Month: June 2011

Yard Projects and help from my three year demon neighborhood twins

~ K ~ Leave a comment

OK, I admit it. I am addicted to the DIY (Do It Yourself) network. I find myself watching it more and more everyday. Mind you, I’m multi-tasking because I have my handy dandy laptop to use while I’m watching the DIY channel. I can check my email and watch my favorite shows “Turf Wars” and “Yard Crashers” so it’s not like I’m not getting any work done.

I do go down into my office “man cave” and focus on work. I don’t watch any TV in there nor do I log on to the DIY website either. Now, that is some self control, right?

This summer, I want to redo my yard. Overall, I’d like to replace some railroad tie retaining walls with rock walls. I’m also going to add a fence and two gates between my house and my two neighbors. I have come to the conclusion that my neighbors down the street will not be keeping a close eye on their three year old twin boys. This is nothing new. Today, the boys were in a construction zone in our neighborhood. The power company is installing new underground cables and the boys think they should be in the middle of the action. The construction workers have talked to the parents twice and today I called the mother today to tell her to watch the kids (lest they be run over by a backhoe).

Seriously, who lets their kids run around in a construction zone? These two kids are three years old and they wander away all by themselves. Their parents do not watch them. Child Protection Services have been called before. They will be hanging out near my house for hours because my kids are out in the cul-de-sac playing. It is just crazy. Like a Stephen King novel, you turn around and they are just….there.

So I am concerned that they’ll be hanging around my house during all my yard projects, bugging me and possibly getting hurt. We’ll have cement mixers; rocks, gravel, and beauty bark…all laying around for children to play in. Heck, throw in a few shovels, pick axes, and chainsaws and we have all the fixings for a grand old country time…yeee hawww!

Besides, my yard becoming a death trap for small children, I hope to have everything finished by the end of July (if not sooner). I’m sure work will get in the way of my free time and put me behind my yard schedule. Work can be so annoying sometimes.

As always, your comments and links to my blog are more than welcome!

Our Brownie “Splinter Cell” Troop is created!

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Well, it is official…we have created Brownie Troop 42301 (nicknamed “Splinter Cell Troop”). We have broken away from the old troop and transferred over four girls and are adding three more new scouts for a total of seven (in case you needed some help with math).

I’d like our Brownie Troop to be known as the “fun” troop. With the departure of four of the members of the old troop, we have killed the old troop off (or given it a serious death blow). That really wasn’t my intention. My daughter and I were prepared to join another troop but we would be leaving her friends behind. I was also prepared to suffer along with my daughter in the current troop so she could be with her friends. However, after I received a phone call from one of the other parents saying to count her in if I decided to make my own troop; I decided to take the plunge and create my own Brownie Troop.

Now, our departure was going to be a quiet until I asked my daughter if we should start our own troop or join another one. Of course she wanted to start her own (what princess wants…princess gets!). I had a Cub Scout Den for my son, why shouldn’t I have a Brownie Troop for my daughter? Then she mentioned the new troop to a few non-Girl Scout friends and they wanted to join. I’m excited that we have some new girls interested in Girl Scouts! But word must have gotten back to Leader J and Leader T because they mentioned that I might be starting my own troop. I guess that is why we weren’t invited back to re-register for the next year (seriously).

Now, I’m not one to dwell on the past. We are moving on. This evening, we made our troop official by filling the paperwork and turning it in. We were assigned our troop number and we are on our way. Our first field trip is coming up at the end of the month to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It should be a fun time!