I am very proud of myself. I nearly resisted the entire Thanksgiving feast food shopping hysteria this year. For one thing, we didn’t have turkey. The family didn’t want one (they never do). They also didn’t want vegetarian so I shopped the freezer and pulled out a roast beef. (we are transitioning to mostly vegetarian now but we will eat meat now and again).
We then went to the garden and got some turnips, carrots and brussel sprouts. That just left three items from the store that we couldn’t live without, mushroom, puff pastry and mushroom pate. I made a Beef Wellington the same thing we always make to replace turky.
We had the wine. We had the butter. We had it all at home. And we made it work.
A recipe for pear upside down cake (taken by my daughter from Martha Stewart) came out dry. As I read the recipe I noticed that who ever wrote it for Martha noted that one has to transfer the batter to the pan using a angled spatula. You can’t just use a wooden spoon, oh no, that would be crude. You have to go buy something. I wonder if Martha happens to have angled spatulas for sale by chance. Of course she does.
On the news, reporters were urging those of us who shop Black Friday online to wake up as early as we would if we were going to the stores. Thats right. They actually said, “4 am is the best time to start, even online.”!!!!!! Because……because…retailers might run out of the things you want by 5 a.m if you don’t hurry to be first to part ways with your money.I am sure many went to bed in a panic as a result and had nightmares too. What a load of crap.
Anyhow, I am staying put today, unless I run off to the yarn store………………..usually a very peaceful place to go.
Since the kids are getting into more heavy metal these days and since many bands are either reforming or else never went away, I’m rediscovering the genre. Here is what I have so far (and it isn’t bad since I resisted for so long).
Metallica. In S.F. I actually used to see the members everywhere. In fact, one year, me and Garry drove all the way to Yosemite without a car radio only to find that the gorgeous park was on fire and we were not allowed in most places. We were allowed to go to a swimming hole though. When we got there, just on the other side of the pond was a group of head bangers. This was 1989 and we called them that and I think they called themselves that too. Since they had a view of us, we also took liberties to stare back at them. It was rather boring, even after I realized that it was guitarist Kirk Hammett and his entourage. Later that year I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe with a friend, watching a traffic jam and once again, found myself staring back at the same man on a motorcycle! Goodness. Was he stalking me?!!!
Today. The boys orchestra has a Christmas recital next week. They all wanted to do Master of the Puppets but the teacher nixed that idea. Why? Because of royalties and also because nobody had composed that song for an orchestra as of yet and the teacher was not about to take that one on. So we get to sit through 3 hours of Tchaikovsky and stuff. Again. I hear Master of the Puppets (orchestra version) in my head all the time now. It would be perfect! Too bad about the royalties though.
And then we have Iron Maiden. I confess that I was never into them except for one or two songs. I was a musical snob and there is no real reason other than the fact that no punk rocker, former punk rocker or post punk rocker would ever admit to liking them much less knowing who they were, though we all did of course.
The original lineup reformed and of course have made it into the childrens playlist. But more than that. They have a documentary making the rounds on cable television. I didn’t catch its title and only caught parts of it, much to my regret. The documentary follows the band into Mexico, Columbia and Costa Rica (among other places). In either Columbia or Costa Rica, a fan was interviewed while camping outside for a week without food and water. He said he thought he would cry when they played. I’m not talking about a love struck teen mind you. An adult. An otherwise manly adult to boot.
When the band hits the stage, sure enough, the camera finds this poor soul and he is balling his eyes out right there in the middle of the audience, trying to stop himself and not able to. It was not funny. Bruce Dickensen wearing a sombrero in Mexico was a classic too. And there is a preacher somewhere in the hills of Brazil who uses their lyrics for his sermons and is covered in related tattoos. The documentary was really well done and while I can’t see loving the band’s work (you never know though) I want to see this again, from start to finish. It wasn’t one of those ego trip things for the band and they did a pretty good job of taking it to the streets. I would never have thought that but then I know so little of them.
