A Hiatus

FYI,

I'm going to take a brief blogging hiatus for the next week. The kids are out of school Thursday and Friday this week and I have some things I need to get done (like getting a flu shot), so I'm going to extricate one thing from my list of things to do: blogging.

During the break, if I see anything cool or important that I think you might want to know, I'll post it on Facebook or Twitter.

See you next week.

-Hyattsville Mom

Tired Tuesday? Maybe a Movie Will Help.

If they can write songs about Manic Mondays, I should surely be able to pen a column about what is turning out to be a tired Tuesday.

Woke up this morning feeling quite pooped, and still haven't gotten into the swing of things. Hopefully things will turn around as the day progresses.

Anyway, short post today because, as I mentioned, it's just not gelling for me at the moment. However, I'm curious about movies. What's on people's list for movies they want to see?

 I'm a Twilight fan (the books, first, but the movies are cool, too), and I adore that Taylor Lautner kid who plays Jacob in the films. He seems so sweet. So, I'm going to try to catch Abduction (despite terrible reviews) today since it's $5 Tuesdays at the Greenbelt Academy 8 theater (all movies are $5 all day).

However, after that, there's nothing else that I'm particularly excited to see. Moneyball, What's Your Number and the Ides of March are seeable films that pique my interest, but not films I couldn't wait for Redbox to see. There's a Justin Timberlake film, In Time, that I saw an ad for that looks pretty good that I might be willing to pay theater money to see, but it doesn't come out until the end of October. It seems like a tired time of year for films, too, I guess.

That's it for today.

Catch you Wednesday.

-Hyattsville Mom

All My Children's End - Disappointing

All My Children's Kane family (+ friends)

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Despite dire, rainy forecasts, the weather turned out to be mostly overcast, and not a lot of rain. So, it's nice when things are better than expected.

However, it's no fun when things disappoint. And I must say, the last television episodes of All My Children, the soap that has been on the air since 1970, were disappointing.

Let me preface my comments about the show's end by first saying I was a huge fan of the show when I was a kid, my teens and early twenties. I watched the show daily at points in my life. It was such an entertaining show at certain points and I will always have fond memories of it. I think during the 80s, when I was a child, the show had a strong presence in the African American community, because it had the soap's first black Super Couple: Angie & Jesse. I remember my mother saying it was nice to have people who looked like us on TV. And so, as  a 7 or 8 year old, I would sit with my mother and watch these wonderful stories play out and get so excited for the happy and sad moments in the lives of these characters.

So, when I tuned in last week to watch the last week of this show on television, I expected an homage to those great moments that this wonderful show has had.  ( Quick note: I keep saying "last week on TV" because the show has been picked up by an online group that plans to continue the show on the web; however, only a handful of the show's current stars have signed on. Most notably absent is Susan Lucci, who plays the indomitable Erica Kane.)

Unfortunately, the show played very little homage to it's history. One friend of mine who tuned in to see the last week, because she remembered the heyday of Greg & Jenny and Angie & Jesse, said the last week seemed "half-assed" and "thrown together." I would not go that far, but it seemed so lacking in homage to what it was, that it was really sad.

The most striking problem with the last week was the flashbacks. They took each day to focus on a few of the town's core families: the Hubbards, the Martins and the Kanes. These families are significant families on the show who have rich history with wonderful clips. But, you didn't see any of that in the flashbacks. They showed mainly new stuff in the flashbacks. I understand that not all the same actors are playing the characters, but we fans remember. I don't want flashbacks with nuBianca, who has played the role for a year now. I want to see Eden Riegel's Bianca. Riegel played that role for the better part of a decade and flashing back to Erica with Riegel's Bianca would have paid homage to the show.   This newby only flashback felt cheap. Particularly cheap was to dedicate the Martin family show to Mary Fickett, who played Ruth Martin and died in September of this year, and then show absolutely zero clips of Fickett playing Ruth. Just because you hired another person to play this character doesn't mean fans have forgotten the person who spent nearly three decades playing the character.  It boggles the mind.

The show also ended with a cliffhanger.  The character of JR fires a gun and then the screen goes to black. You're not sure if he hit anyone and if so, who was hit. I was of mixed emotions about this. I understand they want people to watch the online version, but for a lot of people this was supposed to give them closure and that really didn't do it.

