Catching up with Teasel

The last time I wrote about our boxing buddy, Teasel the hedgehog, he was playing with Peanut Girl at Happy Gemini's house. That was way back in September. He has been getting around since then and doing more letterboxing than I have. Maybe that's why it has taken me this long to post about his travels--I am completely jealous! Of a stuffy! After he left HG's, he went to visit Questar right here in Illinois. Only they didn't stay in Illinois. They went on vacation to Florida. We got a postcard from him while he was there and this is what he wrote while lounging by the pool:
Nitrocat & Kittens,
I'm having lots of fun!! I've tasted real Florida orange juice, went swimming and found the "Sand Key Park" and "Save our Sea Turtles" LBs.
Love,
Teasel

Questar and her family were wonderful hosts and when I saw her at the Letterboxing Wedding event in Chicago, she gave me a wonderful surprise for my "Kittens" from Teasel--a Florida coloring book, little bag of authentic Florida sand and tiny seashells, and another postcard with a collage of pictures of Teasel on vacation. He met several other buddies and had lots of fun while he was with them.

After returning from Florida, Teasel headed to visit Kelsey's Kreations in New York. Over the holidays, things got a little crazy around here and I'm afraid I wasn't very good at keeping track of what he was doing. Since I know he is in good hands, I tend not to worry too much. Maybe I can fill in the gap sometime later.
He is currently in South Carolina with Threespoiledboxers. They took him on a trip to Chattanooga, TN. See what I mean by going to more places than me? I did get a picture from him while he was in Chat. They went to find a box near a special bridge and it had something to do with nuts. Sorry, a little fuzzy on the details. Maybe it was Walking on Walnuts?

His visit in Traveler's Rest is almost over and he will be heading to Idhunna's house in Indiana. I can't wait to see his logbook when he comes home! Maybe I should pack myself up into a little box with my stamp and logbook, and mail myself somewhere warm and with a high concentration of letterboxes. I might actually get to do some boxing then! Anybody want to volunteer to be my first host?

Sunday Funnies

Somewhere in our house is a surveillance camera. We haven't found it yet, but we know it exists. We know this because almost weekly, some aspect of our lives is played out in the funny pages of the newspaper. It's uncanny. Several summers ago, we found a frog in our wading pool in the backyard. Within days, Zoe and Hammie found a frog in their pool in the comic strip Baby Blues. Our power goes out and the next thing you know, Family Circus has a funny about eating ice cream in the dark during an outage. How did they know, I ask you?
Some of our favorite comics are Baby Blues, Calvin and Hobbes, Zits, Bliss, and Non Sequitur. In honor of the erie way that our lives end up on their drawing boards, I will be posting some of the "been there, done that" strips on Sundays. Or, more accurately, I will be posting links if I can find them. I don't want to get drawn going to jail for copyright infringement.

Here is me letterboxing with crazydog Kirby:
http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?file=20071113cpbss-a-p.jpg&refresh_content=1&component_id=3&custid=69&catid=1952&dir=%2Fbliss

Who's My Daddy?

Wow. I go to bed last night and all heck breaks loose on Atlas Quest. I'm kinda glad I missed the melee.

But I want to post a couple of thoughts over here anyway. And some of it might be considered "blasphemous", which is why it's here and not on the boards.

Thought #1:

IT'S JUST A PIE CHART!!!!!!

Thought #2:

Who are Mark & Sue? Everyone keeps saying how much they revere them, but as far as I know, they haven't contributed to my letterboxing experience in any way. So, in order to answer that question, I spent some time on their blog. This is some of what I learned:

• They have alot of pinecone stamps carved by lots of other people.
• They must have lots of money, or leisure time, or both, in order to spend as much time out boxing as they do.
• They seem to want to encourage people getting together through the hobby of letterboxing.
• They have several completely distasteful posts about a Lady Prisspott that have nothing whatsoever to do with letterboxing.
• They talk with and about a lot of people that I've never heard of.

Thought #3:

How does my letterboxing experience fit with all of this?

• No, I don't hold LTCs, postals, virtuals and other non-traditional boxes on par with traditionals. In fact, my husband and I have discussed the fact that they really aren't letterboxing at all. The common theme is the hand carved stamp, and I just happen to do these other things with the same people that also letterbox and list them in the same place. In fact, I have actually gotten to know people through the non-traditionals in ways I never would out in the forest. When I box, I box alone.
• I do not have the money or the leisure time to letterbox as I would like. I have responsibilities--one of them being a child with special considerations who has a very difficult time outdoors.
• I learned about letterboxing from a friend. She read a magazine article about it. We both went and found the Smithsonian article and read it.
• The "mutant" letterboxing activity of Boxing Buddies has actually encouraged my children to go out and look for letterboxes more than anything else has.

