My early child was my last child. She came into this world 7 weeks early. She weighed in at 4 lbs 11 oz. She spent some time on a breathing monitor at home. She was dressed in doll clothes for the first month of her life. But she was born a fighter. She would kick and scream while fighting the nurses trying to get an IV in. As she grew older she would use her skills to battle with her older sisters.

Even though her early entry into life is part of who she is, it really is a small part of who she is turning out to be. I’ve learned through the years, and in the choices other daughters have made, not to plan the future for my daughters. What I saw happening for each one hasn’t occurred at all. So I will make no plans for the youngest either. Those plans (if any) are entirely hers. But I will say this, of all my daughters, the youngest may already have her plans laid out. This is by her choices, her questions, and her ability. Will that path be what either of us thinks right now, maybe not, but some groundwork is being laid.

My youngest is a singer, actress, scholar, pet lover and all around wonderful young lady (All my daughters have been wonderful young ladies at one point or another). I’m enjoying her time of growing to adulthood. I can’t think of any better thing to say about this young lady other than “She is loved by me and reflects that love back.” A very special girl entered my life a few weeks too early, but that only made for more love and joy.

Hey, watch out- will ya? Get that house outa’ the middle of the road! Er- house? In the road? It must be Mount Prospect’s Central School. Today was the day they moved the 1896 schoolhouse to its new location by the Mount Prospect Historical Society. This building was saved recently when funds were raised to move it from its old location, where it would have been torn down to make way for progress. Unfortunately, the schoolhouse still has to wait for the new foundation to set. Once it does, they will have to lift it again off it’s temporary spot and plop it down where it will hopefully stay for awhile. Next, they will need to raise some money to renovate it and finally will hopefully open it for tours (just a guess), at a reasonable cost of course. You can find the story by clicking the picture below. Oh, I hope the driver didn’t speed with his 105,000 pound load…

Another story link is:  Mount Prospect Historical Society moves Central School

In case you haven’t heard of it, Walking With Dinosaurs is a traveling show that is based on the BBC documentary of the same name.  It is in Fort Wayne, Indiana this week, which isn’t too far from us.  They’ve been advertising it heavily, and I’ve been meaning to check out ticket info, but I kept forgetting.  Thanks to our local paper who ran a story about it the other day, I was reminded about it just in time!  Seems the tickets are QUITE costly!  However, my computer-savvy husband went online and found a discount that saved us SO much money on tickets, but only if we went opening night…  So, we dragged all the kids to Fort Wayne to see some dinosaurs on a school night.  Let me say, it was SOOO worth it!

It’s been a really long time since I was really excited about something that actually ended up measuring up to my expectations.  I was really excited about this show; I thought it would be a good show, but I will say that it EXCEEDED my expectations!  Not only was it visually stunning, It was a perfect show for the whole family.  There were lifelike dinosaurs engaging in battles, flying, and scavenging…  what’s not to like?!?  We have kids of all ages and bravery levels, and they were all entertained.  Our 8-year-old and our 4-year-old did get a little nervous in the beginning, but their fear quickly turned to excitement and awe once the dinosaurs started appearing.  Our 19-month-old LOVED everything about the show.  She is getting to the age where it’s hard for her to sit still, especially now that she can walk, but she watched every moment of this show, and clapped and laughed so hard that I was even distracted from the dinosaurs at times by my daughter’s cuteness.  I wasn’t distracted too much though, cuz the dinosaurs were totally AWESOME!  They were life-size and SO realistic looking, it was amazing.  Our seats were great too – best in the house, front row center.  These dinosaurs were even better looking than the ones in the movie Jurassic Park!  Walking With Dinosaurs operates on a $20 million dollar budget, and it shows!

I would venture to say that this is probably the best professional live show I have ever seen, and that includes musicals from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Phantom of the Opera, Camelot, and Les Miserables to other shows like Monsters Inc. on Ice, Dragon Tales Live, and dinner shows like Medieval Times, Arabian Nights, and Pirates Dinner Adventure in Orlando, Florida.  This was fun for the whole family; probably even most fun for my husband and I!  If the tickets weren’t so pricey, I would definitely go back and see the show again – even with the $20-30 it cost in gas money alone.  My 4-year-old suffered from what I call “fundown” after the show – a feeling of disappointment when an event is over that is so intense for kids, they usually cry or throw tantrums.  But I can’t say I blame her.  When I realized the show was ending, I had my own “fundown” when I realized there weren’t going to be any more dinosaurs!

Totally awesome show – wait, that’s not even the right word.  It was more of an experience than a show.  Even better than the dinosaur-themed rides at Disney World and Universal Studios.  As we were leaving the coliseum, the rest of the audience seemed very pleased as well.  Everyone was smiling and jabbering about the dinosaurs a mile a minute.  They also had one actor – who was upstaged by the dinosaurs, of course! – and some other props and effects in the show that made it totally awesome.  Also pretty impressive were the rows upon rows of trailers parked outside that carry the dinosaurs from venue to venue.  I knew it would take a few semis to cart around all those dinosaurs, but there were probably at least 25 semis parked out there!  It is understandable that all these lifesize dinosaurs would create such an entourage, since the Brachiosaurus alone was 36 feet tall and 56 feet from nose to tail.

