress and Cowbell

From CafePress Home Page (May 04)
Originally uploaded by candy.

My husband did a very nice design for a "more cowbell" t-shirt. It features a cute cartoon of the character of Bruce Dickenson and yellow letters that say "More Cowbell" on it (if you don't know about this, it is a skit that appeared on SNL about 5 years ago, and his been a craze ever since) Anyway, a couple hours after my husband put it in his store, he got an email from cafePress. They claimed the image was a likeness of Christopher Walken and could not be used. Well, first of all, it's a friggin cartoon, second of all, what about the shirt that's on their own homepage featuring a cartoon of Will Ferrell as his character from this skit, banging away on a cowbell? What hypocrites.

"Dear Anne C.
I have several stores that have been successful through CafePress for many years. I host the Online Christopher Walken Fan Club and I am Jonathan's wife.

I am highly disappointed that you would put this particular design into pending status from my husband's majaNATION store. Of course, it's your company's right to choose not to print something, but it is my opinion that banning a cartoon illustration or any kind of caricature, especially when it doesn't have the person's name on the design, is being highly overprotective, and it's also kind of hypocritical when I see some of the designs that you do allow. It is especially hypocritical to display a similar design with a cartoon likeness of the character played by Will Farrell in the Cowbell skit on your home page! (see attached .jpg, pulled from your home page today) It is almost suspicious that you have a shirt with a "cowbell" design on your homepage and you are banning another similar "cowbell" design. I don't mean to imply anything, but you have to realize how that looks to your customers.

I just wanted to offer a point of perspective on this. If you think of how many people imitate Christopher Walken - on radio, TV, stage, etc... I really doubt Chris or ICM would take the time and money to sue because of a cartoon. And, I can guarantee that he wouldn't even consider this an image of himself, it resembles an image of the character he played in the skit. Again, I understand that you have the right to ban whatever images you want, but it's a complete waste of potential income for you and everyone at cafepress, from a completely harmless design. And, by implying that it was okay (by featuring the attached image on your homepage,) it was a waste of my husband's time on this design.

If you're truly worried about infringing on intellectual property, you should consider removing any and all "more cowbell" merchandise (I believe there is something like 950 products that come up in the search) because the phrase "more cowbell" was written by someone at Saturday Night Live, therefore it is intellectual property. But, I wouldn't personally think that you'd need to act on that, any more than you need to remove my husband's design.

I hope that you can revise your system for banning images in the future as I think it is lacking consistency, fairness and common sense.

Thanks for your attention
Candy Rosenbaum
www.walkenfanclub.com


UPDATE: Ah, the power of the pen. They just sent Jonathan an email saying "after further consideration we have restored the image." so, without further adieu, here it is!!