Texas Book Festival

I occasionally watch "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" with Max. I've saved episodes on the DVR so that we can see them when we (ok when I) want. He really likes the short song they sing as they go off on the day's adventures, and he seems to recognize his Cat in the Hat doll in a way that he didn't before we watched the show. So it seemed to me that he would probably enjoy going to meet and have his picture taken with the Cat at the Texas Book Festival last weekend.

Hi, go get in the tent or bugger off. Kthxbai.

It turns out that the only rule about the Cat meeting seemed to be that you wouldn't be able to get near the Cat until they wanted you to, and that there would be no lines to queue in. So, although it wasn't what I had hoped for, I was actually relieved when Max didn't seem to notice the big ass cat whisk right by him.

It was nice in the shade, and there was a little breeze, but anywhere too close to the tents and I felt like all the oxygen was gone. I was a little claustrophobic and there were too many people trying to fit in some of the spaces. Since Max didn't care about the cat we decided that we didn't care either and started to head back towards the car, but not straight to the car.

Such fast friends.

We figured Max would enjoy some running around time, and since we had to cross the Capitol grounds to get back to the car we headed for some flat spaces under nice big trees. We ended up finding another family there who had a little boy about 8 months older than Max, and they had a blast together! There was no prying Max away until the other family headed off. By the time we got him home it was well past nap time, and he was pooped, but it was totally worth it.

Max is in a cuddly phase right now, and has started freely giving hugs to Jeff and me. While running around he actually ran up to the other little boy's mom and hopped in her lap to give her a hug. There was a brief moment of jealousy where the other little boy did not want Max honing in on his territory, but then he gave Max a kiss. It's a shame they aren't our neighbors, because that would totally rock.

On a side note, I'm going to make a blanket statement right here and say that I will not be letting any of my kids play Call of Duty. I thought it was pretty horrible when my four year old nephew was always begging to play CoD*, but when the sister of Max's playmate this weekend said that he was pretending his whistle was a gun because he loves playing Call of Duty I was just stunned. Who on Earth lets a two year old play, or even watch, Call of Duty? I don't know enough about the game to know at what age the story line might be appropriate, but I do know enough about the level of violence to know that preschoolers don't need to be exposed to it at all.

Updated 10/25
* I should probably have taken the time to expound on the video game habits of my sister's kids. There was a time when the kids were granted access to games and movies that in my opinion were not appropriate at all. This was not all their mom's doing, she had help with some of these decisions. The kids spend time with their dad (her ex) and used to be baby sat by our other sister, because mom was working a full time job. As can be expected with several different sets of care givers, not everyone was always on the same page as far as what was allowed, and what wasn't.

I'm not sure when things started to change, because we live several hundred miles away, but I do know for a fact that things are much different now. One of the major changes is that mom is able to stay home with the kids now, and as such she is able to be in more control of what they see and do. The last time that we were in town with them the kids wanted to play video games and she asked them about the rating. They know they are no longer allowed to play games that aren't age appropriate and they don't like it. No more CoD in that house. I was proud of her when I heard the law being laid down, and I should have given her credit in this space instead of just bringing up the old times. I was too busy ragging on the fact that somewhere someone thinks CoD is okay for a two year old, and sees nothing wrong with them pretending to shoot people. That was my bad, and I'm sorry.

Good Night Sweet Prince

I have new love for the Oscars. Last night we went to Tim and Julie's for the annual Oscar party, and we stayed far too late. The Oscars ran until almost 11, and we didn't make it home until almost midnight. I was worried that I would have problems falling asleep, as I have for the last few weeks, and I was running short on time that I could be asleep before work today. As I laid my weary head on my pillow my brain just kept going over the Oscars, not houses or cleaning or anything of the other things that have kept me awake, and I was asleep within minutes. I even woke up once in the middle of the night, but still thinking about the Oscars I was back asleep in no time. I could have used a couple more hours this morning, and my eyes feel dry and tired, but at least what little time I had in bed last night was spent sleeping. I'd just like to thank the academy and all the boring speeches that made my dreaming possible.

Riley Lost His Initiative

House tonight was pretty good. I had a hard time taking it seriously because the patient was Riley Finn from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Watching House need to pee for most of the night was a little odd, and I'm not sure that I want the show to turn into the Chase and Cameron porn half-hour. We'll see what happens next week. It must be spring because there will be a pregnant mother on the next show. I believe the actress playing the mother will be Anne Ramsay, the same actress that played Lisa in Mad About You.... Ah, the hours of television that I've watched.

This Week on Lost

Charlie doesn't die, the gang climbs a fence, and Jack plays football.

I hope something new happens next week. The previews look promising, but it might still be all flashbacks. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'm Hooked on DVR

We hooked up the DVR last night, and I’m excited. I’ve already set up all sorts of recordings that I want it to do. The biggy for me, is Knitty Gritty. I hear about this show all the time, but it only comes on at 10:30 in the morning for some silly reason. So, not only will I finally be able to check it out, but I’ll be able to see it without commercials and I can fast forward through any bit that bores me, or pause it if I need to. I’ve already set up my recording schedules for House, The Closer, Riches, Knitty Gritty, Battlestar Galactica, and The Dresden Files. If there are other shows that I’ve been missing out on, that you think I should check out, let me know. I don’t have any of the “super premium” channels like HBO and the other billion movie channels.

I signed up for a class with Deb at Hill Country Weavers to make a Entrelac Mini Market Tote. It’s really cute, and I miss taking classes and hanging out with other knitters. I do enjoy knitting on my couch, but the social side of knitting is fun too. I’ll have to bring my knitting to Erin’s when I go over later in the week. We have some furniture re-arranging to do, and once that’s done we can sit on the furniture and knit. Good times.

Well, time to get ready for work and eat my breakfast Rueban. Before you get scared, it’s not some freaky egg and sauerkraut concoction. Jeff is just cooking us up a Rueban (on wheat cause I HATE rye bread) and we’re gonna eat it for breakfast. *shrug* They’re tasty, and we haven’t really got any other choices.

Recording Devices and Rock 'n' Roll

Man, Lost could really do with a slightly quicker plot. It’s getting to the point that I barely care what’s going on. They even through in a gratuitous explosion in the last episode and, meh. We only just now got around to watching it. We hardly ever watch tv on the night that it comes on. Not only is it not always our “veg” time when our shows come on, but watching commercials is the suck. Of course I’m such a spaz that I’m pretty bad at remembering to hit the record button. Hopefully this week I’m going to upgrade our cable box to the DVR. Maybe with some added computer help I’ll get to watch House on the Tuesdays on full moons with a low tide that it actually comes on.

I wonder if the box will work correctly for the next few weeks? I have a vague concern that the DVR will see what time shows are supposed to be on and screw up, but in theory it should sync up with the guide, and since they’re both from the same company they should match each other. I mean, I honestly don’t care what time my tv/cable/whatever thinks it is as long as it tapes the shows that I want to watch. Oooo… I can start taping the knitting shows with this! They only come on during the day, because of course no one that knits has a day job. Only old women and stay at home moms knit. *grrr*

Anyways, The Unbearables are going to be at The Victory Grill tonight, and I’ll be there. It’s the 1st birthday party for Stem and Leaf Records. Lots of cool bands, and it’s free. There’s also a show at The Long Branch Inn with more cool bands. The idea is that the bands will be staggered every 30 minutes so that you can wander back and forth and catch them all. Sounds like a party to me!