Thanks once again to our host Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy, who’s got all your Apocalypse needs covered. Especially Robot Apocalypse.
1.
Yesterday was our 17th Anniversary. We had dinner on the screen porch — steak, tater tots, spinach, cantaloupe, champagne. Even the kids were full before dessert. I can’t remember when it started, but we’ve taken to having a family dinner for our anniversary, and pointing out to the kids that it marks the founding of our family. Which makes it their holiday, too. After the kids went to bed, parents finished the champagne and got into the cheesecake.
2.
Best Water Meter Ever. It takes several layers of those cheap all-paper plates from Aldi if you’re serving steak. Why paper? Because the septic system is old enough to run for president, which in septic-years is much more than a little stately silver around the ears. We’re avoiding all excess water usage until we can get a new drain field cut in sometime next week. And so the SuperHusband installed one of these on the back patio:
It’s connected to the hose for a water-supply, and underneath, instead of drainpipe there’s a one-gallon bucket. It’s fascinating seeing exactly how much water you use to wash hands or brush teeth. Major incentive to conserve water so you don’t have to keep hauling the bucket off to some suitable corner of lawn. Can I count this as school?
3.
Bleg: Boys, Porn, and Chastity. Had a friend in for tea Sunday afternoon, and she gave me a timely head’s up on the reality of tweenage boys and the very rapid transition into Exceedingly Immature Manhood that is somewhere on the horizon for our boy. (Right now, the only girl he likes is the dog.) Since I know that at least a few of my readers are:
- Men.
- Fathers of teens boys and former teen boys.
- Catholic of the Chastity is Good, Sin is Bad type.
- Remember what it was like to live inside the body of a teenage boy.
or:
- Are married to such a person.
or:
- Are the grown son of such a person.
Want to offer any advice? Practical. Links, comments, a post of your own and link it back here. I’m all ears. Anything helpful. Thanks!
3.5
On Saturday I bought an 18-pack of Busch Light. I tasted some, warm. It’s kind of sweet — sort of a malty fruity seltzer product. Interesting. But it’s not for me. It’s for
***
Well that’s all for today. Tuesday is Link Day for all topics, not just beer, chastity, and laundry tubs. Help yourself if you are so inclined. Post as many as you want, but only one per comment or the spam dragon will eat you up and I’ll never even know.
slugs. I bet it is for slugs.
No slugs for the teen-boys, though. Although, I have very limited experience with that sub-set of humanity. Just my husband and the little guy. No brothers, no brother-in-laws, very few male cousins.
I will do my best to impart some wisdom and advice, over at AoftheA. Keep your eyes peeled…
And here’s my link:
http://youtu.be/If3wzG43PD8
I prefer to call it “Chivalry, Delayed”
Re #2: that is so green it’s…well, it’s way green.
Re #3: I’d tell my boys that all the trash you see on the net or movies or mags has nothing to do with real men, real woman, and real sex. It’s just a way to get money out of morons. In fact it’s the opposite of those real things, and only retards waste time on it and screw up any chance of meeting and loving a real woman like my wife, who as my children know is The Most Glorious and Beautiful Woman God Ever Created.
Just, you know, my opinion.
Anna – Yes! The slugs love the stuff. They like good homebrew, too. Which costs the same, if you don’t include labor. But we include labor.
Larry — looking forward to your post! (And thanks for the video.)
Christian — The green is cancelled out by the paper plates, unfortunately. Once again my self-satisfaction is thwarted. I think I’m going to print out your opinion and paste it on my fridge. That was my guess – straight to the heart of things.
BTW daughter #1 and her fiance are 20 and 21 years old. Will be wed in November; can’t wait to have have children. I like to think there’s some connection between that and our household’s explicit and voluble pro-sex-anti-porn worldview.
How exciting! That is awesome. I think, also, maybe a culture of adulthood-is-good helps as well?
I was twenty-one when I married, and people kept marveling at how young I was. I seemed to think, “Well, college degree, no longer a teenager, dated four years, engaged 1.5 years, respectable person I like and the family is good with, spouse able to support a family . . . what exactly is there more to do here?”
[My dad very easily persuaded both my sister and I to wait until 21, though, by pointing out that once we married we were no longer his dependents, so he wouldn’t be writing any more tuition checks. So I graduated on the 13th and got married on the 14th.]
My thought is if you have met who you are going to marry you get on with it. Although they did decide on their own.
Well there’s something more to it than merely meeting the person . . .
In my case, not much. First date October; Engaged Encounter November; actually engaged December; married in April.
That’s about how my brother did it. I’d be skeptical if I hadn’t seen it work so well.
If you teach young men to value their first born, they will get in the habit of thinking about whether or not they’d want whoever it is they are looking at (and attracted to) to be their kids mom. It is very effective, especially if you imagine a smart little five year old berating you for your lack of foresight.
August – yes. Good one. Thanks!