Paper or plastic? It's paper all the way

Paper lunch bags may not be all that environmental compared with insulated, reusable ones but they are cool and that's important at a certain age. They were all we had when I was young and today they are also paying big dividends for Mom (more on that in a minute).

The boys don't want to bring their LLBean insulated lunch bags to school anymore because they are NOT cool. I personally don't see what the problem is, really. Matthew told me that only some of the 7th grade girls still bring the insulated bags. Oh yes, these boys are hip with their brown bags. And I should have seen this coming last year when Michael would sneak his packed lunch out of the insulated bag and surreptitiously transfer it to a paper one.

Being cool is very important. And if you're not, I can't help you.

When I explained that all this wasn't very environmentally friendly, they suggested they could bring the brown bags home to re-use. (I haven't seen evidence of this yet.)

Confession: This made me remember Mary Darling, who we judged very harshly for this as caddy girls in 6th grade. I can see her wrinkled lunch bag carefully folded up flat, on top of her pile of school books to this day. Mary, I would respect you now.

There is an upside of all this brown paper bag trash. For some reason (it probably has to do with all the 'weird' and probably uncool things I would put in their lunches), the boys are now packing their own lunches! Can you spell Hallelujah? There are a couple of different ways . . .

Confession: I would sometimes put things in the boys lunches that they might not always eat at home because I know when I am at work and away from the cornucopia of food choices at home - I will eat almost anything.

Unrelated thoughts

• Daniel found a patch of wild time while peeing in the brush before a soccer game. I am not kidding, I verified that it was thyme. What 7 year old boy recognizes this herb in a pile of weeds?


• I confess my driver's license has listed me at 142 since high school. I was 142 or less ONCE in those 30 years. You gotta have hope, right?


• "I got only 2 wrong on my assessment," Daniel explained. "What's that?" I asked. "You don't know what an assessment is?" he asked playfully and somewhat incredulously. This boy may have a career as a politician . . . .or a botanist. Time will tell.

There's an omnivore in the house

There is a nectarine missing from this bowl.

I didn't know dogs ate fruit - well I did really because as a girl, our labs and golden retrievers would follow me around with the hopes of eating my apple core or the end of my carrot. These used to be snack foods - not sure if kids today even know what the end of a carrot is. Anyway, back to dogs and fruit, let me rephrase - I didn't know dogs ate fruit right out of the fruit bowl, until recently. Recently, that is when I discovered a missing nectarine from the fruit bowl and Buster with it out on the deck, munching away. You see, Buster has a very bad or is it smart? habit of getting his paws right up on the counter and helping himself to what he wants. This includes the compost, butter, fruit bowl, drinking glasses, dishes, you name it. Don't leave an apple out on the counter - it will get confiscated by an omnivorous canine.

In the another great habit category - Buster, when wet, likes to dry himself off on people's pants legs or the curtains. Isn't that cute?

Speaking of canines - Toto nipped at another victim. This 'nip' created a couple pin size holes in the boys shirt. The boy was scared of Toto, making too much eye contact, recoiling and Toto growled and bit his shirt. Good thing for clothing. That was that. My best hope is to give young, fearful visitors handfuls of steak to re-program Toto's anxiety about strangers in the house. Outside, he 'seems' better . . .

Unrelated thoughts

• What's worse than gray hair - a bad dye job. A friend waved to me at a crowded restaurant from a good 60 feet away and I could easily see the skunky strip where her roots would be.


• Thank you to my women friends who I will call my e-support group. It helps get me through the day.


• My boss likes me to use a bigger, bolder font in email. He thinks it looks more important. For this reason, perhaps bigger is better and makes more of an impression.


• Seen on school medical form: Check all that apply - absence of one lung.


• When I complained about a certain 'control freak' at work, the boys declared "You become the control freak." Isn't that supportive of my guys?


• In the bad karma department - my mother dismantled my grandmother's engagement ring - as well as one of my favorite, tangible memories of my grandmother. She took the emerald out and put it in gaudy yellow gold. That Tiffany setting will never be the same. This ring was really how most of us remember my grandmother but mom couldn't look at it without thinking of Gram's bony finger. Well, well, well that new ring with the old emerald has gone missing, stolen she thinks. It doesn't really matter how. But don't worry, my mom still has Gram's old ring with a nice amethyst replacement stone. Yuk.


• Stories from Mom when visiting this summer: -She thought she heard Daniel howling like a wolf one night. My guess it was the coyotes in the nearby woods. -She brought and thought about mixing up some 15 year old spinach dip from a packet. This would be presented to ladies coming over for drinks - my mother bought this dip from one of them who owned a store that closed some 15 years ago. I did not allow her to make this dip. She thought it would be interesting . . . who keeps packets of spinach dip for 15 years and brings them on trips? -Finally, she related how her family had chickens and a duck growing up. She and her brother would fight over the duck egg and often end up breaking it. "Why my parents never thought of alternating who got the duck egg, I don't know," Mom explained. A very good point.

Signs of Intelligence

Is Buster (the new dog) smart or stupid? You be the judge. O.K., yes, he's kind of goofy but in a loveable and affectionate way. And with his new haircut he looks a bit like a cartoon character - Deputy Dawg, perhaps.

As I said to Michael, how stupid can a dog be that knows how to open the slider? - both the screen door and the glass door, mind you.

The screen is easy. He kind of gets his long nose in there and pushes it to his right. So that doesn't demonstrate tremendous intelligence. But the glass door, that is something else entirely. He rubs his body right against the door - pushing against the glass for firm contact and he slides himself along side it backwards to open it. Smart, right?

If he wants to investigate something like the countertop or the trash, he does so my standing on his hind legs or nosing his way into the cabinet to get at the trash. No matter how many times you tell him NO, he continues to do what he wants.

My friend Nan says Labradoodles (a mutt really) have no remorse. Perhaps he is just compartmentalizing aka. Bill Clinton. I actually think be might be a Houndoodle (not a real breed) as he was rejected from the puppy mill.

Since we returned from vacation, Buster has peed in the house at least twice, that I know of. Once, after eating his dinner outside on the deck, he let himself back in the house and peed and pooped on the rug - in the same vicinity he apparently used while we were away. Smart, huh?

Then he did it again, continuing his business even with my repeated banging of a spoon on the dining room table. Like I said, he does what he wants. . .

And that includes:

-Coming when called! (Biscuits help)
-Chewing pencils, shoes, recycling (especially cardboard), etc.
-Barking to come in the house
-Trying to climb in human laps
-Excess affection, exhuberance for human owners
-Sitting/resting on human feet for maximum contact
-Running away from irritated humans (with the TV remote in his mouth, for instance)
-Scaring chickens after repeated warnings
-Latching on to Toto's tail (and not letting go)
-Eating freshly picked garden string beans from the collander,while reclining atop the outdoor table