Bunny, Trixie, Raul, Jerry, Penny

One more week of semester left. Is it obvious I'm counting the days? It's been a good semester, I'm just ready to have a short break from all the meth math. I was talking with one of my fellow tutors, "Bunny", last week. She was speaking of one of her students who is often late or no shows. On that particular day, the student had actually texted Bunny in advance to let her know she was running late.

"Maybe I taught her more than math this semester", Bunny observed. 

I'll remember to do that.

This past week was a good one, feels like it was productive enough

• Magnum and I had some documents we needed to have notarized for our lawyer in Colorado Springs. No, we're not getting a divorce, we have a will and such that we'd recently updated. We went to our credit union to sign the papers with a Notary Public there.

Our wills include a clause, which the lawyer refers somewhat jokingly to as "The Raul and Trixie Clause". It says that, for example, if I keel over and Magnum runs off with a stripper, our kids remain the beneficiaries and the stripper has no claim to anything when Magnum keels over. So "Trixie" refers to the stripper scenario, and "Raul" to some equally distasteful hook up of my own. 

I remember, at the time of the lawyer's explanation, thinking to myself, "hmmm, I know some Raul's who are good guys. Maybe don't call it that", but whatever. So last week as we were tediously signing off on the updates, I noticed that our notary's name was actually Raul - stars aligning for further vindication. And I doubt he would care to run off with a widowed me anyway.

• There's a [cute art supply store] here in town that I'd never been to. I knew if I went in there, I'd buy something I didn't need. Well, yesterday I went in for the first time because I needed a specific sketchbook. Magnum and I were on a coffee walk, and it was right there.
  
  

I broke in the new sketchbook with them apples.

The little store was pretty much as I expected - well stocked with all sorts of toys and with a friendly staff. 

And I only bought the one item I'd gone in there for. 

Yes, I can do this.

And now a Penny update: recall that our dog, Penny, went from being her usual ball of energy to a lethargic old lady dog seemingly overnight. 

Well, she laid around for two days, and on the third day... well... she has risen. 

No clue as to what knocked her on her ass. It's nice to have her back

 

made for selling?

I was working yesterday when 18-year-old girl came in for a test. I got her checked in and went to do a final "pocket check" before seating her for her exam. She wore a fashionable hoodie, black leggings, and... there they were: a pair of Nike Air Jordan 4s, fire red.

youtube

How did I know, and why did I notice? Welp, for some reason, my reddit feed started including posts from the r/sneaker subreddit.  I follow very few subreddits - our city's, and a couple "mathy" ones - otherwise I just lurk and see what crosses my path.

So these "sneakerhead" posts started showing up, probably because I showed an interest in fashion or style or culture or some such at one point or another. So I was all, "what's up with all these shoes in my reddit?", "what's up with a subreddit = r/sneakers?"

I knew a little about people paying exorbitant amounts of money for certain shoes.  But I had no idea how big of an industry it is. Yeezys come to mind, in light of Kanye West's recent fallout.

I don't even remember how I came to know of Yeezys (Yeezies?) and the like. Maybe because I often breathe the same air as millennials and gen Zer's?

Anyway, in a nutshell, "sneakerheads" are people who buy, sell, and trade highly sought after shoes. They also, apparently, sometimes wear the shoes. Y'know, for street cred.

Having this parade of sneakers show up whenever I opened reddit plus having time on my hands during winter break, I googled and youtubed a bit, and learned sneaker trading is a billions of dollars industry, expected to continue to grow. This Ted Talk was well done and informative. It's 7 years old now. The phenomenon has since grown even further.

I find it rather bananas. It's like the stockmarket with no fees, no regulations. Middle school kids are playing with thousands of dollars, tens of thousands. Social media has added fuel the fire. I'm glad there was no real social media in the Beanie Baby days.  I let reddit know that I'm not interested in seeing people's sneaker acquisitions/ collections, but it was kinda interesting to learn of this economic subculture.

I complimented the young test-taker on her sneakers, figuring they were probably a prized possession for her. She was noticeably giddy that someone - an old lady, no less - had noticed. 

Here I am, this 58-year-old clutterphobic mimimalist, opening my reddit to a parade of thousands-of-dollars pairs of sneakers and whole-closet sneaker collections owned by "kids". 

Well, it gave me something to draw.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up the week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: cost.

meaningful

Happy 5th of July. I'm glad to be over the hump that is Independence Day in the US. I engaged in nothing celebratory, and it was another day of homeboundness.

I don't typically like to be at home so much and am not used to it. My house is now quite clean as cleaning has become an activity of choice to help chase the quarantine boredom and also get some payoff.  I'm feeling reasonably well now, but still testing positive on the home test.

And I can't smell a darn thing.

I noticed yesterday, while I was (naturally) cleaning, that the Windex didn't smell like anything. Windex typically has a distinct smell, but this time, it had no smell whatsoever.  So I then began smell testing my other cleaning supplies and got a whole lot of nothing. Even smelling white distilled vinegar was like smelling tap water. Odd feeling.

My sense of taste seems to slowly be returning, so I'm hoping the same will eventually kick in for my smell buds.  In the meantime, I've spokenn with the "COVID response team" at work, and I'm cleared to return as long as:

• I no longer have symptoms
• it's been at least 5 days since the onset of symptoms

Technically, I've still got the lack-of-smell thing going on, but they brush that one aside. 

So my next scheduled shift is this Thursday, and I'll be back at it. 🙂

But enough of Tales of the Infirm.  I don't harbor hatred for my job. It's no dream job, but it's a good fit for now. One recent day, Assistant Boss asked me if I would do his job for x-amount of money.

"PFFFT, no!", I was quick to reply.  I thought he was joking because we'd just dealt with an annoying technical issue. I felt he was playing all, "I'm out, you take over!"

But then I realized he was being serious. So I asked him, "Why? You leaving?"

He went on to explain his question by suggesting that Boss is probably on the brink of retiring, and he - Assistant Boss - would go for the Boss position, thereby creating an opening for Assistant Boss.  Would I want it?

Honestly, my answer is still "PFFFT, no!", but I told him I would consider it when/ if the time came.

I've found that most professions I would enjoy doing full-time require recent work experience and/or education that I don't have. I don't want to put money into more education at this point since I'm 57 years old, and a fresh degree/ license/ certificate is no guarantee of fulfilling full-time employment. I'm not ready to "retire".

I'm okay with the present compromise - a couple of decent side gigs in lieu of a fully satisfying front gig and time to wander around with dogs and to prattle away on this blog. 

lamb days and moolah

I'm a bit late to the party, but happy March!  If there's any truth to this lamb/lion business, we're in for a doozy of a finish because our March has come in like the cutest little lambkin.  

I did another Tortoise & Hare race yesterday, this one a 10K (6.2 miles).  The morning was B.E.A.U-tiful for it.  Sunny, calm, temps in low 40's.

Prior races had been run in 2 separate "heats", but our county just loosened COVID-19 restrictions to the point where we were able to have one large(ish) race.  Rather than a mass start, T & H races are run such that each runner starts based on a predicted finishing time.  In theory, there is a "mass finish".  

GO!

This race accomplished it quite well, I'd say. 


I started the race with only one other person and spent much of the early plodding feeling mostly alone.

By the turnaround point, however, things had gotten noticeably more crowded.  

SURVIVE JUST A LITTLE LONGER!

The homestretch was reminiscent of the olden days, having to jockey for elbow room.  

Honestly, it was fun but felt a bit alien after nearly a year of social distancing and apartness.

Welp, may as well put my vaccine to the test.  For science.

 In other news, I see Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex, is remarried.  Her husband was a science teacher at Mackenzie's kids' private school.  He's going to help give away her billions.  I wonder what it feels like to have THAT much financial freedom.

From what little I know about Mackenzie Scott, she comes across as genuinely wholesome and certainly charitable.  I could see us hanging out, talking about our kids, comparing thrift store finds... oh wait.

What does one discuss with the third richest woman in the world?  Skinny jeans vs. Mom jeans?  Maybe I'll find out some day?

growth!

No, I don't have a lisp, but it would apply here.

Took China to the vet's this morning.  We love our animals, but lemme just say that there is a hierarchy here. Humans come first, furry animals second, scaly animals third.

So, unless it's for routine vaccinations and checks, things have to get ugly for us to hang out at the vets.  It's ugly.

Exhibit A

See the thing on her ear?  She's had it for a while.  It was originally about the size of a grape under the skin.  At one check, the vet said it wasn't anything serious, just "something old dogs often get".  She drained the grape, and we were on our way.  I was tempted to take a Xacto-knife to it with a bit of vodka.

Exhibit B

In the last few weeks, it's gone from dry grape to sweaty cherry tomato.

You know it's gross when even the vet says, "Eeew".  I'm thinking that vets see a lot of gross stuff, so to get an "Eeew" is quite an accomplishment for a dog.  That's our China - classic overachiever.

It doesn't seem to bother her much, but she's not much of a complainer in general.


She's got a surgical table with her name on it reserved for next week, for nearly the price of that third bicycle I can't justify buying...

... because she's not a fish.
.

Sky

"The sky's the limit!"

I heard that a few times during the big pep talk of Wolfgang's visit to CU yesterday.  So when I saw that this week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Sky", I had a few lingering thoughts.

What mainly bubbled to the front was castles in the sky.  Big dreams are great, but don't forget about the foundation!

Thus, she who controls the checkbook has spoken...

.

submission

Readers will be thrilled to know that I totally owned Meego's school supply list.  We prepped and strategized so well that the whole experience will hardly even be a blip on the credit card screen.

Afterwards, while basking in my success, I went online to get everyone's registrations in order.  That was all going quite smoothly too.  And then I hit the "fees" tab.

They make it so easy.  Just check off the items that apply and then pay the grand finale total.  There was the

• you're-a-senior-now fee
• you-ride-a-bus fee
• you're-in-IB fee
• you-participate-in-fall-sports fee
• you-participate-in-band fee
• you-must-have-the-official-planner fee
• you're-required-to-wear-this-shirt-for-PE fee

along with the optional

• better-buy-a-yearbook-or-your-kid-will-be-alienated fee
• buy-school-pics-or-regret-it-forever fee
• load-up-the-lunch-account-so-your-kid-doesn't-starve fee

and last but not least, the

• thank-you-for-paying-your-fees fee

Let me just add the disclaimer that I'm not against paying these fees.  I do believe that these extras should be paid for by money not of the "general fund".  And there is some success here too.  I did not buy the home-game sports pass nor the parking permit.  Still, this will be a blip on the credit card screen.

I thought I might be eligible for some sort of discount though.  I mean, heck, I'm a crossing guard for this district which practically makes me Superintendent.
.

the eye of the beholder

I remember her well.  She was a good friend.  We hung out a lot, enjoyed music, friends at the lake, at the drive-in... This was back in my carefree high school days.

I worked at a restaurant, and the money I earned was pretty exposable.  I think it was my senior year that I bought my first vehicle.  Wasn't she a beaut?

I remember the day I took this picture.  My brother was selling a car and taking a photo of it for the ad.  My truck was sitting there in front of the house having a particularly good hair day as I had just washed it, so I took a few photos too.

Okay, I realize she really wasn't that "pretty", but I think it was the rough edges that gave her her personality.  

The truck had its limitations, but it served my purposes well.  It got me to and from the job that allowed me to purchase the truck in the first place.  It was a hangout for my friends and me with whole bunches of us piled into the bed at the drive-in movies.  It hauled inner tubes up to the mouth of the river that we would float down in the summer.  It was with me for other activities that I won't expand upon.

She met her demise shortly after I traded her.  I think she was depressed and decided to end it all.  

Wolfgang has asked me if he could get a car.  He made a lot of money at that EduKit job over the summer as it was a 40-hour-per-week job, but only for the summer months.  Now he feels rich.   True, he's got more money than what he's used to, but that's not saying much.  

