The Greatest Show On Earth!

The last time I remember going to the circus was somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty years ago. I still remember my parents giving me and all of my siblings a choice to see either the circus or “Saturday’s Warrior.” I was still young enough that the circus was still way more cool that a musical. I don't remember many details from that particular circus, but I do remember that it was fun. I especially loved the trapeze artists.

Last night we took the boys to their very first circus. They were terribly eager to go. Daniel and Nathan were so excited that when I told them everyone was going to take a rest in the afternoon since we would be staying up late, neither one complained. Matthew was so excited that the only way I could get him to take a rest in the afternoon was to tell him that the elephants were resting to so they would be ready for us. Unfortunately, the same tactic didn’t help at dinner time and Matthew ate about two bites and then got down and proceeded to prance around and around the table. So I packed fruit snacks and granola bars into my purse knowing I would need to feed him once we got there.

This picture pretty well sums up how the boys felt about the circus:



Daniel kept exclaiming, "How do they DO that?!!" Matthew was leaning so far over the railing that I was afraid he was going to launch himself onto the arena floor. And Nathan was so transfixed that he was oblivious to everything else. The only downer for the evening was when we got out of the car and Nathan turned to us, looking all confused, and asked where the big top was. Then we had to explain that they don't actually use the big tent anymore. Besides that, they really enjoyed themselves.

Daniel’s favorite part was “The dog that jump roped on two legs!” Nathan loved “The whole thing! Especially the magic!” And Matthew’s favorite part was “Ephants! More ephants!! More ephants!!!” There were eleven elephants. He has never seen that many in one place before. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many in one place before.

One nice discovery was that in the nearly three decades since I last saw the circus, they have eliminated the peanuts. When I was a kid you could still buy a paper bag full of roasted peanuts. They fed peanuts to the elephants. Peanuts, peanuts everywhere. That is gone now and as the mother of a kid with a peanut allergy, I was somewhat relieved. It meant Matthew could have the whole circus experience without me being a total spaz case about it. In fact, I was nearly as mesmerized as the kids. I guess the circus really is for kids of all ages.

Bliss

An hour in the tub with peace and quiet, bubbles and a book. Ahhh!

I Am The Champion!

Let me begin by showing you what the shower in my wonderful red bathroom looked like when we bought our house.

Gross, huh? Of course I cleaned the thing before we moved in, but in spite of the fact that it was germ free, the hard water marks seemed a permanent fixture. You couldn't even see through the glass. And no, it is not frosted glass. So I scrubbed. And I scrubbed. And then I scrubbed some more. I used every cleaner I could think of. I tried Soft Scrub, Tilex, Lime-A-Way, Scrub Free, Kaboom, baking soda, vinegar, baking soda and vinegar . . . nothing was even making a dent in the nastiness. So finally, in my desperation, I turned to the internet for ideas. Most of what I found raved about the charms of all the many things I had already tried. But after sifting through about fifteen message boards dedicated to the topic of cleaning glass showers, I happened upon a small miracle cure for hard water deposits. The solution? Glass stovetop cleaner and delicate duty scotchbrite pads. On the chat board where I read about the stove cleaner, one lady commented that she attached her scotebrite pads to her rotating sander and went to town. At first I thought that was a bit of overkill but many, many arm aching hours later I must admit that if I had a rotating sander it definitely would have been called into active bathroom duty. Nevertheless, after many months of weekly (if not daily) assaults on the thing, I have finally emerged from the bathroom, tired but victorious. Here's the proof:

There is still some work to be done on the grout in the floor and the aluminum frame, but that is nothing compared to what I had to deal with on the glass. So now, I intend to sit back and admire my work from the supreme comfort of my bubble bath. And for those who may be wondering, I did in fact buy a squeegee. One minute a day of squeegeeing the glass is a small price to pay if I never, ever have to scrub it again.