Thought #4:

I don't care beans about the pie chart and the response to it. Until a person "walks a mile in [my] shoes", they have no business passing judgement on how I choose to spend my time. If the Pepe's want to encourage outdoor boxing, so be it. If they are disturbed by the trend in virtuals, etc, so be it. That is not going to change how I partake in letterboxing.

But I kept reading and read their following post as well. Now, that bothers me. That someone who has never met me, talked to me, or in any other way gotten to know me in the slightest would feel that they could give me a "fatherly" lecture perturbs me to no end. My father would never shake his finger at me~as it were~and tell me to "just get out there and box". Because he knows me and my situation. He and my Mom have however, on many occasions, babysat my children so that I could go out and box. My Dad has gone with me to hunt and plant boxes so that I could feel safe out in the woods alone. My Dad, and my entire family have humored me on family vacations so that I could pick up a few boxes along the way. My Dad has encouraged me that things will get easier as my kids get older. My Dad even helped me pick out my hiking boots. Mark Pepe is NOT my Dad.

The Oracle is ~reluctantly~ IN

This may surprise you, but I have a tattoo. Right across my forehead in big, swirly gold letters it says "ASK ME!" It becomes invisible whenever I look in the mirror, but apparently my kids can see it. There is no other explanation for the myriad of largely unanswerable questions that pelt me all day long. I did the math last week and each child averages 67 questions per day.
Here is a sampling of recent inquiries for your amusement. How many of them could you answer without resorting to the internet--or sarcasm?

"How fast does a Beta fish's heart beat?"
"Why do they always make the words in books black and not other colors?"
"How many days until Christmas?"
"What does 'abrasion' mean?"
"What shape is an antibody?"
"What is the biggest number?"
"If a polygon had one hundred sides, what would it be called?"
"What does 'obliged' mean?"
"How do you say 'Breakfast' in Polish?"
"Do I have a leg-pit?"
"How many days until Christmas?"
"What is the capital of the World?"
"How cold is it on Pluto?"
"Why do they call it Iceland?"
"How many days until Christmas?"
"Why doesn't it lightning during a snow storm?"
"Do Caper and Moppett (the cats) dream?"
"Why does the moon follow us?"
"Why do I have to take a bath when it's not Saturday?"
"Can we go to THE Hotel in Ohio tomorrow?"
"What does 'grateful' mean?"
"Why does God love us?"
"Can we spend the night at Grandma's?"
"How many days until Christmas?"
"If you mixed all the colors together, what color would it make?"
"What is cyberspace?"
"Why does it take so long to grow up?"
"Can I have a pink wedding dress?"
"How many days until Christmas?"


My only question is this: If a tattoo is invisible, can you get it removed anyway?

Happy Cows

Have you seen the commercials about the happy cows? The ones that tell you that real cheese comes from happy cows and happy cows come from California? Well, all of the cows in California are laughing at me.
You see, our family is working on switching over to Whole Foods. Now before you think that this seems very Un-Slacker-like of me, bear in mind that once I've done a bit of leg work, this should be cheaper, healthier, and Less work than what I'm doing now.
One of the things that I have been researching is Raw Certified Milk. Raw Certified Milk is the only milk in the United States, raw or pasturized, that is tested for Salmonella. Since my little brother almost died from Salmonella during the Jewel milk scare back in the 80's, testing is a good thing in my book. That, along with other things that I have read have convinced me that it would be worth it to try it.
Ha. Apparently, our great state has once again decided that We the People are incapable of making wise decisions without their intervention, and the sale of raw dairy products is illegal in Illinois. However...if you own a cow, they cannot prevent you from reaping the benefits of said cow in whatever form you like, processed or otherwise. And it just so happens that there are clubs to join, where for a minimal yearly fee you can own a "membership" in a cow, thus circumventing that particular law. While the thought of being in a "Cow Club" and having a "Cow Card" is just Oh So Far Side, I had to check it out. Basically, you join, place a weekly order, drive over an hour away to a private residence and pick up your milk. At $16 a gallon. And this isn't the certified stuff either, which means I wouldn't consider it at 1/4 that price. It comes in quart jars, which you rinse and return at the next pick up. Not that I'd really know, but this has the feel of an illegal drug purchase to me. But it's just Milk, for crying out loud!!!
Obviously, I have no intention of doing this. It would be cheaper to buy a cow and milk it myself.
Those of you in California that can purchase raw certified milk in the stores, have a glass for me and let me know if its any good. And tell those Alta Dena cows that I can hear them and it's not nice to laugh at people.