I Got Tagged!

Woo hoo!  Go me-ee, go me-ee! 

I'd like to take a moment to thank the academy, and all those important people in my life that helped make this happen... *hehe*  

My bloggy friend Diane at Our Adventures with Riley chose me for my first blog award, and I am so flattered!  Somebody thinks I'm fabulous!  What fun!  I'm pretty sure this is an honor, right?

This Week's Hairbrained Musings (6)

Big Day in Small Town NC

My girls have spent the last couple of July 4ths at our house in the suburbs of Virginia.  This year for Independence Day, however, I packed up my car and drove south to the small town in North Carolina where I grew up, and where my folks still live.  Now that they are old enough to really enjoy it, I thought it was high time Princess and Birdie experience this holiday of patriotism, greasy grilled food, and amateur pyrotechnic displays in a place and way that I recall fondly from my youth.  I think that they are really happy that we did.

We started our day bright and early with my home town's "Big Day" celebration, which kicked off with a parade.

Birdie waiting for the parade to start

The lead unit in the parade, right after the
police car escort and the National Guard color guard

What Makes Us Different

Image courtesy of University of North Texas Dept of Biological Sciences

As I have mentioned before, Birdie and Princess are identical twins.  Recently, Birdie has really been fixated on and fascinated by the fact that her sister is called her "identical twin", and yet there are many differences between them.  Being very literal in speech, every time this comes up, Birdie is really bugged by the discrepancy.  The fact that she and Princess have the same genetic material-- which is supposed to define you-- and yet they are so very different really drives Birdie's need to understand how DNA works.  I have not wanted to get into a huge amount of detail with her about the mechanics of genetics-- mainly because I am pretty sure I would run out of info before she was satisfied.  We have, however, talked a tiny bit about how a baby's womb environment can change its DNA expression.  She was not impressed by this explanation, and has apparently given the whole identical DNA thing a lot of thought.

Last week, Birdie and I had the following conversation:

This Week's Hairbrained Musings (5)

Another week, another collection of moments and musings:

So what if she's my sister!  She's still a weirdo.

Are You Advertising Your Life on Your Car?

Ever think about what the bumper of your car says about you and your family?

Bumper stickers portray a small aspect of your life.  Most are just pithy little one-liners on the back of your car that could indicate any number of things about you, such as your smart-ass sense of humor, your political affiliation, your religion, or how you like to spend your free time.  One bumper sticker alone is just a blurb about you, and gives very little information about you and yours.  Several start to paint a picture about who you are, but still provide only limited info.

These days, however, car decor is veering away from the bumper sticker and is erring more on the side of TMI.  In particular, I am talking about the "my family" decals that the whole darn world seems to be putting on their rear windshields.  You know the ones I'm talking about-- the white (like they've been drawn in chalk) stick-figure families stuck to every mommy-mobile in America.  If you have one of these darling decorations on the back of your car, I'm not judging you.  I swear.  They really are cute-- downright adorable, I would even dare to venture.  When these stick figure groupings first started popping up, they were mostly generic things that basically indicated the number, ages and genders of the people that might be riding in your minivan.  Of course, generic isn't the way most mommies roll nowadays.  These once generic decals have turned into a miniature resume of the entire family's extracurricular activities and travels.  Other than a love of gratuitous cuteness, here is an example of what else a stick figure decal (not the one shown above) and other bumper decor tells me about a family: 

It's Never Just a Cloud

Car rides are always interesting with my crew.  You just never know what entertaining bits of conversation you will overhear coming from the backseat.  Remember the discussion on sexual activity I had to endure a couple of months ago?  (If you don't, you should refresh your memory so you will have more sympathy for my plight.)  Saturday's car ride was no exception-- I was definitely amused.

This Week's Hairbrained Musings (4)

Another week, another collection moments and musings.