We need you!

While I am a huge proponent of marriage as a favorable institution, I do find one significant flaw in it. With only two votes in any one decision, it is impossible to win by majority vote when you and your spouse disagree about something. We are currently in need of a tie breaker, so I am handing this one over to you. Speaking of majorities, I know the majority of my blog browsers do not comment. If you can find it in your heart to place a vote on this issue, however, you will save us the cost of a marriage and familiy therapist to settle the dishcloth dispute.

While I favor the more conventional "toss the rag over the sink when not in use" method, my husband has recently decided to hang the cloth from the shelf above to let it breathe instead. While my husband raises an excellent point about the hygenics of airdrying, I can't get past how funny I think it looks to have a dishcloth hanging up there. So here are the specimens for your examination. Please let me know which dishcloth placement you favor. Feel free to vote anonymously if you fear we will black list you for voting in favor of 'the other side.'

And for non-commentors, you don't have to have an account to post a comment, even though it may sound like you do. Just choose anonymous, or type in a username. I'm pretty sure you can leave the account part blank. Happy voting! (Please!!)

Say Cheese!

I'm so glad we eventually figure out the eating thing.

Blog Karma, or, D&D revisited

Visitors: Be sure to visit the revisited post below if you are revisiting and already visited the unrevisited post before the revisit. Thanks for the visit.

What we don't want to lose

We've had flat Stanley (well, Flat A.J.) with us this week so we've photographed some things that might otherwise have gone un-documented. It was a reminder to me of just how thrilling a typical week can be in the life of a child. Being a kid is where it's at. Each day in their life is new and exciting, action packed and full of adventure.

Taking Stanley to school was great, because it was SCHOOL! Do you remember when school was a rite of passage and we had ARRIVED when we made our Kindergarten debut??!! And look what's missing in the picture...a TOOTH! Does it get any cooler than that first gap in your smile?
Then came (brace yourselves for this one...) VALENTINE'S DAY!!! Now I kind of thought it was romantic and zesty to celebrate the love between my hubbub and I. But when my son came home from school with his overflowing box of candy hearts, lollipops, mini-tatoos and special messages from the whole K-gang, I remembered what it felt like to design a special mailbox that would soon hold cargo second only to what Santa brings. I remember painstakingly selecting just the right card with just the right message to give to just the right person. (Gotta say ENOUGH but can't reveal TOO MUCH.) It was an introduction to the complexity--but beauty--of LOVE, and it was good stuff. Heavy, but GOOD.
Then there was the soccer game and the first GOAL scored in this winter season. He was so excited he gave the Toyota jump ("Oh-What-A-Feeling") at least seven times. But this excitement was also fueled by the promise of a CHUCK E. CHEESE token for every good kick in the game. (He needed an incentive to amp the oomph that day, and whether it's good parenting or not, it WORKED!)
The amazing week was topped off by a weekend with Grandma and Papa, which was great-turned-SPECTACULAR when the four of them headed off to a HOTEL for a night. No mom. No dad. No Cairo. Just suitcases, swimming pools, hotel TV, treats, and chilling with g-parents as the "big kids" they felt like. No Ritz-Carlton needed here. It was enough just to GO.
Part of what we gain from children is remembering what we don't want to lose.

Dumb and Dumber--REVISITED

You may have heard these stories on the news today. I can't decide which story illustrates the bigger dimwit. First contestant: the man who snatched a purse from a 67 year old woman in a wheelchair. COME ON!!! Nabbing a purse: Bad. Nabbing a purse from a lady in a wheelchair? Off the charts. Second contestant: The dog groomer who cut off a dog's ear while grooming it, and superglued it back on so the owner wouldn't notice. When the owner found dark spots on the dog's ear, she tried to clean it off, thinking it must be dirt, only to discover the truth of a haircut gone bad. WHAT WAS this groomer thinking??!! And how is it possible people can be such...

Here is the revisited part. Turns out it is bad blog karma for me to point out OTHER people's thinking gone awry. Ever since Marie's comment (who joked any "entries" she could post would be personal stories) I have been flooded by memories of my own, shall we say, less-than-Einstein moments, and here's what I've decided: First, The superglue. There actually could have been some thought behind that move. Doctors often use glue in cuts to help the skin bond, and you can even buy fancy derma-bond to do it yourself, unless of course you'd rather save a few bucks and use the superglue already in your cupboard. So superglue for cuts: Not necessarily dumb. Superglue for entirely severed body parts on dogs: MISDIRECTED.

Now about that purse. How do I excuse this misdeed? I don't. In fact, by saying there is a hierarchy in the world of taking someone else's property, I undermine the fact that taking is simply wrong. It wasn't the age, the purse, or even the wheelchair. It was the "take." Takes can not be ranked in order of how dumb or bad that particular "take" is and to say he was off the charts bad means there can be on the charts bad. And there can't be. So nabbing a purse: Bad. Nabbing a purse from a lady in a wheelchair? Also bad. See how I have been arguing with myself since that post? I suppose since blogs aren't banter back and forth like conversation or instant messaging might be, I am left to philosophize with myself, and you, my friends, are witnessing the result.

There will be no full disclosure of my own monumental moments of madness at this time, but some other time (most likely when it is really late and I am really tired, but wishing my husband wasn't asleep because I'm feeling talkative) you may get some sensational stories. And they will be less about stupidity, and far more about MISDIRECTION. See why I need the good karma?

South Africa

Here are some pictures we received from Grandma Kip who is a missionary in South Africa. The first shows an informal low income settlement, where people live with no electricity or running water. The second shows some of the kids pushing their wire cars, a favorite toy among the children there.

Wildlife

Here is some of the wildlife in South Africa. The elephants, lions, and zebras I expected. The super-sized snails were news to me!!

ZAPPED

This picture was snapped just as Grandma Kippy was leaning through an electric fence trying to get a better picture of tigers lounging in the trees. When she got zapped, the jolt was so strong she thought something huge and heavy had hit her in the head. The electrocution headache lasted for a week, but the picture will always be a reminder of her electrifying experience!

Footh Tairy

That's right folks, no fairy about it. Just one MANLY Footh Tairy making his rounds as we now have one less tooth in the family. You'll notice he's holding his friend the Beaster Unny.

What's in a name?

There is both risk and reward involved when you choose unique names for your children. It is always fun to have conversations with people about our childrens' names and how they got them. But of course we have geared up for a lifetime of misspellings and mispronunciations. Last week was especially fruitful in the name slaughtering department, as our children were called STETSON, WINDSTAR, and KARO. So instead of being namesakes of Staten Island, Windsor Castle and Cairo, Egypt--all places with meaning for my husband and I--they became COLOGNE, A MINIVAN, and CORN SYRUP. Not quite what we had in mind...but no less creative I suppose.

One happy groundhog, two happy birthdays!

EARLY SPRING!!

(Not that the winter's around here are anything to complain about.)

But not to be overshadowed by the GROUNDHOG,


Happy Birthday KATHLEEN!

Yes, the photo of her beautiful family has been replaced, as I've decided the best birthday gift I can give her is a plug for her presidential campaign.




And since Saturday blogging is not my forté, I will also say


Happy Birthday MARIANNE! (tomorrow)
Also sooo beautiful, with a very aptly named dog--BRUTUS!

I miss you friends! Wish I saw you more than once in a blue moon.