I’m not sure who else they like yet…..Motorhead of course is big and again, I gave them a pass back then myself. Not into AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. Only recently admitting to thinking David Bowie was “hot”. Both of them. They seem to steer clear of most music that they identify as moms or dads for as long as they can resist. In fact until we took an interest in the music they liked they wouldn’t listen to anything at all if they suspected we ever did. Now I follow them. And they reciprocate, slowly…….
Its funny how I mispelled Music in my categories too. I think I’ll leave it at that.
I have a few pet peeves regarding some online sources for “back to simplicity, back to the land, homesteading” sites. I’ve blah blahed about it enough, that is for sure. My main thing is that the information gets repetitive and that in reality, there is no true dialog going on at most sites. I stopped wasting my time on many places and only actually visit a very select handful of blogs/sites in general these days. You know who you are.
I also vowed when I started to get wise that I wouldn’t recommend sites anymore until I got well acquainted with the “culture” being dispensed. I set very strict criteria. If I am going to learn something new, then I want the blog to go beyond the basics. Most of us are no longer newbies. That was the first criteria. The second was the importance of the blog giving either new information or taking old information and putting a spin on it (by adding a deeper level of knowledge) or by challenging the premise of the old knowledge and further, welcoming those who also are challenging that very premise. In other words, folks that think outside and beyond the well worn box. This can be a very subtle issue to detect in reality and its important that these things exist consistently, so it takes a few visits before determining whether in fact this is happening or not. Other criteria was more personal (politics and religion plus whether or not the writers deal with reality head on or not).
I wasn’t looking for El Dorado by any means, but it started to feel like it to me until a couple of days ago that is. I was on Causobans Book site and happened to see that Sharon Astyk also writes for a magazine called the Hen and Harvest Pub.
In fact, the only problem I have with this site is that it isn’t updated. Other than that, they offer real information for people who are real serious about sustainability, growing your own food and some DIY. The site is clean and well organized, all links work, advertising is discreet and its all presented in a semi blog style. Some of the writers do have blogs of their own so they do seem to sometimes cross post. Check out their Barnyard which is a forum (or don’t since its out of date anyway).
I had to laugh at their About page, where they promise to answer all those questions one might have and yet so few are willing to answer online.
Hen and Harvest has answers. Our editors are right there with you, trying new things, experimenting, finding solutions, reviewing tools and giving you the straight truth about energy, environment and sustainable living. We are passionate and hopeful that we can make a real transition to a lower energy world – and we’re not so sincere we make you want to throw up, either. We think getting the most out of our resources is fun – and can be funny.
Read their Frugal Gardening Ideas article for starters. The author happened to read an article on Tree Hugger and while finding it decent, felt that it hadn’t gone far enough and also didn’t necessarily agree with some of it so he reviews it honestly and respectfully, using his own experience on the matter. I personally hate it when people recommend articles and I go read them only to find them to be so basic that I could of done without.
Or how about a possible solution to the question I keep asking about Victory Gardens (lack of rather) in this day and age? Read “A Great Big Food Garden Tax Break”, but don’t get excited! Its just a very enthusiastic idea.
Its really too bad that the site isn’t updated. I don’t know why it isn’t but that is the fact of the matter. Still, there is enough there that it will keep you busy for a few days at least. Overall, this is the type of site that I am looking for and when I find it, I”ll be extremely loyal. The fact that it isn’t updated just means the search will continue on my end. I now have a model in which to base things on. That is something in itself.
We are going to the garden in an hour or so to harvest our Thanksgiving side dishes. All of them will come from there. That amazes me. I can’t believe we did this ourselves and the idea didn’t even dawn on us until around September!
I’m wrapping up my Hats Off to Gaza Knitting so now have time to knit gifts. Our gift list is pretty short, at least I thought it was. It turns out that the kids and all their friends are exchanging gifts this year. My daughter has been nagging me to make her a Hello Kitty hat and the boy wants an aviator type hat. Of course his girlfriend is also into Hello Kitty and so are all the Sad Girls.
