Just a Quick Trip to the Sonic for Ice Cream......

After dinner, Scott suggested that we go out to the Sonic for ice cream. It has been a perfect autumn day - crisp, sunny, wear your jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt kind of day (and VERY comfortable riding in the convertible type of day to boot). So it sound like a very nice, relaxing family outing and a very nice way to start off the evening.

We took the Tahoe (Scott wanted enough room to spread out) and listened to 80s tunes on the CD player in the truck while we enjoyed our ice cream. We were there for maybe 30 minutes when Scott started to power up the car and (insert sound of a motor winding down). Hmm..... sounds like ...... (trying to start car again - insert dead silence) ...... dead battery!

We start through our options - well, there are plenty of other cars around, maybe we could ask one of them if they have jumper cables and wouldn’t mind helping us jump the truck? Scott’s not so keen on that option. OK, so we call one of our co-worker friends who lives just a mile or two from the Sonic. We haven’t seen Geary for probably 3 months, as he has been in Germany on a work assignment and he has been back in town for maybe one day now, but hey - he’s a sport and comes out to help us.

Erica and Brian just LOVE ‘Mr Geary’ - they think he is the coolest because he is a complete Star Wars geek and he has helped them win the Star Wars trivia game. They are completely wound up with ice cream, the situation with the car and now the prospect of seeing Mr. Geary, so they get busy by bouncing up and down in the back of the truck, screaming and being generally noisy. Fortunately, you can’t really hear screaming kids when the windows are closed!

Long story short, the jump start doesn’t work, so we leave the Tahoe in the Sonic employee lot (a couple of guys from the Sonic helped us push it out of the customer bay). Scott thinks that the battery could be so dead that the jump start didn’t work. Geary thinks it could be a dead starter. So we’ll try again tomorrow with a new battery and go from there.

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No Consequences (but plenty of conscience)

I have been very delinquent in my participation of the ScrapShare Blog Challenge, but I am hoping to get back on track with this week’s entry. Here is this week’s Challenge:

Q: If you could live one day without consequences, what would you do? Would you get a tattoo just to see what it was like? Would you skip work or school and sleep all day? Would you have a one-night-stand, or would you buy a yacht, or would you tell your parents what you REALLY think of them? If you could live one day without consequences, what would you do?

Hmmm....interesting question...my initial thoughts were centered around the purchase of physical items - stuff I have been coveting, for example. Then I thought about it some more and realized that I can go out and buy “stuff” any day, and the question doesn’t indicate that you have other magical means at your disposal (like unlimited money)..... so I decided to limit my answer with the assumption that at the end of the magical day, items purchased would disappear......I also decided that money spent on the day’s activities and food don’t count though (gotta make this a little fun!).

First of all, I would definitely bag work (heck, on a normal day, there are very little consequences with not showing up to work for one day) and charter a flight to California’s Wine Country for a nice breakfast. I would rent out the Nikon lens I have been eyeing, and use it to take fabulous pictures (these I would be able to keep - they are just digital files, after all).

Without physical consequences to hinder my activities, I would partake in what I would normally consider to be ‘high risk’ - these are activities very much outside my current comfort zone. This would include sky diving and bungee jumping (really, anything involving heights!). I would also arrange to go horseback riding at full gallop along some scenic setting and maybe even try a bit of surfing. Then I would step the activity level down a little and experience some pampering at a pricey spa - minimum of a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure, along with a gourmet meal.

I would wind up my day with my family in a fun-oriented activity. Maybe a group horseback ride or some rock climbing. Oh, and a group bungee jump off of some high cliff! We would all enjoy dinner and everyone would get plenty of dessert....

As much as I’ve thought about what I would do, I have also considered what I wouldn’t do, even under the magic of the no consequences rule. For example, I wouldn’t consider extorting or stealing large amounts of money for future use. And while a steamy tryst with a hot Hollywood star might sound tempting, I doubt I could really choose to engage in such an activity. I bet when I look at others’ responses to this week’s question, I won’t find a truly ‘bad’ action. I guess that even in the absence of consequences, we are all still guided by our consciences and the concept of right / wrong and of personal commitments and priorities......

