Wifegrit and I, just the two of us, are off to the beach today for six days. My mom came up here to take care of our boys. They’re still in school, so they’re still on their regular schedule. But Wifegrit and I, we, oh my God, we’re going to relax and chill with no responsibility, no duties, no schedule. Just us, the beach, the pool, the hot tub, the resort room, and nothing more.

Why? Because we need it, we deserve it, and we’ll go absolutely crazy without this break. So I won’t be posting anything else this week. I probably won’t be on the computer at all. I’m disconnecting and turning my brain off.

Y’all have a good week.

Bullgrit

As I write this, (Thursday evening), my brother, Brandon Faulkner, and his band Paperstreet are being interviewed on Rock Mauritius Radio. I’ve mentioned before that my “little brother” is a drummer, (and a drumming teacher), and I’m quite impressed with and proud of his talent and experience with the instrument. (Is a whole drum set considered one instrument?) To show him off a bit, here’re some videos:

I think this one shows off his skills really well — this is him with the band Mad Margritt

This video is better quality, (being in a studio instead of on stage)

And this one is Paperstreet, (original music)

I have Paperstreet’s CD, (of course), and I really, honestly like their songs. (You can find them on iTunes. PAPERSTREET is one word, no space.)

I didn’t start this post to write an advertisement for them, but because I really like the music, I sometimes gush about it when the subject comes up. So if this comes across as a commercial, sorry. But if it gets the band(s) even a little bit more attention, well, that’s fine, too.

Bullgrit

Last week, Wifegrit called me at work shouting that there was a “giant snake” trying to get into our garage. She was very upset, so I immediately jumped in my truck and raced home. Unfortunately, it takes me 35 minutes to get home, so by the time I got there she had scared it off into the woods behind our house. I was proud of her even though she admits her scaring it off was by yelling and screaming in terror.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t get home in time to take care of it myself. I wanted to be a hero. *sigh*

But then my chance came a few days later when I was actually already at home. I got the alert that there was a “really big spider” in our garage trying to get into the house proper. Well, I will protect my home and family against any intruder, two legs, no legs, or eight! I rushed downstairs ready to deal with the arachnid intruder.

“Ya broke into the wrong goddamn recroom, didn’t cha, ya bastard!”

OK, okay, I didn’t shoot the monster. (Especially not aiming like that, against that concrete floor.)

I got a paper towel, reached down relatively gently, and scooped it up. I took it out into the far edge of the yard and let it go. So long as the snakes and spiders stay in the yard or woods, out of the house, they’re welcome to do their natural business.

Bullgrit

A long time ago, I designed a grocery list form with Microsoft Word. We can print it out each week, (or every few days it seems), and go through the refrigerator and cupboard checking off things we need to pick up at Food Lion or Target. This has been a pretty helpful thing for everyone in the family, especially when it’s left on the fridge door for anyone to check items as they finish off the last of whatever.

This week when Wifegrit mentioned she was going grocery shopping the next day, Calfgrit8 decided to help her out by filling out the checklist all by himself. He took it and sat down at the kitchen table with a pencil. This is what he checked off for his mom to pick up on her shopping trip:

I’m pretty proud of some of his choices. Grapes, apples, blue berries, peaches, bananas, strawberries. I have to give credit to Wifegrit for our boys’ better-than-average eating habits. They love fruits. Although I like some fruits, too, I’ll too often take a processed snack over a natural one.

But to balance out the healthy fruit choices Calfgrit8 made on this list, I see he actually scribbled out “Frozen Vegetables.” Ha!

I’m not sure what the arrows are for, but I notice the items he had to write in. I’m surprised I missed french toast sticks and gummies on the standard list — they’re regular items in our house. Lunchables and chocolate (chotlete) ice cream are special treats that we don’t always keep around.

I see a couple items that need to be dropped from this check list. The Tropicana Light Orangeade and Pineapple OJ are my items, but I haven’t had either in couple of years. I drink 100% water, now. The Diet Dr. Pepper is Wifegrit’s one vice. (Our boys have never had a soda.)

In addition to having this check list, each Sunday we sit down at the kitchen table with the boys and plan out our dinners for the week. They pick what they want, (main dish plus a side), for each day, Monday through Friday. We write the choices on a note card and post it on the fridge. That makes it easy for whichever of us, (me or Wifegrit — about a 40/60 split), happens to be the one to make dinner that night. And the kids can’t complain about the meal we set in front of them because they specifically chose it.

This combination of dinner list and grocery list has worked out really well for us for as long as we’ve been doing them. I highly recommend this process to anyone with children, (and maybe even for those without kids), as it makes planning and shopping so much easier.

Bullgrit