Sorting Photos

The disadvantage of a digital camera: 723 pictures of Alaska to sort. No time for more now; I've got to get to work on it.

More (much more) to follow.

Keyless Entry

So Rich and I are lying around in the living room reading. It's been a long day. In the distance, I hear a horn honking over and over. Not a regular repetition, but erratic, kind of a "honk-honk-honk" pause "honk" pause "honk honk." I think maybe somebody got married, but that seems unlikely at 10 pm.

Then I start thinking about how, the day before, I got locked out of the car in the credit union parking lot. I was late picking up Emma Jane from synchro already. I called Rich, and he did a drive-by key drop-off while speeding toward Mack Pool.

And I started thinking how I hadn't returned his key and the keyless entry. Wondering what had happened to them. Thinking about how the drier was running.

"That sounds awfully close," Rich says.

So while he's in the driveway turning the car off and on, trying to get the horn and blinking lights to stop before the neighbors call the police, I'm in the basement rooting around in the drier. Sure enough, when I find the keyless entry and press "unlock," the horn stops beeping.

A half-hour later, I'm back on the couch with my book. Rich is in bed. The keyless entry is cooling off on the counter. And the horn starts honking again. Fortunately, I keep a screwdriver in the silverware drawer.

The sad mangled bits of Rich's keyless entry are still hanging out in the silverware drawer. Maybe someday I'll get it repaired.

My New Camera

Should I keep it?

Unfinished Projects

Recovering the Dining Room Chairs
Start date: January 2, 2007
Status: Four of six chairs covered.






Repairing a Hole in the Plaster in the Upstairs Hallway
Date the Plaster Began to Fall Down: some time in 2004
Start Date: March 1, 2007
Status: New piece of gypsum board installed. Not filled in,
sanded or painted.




Creating a Mudroom in the Basement
Start date: January 28, 2007
Status: Everything moved out of the room. No storage designed, purchased or installed.





Putting in a Michigan Native Plant Garden
Start date: May 5, 2007
Status: Killed the grass, dug up the yard, installed a path. Nothing planted.






Installing a Trellis around the Deck
Start date: May 5, 2007
Status: Acquired trellis. Not cut to fit or installed.

Home Garden

What's not growing this year that I expected to come back:

(1) Rhubarb - Where have all the red fruits gone?
(2) Raspberries - Long time passing!

What's growing this year that I didn't plant:

(1) Tiny yellow heirloom tomatoes - They're volunteers from last year
(2) Horseradish - Take a ride someplace else, skinny horsey roots
(3) Pumpkin - Halloween compost has come alive

What's growing better this year than last:

(1) Carrots - I planted them where Joe & Sam dug a hole to China, filled in with sand & compost
(2) Peppers - I used Bot Garden seedlings
(3) Beets - Loving beets is a prerequisite for entree into the Sikkenga family; just ask my husband

What's growing worse than last year:

(1) Cucumbers - I started them outside instead of in
(2) Eggplant - Grow, little eggplant, grow! You can do it!

What I planted that never came up:

(1) potatoes - Apparently it doesn't work to bury rotting spuds from the cupboard
(2) onions - Maybe the dog ate them

Sophistication

"Studs are much more sophisticated than dangly earrings," says Emma Jane (10), after I've admired her hair and earrings this morning. "You can get flowers." She thinks for a moment. "Or butterflies."

The Haircut

My father offered my nephew, Joe (7), and my son, Sam (9), $100 to cut their hair. Joe's hair was below his shoulders, dark and curly. Sam's hair is also below the shoulders, fluffy and blond. Both had hair in their eyes most of the time.

The money would be given in any form: five twenties, 400 quarters, 100 1's. Each time they got a trim, they would receive an additional $20.

Joe, who has been fascinated with currency since toddlerhood, accepted. He chose a crisp new $100 bill. After all, hair grows back.

Sam declined. He said that he has everything he wants, and besides, he doesn't mind being mistaken for a girl. David Beckham wears his hair long, with Alice bands.

What would you do?