4.29.2010

Take Someone Else's Kids to Work Day = SUCCESS

Excuse me, but I believe you're wearing my sash

I meant to blog about this earlier, but last week the kids went to 'Take your child to work day' at the Sears corporate office. No. I don't work for Sears now, but I know a guy... Anyway, it's brilliant. Sears gets to do marketing and product recognition research on a youth audience for a full day. The kids get food, meet some celebrities, and come home with a bag of stuff (Erin O'Connor, Miss Illinois 2009 was not IN the goodie bag...) And mom gets a day off. Everybody's happy.

4.22.2010

The problem with having 2000 songs on your iPod

Scene opens with Habtamu and Lee in the car listening to Lee's MP3 player on random. An unfamiliar song begins.

H: (with trigger-happy finger on the NEXT button) Do you like this song?

L: (Song's Intro continues) I like how it starts but honestly I can't remember what song it is. What is the name of it?

H: I don't know. It's your music.

L: Well you can read now, what does the screen say.

H: (Squints at the music player) Cawd Heart SomethingSomethingSomething

L: Cahd? Like... C-O-D? Cold???

H: Yes. Cold Heart.

L: (brain searches by decade for a cold heart song while the song plays... still no lyrics) I don't know any cold heart songs. Is there more to the title?

H: Yes.

L: What's the rest of the title. Read it to me.

H: I can't.

L: Sound it out.

H: (getting frustrated) I can't. The letters are moving. I can't read it.

L: (realizing that long song titles start scrolling after a couple seconds) Ok, well spell it out for me.

H: C-O-L-D-H-A-R-D-B-I-T-C...

L: Yeah, you know what, lets just skip this song.

H: Why? You don't like it?

L: Not in the mood anymore. NEXT!

Aaaaand Scene

4.20.2010

Yordanos in April

April 2008 - Ethiopia

April 2009 - USA

2010 - USA

Habtamu in April

April 2008 - Ethiopia

April 2009 - USA

April 2010

4.08.2010

Fooling Around

How do you explain our strange customs to children from another country?  Here's the wiki version of April Fool's Day.

Every day I have the children write a journal entry.   On April 1st, Habtamu's and my conversation went like this:

H: Hey Mom?  Is it April 1st?

Me: (thinking quickly for so early in the morning)  Nope.  (Said with totally straight face.)

H: So.... what is it, then?  March 32nd?!

Me: Yep.

H: (sighs)  Man, this is the longest month!

I let him in on the joke soon, and he tried it on his sister, who TOTALLY didn't understand what was going on.  Once she got it, she was on board. 

This is the kind of day MADE for the girl whose standard daily joke is this:

Guess what?
What?
Chicken butt!

Guess who?
Who?
Chicken poo!

Guess why?
Why?
Chicken pie!

Or this:

(Feel a tap on the back.)
(Turn around, only Y is there.)
It wasn't me!