7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

We had some nice weather this week. This morning it's 58 degrees again, but for a few afternoons this week, it was in the 70's. So what did everyone do? Headed to the pool, of course.

Well, everyone except us, that is. I decided to let the kids splash in the creek at the park, which is right down the street from our house. (It's actually the Allegheny River, but it's just a really big creek at this particular point.) They've been dying to get in it since they saw some kids in there a couple of weeks ago. Why not, I thought. They can splash around and get wet, but it will not be the big production of bathing suits, floaties, sunscreen, and everything else that accompanies going to the swimming pool . . . which I figured they'd stay in for about three minutes since it was only 72 degrees outside!

They did indeed have a great time. At one point Joshua mentioned that it smelled bad in one particular area, so I told him to stay in a different part. A little while later, he was wading past that spot again and said, "No wonder it stinks, mom . . . there's a dead possum in here!"

Maybe the pool wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all.

2.

The neighborhood kids have taken up residence here. At any given point in an afternoon, I look out the window and see anywhere from 3-8 extra kids in our yard.

3.

When asked what kind of sandwich she wanted for lunch, Lauren said "Turkey with spicy cheese and mustard." A few minutes later, she saw me cutting up some banana for Josh's peanut butter sandwich and asked if she could have some banana on her sandwich, too. I told her that banana would probably not taste good on a turkey sandwich but that she could have peanut butter and banana instead of turkey if she wanted. Indignantly, she replied, "No, mommy, I'm just waiting for what I already ordered."

4.

David and Jason took the boys fishing last weekend, and apparently they stopped for some beef jerky on the way out of town. Today when I ran into a different grocery store than normal, Josh said, "This is where they sell beef jerky! Can we get some pleeeeeeeease?"

So, here are my boys enjoying some beef jerky and coke on the front steps. Aah, childhood.

5.

Of course, the coke has already been spilled on the kitchen floor. Why I ever let Ethan have anything other than water is beyond me. While I'm on my hands and knees wiping the floor with a wet rag (because it appears I would rather do anything than actually mop), he comes in and says, "Mom, I need you to wipe my nose."
"Um, why don't you wipe your own nose?"
"Because my hands are full." (of beef jerky and a cup that is now empty)
"Put your cup down and go wipe your nose."
"Why don't you want to wipe my nose?"

It's moments like these that remind me that I, too, once did not think of my parents as real, live human beings. They were, you know, parents. Why would they want to do anything besides wipe someone's nose?

6.

So, my bid for the position as Assistant Commonwealth Attorney has been considered and rejected. Yeah, rejected.

David's partner just got elected Commonwealth Attorney for the county we live in, and he and David had planned to make David his assistant. We got the idea a while back that it would be great for me to do it instead since it's a part-time position, I have experience in criminal law, and with two kids in school in the Fall, I wouldn't mind getting back to work part-time.

Apparently, however, he wants to "keep his promise" to the voters, having told some of them that he would be making David his assistant. That and David has prosecutorial experience. And he's actively licensed in Pennsylvania. You know, he's just full of silly trumped-up reasons like that.

Oh well, David says he'll make me his partner come fall when the kids are in school, and he'll have an empty office anyway when his current partner leaves. Given my apparent lack of credentials, I think people are going to suspect I just slept my way to the top. Because, you know, I don't have time to take a continuing legal ed class from time to time, but I have time to do that.

7.

David's uncles know how to work their way into a kid's heart. We have Hershey's chocolate bars and/or a watermelon delivered to our house on a regular basis by two of his uncles. The kids may not know many people in the family, but they are quite fond of those two!