First Babysitting Gig

A scored her first babysitting gig at the market, and I think it thrilled her to pieces. The fact is, A is good with younger kids, she really takes the time to pay attention to them and play with them, and they really gravitate to her. I’ve seen her at the park or playground, and even in lieu of her friends, she’ll take the time to be with younger kids. At first I thought she got stuck babysitting the little ones, but she really likes it, I think, because she always ends up doing it.

Parents have asked her/us if she was interested in babysitting their toddlers, and she was excited about it, but it never really came to pass. R and I figured that if it happened, we would always be there to back her up. This past market, one of the vendors needed some help and wondered if A would watch their 5 year old daughter, and A said yes. This girl is one of the cutest, spunkiest kids I have ever seen, and she adores A. Because it’s the market, it’s nice because they can play in the grass and just hang out. It worked out beautifully, I think A had fun (N was there for support), and A is now an official babysitter. How exciting.

We’re so proud of here, she showed great responsibility, and I think everyone had fun. Where do you go from here?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to valerio lo bello for the pic.

Ninth Market and Reflections on My Sanity

I hate to say this, but the only way to keep my sanity in regards to the market is to keep my feet moving and start preparing for next week immediately. The last thing I want to do is do is make dumplings, but I figure if I can get some stuff done, then the weekends won’t be one complete hellish experience. What have we created?

On that note, we had a good market, though not as good as I anticipated. In fact, at some point we were in danger of making too many dumplings, and leftover dumplings are a waste. I stopped cooking with about half an hour to go and we tried to sell what we had left. We pulled it off, but it was close. The weather was beautiful, and there were lots of people on the green, but somehow it just wasn’t that busy. Don’t get me wrong, we sold dumplings, and lots of them, but it wasn’t crazy like I anticipated. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing.

We also found that people came up to us and said they were disappointed we weren’t there last week. In fact, many people said this, including the market manager, who said people kept asking about us. While this is nice to hear, it also makes us want to keep our customers happy, which sort of enslaves us to this gig, and that’s the last thing we need. We have enough stuff going on in our lives, we were kind of hoping that this was something we could just walk away from when all was said and done, but the loyalty of our customers makes it hard. We feel guilty when we’re not there, how crazy is that? I know it’s not a huge deal, life goes on and people can live happily without our dumplings, but we do feel an obligation of sorts for our fans. Then again, maybe we’re stroking our own egoes.

We’ll see where this one goes. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Susanne Nilsjo for the pic.

Clowning Around

The kids are having a blast at clown camp. Much thanks to JM, MZ, and JM, the guys running the show, they do such a nice job. They had really nice words to say about A&N, especially the creative energy that they bring to the camp. M came up to me and said jokingly, “You gotta get your kids to lighten up.” Of course, I missed the facetiousness and immediately felt my defensive blood flowing before I realized that he was kidding. Whew, almost made a fool of myself.

The nice thing about it is that many of their friends are in attendance, and they all live in town, so it’s a lot of fun. What’s really cool is that N has come out of his shell, and when I told the teachers that he’s normally reserved and low-key, they were floored and couldn’t believe it. Hmm, looks like we have a performer just waiting to break out, something to think about in the future.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Marjorie Manicke for the pic.

For the Birds

Dead animals in your yard just seems like an inevitable consequence of having cats, but at some point our cats pushed their luck a little too far, and now we’ve had to take more drastic action. Part of the problem is the failure of our current measure of putting a bell on the cats. While this sound like a good idea, it seems like it’s best left to fairy tales and fables. In real life, it doesn’st stop the carnage.

Now a few voles or mice here and there might not have been such a big deal, but the song birds are another matter, especially when you mess with the thrushes, the state bird, which might be a threatened species. Whatever be the case, it’s a sad thing when you find the dead birds, but extra sad when they’re still alive and holding on for dear life while the cat casually licks her paws.

R has decided that we either keep them inside, or find a way to prevent the slaughter. We may have found something, promoted by bird lovers, no less. They sell these rubber bibs that go around their necks and somehow prevent them from hunting animals. They look hilarious, and I’m guessing the cats hate them, but at this point, we’re willing to give it a try. You can see how they might work, so we’re optimistic. The reality is, the cats kill soley for entertainment, so they can live without it.

The people that make and sell these things are bird lovers, so they are not necessarily in it to get rich. The first day we put them on the cats, they lost them within an hour, and when we told the company, they sent us two free replacements, as well as the collars. We figured out that we could make them ourselves with material bought at Joanne’s, so we are in business. Hopefully we’ll see fewer dead animals on our doorstep.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Back in the Fray

Now that we’re back from AZ, we had to focus on making dumplings, and it’s not pretty. In fact, I spent most of Saturday making the fillings, and at some point I said to R that I am so done with this gig. No more! I’m pretty sure we won’t do this next year, the work is simply not worth it.

Then again, I said the same thing last year. There just has to be an easier way.

Until I find it, thanks for reading, and thanks to RIC for the pic.

