It's ok to be different...

unless you are different.

We went to story time at the Iredell Public Library yesterday. The reader selected "It's Okay to be Different" by Todd Parr. Personally, I think it's a great book. It goes through several different subjects stating that "It's okay if...". For example, "It's okay to be a different color." And the picture would be of two zebras, one black and white, and one different colors.
The reader comes to a page and announces to the group that, "I'm gonna skip over this page, and I'll show you why." She shows us the page. It's the cartoon faces of two women next to each other, and the faces of two men next to each other. The book reads, "It's okay to have different mommies and different daddies." Or something like that. The reader is nodding her head and raising her eyebrows as if to say, "See this filth?"
I can't decide what to do. I checked the Iredell Public Library website and they have no email address to contact them. I hate confrontation, so I'm pretty apprehensive about going there in person and accusing this lady of bigotry.
Maybe I'm reading way too much into this. Maybe the reader was thinking that some of the parents/grandparents that were present really didn't want to have that discussion with their kids. Discussing issues with your kids is pretty overrated anyway. Am I right or am I right?
I guess I just feel like she should have never even chosen that book to read if she's going to censor it due to her "beliefs".
So, is it okay to different in Statesville, NC? I guess it is, if you are a colorful zebra.

"I learned it by watching you!!"

2 year old falls off the wagon. Yup, in Statesville.

We're buying a house!!

The paperwork is signed, everyone is happy. Now all we gotta do is get past the inspection and we are golden. We've been down this road before as some of you know. I didn't write about it here because I didn't want to relive that nightmare. When I told my brother we were buying a house, his very appropriate response was, "I'll believe it when you move in." Fair enough.



Now the Statesville weirdness kicks in. Last night we accepted the counter-offer made by the sellers. Their last name is Sink. About 12 hours later, I'm dropping Lindsay off at pre-school. As we are walking up, we pass the teachers on curb duty and they both say, "Congratulations!! We heard you are buying the Sink's house!!" I looked at them like "how the hell do you know that?" They just shrugged and said it was a small town. When we went inside, no fewer than four teachers told me congrats on the house. I had only told one person in town that we were buying the house and she didn't tell anybody. I'm not sure if I should be creeped out or if I should accept it as small town life. I sort of feel like I'm being watched and monitored. Of course we are all being watched and monitored all the time now, but I didn't know the info was public knowledge. Sorry. That's my conspiracy theory mind kicking in. I can't help but wonder, though....how are they tracking me? I've never had a flu shot.

Not a fun day

We were going house hunting. We thought we had a potential winner, but it turned out to be a lead-paint hazard. As I pulled into the driveway of the second house we were looking at, I clipped the short brick wall that bordered the driveway entrance. I ripped a 4 inch hole in the side of my back tire. So my wife loaded the kids in her car and continued the morning looking at houses while I dealt with the tire. I ended up using AAA 'cause I'm not a real man that can easily change a tire without crushing myself to death. By the time we got the spare on the van, my wife was back. So I loaded up my daughter and went back to our apartment where my daughter fell about halfway down the concrete stairs leading to our second floor apartment. I've never been that scared before. She ended up being ok, but shit...what a morning. That afternoon I went to get a new tire which 'caused me to miss Lindsay's playdate and my wife had to cancel the surprise massage I had scheduled for her. Needless to say, tensions were high in the ol' red squirrel family.
So, my question to you guys is this: Who put a whammy on me? WTF??