Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

Well, the week-long narrative is finally over. Survivor - Easter Island will be finished today. The Gallery Pics are from the ill-fated Puzzle Challenge.

SURVIVOR - EASTER ISLAND - Our Explosion Challenge was a disaster. It was set up as a relay. Each team had a 35mm film canister (antique film canisters!), a diet soda and six Alka Seltzer tablets. The first team to have two successful "explosions" would win the Explosion Challenge.

Let the record show, Zac has performed this experiment in his science class at school SEVERAL times. Roxie has also performed this experiment in her science class at school SEVERAL times. However, let it be known the clear film canisters DO NOT WORK! The seal is too loose, and the diet soda just seeps out of the canister. You MUST use the black film canisters to get a good poppin' explosion. Also, let it be known this caused GREAT frustration on the part of both teams. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, if you pour diet soda into a film canister, add an Alka Seltzer tablet, close the canister and run, the top will pop off. An explosion! Tiny, but an explosion just the same.)

We quickly switched to "go-with-the-flow" mode and went to our Puzzle Challenge. And a challenge it was. Beverly had painted TWO 24-piece puzzles one solid color. On one of the puzzles (in each set), she had painted the words "Survivor - Easter Island." With 24 extra puzzle pieces all the same color and size, it was a pretty time-consuming challenge... which was fine.

The problem occurred because Bev had painted one set of puzzles earlier in the week, and painted the other set the night before the challenge. The pieces of that puzzle were sticky, and when the team turned them over to begin working, some of the paint stayed on the table top making the message more difficult to connect. Guess who got the sticky puzzle?

That's right. The Martin clan was faced with a horrible obstacle the Faulkners didn't have to even consider.

Because of the fiasco which was the Explosion Challenge and the disaster which was the Puzzle Challenge, I don't feel Survivor ended in a fair way. I'm going to give the kids time to get over the disappointment, and on the 4th of July (which we celebrate at our house), I think we're going to have a "re-do" of those two challenges. I think I'll sleep better at night. And I think it may keep the Martin kids from suing their favorite Aunt Belinda.

That's all I really want... to keep the title "Favorite Aunt." And right now, I'm on shaky ground!

RANDOMNESS - I was thumbing through a magazine the other day, and I came across a full-page ad showing Glenn Close and her sister, nephew and nieces. I'd like to share a little of what the ad said.

"Glenn Close's sister, Jessie, and Jessie's son, Calen, have a disease. And even though their story is their own, it's far from unusual. The fact is, ONE IN SIX adults has a mental illness. The harder reality is that the ignorance that fuels the stigma associated with mental illness can often be the most painful part of managing the disease.

"Glenn and her family chose to be national voices for the first campaign dedicated to fighting the stigma that accompanies mental illness. Because having a disease is difficult enough. Being blamed, or ostracized for having it, well that's just crazy."

Can I just say, "I LOVE THIS FULL-PAGE AD WHICH IS BEING SHOWN IN NATIONAL MAGAZINES!" It goes on to show a picture of Jessie's children... all wearing t-shirts. Jessie and her son's t-shirts have the word "schizophrenia" on the front. Glenn Close and Calen's siblings are wearing t-shirts which have the word "sister" on the front.

I made some of the words BOLD in the ad... the ones which meant the most to me. I know nothing about schizophrenia, and I will not pretend I do. However, the fact the ad talks about mental illness in general is very touching.

I just thought it was a brave, wonderful thing for Ms. Close and her family to do... and I, for one, appreciate it very, very much.

Weekend Happenings

Our weekend plans are varied, but exciting. I'm taking Roxie and a friend to see The Last Song (as a birthday gift for the friend), so I imagine I'll be depressed by the end of Friday evening.

Austin will be taking Melia to her Senior Prom, but before they leave we get to have a photo shoot which is always fun. I'm pretty sure one of those pics will make my Project 365 blog, so check it out later tonight.

Josh and Mike are contemplating Clash of the Titans. (I love it when Liam Neeson yells, "Release the Kraken!" in the previews... and I'm glad there are no such things as Krakens.) I've taken to randomly yelling this phrase myself... in the house, in the carpool line, in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. I'm not sure why. It just makes me smile.

Saturday is our "off/recovery" day from the Friday night before. Yard work will be performed and laundry will be washed, but overall I think it will be a good day.

Sunday Mike and the boys will be attending the Indy Grand Prix in Birmingham, and they are excited! Roxie and I are excited, too. After church and lunch with Grandmother and MamMa, we're going to shop till we drop, or until it's time to get back for church... whichever comes first.

I'm hopeful the Gallery will be FULL of prom photos AND pictures of celebrities from the Grand Prix (Taylor Hicks, Randy Owen, Charles Barkley, Danica Patrick, Ashley Judd... there's a chance she'll be there because her husband races these cars). Of course, since I will not be there pursuing autographs and photographs of these famous individuals, I have to bribe the guys to take the pictures for me... which means money... or pound cake. (Personally, I'm hoping I can get what I want with a cream cheese pound cake.)

Have a lovely spring weekend. Reach out to someone who may need a few minutes to talk. Don't ever think of it as a waste of time. It will always be time well spent. Next week, we'll continue the Spring Theme on A Simple Life.

REMEMBER... keep those questions coming. Semi-honest answers will be forthcoming May 3 to any and all inquiries you might have. ALSO, REMEMBER... I'll be giving the details for the fourth Mystery Bag Party Contest Monday, April 12. The drawing will be held May 12, the day of my 400th post. Feel free to enter your name at any time via Comment Section, e-mail or Facebook. (I have already had several entries.)

Take care, and I'll talk to you Monday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda