Yesterday when I picked Ethan up from school he was visually upset about something. He immediately told me “I’ll tell you about it when we get in the car.”

For some reason, Ethan has held the gorious position of the official door holder since the first week of school. He LOVES the job. Not sure why he’s been it all year. Today they got a new girl in their class, and his teacher put her between Ethan and his friend, and for some reason Ethan thinks she’s going to be the new door holder. His teacher told him this afternoon that this would be his last week as door holder, and he was bummed. Needless to say, he’s not fond of the new girl right now, even though her appearance may have aboslutely nothing to do with his removal from his favorite position in the list of classroom helpers. I explained to him that everyone should get a turn, blah, blah, blah, and that I bet he’ll get another job that’s just as fun.

Tonight he told me he wanted to make his teacher a Christmas card, and he worked on it while he watched Charlie Brown. When he was done, he brought it to me and said “I know she’ll let me be the line leader now.”

I took a picture of the inside of the card. If you can’t read it it says:

Merry Christmas
Love, Ethan

I love you Mrs. Beard.  Can I be the line leader?

And then when he woke up this morning, he felt the need to add another line to the card:

Next Monday!

I can’t believe he’s already trying to smooth talk his way into things, and lobbying for a new position.

Christmas is approaching, and the first thing to cross off the list is the Christmas card photo. Misty and I took the kids on a photo shoot at The Narrows this past weekend. We got some super cute shots, but I’m going to go for one more attempt at the Christmas Parade this weekend.

My shots.

Misty’s shots.

Be sure and go here and share a story of thanks. When you do, Shedd’s will donate a meal to someone in need. 

Easy?  You bet!

Flashing gang signs.  I don’t want to see another picture on myspace, blog, flickr or in a family album with fingers held out in front of you.  And enough with the lip puckering fish faces or tough guy snarls.  Enough!

I don’t care if you’re holding up two, three or four fingers.  I don’t care if you’re dong it with one or both hands.  I don’t care if you think you’re “representing.”  I don’t care if you think it’s cute.  I don’t care if you think it’s funny.  I don’t care if you were drunk when you did it.  I don’t care if you’re a white, suburban, thirteen year old girl who doesn’t have a clue what you’re really doing. I don’t care if you think it’s all in fun.  I don’t care if you think you might be the next Snoop.  I don’t care if you grew up rough.  I don’t care if you’re doing it because everyone else is doing it.  STOP!

And I really don’t care if you’re offended by what I’m saying.  Maybe you need to be offended.  Maybe you need to think about what the hell you’re doing.  And while I’m on a roll, would you stop calling out the three numbers of your area code?  You already look like a douche in the pictures.  Why compound it by trying to sound like one? 

And for god’s sake, don’t teach your kids to throw up some gang signs like he’s the newest member of the gang, and you’re Big Tookie getting ready to initiate him.  It’s not funny.  It’s definitely not cute.  Why the fuck would you want to teach your child that being a flat out criminal is acceptible?  It’s not.  Represent that, mother fucker!

One day you’re going to look back on these photos and think “Was I really that big of a douche?” and hopefully you can do it when you’re NOT visiting the kid you taught the gang signs to in prison.  Hopefully, you think about it before you get robbed in the parking lot of the the local Food Lion by some punk 16 year old with a gun.  Hopefully, you think about it before you hear that your best friend or a family member was robbed and shot in the back by some young thug while walking to their car?  Hopefully, you can do it when you’re not standing in the driveway calling the cops and telling them that your 14 year old just got shot by a car load of kids that drove by yelling out some stupid gang shit and flashing their fingers in front of you? 

Gangs destroy the lives of the people in them.  They destroy the lives of family members.  They destroy the feeling of safety in communities.  They destroy the potential of thousands of kids each year.  Why the hell would you try and promote that?

I don’t care if you listen to rap music, and the talk is about gangs and representing and throwing up signs.  YOU are not a rapper, you are most likely not from “the hood” and if you are, then get out of it and try and better yourself.  Act like a fucking responsible ADULT.  And please, the next time you’re with your friends and everyone starts holding up their fingers for a picture, remind them of how much they look like a total ass.

Colors….c-c-c-c-c-colors.  Oh yeah, that’s cool, isn’t it?

How do you really show that you have nothing to say?  I am really trying to be a daily blogger, but I spent so much time doing nothing of value today that I have nothing of value to share. 

I did eat a damn good sub today, and had some damn good company while eating it.  Should I really expect more out of life than good food and good friends?

Today, it was announed that the Lynnhaven River will once again be opened for the harvesting of oysters and clams. This is a huge deal for natives of the city, particularly those who grew up on the waters of the Lynnhaven. While certain parts of the river have always remained open to clamming, the oyster population was close to extinction.

Oyster beds have been planted over the past several decades, and now things are looking brighter for the area. I live on what is known as the Lynnhaven Watershed, an area formerly known for its Native American residents, early British settlers and Blackbeard the Pirate. It is an area rich in Colonial history.

From the Virginian Pilot:

The Virginia Health Department will open more than 1,450 acres of the Lynnhaven River to oyster and clam harvesting this month, including sections of Linkhorn Bay that have been closed due to pollution since 1930.

Lynnhaven Oysters are famous. From Wikipedia:

The Lynnhaven River is a tidal estuary located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay west of Cape Henry at Lynnhaven Inlet, beyond which is Lynnhaven Roads. It has a small, developed watershed covering 64 square miles, terminating at Lynnhaven Bay. It was once famous along the East Coast of the United States for its oysters, which declined through pollution and runoff. It is now being restored by the Lynnhaven River now restoration project.

Notable historic residences near the entrance include the Adam Keeling House and Adam Thoroughgood House and the area was the site of the early colonial settlement of Henry Town.

The millionaire, Diamond Jim Brady, cherished the Lynnhaven Oyster:

Dinner generally began with 2 to 3 dozen Lynnhaven oysters–selected especially for Brady.

I’m excited. I had to share.

They opened a new Subway by my house, and Misty and I decided to meet there for lunch today.  My sub was great, but I instantly went into bitch mode when the loser behind the counter asked us “are you ready to order or are you just talking?”  Well, of course my eyes started to pop, and I could see Misty’s expression of “Oh geeze, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into” and she obviously saw my “who the fuck do you think you’re talking to” look.  But I held it in, and watched as she hurriedly paid for her order and ran to a table before she would have to witness my wrath.  Surprise, surprise!  I barely offended the guy at all.  Personally, I was amazed that I didn’t jump over the counter and kick the guy in the balls.

I will give the guy credit though.  He made a damn good chicken breast sub, although I was a tad disappointed that I had to settle for whole wheat instead of multi-grain.

About once in a blue moon. Honestly, I’m not sure if I even have another picture of me with my three children. Thank goodness my aunt and uncle came in from NYC this weekend and hosted a family brunch this morning, otherwise I doubt I would have gotten the three of them to take a picture with me.

Who thinks it is way, way, way too early for Santa Claus to be hanging out at the mall?  And definitely way, way, way too early to let your kid sit on his lap! 

This made me smile because I can tell he was trying really hard to be all serious and manly. They did manage to get a little grin out of him. And I love that you can see his little corner of the mouth dimple, that doesn’t always show up. It’s totally him at this age, and so, while it’s kind of goofy, I do love it.