No Photos, Just Text

The kids just got back from camp. "Kit" got home yesterday. "Lets have a treat", I think.

"How about vegetarian corn dogs and sweet potatoe fries for dinner", I ask.

"Mom! I ate that kind of junk all week at camp" she replied, clearly rejecting the idea.

She ate a salad for dinner.

Today "the boy" returned from camp. Not learning my lesson from last night, I asked "Would you like sloppy joes and some sweet potatoe fries for dinner?"

"Yuk!" he exclaimed. "We had that kind of food at camp all week."

What did he want for dinner? A salad.

So, the moral of the story is. . . if you want your kids to eat more vegetables, send them to camp.

* * * *

On another note. . .if we went to more cocktail parties, it would be a popular topic of conversation. But, we don't. So, here it is. . .

We are a family where both parents work for the State of California. We are now furloughed 3 days a month, each. This means a reduction in pay of about 15% per month, each.

We're lucky. We have no car payments. We buy our clothes at thrift stores, and "being thrifty" is our hobby. Our only debt is our house payment.

Some of my staff are in much worse situations, because they don't make as much money. The workload hasn't changed, so if you don't go to work voluntarily on the furlough days, the extra work stresses you out. Personally, I don't work for the paycheck, so I'm trying not to focus on it, or I'd be depressed.

"The Dad" works at an office that completely shuts down on 3 fridays a month, now. They lock up the building, and even the parking lot! So, in one way, its nice to have some extra time off. However, his department may soon be turning away budget stimulus projects, because the reduction in staff time is preventing them from being able to complete the projects.

On top of it, we are only taking pay reductions. Our benefits (the state's "burden") are still in full effect. Nice for us, but that really doesn't save much!

Its a bizarre situation. And, the new "Fudget" means this isn't the last we'll hear of it.

Silver Polisher

The Boy has decided that he now collects silver. He got home from Grandma's he was excited to see the thrift shop find we got him. He polished it and added it to his "collection".

Birthday Girl Redux

Late birthday presents arrived today from Grandpa Dave and Grandma Lynn. Fun!

5th of July

This year, with our annual REI rebate, we purchased a GPS unit. I thought geocaching would be a fun thing to do with the kids this summer, and perhaps it would be a good motivation to get outside more often. (Last summer, when I was back working at "that park" I noticed that there were geocaches at a lot of the really cool, secret spots).

It has taken me a while to figure out how it works. But, today was the day. It was tempting to stay at home and clean the house, but "Kit" was insistent that we needed to go for a hike.

First, I got carsick trying to program it on the way up the mountain. Then, we couldn't find the first simple geocache we were attempting to locate, so we went on to the complicated multi-cache. After we ran into a ranger, and even he couldn't help us, I thought we might be doomed, but we finally found the wonderful trail along the ditch and flume.

Kit was frustrated, because we never located a single cache, but I figured the GPS unit did its job-- it helped us locate a trail I never would have found on my own (and the forest service websites haven't been much of a help).

The Boy, indulging in his recently acquired herring-addiction, had brought along 4 cans of tinned fish. He accidentally dropped one into the ditch, and had to go in after it (and a second one he lost trying to catch the first). We apprehended the two cans, but he decided it was so much fun to hike in the ditch, that' s just what he did the rest of the hike. Made for slow going upstream. (I have to wonder why people don't bring tubes and use the ditch as a flume ride, its perfect for it.)

Then he and Lulu stopped for a herring snack (she likes the leftovers). Kit and Dad had to backtrack to make sure that we hadn't missed the clues somehow.

We never did find any of the caches there, but we found some great trails, a really awesome small campground right on the river, and some nice swimming holes.

On the way out, we were able to locate the first geocache we had attempted, so we got an idea of how it is supposed to work. We'll be doing more of this! It had an amazing way of keeping the kids focused on the hike, in anticipation of finding the treasure. Fun!

(I just noticed he's wearing the same shirt on the 4th and 5th. That's the way it is these days. I understand they grow out of it eventually. . .)

4th of July

Ok, so "the boy" still has never caught a fish in the wild. I know, I know, it seems, well, pathetic.

But that's the truth. (May be related to his father being a vegetarian, but lets leave that to the shrinks when he gets older. . .)

So, on 4th of July, they decided it was time to go fishing. And, it was "free fishing day" (no license required for the adults), so the boy and his dad decided to go catch some fish.

Then, my car broke down. (The most dependable one, too, the Honda. I think it has to do with the fact that "the dad" was researching new cars to buy all day, and it was some sort of cosmic retribution). So, they had to come rescue me, and the dog and I joined them. We went down to camp 9, on the Stanislaus. It was very nice. But, still no fish.

We stayed until dark, then I threw "the boy" a can of herring, and he "caught" some fish.

Birthday Girl

Kit turned 10 in May! She still has not finished her thank-you cards (but she will!)

She particularly liked this present made for her by Kathy.

Insects at Bakerland

Before she discovered gophers, the cat was bringing in very large moths (above), almost every night. We still haven't looked them up. The large beetle was another interesting and un-identified insect we discovered on a warm evening in the yard.

