Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Whatever Happened with That?

I thought it might be a nice idea to tidy up around this blog and close some open loops. Sometimes with the blogs I read regularly, I find myself thinking, variously, "Well how did that paint job/tummy tuck/potty-training/in-law visit finally turn out? Did she keep her closet organized? Is the baby still waking up every two hours?" So here's a follow-up on some very pressing issues of the last couple of months. If I've left out something that has you wondering, do ask.

So whatever happened with:


Lord, renewed, finally. We had a bizarre paralysis around this issue. Like, Matt and I are fairly with-it, smart, and productive adult humans. But this was just not getting done. I think we were playing chicken with it. If that makes sense. We had the following conversation:

Matt: Okay, if you will figure out what I need to do this and print out all the forms, and hand them to me in a stack, and tell me where to go, I will do this.

Me: Okay, there is nothing to hand you. I already had the emissions inspection done. Just go to the tag office, next to the park.

Matt: Okay, isn't there a form?

Me: Okay, yes there is, but they'll fill it out right there for you.

Matt: Okay, so can I have the emissions inspection report?

Me: Okay, but you don't need the paper. It's all electronical.

Matt: Okay, I will go at lunchtime.

Me: Okay.


It works beautifully. This wasn't, perhaps, something you were wondering about. But I am reminded of it daily by the legions of people who arrive at this blog by googling "Oh noes, my iphone got dropped in the toilet!" or something similar. Let me tell you, EVERYONE is doing this. Let's be careful in there.


Well, he returned, with a vengeance. As I said in the linked post, he apparently mowed our grass weekly while we were away, because there was an invoice waiting in our crate of mail when we got back. Before I could get my bearings he sent another invoice. Dude was somehow billing us for 8 weekly mowings in a 6 week period. I don't know how he has the power to warp time. When he came back the next time, I asked him to come inside. Then I laid out the calendar next to his invoices, then he agreed he'd gotten a little crazy with the billing. I think we'll cut him loose when the grass no longer needs mowing.


Reader, we eated it. For the month of August, we made a major dent in our stored food. For the first time in ages, there was room in the freezer for the actual cold air. We never did eat that box of instant pad thai. The instant pad thai, we shall always have with us. Then, imagine my surprise when one day on cnn.com, they were featuring this video, "Family goes without shopping for a month."  (I would embed it but it's, like, hard.)  I thought, "Whoa, to be on cnn, this family must be really hardcore about it."  Not so!  They had the SAME RULES  we did: eat what's here, we can buy milk and fruit fresh.  Except they allowed themselves to eat out once a week. Well, Matt brought in take-out a couple of times, but we certainly didn't eat out once a week.  Then I was all, "Why didn't I get to be on CNN? Me! Somebody call the wahmubulance!"  That nice lady totally stoled my idea. (Never mind the fact that all the froogie bloggers have covered this at various times in the past. Shh.)

So we ate our pantry until Labor Day, when it was Matt's birthday and we had a friend visiting. So I shopped.  But I feel another pantry-eating bout coming on.


About the same. Not totally loving it.  Actually, he's managed to miss both Monday and Wednesday this week, due to his cold virus with fever.  We're on day three of his running a fever.  His condition is not that serious, but I might be going crazy.



Growing in beauty and wisdom.  Her doings are chronicled by Amy, who, like the rest of Sydney, is currently covered in a layer of weird orange dust.  Amy, keep the dust off the baby, okay?

Any other old business?  Now, I encourage everyone to take a moment and police her area.  Do a blog post telling us how that all turned out.

Your friend,
S.M.

21 comments:

Corinna said...

You are hilarious, I've lurked far too long and I just need to say that. I totally missed the eating out of the pantry post from August, I'm all caught up now and am inspired to try it with my family. We cannot even fit new food on the pantry shelves, yet I keep on shopping.

Lawyer Mom said...

Well, it's about time! I've been wondering about Mitch the wonder lawnmowing guy since your first post! Since his initial mowing was gratis, it was shocking to learn he attempted the time-tested time-warping technique.

Michele said...

What a great idea. I need to do some blog cleaning.

Becky said...

Corinna! So glad you've unlurked!

If you try the pantry thing, maybe you can help me figure out what you do after it's over. As someone who was really into coupon shopping/stockpiling, and the whole "buy what's on sale and shop your pantry" thing, I was a little freaked when I got to the end of the experiment and neither had a lot of food, nor was I able to avoid paying full price for certain staples. It's a dilemma, and none of the other bloggers I've read really talk about it.

And Michele, I'm contemplating a whole blog reno. A little tidying is a good start.

gretchen said...

I was thinking about your iPhone just the other day when I was sitting on the toilet texting on my iPhone. Okay, that was TMI again, right? Glad to hear all is well.

Is it okay if I steal your eating everything out of the pantry idea? I promise to give you credit.

Amy said...

Nice clean-up work! You guys crack me up with the expired tag thing. We do that sometimes, too. It's like, who will give in first? But sometimes the contemplation of doing it is more taxing than actually doing it!

