Story of my life

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The Delt Duck is Dead!

Well, actually, the Delt duck cracked open from old age and rot and ceased to be watertight. And any bath toy which isn't watertight, and thus has the potential to mildew inside, gets trashed around here. Sorry, Delt Duck.*

So we're in the market for a new Daddy Duck for the bathtime duck family. We have a Mommy duck and two kid ducks, in case you wondered. A long time ago we had a purple duck and a green duck too, but they weren't watertight, and, well, they aren't around anymore. I'm kind of stubborn about that, and I refuse to spend the time required to clean out bathtoys with bleach water on a regular basis.

KMart? No ducks, except a bag of assorted squirt ducks (squirt = water = mildew). Walmart was similarly duckless. So I have turned to the internet. And while I discovered a vast array of ducks in various professions and attires, I have not conclusively found one that says it's watertight. So I'm going to check Toys in the Attic downtown (where I may find a duck that I can purchase for a little more money, but, hey, I'd be supporting a local business and I'd get to inspect the duck in person) before I take a chance on an internet duck. Wish me luck. The natives have been grousing for a new duck for days, and I'm eager to complete this mission.

*Delt Duck: This sturdy vintage duck apparently dates back to some unknown brother(s) in the Delta Tau Delta house at the alma mater. Hubs inherited the duck, along with other questionable "artifacts," from his brethren. The duck had a dark red stripe on him - paint? wood stain? marker? of unknown origins and sailed the seas of our bathtub proudly for many years, before succumbing to old age and rot. Hubs was horrified to hear that I had sent the Delt Duck to the dump, but by then it was too late and, well, we have enough stuff in this house without hanging on to cute-but-mildrewy ducks. Besides, I always wondered about the dubious early years of that duck. Who knows how much debauchery, how many frat parties and keg stands he witnessed.

Clueless.

I keep getting these e-mails intended for someone else. Some group of women planning a party or something. And I tell them they have the wrong address, but they keep sending me their messages. So whoever they intend to send the messages to has no clue what the group is doing.

Today I got another message, and I wrote back:

"You have the wrong e-mail address."

And the woman writes back:

"What's the right address?"

What? Hello! So I am forced to spell it out:

"I don't know any of you! I have no idea what address you meant to use!"

Duh.

Wow.

Have you heard these kids sing? Check out the PS22 Chorus. I particularly like their version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin."

Birdhouse gourds!

I felt like it was a bit early to pick them, but the vine was starting to rot, and one of the gourds had a soft spot. Probably the tall grass surrounding them (who, me weed?) was keeping more moisture close to them than healthy. So I picked a bunch of the birdhouse gourds on Saturday, along with other yummies from the garden, and brought them home. While I was at church on Sunday, Hubs and the kids (who were snotty and ill-tempered and stayed home) put up a line to hang them across the carport to dry. It's pretty festive looking, provided I remember to duck and don't smack my head on a couple of larger low-hanging ones.

Yeah, yeah. This post is useless without pictures. I'll take pictures after I clean up a little, because the carport is looking kind of cobwebby. Invasion of the late-summer spiders out there.

The other stuff was several monstrous sunflowers, eight or so cute little watermelons (which are delicious!), and oodles of tomatoes and peppers. So many tomatoes that I shared with neighbors and even took a big box full into work, where my co-workers descended on them with considerable eagerness. That pleased me. :D

Pretty soon, we'll say goodbye to the summer garden and my uncle will bush hog the whole thing. Then we can plow again and plant a few things for fall. Like the crazy color carrot seeds, and some spinach. Maybe other stuff.

Collected readings

A few things of interest, pulled from my feeds, stuff shared by friends on Google Reader:

Wii As Liberator from The Daily Dish

My Bed Is Empty from Aiming Low

Some Types of Candles May Pollute Indoor Air from CNN

Getting Real About the High Cost of Cheap Food from Time

How to increase consumer responsibility from super eco

Every Green Mom Needs Someone In Her Corner from 7Gen blog

BTS Bulletin

Big Girl loves school. Loves everything about it. Loves getting up early to catch the bus. Loves her teacher. Loves eating lunch in the cafeteria. Loves the playground. Comes home every day full of stories. I wonder if she'll be as eager to tell me about her day a decade from now? Her excitement is contagious and adorable.

Three started back today, a good distraction because he's missed his sister. My sweet boy was somewhat reluctant, but had fun once he got there and saw his buddies. I'm glad to still have him nearby, in the preschool so close to my office. I can peek in and see what he's doing when I walk by.

This really seems far too early for school to resume. Big Girl last week, Three today. Summer was just too short. I never got to do half the things I planned. And we didn't go swimming nearly as often as I wished, partially because of my surgeries and health issues.

Much of the garden is dying off now. The bird house gourds are trying to take over, and there are numerous big promising gourds. The tomatoes are still plentiful, and the peppers too, but the corn didn't fare well. A good first harvest, but then too much rain undermined the second round. The cantaloupe was a flop. The beans were just weird. I think the seed package was mislabeled, because they were not purple hull peas. A few cute watermelons, yet to be harvested, don't seem quite ready. What on earth am I going to do with all of these peppers?

Tears are already welling up

and Big Girl's first day of kindergarten isn't until Friday. I'm trying really hard not to get all weepy in front of her. Not easy. I'm not dealing well with her pending shift to Real Big Girl Who Goes to Elementary School. She's still my baby, and I am not ready for her to grow up. The site of her in her adorable new pink and silver backpack? Shopping for her school supplies? Not handling that so well.

She's excited, very excited, my little No Fear kid. She can't wait to start school and has been talking about it for months. She can't wait to meet her teacher on Wednesday. She was wide-eyed and gleeful when we visited her school last spring. She wants to ride the bus. On the first day. (Her dad was unbelievably in favor of this plan but I told him that she would be traveling to school in my car on that day, at least.)

And Three? Jealous. Wants to do everything his big sis does. Wants to ride the bus and go to the big school. Can't wait until it's his turn. Although, ironically, this desire to do everything she does doesn't extend to wearing big kid underwear instead of pull-ups. But I've explained to him that the big kid underwear is required now. Diapers may be the only exception to my reluctance to see my children grow up so fast.