Everyday Life

I was born (I think) with an inquiring mind and a desire to know practically everything.

I am, unfortunately, bound through most of the week to focus my mind on the most pertinent and practical pieces of information. Thus, I squelch the inquiring impulses and let a thousand questions remain unanswered as the week rolls along.

But, come Saturday, I now have time to explore the multitudes.

So I click the twitter link to Instapundit’s short post about looking Presidential in high school.

Which led me to the post he was linking to with pictures of current Republican presidential candidates in high school.

Which led me to ask who the 2012 Republican presidential candidates are.

Which led me to discuss with my sister how young Jeb Bush truly is–and how he has plenty of years in front of him to aspire to the presidency. We determined that the presidency is generally the peak of one’s political career, and need not be sought until one is about ready to retire from politics.

Which led me to wonder, which president was it who then became a Supreme Court Justice?

The moment I said Teddy Roosevelt, I knew it was wrong. The former leader of the “Rough Riders” would certainly not be a sit-behind-a-bench sort of guy.

The answer, of course, was perfectly apt.

William Howard Taft (“Tipping in at 400 lbs?” I wondered) was, of course, the man who went from sitting president to sitting Supreme Court Justice.

Which led me to question exactly how much William Howard Taft actually weighed.

Turns out, much less (65 lbs less) than I had guessed.

Then, I decided to write this all up for your entertainment.

Except that when I got to the Jeb Bush part, I wondered exactly how old Jeb Bush really is.

I also took a brief break in the writing of this post to use the restroom and to read a chapter from 1001 Gruesome Facts by Helen Otway, where I learned, among other things, that:

“Scot David Evans was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment for using a wet fish as an offensive weapon. He had slapped a passerby on the face with it.”

This is a pretty typical Saturday.

Except that I am.

Or maybe I’m not.

I haven’t been online much lately…

not for any reason in particular, just for lots of reasons in general.

Reason 1?

My little brother came home from boot camp for his ten day leave starting last weekend–meaning that I spent the weekend in Lincoln with family.

Reason 2:

I am exhausted. Whether my all-too-active brain lets me sleep or not, I definitely haven’t had a lot of extra energy for anything extra.

And apparently the internet counts as extra.

Actually, pretty much anything but falling asleep on a book counts as extra.

I hope I catch another wind soon, ’cause this gets old really quickly.

Reason 3:

I have nothing to write about. (That is, nothing coherent to write about.)

Thanks to reason 1, I have had fun events occurring in my life. But thanks to reason 2, I have not even thought about how those fun events might turn into fun stories.

Thanks to reason 2, I have been reading. But thanks to reason 2, I have not felt like reviewing.

So, there you have it.

That’s why I’m not here.

“Rebekah, do you know my daughter?” she asked.

I racked my brain trying to think if I’d been introduced to this coworker’s daughter. I don’t remember having been.

She continued, “Because she was asking me if I knew you.”

Oh, I thought, so I wouldn’t have met her through her mother.

Then how?

“S– is her mother-in-law.”

My eyes widened in surprise and recognition–and I nodded my head, “Okay, uh-huh.”

I hadn’t met her–but I recognize the connections now, at least.

Daughter-in-law to one of the gals in my Sunday-school-hour “flock” at church, sister-in-law to one of the girls I’m teaching to sew. Okay.

“I guess S–‘s been telling her what a great girl you are–so she’s trying to figure out who to set you up with.”

Wow, I thought, talk about assistance from unexpected quarters.

But I inclined my head and indicated that her daughter’s assistance was not unwelcome.

My coworker offered to screen potential set-ups.

With a laugh, I agreed that this also was welcome.

Wanna hear something gross?

I just took my trash to the dump today…

for the first time all year.

Disgusting, isn’t it?

But here’s the thing.

Even though we’d been collecting trash for three months, we only had three trash cans not quite full. (I probably coulda gotten it into two if I’d tried.)

So the ten dollar minimum fee at the dump comes out to about $3.33 per trash can.

Still a little steep.

Problem is, now that it’s no longer freezing outside, I really can’t wait that long to take trash to the dump. It’ll start to smell long before then.

But ten dollars for the measly bag of trash we collect in a week?

I haven’t priced the trash services around town, but I sorta feel like almost anything would feel like overkill for the wee bit of trash we collect.

So what do you think? How would you deal if you had too little trash to make taking-it-to-the-dump/hiring-a-service-to-take-it-to-the-dump-for-you worthwhile?

He was talking with his friends after the Macarena, discussing what they would do next.

I watched with bemusement, then with surprise, as he lifted his hand, pointed at me, and declared “I want to dance with HER.”

And dance with me he did.

Except for the snowball dance, where we were each forced to seek new partners, he danced with me all night, until he reluctantly said goodbye…

…when his parents said it was time to go home.

He was four.