Simple Pleasures brought to you by my youngest son, "The Ewok"

Remember your youth? Yeah, me either. Well, I remember snippets of it. One small, yet very important memory consists of hours of creativity all thanks to the joys of Play-Doh. You remember that stuff. If you don't, take a whiff of it sometime and I guarantee that you will be whisked back to your younger years.



I purchased my son's first "kit" consisting of 4 vivid colored cups of the smooshy stuff along with "scissors," "cookie cutters" of varying shapes and a vice with an accompanying shape attachment that makes "worms" when pushed through. It's been the first toy I've given him that has actually held his attention for more than 5 minutes. I have to admit that it's the best $9.97 I've spent at Wal-Mart in a VERY long time.



I am listening to him rattle on and on in his "Ewok" talk. This is what my Mommy Friend "ER Nurse" calls it. She's right. He sounds like an Ewok on a verbal tangent! Every tenth word or so I get an actual word. The phrase, "Don't touch it, mom" keeps being repeated. I'm not sure why. I guess he hears me say it so often he has to repeat it.

We'll see how long this joy of his lasts. Even if it's at an end, I'm happy that he had some moments of pure joy. A lot can be learned from children. In fact, I'm off to color in my Harry Potter coloring book with a box of brand new, sharp Crayola's and NO, I'm not sharing!

Yes, I'm one of those weirdos...

So, the next installment of Harry Potter is due to be in theaters July 15. I already have tickets to the midnight show and again on Friday to watch with a family that we consider our best friends. We've made it a tradition over the past 4 movies to get together and see it together with our kids who currently range in age from 2-15.

The Harry Potter fascination began several years ago while I worked at Wal-Mart. I noticed a large pallet covered in paper with a big sign instructing the stockers to not allow it on the floor until 12:01am. I inquired as to the pallets contents and I was told it was book 3 in the Harry Potter series. "What the hell is that?" was my response. "Harry Potter. You know the magical kid?" I stood with a look of, "Yeah, and?" After an explanation of the books my response was, "How good can a kids book be to be realeased at midnight in a big extravaganza?" It just seemed like a bit much.

Well, a good while down the road, my best friend mentions this book to me, again. She's an avid reader and she knows what I like and she assured me that I would find it interesting. I don't doubt her knowing my tastes, but I also didn't want to "jump on the bandwagon." I very grudgingly picked the hardcover up, one night, and fell into a world so magical that my life has been surrounded by Harry Potter ever since.

Now, this isn't completely off the wall for me. I tend to fall in love with fantasy and live vicariously through it. Cases in point: The Goonies, The Neverending Story and more recently Twilight. With a world of joblessness, bills, collection agencies, health concerns and more, having an escape in books and movies has been my saving grace. I'm not embarrassed by these things. I am elated to share how I feel about my other worlds. Walk into my home and you'll be greeted by a 24 inch tall, talking Harry figure. In my kitchen I have action figures, toys and ornaments adorning my window ledge and cabinets. I love surrounding myself with Hogwarts. No doubt about it.

Am I embarrassed by any of this? Heck no! Are others? Usually. They seem embarrassed for me. But, these are the same people who go home to their Star Wars action figures and stuffed animals. Don't worry. I don't judge!

I have a job, well, sort of

"What do you do for a living?" This simple phrase brings me to silence. Not an easy thing to do. A week ago I would have told you, "I'm a stay at home mom." This week isn't so simple.



Living in Michigan has not been easy. The economy has been rough on us all, I understand, but it has seemed immensely cruel to my family. I've applied for every job out there. I'm not too proud. Sure, I planned on being a Crime Scene Technician by now, but I'm not expecting this career any time soon. The biggest problem I've encountered has been one I never thought possible: Apparently, I'm over-qualified. Hey, I don't want a career cleaning up after Girl Scouts in a pottery store, I just want a paycheck! But, all of those years of hard work, countless years of service and a degree have made it next to impossible to gain employment! I'm sure the endless stream of out-of-work auto workers are slimming down the options, too, but I needed a job!



On top of the other horrendous cruelty that has befallen us last week (which I will get into some other time) my 8-year old got head lice! Will this hell ever end???? So, 3 days into nit-picking (yes, the term came from there) I was taking a break by searching for a job on craigslist. Low and behold I came across a company that was the only one of it's kind in Michigan and they (get this) specialize in removing lice from kids head's!!! Hell, I've been doing this for free for 3 days. I might as well get paid for it! So, I send them my resume and they practically hire me on the spot! Want to know what the clincher was? It was my degree in Crime Scene Technology. They figured if I can work with dead bodies, live lice should be a breeze!



What do I do for a living? I'm a certified cranial pest eradication expert.