If you would like to see a great piece that will delight you as an All My Children fan, check out Friday's episode of The View online. You can see it on ABC Daytime, Hulu or Youtube (though the video quality is much better on ABC and Hulu). The show is filled with great classic clips and Susan Lucci co-hosts. And, if you didn't see the last week of AMC, you can watch it yourself  on ABC Daytime or Hulu and see if you agree with me.

That's it for today. Have a good one.

-Hyattsville Mom

Dolphin Tale Review and other weekend stuff

This is why, when I worked at a newspaper, all my headline suggestions were rejected! Uninspiring for a headline, but hey, something's gotta go there.

This weekend, there are lots of new movies coming out, including Dolphin Tale. I was able to see this and highly recommend it for families.

The film is the tale of Winter, a dolphin swimming near Florida's shores who gets tangled up in fishing ropes and nets. One of the ropes wraps around her, just above her tail, and eventually the tale has to be amputated. Eventually, with the help of Sawyer, the young boy who found her stranded on the beach, and a military prosthetic maker, Winter gets a new tail.

Clearly, this story is supposed to be heartwarming. And it is. The thing I liked most about the movie is it is sweet and heartwarming and touching without any gimmicks or things thrown in to make it super syrupy or forced. The two main human characters are the kids--Sawyer and Hazel--are both being raised by single parents. In sappier, crappier movies, filmmakers would try to force a love story between these adults. Doesn't happen in Dolphin Tale.  In the film, Sawyer finds out about the prosthetic maker when his favorite cousin returns wounded from Afghanistan. Now, a sappier, crappier movie might have made the cousin an amputee victim, but this one didn't. The guy was injured, but he still had all his limbs. However, he could relate to Winter.

The movie is based on a true story, and I think what makes it work is they kept true to that story instead of trying to Hollywood it up with gimmicks. This is a great story wonderfully acted and I think your whole family will enjoy it. The only warning I would offer is people with small children should go to the site http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ to see if there is anything they think might bother their child about the movie. It's a wonderful site that breaks down every possible scary or even mildly could-possibly-be disturbing thing. My 4-year-old loved the movie, but she was concerned a lot about the rope around the tail and how that caused the tail to "fall off." [I didn't really have the heart to correct her and tell her they cut it off.] So, definitely read that site's take on the movie, and make a decision if you have young or sensitive children.

As to other things, the Hyattsville Arts Festival is this weekend. That should be lots of fun if it's not too rainy. Other happenings are on the calendar.

That's about all for me. On Monday, I'll give you my take on the last week of All My Children. Feel free to share yours with me, if you like.

Have a great weekend!

-Hyattsville Mom

p.s. I just thought of another headline: Dolphin Tale: Not Sappy or Crappy?  What do you think?

Differing Views

I've decided I'm not sure how my husband and I ended up married as we have completely opposite views on many things.

The latest example occurred just the other day. Our lights have been flickering, and since neither of us is particularly electrically inclined, we have to figure out what to do about it. My first thought was: We should call Pepco, and hopefully it'll be something on their end and we won't have to pay for an electrician.

I tell my husband we should call Pepco and he says. "No, Pepco's awful. We don't want to get them involved unless we absolutely have to. We should call an electrician."  Whaaaat?

Exact opposites. 

That's it for today. I'll let you know how our flickering lights get resolved once they get resolved.

-Hyattsville Mom

If That's Good Luck, I Don't want to Find out What Bad Luck Is...

Courtesy of Photobucket.

The other day, I took my kids to the park, and while I was relaxing on a bench in the shade, I heard a plop and looked down to see a  bird had pooped on my bag.

Yuck! Yes, yuck!

I happened to tell this to a friend of mine, and she told me, "Y'know that's good luck -- when a bird poops on you!"  Ummm?! Well, if that's good luck, please don't let me have bad luck, because I don't even want to know what that looks like.

I am almost certain this idea started by some mother out there trying to be all Pollyanna and make a bad situation good. But, I doubt it's accurate. Since the bird pooped on my bag, I have not had anything extra lucky happen to me -- that I know of, at least. (Or maybe I'm not due good luck since the bird got my bag, not me.)

This is the first time I'd heard the lucky bird poop theory. I was so intrigued by the theory that I looked it up, and there are several other things you wouldn't think of as lucky (like meeting a snake) that are supposed to be omens of good luck. Here's the list: http://www.wofs.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=37&task=view&id=540.

