Inspiration

  • Ash Wednesday New Orleans Style

    Hours

    You haven’t experienced Ash Wednesday until you experience it in New Orleans. It’s like Night of the Living Dead around here with all the people walking around with gray ash crosses on their foreheads. It’s like the city is filled with vampires. I’m assuming the ashes stand for purification and cleansing, (I’ve asked around, but have yet to google it)which the city needs after the Mardi Gras festivities! My neighbor, Allison, was telling me how she planned to take her…

  • The Clever Princess

    Hours

    I just heard Annabelle yell, “Don’t take your cape off Henry! You’re my prince!!” When I looked at Henry, he had a baby blanket tied around his shoulders as a cape. “Darlin,” she said like a country singer, “keep your cape on!” Henry is usually thrilled to play any sort of game with Annabelle. He calls her “Babelle.” He rarely makes a peep, just looks around with his big baby eyes and smiles. He’s learning so much from her and…

  • Leg Wrestling and Judo

    Hours

    My parents called me today to see if I remembered a boy from my hometown by the name of Mark Long. Of course I do. I used to beat him at leg wrestling even though he was three years older than me. I was best friends with his little sister, Sherri, in first grade. Our parents were childhood friends. When I went over to their house to play, I challenged Sherri’s brothers to leg wrestling matches and beat the pants…

  • Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

    Hours

    Just a little Disney update from Pink Pajama Mama signing on here from Disneyworld.  We are having the most fabulous time!! We had breakfast with Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland and Pooh. The look on Annabelle’s face was priceless when we entered the room. Henry, on the other hand, was terrified of all the characters. He cried and had to be taken from the room. He was so cute. He sat in a tiny chair and his feet didn’t even touch the ground, he’s so little.  A…

  • Barbie in the Toilet

    Hours

    Let’s see, it’s one of those day! Henry and Annabelle found a king-cake-baby this morning and made a little pond on their high chair trays for him to swim in.(For those of you who don’t know what a king-cake-baby is–there is a tradition on Mardi Gras here where everyone gets king cakes. Inside the cake is a tiny baby–smaller than your thumb. Whomever finds the baby gets to buy the king cake the following year, if they don’t find it…

  • Rufus Wainwright

    Hours

    The first time I met Rufus Wainwright, he was naked. Well, he started out dressed, but it was only a matter of minutes before he was dancing naked in front of our table at a grungy nightclub in LA called The Garage. Let me back up a little. I was out on the town with my girlfriend, Pleasant. She knew Rufus, and I’m not sure how he got it into his head to take off his clothes for us, but…

  • Invisible Fairies

    Hours

    Annabelle is a piece of work. After lunch I said, “Annabelle, come help clean the kitchen.” She just stared at me like she was seriously thinking. “Annabelle,” I said again, “Come help.” She shook her head and started slowly walking backwards. “I can’t,” she said in her little pixie voice. “The fairies are pulling me out of the room.” I looked behind her. “They’re invisible,” she said, always a step ahead of me. “They’re pulling me.” She took two tiny fingers and…

  • Scary moustaches, coats, closets, and coughs!

    Hours

    Yesterday Henry developed a sudden irrational fear of black fuzzy things. It all started when our fabulous neighbor Allison came over wearing Groucho Marx glasses. Henry started to scream as soon as he saw her. It took him a long time to settle down and he kept staring at the pocket she’d put them in. She dropped them in the hallway, and after Henry settled down he tugged on Allison’s hand to show her something in another room. He saw…

  • The Magic Continues!

    Hours

    Annabelle had a cranky day yesterday. All day she kept saying “I’m feeling honest, Mom. I’m feeling honest.” “What do you mean by honest?” I asked her. “I’m cranky, I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m honest!” she said as if she shouldn’t have to explain. “Do you mean you’re feeling ornery?” I asked. She glared at me. “No! Honest!” “Ok, Ok.” Last week she kept saying she felt “guilty” in the same way. I’m always asking her to entertain Henry while…