If this live show experience is going to be anywhere near your hometown, I highly recommend that you do your best to get tickets.  It is a perfect show for the young and old, dinosaur fans, skeptics, or even those who are indifferent to the world’s history; I don’t see how anyone could NOT enjoy Walking With Dinosaurs!

Anyone who was involved in the WCCT’s most recent production of Idol Night at the Karaoke Place will probably remember a cell phone ringing and someone answering it loudly on opening night.

Yes, it was my mom.  And now there is even an article written about it!

https://www.crescent-news.com/news/article/3703471

Ugh, mom.  Why you mom!!

Well, to his creator anyway. Ian Fleming was born May 28, 1908. WOW… that would make him 100 years old today… of course he passed away many years ago. Ironically, he left the world mere months after the release of From Russia with Love on the big screen in 1964. The centennial of the author’s birth is being celebrated in at least two ways. Today sees the release of the newest James Bond novel Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. In November, the 22nd film in the Bond franchise Quantum of Solace will be presented on the big screen with Daniel Craig reprising the role of British Secret Service agent 007.

In total, Fleming wrote 12 Bond novels and two collections of short stories. Following his death, other writers have taken up the mantle. Although most of the plots for the books and the movies have very little in common, fifteen of the movies take their titles directly from the books. The novel From Russia with Love was high on President John F. Kennedy’s favorite reading list which prompted the production of the second film. Below is a list of Fleming’s 12 Bond novels and 2 short stories and the order in which the movie was released which are not synonymous.

Casino Royale (21)

Live and Let Die (8)

Moonraker (11)

Diamonds are Forever (7)

From Russia with Love (2)

Dr. No (1)

Goldfinger (3)

For Your Eyes Only (12)

Thunderball (13 sorry… 4)

The Spy Who Loved Me (10)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (6)

You Only Live Twice (5)

The Man with the Golden Gun (9)

Octopussy (13) and the Living Daylights (15)

(GoldenEye takes its name from Fleming’s Jamaican home where he wrote the stories)

Fleming’s writing was not limited to the world of the spy. He also penned the children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

James Bond Novels

What a snooze… No, not me last night which was anything but- I think I may have gotten about five hours of sleep if I’m lucky.  I’m referring of course to the assemblies that happen sometimes at schools.  Especially those that totally mess up the schedule.  For me, it was pretty much irrelevant too.  Not to the kids or staff, just to me and any other sub that might have been there.  You see, it was an awards ceremony.  For the entire school.  All, or at least many, sports and academic clubs.  As a sub I knew pretty much zero of the names, hence why it was kind of a snooze to me.  It was a snooze to probably nearly all the students as well because it lasted for more. Than.  Two.  Hours…  For nearly all of the awards, they handed out certificates to every student involved, name by name, and then gave awards to high achievers.  I would guess well over 300 names were read over those 2 hours 20 minutes.  There was one sport I couldn’t believe they had, let alone the number of students involved.  Bocce-Ball.  I kid you not.  Nearly a hundred kids involved too by my estimate.  Wow.  Only track compared to that with four teams, 7th and 8th grades, boys and girls.  There were probably 60-80 students involved there.  The only other sport I remember was girls volleyball- I’m guessing there was no boys volleyball team because one of the students was a boy.  The teacher was careful to not refer to that particular team (7th or 8th, I don’t remember) as “the girls.”

The academic teams and clubs consisted of a math team, geography team, and science olympiad.  Probably more- I don’t remember.  Interesting to note the math team was entirely Indian (or similar) or East Asian.  Hmm.  Perhaps our schools really are failing the children in the math field.  Band, orchestra, and drama were part of the other extracurricular activities.  And finally, there were also service clubs.  One club helped the mentally-challenged kids, and another- well club doesn’t really apply here (you’ll see why in a sec)- recognized students who did some sort of community work.  Thankfully they did not recognize these students individually as a good 90% of the students raised their hands when the principal asked who has done some community work or project!  Was this part of a class assignment or were they really this outward-thinking?

Well, after some 25 teams, clubs, and organizations they wrapped up, had a drawing for some Pepsi T-shirts, and then were dismissed.  The scheduled ending time was 9:45.  The actual ending time was 10:35.  Oops.  Reminds me of television networks and sports for some reason…

So, we skipped two of the periods and I went on break.  Finally I could get off my feet.  Oh, did I mention that I had to stand for the entire assembly because there were no chairs provided for the teachers?  Some plopped down with the students, other stood right along beside me.  Now, I have an injured foot so I did a lot of leaning, walking, and a little bit of sitting on the floor in addition to the standing.  So, all good and well now.  Unfortunately I had about twenty minutes and I had to start eating my lunch as the teacher I was in for had no scheduled lunch.  Instead, she had a study hall period.  So, I had a panini during 4th period, an orange and a Mountain Dew 6th during study hall, and the rest of my lunch last period.  Well, an interesting day for sure.

