Why I Oughta...

The City of Elmhurst came by and marked our tree with a big white "X" signifying that they intended to take our tree down and replace it with some little tiny baby tree. I've been in touch with the Forestry Division of the City of Elmhurst and it looks like we might be able to find a way to move forward without killing the tree.

Hauled in the first *real* tomato that wasn't an early variety or grape/cherry with that very pretty Golden Jubilee .   Those medium-sized red ones are from a plant that The Babe picked out herself called "4th of July" that is breed to ripen early.  Although we didn't get them by the 4th, I blame the fact that I got them in the ground in late May to be the cause, not the plant. Also, our Zucchini plant continues to throw off enormous fruits that we can't keep up with.  I put a few of these outside on our curb with a sign that said "Free Zucchini" and they were snatched up within the hour.  And, those of you with sharp eyes will spot the two cucumbers.  With salads being made around here all the time - and my mom's adoration for cukes - those will be eaten up in short order.  

This is our couch.  And...yes...it is currently located in our garage.  That's a thing, right?  A garage couch?  I hope so.  Because, we bought a new couch for our family room thinking that we'd take this couch downstairs to our recently-finished basement.  Only to find out that it won't fit down the stairs.  Hence, why it is currently sitting in our garage.

There's 20 ounces in a G2.  They list a serving size as 8 ounces.  Meaning there's 2.5 servings per each bottle.  8+8+4=20.   But, somewhere, their calorie math got lost. If there's 20 calories per 8 ounce serving, that leads me to believe that there would be 10 calories per every 4 ounces, right?  So...the first 8 ounces has 20 calories.  The second 8 ounces has another 20 ounces and the last 4 ounces *should* have 10 calories.  That adds up to 50, right? Not according to Gatorade.

Although it is a bit late in the season, we're finally getting our yard in shape for the year.  All my focus has been on the garden while Nat has had her hands full with our two girls.  The beds will be getting mulch in short order and we'll have two expanded beds in the back to fill out with some new plants and shrubs.

Today we celebrated my dear wife on the occasion of her birthday.  We also got together on Thursday (her actual Birthday) to celebrate along with my Mother who shares the same day, but these celebrations at the Moran Household are always very special.  I certainly don't say it enough, but my God, this is one special woman.  She's an amazing wife, a heroic Momma, and a spectacular Best Friend.  Love her more every single day.

This curvy cuke is the first one off the vine this year.  It was in an odd spot hanging off the net trellis and wedged in against the raised bed barrier.  There plants are loaded with little tiny cukes and they mostly look straight as an arrow.

We're sitting on my niece & nephew's goldfish they've named "Goldie" for a few days.  He's sitting on our counter in his (apparently from this photo) not terribly clean bowl. The Babe has been feeding Goldie every morning and has taken to talking to him.  From a parent's perspective, me thinks this might be enough to tell me that taking on a huge fish tank is just not the right move for us right now.  Who knows...maybe I'll get impulsive, but for now I'm going to stay out of the Petco's around town.

Like everybody else in Elmhurst, we've opted into the switch from ComEd to a different electric supplier through the City of Elmhurst.  They've promised some savings, which would be very nice, but I have a feeling that cities and towns that *don't* switch away from ComEd might get their power back on faster than those of us who've spurned them for cheaper rates on power.  I'll be watching my bill for the savings and bracing for the next outage!

Just two and a half weeks ago, I stuck a variety of pumpkin/gourd seeds into the ground in the far reaches of our yard.  After some TLC (once we got back from vacation), we finally have some nice seedlings that have popped up.  I *believe* these are the Boston Marrows, but all three varieties have sprung up seedlings.  Mid-October is going to come fast and we're not getting any luck with rain, so I'm going to have to babysit these with the hose every few days.