Spring Chicken

Dearest is at National Guards this weekend, which means LONG-----weekend for us. So I packed the children into my trusty "truwk". Pink Ninja in a purple velvet frock, tights, and patent leather shoes. I am unsure of where she thought we were going. I am sure she was disappointed. Dash and I in t-shirts and jeans.

The reason for the outing simple. I was going nutsy here at Casa De Dust. The children stir crazy. I had mentioned a game called "whack a mole" around Christmas, and Dash recalled this today. So, I caved and we went to get "whack a mole". The entire drive to the store I am thinking it is just a bad idea. A game for toddlers that include mallets? Really not one of my clever decisions, and the title of the game should probably be called "Whack a Sibling". I seriously am desperate enough though, that mallets could mean "great and blissful" fun for them. We get to the store, buy the game, and leave.

I then make another questionable decision. Dining ALONE with the toddlers. I mean Dash is 4 now, not really a toddler, Pink Ninja just turned 2. So it is a gamble of sorts. One never knows if there will be a meltdown, if they will run around the restaurant, maybe they won't be hungry, or they could surprise me and be lovely. It is a game of Russian roulette, and I decide to play along today, because my existence as "MOM"...Is to much to bear today.

I decide on Vietnamese cuisine, another touchy decision. My children are not picky eaters, they are fantastic eaters. They like all different types of cuisine. So I think we should be ok. We sit and order one order of Spring rolls, and grilled chicken BUN bo Hue . Dash loves the spring rolls, and comments that the peanut sauce is delisico. Spring Rolls disappear, and I sit and watch some satellite imagery of Vietnamese women dressed in sherbet colored traditional Asian dress singing the "Macarena". It was soooooo trainwreck like, I couldn't help but watch. I sipped on my hot cups of tea amazed at the enthusiasm the ladies showed. They were also singing "Macarana" in Spanish, and not Vietnamese. I look to the children, and see rice noodles and shrimp being chewed, and look back at the television. I then see a group of men and women dressed in day-glo neon pink neon, green, and yellow. I am immediately reminded of the "Wake me up before you go-go" video by Wham. There are about 50 Vietnamese girls dressed like it is 1985, and the music starts up, and guess what. It is "Wake me up before you go-go" by Wham, and they sing it in Vietnamese. I look to the toddlers and note the spring rolls are gone. I sit and wonder if this is a "dated" program, or if the resurgence of bad eighties culture has hit Vietnam. The waiter brings our Bun, and some bowls and special chopsticks for the children. We eat our bun, and I am glad I wasted 3 credit hours at the University of Nebraska on an Ethnomusicology class, that is not helping me with the current sound and vision, and I wrestle with the idea that I owned a big bright day-glo yellow hair bow.