And I must say, WHAT an adorable baby that is! Your sister really knows how to grow 'em.

Anonymous said...

Ok, call me old fashioned but... I go through my cupboards once a week and menu plan based on what I've got. I also check the special offers on www.mysupermarket.com (don't know if you guys have something similar) and incorporate the things on special offer into my menue.

Then I write a shopping list of what we will need for the week that we don't already have in the house.

Jenni said...

the baby is still waking every two hours, lord help me.

the universe, it feels...at peace. loops, closed. ahhhh!

i think i will take you up and do a similar post next week. close the loops.

Sara said...

I like this tidying up idea.

1. We totally play chicken at our house. And similar Do Refusal games.e.g. "I need to order/call/clean/fix/find/buy ____, but I'm having serious Do Refusal.

2. Glad that all came out OK. (potty joke) I know it was for entertaining Hank (which is permissable-gotta do what you gotta do with the potty training,) but I need to state my general disapproval for phone use on the potty by grownups.

3. I enjoy the mental picture of you schooling Mitch at the kitchen counter.

4. This came to mind this week when I found the black seepage coming from a 2007 can of pears. I also threw away the 2007 can of refried beans sitting next to it. You know, just in case it was bad. (ya think?!)

5. I hope the little dude is feeling better! And that you stay sane. :) He'll get to liking it eventually. Preschoolin' is hard!

6. Grace's cuteness is a 'force of nature.' (To steal a phrase from the venerable Camp Papa.) We love her, don't we? ;) That pic went very perfectly with Amy's post. It's all "Who me? I'm just sitting here being adorable all the time."

Phew. Over comment much? :)

Camp Papa said...

An everyday reader but most often just a lurker, Camp Papa's infrequent comments are in the public domain. Free use is hereby granted to all, however attribution is appreciated.

BTW, I think I would recognize it if any of my grandchildren were less than drop dead gorgeous...but it's just a hunch, there's no way I can know for sure. ;)

As evidence of the universe's complicity in the cuteness of my grandchildren, my word verification is "fection", as in per-fection and con-fection.

Bex said...

ha! i wondered about your shy landscaper! thanks for the updates.

Keely said...

Okay, I'm terrified by all these loose ends you're tidying up. WHERE ARE YOU GOING??

Michele R said...

Similar to your using up the pantry I have been on a personal kick of cleaning out the toiletries. As in before buying another new lotion or face lotion potion, that I use up all my misc lotions.
SO, that got me thinking--How did your tubes of Retin-A from the market of Mumbai work out?

Fantastic Forrest said...

This was a fabulous concept, brilliantly executed. And may I just say:

1. Praise Jeebuz. I've been so worried about your tags.

2. You are lucky. And I like your closing line on that very much.

3. Good work on gently standing up for your rights. Now, isn't Hank old enough to take over the mowing? He's a big boy, don't coddle him.

4. We have a box of instant pad thai too. Henceforth, it will be a living symbol of what makes me feel a special bond with you. I like that word wahmbulance. Is it copywritten, or may I use it too?

5. Hank, get well already! Daring Daughter is in school - oh, wait, I just got a call from the nurse. I have to pick her up. After two other days this week where she stayed home sick to begin with. But she made it in yesterday - it was a half day because of teacher's inservice. Urgh.

6. Grace is gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

You are so dang creative it scares me. First the pie charts, now the loop closures... SubMat, we bow to you!

Blog reno?? Sounds big. Can't wait to see where that ends up... and we knew you when!

Becky said...

Michele R, the Indian retin-A is working great. I look barely legal. Ha! Okay, not really, but it is great stuff. Is there anyone out there who was, um, expecting a tube from me who hasn't received it yet? I can only think of maybe one person.

And Fraught, I'm not talking a major blog reno like some people are doing, with a fancypants landing page and all that. More like just a new header. Don't worry Keely, this is not my last will and testament.

Forrest, let's continue to keep our boxes of instant pad thai for a special occasion. And I swear to god, I had you in mind when we were doing the tag thing. I thought, "I can't face Forrest if we don't do this." And I didn't make up wahmbulance. Please share and enjoy!

And I want to echo Sara in voicing my official disapproval of telephone use while toileting. However, the actual practice may be at variance with stated policy.

Erika W said...

Since we're talking about old posts and all, I thought you'd like to know that Ted and I have added "What the hecks" to our lexicon. Ted just used it tonight in reference to the sump pump overheating.

honeypiehorse said...

OK LMAO about the iPhone in the toilet.

Zion said...

I have thought about doing something like this. It's nice to be caught up on everything. I am disappointed in Mitch, I understand mistakes happen, but I always thought it was kind of funny that he came while you were gone without you asking him to. I guess it worked out good though. It's funny that you wrote about this because just the other day I was wondering about Weight Watchers, didn't you start that a while back? Just curious how it was going?

The Stiletto Mom said...

Great idea! Loved catching up.

I've been so tempted to do the pantry eating thing but we keep failing to do it out of laziness.

Leciawp said...

You're always full of good ideas :)