Two things fixed

The plumbing issues have all been fixed. Handy Husband (I do love that name!) replaced the faucet last weekend. We used to have a really expensive german faucet because we were german plumbing snobs. Now it's a home depot price pfister. Well, phister still sounds german. I am half german, it is OK if I like german faucets.

We never resolved the DVD issue, but "Frank" did get the computer to school.

And most importantly, I now have a coffeemaker with a timer. Now all I have to do is remember to fill it the night before.

But I have just realized there is a Frank and Ernest comic strip. Not a really good strip. (I looked at two weeks worth.) So now what can I call my sons?????

My Second Kiss

When I'm bored I start clicking the next blog button. Today I came across two women talking about their first kiss: Metro Mama and Sunshine Scribe. My first kiss was a nice thank you after a Sadie Hawkins dance.

It's my second kiss that rocked my world.

Let's enter the Way-Back machine, to the fall of 1977. This cute boy, who I'd been crushing on since 6th grade, asked me to a barbecue and I turned him down. Then I felt bad about it and called him up (brave shy me) and invited him to go see Star Wars. There was no theater in our small town then, so we had to drive 40 miles. Partway through the movie the projector broke down.

Then he made his move. We kissed in the dark theater until the film started again. And the earth moved. And there were fireworks. And history was made. And he's been my Handy Husband for many years. A happy ending. How rare is that?

This was a Princess Bride kiss: “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” OK, maybe this one wasn't so pure. But it changed my life.

Theremin

Some time ago we saw a documentary on theremins. This unusual instrument fascinated the Younger Son (I could also call him Curious George) and he has wanted one ever since. For Christmas, he got his wish and received a theremin kit. Last weekend Handy Husband, the electronics whiz, borrowed a soldering iron from work and they put it together. Anyone need sci-fi sound effects? It can also meow like a cat.

To hear what a beautifully played theremin really sounds like, check out http://www.peterpringle.com/pg1.html.

Pseudonyms

Blog names.

Some bloggers have really great pseudonyms for their family:

Drunken Housewife and her Sober Husband
The Twat
Petite's Tadpole
Mooselet's Hermit, Teen, and Tween

Now, I like the sound of Handy Husband, because he really is one. I was toying with Frank and Ernest for the kids, because the older one is pretty frank, and the younger one is earnest. I've also called them Alphadog, Betadog, and Gammadog. But I don't think they would like being called dogs on a regular basis. Or I could use their real names...I don't think I'm going to write anything incriminating. Maybe embarassing.

Maybe my one regular reader can weigh in here...

Things Come in Threes

Three has always been my favorite number. But sometimes misfortunes come in threes.

1) We've been having a cold spell, down to 18 at night. Warnings about pipes freezing, which we did not heed. Sunday morning, no water. It thawed out around 10, just as we decided to go out to breakfast. Monday morning, leaking water under the sink. Possibly unrelated to the freeze. Handy Husband replaced a waterline, then noticed that the faucet hose was also leaking. Time for a trip to the nearest Home Depot for a new faucet. 20 miles away. Yes, I truly am a small town mom. Hey, that's three things already.

2) Senior Son and a friend worked all weekend on a history project, a film featuring stop-motion animated army men. Everything worked, they burned the DVD, played it and it stopped 2/3 way through. Many burnt DVDs later, we could not solve the problem. It took hours to load the program and various files on the new laptop, so he could take the laptop to school the next day.

3) The third and worst thing that happened is that the coffeemaker died. Fortunately I had a backup, a cheapo model from our "guest suite." Life without coffee is unimaginable. I told Younger Son (have to think of a better blog name for him) he could take it apart. He likes to tinker. But it was held together with a strange screw: not flat, not phillips, not even allen wrench. The slot was triangular. So I let him bash it apart with a mallet instead. He had great fun, and is now an expert on how coffeemakers work.

The Dog Who Was A Cat Inside

Words I Never Thought I'd Hear

Yesterday my 16-year-old was playing Geometry Wars and said, "This is gonna make my eyes bleed if I play it too much." What? Did I hear right? A teenager worrying about playing video games too much? (This from the guy who went to two all-night LAN parties during vacation.) I couldn't watch it for very long. So here's the loving mother statement: I'm glad he has some common sense. One of the many things I admire about him.