I'm glad he's got something to work towards - incentive to keep having paid employment.  At the same time, I explained to him that a car requires a steady income.  Gas, insurance, maintenance, registration...  

"The short answer", I had to say, "is 'no'".

And he was fine with that, after learning that there's more to having a car than the sale price.  He assured me that he's got other things to waste his cash on that he wants to purchase.  

But it reminded me of MY first.  You never forget your first.  What was yours?

.

it would just be culture shock anyway

Magnum and I were on our old folk's walk the other night and were pondering what we would do with half a billion dollars.  Then we decided we're probably better off without it.

Okay, maybe not "better off", but fine.  With that, we decided not to buy a ticket for tonight's drawing.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we have played a few times in the past, just for fun.  Good thing it was just for fun too, because we've never won a cent.

So yesterday, Meego and I went for a bike ride and stopped at 7-11 for a Slurpee and no lottery tickets.  This morning I went to the pet store and bought a new bulb for the aquarium and no lottery tickets.   While out getting a, hopefully, solution aquarium bulb, I also got a few groceries and no lottery tickets.  We are about to leave to go for a hike and no lottery tickets.

Hey, while we're out, would you like me to grab no lottery tickets for you too?
.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Firstly, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Okay, it is a "Hallmark holiday", and we don't do anything special around here for Mother's Day, but I am certainly thankful for my own Dear Mom, so it's worth mentioning on silver liningness Sunday.

<--She's the best! That's her with me and my brother Wombat. I was the third kid, so it's nearly impossible to find a pic of just her and me. *sigh*.

Also, this week I'm thankful for real food. Recall last week I had that tonsillar abscess thing, which makes it difficult to (1) open one's mouth to any appreciable amount of openness, and (2) chew and swallow. So I was mushing everything up with liquids, like is done with old sick dogs. Ever have peanut butter samwich soup? Desperate times call for desperate measures...

I started a new class this weekend. A real brick-and-mortar class, as opposed to the online style. Yes, online is convenient, and I only need to dress from the waist up, but I enjoy the face-to-face interraction of the classroom. And these new faces seem like a fun bunch.

And the Run With Lumberness continues. Yes, the actual running is only just the start. Afterwards is when the money starts rolling in, and rolling in it has! I collected a bunch.

That laptop that was dead? It lives! I dubbed it "Lazarus the Laptop". (On a sidenote: only 1/3 of our kids was vaguely familiar with the namesake of Lazarus - a dilemma I'm pondering, but for another blog post).

Did I mention that we paid off our mortgage? YEAH HUH!!
.

keeping up

One of the kids' laptops - their "internet" laptop - has crapped out. I'm not sure what happened, but it either got a killer virus, or was mistakenly interrupted while in the middle of some formatting activity, or some combination thereof.

The upside: This is a good opportunity for them to learn how to fix a crapped-out computer. Good weekend project!

I need a new vacuum cleaner. One that really sucks. My current one has gotten all finicky and intermittent and is probably not worth fixing.

The upside: I'll have a new vacuum cleaner that really sucks!

I still don't know what to be when I grow up. I'm just pondering this because whatever thing I choose will probably require some sort of training to get myself up to snuff (a.k.a. "more marketable").

The upside: I'm fortunate to be in a position to choose, and have fun opportunities to think about.

The house needs some scrubbing and general TLC. Several walls would love some new paint, the kitchen flooring should've been laid to rest a couple of years ago, and a chunk of backyard fence is hanging like a kid's loose tooth.

The upside: She's all ours. I made it to the bank yesterday and paid off the last of it. We don't need no stinkin' mortgage!

.... 3 - 2 - 1.... We're debt FrEEEeeeeEEEEEeeee !!

.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy Sunday! I have much to be happy about.

For starters, my thermometer says "42". No, not "4.2", not "-4.2", but a whopping FORTY-TWO above zero! It feels like the Bahamas.

Okay, enough of the boring meteorological updates...

It was a good week. We had that blustery coldness, but that was actually kind of fun. Kids got a snow day and a delayed start out of it. The count now stands at 4 snowdays used up for this year. The schedule allows for 6. 2/3 down and it's only mid-December.

