I Love Trash (Day)

It's trash day on our street.

I have been around long enough to see quite an evolution in garbage cans. When I was a kid we had the classic aluminum cans. They looked pretty cool when they were new - but I don't ever remember having a new one. Probably because they aged pretty fast. They dented easily and the shininess wore off quickly. We hauled ours to the dump in the back of a pickup and dumped our own trash. During the 80's plastic garbage cans became popular. They didn't dent - you could back into them with a car and they would probably bounce, but they had problems too. The lids had a tendency to blow off, never to be seen again, and if they were really full and heavy they had a tendency to bulge - and they were hard to carry. The later ones of these came out with a new feature...wheels. Nice as long as they lasted. Ours had a tendency to come off. Today's cans are great. The garbage company supplies them. They are rugged, they have a hinged lid that doesn't fly away and the wheels stay on.

I just wish it was recycling day too.

The Future of Flight

My husband is working overtime tonight.

Designing airplanes for a better tomorrow.
I think he's working overtime tomorrow too.

I don't wanna...

Some days I actually like to clean my house.

Today is not that day. I've done the dishes, wiped the counters, started the laundry, folded laundry, made my bed, tidied up the living room, dusted the bookcases, vacuumed (or should I say vac-u-umed) and started more laundry,...this is besides taking one child to seminary, and getting another one up, fed and off to middle school, working out, talking to one of my sisters on the phone, checking my email, reading the paper and working on the NYT crossword puzzle. I feel more like curling up with a good book by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of fresh warm chocolate chip cookies. The problem is, the bathroom won't clean itself. And neither will the laundry.

This One's for Sue

How's Lily's geography?

...are you holding out on us?

Superlative Boy II

"In recognition of your outstanding achievements in Social Studies"...???

Evidently this is a monthly award ceremony. Monthly. Each teacher that nominated a student for the award gets up and tells how that particular student showed leadership. Some were specific (food drive, choir manager, etc...) Many were vague (good grades in class, good attitude....) When Mr. Kessler (Alex's teacher) awarded Alex his certificate he stated that Alex was getting his leadership award for his knowledge - whenever there is a question about something in class, instead of turning to the textbook, all eyes turn to Alex. Apparently he writes awesome papers also.

So, basically, Alex gets an award for being Alex.

After they got their awards the kids were invited to introduce any of their family that was there. One mom flew in from UTAH for this award. Yikes. Alex turned it around and when he introduced me he said "That's my mom, I blame this on her."

You go, Superlative Boy.

Superlative Boy

"They keep finding new ways, to celebrate mediocrity," sighs Mr. Incredible.



There is some kind of awards ceremony after school today at the high school. We got a letter to that affect last month - inviting us to attend because Alex has earned a "leadership" award. I'm not quite sure what it's for, and frankly, I don't think Alex knows what it is for either. I'm all for giving pats on the back, when pats are due - but it would be nice to know what it's for.

I'm not implying that Alex is mediocre in any way - he is superlative - in fact, I would go as far as to say he is incredible!

Whistle While You Work

I was complaining to Stephanie about cleaning my office. She suggested that I put on a happy working song. Brilliant!

I'll just go plug in the vac-u-um.