The theme for MOPS next year is “Adventures in Mothering.” Their theme is theme park based. But when I think of adventure I think of Indiana Jones and that sort of thing. One mom in steering said she’s reminded of super heroes. Either way, I need to figure out a way to decorate for this coming year’s theme. I really like the idea of apothecary jars filled with amusement park treats (popcorn, cheap prizes, etc.) but don’t know how that’d end up looking. I run the risk of creating a kids party atmosphere instead of a place for moms to chill out. I want something hip and cool and part of me wants to forget the theme all together to get a look that is more aesthetically pleasing than theme oriented. And this is what I spend my time worrying about. Ah! Motherhood.

Just found this strange concept when I clicked on an ad. This website, bagborroworsteal.com, rents luxury accessories. Definitely not what I need. But a pretty neat concept. I guess Carrie of Sex and the City could have greatly benefited from such a service. I just can’t see paying $60 though to carry a bag for a week. Just give me 15 bucks and I’ll run to Target and pick up some functional bag that won’t require insurance (an actual option) or a weekly bank draft. It would completely stress me out to carry something that was expected to return in the same condition it came to me. I wouldn’t be able to take it into public bathrooms or carry sippy cups in it. Definitely not for real life mothers. Possibly for high school reunions.

I looked on the MOPS website again today for writer’s guidelines for this upcoming year and they were finally posted. I’m hoping that I can get published. I’m not sure how likely that is. But my goal is to at least try. The first deadline is only a week away.

Well, I wish I’d taken Latin. I’ve been reading Gone With the Wind and Rhett suggests that since Scarlett wants to change Frank’s store name to something with emporium in it, she change it to “caveat emptorium.” After looking things up on the web, it looks like that caveat emptor means “buyer beware.” And Scarlett goes as far as having the sign painted up. She’s so stupid. And I guess I am too.

If I could just remember my darned password. Since my last post I’ve had another baby. Beatrice Ann. She’s a pretty sweet baby (almost 6 months old) and makes my other two to look like monsters. We’re having a really hard time disciplining Lucy right now. She’s going through a “rough patch.” Which means she won’t obey and freaks out if we try to get her to sit in time out or have to spank her. It’s driving me crazy. I haven’t yelled it yet, but I think “shut up” an awful lot. I need to work on my “sweet speech.” Putting her to bed early tonight due to bad behavior was an ordeal. Of course, it’s not all bad stuff. We got a flip this week and I really love this clip that Alan put together. It’s almost midnight and watching it makes me ready to see her in the morning. Must go to bed. Very tired. No nap for me today. Which is a rarity in my three kid household. They wear me out!

It’s my mom’s birthday today. I’ve got to remember to call her.

Part of the reason it’s taken me so long to post is that I couldn’t remember my password and when I reset it, none of those worked. Anyway, I’m not sure exactly what was going on but I finally remembered the password I created and was able to get into my account by using it. So maybe now I’ll post more.

I’d better go check on everyone. The house is a little too quiet for 11:30 in the morning.

I’d turned down the TV so I could call Natlie and get her opinion on Max who’s still pulling his ears a week after starting him on antibiotics. She said I should call the doctor and now Max has an appointment for 4:15 this afternoon. I might see if Dr. Belvin will check Lucy’s ears too. So of course, since the television was on, Lucy was watching it. Higglytown Heroes. Lucy would watch TV all day if I let her. Not exaggerating. And Max after nursing a little and tugging some more on his ears is down for his second nap. He seems to do well with a second nap around 11. He’ll probably nap more than his standard hour BUT then won’t want to take a long nap in the afternoon which is what I’d prefer.

I finished The Cider House Rules on Wednesday and made Alan sit through the movie the same night. After seeing on the DVD case that it won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, I was really looking forward to watching it but after seeing it was rather disappointed in it. I guess it has the same feel but I was surprised that John Irving himself played with the timeline a lot and completely ommited Homer and Candy having a baby together and then lying about it for 15 years. I mean, that was a pretty big deal and really added a huge dimension to their deception. Their decision to finally out themselves and tell the truth is the climax of the book in my opinion.

The other thing that bothered me about the movie was that Melony was completely left out. In the movie, Mary Agnes is the oldest girl in the orphanage and Homer has no sexual exploits before leaving St. Cloud’s. Without Melony, Homer is left looking a bit naive, despite his “near-perfect obstetrical and gynocological procedure.” Melony serves to initiate Homer into the relational side of sexuality and without her, Homer looks dumb and desperate when he finally makes a move on Candy. Melony is also the catalyst of Homer finally deciding to tell the truth about Angel’s parentage. Melony’s accusing Homer of not being anything special makes him realize that he has become something that he didn’t want to become.

Because Irving played with the original timeline in the screenplay, Homer and Candy’s betrayal of Wally in the movie looks more like a betrayal. In the book, they betray the memory of Wally by consummating their relationship while he is still MIA in Burma, having convinced themselves that Wally must be dead and it’s time to stop “waiting and seeing,” but in the movie, Candy just looks like a cheater. Sure, she’s needy, but Wally is still alive and hasn’t been reported missing in the first place. This discrepency makes Candy more unlikeable than in the book. Instead of Homer and Candy’s relationship being born out of Homer’s pure love for Candy and Candy’s grief and love for Homer, it’s more of a lust issue in the movie. And it didn’t make me sad to see Homer go back to the orphanage. Of course he should leave, he never had a real connection with Wally and Candy to begin with.

The book’s year before the war, during which Homer, Wally, and Candy are inseperable makes the eventual love triangle more believable and tragic. The 15 years after Wally gets back make Homer’s departure sad but necessary.

The book’s more refined plot and fluid prose makes The Cider House Rules one of my favorite reads . The movie disappointed me. Maybe I should have waited for the novel to settle and the details to be more blurry.

Higglytown is over. Lucy just got a timeout for hitting me. Max is crying. Back to mommyhood.

I’ve got a headache. And it’s growing worse by the minute. Lucy is napping and Max is cranky. If I let him chew on paper all day, he’d probably be happy, if not constapated. Fortunately, Alan is on his way home.

Right now, I’m in the middle of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules. I never saw the movie when it came out several years ago and had no clue what the book was about when I picked it up at the Really Big, Really Cheap, Really Good Book Sale last month. Since the paperback I have doesn’t have any description about the book except other people saying how great it is, I didn’t really know what it was about when I started. I had a fuzzy idea that it had something to do with abortion. It does.

I just thought of yesterday’s post when I saw that same silky nightgown on the floor. I gave it to Max and he immediately calmed down. My headache is diminishing.

But back to the book. I’m really enjoying reading it, to the extent that the pace of housework has been reduced from my regular crawl to a complete standstill. There are probably twenty things that I could/should be doing right now but am not. One strange thing about TCHR, is that I’m am half way through and just found out what the cider house rules are. I still have not figured out their significance.

Max is no longer happy with the silky nighty. Back to mommyhood.

Surprisingly, Max decided to take a really long nap around 10:30 this morning, so he’s not at ALL sleepy right now. He’s rolling around right now with a long satiny night gown of mine. It makes him happy. Without it he would be whining right now because of his ear infection, instead he’s contentedly sucking on his pacifier. Go Max.