In honor (yuck, yuck) of the
Obamessiah's recent trip to Europe, (in which he frankly apologized for America's poor and invasive involvement in the world throughout history) we have a story about a torn down wall (since - "earth to Obama" - Europe's wall
never would have been torn down if it weren't for the U.S.)
SO, a few years ago we built this little rock wall along the front. We just stacked up the rocks, put dirt behind them, and Voila! And the rocks never moved. We even had an earthquake 2 yrs. ago... they didn't budge. Until...
the boys happened to discover the rock wall was actually hosting exotic populations of EVERYTHING. Slugs, ants, beetles, centipedes, spiders, spider eggs... you name it. At first I was patient with the daily tearing town of the wall, since it seemed educational. Believe it or not, I would just rebuild it every day. Soon it became a neighborhood spectacle, and I couldn't tolerate the taunting by passer bys about this daily routine anymore. That's when I gave up, and it took on the more permanent "natural" look as shown.
But deep down, I was suffering. I couldn't stand it torn down, and they couldn't stand it put together. Even if they had just barely moved a rock and there was nothing there, I'd put it back, and they would immediately throw it off again, to see if anything had moved in during the last 10 seconds. Aaaghhh! The wall was coming between us!
Well, one day I was straightening up the garage (and other pointless chores.) I stumbled across a half full bag of concrete mix. Hmmmmm. I began to mix it up immediately, with much unwanted help from little hands anxious to get into the goop. Then with a sort of evil laugh under my breath, (
ha, ha, ha) I began restacking the wall
one more time.
So, add a couple more bags of cement, and a few more hours of labor (while I can still bend over without crunching unborn Baby Cruncher too much) and it is now a bug
sanctuary, fully protected from further disturbances,
and I am at peace with the world (and the Cruncher Demolition Team.)
After that first bite, he just kept going, like it was corn on the cob. Huh. I never could have had such luck if I'd served it up for dinner.
But then, there's just something magical about grazing through fresh garden produce. (Stay tuned for next week, when I trick them into liking tomatoes.)
the boys happened to discover the rock wall was actually hosting exotic populations of EVERYTHING. Slugs, ants, beetles, centipedes, spiders, spider eggs... you name it. At first I was patient with the daily tearing town of the wall, since it seemed educational. Believe it or not, I would just rebuild it every day. Soon it became a neighborhood spectacle, and I couldn't tolerate the taunting by passer bys about this daily routine anymore. That's when I gave up, and it took on the more permanent "natural" look as shown. 
But deep down, I was suffering. I couldn't stand it torn down, and they couldn't stand it put together. Even if they had just barely moved a rock and there was nothing there, I'd put it back, and they would immediately throw it off again, to see if anything had moved in during the last 10 seconds. Aaaghhh! The wall was coming between us!
So, add a couple more bags of cement, and a few more hours of labor (while I can still bend over without crunching unborn Baby Cruncher too much) and it is now a bug sanctuary, fully protected from further disturbances,
and I am at peace with the world (and the Cruncher Demolition Team.)
One Eye Jack, beloved pet, one time pirate, champion swimmer, and devoted friend, has shuffled off his mortal coil, joined the heavenly schools above, no longer sleeps with the fishes and is officially an ex-fish (or should that be angel fish?). He was found floating in the bowl he shared with his cousin, a brown goldfish named Tucker. Foul (or fowl, or even feline, for that matter) play is not suspected as a cause. There is an empty place in our bowl, if not our hearts. A brief memorial service was held in the bathroom, immediately following the discovery of his demise. 12¢ (plus tax) brought him into our lives and with one flush he is gone forever.
Then we let her buy lunch. Since she didn't eat hers, we even finished it off for her.
That jalapeno batter will definitely put a few hairs on your chest.
She showed us all the tricks she's been learning in those cold Wyoming rivers over the summer. We were mightily impressed.
We worked on a few dance moves on the way home. She's good (even with a water saturated diaper that's 5 times it's original size!)
have almost 0% body fat,
have bones made of rubber,
and not think about anything serious whatsoever?
Youth: it's so wasted on the young.
But something is especially fishy about that goldfish. That's right, it only has one eye. 
We think it may have been a pirate before we bought it. Maybe we should call it Jack.
Since we're bigger and more responsible than last year, we would like to address a serious pool faux pas with a few new rules:
2- If a plumber is spotted, try to help. 
3- If all else fails, bare is beautiful. 
Most expensive gas: $4.51 in Blanding, UT
Without thinking about it, we sat on the same rock, mostly because it's the best place to take a picture, with another rock conveniently located to prop a camera on. This next picture is facing the opposite direction. The one from 2002 was looking into the fading light of the sunset and the rock isn't visible. 