It was also quite productive. I was way behind on some of our financial mumbo jumbo - just one of the many hats I wear around here: financial mumbo jumbo person - and I'm glad to say that it's almost all caught up now. Much crunching of numbers.

On that note, I'm thankful that we have some decent numbers to crunch in these "tough economic times".

In other productivity news, My Christmas Shopping Is DONE! Can you believe it? Neither can I! Now, about those decorations....

In movie watching updates, we saw the latest Star Trek movie. I'm not a Trekkie. I'm not even really a Science a-Fictionado. Magnum and the kids liked it, though. I slept a bit and wondered why Uhura was often dressed in clothing that was 2 or more sizes too small. Eric Bana as the vengeful, tattooed, bad boy, Romulan, Nero was HOT, though.

.

get yours today!

I've reinstated "Pay the Putzfrau".

Old longtime readers of this blog may recall a few years back when I was inspired by a certain globe hopping blog friend to start charging my children for my cleaning services. No, this friend didn't do so, but when he was in Germany, he had a Putzfrau, a cleaning lady.

It was the word "Putzfrau" that so inspired. A program of pay-your-mom-when-she-cleans-up-your-messes-that-you-are-perfectly-capable-of-and-responsible-for was just too exhausting to try to enforce, I felt. But what an endearing term, this "Putzfrau"!

And it was from that that I fashioned my own handy Pay The Putzfrau home service kit. It includes the lovely handcrafted receptical shown above, and the program works as follows:

1. Someone leaves a mess
2. You charge them money

Not too complex, eh?!

What? Someone splashed juice on the floor and now walking in your kitchen feels like walking in a movie theater? Pay The Putzfrau!

Snack remains left behind while the snacker has gleefully gone off to play? Pay The Putzfrau!

Forgot to flush? You know it!!

The photo above shows my lovely handcrafted receptical. It has two slips in it - I.O.U.'s because my current "clients" happen to be currently broke. The Putzfrau fees will be garnished from their next wages.

Want your own kit?? I'll ship it for a small fee. Really, it pays for itself in no time!
.

Silver Lining Saturday, part XLIII

Happy Saturday the 13th! And a glorious day it is.

First of all, I'm happy just to be sitting here. I'm currently between classes, and since by their nature, I typically teach on evenings and weekends. I do enjoy my job, but it's nice to have a Saturday morning off, sitting here barefoot and with hair going in all directions.

All of the kids' report cards have come in at this point, and I'm very pleased with their grades. We'd experienced some "slacker" periods with both Chaco and Wolfgang in the past, so it's good to see them taking things a bit more seriously. Meego, having just finished 3rd grade, has yet to develop his own slacker style.

And with summer break being in full swing, what better thing to do than move to the great outdoors? Camp Caveman has officially begun with the setting up of the tent in the backyard. Yes, it's about 10 feet from the back door, but just visualize, people! (Quick! Distract them while I change the locks!)

And speaking of the back yard, note the non-jungle look. Yes, I did manage to find an agreeable weed whacker that sent Wolfgang a-whacking like a wild one! It did the job, he got a power tool fix, and we can now navigate through to the back gate. I am, however, still searching for Tarzan. I know he's back there somewhere.

Wolfgang sold two airsoft guns recently. I could hardly believe the price of those things when he bought them. Now that he's sold them, I can hardly believe the price that people are willing to pay for used airsoft guns. He's managing his money wisely, decided that he wasn't that much into airsoft, and sold these for a decent wad of cash.

I had an absolutely lovely bike ride this morning, without the morbidly large number of dead birds that I experienced last saturday morning. That's nice...

.

Silver Lining S-day, part XXXI

And what a lovely week it was, wasn't it? Let's re-cap!

First of all, the schools are on spring break. Started officially on Friday, although I don't think much schoolwork was done in the days leading up to it. We have no big plans for the break. Wolfgang's got a pet-sitting job and Meego even got a job to see to some neighbors garbage, so we're staying close to home. But I look forward to some fun and frolic and general mayhem.