Nice Weather for the Eighth Market

I realize this is long after the fact, but on our market before we went away, we got killer weather, and it was a welcome change from the previous pattern. The original forecast called for increasing temps and finally scorching weather on Wed, only to taper off and cool down from there. Typical. I think for the first time, we caught a break, and I don’t take that granted for a minute.

In fact, the weather was nice on Wed, and then got hotter later in the week, and it was ugly hot. Makes you wonder how people live in the South, or for that matter, Arizona.

Whatever be the case, I was thankful for a nice day, and sales were good. It was hot, no doubt, but at least there was a steady breeze, making it all okay. In fact, it was nice enough to make you sit back and think that maybe doing dumplings isn’t so bad after all... nah!

It was busy, and we were actually selling dumplings until the zero hour, By the time 6:00 rolled around, the pans were still cranking hot. I had to be careful on the cleanup, but we managed, and then cruised on home to get the kids. They were not that excited to see us, as to be expected, which is not a bad thing because it means they were having a good time. HH actually said she would bring them home, so I went home and started unloading the cars and doing some cleanup.

Thanks much again to JD, my Mentor, and HH for helping out, it made it all possible. It really does take a village, doesn’t it?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Fred Fokkelman for the pic.

Reflections on AZ

Good to be back in VT, but as I mentioned, we had fun in AZ. The heat was ridiculous, but it’s important to remember that many people hate the cold in VT, and they live here! I’m personally a fan, but that’s just me.

AZ was actually fun with the kids, but it took a lot of legwork on the part of dad, and it’s not in any way like real life. If you had to live in AZ and function in that heat on a daily basis, I can’t help but think you’d grow weary of it. Spending all that time in an air-conditioned space is not only unnatural, but it can’t be healthy. Plus, you can’t swim in a pool all day.

I just want to mention that when we landed in NH, the kids said it felt good to be back, a triumph for me. I think part of the allure of AZ was that we went to places that we don’t normally visit at home. There was an amusement park that was a lot of fun for everyone, though again, you get cooked out in that sun. It was called CrackerJax, and it was the kid’s dream come true. Go-carts, bumper boats, miniature golf, and lots of junk food. The heat was so excruciating that at one point, even A said she felt like passing out. We had to constantly keep hydrating ourselves, which wasn’t easy.

Now for whatever reason, N got it in his head that he wanted to play golf. Don’t ask me where that came from, because I have some issues with that game, especially in a place like AZ, where they must waste unconscionably amounts of water to maintain those golf courses. They must have a few dozen in the Phoenix area, just ridiculous. They have to water them constantly, not to mention all the chemicals to keep the grass pristine, and the gas needed to maintain them. Plus, they waste huge amounts of land, all to hit a little ball into a hole. They have the same issues here in VT, where there are two courses nearby and they leach enormous amounts of fertilizer and weed killer into the river. Shameless.

Anyway, N’s interest got piqued. I kept telling him that golf isn’t easy, and the real game is nothing like mini-golf, but he was undeterred. So at some point, we snuck over to the driving range and hit a few buckets. Speaking of wasting water, at the driving range, they spray a constant mist of water over the golfers to keep them cool and comfortable in the 110 degree heat. N did pretty well with the driving, and he looked too cute for words out there. I even hit a few, though I hooked every one of them. A even gave it a go, though she wasn’t that interested and gave up after a couple of tries.

The most fun for the kids were the cars and boats, because they were motorized and they got to drive. It was a bummer for N because he’s still too young to drive the big cars, so he sat next to me in the two-seater, the next best thing. A had a blast, and she must have driven at least a dozen times. We had unlimited ride tickets, so she could pull it off. It was impressive watching her, she really went for it, and made some nice passes, even past me!

N got to ride in the kiddie cars, though they are slower and the track is smaller. Even still, you get the gas/brake experience, and it’s a start. In a couple of years, he’ll get to ride the big kid cars. Truth be told, I think he was way too young to handle them, because they take some strength to maintain control, and the pedals are at an adult distance.

The boats were fun because they got to do it together, and it was wet and cool. Because it was Tuesday, the crowds were not as bad, so they could easily jump back on and go again and again. There were, however, enough kids to make it fun and enjoyable and allow me to sit in the shade and watch. I actually went over and hit a few balls at the batting cage, though my shoulder acted up, and it was too darn hot (wah-wah!)

The park is smart because they write the time on the wristbands, which are only good for 4 hours. The beauty of this for me is that departure time is set, and they can’t argue with me and beg to stay longer. By 2:00, it was time to go, and they had to comply. We got some ice water, loaded into the scorching hot car, and went to In N Out Burger, my dream come true. The kids loved it, and it sure felt good to bite into a Double-Double. We had milkshakes afterward, and the kids even complained that it was too much food. Say no more.

After our exciting day at the CrackerJax, we did what any sane person would do and hit the pool. After cooling off for an hour, we picked up mom from her meeting, got some dinner, and then retired to our air conditioned room.

I have to confess that I’m proud to say that we did not turn on the TV in our room once. Not one single time. How’s that for a family vacation?

More on the Science Museum later. For the record, it was the nicest science museum that I had ever been to. It was huge!

Until the next time, thanks for reading.