FizzyLizzy

I know you've heard it. If you've had the TV on for 30 seconds you couldn't miss it. "We don't even give that to people from Iowa." [Re: instate college tuition] That ad makes me snicker because the intonation kinda implies there's hardly a lower class of people than Iowans. And we know that isn't true, right Mrs. Bickerson?

The other ad that marginally annoys me (as opposed to all the others that are really annoying) is the sob story where the candidate complains that while her newborn daughter had to stay in the hospital for special care, she was kicked out after 24 hours. I’d wager that a lot of new mothers, regardless of the health of their child, would rather have more than 24 hours.

What is the lesser of two evils? Campaign ads or MPR pledge week. I thought I'd found a safe haven in MPR. They figured out we're all fleeing the commercial airwaves.

I'll leave you with this tidbit from a Classical MPR DJ:
I'm surprised no one has made a film about [obscure composer]. His life was full of the kind of adventure that Hollywood is made of. He stowed away on a ship from Spain when he was twelve. And he was kicked out of the Paris Conservatory for throwing a ball through a glass window.

Wow, there's some high drama.

Minneapolis does not. Perhaps this is a lesson learned at an early age by the young denizens of Chicago and other places populated with many revolving doors. Maybe at the same age children usually learn not to run out in the street because their parents shriek in horror while envisioning the accident about to happen. We've been cautious on previous expeditions to the Land of Revolving Doors. But this time William had the perfect mix of confidence, impulsiveness, and lack of foresight that nearly got him chopped in half on several occasions when he thought he could dart into a quickly-diminishing six-inch gap in the door.

On the way back from Chicago last weekend my parents passed by this scene just minutes after it happened. We came upon it just 20 minutes after them. I feel very blessed that neither of our vehicles had the misfortune of encountering this lunatic.

Sorry, busy week again inc. another trip to see Dave and Michele.

Earlier today...

Wm: Scorpions have eight legs.

Me: Are they related to...

Wm: Arachnids. Spiders.

What they teach in kindergarten these days. He's going to out-brain me by third grade.

"From the inside, the glass roof and walls add excitement to the experience of every rain or snowstorm."

Why? Because you'd be wondering if water were going to leak in?

Last weekend we went to Mr. FL's homecoming football game. At halftime they trotted out five or six couples for the homecoming coronation. I thought to myself, "Boy homecoming sure has been scaled back these days."

No. Not really. After an informal poll of several people who graduated from Twin Cities area high schools in the 1980's I discovered this is not necessarily the case.

Apparently my high school was located in bizarro world where homecoming coronation was an elaborate event held during the middle of homecoming week. The homecoming court consisted of a host and hostess, 4 ushers and usherettes, 34 lords and ladies, 22 king and queen candidates, and a few children who were crown and scepter bearers. Sixty-two, that's about a fifth of my class. At the coronation the host and hostess would announce all the lords, ladies, and king and queen candidates as such: "From the house of Anderson, Kimberly Michelle and her escort, Bradley Goldman." I kid you not. The king and queen were elected separately, not as a couple and were crowned by the previous year's king and queen. After the event, the court would all go out to dinner at a "fancy" restaurant. (The definition of "fancy restaurant" in the 1980's Twin Cities is a bit different than it is today.) The day after coronation, the royalty would get a half day off from school because they had been up so late.

I wonder if their homecoming is still like that. We also used to have a co-ed homecoming campout. I bet they don’t do that anymore.

Because my eyes are very sensitive to onion fumes, I felt the need to spend too much money on these today.












I did not feel the need to buy these "decorative" cheese things shaped like goat, cow, and sheep heads. You know, so you know what kind of cheese you're eating. Duh.

O.K. So I'm doing a little online pre-shopping for kids' cold weather accessories at rei.com and I come across some mittens whose color is listed as "black/jacaranda." I love color and am all for color specificity but jacaranda? It looks like white. I was curious if "jacaranda" was really something so I looked it up. Today's vocab lesson (I know you've been missing them)--

Jacaranda: any of a genus of pinnate-leaved tropical American trees of the trumpet-creeper family with showy blue flowers in pannicles.

William: "I'm George Washington." If you use your five-year-old imagination you can see how this scrap of wrapping paper with the curled-up ends resembles the Colonial-era wig that George Washington wore.
























It's no weirder than my brothers and I dipping our fingers in applesauce and pretending that our coated fingertips resembled George Washington's wig. I, at least, was considerably older than five.

While I think it's possible that he could have had inside information, TK is the winner of the "Lost of the Black Dark" contest with the correct answer of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." As you might have guessed, the "prize" is having your name listed on the FizzyLizzy blog as the contest winner!! And maybe a VHS copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark if I still have it.

Everyone knows that little brothers cannot exist in homes that have been magically transformed into a birthday spa. So William spent a little time at Grandma's house. While he was at Grandma's house he watched a movie the title of which is the title of this post. There is a prize for the first reader to correctly guess the real title of the movie.

Yesterday was the spa birthday party for the Butty Princess. What is a butty princess you ask? Well, some people might write the words "Beauty Princess" if they were making some sort of drawing extolling themselves with phrases like "Katherine rocks" and "Butty Princess." But the spell-checker in the brain of a ten-year-old is still in its formative stages. The Butty Princess was pleased with her party which made its time-consuming preparations worth it for me. Unfortunately in all the fun I forgot to take photos. Ugh.

I don't want you to think that just because Mr. FizzyLizzy and I have two young children and don't have a ton of free time for ourselves that we aren't culturally relevant. I mean, I really have been meaning to set up a MySpace profile and see that new Will Ferrell movie and eat at the new sushi place up the street. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. While I like the Volkswagen brand, the reason we bought our first (used) VW wagon was because it's monstrous back seat could comfortably fit the monstrous seating apparatus designed to keep our newly hatched offspring safe while riding in the car. The two-door Nissan Sentra just wasn't going to cut it. And also because I'm minivan averse. Mrs. Bickerson mentioned a new VW ad campaign that features Slash from Guns n' Roses. Who exacty is the target market for that? I don't know what kind of shenanigans they're up to but they better not start co-branding with the Gap. Did I mention that everyone in my immediate family--over two states and two continents--owns a VW?

almost two weeks ago




















sometime between the end of curriculum night and driving the three blocks to school for picture day the following morning

it is a mystery

Happy birthday K-o-rama! You've come a long way!

Way to go, Sarah! Congratulations!

Our "Chatty Kathy" is a very social girl. Too much talking in class has been a challenge for her ever since she started her elementary school career. Last Thursday Mr. FL & I went to parent curriculum night. The teacher had placed Katherine's desk (and one other boy's) a moderate distance from the other kids' desks. Katherine's explanation: "Other kids were always talking to me." Some things never change.