Side Effects

The government sure has taken some of the fun out of drug commercials by mandating that the side effects be stated in the ads. I don't care how happy and carefree you try to make those actors, it's not going to distract me enough to miss the voice-over's mention of rashes, irregular heartbeat, bloating, death. You can sit in your bathtub happily looking at the sunset all you want, I am not joining you.

I heard an ad the other day and one of the possible side effects was "unusual dreams". What does that even mean? I mean, I had a dream the other night that was real unusual and I'm not taking anything. It was one of those dreams where, upon waking, you seriously question if your subconscious might be a tad deranged.

Maybe they mean a more literal sense of "unusual". Perhaps they just mean that you will dream of things you've never dreamt of before. I'm not certain that would be such a bad thing. Variety is the spice of life after all. In fact, they may want to state "unusual dreams" as a potential benefit.

Sitting in the house on a quiet Sunday morning

It's quiet this morning - only B and I are home at the moment and he's busy with homework. The cats are sleeping, the sun is shining. Knowing how cold it is outside makes the house feel all the more cozy. It's a good morning to sit and reflect.

As I look around the living room, I wonder about the other people who have lived in this house. We've lived here twenty years but the house had another sixty before us. I try to imagine families walking through our rooms, staring at the same walls. Did anyone else have a piano in the living room? I'm guessing someone probably did. I'll bet the house was happy when we brought ours in. Every house deserves a piano - it's a big enough instrument to really fill the space. Music vibrating against walls and rafters, it's got to make a house feel good.

When we have a birthday party I often wonder how many other such parties our house has hosted. Birthdays, anniversaries, good news, sad news - our home has likely witnessed countless occassions. Each one adds another layer like the paint we brush over the walls. Ours is the most recent but the others are there as well, hidden underneath. The death of our first son filled our home with incredible anguish. I wonder if some of the grief that hung in every room permeated plaster and wood, absorbed by the house.

Imagining a home with a memory makes it difficult to see an older empty house. It saddens me to think of the house, full of old memories, sitting there, waiting, wondering where the people have gone and if they will return. It would be an empty feeling - silently aching for the opportunity to return to the purpose for which you were created.

Spirit Week

It was spirit week at my youngest son's school this week. There was no school on Monday and N was a little disappointed that the school picked a short week for spirit week. N embraces spirit week - more than B did at that age and more than I could ever imagine myself doing.

The week started on Tuesday with something called Crazy Head Day. As N explained it, anything silly or crazy and head-related was fair game. Hats, wigs, hair gel, whatever. I think this was the day he was most excited about. He wore his bald cap and mustache - two items he had been looking for a proper occasion to don. The bald cap was part of last Halloween's costume. His mask only covered 3/4 of his head so the bald cap was worn under it to cover the back of his head. He has a number of fake mustaches. He chose the one he got out of a vending machine while attending a birthday party at a skating rink this summer. The mustache is eerily similar in color to his hair and looks reasonably realistic. Monday night, he put on his crazy head get-up and checked that it was ready for the next day. I was sitting on the couch when he wandered in, hands in his pockets and said "Hi, Sonny" in his best old man voice. He then sat down next to me and said "It might be hard for people to believe that I'm your son, since we appear to be the same age." I wasn't quite sure how to take that.

Spirit week continued with Twins Wednesday. N and his friend J dressed alike and each wore Minnesota Twins hats. I think it was pretty standard for kids to either dress like a friend or dress like a Twins ball player (or a little of both).

Thursday was Funky Footwear Day. N wore monster snowshoes for his walk to school. He knew he would have gym, so he wrapped up one of his tennis shoes and made it a "mummy foot". I think he also may have worn bright mismatched socks. He often does that anyway so I'm not sure it counts.

Friday, finally, was School Spirit Day. The school colors are blue and gold. N wore blue pants with a gold stripe up the outside of each leg. He wore a long-sleeve blue shirt with gold stripes under blue t-shirt with the school mascot (falcon) in gold emblazoned on it. He had a lot of blue and gold going on and I think he represented himself well. He was a little bummed when I mentioned that it was too bad we didn't have a falcon costume for him to wear. "That would be so cool!"