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The 'JINX' game and other popular games

I always find it humorous, the fads that run through with our kids.
It seems as if they are recycled from our days as kids, some are perhaps 'updated' to fit with the current times, but many are just like the games we played as children.

One that is similar to when I was a kid is the "JINX" game.
You all know when you are supposed to say "JINX", right??

OK, for those who have forgotten, if you and your friend say the exact same thing at the same time. Then the first person to say "JINX" is the "winner". I recall the "winner" is entitled to a soda.

My kids have started the "JINX" game with a little twist (At least I don't recall this twist from my childhood)....... the person who says "JINX" first then starts to count - the "loser" is supposed to say "STOP", which stops the counting. Apparently, the numbers represent the number of sodas the "winner" is entitled to - I guess today's games have been "SuperSized"!

Another game the kids are currently playing is the Spot-A-Special-Car-First-and-then-Tag- Everyone-Else-Because-They-Didn't-See-It-First Game. Whew, that's a mouthful. In our case, the Special-Car is the VW Beetle or Bug. The first person who sees it says "XXXXX Slug-bug - No Tag Backs" and starts slapping everyone else while saying it. Oh, the XXXXX represents the Color of the spotted Beetle. I didn't know just how popular the VW Beetle is around our parts until the kids started playing this game. And of course where do they play the game? You guessed it - in the car, while I am driving.

The sad thing is, now I will be driving alone around town or on my way to work, and I will see one of those blasted cars and automatically think (or sometimes even say out loud) "Yellow Slug-bug - no tag backs". If Scott is in the car with me, we will play against each other. Sometimes we'll "play" with our co-workers, but then we usually get very strange looks.

And when my sister and her family visited, even their kids were familiar with a variation of the Slug-bug game (Different Car, and instead of "Slug Bug" another term was used).

Now, I really don't remember the Slug-Bug game from my childhood. Do you?? One game I do recall is "PiDiddle / PiSquattle". Do you remember that one? Played at night, looking for cars with a headlight out. When we played it, the guys would yell out "PiDiddle!" and go and kiss one of the girls. The girls would call out "PiSquattle" and slap one of the boys. Hmmmm - I certainly hope it is a LONG time before my kids start on this one........

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Woolly Worm Expedition

In keeping with my theme of recording the family’s events in not-so-real-time, here is the account of one of their latest adventures - our first woolly worm expedition over Labor Day Weekend.

These Woolly Worm Caterpillars, aka Wooly Worms, have been sighted by our kids everywhere - at school, at the park, in the road, in the soybean fields and of course, in the landscaping by the house, conveniently munching on the leaves of my perennials..... Our neighbors had captured many of the fuzzy crawlies while exploring around the creek down the road, so Erica and Brian set off on their own expedition Saturday afternoon, with the big wagon, filled with leaves and grass, in tow.

It appeared that the normally tall wild grasses had recently been cut and it initially seemed as if the Woolly Worm would be quite elusive. But in a residual clump of grass, we came across several of the fuzzy creatures and we started to collect them in the wagon. (Actually, I would coax the Woolly Worm on to a stick and hand said stick to awaiting child who would run up to the street level and deposit the worm into the wagon.).

Erica with her first Woolly Worm:


Brian attempts to collect a lightly colored caterpillar:


The kids scramble up the banks of the creek to place the worms into the wagon:


Heading back home after collecting about 20 of the fuzzy guys:


Just a small sampling of our collection:


Playing the handoff game:


One of the unusual species - his hair was a bit spiky:


We kept the Woolly Worm collection for a couple of days before they were returned “back to nature”. Unfortunately, “back to nature” was the backyard landscaping......oh well, our Salvia plants were out of control anyways......(and the other option of bringing them into the house was less desirable!)

