Valentines and Landscaping

My theory is that fifth graders can get a sugar high just smelling the sweets on Valentine's Day morning. The kids were wired from the get-go on Tuesday and took an flying leap into their party in the afternoon. Party for them was trading Valentines, eating lots of frosting-covered confections, candies, and non-diet soda. And then going back for seconds. Twice! I had four moms who did a great job putting out the spread for the kids. One of the moms found some wax lips, which were a great hit! I put up with the goofiness for about 35 minutes and then we went outside for recess. The idea was that they would run off some of the sugar high, but there was just too much to overcome. That's why we do the party at the end of the day -- I sent them home!

We have a fund raiser / auction for the school coming up in two weeks. Each classroom is responsible for a themed basket that is bid on in the silent auction part of the evening. I had mentioned to one of the moms a while ago that I'd like to get a motorcycle again some day, so they came up with the theme of Born to be Wild for our basket. It has a Harley theme, including the Steppenwolf CD with Born to Be Wild on it! Lots of Harley memorabilia, etc. in the basket, which should make it really fun. The prime mover mom saw a unique gift in a store and "just had to get it" for me. The hog riders bob up and down to the tune of - you guessed it - Born to Be Wild, along with assorted motorcycle sounds. My fifth graders ask to turn it on at least twice a day...Sure beat the usual chocolate and coffee Valentine gifts from the kids!

Last Saturday I decided to re-do the path that goes from the driveway around the garage to the gate by the side of the house. There were 12 inch stepping stones that were covered over with grass and some stones had been rocking on tree roots. I pulled up the stones, all 20 of them, and then spent 3 hours cutting through tree roots, re-setting the stones, and adding more dirt to really landscape the whole business. Sunday morning when the sprinkler system came on, it was clear that I had cut more than tree roots. I had whacked the PVC of the sprinkler system badly with my axe. Water poured out, geysered dirt all over the place, and basically ruined my Saturday's work. So I re-set the sprinkler system, pulled up the stones, and started digging. I did the "find the silver lining" thing and put in a new sprinkler head since I had things apart anyway. Finished last evening just about dark and (smart guy that I am) tested the fittings before I filled in the trenches. Sure enough, two more holes blew dirt and water skyward. Sooo, tonight I dug out some more sections and found the offending holes. Tomorrow I'll repair these breaks and put in another new head. And then put the stepping stones back. Fortunately, PVC fittings are inexpensive and I have many feet of plastic pipe left by the former owners. Maybe he was a pipe whacker too!