Friday Fragments - May 18, 2012

Turns out this was the last full week of school for my son!  That hasn't really set in yet. 

I updated my calendar with festivals happening through the summer.   I'm not sure if we'll make it to any of them but at least I know when they're happening.  Last Sunday I posted pictures of hot air balloons, something that started a conversation in the car about seeing the Forest Park Balloon Race in September.  The night before there is a balloon glow that I really want to attend.  I made sure to add that to my calendar.

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How many of you still argue and fuss with your siblings?  I make fun of my kids when they do it, but I still torment the hell out of my brothers so I guess my kids come by it honestly.  Last night my brother in Florida posted a sweet tribute to Donna Summer.  I mentioned something about how he first heard her music from my collection when we were kids.  That quickly devolved into "my music collection is way more awesome than yours."

Next week should be interesting as my brother from North Dakota is in town. 

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A former co-worker posted on Facebook that her dad's house is up for sale.  Something about that struck a chord in my imagination.  It struck my husband too.  We've long talked about moving out of this rental house only to face setback after setback.  Last night we actually did a walk-through of her house.  It's nice and would accommodate us nicely, but it's not the house for us.

What this means, however, is the seed is planted.  This was much more than driving through neighborhoods and pointing out what we like and what we can't stand.  This was "let's talk about financing" and what we really want from a bigass purchase.

I was also intrigued to see that my high schooler is actually able to consider changing schools.  This is a concept that I am so absolutely, etched in stone, against that I'm a little shaken by the possibility.  I was genuinely scarred by the multiple moves during my Jr High years that I swore I would never move a kid to a different school during junior high and especially high school.  Mid-year moves, if they can be avoided are very against my standards too.  Dammit, I hate going against my standards.

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DWEEBY LITTLE BRO

I may not post for days on end but when I'm challenged to post something about my geekass brother, welllllllll... taunt me no further.

This is my youngest brother we're discussing.  The other one is simply a dumbass.  That one has been living with me for a few months and left last night to finally return to Florida.  In a thunderstorm.  In a truck with crappy tires.

But anyways, it turns out I get to see the "little" one and his fabulous bride later this month.  I'm not exactly sure of their plans or precisely how long they'll be in town so maybe after reading this I'll get more of the scoop.  Then again, had I picked up the phone yesterday when SIL called I might have heard about their arrangements.  I did hear how their kids will probably be farmed out to various friends and relatives while in town, but I do have space... you know in case they're reading this.

HA!

Friday Fragments - January... wait... February 10, 2012

I just walked through the house with an empty cup and a bowl of dry cereal.  Last night we moved everything out of the kitchen fridge into the spare refrigerator in the back sunroom so we can defrost and give it a thorough scrub down.  It's amazing how gross a refrigerator can get.  That meant my milk and fruit juice were in a different part of the house this morning.  It just felt funny walking around with dishes like that.

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I had another good laugh this morning as my brother and I joked around about the benefits of driving around in a piece-of-shit car.  His clunky van does not like the cold and has problems getting up hills so driving to work yesterday was a slow, tortuous process where he was sure old ladies was flipping him off.  Maybe one day I will list the perks of POS cars.  I certainly have plenty of experience with them, that's for sure!

Please feel free to share your experiences with driving crappy cars.  I'll try to make that my Monday post (so come back and see what I whip up, okay?)

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There is another post coming together.  A former co-worker promises to send me her email exchange with a guy from online dating.  She knows of my really cool talent where I can take a man's email and dice it to pieces, pulling out what the phrases REALLY mean.  This was about the only thing I gained from my dating years.  For example, "I am bilingual" means "I frequently speak bullshit."

Well, her email hasn't arrived yet so maybe I'll just need a friendly reader to share dating posts they've come across.

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A very scary thing happened this week, the kids' house had a fire!  I've joked that only my daughter could manage to catch a kitchen sink on fire, but actually the garbage disposal shorted out and started an electrical fire.

This seriously could have had horrible consequences. 

Fortunately it happened in the early evening when everyone was awake, not in the middle of the night.  The fire was caught very early and they were able to call 911 so that the damage was contained to only the kitchen.  The house has been declared uninhabitable, but my daughter had the foresight to get renter's insurance.  All of their stuff is getting cleaned and will be packed and moved to their new residence.  Oh yeah, that had already been arranged too because they were all planning on moving out by the end of the month anyway.

This might be a good thing for my former mother-in-law, the owner of the house, as the insurance money she gets from the fire might be enough to make other repairs so she can prepare the house for sale.

Well, like I said, they were very lucky.

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Dog Sitting

These three guys are camping out at my house until my lughead brother is able to find a new place to live.

I don't think they remember me from a few years ago when they stayed with me while Lughead went on vacation.

My sunroom is in dire need of a mop and there is a lovely stench wafting through the house that is decidedly wet dog.  Of course Ian is totally soaking up the canine companionship.  A boy and his dog(s) or something like that. 

Maybe Dweeb, my other brother, would whisk into town and take them to his house/zoo?   **HINT HINT**