Sam's California Adventure

Let me tell you a little story by way of introduction. Most of you are probably familiar with Boxing Buddies. And most of you have probably seen the commercial where the dad takes his little daughter's monkey on a business trip with him. If you combine those two ideas you will have a pretty good understanding of how Sam the Lion was created. My recent trip to Sacramento (sans children) caused a little bit of sadness (understandably) on the part of the 6yo. Her solution (which I thought was brilliant) was to send Sam with me on the trip, with a promise from me that he would go everywhere I went and get his picture taken.

So...

What is a trip to CA without stopping at In-N-Out?

Sam wanted to pick oranges from the neighbor's tree...

... got cootied at the Meet n Greet (another post on that later)

...Ate at Ludy's BBQ in Woodland. If you are ever in the area, this place is a must. Yummy!

...wrangled Crocodiles...

... helped fly the plane home...(ps-I Love you, Southwest!)

...and finally tired himself out.

There are several obvious advantages to vacationing with a stuffed animal. You don't have to feed them, they never whine and you can stuff them in your backpack when they are a nuisance. They also represent a little piece of home that you can take with you everywhere and they remind you of your children when you miss them terribly. Thanks for coming along, Sam!

~Al Fin~

LTC Spoiler Alert!!!

It took about two months longer than I had anticipated, but I am extremely happy to announce that the last of the Rainbow Pixies is finally completed. They have been dragged several thousand miles across country in an effort to get them done whenever I had a spare moment to work on them, but the job is complete at last. Any of the cards that I owe will be in envelopes in the mail no later than Wednesday. Additional trades will be arranged shortly thereafter.

As a side note, I should mention that the 6 year old has already found another set of pictures that she thinks would make great stamps. And of course, she's right. But there is more than a dozen of them and my head hurts just thinking about it. She has a letterboxer's eye, if nothing else, and is beginning to want to go out with me. At our favorite nursery yesterday, she saw some really cool boxes and mentioned that they would make great letterbox containers just as I was thinking the same thing myself. Between the two of us, we will never lack for ideas, that's for sure!!

A Banner Day

Ever have one of those letterboxes that you can't quite get to because it is all by it's lonesome in an out of the way place? I've had one on my radar for quite a while and yesterday proved to be the perfect day for that one box.

The girls only like to go boxing with me when atmospheric, physical and emotional conditions are precisely in sync. We had a bunch of errands to run and I picked up a bag of bribery at the store. I slyly told them that I would share the candy with the first two children who volunteered to go with me to find one easy letterbox. There was head nodding and jumping up and down, so we went.

Now for a bit of a history lesson. The historical Illinois & Michigan Canal corridor runs 110 (give or take) miles from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. The DNR maintains trails along much of the old canal tow path. (I have quite a number of boxes slated for the I & M, but that's another story.) I highly recommend that you take some time to explore the link above.
The crushed gravel trail was pleasant to walk on and the weather was perfect. We spent the 1 mile round trip singing silly songs, petting every dog that passed, and discussing the history of the canal and the operation of the locks. Try explaining that without pictures! We also got to see a barge go through the Dresden Lock. We're going to try making a working model of one. I'll let you know how that goes.

We saw several dozen Ruby Crowned Kinglets, which as it turns out, are only in this area during their migration. They were not much bigger than a hummingbird and very brave and adorable. We also saw a Tricolored Heron and a Belted Kingfisher. The Heron would have stood taller than the girls if we had been close enough! Of course, staying true to my alter identity, I find birds utterly captivating.

We rescued the box from the impending doom assigned it by the cachers who found it last, so we felt like heroes. There was a cute hitchhiker in the box too. And...drum roll please...This was my 200th find! I know that's not what my AQ profile says, but it's not counting the super secret black ops boxes. If I told you about those, I'd have to make you disapear.

So, all in all, it was a spectacular day. We only looked for one box, but we made that one really special.

Ultimate Avoidance

You're going to want to sit down for this one. I have discovered the ultimate way to avoid the laundry and it is not what you would expect. Here it is:

• The Best way to avoid the laundry is to do it.

I'll give you a minute to catch your breath and then I'll explain. Feeling okay? Is the lightheadedness going away? Then let me expound upon this profundity.
While I was out in California, I carefully watched my sister-in-law's method of dealing with the dirty clothes. Every day she did a load completely--washed, dried, folded and put away. And if you were not paying attention, it happened fast enough that you might miss it. I decided to try this same method when I got home and discovered several things.

When I do laundry once a week, the dirty clothes pile up. The closet gets full and smelly. When I wash, it takes all day. If I do manage to fold all of it, it takes hours. If I don't fold it, which happens more often, then we are tripping over baskets, heaps and wads of clean clothes in the bedrooms. If, however, I do one load a day--completely, then it's over and done before I have time to feel the pain. It's kind of like ripping off a bandaid. There are no piles on the bed or floor. The closet doesn't smell. And the girls don't gripe about folding a few pieces at a time.

So it would seem that finishing up quickly and not having to look at it or dig through it to find what you need is actually a more effective way of Avoiding the Laundry than just pretending to ignore it but not really being able to escape it.

Aren't paradoxes fun?

*the trading card was made for my by HG of the Shoebee Crew as is called "Hanging the Laundry". When I find the perfect frame it is going on the wall in my laundry room, which happens to be the same blue as this card. :)

101 Uses for a dryer sheet

I've updated the list for the coffee filters and thought it was time to add a new item to our 101 Uses lists. This time, Dryer Sheets!

1. Tie or pin a dryer sheet to your clothing to repel mosquitoes when you are letterboxing. I tuck mine into my cap to keep them away from my face.
2. They also repel ants...
3. ...and mice...
4. ...and yellow jackets...
5. They will take the odor out of books and photo albums.
6. Remove static electricity from your tv or computer screen...
7. ...it also helps keep dust from resettling on those surfaces.
8. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors and tubs.
9. Put one in the vaccum cleaner.
10. Store one in empty luggage to keep them smelling fresh when not in use.
11. Store them in sleeping bags or camping gear.
    
12. Lay them in drawers or on shelves in closets.
13. Put them in the top of laundry hampers...
14. ...or gym bags...
15. ...or tennis shoes...
16. ...or garbage cans...
17. ...or litterboxes...
18. ...or the fridge... (you'd think we had issues with stinkiness, wouldn't you?)
    
19. Run a threaded needle through a dryer sheet to keep it from tangling.
20. Use them to collect pet hair from furniture.
21. Use them to remove baked on food from cookware. Lay a sheet in the pan and fill with water. Let it sit and then wipe off the food. The anti static agent helps break the bond between the food and the dish.
22. Use them to clean up saw dust after sand or drilling.
23. Dust venetian blinds with a dryer sheet.
24. I have used them to control my girls' fly away hair.
25. Rub them on slips, skirts, etc to remove the static.
26. Oh! I almost forgot! You can put them in your dryer too.
    

Your turn!