Sunday, August 21, 2011

We Got Beaned!

     Oh, the evils of facebook! Be careful what you share on social networks. It can definitely come back to "bean" you. I naively posted on my profile "I have a rule in my house: No more stuffed animals allowed!" But then I went on to share how I broke my own rule when Ella found a Raggedy Ann and Andy set at a garage sale down the street. She fell hard for them and I caved. Sweet little daddy/daughter love story, right? WELL...! 
     Last night I went into the garage to close the window and I noticed something taped on the outside of the glass. This wasn't there earlier in the day so I wondered if one of my kids posted some artwork there, as odd as a place it was to display one of their pictures. Regardless, it kind of put me on alert. I mean, we've been TPed, diapered, tennis balled, flamingo-ed, and even robbed, so forgive me for just falling short of grabbing my baseball bat before going outside to see what it was. 
     When I opened the front door, something fell down in front of me, potentially heart attack inducing, but I've been doing Just Dance on the Wii for the last 5 days. Ticker's in shape. Anyway... Someone who I will loosely call a "friend" on facebook had read my status and proceeded to print out guilt-inducing signs admonishing me to take in about 50 Beanie Baby animals that had been strewn all over my front yard! They were along the walkway, on the lawn, in the bush, sitting on the fence, perched in the bird feeder, taped to the wall, atop our garbage cans, and sitting on our cars! And can I just say I was in the house the whole time these shenanigans were taking place on my property. Disturbing! 
     Marty had just gone to bed but I had to get her up to see this... this madness. What kind of mind...? Sick. This is a sickness in the head to drive out to my home and break a sacred rule in my household that only I am allowed to break! "Friend" on facebook, HA!
     But, alas, I cleared the ones off the lawn so the sprinklers wouldn't get them and strategically placed them where they wouldn't get wet and I awaited the morning when my kids would wake up to yet another surprise in our front yard. Needless to say, they were thrilled. I, however, feel harassed and disrespected (and maybe a little loved). 





     So, now I have a new rule in my house: No more $100 bills allowed! 

Friday, August 19, 2011

No Children Allowed at the Kid's Table

     Stray furniture seems to follow Marty home. A couple weekends ago, I got back from running some errands and Marty said,"Something happened while you were gone. I tried to call you..." Yes, folks, we are now the proud owners of a used picnic table and benches that were no longer of use to one family, but ever so welcome in ours. Marty has an intricate "free" furniture tracking device, and while I was out and about, she was even able to get the previous owner to deliver the abandoned dinette set. "Free" furniture AND free shipping. How does she do it? She showed it to me and was very excited claiming that she always wanted a picnic table and benches (first I'm hearing of it). Yeah, I was tempted to roll my eyes, but it actually fits very nicely where the kids play house used to be that they outgrew. So we dubbed it the "kid's table."
     We have been barbecuing a lot this summer and the other night the kids had a friend over so we fired up the grill. We thought for sure they would want to plant it at the new kid's table, but they wanted to sit at the "grown up" patio furniture set. At first we were going to cram in with them, but Marty said WE should sit at the kid's table. Sounded good to me. We served the kids, bought two tickets to Paradise, and travelled 20 feet to our destination, and we had an adult conversation over our meal at the kid's table. It was very pleasant. It was like a date night. It was cherished. It is looked forward to again in the future. The kid's table is so underrated!