First Carnival For the E-Man

So, my son is going to be a daredevil. (Worried sigh.) On Thursday and then again on Friday (because we forgot our camera- doh!) we went to the Webster Groves Community Days Carnival. I have always LOVED carnivals, so much so that I would happily hop out of the car on my way to dinner to take a couple rides. We decided to take Ethan to the carnival thinking that he would like the lights, but expecting that he would be too scaredy to go on any rides. So, when we got there and saw they had several kiddie rides, we decided to start small with the train. By the end of the night he was giggling through the "Bigger Kid Kiddie Rides" that even sort of scared me. Here are some pictures from our revisit on Friday (which was WAY more crowded and crazy than our visit on Thursday.)

Everyone has a little 15 year-old in them, right?

At one point in time, I could have called myself a "reader." Unfortunately, five plus years, a child, a full time job, knitting, designing, not to mention trying to fit in maintaining a house, bills, cooking, cleaning, and spending a few moments with my husband, I find if I do pick up a book, it takes me a very long time (as in months) to finish it. But that was not the case with this book.

I think you can say I am officially obsessed with "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyers. I read it in a couple days ... and those days were work days. The entire time I read it, I felt this overwhelming sense of guilt that if I AM ACTUALLY READING, I should be reading something that would be more "beneficial" (whatever the hell that means) to me. I dunno, like maybe I should finish some of the books I *should* have read in highschool like Tolstoy (whom I have never read). The reality is I think I want to read Tolstoy because it is representative of a specific historical time and a plight of a people who helped create a foundation for what we have today and I find the idea of that compelling, but when I actually sit down to read Tolstoy, eh, it's not as interesting. (I'm saying this having not read anything by Tolstoy, so it could be completely gripping for all I know.) On the other hand, reading "Twilight" for me was like drinking a Cherry Coke -- something I totally enjoyed doing, but not sure if I should be expending my calories on something so unsubstantial. I realize that's not very nice to say about the book, and I kind of feel sorry for saying that, especially after having read Stephenie's inspiration behind her book and really relating to her plight as a mother trying to complete a project that she was passionate about. Another thing to feel guilty about: wishing for bedtime or naptime for your children so that you can work on your own selfish, creative obsessions. That's an entry for another time, though.

Regardless of my guilt issues, "Twilight" called to the younger girl within me and reminded me of what it's like to love and live passionately -- something that I'm sure we all forget how to do as time goes by. Unable to say goodbye to Edward and Bella, I'll be picking up Twilight's sequel tonight, New Moon.