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I haven't done one of these in a while

You Are a Carnation

You are down to earth and grounded. You tend to be more traditional than trendy. Your confidence gets you through anything. People trust you and are very loyal to you.

What Flower Are You?

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What do the Contents of your bag say about you?

As usual, I am woefully late in participating in this week’s ScrapShare Blog Challenge (but I have a couple of excuses - really!). Here is the Challenge:

1. Open your purse/wallet/briefcase/diaper bag.
2. Inventory the contents.
3. Pick one item from your inventory list and expand on it. Why do you have it? Where did it come from? What special meaning does it have? Is there a funny/interesting story attached? Choose something that will tell the reader a little about you, whether it's serious, funny or unremarkable - or if you're writing for yourself, choose something that will remind an older you of who the younger you was.
4. Add photos if you'd like to.

Go - inventory your contents!

Well, my purse is really very boring. I don’t keep a lot of stuff in it and I am one of those people who, when given the choice to carry one or not, will choose not to carry a purse. That probably stems from the many years of lugging around a diaper bag, filled with stuff for every potential situation. If I will be out shopping or around the town, I will only carry my little wallet - that way I will be unencumbered by a dangly bag.

So here is a picture of my purse and the contents:



My purse - it is a Coach knock off, purchased in China. Notice the lime green trim (ref - favorite color blog entry). I have a matching big tote that I carry my laptop in.
Left to right:

• iPod, with unattached earbuds - I normally have my iPod docked in the FM transmitter in the car. I put it in my purse when I leave the car and have the earbuds separate.
• Medicine bottle - ibuprofin, allergy medicine, sleeping pills
• Cell phone - one of the reasons this entry is late. This is my first cell phone! I ordered it on Tuesday off the web and just received it today - a Pink RAZR. If they offered the RAZR in green, that’s what I would have ordered, but I am very happy with this one.
• Green wallet - this one is a real Coach wallet. I have had it for at least 10 years. Credit cards and minimal cash are in this thing.
• iPod skin - just in case I want to use the iPod and want to protect it.
• Pen - from the Gloria Hotel in Nanchang, China - see my July Blog entries to read about my two weeks in China
• Checkbook - because you never know when you will need to write a check (kids afterschool care, lunch money, violin lessons, horse riding lessons, etc.)

That’s it. I know, not too exciting, but each item serves a purpose in my every day life.

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First Day of School

OK, so the kids’ first day of school was almost 10 days ago, but hey, these are better late than never.......

The first day of school was on Wednesday, August 23 - both Erica and Brian were excited to go back, especially Erica, who has gotten bored at Summer Day Camp. Over the weekend, Erica and I attempted to buy Back to School clothes at the Target, which was extremely busy (like “day after Thanksgiving” busy) due to all of the college students moving back into town. We could only endure the crowds for 30 minutes before deciding to abort the day’s mission. So on Monday evening, the entire family hit the Old Navy. I have never seen Brian so excited to purchase clothes - he picked out several shirts and shorts and insisted on trying them on. He carefully chose his Back to School outfit - tan shorts with a deep blue T-shirt. Erica picked out three pairs of jeans, but insisted on wearing her Cape Cod hoodie while I took her annual First Day of School pictures:




Brian has shunned the red LLBean backpack we bought last year in favor of one of Daddy’s old grey backpacks, and he carries it with one of the straps across his chest (vs the standard “geeky” way - both straps on each shoulder).

The first day of school was only 2 ½ hours - barely enough time to get seated, find out the others in your class and get the basic rules of the classroom. Brian has Mrs. F, who was Erica’s first grade teacher (I requested her), and Erica has Mrs. K, a new 4th grade teacher.

We went back a couple of days later to take the kids pictures at the school sign and with their teachers. Here is Brian sitting at his desk:


And the kids wanted to play a bit on the jungle bars and insisted that I take their pictures at the top:

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