Hooray! I made TrackerK’s Do Not Kill List! Which is a definite relief since I’m pretty sure that he has something in his Swiss Army truck that would make certain they would never find the body. Hard to blame him though. He’s got a little girl that is so cute she’ll make your teeth hurt. Good reason to be prepared for anything. Although, I’m pretty sure she and her big brothers would be pretty formidable even without dad. I got to see them all shoot, and I haven’t ever had the pleasure of seeing them fight.

I kid. But I have to admit I have a soft spot for dangerous women. TrackerK is married to one and is raising another. And a pair of boys that should grow into men deserving of dangerous women to share their lives.

We also got to spend time with Ginny who ostensibly writes Cat O’ Nine Tales, but in reality she just neglects it*. She also brought her boys who were, as usual, a joy to be around.

Also in the bunch was my brother-in-law (who should blog but doesn’t*) and his wife (also not blogging*). Brother-in-law assassinated a watermelon which was videoed by old friend Beej’s friend, Brian. The video is up on Facebook; I’ll have it here with the pictures later.

By the time we got to the big field on Monday, we were down to just DanielS and AEPilotJim, but we still had fun stretching out the rifles for a bit. And we only started one grass fire. It actually went out on its own before the guys could get to it, but it made for some great pictures of the trek across the field in Jim’s jeep.

This was only the second opportunity we’ve had to spend time with DanielS and AEPilotJim. It was really nice to get to know these 2 guys in the smaller group that finished out the trip. Daniel left straight from camp to head home, but we got the opportunity to introduce Jim to a fantastic burger joint near our house. Where he cunningly snagged the ticket and treated the family. Thanks Jim!

The campout was great fun. I’ll have pictures to share soon.

*That could be interpreted as a nudge or something.

As most of you know, we’ve got a kiddo heading into middle school this year.  It’ll be his first year riding the bus to school so we bought him his very own cell phone.  As expected, he couldn’t get his nose out of it the first couple of days.   I’ve gotten text messages including pictures of my parent’s cat.  He has played with it so much that he needed to charge it 3 times the first day.

And that’s okay.  It’s new.  He needs the opportunity to explore it and get to know the capabilities.  That said, now that he’s had a few days, we are coaching him on what is the appropriate way to use it.  Like so many other things, it is a useful tool and should be handled responsibly.

We took a walk down to the bus stop the other night so that he would know where it was.  On the way, we spotted different things and quizzed him about what he had seen.  Sure, that car was turning into a driveway, but it is still important that he notice it was there.  We also talked to him about the phone explaining that when he got off the bus, he needed to stick it in his pocket for his walk home.  We told him, “Keep your head up and pay attention.”  We don’t want him to be the type of person Tam is talking about here.  The received text message will still be there when you get home.

We are not training our son to live in any sort of fear, but only to be aware of what is going on around him.  You can’t react to something that you didn’t observe.  Too often, I watch people go about their lives in their little bubble.  Sometimes it’s the cell phone.  Sometimes it’s the ever present ear-buds.  And often it’s just some internal distraction that prevents observation.

Flipping open your cell phone so you can text your friends prevents you from seeing the man waiting on the corner.  Or seeing the unlatched gate where that aggressive dog lives.  Putting on your headphones prevents you from hearing that car screeching your direction.  Your eyes and ears and early warning devices.   Don’t let technology take them away from you.  What you miss may not be dangerous.  It could be a friendly greeting from a neighbor or the sight of kids in the park.

Maintaining an awareness of the world around you can certainly help in keeping you safe.  It is not the the only thing.  As Caleb points out, situations can change in the blink of an eye.  You need to be able to react quickly and appropriately.  Had he had his nose in his cell phone, that night could have played out far differently.

Our society with it’s instant contact and answer has ironically made many of us islands.  We will check that email or text the exact moment our pocket buzzes at the expense of missing that neighbor just waiting for acknowledgment.  We communicate with our thumbs and miss the waves and smiles that only real life can bring.  The text can wait.  It’s not worth missing the real life contact.  And it’s certainly not worth being oblivious to a potential threat.  Really, is your social media worth your life?

I told you about all the cancer around last week.  My friend is still in the hospital.  The cancer is in her bones and liver now.  They started chemo yesterday.

My great aunt passed away on Sunday night.  She had lived a good, long life of 85 years.  Life is a funny thing.  She had a new great-grandchild born on Sunday morning.  One life in; one life out.  The family is always changing.

One of my cousins is remembering her here and here even through her own battle with, you guessed it, cancer.

I noticed my son headed out to the backyard with a magnifying glass.

Me: Don’t burn anything on the deck

Kiddo: Ok

Me: Use the stepping stone.

Kiddo: Alright

After a few minutes, kiddo comes back in with a big grin on his face.

Me: So?  Did it work?*

Kiddo: Yep.  Burned some leaves and an ant.

Hey, it’s educational and skill building!  Perfect for children of all ages.  Okay, not all ages.  Besides, he’ll be going back to school soon where the learning is far more PC than burning ants in the backyard.  It’s not he was playing with something dangerous like rocks.  I suppose if the bureaucrats had their way he’d be studying a poster of fire instead.