I sat down to try to work out an adult sized pattern for this elusive Hello Kitty Hat. There are patterns out there. But to me (Hello Kitty Fan since 1976) I feel obligated to make my own one up instead. Most of the patterns out there are free, but most are for children. Nobody but Sanrio can sell you a Hello Kitty Pattern so beware!
I have the body finished and am working on the ears. I tried to design it in one piece rather than finishing a hat and then knitting seperate ears to be sewn on. I am not sure I got it down just yet. If I did, I have to make 6 of them!
And then the boys. I have to make a good looking one for each boy. While the girls will all feel like they belong to a secret club, the boys want to look cooler than everybody else. However, I’ll have knocked off 10 or so gifts by knitting. Why not just buy a hat? Because they all know I knit and they all want something home made.
I’ll show my Hello Kitty when its done. I can’t share the pattern because so far, I have written out on three pages and it makes sense to me but it won’t to anybody else. I guarantee it. It is not easy to write patterns it turns out.
A basic hat takes all of a few hours to make and doesn’t need lots of yarn. Novelty hats can use cheap novelty yarn. I am not a yarn snob, I’ll knit and crochet with anything!
Yesstyle.com is one of those websites that should scare this frugal parent out of my wits but instead, I spent something like two hours checking it out yesterday with the girl. What got me was when the princess said, “Look, you can get this set for 28 dollars here.” A set? Like a sweater set? Nope. Like an outfit.
We decided to pick a mom outfit and a daughter outfit to show here because unless you all see you won’t understand the magical spell I was under.
This is my choice. The skirt and the top for 28 dollars…..lots of choices in color as well. So you are not forced into one idea per outfit. Check it out here. I picked this because I’m from the school of “buy separates that work well with your other separates” which is about as interested in fashion for myself that I can muster right now.
And the girls choice.
She might be thinking straighter than me. This comes with the tshirt, leggings and sweatshirt for 42 dollars. For a girl whose idea of fashion is that it must take up entire walls in her room, this is a perfect choice. Check it out here.
The wonders didn’t stop there. Price ranges on sets can get much higher depending on the designer, however, each item can be purchased on its own so you can actually see if you are getting a deal or not.
To put the girls choice in perspective, I was in Kmart buying household supplies and came across a pair of ribbed leggings that I thought she and I should have a pair of. Unfortunately, the price tag (should of cost less than 10 bucks a pop) was 24 dollars, definately not worth it. I saw knit dresses for less! Kmart in the U.S. is not a fashion store and most people are embarrassed to admit they bought things there to actually wear. So leggings are hot items in the U.S. and even Kmart is out to exploit this.
Back to the site. The 25 dollar and under category was something I thought I would find hats, scarves and purses in, all marked at 24.99 with an occasional 15.99 thrown in just to keep us hopeful, all crammed in to two pages at most. Not here. 75 pages of wonderful deals await you. Like this.
Get a canvas belt similar this at Hot Topic for 30 bucks. Its on sale, regularly 15, but with 33% off, is now 9.00. By Graffico.
Or this.
Zip Jacket for 12.50 by Puffy.
And the higher end offerings?
Are you Raw Like Sushi? I am. And the girl too. This tshirt, for 22 bucks. 
by Zoo.
I haven’t checked out the childrens and babies section yet, but they have one. And the mens section had some nice cool things but not really competitively priced which is what I’m after.
Shipping. We have ordered from them before and they do have their shit together. We got the package in no time. If you spend 150 you get free international shipping. Its easy to get that much in one order. What we hope to do is order all the girls presents from there (minus iPod) and anything else we see that might come in handy as well but I suspect the girl will take up 150 alone.
Yes Style seems to be a clearinghouse for companies exclusively in Asia but they do have categories for U.S., U.K. and Australia as well. The problem is that only Australia has actual products in it. The rest are empty. And the Australia prices are about average. No sets for example.
Sizes. The company goes well out of its way to place size comparison charts on every product page, even shoes. You will need to know your measurements so have a measuring tape handy.