Do you know of any other seeming bad things that are omens of good luck? If so, I'd love it if you shared it with me.

-Hyattsville Mom

Free Museum Admission Saturday

As part of an event called Museum Day, several museums around the nation are providing free admission on Sat., Sept. 24.

Sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine, the day aims to get museums that normally charge for admission to be like the Smithsonian -- free -- for just one day. Only select museums are participating, and you must register for tickets in advance to gain free admission.

Some of the participating museums nearby include: College Park Aviation Museum, National Museum of Crime & Punishment (DC), Kreeger Museum (DC), B&O Railroad Museum (Baltimore), Baltimore Museum of Art, Montpelier Mansion (Laurel) and Riversdale House Museum (Riverdale Park).

For more information on participating museums, or to get tickets, go to: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/. And don't forget, since it's free, you may want to get the most bang for your buck and go to a museum that has a higher admission. For example, the admission for the National Museum of Crime & Punishment is regularly $19.95 for adults and $14.95 for children, while the College Park Aviation Museum is regularly only $4 for adults and $2 for children. So, financially, if you'd like to see both museums, you'd save more doing Crime & Punishment for free, and spending your own dime for aviation.

Have a great day!

-Hyattsville Mom

Sadly, None of My Children

First off, I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a wonderful cheesy, buttery one (though the return of my husband ushers in the demise of that; however, it restores sanity, as single parenting --even for just the weekend -- is hard work).

This week is a little sad for me -- and millions of others, too, I'm sure. It's the final week of All My Children, the ABC soap that was cancelled earlier this year. The soap opera has been on the air since 1970, and it's a show I watched with my mother as a child, and later by myself as a teen and young adult. Sadly, none of my children have seen the show, as I've hardly seen AMC since I've become a parent.

That's probably one reason the show has lost enough viewership to get cancelled. My kids and I tend to watch kids shows, even during the summer. But,  my mom, a teacher, used to settle in on summer afternoons and watch AMC, and I'd hang with her, watching because it was a grownup show. Even to this day, my mother and I can always chat about the comings and goings in Pine Valley.  And while I haven't watched daily in years, I've always kept tabs through magazines in the checkout line or the Internet, so I've always been able to chat because I know at least a couple of characters. Erica Kane, of course, was a mainstay. But, I haven't had the time or inclination to watch daily, and now my occasional Pine Valley buddies are going away forever.

Even though I rarely stop in to watch, I'm going to miss the show. It's like an old friend. It's been nice to know that at 1 pm on any weekday, I could turn on the TV and see Erica Kane or Tad the cad or Angie & Jesse or any number of my old favorites.


This week I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with my old favorites. I'm going to watch every day and say a proper goodbye.

What about you folks out there? Anyone else gonna miss Pine Valley? What are your favorite things from Pine Valley? I've included mine below.

-Hyattsville Mom

For the AMC fans who care, here are my favorites:

Favorite Erica Kane husband: Travis Montgomery. Therefore, I have never ever, even to this day, liked Jackson Montgomery (stealing your brother's wife-- icky!).
Favorite couples: Greg & Jenny  (when she died in the jetski explosion, tears everywhere)
                           Tad & Hillary (I feel like this was shortlived, but I really liked them, for some reason)
                           Tad & Dixie
                            Nina & Cliff (most gorgeous wedding, ever!)
                           Angie & Jesse
                          Edmund & Maria
Favorite Friend:  Opal Cortland (I forget her original name)
Favorite Character: Erica Kane (no brainer, right?)
Favorite Gone Characters:  Edmund Grey
                                          Dimitri Marrick
                                          Langley Wallingford
                                          Palmer Cortland/Pete Cooney
                                          Stuart Chandler
Most Wicked Bad Guy:  Billy Rae Tuggle
Loved to Hate: Liza & Marian Colby (though I know they turned their lives around)

Weekend - Lion King 3-D & More

Happy Weekend!

There's lots going on this weekend.

First up, the Lion King is being re-released on the big screen in 3-D. I saw a sneak peak of this at a Regal movie theater. They had this really great ad that showed the movie full screen and then the image shrank and shrank and shrank until it only took up about 1/30th of the sccreen. Then the tag line was: Go big or Go home.