Gopher Predator

Kit's kitten (now a cat) is a gopher-catcher! Yay! Yay! Yay!

This one was just a baby, which was too bad, because it was so cute, but it still would grow up to be an evil, plant destroying adult.

For 4 days in a row, Chessie brought in a gopher every night, and proudly displayed it for Kit, who just screamed hysterically, which made the cat very puzzled.

I made sure she knew how pleased I was for her gifts. Way better than those live lizards she likes to leave around the house all of the time. The bell seems to deter most bird predation.

UCSC

Dorm Room.

Last week we visited UCSC and Amanda on her last day of her first year of college. She goes to Merrill, just like Dad and some of his friends did. The boy checked out the mailboxes (where we meant to send mail, but never got around to it). We also bought matching T-shirts at Pizza my Heart (waaaay cheaper than those darn UCSC shirts, tshirt and a slice for only $5! Whoa!), and Grandma bought the kids season passes for the Boardwalk, so we all went and rode the rides.

For all of my friends we didn't visit on this trip--sorry! There will be other trips this summer, and I promise we'll catch up!

Limericks from "the boy"

There once was a doggy named Lu

Who ran into a rubber canoe

She whacked her head

And went into bed

Oh that poor doggie named Lu

I have lost my lunchbox from second grade

I am now feeling very dismayed

It was fantastic

When I was feeling spastic

One hit on the head and the whole world would fade

Not a Zoning Violation Anymore

Since we had our zoning changed, we're legal for chickens now, so this addition of 4 more chicks isn't a violation. Kinda takes the thrill out, but they are still cute. 2 Arucanas (colored eggs), 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Buff Orpington OR Leghorn, not sure yet.

More Snow

Its snowed several days this week, but not much. Here's what happened today, though. Took these shots from the same angle as the ones I took last weekend, for comparison.

The weight on the trees caused on of the branches on the big oak "Climbing Tree" to fail. Now its 11am, and everything is starting to melt into a noisy dripping chorus.

School was not cancelled, so boy are we going to hear it from the kids, especially "the boy" who makes no secret that he thinks school is just a conspiracy to suck all of the fun out of his life.

Wow!

It's a family joke that some of us don't get the holiday stuff out until months later. So imagine the Boy's surprise when an envelope came today, less than two weeks after his birthday! Wow! Go Grandpa & Grandma! He says he now has saved $105, more than he's ever had at once (and we have to stop him from spending it every day. . .)

And, it snowed here a little today--

Cookies

Mom doesn't like the goo. Kit does. Trade off. The boy contributed the marshmallow.

Furlough Gate

Dad and Mom got extra days off this week because of the California state employee furlough program. Time is more valuable to us than money, so we think we are going to like it. We even had a breakfast date this morning, without the kids (sorry, kids, no school furlough).

Mom built a new gate to the zip line, Dad cleaned the gutters and got the driveway ready for a shipment of 10 yards of rock.

And just look at all of the gardening that needs to be done!

Grandma in the News (sort of)

Grandma has been living with us for about two weeks now, and she's already famous in the local media! She was captured walking her dogs on a cold day in town recently. (Her dogs like being country dogs.)

Science Fair Projects

Kit did her experiment to find out if the type of dirt affected the growth rate of different sunflower seeds. She used dirt from the yard, polished gravel, and fortified dirt from the store. The Expensive store dirt had both faster germination, and greater rate of growth in the 20 day period. The polished gravel seed germinated, then just shriveled up.

The Boy measured how long it took various dryer loads of wet towels (by weight) to dry. He determined that a very full load is more efficient than a smaller load, but then a limit is reached where it becomes less efficient with a large load.

Now we get our weekends back. :)

Poetry

No one knows I'm here

No one knows I'm here
looking through the strong branches at the billowing clouds
listening to the branches of the willow sway in the fierce wind.

I'm smelling the smoke from the departing train
thinking about my brother's lost Blooms County comic book
reading the same comic book because I found it under the tree.

I wonder why no one's found me yet?

Love that Kitten
Inspired by Mr. Walter Dean Myers

Love that kitten
like a train loves to roll.

I said I love that kitten
like a train loves to roll.

Love to call to her in the evening
love to call to her:

"I'm home now Chess!"

Love that friend

Love that friend
like a girl loves to play.

I said I love that friend
like a girl loves to play.

Love to say to her while we're leaving,
love to say to her:

"See you soon KC!"

The Snow

I see the white puffs
I smell the crisp air
I touch the chilled snowflakes
I hear it so clear

I breathe in the wind
Grab a ball in my hand
Taste the coldness on my tongue
I love it
I love it

The snow.

Bouncing Birthday Boy!

Hard to believe he's 12 (on Tuesday).

Had a small party with a complicated treasure hunt, pizza, and of course, the chocolate cake with the oozing whipped cream (and, the magic candles). Girls were banished to the movie theatre, and came home in time for the cake.

Name Change

Sam is hereby called "Kit"

Crazy Hair Day at School