Officially an obsession

The movie Cars has officially become an obsession in this household.

This morning Tobey woke up and told us that he dreamt that when Lightning McQueen fell out of his trailer, Mr. The King came to rescue him.

Lately Eli, the child I once considered speech delayed, has been say, "Goodbye! Okay, I'm good!" quoting Mater at Lightning's Piston Cup tie breaker race.

But perhaps most shocking to me is that I was seriously considering buying licensed character shoes. Payless has Croc wannabe clogs that look like Lightning McQueen. I'm not a big fan of Crocs and I am definitely not into characters on clothing and accessories. But when I saw these clogs (first at the Y and then on Emily M. at school), I realized: Lightning McQueen IS the shape of a clog! And to turn him into an actual shoe was actually charming to me. As I stood there in Payless Shoes, deliberating, almost rationalizing buying them in their buy-one-get-one half off sale, I showed restraint and did not buy them. Either that, or I didn't want to argue with 2 kids each morning on why they can or can't wear their Lightning McQueen clogs.

I've even considered making a Cars trivia movie quiz on Facebook (unless someone else has). I've been making up questions, asking Tom (who hasn't seen the movie or hear the audio CD with the kids 100 times like I have). I've stumped him several times. Anyone game?

• How many laps do the cars take in the tiebreaker race?
• What's Mr. The King's number?
• What's Radiator Spring's "nickname" or claim to fame?
• How much does Lightning owe Mater in legal fees?
• What's Sally's nickname for Lightning? (Tom made this question, I thought it was easy. ;-) )
• How long does Doc say it will take Lightning to pave the road?
• Off what interstate is Radiator Springs?
• What's the name of the founder of Radiator Springs?
• What's the name of the hippie VW van and what does he sell?
• What's Lightning's agent's name and how much does he get in royalties?
• Where does Lightning's lawyer have a timeshare?
• Extra credit: In Mater and the Ghostlight, who helps put the lantern on Mater's tow?

Tom and I often plop the boys in front of the TV while we meet with contractors or our realtor. We sometimes oblige their request to see a portion of Cars. Even our realtor, after a couple of meetings asked, "They don't mind seeing the same thing over and over again?"

Nope, not so far.