#28 - Trivial pursuits

Today I won a trivia contest on movie star Cate Blanchett. Finally, years of stupid trivia memorization and reading People magazine paid off! I've won contests before, to be sure, but those have been raffles/auctions and the like. This was different because I actually had to know something! Did you know that Ms. Blanchett is the first Oscar winner to receive her statuette for portraying another Oscar winner? Well, I did! And now you do, too. I won two tickets to the local movie theaters for knowing this and three other useless facts about this actress. Hey, I should go on "Jeopardy!" Um, maybe not.

#27 - Big truck

Generally, our family doesn't shop much at Toys R Us. In fact, since the little guy was born, I think we've been there twice as a family. So today, as an experiment, the little guy and I went shopping there, just the two of us. He absolutely had a great time - and since he was there to literally "test drive" the toys, I think we brought home some winners. But today's cute story comes from the toy mega-blocks isle. We got four different types of large trucks off the shelves so he could try them out. One was a dump truck, one a wagon, one a fire truck, and the last a car carrier type. He kept going back to the dump truck so I knew it was the one to put in the cart... well, he barely let the cashier scan it! He insisted on putting it in his lap in his carseat (and this thing is big enough for him to ride on, so I could barely see him on the way home). He ran around with it all afternoon, putting his favorite blanket in the back as cargo. He even said "night-night" to it on his way upstairs to bed. So cute!

#26 - Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

My family and I visited the Animal Ark today. I'd never been there, though the rest of my little family went to visit a year ago. We really did see a mountain lion, as well as a brown bear and some tigers. The white tiger, which you can see in the photo behind the little guy, was our favorite. He was strutting around and seemed to be enjoying the sun. That is, until it started to snow. We saw them feed the brown bear and once it started snowing pretty good we decided we'd had enough. But our visit kept our attention pretty well (we were there 1-1/2 hours!) and we had a good time. I hope we will go back next year when we won't need to take the stroller!

#25 - Early spooky celebration

The little guy and I went trick-or-treating today. He was much too young last year to understand the concept (or even walk house-to-house!) so we participated in my work's annual party for everyone's kids. At first, he was shy with all the other kids and their parents. Plus the pirate jacket (as shown in the photo) was obviously made for outdoor activities and was much too hot for walking around indoors! He only had it on for a couple photos and then we went without it. Still, he wanted me to carry him everywhere... until I let him eat some chocolate. From that point forward, he was happy as could be, and he even walked a bunch by himself.

#24 - Venturing out alone

Since our regular babysitters are out of town, this evening my wonderful hubby stayed home with the kiddo, and I went to rehearsal by myself. I've been in this group almost 7 years and I only go alone if the hubby is sick... but what makes today's occurence "new" is that he wasn't sick. Sometimes it's hard to be an adult and give up things you want to do in order to stay home with the little guy. We have been incredibly lucky to have family around to babysit most of the time since he's been around. But tonight was a good lesson in fairness for us - hubby went out last night to sub in a band, and I went tonight. At least we each got to play this week! And we each got a night to play and run around here at home. I am grateful that we can share all this responsibility... how do single parents do it?

#23 - Not a new thing in sight

Well, I made it more than three weeks, but it's official - I didn't do anything new today. And that's my new thing for today. I've reviewed the day in my head, over and over, but there just isn't anything. Took the sniffly kiddo to day care, went to work, had lunch at home. Picked up the sniffly kid, tried on some new pants that arrived in the mail, ate dinner with the family. Watched a little t.v. Now it's bedtime and I've got nothing. Sorry, folks, I've failed you. I'll try harder tomorrow, but I'm not ashamed. I worked hard today and it was a nice day. Next time I don't choose to do something new, I may not admit it and just skip a posting day. And I will be O.K. with that.

#22 - A Birthday tribute

Two of the important men in my life have birthdays today. In their honor, I researched some birthday traditions around the world. My dad, who recently traveled to England and Egypt on vacation, probably already knows that the British like to bake tiny items into their cake, and whoever finds them gets various types of luck. (Find a coin, get good luck; find a thimble, get bad luck. Good thing I don't sew very well!) They also like to turn people upside-down and bump their heads on the floor (once for each year they've achieved... aren't you glad they don't do this one in the U.S., Dad?)

My step dad loves to cook. I find he would enjoy the tradition in Hong Kong, where they eat special extra-long noodles to symbolize a long life. Wayne's family makes their own noodles for some special occasions - something I've never done (hmmmmm...) and they are delicious. Happy, happy birthday!