Gas Guzzlers

I have been amazed at how often I have to fill my car up with gas here. I was beginning to think that maybe something was wrong with my little Toyota Matrix. Perhaps the toy car needed a wind-up. But then I realized that without any form of public transport (including the ability to walk), you use up a LOT more gas.

We are so short sighted here in US. No investment in public transport or even in sidewalks or bike lanes. If there was bike lane all the way down Bowman Road, I could ride my bike to do a number of errands. But as the road is now, I can't even walk safely. There's not even a shoulder in some places. More bike lanes and sidewalks could be a double whammy in our effort to be less dependent on oil AND in the growing obesity epidemic.

Our family continues to get settled in. Riddles, the bunny, seems to be the one who is having the hardest time making the adjustment. Not only has he bitten me three times (never did that before), but he fights against being taken out of either of the houses (indoor and outdoor) to be taken out to our little bunny run. Both Skip and I have almost dropped him. I imagine we'll have a "Riddles on the loose" story sometime in the near future. Rosie has made the transition much more smoothly.

We were in the pet store buying food yesterday and looking for something the bunnies could play with in their house. Bunnies are curious creatures and, apparently, get bored if there's not enough stimulation and then they start doing things like chewing up their home. So I was trying to decide between one thing or another and my eight-year-old puts her hand on my arm and says, "Mommy, you worry too much about the bunnies. I mean, it's good that you worry about the bunnies because they are our bunnies. But I think you may worry a little too much." She's getting way too smart.

Maddie is so ready to get back to school. She was telling me that some of her friends think she's crazy for wanting to go back to school and I told her that one of the reasons school is fun for her is that she enjoys learning new things and that, so far, all the new things have been pretty easy for her to understand. I told that for some kids, school is really kind of hard and, therefore, not as much fun. I also pointed out that she makes friends easily and enjoys school because it's time with those friends. She told her Dad that I told her that she enjoys school because her brain is so big. And her father's response to that was, "Oh good. Then there's plenty of room for your German homework!"