Monday, October 22, 2007
Proposed New Law
Michigan lawmakers have proposed a law that would ban sex crime parolees from "participating in any way" in Halloween.
Here is the story. Excuse me? This means they cannot hand out candy, or even leave their porch light on on October 31st. They cannot be serious. Believe me, I dont want sex-offenders around my kids, but preventing a person from celebrating halloween? And telling someone it is against the law to have their porch light on? I have no sympathy for any person convicted of a sex crime, but this is getting crazy. I have a great idea... If you are concerned that your children's safety might be compromised by ringing the doorbell of a convicted sex-offender. 1. Check on-line for sex-offenders that live near you. If you have kids, you should have done this already. You can do that
HERE. 2. Don't let your kids go trick-or-treating by themselves, and 3. Only take them to houses of people you know. Take some responsibility for your kids safety. Lets let people leave their porch lights on if they wish. Also, vote in my poll please ------->
C1 told me today on the way home from school that he can transform into 3 different things. I was puzzled. He asked me to guess what he transformed into during his pre-school class today. I said "A truck?". He said no, he can only transform into Sharp Claw, a Lion or Spiderman. So I guessed that he had transformed into Spiderman during class. He said "nope, it was a Lion". I have no idea who or what Sharp Claw is. He showed me how he could "transform" into each character. It was very impressive (for me maybe, but probably very anti-climactic for others). You see, he has a transformer toy or 2 at Granny's, and we saw the Transformer cartoon on TV the other day, and the movie just came out on video, so he is being bombarded with "Transformers... More than meets the eye!" I wish he would transform into a maid, cook, or landscaper.
T and I had a great weekend. First, We left Friday morning and we dropped the kids off at Granny and Gramps. We went to Mt. Pleasant to see Loretta Lynn at the Soaring Eagle Casino. She was AMAZING. Seriously, We both agreed that we were witness to a living legend. If you have any interest in music, especially country music, I suggest you look into seeing this woman. Ok, that was Friday night. We stayed in Mt. Pleasant, and Drove to East Lansing Saturday morning. For my birthday, T had gotten me MSU football tickets for that evening. T fell asleep on the way down, which gave me a chance to drive around East Lansing and to check out my old stopping grounds. I knew she would have no interest in that, so I let her sleep. When she awoke, I promised her we would do some shopping. So, we went to Okemos to the mall. I wanted to get to campus, so I was very antsy while shopping. Finally, we left the mall, picked up a sandwich from Subway, and some beverages from Tom's, and found a parking spot on campus. We had our little picnic, and then took a walking tour of MSU's campus. I was a freshman at MSU 20 years ago, and it seemed like yesterday. I showed T all the spots that I had classes, or visited for whatever reason. We watched the marching band practice, and walked by Sparty. We finally made it to the game. It was a night game, so it was very energetic (that means everyone has been drinking all day). We had seats right next to the student section. The game was chock full of offense, and MSU won, so we had a great time. We went back to Granny and Gramps for the night. On Sunday, we spent the morning with Granny and Gramps, and drove home with the kids in the afternoon. We stopped on the way and picked up T's Mom to watch the kids, because T and I had a double date that evening. Yeah, I know! We met a friend of Teresa's and her husband for dinner. We then went to a haunted house. I haven't been to a haunted house in I don't know how long. It lasted about 45 minutes! It was very good. It was in an old run-down prison. The same prison that they have used to film many movies at (Shawshank Redemption for one). The scariest part was when they told me tickets were $15.00 apiece! Now, THAT was a 3 day weekend! We had a blast!
I think I have made a complete circle when it comes to my history of going to concerts. My first concert was when I was around 10-12. I went with my parents to a local county fair (Jackson or Hillsdale). Coincidentally it was the same evening that Loretta Lynn was there so my parents coughed up the cash to see her. I was less than thrilled. I sat through the performance. My next concert was The Jacksons Victory Tour at the Pontiac Silverdome. I was 15. I often tell people that The Jacksons were my first concert, maybe because I was too embarrassed to say Loretta Lynn or maybe I didn't count it because it was with my parents, or maybe it was because it wasn't my choice to go. Anyway, I have been to several concerts since then, including: New Edition (my second concert ever), Bon Jovi, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen, Technotronic, DJ jazzy jeff and the fresh prince, Milli Vanilli (I had free tix), Rick Springfield, Elvis (Costello, not Presley), Shania Twain, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Third Eye Blind, Jimmy Buffet, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, George Michael, KC and the Sunshine Band, Sinead O'Conner (pre-Pope ripping), Lonestar, LeAnn Rimes, JoDee Messina, Eddie Money... and these are just off the top of my head. My point of this post is this... I am 38 years old and just booked tickets to see Loretta Lynn for my wife's birthday. We do not do the concert scene much anymore... with kids and all, our priorities have changed. Maybe this will be the last concert I make it too. My first concert and my last concert may be Loretta Lynn.... I have become my parents. I am OK with that. Loretta Lynn was old when I saw her 27 years ago... geez, I wonder what she will be like now.
I have been subbing a bunch. I am on the list for a few different school districts, and have been getting way more calls than I expected... especially at the beginning of the school year. The highlights: Gym class... I had a 1st grader tug on my shirt and call me coach.... I teared up. I had a 4th grade boy beat me fair and square at PIG. I had 2 7th graders throwing hay makers at each other and I escorted them to the office. I taught high school choir.... yes you read that correctly... High School Choir.
Me and the family spent last weekend at my parents in Michigan. My sister and brother-in-law (that sounds weird) had a gathering celebrating their surprise wedding and the upcoming arrival of my future niece (that sounds weirder)
funny story... My mother, had a bowl of fruit sitting out. It had bananas, apples, peaches, and pears in it. During the course of the weekend, several members of my family picked a fruit from the bowl to snack on. One day while my sister was slicing up a peach, C1 decided he would also like a piece of fruit from the bowl. he carefully looked over all the selections of fruit and decided he would have a fresh apple. I asked him what he chose, and he said, "an apple". I said, "why don't you try a pear?" After a moment of silence and obvious thought, C1 responded,
"No, I think I just want one."
That kid cracks me up.
