Pictures of Things I saw in February

1. A creepy barn.

"She doesn't like it in the barn... the horses keep her up at night..."

2. This kid. She insisted upon wearing Dora the Explorer knee pads to the zoo, and I have respect for that.

3. A pile of otters. I want this for Christmas please.

xoxo Hannah

A Parade of Child Unemployment

Today on Water Street a parade was being held. I didn't know what it was for, but my imagination decided that it had something to do with a bunch of children being unemployed. Here are some of the things I saw:

I saw this poor, tiny, tiny chef forced to sell his wares on the street.

And there was this thing.

This baby stared down the crowd, as if he could sense each one of our individual faults and it disgusted him. That was a very ominous baby.

Moments after this picture was taken, their eyes locked and the child was devoured in such a flurry of ravenous excitement that nothing was left but scraps of polyester and a single bloodied tennis shoe.

If CHILDREN can't even hold jobs, what hope is there for the rest of us? 

xoxo Hannah

Oh the Perils of 5th Grade

Today I was reading an informational pamphlet my 9 year old sister wrote about her favorite cause, going green. I was soaking up all the information about recycling and saving energy- I was surprised to learn that "in the old days energy wasn't invented yet and so there was no pollution."- when I started thinking. Not just about how great it would be to go back to the carefree days before man created all this damn energy, but also about how I was at her age and how different my worries are now. Thankfully I'd brought the journal I kept in the 5th and 6th grade with me to college, just in case I felt reminiscent. Here are some highlights:

Most Embarrassing Moment

 "Oh my God! Mom was dropping me off at school and I got my BOOT stuck in a BUCKET! It was the worst thing EVER!"-  Age 10 

To think there was a time when the absolute worst, most shaming thing that could happen to a kid was to get their boot stuck in a bucket. Is that even bad? Judging from my use of capital letters and exclamation points, it was.

Current most embarrassing moment: In 7th grade geography my pad leaked profusely through my khaki pants, everyone saw, and I hid in the bathroom till my Dad came to bring me new clothes. I don't think anything could make me feel more embarrassed than that.

Nickname

In 5th grade it was decided by a lunchroom council that everyone in my group of friends should have a code name, presumably so we could communicate with each other secretly while also sounding really, really cool. I was told my name would be "Sketch" because "I am really good at drawing." 

Oddly enough, nowadays I instinctively avoid people named Sketch. 

Biggest Annoyance

"(my sister) Ellyn is such a BRAT! Every time she starts a fight I get blamed for it because I'm older.... She threw a spoon at me!"- Age 10

Ellyn would later graduate from spoons to measuring cups, to a sloppy joe before we realized that we didn't really know what we were fighting about and became friends. I haven't had any kitchen utensils thrown at me for quite some time.

Current Biggest Annoyance: The fact that today I bought a box of pop tarts and immediately felt the same way that I would if I splurged and purchased a $200 sweater. I'm so poor.

xoxo Hannah