My car's passenger, front tire needed replacing and when I did, they told me (after three hours of sitting there; for one tire!) it the driver's side really needed to be replaced. I believed them, but I'd been there so long, I said, throw it back on and I'll replace it "shortly". Consequently, the pool was off limits for us. Which would be ok, except we're down to the last weeks of it and LF will be gone next week, leaving only one possible weekend. Mom wanted to go too, so she offered to pick us up and drive us there (she went 32 miles out of her way to do this. Go mom!). Mom and I'd also talked about going to see The Butler. So the movie was Saturday and the pool Sunday.

As the theater is close enough I felt safe enough to drive 30 mph and only a couple of miles really sealed the deal. I really liked the movie. The two characters I've thought about the most are really not the most important or fleshed out the most, but they're important statements nonetheless--the women. At the beginning of the movie, you see the main character Cecil with his dad, picking cotton and his obviously bi-racial mom smiling at them. The white owner? (is it a tenant farm he owns?) drags her off by themselves and you can guess what happens, it's not an important plot point, but it makes you see why he wants to escape that life. It really shows that she is a part of a drastically horrible cycle, from mulatto (I use this term to enforce how she came to be, not because I fault her) who may or may not bear another one (still not the baby's choice! or hers). I don't think that character even says one word in the movie. The other is his wife, Gloria. Throughout the movie, she's quoting this and that from all sorts of magazines, making food from magazines, sewing stylish clothes which are the current rage... she's trying her hardest to find a way to fit into society, in her non-confrontational way. I really liked the movie. The presidents are purely caricatures, except on the important points, decisions made about rights. Their stance of the issues are very clearly represented. I'd give it a three out of five stars.

Sunday, we slept in and then got hot dogs, chips, and a drink. Small picnic before heading off to the pool. It was the right air and water temperatures for the day. Nice. A couple of rude people, though! I caught dude stealing our chair and just looked at him like, I know you did not just do that. He commented something snide, but I just stood and waited until mom struggled to the chair and tried to find a way to sit down on the one measly chair we now had thanks to said thief. ugh! Isn't the unwritten rule of the communal pool, if there is one shoe on the chair, it's taken? There was loads more than a shoe on it too. Sneak! LF wanted a float and I brought it to him. Within minutes, I see him without the float. He swears, even though he's tiny still, he gave a float to someone. I'm betting he gave it without his permission. Other than that, it was a decently nice day. It ended with last of the stragglers (we all stayed until it closed) standing at the tram stop waiting to go up the hill to our cars. LF has always wanted to be part of a spontaneous flash mob. He thinks about it on the bus every day (he rides our city bus to/from school). He got his wish yesterday. Casper [Cha Cha] Slide Part 2 was playing. He was the first. Then the family of five or six kids started, then the family to the right joined in. It was so much fun to watch. Ok, so it was a "mini mob", but that he got them all to join in just by having fun, not asking, really made him happy. This morning I texted him to see if he liked it and he replied with five replies of smiley faces. I think that says it all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Casper Slide