This week, we sat down with our financial planner guy to see how things were sitting. Well, I'm glad we weren't planning to retire this year, but all in all, the report was pretty good... All things considered... In a relative sense of things... Could be worse... I am thankful that Magnum and I have always been on the same page when it comes to handling our finances, and that we started young. It's probably good that we were both nearly flat broke when we got married, so when we started earning then saving money, we never missed spending it.

I had a conference with Meego's teacher, and he got a glowing report. He'd started the year out "so quiet", but I figured he was just getting the lay of the land since 3 of his good friends moved away last summer. Just his nature. He's come around just fine. I like his teacher too, but kinda funny how "quiet" is seen as a concern. Why isn't he ADHD like everyone else?!?!

Things are settling down for a friend of mine who had a rough year. New home, new job, new man. She's tough. Nothing like having a husband leave you and the kids for a teenager to find out the mettle you're made of!

And I'm thankful for quality time with my bicycles. Happy Spring!
.

wheels

I'm missing my bicycle. I've known for a while now that it had some maintenance issues, so I finally took it in this week thinking it'd be gone for a day. Two at most. WELL, turns out, I'd overused it so much, it needs major surgery. Amputation. Recovery. Therapy. guilt guilt guilt. Poor Bella, I miss her *sniff*.

So I've been bicycleless for 5 days now, and these last couple of days have been very pleasant weather-wise. I wonder if she's sitting there in the shop, longing for a ride with me too. (SHUT UP, SHE COULD BE!). I should have her back on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.

As some here know, I ride my bicycle as a main mode of transportation - foregoing the motorized vehicles unless deemed necessary by distance/weather/payload. It's part of my minimalist nature, and yet, I wish I had more than one bicycle, such a wish going against my minimalist nature. Oh, the conundrum.

Which brings me to the topic of a car. Our all-purpose car is a '98 Subaru Outback, then we have the big butt van for Partridge Family style road trips. The Subaru has about 91K miles on it, not a whole lot for a '98 Outback, but still, things are starting to go and the nickel and diming has begun.

We're at a crossroads. Do we continue to do the nickel and dime fixes, or do we trade up for another all-purpose car? I would like to get an Outback Sport. Sportier, little better mileage, less domestic looking. We wouldn't buy brand new, but fairly un-used, and they're not cheap, and these is hard times. Although, Magnum points out, skyrocketing inflation is on it's way, so maybe now's the time to buy "stuff".

I vacillate (that's not a sperm term, you're thinking "flagellate"). Do we:

A. Keep the old car and run it into the ground?
B. Replace the old car with an Outback Sport?
C. Replace the old car with another less expensive, but more reliable model?
D. Sell the old car, further commit to bicycle commuting, use an occassional rental?
E. Other?

Then there's the fact that Chaco will start driving this year, but let's not go there just yet...
.

Silver Lining Saturday, part XVI

The first week of the last month of this year. I think I made some "resolutions" last year, but I have no idea what they were. Since I deleted that other blog, I can't even go check my archives, so I guess I'm off the hook!

Which leads me to another episode of Silver Lining Saturday!

The week started off with a bang in the form of a major snowstorm - unforecasted by the way - on Sunday. It made me thankful that we weren't part of the mass of Thanksgiving travellers, but it was also the first real snow storm of the season and a little late in coming. I went running/mushing/whatever you'd call it through it in the morning, like Susan Butcher without the dogs! Later that day, we all went out and frolicked as it continued to come down - romping around with the dog while the kids thrashed about on the nearby black diamond sled hill. To top it off, the kids had a delayed start to school the next morning.

I'm thankful for the people around our neighborhood that are so organized and have their Christmas decorations up. Really makes the streets pretty and festive at night. We are total slackers in that area, along with the whole Christmas cards and gifts thing, but I can still look at and appreciate the pretty lights.

I finished up a round of tutor sessions with another student this week. He's a nice kid and seemed noticeably more confident than when I first met him. He should be taking his SAT as I write, and I think he'll do fine. My other current students are making nice progress, too, and I'm thankful to be doing something useful... I think.

