Garbage Day

Last week as I was getting ready to take Derek to school, we had to get the garbage out. Derek made some comment about there not being very much garbage in the bin and not worth putting it out. I told him there was something special in our garbage even though there wasn't a lot of garbage the Garbage man was going to love what we gave him. 

He could not imagine anything special about garbage he was very curious and asked what was in our garbage. I whispered to him "poopy diapers". I have never seen him laugh so hard, he about fell over and he laughed all the way to school. He kept saying "we played a prank on the garbage man" and still giggled when he thought about it. During the week he was even excited to take poopy diapers out to the garbage so we could "play a prank" on the garbage man again. Tonight we came home from running an errand and I told Dax and Derek I had to get the garbage out to the curb for Garbage day. Derek dropped everything and came running to help me put the bin on the curb. He couldn't wait to play his prank on the garbage man again. I had no idea taking out the garbage could be so much fun, especially poopy diapers.

Harry Potter

Ever since the Harry Potter frenzy hit, I always said I would wait until Dax was old enough to read them and I would read them with him. I've been saying this for about 8 years. For about 9 months I have been asking Dax if he had any interest in reading Harry Potter. He never was. Only interested in Star Wars, Pokemon, and video games. It got to the point that it was unbearable to even talk to him because the only thing out of his mouth was Pokemon. There are so many painful things I would rather experience (like poking a needle in my eye)than hear one more thing about Pokemon. I keep telling myself when he is an obnoxious teenager, I would wish for the Pokemon days to come back. Every night he is supposed to read for homework, every night he would read the Pokemon index, or Pokemon encyclopedia, or whatever it is. A few weeks ago someone gave Dax some money as a gift, of course, all he wanted to do was buy a new Pokemon video game. On a side note, Dax is so obsessed with video games we finally had to say they were only allowed to play video games on the weekend. It was consuming both Dax and Derek's lives. Anyway, I told Dax he could only buy a new video game with his money if he read Harry Potter first. He was not excited about that. Then he started to act a little excited just so he could get it over with and get his new Pokemon video game. Finally, I got the Harry Potter books (the first 2, long story) and we started reading. The first few chapters were ok. He didn't hate it, but he also wasn't thrilled to keep reading. Finally, we got to the good part. He loves it. The other night after we read together I told him good night and left. He told me the next morning he was sorry but he started reading ahead without me. I didn't mind a bit, I would be fine catching up on my own. Tonight it happened again. We read for a bit and then I had to get Trey to bed etc. I went back in 20 minutes later because I heard him laughing, he was still reading. I asked him if he was going to stay up all night reading the book without me. He said "no, but I wish I could" Hallelujah I LOVE HARRY POTTER. I have not heard one word about Pokemon in a week and very little mention of his other video games. I'm so happy we still have 6 more books to read after this one.

Moving Forward

After much deliberation, and several long meetings with "Teamsters" Curtis took control over his Mesa office again, moved the Chandler office to Scottsdale and got rid of three thorns in his side. He did what he had to do to keep his business moving forward. He felt there was probably going to be some backlash and possibly be taking a step back to eventually take two steps forward. Little did he realize that many of the people in his company were relieved and estatic to see the "Teamsters" leave. There was celebration and literal dancing in the streets.
The Mesa office is thriving again and the Scottsdale office is starting to take off. We just feel blessed to still be in the game in this horrible housing market. One Teamster straighted out, another one seems to be a fence sitter meanwhile tt will be interesting to see the fate of the other three Teamsters, who we are happy to have them out of our lives.

Obamanation

President Obama came to Phoenix last week to present his housing bill, I guess because Arizona Housing is such a mess with all the foreclosures. Curtis was able to get a press pass from the radio station where he does his Real Estate Show. He was right up with the White House Correspondents and recognized many from TV. He was able to go into the Press conference with Timothy Geitner, Treasury Secretary, and talked to him for a bit. Sheila Bair, head of the FDIC, and AZ governor Jan Brewer, who was less than impressive. He is not so much a fan of Obama but thinks the housing bill is necessary to turn this mess around. He said Obama looks much better on TV. Jan Brewer couldn't talk in complete sentences. He just loved being in the thick of all this Political fanfare.

Soccer Sub

Case Lueck, Derek, Britton Platt, and Westin Thomas. Britton and Weston are two of Derek's good buddies. 

 Derek was asked to fill in on his friend's Soccer Team. We knew the coaches and 4 of the 5 kids on the team. Some of the players were missing and they knew Derek had played before so they asked him to be a sub for a day. The team was actually quite pathetic. This was the second to last game and they had not scored one goal all season. Some of the kids wouldn't even go onto the field, and there was just a lot of drama on that team. Derek was a great soccer player last season. He was actually a ball hog and wanted to be the only one to score. Having Derek on the team made all the difference. They scored 4 goals and won. Derek scored one of them. Everyone had fun.

Renaissance Festival

Derek throwing tomatoes at the guy.

Today we went to the Renaissance Festival and it was surprisingly a great time for everyone. Every year we make fun of the Freak Fest and have no intentions of going. This year someone gave Curtis tickets so we thought we would check it out. There was definitely a good amount of "freaks" but it was well done and a fun time for the fam.

Petting Zoo

This is Dax doing a flip on the "Assult catapult" He is strapped onto this catapult harness thing while jumping on a trampoline.

Derek climbs a rope ladder on a mock Pirate ship. This was pretty tricky.

Some of the favorites were the Fire whip, the assault catapult, and throwing tomatoes at a heckler. Then we went to watch a show where a guy juggled chainsaws and bowling balls, balanced things, etc. He was going to tightrope walk on a line that was on fire. He kept tightening the rope and putting lighter fluid on it. He told us that if the winds were too strong he wasn't going to be able to do it, the wind picked up and he was watching it just as he was about to get on it and the entire thing snapped. It would have been disastrous if it happened any later.

When we got home I got a call from my brother telling me my Dad had slipped on some ice and broken his lower leg. Weird.

Camping

It was time for our annual campout. We got the tent, and sleeping bags out. We had a few pieces of wood (bought at the grocery store) and we headed to the backyard. We grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, and roasted marshmallows in our fire pit. This is the only kind of camping we do.

I always say camping is a bad ROI (Return on Investment) a lot of work (hauling all your equipment, food, etc), for not very much fun. Then when we are done, we come inside warm up, use the shower, and have a whole lot more fun for less work.

It was a bit chilly. I stayed inside with Trey, but the other boys froze. At least it felt like freezing weather for us Phoenicians.

We'll do it again next year.