I Zubbert You

Anybody else remember the Cosby family using that phrase? Man that was a great show...

It's a Sign of the Times

Don't you love that Petula Clark song?

Anyway, here's my actual point: Meredith dug through the paper recycling basket this morning and found some junk mail that she liked. She then stomped around the house declaring "I got e-mail, Mommy."

Not quite, honey...

Baby on Board

....the party barge, that is. Meredith had her first boating experience this weekend, and she was thrilled. She loved wearing the life jacket (I guess it IS an accessory of sorts), she loved using the ladder to get on and off the boat (hundreds...nay, thousands of times), she loved floating on her back in the water, she loved going "real real fast" and, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, she LOVED calling the turtles. Big thanks to our friends the Mills for putting us up at the lake, feeding us incredibly delicious food, and just altogether taking care of us while we were away from Daddy, who had a trial held over the weekend.

Here's a pic that Gigi took of Mer relaxing. She didn't want me to touch her at all -- wanted to be free as the fishies.



Here, Mer and Walt wait with bated breath for Landon to make the boat go fast.



Mer adored baby Henry, and sometimes she even let him go a few seconds without trying to pick him up or steal his paci.

Sometimes I'm Surprised by the Things that Bring Me Joy

First, let me say that I loved my husband's debut on the blog (see below) so you should just read that again if you want to read something funny instead of something incredibly geeky.

From the day we moved to Memphis from Boulder and I started unpacking my moving boxes, I've been bummed that Memphis didn't recycle paperboard and corrugated cardboard. These are the BIG things that fill up your trash can (all those cereal boxes!). I even thought about using the Starbucks cardboard recycling bin, but decided that might be a little over the top.

Yes, I love the planet. But more than that, I hate to waste anything. So I'm really excited that the city is now going to recycle paperboard. That means all those boxes of Wheat Thins, Cheerios and granola bars are no longer going to the land fill. And moving boxes too!

So -- if you live in Memphis, please jump on the paperboard recycling train. Directions below. And thanks for allowing me to be a geek about this.

Memphis is adding cardboard to its curbside recycling program. The city currently recycles newspaper, office paper, mail, catalogs, jars, aluminum cans and plastics. "But so much paper was being left in the waste stream," said Andy Ashford, Memphis recycling and composting administrator. "This is something that people have been asking for and we've been wanting for a long time," he said. Now the city will take corrugated packaging and paperboard, including moving boxes, shoe boxes, gift boxes and cereal boxes. Exceptions include wax-coated juice and milk cartons and "contaminated" cardboard such as soiled pizza boxes. The expansion is a partnership between the city and International Paper, which first approached the city and worked out details of how to sort the cardboard during the processing. Cardboard collections will be curbside only. Drop-off sites are not set up to accept cardboard. The City of Memphis began citywide recycling program in 1995. About 33 percent of residents participate each week. Memphis receives $25 per ton for the recyclable material it sends to a private processing firm, FCR of Tennessee, said public works director Jerry Collins. The city saves nearly $20 in disposal costs for every ton diverted from landfills.
More info:
Remove box contents, including plastic.
Flatten the box, and cut or tear it (no folding) to no larger than 24 by 48 inches.
Put it in the recycling bin or stack it at the curb under the bin.

Meredith's Uncle Dan and his Dead Rabbits

This rare photo, depicting Uncle "Crazy Irish" Dan and his gang, was taken at Irish's wedding. This is the only known photo of Irish, his underboss, Chris "The Persecutor" Lareau, Irish's consiglieri, Brian "Three Knuckles" Winkelman, and all of Irish's capos. Irish's underboss and consiglieri run the entirity of Irish's U.S. operations while Irish spends the majority of his time abroad on "mission trips."

The bearded monster in the background, "Tiny" Sipes, and the gentleman on Tiny's right, Tommy "Two Guns," are rumored to be responsible for some of the most brutal murders in the Los Angeles ghetto of El Segundo. Additionally, the two of them control Irish's cock fighting operations in the Ozark Mountains. The man on the far right, known only as, "Spicoli Red Eyes," oversees Irish's Peruvian drug trade as well as Irish's grip on the construction unions. FBI files indicate that the man in glasses, "Lindy" Lindstrom, is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Lindy is Irish's connection to the Old World. Lindy served six years in an English prison for his role in multiple IRA bombings. The man to Irish's immediate left is Joey "All Eyebrows." Eyebrows has been Irish's bodyguard for several years. Irish once gave Eyebrows a holster made of African Rhino in celebration of Eyebrow's successful assassination of a rival boss, Ericimo "the Chacher" Bursey.



Meredith should be so proud of her father and uncle. I know her mother is. Or she better be or this will be The Persecutor's first and only post.

Off the Grid

We love Colorado, 'cause it offers you the chance to get "off the grid" with little effort. See below picture, where the GPS in Chris' grandmother's car proves by its blankness that we are, indeed, off the grid. Yes, we're well aware that if you're in your grandmother's fancy GPS equipped car, you can't be too far off the grid, but the point still stands...you can get to the mountains and smell the fresh air, even if you do have a tiny one in tow.



The traditional "umbrella stroller held aloft" pic of Meridy and Chris in CO.

Chris and me with his dad and uncles on top of Pikes Peak. Don't be impressed, we took the train. But it WAS cold and we did risk threat of lightening strike to take the photo.


Taking pictures makes mommy happy...

Meridy leads Grandpa and Daddy up the mountain.


View of Broadmoor shortly before we got off the grid.


Chris and Mer with his dad and his precious sister Kayle.

Fun in Colorado

You might expect a post with this title to include pictures of the mountains or the forest. But remember, we're hanging out with an almost-2-year-old. All we need is a pair of kitchen gloves.


Sorry I didn't get a picture with her walking around in these. Trust me, it was as hilarious as you imagine.

Okay, I was just holding out on you. Here's a picture of Chris, his brother and the groomsmen enjoying more typical Colorado fun. Chris is the one with the big, cheesy, thumbs up. Surprise...