The Good Earth

Enterprising Son
Ron was very excited when I picked him up from middle school one evening last week.

“I can’t wait until Saturday, Mom.”

“Why?” I asked while skimming our calendar in my head.

“Because that’s when my new Dell computer arrives!”

It seems that he ordered a computer during class instead of researching his health paper. At $18 a month, he figured he could pay for it with his allowance. No computer was delivered yesterday and Ron got a lesson in contracts, debt and ordering from the Internet.

An aside: Dell has no customer service e-mail link on their site, so I had to face voice-mail hell. I just couldn’t figure out what number to push to cancel an order placed by a minor.

Sledding
I took the boys sledding last week. By the time homework and dinner was done, it was dark outside. It was still early though and there was an almost full moon. We bundled up against the single digit weather and waddled down to the Big Hill by the Big Pond. How can I share the sensory overload of the brisk air, the full moon shining off the snow, the thrill of a fast ride, the adrenaline-laced squeals of the twins? I was a little sore the next day – whether from rolling down the hill when I fell off the sled or from crawling up the hill with my sled or just the protests of an aging body.