And I'm thankful for friends and that whole give and take that goes along with friendships. Sometimes we're the shoulder, sometimes we're the crier. It would suck to be stranded and alone on an island.

And remember that new furnace we got? The local utilities company gave us a rebate for being so efficient! Employee discount + Utilities rebate and the furnace was practically FREE! Well.... not hardly, but every little bit helps.

Oh, and we won the office football pool again. We can practically buy another furnace! Well, not hardly....

And despite our ups and downs, I am thankful for the milkman. I will do better in making my needs known from here on out, and now we've got some new cheese to try out. On that note, I'm also thankful for the local grocery store and it's well stocked egg selection.
.

silver lining Saturday part VII

Another week of the good life!

I'm thankful that Chaco's wrist is healing up. He went without the brace yesterday - I couldn't wait to wash the thing! - and is getting back to full use. Back when he broke his arm, it had started as a sprain, and then he had a P.E. "incident" that finished it off about a week after the initial injury. So far, we're so good on this go around.

I'm thankful we're getting that new furnace. Its scheduled install is for next week, just in time for colder weather. This one we have now has been serving us faithfully, but really, time to put it out to pasture. On that note, I'm thankful for employee discounts.

I'm thankful for that 8th grade field trip on Thursday. The weather was great and Wolfgang and I had a good time. Just the day before, we'd had a knock-down-drag-out over him breaking some house rule and my subsequent enforcement of consequences, so he was all in a temporary huff over that. By the morning of the field trip, however, he was sheepishly asking if I was still going to go. Of course!

I'm thankful that I just reached into my pocket and found a Hershey's dark chocolate kiss! Mmmm, forgot I put that there.... mm mmmf mfm...

I'm thankful for various role models I came across this week. Once again reminding me that we don't need to be always looking and working for inspiration, just be open to it and it falls into our laps!

I'm thankful that I enjoy my job. I need to head out soon for a tutor session. Got paid this week too... so... yeah.

And once again, I'm thankful for my blog friends! *does that Carol Burnett ear-tug thing*
.

out with one punch

On Saturday, I went with Chaco to the used sporting goods stuff store. He wanted some football cleats. NO, he doesn't play for school or any other league. A bunch of neighbor kids just play at a nearby field, so he's gotta have actual football cleats, right?

Now, I grew up in a neighborhood full of boys and no other girls, so I played my share of pick-up sports. It was either that or play with my dollhouse all by myself, which I did do with relish when I needed some "me" time. And yes, I played some football and some football related stuff like "smear the alternative lifestyle guy" and such.

But I don't recall anyone playing in football cleats. We just wore whatever pair of sneakers we owned at the time. But with these kids here, they like to have the proper gear, even for just pick-up. They've got cleats and pants and receiver gloves... gosh, it's a wonder we all survived our childhoods without these things! Chaco gave me the argument that I'd bought him stuff for playing neighborhood roller hockey and that this was the same thing. Uhm... not really, but I figured since the football games were good clean active fun, we'd go see what the store had.

And we did find him a pair at a good price, so I agreed to get them along with a pair of must-have football pants. All up and in, I was looking at about $50. It so happens that I have a frequent player card, or whatever it's called, for this particular store. Every time I make a purchase of more than $20, my card gets punched. After 5 punches, I get a $10 store credit.

So... if I purchase over $40, shouldn't I get 2 punches? But I only got one punch. I thought of bringing it up to the clerk, but I just let it slide. I never even requested the card, they just gave it to me on a previous visit.

The card says I receive a punch for "purchases over $20". Technically, this was one purchase. Couldn't I buy one thing and then walk around and come back up to buy the next thing? Except that wouldn't work either. The pants were under $20. The cleats were over $20. Could I buy the pants and one cleat? Then come back and buy the second cleat?

Except if we split the cost of the cleats down the middle, the cost of one cleat is less than $20. What if I remove the lace of one cleat and throw it in with the second cleat? Now, that's just stupid.

Obviously, the clerk had thought this all through during the split second amount of time it took him to punch my card only once. He just did it so fast, I didn't notice.

I'm glad we had this chat.
.