April Foolishness

My Dilbert calendar says it's been about a month since my last post. I don't see anything wrong with that, because that's what I've been averaging, and I like to keep peoples' expectations low. But just so you don't think we've been goofing off this whole time, here's a little recap. (I'd also like to point out that it's possible to change the date something was posted, so I could make it look like I update this all the time. But I have too much integrity to do something like that ;)

Jessica flew for the very first time when we went to visit my parents. As you can see from the video, she took to it like a natural. This was the first time my parents got to meet Jessica, and they've never seen such smart, beautiful children in their entire lives. In case you think they're biased, Sally's parents and grandmother agreed when we visited with them. Jessica did well with the driving and flying, so it's good to know we have two good travelers. Now we just need to get her a passport for our annual Canadian vacation this summer.





It was fun being in a place that has great food like Skyline Chili, Chick-fil-a, and McAllister's, but it took the trip home to really remind us how different things are in RI. First, the kid sitting next to me was scared to death of flying. He's a culinary student who attended some convention in Cincinnati, and evidently he'd never been on a plane before. On a clear blue day with no turbulence and a completely uneventful flight, he assured me he had no intentions of ever flying again. He said he'd be happy to just stay in RI. It didn't make him feel any better when I told him that this was Laura's 32nd flight in 3 1/2 years. But the real kicker was after we landed in Providence. We decided to treat ourselves and go to Macaroni Grill since it's near the airport. The only problem with that plan is that the only Macaroni Grill in RI is now closed! It's just like Krispy Kreme all over again. I still can't believe people love Dunkin Donuts so much that they ran the world's best donuts right out of town. The worst is that whenever we tell Laura we're going to the zoo, she asks if we're going to Krispy Kreme first, because that used to be our Saturday morning tradition :(

Then I made a compost bin to celebrate Earth Day. Actually, it just happened to get completed on Earth Day. It was less an exercise in remorse over my environmental impact and more an excuse to use my router! Here's a picture:



In another attempt to offset my family's emissions, I recently renovated my closet and chose to add carbon offsets to the list of improvements. I used a method called "carbon sequestering". Normally you may think of CO2 gas getting pumped into abandoned mines, but you don't have to do anything that big to help out the environment. I lined my closet with cedar planks to ensure the carbon dioxide those trees spent years absorbing will stay forever locked in my closet. It also smells nice when I open my closet door.



For those of you interested in offsetting your own carbon emissions, I am willing to take on another sequestering option by installing hardwood floors throughout the house when our carpet wears out. If you send me money, I will write your name on the bottoms of the boards before installing them, and you can feel good about doing your part to save the earth. Maybe we can win a Nobel Prize together.