Okay, let’s finish up with this book, Little Children by Tom Perrotta. Because this book was probably one of the fastest reads of my life and I finished the book within a couple of days without even trying, it’s felt like a long month before this discussion. (Now I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo by contrast, which is taking a bit longer, but is seriously amazing!)

Anyway, let’s just start with the basics and then work through the discussion in the comments section, shall we? First of all: first impressions. What did you think of the book overall? Did you like it? Dislike it? Did you relate to or sympathize with any characters? Despise the characters?

(That’s enough to get us started. I’ll continue the questions in the comments section.)

I have almost always had great success shopping online. Clothes have fit well and been quality. Boots and coats have been exactly what I expected. Books have been in the advertised condition. Up until today, I can safely say I have never had to return anything that I bought online. Oh, except that pencil skirt I got from Gap about a year ago that made me look hippy, short, and stout, a combination of adjectives I’d rather not have attached to myself (although short I can’t really help).

Today I got the shower curtain. Not only was it crappy quality; it was pink. I’m talking pink pink. Here, let me show you:

Does that look orange to anyone? I didn’t think so. Sigh. So now I have to send it back and look for a shower curtain that now goes with my brown and white towels. Sucks to be me.

Over the weekend, Justin and I did not go to Dallas. Instead, Dallas came to us. A small portion of the population at least. My brother, Matt, and his lovely wife and kids drove down to our town for some quality time and some fun in the sun. We live about four miles from a decent sized lake, so we planned a trip for Saturday afternoon/evening.

After a nice afternoon of lunching and visiting, we packed up the kids and everything we needed for the lake… uh, except the towels, because while I was responsible for bringing them, I was also in charge of getting Diet Coke for everyone, and one took a higher priority in my subconscious than another.

We were just settling in at the lake with our backs turned for a few brief moments, and when we looked into the water, my 6 year old nephew was nowhere to be seen. Panicked, we began yelling for him until he was spotted off in the distance joining a new family:

Once that mystery was solved, the attention was back on the 18 month old twins, just getting their feet wet. One was a little more adventurous than the other. Here he is stepping in with his daddy:

And feeling the pebbles on the lake floor:

His identical twin brother was more cautious and stayed in his beautiful mom’s lap the majority of the time.

Conner stayed active in the warm bathtub-like lake water, practicing his Michael Phelps moves, showing off what he learned in his swimming lessons this summer:

He even showed Matt and I how he could swim diagonally and between obstacles (can you tell Matt and I are siblings?):

Well, not by the skin tone of course, but I was talking about the stance. And in my defense one of us tans and one of us doesn’t. You decide which is which.

He also showcased his “dead man’s float” (pay no attention to that shadowy brown log between his legs. We were a little concerned until we noticed that it was in all the photos and therefore probably not what it first appeared to be):

My favorite photos of all from the hours we spent at the lake were these sweet moments Justin caught on camera of Conner and his baby brother:

I can practically hear the collective “aww” from all my readers.

This morning we showed my brother’s family around town and stopped at a park to let the kids play.

The twins were having a nice relaxing swing at a reasonable level…

…until Uncle Justin got involved in the swing pushing:

Matt is looking a little concerned, wouldn’t you say? I am glad to say that no children were hurt in the making of this weekend narrative.

Overall, it was a great weekend. We loved having such a full, loud house with the fam here, and Turk loved the twins’ mealtimes, lurking underneath their chairs like a hungry alligator waiting for a small hand to catapult chicken off the table at him.

P.S. Justin and I went on a double date with another couple on Friday and saw Tropic Thunder after dinner. It was hysterical, absolutely hysterical, especially if you follow movies, actors, celeb gossip, awards shows, and the like. I can’t remember the last time I laughed throughout an entire comedy like I did in that movie. Very funny. It’s full of crude humor, so if you’re not into that sort of comedy, it’s probably not for you. I didn’t think it was that bad, but I’m renowned to be a horrible judge of that apparently because it doesn’t seem to phase me one bit. However, if you watch it after my recommendation, you have been warned by Justin that it is pretty crude humor.

Justin and I teach the Sunday School class for 5 year olds at church every week. We’ve only been doing it for a few weeks, but we are already loving it, even though it is a little challenging sometimes. There have been a few experiences so far that particularly made us laugh:

* * *

Last week, I was teaching a lesson and said to the class, “I need two volunteers!” Usually when I ask for audience participation, the whole class stands up and jumps in the air with their hands raised saying, “Ooh ooh ooh!” This time? Nothing. Everyone sat there with blank looks on their faces. Confused, I stood quiet for a few seconds until one of the 5 year old girls said, “What’s a volunteer?” Yep, that explained it.

* * *

Today’s lesson was about obeying laws of the land. While defining what a “law” was, I began with, “Our country makes rules for us to protect us from danger and from hurting other people” — yes, a little simplistic and nationalistic, but I’m talking to kids who don’t know what a volunteer is, so I’m not about to get into deeper political debates or ethical arguments. I continued, “Who knows what country we live in?” Not one, not two, but THREE kids in the class simultaneously and confidently proclaimed, “TEXAS!”

Only coming out of Texas could that be truly appreciated as good comedy. I can see what their parents are teaching them… they’re training the next generation to secede from the union, eh?

* * *

In the same obeying laws lesson, Justin had several situational questions for the kids, such as, “You just finished your delicious candy bar and you want to get rid of the wrapper, but the trash can is sooo far behind you that you really don’t want to go all the way back there to throw away the trash. What should you do?” When one child was asked what he should do when he sees a sign telling him not to swim in a lake, he responded, “Well, I would look at it and sound out the letters so I could hear it in my head. And then I would do what it says.” It was so adorable that he went into detail about how he would actually read the sign, I couldn’t help but be proud of him.

Shhh….

Thanks for all your help and suggestions! I went today and settled on white towels and washcloths with dark brown hand towels. (I put the picture of the curtain on my phone and went around holding my phone up to different combinations.)

What do you think? I still have all the tags on everything while I/we decide if it looks good or not. (This photo is a photoshopped version of my bathroom with the curtain in place so we can all get a clearer image of the final product.)

Do you think it’s a good mix? Is that a good brown? Do you think a lighter brown would look better or do you think this is a nice contrast without looking overwhelmingly 70s? Should I stick with all white or all brown? Or is it just all wrong and I should scrap it and just go with the Broncos theme per Ted’s and Brian’s recommendations? The Broncos is a football team, right? Just kidding.

Help! I just bought this shower curtain online tonight, but I have no idea what color towels I should pair with it. Since I have some out of town and overnight guests coming in town this weekend (Hi, Matt and Janelle!), I need to go get some extra towels and bath linens within the next two days (before the curtain arrives in about a week).

Despite what you think of my personal taste in shower curtains (our house needed color and it needed it now), what shade of towels do you think would look good in a bathroom with a bold orange statement of a curtain? What would the towels look like that you would want to cozy up with after stepping wet and naked from a shower that is not your own (and that hopefully you have abstained from peeing in whilst enjoying the warm water)? Would orange be too matchy (or too clashy if I got the wrong tone)? Would white be too likely to accumulate guest skid marks or other bodily fluids and/or solids? Would another color just look odd?

Please help!