Simon Cowell's Apprentice?

Tonight Morgan and I were watching American Idol. She came over to the couch with her paper and pencil in hand - (b) on the left (g) on the right, yep b = bad / g = good. Two girls got good check marks and two got bad with one even being offered some commentary:

"that was really bad - you should go home now" 

Oh yes, Simon you do have a worthy apprentice in training. :-) 

The Ethics of Lent

So... it's lent and thus the time to pick something to give up... At first I thought I should really be more sacrificial and give up something really major - like diet coke (yeah - still trying to ditch that demon, very unsuccessfully it appears) but... ummm.. no I did not pick that. Instead I picked fast food  - because it's bad and the amount of nutritional value = the time it takes to make it (i.e. little or none) - it makes one need a larger pant size over time, etc... etc.. etc... 

Anyhow, the problem is this (i.e. current ethical dilemma), this week I ate pizza because in my head pizza does not count. It is not fast - it takes a whole 30 minutes before you can pick it up and pizza itself is relatively (ok kind of sort of) healthy"ish".  However, after I ate my pizza I was talking with my mom about Lent and she said and I quote - "you just ate pizza, you cheated" (imagine it in cool slow mo like Yooouuuu Chhhheeaattteeddd) ha ha not really but it sounds fun right? Anyhow - Hands down, stamp it on my forehead cheater. 

Now, the pizza was from Round Table - but I can't help but wonder if it would still be seen as cheating had it come from a local pizza place, or what if I ordered the pizza from a restaurant? hmmm?? you see the blurry lines created in this grey area of a thing I gave up. In fact could not then fast food be anything made in the microwave because it's fast... 

I feel like it all boils down to semantics - but perhaps I am leaning toward that because it suits my purpose. What I meant by fast was "I can sit in my car and get it" - but then there are restaurants with drive up take out - oh where will it end!!!! 

As I type this list I realize I probably very well cheated... Are there Lent do overs??? OR maybe as an overthinker I should just not "give" things up - maybe instead I should pick something I will do instead (that of course, counteracts something negative I do currently). 

OR... I can just say I will not eat fried food - haven't had any of that this whole time - so... yep I can have success with that one. OR I need to be completely concrete... Suggestions / thoughts / get out of lent free card anyone??

On a related note - Morgan said she will give up making messes in ANY room - I repeat ANY room... I believe this too will easily result in a "greyish" area dilemma along the way. Like mother / like daughter. 

Oh - and see dad the world is in fact not just black and white! one point to the child. ha ha

"PS" Phineas

PS - The fish has a new name - and I think "he" has also been reassigned to his original gender. The name is now Phineas - and so far it has had staying power. The inspiration - these two little cartoon boys with fairly odd head-shaping - Phineas to the left / Ferb to the Right (and Perry the Platypus at front).

I'm a fan of the name choice for many reasons - first the relation to the word "fin" which our fish has some of those, and should we branch off into getting that second fish (she has not mentioned going back for the goldfish - so perhaps our Beta is it). But, if we do - built in name awaiting him (or her). :-) 

And... I think Morgan would quite enjoy the title of this post - she is a fan of the PS. Every time we write a letter she mentions adding a PS (you know, for when you forgot something you wanted to say the first time...).

TV & Teeth

Here's the thing... sometimes TV is a major distraction and that is a bad thing, BUT sometimes it is actually a great thing.  When is it great - how about this morning when a certain little person sat on my bed, zoning out to some curious george, and brushing continually for at least 3-4 minutes straight. 

TV Distraction + Tooth Brush = Great cleaning results!

Great cleaning results + my observation of how this came to be = new routine plan for teeth cleaning! :-) 

You've Got Mail

Valentine's day.. a little late 

For my daughter I left a "secret surprise" and she was indeed impressed by my craftiness of being able to hide her gifts from her. I am impressed at my finding abilities and the fact that the deep dark back of my brain storage space comes available for memories now and again (i.e. I remembered where I left the mailbox I hid from her). She is the epitome of a woman on Valentines - loving every ounce of her fancy chocolate and foliage. 

Our ideas run in parallel it seems as she too was hiding her gift for me. She left it on my door knob early in the morning and surprised me with breakfast (yogurt and coffee creamer). I think I will always laugh when I see the bottle of coffee creamer out on its own! :-)  

Grossology

Today we went to the Grossology exhibit at a local museum... It is three rooms full of science-based info on all things gross about the "ins and outs" of animals...

Some of the things we learned today:

* The male Darwin frog carried the eggs in its throat until they hatch and them actually burps them out..

* That cows spend 75% of their day eating and digesting - and they actually have to chew their food, swallow, throw it up, and then they can finally eat it...

* That a fly can carry 1,250,000 different types of bacteria around on its six little glue-ridden feet - hence the displays suggestion to throw out any food a fly sits upon...

* Owls can't chew - so they swallow their food whole and then barf up the "packaging", i.e. bones, fur, etc...

...and so much more! Morgan now knows a few fun facts, understands what intestines are and how food travels out of the body, knows that animal blood comes in varying color options (blue, red, yellow, and white), and can put an after dinner bones puzzle together with the best of them. :-) 

Thought for the Day..

Buying items in advance is super great, you get exactly what you want, you know it's taken care of - no stressful running around later... And while all these things are 100% true, in my case buying things early also means needing to hide them from little one. In this instance, a cute metal mailbox to put her valentine card and candy in. Problem is - I not only hid it from her - I hid it from me too! 

Inadvertently I have created my own personal Friday night hide and seek game for myself... Next time I'm going to leave myself a clue - I've always liked scavenger hunts better than hide and seek anyhow. :-)