| June marks the 2 year anniversary of this website. After these 2 careful years of skulking around Red Bluff, mostly in anonymity, I believe I was recognized last night. It was 9:30PM and I was coming home and talking to Joe on the phone. He said that I should pick up something to eat, that the taco salad he and the kids had eaten was probably wilted. I decided to stop at Del Taco's drive-through and get a salad. Now I don't think I need to remind you about what happened on Halloween night, the last time I was at Del Taco...what a disaster! However, I was in the mood for a salad so I looked over their menu and finally decided on a Mexican Caesar salad. I guess I was talking more than the average customer? I was asking about how the salad was made...was it freshly made or was it packaged? Could I order it without tomatoes (salmonella...ugh!)? Stuff like that. Anyway, I drove to the window and paid for it and this guy in the back walked up to the window and put his elbows on the counter, rested his cheek against his palm and just stared at me. "Hello," I finally said. "Hello," he answered in a knowing voice. He just continued to look at me with a smile and then finally said, "I'm Jerry." "Hi, Jerry," I said, wondering what was up...the staring was a little uncomfortable. He tilted his head to the side, continuing to look at me, continuing to smile. "I heard your voice on the speaker and wanted to talk to you." "Okay..." I gave a little laugh. "I knew it!" he said triumphantly. "I knew you would have that laugh. I told everyone, I'm gonna talk to her, I know she's gonna have that laugh." I put a clueless look on my face. "What laugh?" I couldn't help it, I laughed again. "That laugh!" He just smiled and kept looking at me. When it was all over, I left, not entirely sure what that little exchange was about. What do you think? Do you think that the Del Taco employees have seen the video of me ordering their big fat meal? I am sure that they have had customers tell them they are on a local website...and youtube. I guess I was laughing on the video. Yeah, it's a pretty distinct laugh. Plus my speaking voice sounds like a puppet. Hmmm.....I think Jerry suspected I was that customer but for some reason didn't have the guts to come out and actually ask me? Jerry, if this was the case, you missed your opportunity. It was me. Perhaps I've been properly punished now for doing that to a local business. It's all in good fun, people! However, when I left the drive-through, I felt a little paranoid. Guess I won't be going to Del Taco again! even though the salad was good... Other stuff... Daisy had a big birthday bash earlier this month. She invited her friends over for a pool party and we had a BBQ. She ended up with about 10 kids there and I was amazed at how sweet all of her friends are. For her present, Joe and I bought her this Baby Alive doll. This doll can blow a party blower (is that what those annoying things are called?) and can blow out a fake candle on a plastic cupcake. This doll also drinks from a sipper cup and then pees its diaper. Daisy was overjoyed at the sight of the wet diaper. However, this left me with a dilemma. Now the diaper was wet and it was the only one the doll had. I went to the Walmart Supercenter and found that a pack of 6 Baby Alive diapers costs $5.50. However, Preemie Pampers were on sale for $4.00 for a pack of 20. I decided these would fit the doll and at the rate Daisy was sure to use them, this would be a better choice. But what about the earth, I began to wonder. Don't we have enough diapers from real babies sitting in the landfill? Should dolls be contributing to our environmental problem? From this pondering came an original idea... The Baby Earth doll. This is a doll that loves the environment and all living things. Baby Earth only eats organic, is a vegetarian, and refuses to wear any animal products. She comes with a recycling bin for her baby food jars, and her own tree to hug. She only wears cloth diapers and so for this reason always has a slight rash. When you change her diaper, she cries and says, "Mommy, I have a burning rash, but cloth diapers are worth it!" These diapers also leak because Baby Earth doesn't want to wear plastic pants. Baby Earth also says phrases like: Mommy, let's consume less. Al Gore rocks! Let's go to the Farmer's Market. Earth Day is my birthday! Earth is my mommy, too! How I wish I had a job creating toys... My mom tells the story of my sister playing with a doll and changing its diaper. One day my mother thought she would give my sister a treat by putting some peanut butter in its diaper. It had an unexpected result...my sister screamed and refused to play with the doll again. Back in the 70's, I used to have a Baby Alive doll that would eat baby food and then fill a diaper. I remember that I didn't want to change it, I just wanted to see it eat. I think my mom changed 3 of its diapers before telling me that she had just changed her last doll diaper. If I refused to change the doll, then the doll couldn't eat. Really, this was a great idea my mother had. Dolls create an unrealistic view of motherhood and maybe we need to change this. The other day, I was watching my 2 year old niece play with a doll outside on the grass. Later, she was in the house holding a book. "Where is your baby?" I asked her. "Ummm...her outside." "I think she wants you. She's outside crying for you." "No," she shook her head. "Her can't cry." I didn't say anymore but did notice that she went outside to get the doll. I believe that it's important to instill that mother-guilt at a young age. I still feel guilty about the doll who only ate 3 meals. |
| sitting with a friend after the party... |
| I just went to the Salvation Army and found something absolutely priceless. At first, I thought I would save it for a white elephant gift exchange. However, upon further consideration, when I got it home and took a closer look, I realized that I must share it with you. I've never seen anything like this before. It's gonna make your life better, easier, and cheaper. And that's all I'm gonna say... See you next week! Sign the Guestbook Back to the Homepage at www.redbluffismytown.com |