Halloween!!!

As usual, we spent Halloween socializing at Mimi and Big Daddy's. It was hard to get the kids to hold still so I just settled for action shots. Taylor is Goku, Trevor is a pirate, and Jewel is a bee. Mom got to be Super Saian (or however you spell it) Pirate, because the wig wouldn't stay on and the sword was just "too heavy". Trevor did his best to keep up, but Daddy had to carry him on the return trip. According to Dad, trick or treating in Rolling Oaks isn't what it used to be. I can see how neighborhoods like ours (with minimal yard between the houses) would be the place to go for maximum candy with minimal walking. But, that just isn't our goal.

Jared Diamond and Collapse

Have I ever mentioned how much I love TED!!

Yes, lady and gentleman (ha ha), Jared Diamond and Collapse!!

Aaah! I am so busted!!!

A little math....

I'm going to try to be nice as I say this. I am all hopped up on adrenaline from cutting the grass, and I don't want to become rude, in my excited state. I think that people who don't do math are dumb. Ok, so that was rude, but seriously. A neighbor commented that it only cost $40/ month to have his grass cut and sprayed. Really, only $40. I said, "That's great, but I really need the exercise." I was thinking, "Really, only $40 to poison the water and alter the ecosystem, where do I sign!!". He thankfully, walked away. But, had he stayed (not really, I'm not a confrontational person) I might have been inclined to inform him that it in fact costs him hours of work. Does he like his job that much. Perhaps he makes $40/ hour. I didn't. Also, it costs the world oil. Lots of it. The person who cuts his yard drives around in a truck pulling a heavy trailer, and uses oil in the mower too. I use a reel mower (or as I have come to call it, a real smart mower). Also, what a waste of calories for him and the guy who rides a mower to cut his grass. He buys non-organic produce (some of which goes bad because his wife works also, and admitted to me that she hardly has time to cook) that is covered in oil laden fertilizer and pesticides. They eat the food that let's face it, is pretty costly lately, then waste the calories on a treadmill at the gym (that also costs money and hours at work). How long does it take to mow my yard, about 1 hour (tops). I use no oil, only the extra calories I would be trying to burn off anyway. It costs my husband no extra work time (or money) and no one has to drive anywhere to do it. Now, I could get out the calculator, but that seems like overkill to me. Hmmm, work to pay someone to dig oil out of the ground, and to pay someone else so they can buy the oil for my food, so I can waste the calories getting fatter, while I pay someone else to drive over and use that oil to pollute my yard with carcinogens while they pollute the air around me, so I can pay for the cancer I'll be fighting off when I'm 50 (likely with diabetes from all the calories I wasted in my body) or spend $40/month on organic produce to power my own body to cut my own grass (minus carcinogens) hopefully avoiding the cancer and diabetes costs years from now. It really doesn't seem that complicated. And, he thought I was nuts!! The original post of this had two comments Lori said... i am really interested in getting a push mower - how hard is it to keep the blades sharpened? November 4, 2008 6:29 AM circusmind said... Super easy!! I ordered (for about 15 dollars) a blade sharpening kit. It has a gritty solution that you brush onto the blades, then you turn them backwards for several minutes and they sharpen themselves. That is it! And the mower only cost us 115 dollars. With no gas to fill it and no filters to change or buy, and no servicing, well, you can see where I am going with this.

Aunt Dawn's Halloween Party

The future, apparently (probably)

teeny weeny daily tidbit...

Taylor is playing an old playstation 2 game, and realizing that he can beat more of it than he could last year. Jewel just donned Trevor's buzz lightyear hightops and is prancing around the house in them. And, Trevor just told me that, "no, mom, I can't poop on the toilet, I have to poop in the toilet." Duh, mom, geesh.

tidbit all about jewel...

While the boys are perfecting their own style of "brotherly" arguing and annoying, Jewel continues to learn to communicate. She says the cutest things. Besides the constant, "oh no" and "uh oh", she also says "kanks" or "kanky" for "thanks" and "thank you" and even said "kanks bubba" once. She can sign for cheese but calls it "ceesy" and says "ceesy peesy" for "cheese please". She also signs banana but says "ba ba". "Apple" she not only says clearly, she also signs it almost perfectly, and it is so cute that you can't resist pealing the damn things three times a day for her. While there is tons she says that no one understands, she is able to get her point across most of the time. If she wants to feed herself, she refuses to eat until you give her the utensil. If she wants you to look at something, she points and says, "ere eet ees" or "ook, uts at". And occasionally, she will just grab you and try to push you in the direction of whatever she wants. If she doesn't like what you are doing (washing her face, etc.) she says "no no top eet". And often yells "go go go" before running or spinning for no reason. And she calls hogan "hoagie". She says "cereal" pretty clear but the sign for it is perfect. My favorite thing is her "heppy" which means "help me" as she copies the boys by pretending to be trapped or in perile. Yesterday she followed me through the house bumping into me whenever I stopped and laughing about it. That went on for about an hour as I cleaned and put away laundry. I would go on and talk about the boys some more, but I can hear Taylor calling from the couch "Trevor let go of my leg" and Trevor is shouting, "Mom, Taylor won't hold still." Trevor has started saying that he has the "neazy weazies" when his sneezes, but everything he says now is cute and amazing at the same time. Maybe I'll get some of it "captured" later. Jewel is trying to put a sock on her foot. And saying "got you" to the sock. Ahhh! I'm drowning in cute!