As my girl and I spent time perusing this site, she said, “F&*(& Kmart!” (she knows about the leggings). Ordinarily, I would wash her mouth out with environmentally friendly, locally produced, cruelty free, locally grown soap but this time, I repeated the statement myself.
We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving in the U.S. which means the kickoff to the Mad Materialism Frenzy that sweeps the nation year in and year out. As the kids have gotten older, our Christmas lists have gotten smaller but at the same time, more expensive. They traded in Legos and Barbie for iPods, guitars and high fashion. We have a request for a guitar from the boy (acoustic) and a Japanese magazine subscription for the girl (will cost half of the guitar). Those are definitely going to happen.
Their iPods both crashed this year after enduring the washing machine and dryer countless times over the last 4 years. Thats right, both endured and recovered from this abuse. It takes the little mites 3 days on a sunny window to rev up again-on average. We found this out after realizing we didn’t ensure them, out of desperation more or less.
At the same time, me and Garry just went over our spending since July. I’m ashamed to say we went over the top. I haven’t been paying attention at all and Garry sees the farm as a new toy. Most of it went to the well (16,000) and some of it went to the usual life issues. The kids school and back to school shopping took a nice chunk. Still, something funny going on there. We spent way way way too much. And we have nothing much to show for it. Good thing it isn’t on credit.
I’m making a New Years Resolution starting now. To cut our spending drastically and I’m basing it on our July through November spending because if I don’t then nobody learns their lesson. What we have is 3000 a month on fixed expenditures (according to Garry). That means rent, transport, food, utilities, car insurance, cable and internet and cell phones. I feel we could do a lot better and that some of these are not necessarily fixed.
We are going to start with a Christmas envelope. That is a system that many use now and it works by putting money in labeled envelopes that are meant to last a given time. X amount for food for a week. X amount for transportation. X amount for fun, etc. Christmas is a month long process. So we will allot the children a certain amount each. The idea is that once the money is gone, its gone. Too bad. So plan well. While I’m at it, I’m putting the receipts back into the envelope so that later on, I can see what we actually do with our money.We currently just shred the receipts after looking them over for accuracy.
I’m doing another one for food, one for gas, one for utilities, childrens spending money, Garry’s spending money and my own.
My goal is to take that 3000 dollars a month-minus Christmas of course- and try to scale it down by 1/3rd for starters. My real dream goal is to scale it down by half but 1/3rd sounds more realistic to me. I don’t know. I’ve really lost touch with all of this since July, when Garry took over doing the job.
I do have one confession. We already bought the boy his acoustic guitar. We got it for half the cost at Sky Auction. He saw it and approved of it. He found a site that was selling it for much much more than our top bid. We told him somebody outbid us. Its sitting in the girls closet. He would never dare enter that space because she would kill him. One down, quite a lot to go.
I’m going to get typical in the next month and write about this budget of ours and how we cope during the worst time of year. I challenge anybody who is waiting to make a budget until New Years to try it now instead. No reason to wait. And you might find that Christmas is a little less stressful if you plan things today instead of going with the flow. Also, any budget tips would be greatly appreciated.
I spent all day at the childrens school for report card pickup yesterday. All day! The school is huge, taking up an entire city block. I have to talk to 12 teachers and two home room ones. 14 teachers! The childrens classes are at opposite sides of each other of course. The girl was helping her homeroom teacher so we took care of the boy first.
As we walked through the hallways, I had a hard time catching up to him. Daddy long legs and his comparitively miniscule mom. The only reason I ever caught up with him is because he had to stop every few feet to hug a friend and then have a chat. I think we spent more time on this than with any teacher.
He didn’t do to good. His usual musical genius talents, sociology brilliance and for some reason, physics ability make him shine. In fact he won a musical scholarship for stand up bass tutoring. And he was voted orchestra president. Trigonometry teacher though was very unhappy as was I. German is an issue, can’t conjugate and the teacher has never ever come a cross a student who can listen, write and understand the language and yet cannot conjugate! Thats my boy!
