Gardening Update

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Our Garden

K, left, and M, at the Project Grow garden. Not pictured: Me, J, J's green thumb

Ann Arbor has a gardening program called Project Grow. They provide space for people to plant their own gardens. There are several sites in Ann Arbor. Their website is here.

Our friends, the Kennedys, reserved a garden through Project Grow, and offered to let us have a small part of their plot this year. They also are letting us borrow some tomato cages. Last night was the first time we were there as a family, and we planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, and carrot seeds. We also covered the rest of our area with straw to help keep the weeds down. The boys helped plant the seeds and remove some of the weeds, and we all watered the plants and put cages up. Project Grow provides hoses at the gardens, and we watered our plants while we talked to the people who were tending the garden next door. We're hoping to add a pumpkin to our space, the idea for which we stole from the Kennedys, who are also growing a pumpkin.

We had beautiful weather, which made our first family trip to the garden a really nice evening.

Science Olympiad
Next week is the Science Olympiad competition. We are all ready for it, the kids have studied and practiced, and J and I are prepared to spend basically the whole day there since K's competitions will be in the morning, and M's will be in the afternoon. I am also working out a volunteer position with a neighbor of mine who is in charge of part of the Olympiad. Since we're going to be there all day, I might as well do something useful.

Not much else to report this week - we're doing some gardening at home as well this weekend, replacing some dead and/or dying hollies in the front garden with some new junipers and hastas which we think will thrive in that space a little better. A few new red twig dogwoods in the back to fill in some empty spaces, and we'll be all set. Now if we could just get the deer and bunnies to leave our plants alone - I tried to train the squirrels that visit J's bird feeder to scare off the bunnies, but they are not good listeners.

Holy Cow

Not much to say about this, just look at the pictures.

Piano Recital Today!

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Recital and Make-Up Soccer Games
Don't miss the piano recital today - if you're coming, you know when and where.

I've talked a lot about soccer lately. We had a game rained out yesterday, and we've had other games rained out. Today we have two make-up games to account for the previous rain-outs, and one of them is on a field that is so muddy and wet, it is also being cancelled. I expect the other field to be pretty wet, since it was one that was closed yesterday due to mud and water. Looks like I'll have more shoe cleaning to do.

Lawn-Care Update
We have two electric lawn care devices that have not been working properly this year - one is a battery-powered trimmer (weed whacker) and the other is a sidewalk edger. We were pretty sure the battery in the trimmer was dying, so I went to the local Toro shop to order a new one. It would have been $66, so I decided to wait.

I came home and took the trimmer apart - the motor, line spool, handle, battery, switch, and everything. I cleaned it all up and charged the battery on my workbench in the basement. After putting it back together, it seems to be working much better, although still not as well as it did when it was new. J typically does the trimming, and she likes this trimmer a lot, so it was worth the effort. If it still runs out of juice, I'll see if I can find the battery cheaper somewhere else.

The sidewalk edger has worked well for us for about 9 years, and is suddenly not putting out much power. I also disassembled it and cleaned it, then put it back together. Like the trimmer, it seems to be better, as it doesn't give a high-pitched whine like before.


Sidewalk edger

These projects gave me a chance to get outside and take some things apart, which can be relaxing, and it also allowed me to be seen in the driveway with tools laid out around me, looking like I knew what I was doing.

There Will Be Blood
On May 5, I was scheduled to give blood at the kids' school, but I didn't go because I had a nagging sore throat that was about a week old, and I didn't think they'd want me to give. Last week at work we had a blood drive, and I donated a pint to bring my lifetime total to 9 gallons.

Links
I like this Savage Chickens cartoon. It's funny because it's true.

This is a neat idea - globes that have local maps, instead of world maps.

Ray guns! I'm collecting pieces for my first ray gun right now. I hope to have someting assembled by the time I'm 50.

Mud, Hair Gel, Corn on the Cob, and more

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The Week In Review
We had a pretty big week. Besides the normal piano lessons, Science Olympiad practices, and soccer practices, we had the annual Science Olympiad Night at the elementary school. All the kids got a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in their practices, and it was a lot of fun. The kids (and parents that helped with it) did a great job.

We had a few soccer games yesterday, each with its own story. We played on the field that had all the standing water last week, and it was very muddy and still had a large puddle at midfield. The ball hardly rolled when it was kicked, it just went a few feet and blorped to a stop. (Blorp is a word, look it up.)

Here are my boots, and K's shoes, after that game. I was tempted to just burn them but that would be wasteful, so I cleaned them instead.



M's game was on a field that was dry, fortunately. His team played well, but wasn't able to hold off a more talented team. Before the game, M wanted to put gel in his hair and make a miniature mohawk. I got some pictures of M actually playing soccer, and this one of him concerning himself with his appearance.


In other more mundane news, we had hamburgers on the grill and corn on the cob for dinner tonight. I don't know where the corn on the cob came from but it was pretty good. On Friday, the boys were eating pizza at a neighbor's, and J and I decided to get some sandwiches from Zingerman's. Great, as usual.

