just today

Today we got a free swingset. Its the older kind, the kind we had growing up, with rusty metal and bolts that scratched your legs as you tried to scale the side and at least one leg came off the ground if two or more people swung on it at the same time. It is not the fancy fake wood kind with the climbing wall and the slide with a bump so you don't slide too fast. I'm sort of glad about this, as I am that parent who says things like "dirt don't hurt" and encourages physical retaliation between my boys.

My babysitter, who is a cousin (not on my side but she might as well be, I love her) is a frugalista in her own right. She's got three girls and I'd be surprised if any of them got more than an handful of new clothing in their lifetimes. She gardens for food and buys in bulk at the neighborhood meat market. So, when her next door neighbor told her they were getting rid of their swingset to make room for a pool, she offered to take it off their hands, in exchange for having someone come take it out for them (my father in law). He came with his giant truck amd even bigger trailer, hauled the thing away, and we have a new swingset. Swapping rocks.

I have good and bad broccoli news, the good being the little heads that are forming and the bad being the little holes in the leaves.(Caterpillars? Flea beetles?) Off to the garden center...

We have no power right now because of a pretty strong thunderstorm (thank goodness for Blackberrys) so I'm sitting in the dark typing this on my phone. After the storm we saw the most awesome double rainbow- it went all the way from the horizon line to the horizon in the opposite direction, and one was formed so completely that it looked there was an 8th band of white after the violet. The second rainbow was much fainter but even bigger. I took picture but not on my phone so I'll post them later if they came out.

So, that was today.