The girl, well……….it was like being the hand maiden to the queen. Every teacher we visited raved and raved away. She is a perfect A student so visiting her people is more of like going to give autographs. “Yes, I’m her mother!”
Physics though. We spoke to the teacher about the nasty girls. The teacher is very sweet. She told me that the leader of the nasties got suspended for calling another teacher names. (we know through gossip what that name was and its a very very dirty one). Because of the suspension the teacher was hopeful that the girl learned her lesson. I asked her “what if she hasn’t?”
The teacher said, “I don’t know.” I got frustrated at that and told her that as a parent whose child is being subjected to this kind of thing, I would prefer that she calls security and have the girl pulled out of there. I elaborated that there is nothing that says the girl won’t get violent and if she doesn’t do anything about it (if “it” continues), then I would. I expect my child to be safe and also to be able to learn without the dramas. And I expect my childs teachers to also feel safe and relaxed enough to concentrate on their work. She agreed then to call security if “it” happens again but she was still hopeful that it wouldn’t.
I find that my daughter gets the best teachers. My son gets some of the best but unfortunately he needs specific teaching styles in some subjects (like math) and he always gets the teachers who don’t have the preferred teaching style-always in his more difficult subjects! They too are good teachers, but they don’t work for him and they tend to be inflexible, the kind that don’t believe in learning styles! I can’t wait for the day the boy graduates. I think he’ll find college to be enlightening.
I keep wanting to go off into a week of Japanese pop culture related posts but dammit, something keeps happening! I am working on Angelic Pretty first of all, for school. They are a Sweet Lolita fashion design house. Oh so cute! In doing research, I’ve uncovered some really fun websites and in the design process have learned to love pink again. I have to find out the details of copyright issues before posting my first project here. I’m allowed to use images from online sources for portfolio reasons as long as I cite my sources but I’m not sure if that means I can actually post things publicly but not for commercial purposes. I can only say that it came out Kawaii (adorable) even without finding the right fonts. My Japanese vocabulary remains as basic as a 4 year olds but I’m coming across words that I already know so I am getting reinforcement there (do you hear the humor?)
So the dramas at home. Not really my home but making their way in the front door anyway. I was supposed to prepare to visit a mental institute on Friday. No, I didn’t lose my own mind! It seems that a friend of my daughters was institutionalized last week. Another friend was being driven with the girls family to school and she overheard something horrible. The mother was threatening to place the “sick” girl in a mental institute-again. The friend new that the girl had been put away like that before but she also knew that it was a threat that the girls mother used all the time to control the poor kid. The mother made good on the threat this time. The hospital took the girl in and even though the mom said it would be two weeks, “like last time”, they let her go in a few days.
I was to go because the girls would not be allowed in to visit without an adult. I wanted to go because I heard the back story. The mother is apparently a born again (they are really coming out of the woodwork) and considers many things to be full assaults against God (oh so surprising). Her daughter is apparently not a born again and being a teenager, is rebelling. According to the friends, this girl goes to school upset all the time. Her mother wants her to be a good and mindless little Christian princess but the girl has other plans for her life.
The girl’s parents are divorced and when she appeals to her dad for help he tells her that he doesn’t want to get involved (the ass). She has only one choice and that is to live like this until she is old enough to leave. In the meantime, mom is scarring the girl for life, forcing her into mental institutions for bad behavior (not mental illness according to the friends) and overall sounds very abusive. The other option is foster care. That isn’t something the girl necessarily wants.
Stop here. Lets visit another girl. A month ago, her boyfriend suddenly broke up with her and she was devastated. She went home, had a fight with her mom. I don’t know what happened but overall, she has a very good relationship with the woman and after all was said and done, she still respects her mother. The mom called the police and they took the girl away and put her in a mental institution as well. For two days. Apparently, this is a law! This girl is now on anti depressants. She is too embarrassed to talk about it but slowly is giving me the story. She said she was in the wrong so her mother had a right to call the cops and if she hadn’t then the girl wouldn’t of gotten the help she didn’t know how to ask for. I believe her.
