Kat�s high school is having homecoming week�again. Homecoming week first started back in September. High school officials disrupted it on the grounds that such gaiety was inappropriate the week of September 11th. Time has passed though so they are trying again with the pep rallies, the dance, and the crazy dress-up days. If Kat dresses up each day according to the theme of that day, she gets a homework point. It wouldn�t take homework points to get her to participate however. Her theatrical nature just loves dress-up.

Today is tacky day. Kat is supposed to dress in something tacky. Last night, I was not sure what her definition of tacky was. Most of what her father proposed as tacky apparently was not tacky. It was just dumb�at least according to teenage standards. Of course, much of what he proposes these days is dumb according to Kat whether she is rude enough to say so at the time or not. Personally, I would have considered wearing his old high school football jersey tacky but perhaps that�s only because I�m well aware of the lack of glory of his short-lived football career.

After speaking with her father, Kat asked to go through my closet. I didn�t let her. There is little in my closet that would fit her. After all, I�m a good five or six inches shorter than she is. She usually is aware of that. I know because she reminds me constantly but maybe she forgot. Maybe wearing clothes that are too small is tacky although you can�t prove it by some of the current pop singers. In any event, I had no intention of finding out which pieces of my wardrobe she considers tacky.

According to Day-Hay, the Homecoming Committee defined tacky as an outfit only Mr. Philately�s grandmother could love. Actually, they didn�t know Mr. Philately�s grandmother and they didn�t care at all what she would have loved. Nevertheless, what they mean by tacky appears to be wearing stripes with plaids or polka dots with plaids or polka dots with stripes. Mr. Philately spent a lot of his childhood explaining to his grandmother that he could not wear what she set out for him because his mother would never approve (and because he just could not bring himself to wear it although I�m not sure he ever �fessed up to that motivation.)

Kat has a hand-me-down multi-plaid, flannel vest. I expect I may see her in it this morning. It has red plaid in the front and blue and green plaid in the back. If she can find a striped shirt, she may have that on too. I�m not a morning person and I�m not sure how I�ll react. I do hope I don�t faint or run screaming from the room. The prospect is scarier than a monster costume.

When she was little she loved to dress up as something. Now that she is in high school, she dresses up for something. And they call this maturity!

(If you were expecting something on the bombing, I probably will write that entry eventually. I just wasn't ready to do it yet.)

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