Kids need a little risk.  They need to fail sometimes and hurt themselves.  Not badly, of course.  But enough to learn the lessons.  Success is meaningless if it’s guaranteed.  I don’t want my kid to be playing for the participation award.

In his experiment, he was safe from any harm.  He didn’t know it, but I was right there to make sure there wasn’t any real danger.  But he learned something.  In his first attempt, he failed.  The stepping stone was in a shady spot in the yard.  Rather than give up, he looked around for a better solution and moved the stone.  Could he have learned that from a poster?  Probably not.  Now if I could just get him to put things back where he found them…

*I already knew the answer.  What?  You really thought I’d let my kid go play with fire without being checked on?

There will be pictures later.

*snicker

Wow!  I really didn’t mean that to sound like it does, but now I have to giggle.  This weekend was dirty in a totally G rated way.  I played in the dirt and planted a pot of hot.

What’s a pot of hot?  A big pot with a habanero plant and six jalapenos.

Also, I planted to pear tomato plants to go with the better boy and beefsteak that I planted earlier.  And I added an Albanian cucumber.  I’ve never grown cucumbers before.  Actually, I haven’t been especially successful with tomatoes or peppers, but I have high hopes this year.  The plants are looking great.  I even have a tomato guardian.  (He’s a big toad.)  Hopefully I can keep the kiddo and the dog from pestering the guardian.

The high winds on Saturday snapped the sweet basil off right at the ground.  I’ve got the remains in water currently.  It has perked up and will hopefully put out some new roots so we can replant it.

I got to go see my best friend and her 4 week old baby.  Nope, I did not catch the baby bug, but I did enjoy the opportunity to hold an infant again.  Even got the giant baby belch right in my ear.  My kiddo can certainly handle the belching all on his own at this point in life.

We also went around showing off a couple of new holsters.  There should be some new pictures coming up on the holster site shortly along with a major announcement!  Keep checking, it will be big news.

So that was my weekend.  How was yours?

Anyone know anything about trombones?  Kiddo wants to play in the band next year so we are in the market for an affordable, decent quality trombone.  And possibly a bulk supply of ear plugs.

Thing is, I don’t really have a clue about trombones.  What’s a good brand?  Good starter horn?  What should I be looking for?  I’m not at all opposed to purchasing a used one, but I don’t really even know where to start.  But I know that my readers have varied interests and talents, so I thought I’d throw the question out to you wonderful people.

Kiddo lost a tooth on Wednesday.  Rather normal event for an eleven year old.  As I passed him a baggie to place it in, I asked if he just wanted to swap it for cash and leave that lazy good-for-nothing fairy out of it this time.  I mean, really.  He’s had to leave notes.

And I even had to fill in for her one night when she apparently went binge drinking or something.  Well, I’m not nearly so well practiced at retrieving teeth.  It requires skills like stealth and quiet, grace and night vision.  I am not quiet.  I woke him up and was totally busted crouched on the floor in my son’s bedroom in the dark.  Could have been worse I suppose.  I could have been splayed out in my bathrobe after slipping on a Tonka truck.  Darn lousy fairy!

Anyway, I figured we’d just skip all the fairy drama and handle it like a standard transaction, but no!  Kiddo wants to play the tooth fairy game.  “It’s fun,” he says.

Whatever.

Yesterday morning, he came into the living room and asked if he could still just trade it in for cash in a civilized transaction not involving unreliable fairies.  For those of you that are counting, that’s 5 nights that he gave her the chance to redeem herself.  FIVE.  This is totally unacceptable. Dealing with mythical creatures is just too troublesome.  What is this world coming to when you can’t even depend on magical help?

Tooth fairy, you are FIRED!

Can we get a do-over?  A recount?  Because I remember ordering the year WITHOUT drama.  You?  You gave gave me the wrong order.  Actually, you gave everyone at my table the wrong order so we can’t even just swap.

Nobody ordered the drama platter.  And yet you served up the drama appetizer (Hmm, apparently I write letters when I’m feeling stressed.  BTW-Dad is nearly back to his old self.) which we all partook in.  We didn’t really complain then figuring that the main course would be what we requested.   And there really were some delightful goodies hidden amongst the drama skins and crisis fries.  We finished it all with the welcome support of good friends (online and off).  We figured you were just getting warmed up.

We were right.   You were just getting warmed up for the drama platter* you served to my table.  And I’d like to send it back.  Also, I’m complaining to management.  But I see you’ve glued us to our seats and brought in a team to force feed us.  And I see it came with a side dish of stress (We’re jumping in with both feet on hubby’s business.  His last day of contract employment is next week).

We’ll finish this meal.  I know the team of good friends will continue to support us, but forgive me if I’d rather pass on dessert after seeing what you’ve cooked up so far.

And for the record, no tip for you!

*Yes, I’m once again dipping my bucket into the well of your prayers and support.  At this point, it isn’t appropriate to discuss what’s in that drama platter on the internet.  And it doesn’t really involve me personally, but it does involve someone I am close enough to that I’ll feel it.