Friday, July 31, 2009

A Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."
- Joe Fox to Kathleen Kelly

I just love that quote from "You've Got Mail". And this time of year, it's hard not to have that line running through my mind as DD sharpens her entire box of pencils before tucking them in her backpack in expectation of the first day of school.

But school supplies are not the same these days. No way, Jose. You can hardly turn around in Target without seeing a newer, better... dare I say designer... version of spiral-bound notebooks or pocket folders by people like Ed Hardy.

Seriously. Whatever happened to good ol' Pee Chee folders? Anyone remember them? Heck, I felt like I'd won the lottery when my mom let us pick those out instead of the plain colored store brand. DD would scoff at having to carry something as boring as a pee chee. She'd have to drop out from the shame of it.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Jesus is Living in Our Kitchen

It's true. Jesus is in our kitchen. Right now. As in while I type this.

Okay, okay, you can stop worrying that I am off some sort of medication or have had a stroke. It's nothing like that. Jesus is a praying mantis that has somehow made his way into our kitchen. And into our lives.

While a normal family would try to A) catch it and take it back outside, or B) smush it in a tissue and flush it down the toilet, alas, we are not a normal family. Not even close.

Last summer we had a very large spider take up residence in between our interior kitchen window and the sorry excuse of a storm window we have. We named him "Spidey" and it was always cause for celebration when some bug would find it's way into Spidey's web. We'd call out to everyone in the house, "Come quick! He's gonna get another one!" And that would be our entertainment for the next half hour or so. Sure, there was a big ol' creep factor involved with the thought that Spidey might one day find his way inside the house, but as long as he was controlling the bug population before it could come inside he was a welcome addition to the family. May his hairy legs rest in peace.

This year, there is no Spidey in residence. Instead, there is Jesus the praying mantis. (Get the humor there, folks?) While I'm not thrilled that he is on the inside of the glass, I am more than happy to allow him to dine on all the creepy crawlies that attempt to invade through our sad-sack old windows.

Aren't we so... special?


Blogger's note added Sunday, August 2, 2009:

This morning we had to say goodbye to Jesus. I found him suffering on the kitchen window sill after what must have been a David and Goliath-esque battle with a spider. Or would it have been more like Godzilla vs. Mothra? A question for the ages...

*sniff sniff*

We will miss you Jesus.