And the ad really hit home because the Lion King is such a lush, beautiful movie, it should be seen on the big screen whenever possible. So, if you haven't seen the Lion King in a while, definitely go. I had forgotten what a powerful film it was. And my children loved seeing it on the big screen. The day we saw it, it was gloomy like it was going to rain and my daughter wanted to bring her umbrella into the theater. I told her to leave it in the car. Well, towards the end, it starts to rain-- in 3D, so my daughter looks at me all pouty and says, "I told you I needed my umbrella." so, the 3-D was a hit too.

Now, other things happening this weekend include the Maryland Honey Harvest Festival, where you can learn all about honey: how it's made, how to extract it, everything. Also, there's the FREE Family Festival at the National Building Museum. There's also Ports Town Days down at the Bladensburg waterfront. All that and more are on the calendar.

It will be an interesting weekend at my house as my husband is going out of town this weekend, and we're all looking forward to it! My husband hates butter and cheese (I know, how could he? But he does!). Anyway, we're going to make grilled cheeses, Rice Krispy treats, macaroni and cheese, and everything else cheesy and buttery.

I'm out. Have a great weekend.

-Hyattsville Mom

Heroes are good for many things, but not fashion!

The other day, my son and I had this conversation:

Son: Mom, can I wear my underpants over my pants?

Me: What!?!

Son: Y'know, like Superman.

OK, after I resisted my urge to bust a gut, and told him, "Um, no," I thought about how interesting it was that this was the item he picked up on about super heroes.

He told me Wolverine (from the X-men) also wears his underpants on the outside. 

Kids do like to imitate super heroes, and while there are so many enviable traits that super heroes have: honesty, helpfulness, courage, the things kids hone into can often be things like underpants on the outside.

I think it illustrates why it's always important to talk to kids about what they're thinking when they see things. They don't always take away from it what you hope they do.

That's all for today.

Tomorrow, we'll have the weekend roundup and a little review of the Lion King 3-D re-release.

Have a good one.

-Hyattsville Mom

Free Art Class for Families

National Gallery - East Wing

The National Gallery of Art is offering a free art workshops for parents and children ages 8-11.  There are several workshop dates available in October, but registration for the classes is required and starts TODAY at NOON!


To register your family for this workshop, go online to: http://www.nga.gov/programs/family/index.shtm.


The workshop is described by the museum as follows: "Family Workshops are designed for children and adults to participate in together. Taught by artists and museum educators, each two-hour workshop includes an interactive tour in the galleries followed by a hands-on studio session. See the complete listings below for topics, required age range, dates, and times. All workshops begin in the Education Studio, located on the East Building Concourse. Workshops are free, but preregistration is required."


The workshop dates are:

October 1, 8, 15, 22 from 10:30 to 12:30, 2:00 to 4:00
October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 from 1:00 to 3:00

That's all for today.

-Hyattsville Mom

School Cuts ... Some are Head Scratchers!

School is finally back in swing and going strong without interruptions by earthquakes, hurricanes and even holiday celebrations.

The other day at my kids' school was picture day. And the picture day packet said you didn't have to send in money, but kids who did would get their pictures back first. Everyone else would get a proof and could order from that. Imagine my surprise when my kids told me they weren't photographed at all.

When I went in to inquire about it today, I was told they weren't photographed because the school isn't doing a yearbook this year. Huh?

Yeah! They said they "lost money" on the yearbook in years past and weren't going to do it this year. Huh? I'm not sure how one loses money on a yearbook, as they charge parents when they order them. 

Yearbooks are an important records of what a school is like. And not to do one, to me seems very strange, particularly, when parents are the ones who ultimately pay for the finished product. I can't imagine they can't raise the price slightly to recoup costs. This one has left me scratching my head.

I know that in these times of tough budgets, schools have to figure out places to cut. But this one seems so strange. Yearbooks aren't just for that year's students. They're a living record of the school that researchers, historians and future students use to look back.   What an awful thing to cut.

-Hyattsville Mom

Friday Roundup!

It's Friday.

There are lots of things going on this weekend, including many Sept. 11 remembrances.

What's on your plate for the weekend? If you're looking for ideas, be sure to check the calendar.

I'll be back on Monday.

-Hyattsville Mom

Why am I Always the Last to Know?

So a teacher friend of mine posts on Facebook that she's painting her room with chalkboard paint. And, of course, I'm like, what is that?

Apparently, it's paint that turns your wall into a chalkboard.

