Thank you for calling Movie Fone

So, today is supposed to be the boy's first day back at school since LAST MONDAY... and Josh isn't there? Why? Because I gave him his ONE "gimme" in life. This is his ONE time that I will give him a break so that he learns a lesson...


He finishes his book while I'm at the store grocery shopping. There's another bad ice storm supposed to hit tonight so I wanted to be prepared. (Look at that...being prepared - what a concept!)

He finishes his book and when I come home I print out a few things from the internet on how to make it flow. He needs an intro that gets his audience's attention. He needs visual aides (that's part of his grade) that are interesting and relevant. He needs to look at the audience. He needs to STOP reading his note cards. He needs... a lot... of work.

I take him to the laptop in the bedroom since Ben was sleeping in the swing and I show him some movie trailers from YouTube. I let him hear that voice. You know the voice... that man who does the voice overs for movie trailers.

(take a deep breath and use your most dramatic voice...)

You've got one chance...

to save the world...

or your family...

what...

do...

you...

do?

ONE CHANCE... a film by BLAH BLAH BLAH in theaters this fall!

He realizes how that captures your attention. He practices more.

The whole voice over thing reminded me of that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer was doing the voice for Movie Fone. That was such a crack-up!

Anyway, the day progresses, I feel like I'm getting nothing done. I was so looking forward to one stinkin' day to myself but, alas, it's not to be.

I go pick up Drew from school. Josh comes with me (to take a break). We go home and I finish unpacking the groceries.

By the end of the day he's got it done... he's practiced several times and it's a done deal.

(Thank God!)

Tomorrow will be the true test. He's done a good job. His report is on Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson. It's an adaptation for a younger audience of a book he penned called "Manhunt." It's a story of the assassination of Lincoln and the 12 day manhunt for Booth and his accomplices. Josh's props were creative and interesting.

He painted an acorn silver to represent the "one bullet" from his intro. He made a .44 Derringer pistol from cardboard. He printed out a knife replica from the internet. He put two horses in a plastic baggie filled with sand to talk about how he shot and "buried" their horses in quicksand since they were making too much noise and they were trying to hide. I printed out pictures that were mounted on black card stock to talk about his henchmen and the their three targets. He made a Confederate flag. He made a mini Booth and Lincoln. He made a replica Presidential booth and bunting. Stephanie Adams let us use a spur which was what caught in the bunting on the box which made him stumble and break his leg when he was making his escape.

All in all, it was creative and well thought out. It was original. It was informative. He didn't give away the ending. It was a good report. Tomorrow, is "D" day.