Peter likes Parrots

Peter is really "into" parrots at the moment. He really wants one for a pet. Unfortunately, he needs to save at least $600 for one, so it may be awhile. We are not allowed to have pets in our rented house but I told him that as soon as he's saved up to $600, we'll start looking for our own house to buy.

Anyway, he just brought home a few books about parrots from the town library. He's reading them diligently. He just came to me a few minutes go...very upset. He told me he was not feeling well. I asked why and he said it was because of one of his library books. I asked which one. Then, as his voice broke and his chin quivered he said, "The one called Gone Forever: The Lost Parrots of America". Oh.

He then burst into tears and quiet sobbing as he lamented over the parrots of America that are now extinct. I asked to see the book and read a quick passage on one of the first pages. It has a lovely picture of the Carolina Parakeet. The passage reads:

One parrot that lived in North America was called the Carolina Parakeet. Parakeets are a species of small parrots with slender tails. The Carolina Parakeet, sadly, is now extinct. It is gone forever. [I think here when you read the word "forever", it is supposed to have a weird echoing afterwards: forEVER ...ever....ever].

Oh man, he has such a tender heart. What's gonna happen when some stupid girl in middle school gives him the brush-off?!

Creepy weird

So I was on my friend, Jessica's, blog today and decided to leave a comment, as usual. My comments are always so full of wisdom and usefulness that I just can't keep them to myself. (Jess, hope you don't mind me borrowing your blog for a minute here). So you know how some bloggers use the word verification feature to make sure there are no spam comments left on their site. It's rare but I have seen it happen so I don't blame anyone for utilizing this feature. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here, and you will see it on the right side. You leave your comment in the comment box and then to verify that you're a real person and not a spamming computer internet site, you have to correctly type in the skewed letters that you see in the box. People can see those letters, computers can't.

Anyhoo, for the first time EVER, I noticed a little handicap symbol underneath the word verification. Then I realized you can click on it. I sat here wrestling with the idea of clicking the handicap icon. I really wanted to click on it. Why is it there? What does it do? I stewed over this for a good 30 seconds. I was thinking it might be wrong to click on it. Like parking in a handicap spot at the library or using the handicap stall in the public restroom. You just don't do that. (OK, maybe I do that sometimes. I like those handrails to help me up off the seat). But here's the kicker: would there be a fine if I clicked it and someone finds out that I'm NOT handicapped? Like parking in a handicap spot? I do, afterall, have asthma. Does that count?

I know you're all dying to know if I clicked on it or not. You're on the edge of your seats. You're holding your breath...Well, I'll tell ya. I did click on it. And I just DARE you to do it. Let me tell you. It was creepy weird stuff. Make sure your speakers are on. And make sure you have some kind of handicap before you click!

Out with the old!

Stuff, that is, not people! Dave and I have been working our fingers to the bone getting rid of STUFF. We've been pulling boxes out of the attic and going through them. So far, we've removed at least 20 boxes and kept only enough to fill 4 boxes. We still have a ways to go but our attic is looking wonderfully empty! We still also need to go through stuff throughout the house but we can get to that in time. For now, when we have people over, I'm gonna say, "Oh please don't pay attention to my messy house...would you like to go up and see my clean attic?" I'm sure that'll be a big hit. Our garbage men are in for a rude surprise when they come to pick up all this trash next Tuesday! I'll try to remember to take a picture of the huge pile!