Some Links
There are probably some people who believe the "science" on this page and want to teach it in schools. It reminds me of the lie you tell little kids when they ask where wind comes from - it comes from the tree branches, waving back and forth.

This is a neat concept for a folding table. The website notes that this is not a real table (yet) but maybe someone can make it happen.
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Post-Mothers Day Update

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Who's In Charge Here, Anyway?
The guy who runs this blog hasn’t been posting very much lately. What a deadbeat.

Mothers Day (or is it "Mother's Day"? Or "Mothers' Day"?)
On Mother’s Day, we had a fun get-together at our house. Mom and Dad came, and Mary, Jeff, Laura, and Daniel came down from Williamston. It was great to see everyone.

Soccer - Rain's Favorite Game
Over the last two Saturdays, we’ve watched two soccer games, and had two more rained out. We went to K’s in the morning on Saturday, and there were big puddles of water on the field. M’s game went on as scheduled, though, and his team won their first game of the season. The previous Saturday, M’s game was rained out in the morning, and K’s game went on as scheduled. His team lost a close game, it could have gone either way.

Science Olympiad Update
Science Olympiad night at Lawton Elementary is Wednesday evening. It should be a great time. The students have an opportunity to show everyone what they’ve learned in their practices. The final teams that will compete on June 5 will be finalized by next week, and the kids can train in earnest for the next three weeks. We’re very fortunate to have these events and opportunities at our school and in our district. Science Olympiad is self-sufficient, so it doesn’t require tax dollars to pay for it. With so many cutbacks, this would probably be an easy target.

How to Deal with Bill Collectors
If you ever want to escape from bill collectors, I have an easy way for you to do it. Don’t renew your cell phone, and get a new number. It completely confuses them. Of course, you all know I’m referring to my recently-new phone, whose number used to belong to a guy named Robert. I don’t like to judge people I’ve never met, but I can confidently say he has trouble paying his bills. When I get calls for him, about one per week, the person on the other end of the phone seems confused that people aren’t born with a single phone number that follows them all their lives. They ask me if I know Robert – yes, yes, I do know him, he’s er, he’s right in the front yard, oh no! he’s gone now. Just hopped in his car that he hasn’t paid for and drove to the jewelry store to buy a watch he can’t afford. I’ll have him call you RIGHT BACK on his gold-plated telephone from his Jacuzzi.

No, I would never do that because then they’d keep calling me. The thing that bothers me the most about this is that I’m the one who ends up having to call back the collection agencies to notify them that Robert no longer has this phone number. I’m sure Robert has a black mark on his credit report, but I doubt he has to worry about anyone actually finding him. I found a guy on facebook with the same name who lives in this area. I’m betting that’s him, but I don’t want to contact him. Yet. I should just tell the people at the collection agencies if they want to find him, they should use the internet like the rest of the civilized world does.

Early Christmas List
You know the movie "This is Spinal Tap"? It's one of my favorites. Which makes me want to buy this.

I'm not sure what I would use this knife for, but I'm sure I could find something.

I don't want one of these to keep at my house, but I'd like to use one for a while.

Big News! (Actually, regular-sized news)

We’ve been up to the usual these days – soccer, Science Olympiad practices, playing Frisbee and catch with a baseball, going to Pilates class, working, doing crossword puzzles, reading Rick Riordan and Carl Hiasson books, eating Meijer brand Lite Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream, fixing broken PVC soccer goals, volunteering at the school, and playing the Brain Quest game at home. To name a few.

I’m helping organize Lawton’s Science Olympiad night, which is May 12 from 5:30-7:00. This event gives Science Olympians the opportunity to show each other, parents, friends, and siblings what they’ve learned in their Science Olympiad practices. Kids who visit enough booths will get a frozen treat, and while there will be many adults lending a hand, the stars of the evening are the kids. The Science Olympiad competition will be June 5 at Ann Arbor’s new high school, Skyline High, just like last year.

The kids continue to work hard at soccer. I am almost positive they’re getting better at it. M’s morning game was rained out on Saturday, but K played in the afternoon.

I’m going to give blood at the kids’ school on Wednesday afternoon. If I give blood, M and K will (for some reason) get a certificate. The point of the blood drive is to show the kids how important it is to give of yourself. But they’re not – they’re making their parents do this. I think all this is doing is making kids rely more on their parents to do the dirty work. And if they’re going to get a certificate, I think they should at least have to watch the needle go in without losing consciousness. This donation will make nine gallons lifetime for me – 72 donations. This is by no means a record in the history of blood-letting, but if I ever need nine gallons of blood for some reason, I expect the Red Cross to hand it over pronto, no questions asked.

President Obama was in Ann Arbor over the weekend, speaking at the UM commencement. He spoke about not getting all your facts from one place, seeking out different points of view. When J graduated in 1991, George H. W. Bush was the speaker, with then-Governor John Engler introducing him. Personally, I think they both just wanted to be on the field at the legendary UM stadium, and this was their chance.
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