This is fabulous! Really. Fabulous. Did you know about this? I didn't. I may paint my kids' room with this stuff. They can write on the walls. And I don't have to get mad when they do! Talk about a win-win situation.

Alright, that's it for today. I'm off to find out where I can get this stuff. (But first, I'll be having breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. It's their free breakfast week. There's still time for you to sign up. Just visit this site: http://www.chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/Start.)

-Hyattsville Mom

The Passion of the Fruit & Pampered Pussy Cats

Love = Passion fruit vinegar!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

I spent much of the weekend in Charlottesville, Va., visiting my in-laws. They were wonderful, of course. Luckily for me, all the craziness is on my side of the family, so I tend to have nice relaxing trips when we're visiting my husband's family.

My first order of business for the trip, however, was getting my vinegar. Last year, I fell in love with passion fruit vinegar sold by a store called Oil & Vinegar. I've looked on the Internet and in local stores and I can't find it anywhere but Oil & Vinegar. There are only half-a-dozen locations in the US and one is Cville. So, whenever we visit, I go in and buy vinegar. My husband gave me the hairy eyeball when it rang up (I'm too ashamed to say how much I spent), but it is so worth it!  It's wonderful on salads as a dressing. Just plain, you don't need anything else.

Oliver on the receiving end of petting.

The kids had a great time seeing the grandfolks, but mostly they petted Oliver, the cat. I think Oliver will miss us most of all, as the kids would literally sit there, petting him for 20 minute stretches at a time. Then they'd go, "Oh, Oliver is soooo cute." We do not have a cat. Nor do we want a cat (I mean, in the abstract, they're cool, and certainly fun to pet, and definitely require less walking than dogs, but our household is not equipped for cats).  They love seeing the cat, even though they see him every time we visit.  Though, the last couple of times we've visited, my husband's brother has been there too. The brother is severely allergic to cats, so they tend to shut Oliver away when he visits, so this is the first time in a while we've visited when Oliver has been roaming the house.

So, those were the highlights. Did you guys travel for labor day? Anyone have exciting stories to share.

Happy Labor Day

Have a great day honoring all those who work so hard in this great country of ours!

-Hyattsville Mom

Happy Labor Day Weekend

It's Friday! Woo hoo! Long weekend -- Double Woo Hoo!

I hope you guys are all in for a fun, yet relaxing weekend. There are lots of things to do this weekend. In honor of labor day, I suppose you could labor. Nah! Don't do that.

Actually, there's the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival, which is lots of fun and FREE to attend.  Carnival rides cost extra, but if you're quick, you can still pick up an all-you-can-ride wristband for just $10 before noon today. Otherwise, the wristbands double in price if you buy them after the festival starts. But, if you don't like rides, the festival also has art shows, a beauty pageant and a bevy of other fun activities.

If you're into adventure, there are Kayaking lessons at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park.  And just after this weekend -- Tuesday-- there's even fun for your dogs! That's right, your dogs. The Ellen Linson swimming pool in College Park is having its "Doggie Dive-In" where your dog can enjoy some fun in the pool.

All these activities and more are listed on the calendar.

Have a great weekend.

-Hyattsville Mom

Quick Money Saving Items

It's a short post today. Just wanted to highlight a couple of money-saving items I posted on Facebook or Twitter, but not the blog.

All-you-can-ride wristbands. If you buy them before noon Friday, you pay just $10 for all-you-can-ride wristbands at the Greenbelt Labor Day festival. If you wait til the festival starts, the same wristbands are $20. Without the wristbands, rides require tickets. Tickets cost $1 each and most rides are between 2-5 tickets. So, the cost savings is obvious. Details on how to buy wristbands are here: http://greenbeltlaborday.com/2010/08/12/wrist-coupon-bracelets.

Free Chick-Fil-A breakfast item. The chain, known for its "Eat More Chicken" slogan, is offering a free breakfast giveaway Sept. 6-10. You have to sign up in advance through the company's website and pick the breakfast item you want. Details are here: http://www.chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/Start.

UPDATED:
Free Newseum Tickets. The Newseum is offering free admission on Sept. 11. To get free tickets, go to this site: https://secure4.gatewayticketing.com/Newseum/shop/Calendar.aspx?SalesChannelDetailID=23907&CG=TICKETS&C=SEPT11.


-Hyattsville Mom