My point is this: What the hell is this law? And its one thing to have your child committed because they need help (like the second case) but quite another to actually use this law as a threat and a weapon against somebody who doesn’t agree with you. And in the case of the first girl, one reason I wanted to visit the hospital is to find out why they would keep a child institutionalized for two weeks in the first place if she presumably doesn’t have anything really wrong with her? Does it not occur to them that the warning signs of abuse are there? Or are they opting to take her in to remove her from a very heated situation? In that case, shouldn’t Child Protective Services be called in? Or is it just a matter of money? And couldn’t the girl be treated outpatient if she isn’t severely mentally ill in the first place? Shouldn’t she be seeing a therapist regardless if she has been institutionalized?
Is this law intended just for suicide watches? Who determines this? The parents? The cops? Do they just want to keep juvenile detention stats down to show us we have a lovely society? What is going on?
My daughter and I have been having fun with the Lolita project. She always enjoys watching me produce and has learned a great deal about design. I’ve always included her in the process since she is very artistic. She doesn’t create for me, but her understanding of Lolita and Japanese culture is invaluable to me. It looked like pure escapism to be at first. I’ve come to see that it is that but its also so much more. She had all of this shit about her friends on her mind in the last few weeks. Lolita makes her smile and in fact that is part of the entire premise.
There are other sad girls in our lives. I know their stories as well. Not one of my daughters friends is “normal” right now. She said, “Here we have this farm and here I have all these friends who want to leave home when they turn 18 but really have no where to go. Can’t we turn the place into a sanctuary for them too mom?” If they want that, our doors here and at the farm are always open. Its funny but the girl elaborated on how the design I was creating would make a great room decor and how her friends, even those who hate Lolita, still want that silly, lovely, soft, cuddly and sometimes insanely tacky lifestyle. In fact, they need it. I might just go ahead and do a Lolita room at the farm come Spring. Like an art installation. I’m going to work on designing it. I’m going to keep my eyes open for the right stuff to fill it. And I’m going to send these girls invites.
Sometimes, just knowing that somebody out there cares very much for you is all a girl really needs. Dammit! I really didn’t need to “adopt” even more children. But that is my fate.
I had to call my neighbor because her door was open and lights were out, cats crying. I thought that she left the house like that which is not that unusual for her. She was home and fine. She then invited me to her church which is going to give a Christmas play in December. Her church is a fundamentalist Christian one.
In the meantime, I had done something to Illustrator which made it not work at all so as I spoke I also was frantically searching for a solution online. The words I heard: “Sunday, God said, Hell, Heaven, Jesus, Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin.” and finally, “homosexuality is a cancer”. I kid you not. I said something about tolerance. She said that tolerance is the devils advocate or something along those lines. I was beyond pissed but watched my manners.
I then said, “So your church wants to eradicate homosexuals but in the meantime, its okay for certain countries to wage wars but the enemy countries are not allowed to fight back, just accept the death toll quietly. Murder is a sin, its the worst of them all. Especially when wars put bullets in childrens heads. I think your teaching are sending you straight to hell, if hell exists at all.”
She then went off on how war was right if against Muslims (not necessarily Muslim Extremists mind you, just Muslims) because they don’t “know God”. In other words, if the kid with the bullet in his/her head is Muslim, then who cares! My ass! She of course brought up Gaza and how Hamas allegedly kidnapped and murdered a Christian book store owner and then not having enough bloodshed, they went after his family too, threatening his children and wife. This one family was in so much jeapardy that they had to leave Gaza! I had to laugh. Who the hell can just leave Gaza?!!!!Not many and not with ease. You know, the place is under lock and key after all. I asked her who got the family out? When. The name of the bookstore. She said it was a video she saw. I asked her for the url. Because videos, just like movies, can be fake. She didn’t have the link. I mentioned too, the Goldstone Report. She began to panic.
