A day off - Thank you Veterans!

I have been doing a lot of bragging about NH the last 3 months. I think I need to ramp it up though. So far only one friend/family member has been persuaded. Candice and 

Peter. 

So here's another reason. It's the number one thing around here. . . if you ask me. And if you're reading this and think "Oh gross, give me a break" then maybe we wouldn't be such great neighbors after all, so don't bother. 

I am talking about The Dump. New Hampshire offers the general public a far better option than goodwill or the garbage man.  Near our house is the city Transfer/Recycling Station aka - the Dump. 

But it's not just a Dump. It is so much more.  It's a STORE. Really! There is a building that things are organized in. It is like one awesome yard sale held twice a week. . .  but it is all for. . . FREE. They call it the swap shop. And it is a busy place. Volunteers from the community take shifts there sorting and organizing the donations during a 6 hour shift twice week when the Dump is open for business. I can't believe all the stuff I have found there. I'm looking around my house for reminders now. Sewing desk, Deck Chairs, Wood Rocking Chair, Nice baby changing table that I grabbed (just in case) but refashioned into a laundry folding station that is saving my life, Reader's Digest Piano Books that I grew up and love and have been trying to find on Ebay for years. . And That's just the beginning. Sometimes I pick up a Little Tykes Play kitchen or Basketball hoop, etc. just for the week then return it to swap for something else. I don't even know how yard sales stay in business in this state thanks to our sweet dump.  I even joined the volunteer list and will be pulling a three hour shift thanksgiving weekend. 

So, if you're cool like me and all about free. . . look into the Live Free or Die State.

I am so dead when my two tweens see this post. They really hate it when I talk like "a Cheapo".

Last weekend Savannah was there shopping away and saw a kid from her school there at the Dump, which as you can imagine, was totally embarrassed to be seen by her peers at the dump.  She took off for the van and didn't even listen when I pointed out, "Come on, he's in there too!" 

But the truth is they love the dump every bit as much as their mother. How do I get them to get their Saturday morning chores done every morning in a timely manner. "You guys have one hour and I'm headed to the dump. Whoever's not done by then won't be coming along." 

Of course I actually hate bringing them along but I always keep in mind the fact that on it's open again on Tuesday while the kids are away at school. This is important because that is the day you can sneak into their room and retrieve anything to return to the dump. 

So Caroline found her a pair of rollerblades there last weekend and has been taking advantage of our lack of carpet in our home. I wasn't letting them skate much around here in case it was bad on the rental floors. But Yesterday was Veterans Day and we were all home just hanging around when Brent decided that it was a great thing to do indoors. He even went as far as to set up an indoor race track. All our furniture (mostly from the dump, though I will say that I draw the line at couches. No dump couches or cushy chairs. We are anti-bed bugs, and smoke or pet smells around here) was pushed up against the walls and the course was set.  Caroline went first and set the time to beat at 35 seconds.I

Kennon was studying below in her room and had come up several times to scream at us all about the racket, but eventually she just joined in. The race began on Marcus's bed and continued down the hall, around the coffee table then into the dining room and around the table there. Then back again to Marcus's bed. I always feel like the party pooper because Brent is hands down more fun but this time I really did have an excuse. No size 9 rollerblades. But tomorrow is Saturday and I'll keep my fingers crossed that some size 9 woman around here is ready to donate them to my new favorite store.

Marcus doesn't have rollerblades either. But he strapped on his drum and squeezed in between heats down the hallway.

 

The hardest part was keeping the runways clear. After drumming for a while, Marcus grabbed the broom and kept shooting it out of the kitchen doorway. Luckily no one was decapitated or swept off their feet.

  

Here is Kennon's action shot. She was pretty good. . but not good enough. 

  
To beat her little sister Savannah.  Savannah is extremely competitive and just kept racing the course until she had it down to 16 seconds.  That was when Brent decided to strap on his blades.

We all know who Savannah got her competitive streak from. Just look at the determination in his eyes. So intent on the prize. Beating his 11 year old daughter. In the end he triumphed beating Savannah by 1/2 a second.

 This is an action shot from later in the day. We had a very late in the season campfire. Savannah's marshmallow had just melted off her stick and had a brief stint on my hot dog.

 We decided that fall weenie roasts are much preferable to summer. No mosquitoes and a warm fire is much more appreciated when they are needed for warmth. I

I brought out hot chocolate to encourage lingering and Brent remarked while taking this picture that I was looking very New Hampshiry which is such a compliment I am sure since I have told him many times that none of the women around here wear makeup let alone heels. It has been described to me as "crunchy" which I think means All Natural and comfy. I am still wearing mascara but I like it that I'm not the only one in sneakers anymore.  

 

 Later we all frosted cupcakes for the first time with Savannah's dump find. This is the stupidest invention EVER. It's called a Cupcake Maker but as it turns out all it is capable of doing is frosting the cupcakes. You have to make cupcakes on your own the old fashioned way. They do provide a cup to make them in the microwave but that also seemed like a big waste of time. Once the cupcakes are ready you get to use the machine. You load your frosting into a gun, then shoot it into this contraption, start pumping until the the frosting squeezes out, usually missing the cupcake. It took about 15 minutes for us to assemble, load, and frost three cupcakes. That doesn't count the time it took to make cupcakes first. Once we had our fun I threw the cupcake maker (hah!) in the our trash can.  That way I didn't have to clean out all the frosting and I was saving some other family the trouble.  I didn't feel a bit guilty at the time.  All seven of us agreed that the cupcake maker was so worthless it wasn't even dump worthy. Then,  I saw them tonight on clearance at Walmart for $15 and felt a little guilt about my wastefulness.

 Then finally to cap off the Veterans Day off Work/School, Brent and I went on our weekly date. It isn't always weekly but it usually is on Thursday since that is the last day of Brent's work week. We decided to bring our soon to be 9 year old along to celebrate her birthday. She wanted steak and mashed potatoes and peas/ lima beans or edamame (her three favorite greens that she literally salivates over). I had a free coupon for an appetizer at Texas Roadhouse and that was the deciding factor . Camille got the steak and potatoes but will have to have accept an I OWE YOU on the peas. 

They placed her on the saddle and announced to the whole restaurant that CAMILLE WAS HAVING A BIRTHDAY which thrilled her to death. She didn't get a free sunday though. In a completely perfect world we would have a Red Robin in NH .

I ordered a side salad as my dinner to keep us in our date budget to offset Camille's kid's size steak.

Camille as always was a complete sweetie and felt truly spoiled to eat steak at a restaurant with Mom and Dad. Unfortunately the bar has been set now for all other birthdays.  No more getting away with a quiet dinner at home.