To Our "Sanitation Worker"...

( Aren't you pleased I used the P.C. term for your job? ) Let me start by saying that I truly appreciate the work you do. If it weren't for you, I might have to put our trash in my car and drive it to the dump myself and I'm far too busy for that. Besides, just the thought of piling bags full of dirty diapers, rotting food, and other miscellaneous debris into my car gives me the willies. ( What if they leaked?! ) You are a good man to take my trash away.

I want to apologize for our neighbors. Like you, I don't understand why it is so difficult for them to put the trash INSIDE the provided dumpster. I believe this annoys me a bit more than it does you since the afore mentioned device is practically in my front yard. ( If I may be so bold as to claim the eight square feet of grass and dog poo in front of our home as a yard. ) I really feel for you when you have to get out of your truck and move the garbage surrounding the dumpster just so you can reach it with your truck to empty it. Then, after emptying it, you have to get out of your truck a SECOND time to collect the trash you just had to move and load up the dumpster to empty it yet again. This must really get old after awhile. It might not be so bad if what my neighbors so ungraciously piled around the dumpster were only empty cardboard boxes that would take up too much space inside the dumpster. ( Alas, if only they were smart enough to figure out how to collapse the boxes so they were flat! ) But no! They pile bags upon bags of the vilest filth imaginable out there. Sometimes, they actually manage to get the bag tied shut, but not usually. While the sparrows and crows seem to enjoy the veritable buffet of leftover takeout and stale tidbits of dinners, you and I do not. However, I envy the fact that you get to drive away from here and not think about it for another 48 hours. I, on the other hand, have to live here with the mess left behind. I realize it is largely the fault of my neighbors, but I can't help but feel that you are also a bit responsible. Perhaps, it is more the fault of those higher above you or the management of our complex. They won't allow you to come daily. Thus, the trash piles up. Especially on the weekends. ( And forget about using the dumpster if someone is moving in or out that weekend! ) I think the weekend situation could be helped a bit, though. Here's my idea...

You currently make you rounds here on Friday morning in the pre-dawn hours between 4am and 5:45am. You will not return until Monday afternoon. Whose idea was this? I'm guessing it was not yours since you know how quickly our dumpster fills and you hate getting out of your truck to actually touch the trash. Maybe you could suggest a change to whomever is in charge of these things. Perhaps you could come in the late afternoon on Friday and early on Monday? As much as I appreciate being awakened to the gentle sound of your truck emptying our garbage before the sun rises on Fridays, I think a change would do us both some good. If you require my assistance to convince whomever is in charge, I would happily provide it. There may be a positive solution to this if we all work together. As for my ingrate neighbors... Well, I believe karma will come back around eventually. Perhaps their lawns will one day be filled with the various forbidden furniture they tossed into the dumpster.

Again, I thank you for the work you do. You provide an invaluable service to all of us. It's too bad not everyone around here acknowlegdges that. Hang in there, mate! At least the snow is gone!

Oh, Where Does The Time Go?

Okay. So it's been over three months since I've written anything for all of those millions of fans out there. HAHAHA! Seriously, though... It's not like I've only been scarce in cyberspace. I feel like I've practically disappeared off the face of the earth. Like I've been shot into space like that poor Russian dog and am staring out the window all confused and helpless and wondering when dinner will be served. I can't seem to email anyone with consistency, I rarely use the telephone, and I never leave the house without seriously weighing the risks of the kids getting the stomach flu yet again. I'm turning into a regular JD Salinger. Sometimes, I start to think that if only Wal*Mart delivered groceries that I'd never leave the house. Yes. I have become a sad, sad shell of a person lately. I'm going to blame it on the weather and the negative impact the cold has on my emotions. The weather around here finally seems to be warming up though, so *maybe* I'll come out of hibernation soon. I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. Two weeks ago we had a blizzard and yesterday it was 75 degrees. Tomorrow, it might snow again. It's not in the forecast, but I won't feel safe until around the middle of June.

And what have the kids been up to? Trying to find room to make a mess with all of their giant toys in the way. You know the ones I'm talking about. The play kitchen, the stuffed rocking horse, the various large objects designed to entertain infants that are all different shapes/colors but do pretty much the same thing... Put a ball in the hole... Watch the ball roll out. This wouldn't be so bad except they're all HUGE and they all make different annoying noises. And where do they all come from? The Grandparents. Is this our punishment for not keeping our own rooms clean as children? We've invested in several storage containers and one giant toy box yet somehow, the toys are still overflowing into every room of the house. I've even given a couple of large boxes of them away. I have trouble getting rid of things that were gifts, but where do you draw the line? I think it's great that people care enough about my children that they want to do something special for them, but if I keep all of this stuff we're going to be buried in toys by the time Abby goes to kindergarten! We'll have to buy a house with a whole separate floor for toys. Maybe, all of these generous gift givers should get together and just buy our kids a toy store. Seriously. Then the kids could play with whatever they wanted to and leave stuff everywhere and I'd never have to see it because it would be in its own building. Putting it in our backyard would be nice, too, so we could save on gas. Unless these same generous people also want to plant a money tree in our yard. Do they sell those at Wal*Mart or do you have to go to Home Depot?

Along with all of the messes they've made, they've learned a lot of new things. Perrin has learned to walk, point, clap, babble, etc. Abby has learned things like "fortissimo" and "crescendo" as well as the "Pull my finger" trick. We celebrated Christmas and both of the kids' birthdays. How is it possible that my baby is one year old already and my first baby is three? She's over halfway to starting school! I'm considering homeschool, but we'll see. We've had a lot of stuff going on. Job issues, friend issues ( largely caused by the job issues ), birthdays, death, a road trip in the middle of an ice storm, a broken furnace, and more puke than you can shake a stick at. We've had our share of good things happen, too, though. Like, the birthdays. There's just something about a first birthday, isn't there?

I think what I'm most excited about right now is our trip to visit Heath's parents in May. Not only will we get to visit with them, but I'm planning on finally getting to meet my best friend, Sarah! It'll be a good drive for both of us, but it's going to be worth it. We've helped each other through SOOOO much already and it'll be nice to actually get to meet face to face. I'm counting down the days!