I continued on about Gaza as living proof of the hypocrisy. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill”. It doesn’t say, “Thou shall kill whomever is deemed an enemy of your personal twisted interpretation of a bible that leads to a depraved belief system but other than that, don’t do it-or else!“ Did I stop there? No. I couldn’t.
“When you’re done with the children in Gaza, your Church is going to line up the homosexuals and after that is done, you’ll find women and children with crooked teeth or men with large ears and don’t forget senior citizens with Alzheimers which you will say are possessed by demons or something like that. Are you sure these are Gods Words? The last time I looked, he was indeed blood thirsty but he was JUST most of the time. Your church is JUST BLOODTHIRSTY.”
She actually said, “I have to go find you the evidence, I’ll call you back!” All friendly. Yeah, like I’m answering that phone call.
People, read your bible. Not for religious or faith based reasons. Just read it. Because its being twisted around by foul mouthed preachers who are mentally cruel and ill and then the information is being dispensed down to the ignorant masses who don’t have the ability to think their own thoughts. The dark ages are back. We have to fight it. Know the bible and fight these peoples lies.
The dark ages are back. Fight it if you value life. Fight it if you value anything at all! Even if you are selfish and value just yourself, you are going to eventualy be a target. These kinds of monsters don’t have the ability to stop themselves from finding victims!
In other related news and question: Sarah Palin landed herself a gig on Oprah! I saw the commercial, not the show. That must of been awkward, no? But what kind of twisted world do we live in when Palin visits Obamas #1 fan? After all was said and done I mean?
Garry is up at the farm having the time of his life as usual and as usual, I’m holding the city fort down. The kids did end up going to see dir en grey on Monday night. They begged until I couldn’t take it anymore so gave them permission. I also gave them money for a cab home. Enough money mind you and tshirts.
So they don’t call at 10pm like they should have. I’m nodding off by then and getting desperate for some sleep. An insomniac is not a nice person when they are on their millionth day of lack of good rest, believe me.
I called them. They were in line for a tshirt, nearly done. They didn’t know how to hail a taxi though! I told them how. Half an hour later, they still hadn’t hailed one. Hello! Go to the venue or a restaurant and ask them to call you one or else have them give you a number! They didn’t know this. Half an hour after that, they called me again.
They had hailed a cab a few moments after my last call but the driver only took them half way, saying that they had used up all their money. They were out after curfew in an area I wouldn’t want them to be out at all! I told them to hail another cab and I would pay for it. I scolded them (and myself for not thinking about a driver taking advantage of young kids) for not insisting on coming all the way home in one cab and I would pay the difference when they got here. I would of loved to see the meter and gotten the drivers number.
It turned out he had in fact taken the longest route. I couldn’t understand why he dropped them where he did. The kids didn’t get the cab company’s name or I would call and complain.
Anyhow, they took a bus the rest of the way and had to walk three blocks to the house. I was pissed! But at least cops didn’t stop them. That was my biggest worry. I imagined having to go get them from the police station on a school night. It turns out that they didn’t see one squad car though. Good thing but also, it figures.
We didn’t sleep in the next day (yesterday). Instead we zombied out all day. I kept them home from school because I couldn’t think of getting in the car. I felt like a wreck! I might as well have gone to the show. Cost without tickets? 20 dollars for the cab. 100 dollars for tshirts and dinner after school. Water at the venue for 4 dollars, coat check-get this-3 dollars an item, not per person. The kids had layered their clothes so that they didn’t have to have heavy coats (some logic!) but decided to check in their clothes when they got too hot. They did it despite the price. The bus fair. They lent a friend money for a tshirt as well (30 dollars per tshirt). They came home with empty pockets and even said that they were lucky to have had bus fare! 120 dollars plus the 21 dollars per ticket. Ouch.
Next time, I’m going. I don’t care who the band is. I’m going.
They did say that they wished we had gone, dir en grey are in the midst of an image change again and they were at their best. The kids wished I had seen them too. “You would of loved it Mom.” Well next time, send a postcard while you are at it kiddos!
