Some call it dumpster diving.....I call it sheer brilliance.

As the title says, "Some Call it Dumpster Diving."


Here's the story:

Our city does a community spring clean-up every year.
Each zone of the city has a certain week where we throw our old crap out on the curb, and then a few days later big city trucks & bulldozers come clean it up.

You can usually count on the creeps from Creepsville Central crawling out of their hiding places to dig through the junk and load up their trucks before the city haulers come by.



Go ahead & count on the Atwoods to join the kooks.



Shame? I have none.

Self-pride? Never heard of it.

Embarrassment? On the contrary, I'm quite proud.

In fact, I actually had a full on conversation with a man whose pile I was perusing.
Very friendly chap.

I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow, the A-Team has scored a new low."

Not true.
We're just smarter than the average consumer.


Why pay $49.99 for a slide when a perfectly good used one for 0 dollars works just as well?
Why pay $44.99 for a darling picnic table when I can snag one for zip?
Why pay $43 for a new Little Tikes bike when girlfriend will grow out of it in a year?

Answer me those questions & I will quell my rummaging in the future.


Here's what we scored
for absolutely FREE!




I love that my friends think of us when city clean-up comes to town.
Thanks for all the leads, KJ!

A little Magic Show for you

I warn you...

you won't believe your eyes.

First I shall show you this:

OOOOOO!

And next this:

AHHHHHH!

And for the final act --- THIS:

AMAAAAAAAZE-ING!

Thank you Mr. Clean.

If I weren't happily married I'd Google you then track you down.

Celebrating the birth of my Tat

What does Tyler want for his Birthday?
Same thing he asks for EVERY year.

"For you, my wife,
to not spend any money on me."

I know, I know - we're a super exciting bunch around here.

So he got some love in the form of food, fun, & friends....
all receipt-less (relatively speaking).

Exhibit A:

Breakfast in bed




Exhibit B:

A visit to Avy's gym class






Exhibit C:

His choice for din-din --- tri-tip & sauteed veggies



Exhibit D:

Ice-cream cake --- but since BR costs an arm & a leg, wifey did a quick imitation.
It tasted just as good, don't worry.
And to go with the dee-lish dessert,
we had our lovely friends J & H stop on by for a round of
Ticket to Ride.





If you're wondering why I love Tatty so much,
feel free take a gander at any of the following posts.

You be the Judge


Tyler's non-brownie point quote of the day



The Tale of Tat's Toe


The Fox I Married Almost 4 Years Ago


I've realized that I get the best responses from you all on the posts about Tyler.
Go figure.
I assume you all love the Birthday Boy as much as I do.

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!
Thanks for giving me such good material for my blog.

Oh, & thanks for making me the happiest girl in the world.

Bye Bye BOB...sob, sob, sob

Alright, who's the wise guy that thinks he can sneak up to the front of my house,
squeeze between my car and the garage,
and run off with my jogger stroller?


Huh? Fess up you thief you!

Thanks to you and your sticky fingers I had to rough the terrain of the hills today with my Graco.

Bye, Bye, Bob.




You've served our family well for the past 18 months.

Sure I bought you for a steal at a garage sale.
And sure, maybe my plan was to use & abuse you then post you on craigslist for more than I paid for you.

But regardless, through it all, you've been a tremendous exercise buddy.

You'll be missed.

And to the thug
that thinks he can just take whatever looks appealing to his little beady, integrity-less eyes, I'm concocting a trap to reel you back in and capture you.


So be wise, oh naughty one, be wise.

A Girl & Her Hat.

As sauntering through Target, Avycakes started squealing with glee and screaming:

"HAT! HAT! HAT!"

So what's a mother to do on a rainy day, but get her the hat?

However, I'm not a complete pushover.

She did keep screaming, "Mommy, HAT!" all through Target, insisting I wear the hat.

Come on, I have a bit more self-pride than to prance around

Tar-jay with a toddler's $1 wide-brimmed hat resting gently on my head.

So she got the hat, but I wouldn't wear it.

She has been in complete love with this awesome hat since we paid for it at the register.

She wore it in the car.

She wore it all through our Baskin Robbins visit.

She wears it when she plays.

And she wears it when she wakes up.

By golly, this might just be the best buck I've ever spent.

No, I take that back.

The Nabisco Snak Sak of Golden Vanilla Oreos is probably the best buck I've ever spent.

Proper Gym Etiquette

This post is for the gal on the eliptical next to mine:


Sweetie, I'm sure you're a doll & a very nice person...
you just need a bit of training on proper gym etiquette.

I'll take on this responsibility.

1-
If you're sick- ie: coughing & sneezing & sniffling-
then please refrain from public incubating grounds --- like a gym.

For all I know, the girl 2 feet away from me making all these disgusting sounds may have
SARS ,or even Bird Flu.


Something I do know is that whatever you've got, I am not interested in sharing your
communicable disease.

2-
If you must work-out despite your ailment,
I applaud your strength & determination.
However, rather than infesting me & others around, maybe you could stop the spread...

3-
...by wearing this:




or this:




or for an even better sweat session, maybe even this?



Just some food for thought.
And that concludes our Gym Etiquette Session.