10 Things: Penny

Make a list from 1-10 and write the first ten things that come to mind when I say Penny.  Go!

My own list, ignoring many rules of acceptable grammatical usage.

1.  Penny Lane by The Beatles (I do this exercise in a notebook with different words almost every day, and it amazes me how often The Beatles show up.)

2. Pennies from Heaven

3. Penny and Brain from Inspector Gadget

4. Penny bridges (you know, those crazy little balancing acts built from stacks of pennies? No?)

5. The Sonars counting money from their banks at the kitchen table. 

6. Abraham Lincoln

7. Mythical/Legendary (to me) Penny Candy.

8. Penny Arcades (continuing the nostalgia-ish track)

9. “Saving pennies.” Scrimping to get by.

10. Coins in the couch cushions.  Though we don’t have a couch with cushions anymore.  I have to actually cram my arm down into the guts of the couch or remove the bottom facing to get at the tiny universe of lost things in there.  In addition to pennies, I often find Legos, K’nex, marbles, and popcorn.  

10 Things: Fear

Ayelet Waldman, From Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace:

“I always tell my kids that as soon as you have a secret, something about you that you are ashamed to have others find out, you have given other people the power to hurt you by exposing you.”

Take a sheet of paper. Make a numbered list 1-10.  Write down ten things that Scare You.  Or, if you like, the first ten things you think of when you hear the word Fear.  Explain if you want.  Everyone can play.  Writers, non-writers, skateboarders, kids.  Fun for the whole family.

GO!

1.  My children getting hurt or being harmed

2.  Losing control

3.  Violation of myself or my home

4.  Hurricanes and massive natural destruction

5.  Civil unrest and hate crimes (*edit for political snarkiness* Ok, a hint of snarkiness.  I wrote this list right after I read an article about Rick Perry and Sarah Palin, and several articles about Arizona immigration law.)

6.  My mother (Full disclosure: this was actually the first thing I wrote down. I moved it. There’s that shame thing slurking up to bite me.)

7.  Being aware, but in pain or unable to communicate (I’ve done this one, don’t care to repeat it)

8.  High or oddly structured places, especially with fearless children

9.  Looking stupid or foolish (and knowing it)

10.  Disappointing the trust of people I love

10 Things: Shred

Take a sheet of paper. Make a numbered list, 1-10.  List ten things you associate with the word ‘shred.’ Explain only if you feel the need. 

GO!

1. skateboarding

2. cheese

3.  snowboarding (maybe, see #1)

4. cabbage or lettuce

5.  paper

6.  fabric

7.  carrots? (no, that seems more like ‘grate’)

8.  the skin on knees or palms (in a wipeout perhaps)

9.  a test? (figuratively)

10.  pork, for a barbecue sandwich

What was your list? 

The Monkeys Were Hungry

A pile of several dozen banana peels atop a silver bowl, balancing on the edge of the kitchen sink.

Sonar X5

A Happy Birthday post (a few weeks late) for my Winter Solstice kid.  

A little pre-birthday artwork…

Watch the paint, not the mom!

We partied with friends and family.  For his birthday meal he wanted shrimp and pasta.  For a cake, he wanted the ever-popular cupcakes baked in ice cream cones, with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on top.  He opted out of a pinata this year, preferring to go with the springtime favorite, the cascarone for mess-making.  

The kids thought it was great fun that we let them smash the eggs inside the house (it was cold and dark outside).  I thought it was fun too.  

Lava lamp, ice-cream-cone cupcakes, cascarones, and a giant bowl of Christmas candyAnd some presents are just so much fun to open.  This one clearly surprised him, even though he sort of knew about it.  

Tiny helmets!!