Here is an update on a story I posted last week about a man who was pulled over and subsequently backed his car up onto the police car.  Seems the officers did manage to find something to charge him with besides the original speeding ticket:

Police Charge Niles Man They Say Backed Onto Squad Car

A Niles man who reversed his car so that it ran on top of a Buffalo Grove police car Friday has been charged with reckless driving.

Henry Raskin, 70, had been pulled over by a police officer around 11:30 a.m. Friday for speeding. He had been driving 58 mph in a 35 mph zone on Dundee Road, police said.

After the officer wrote Raskin a ticket, he hit the gas while he was in reverse and ended up with his vehicle on top of the squad car, police said.

Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said Tuesday that police determined the incident wasn’t purely an accident after watching the squad car video and talking to Raskin.

“It appears to be a little bit more than a mistake,” he said. “We think it meets the criteria for reckless driving.”

Kristiansen said that most drivers if they found they had accidentally reversed in this situation, would have hit the brakes before driving over a police car.

Raskin posted 10 percent of his $2,000 bond Friday and was released. He has a June court date in Rolling Meadows.

We watched an interesting movie tonight, for lack of a better word.  It is called Funny Games.  It wasn’t funny, and let me apologize ahead of time for the vague review – you’ll have to see the movie to understand why I couldn’t write too much about it.  I had never heard of it before, but it was a thriller, so my husband suggested it.  If you like thrillers, see it and then tell me what you think.  I don’t really know what to say about this movie.  It was captivating and VERY tense, so I was never bored, but I was disappointed with the way it ended.  For one thing, I did not understand the movie.

Let me back up and give a quick synopsis.  Naomi Watts stars as a mother who, along with her husband and son are held captive by 2 very well-spoken young men in their remotely secluded (of course it’s secluded – this IS a thriller movie!) vacation home.  As I said, the movie is very intense but only after what is a somewhat slow start.  I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will just say that are no words for what happened in the last 40 minutes of the movie.  Near the conclusion, it took a turn for the confusing, and what happened made me not really understand the entire movie.  It’s based on an Austrian film, and imdb.com said that the American guy who remade it didn’t change much from the Austrian version, so maybe it didn’t translate well?  I liked the movie, for the time being anyway while I was watching it, but I would really like some insight about a certain event that took place…  it might actually be a thriller I would watch again, which is rare, but I might want to see if I can get what I must have missed.  Like I said, if you’re a big fan of suspense movies, I would try this one, it’s definitely different from all the others!  And if you have seen it or do see it, make sure you try to fill me in on what I missed, cuz I just didn’t get it!

In more Harry Potter related news, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry himself) will be making his Broadway stage debut on September 5 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Last year, he received rave reviews for his London stage debut in Peter Shaffer’s play, Equus. The story of Alan Strang, a rather disturbed young stable boy who has an unusual fixation with horses. However, the psychiatrist who attempts to must solve the mystery of Alan’s sexual and religious perversion has his own hidden psychological trauma. Incidentally, the psychiatrist will be played by Richard Griffiths who also plays the role of Harry’s eternally frustrated Uncle Vernon in the Potter films. A few words of warning to those who may think that the play will delight the young fans of the boy wizard (although “delight” may not be the most appropriate term). Equus is definitely NOT a play to introduce to young children. Its heavy adult themes and scenes are much too heavy perhaps even for some adult theatregoers.

Want tickets to a sold out show? Click here

Tonight, I watched my nine-year old niece at her softball game. The weather made me recall many mid-October Friday nights in the stands of a high school football game; it was that cold. This was one of the few I will be able to make this summer with musical rehearsals soon to be taking most of my evenings. Apart from the 50 degree weather, it was actually fun watching the game. Elizabeth went 3 for 3 at the plate. Her first hit went between the third baseman and short stop… a line shot. Her second time at bat, she hit another line drive that unfortunately went foul. Then, she eventually hit the ball that landed in front of the plate, leaving Elizabeth stunned for a second until everyone told her to go.

She also did well in the field at short stop. “Well” is a relative term as these were a group of 8-10 year old girls who are still pitched to by their respective coaches. I don’t remember being pitched to by a coach. I remember going from hitting off a tee to having my peers pitch before I was 8. Elizabeth made a few nice stops in the field and tagged a runner attempting to advance to third base.

Also nice to see at this developmental stage of the young ones play is the parents in the stands. Shouting words of encouragement instead of shouts of disgust at bad calls, bad plays, etc. Those will start in a short time. But for now, there were no runs kept track of and maybe a few more strikes per batter as they are still learning the basics, so EVERYONE WINS!!! Although when the 90 minute limit was up, more than one mother was happy that the game was over and able to get out of the cold.