Bottle Deposit

Because today is Memorial Day, Costco is closed, which means that I am in the greater Portland area with nothing to do and no obligations. This does not happen often. You would think that having 10 days off in a row (theoretically) that I would have plenty of days without obligation. Life just doesn't happen that way, so this unexpected break has been nice. I have spent most of the day either roaming Clackamas, OR and watching old black and white and technicolor movies on the Fox Movie Channel. I have missed getting my old movie fix.

I did manage to make it to the grocery store to load up with meals for the rest of my trip here, which is where I found out that they charge me a per bottle deposit, which I will get back when I take my bottles back into the store where there are big recycling machines specifically for bottles. I don't know how other people feel about this, but it really annoyed me. In fact, as childish as this is, my stubborn streak came out and now I am going to exercise my right NOT to recycle those particular bottles.

As far as recycling goes, I am for it. It just makes sense to reuse instead of creating more plastic. At home, we have a recycle garbage can that the city picks up every other week. I won't say that I am totally vigilant in using it every time I have a recyclable, but I am green conscious when it makes sense. The problem is, I am not always at home and so it doesn't always make sense for me.

The fact that I rarely use water bottles when I am at home makes a difference in how I feel about this particular law, as well. I usually will buy a case of water when I am on the road, so that I have something to drink, however, it doesn't always make sense to collect the empty bottles and run them to the store later.

I am also irritated that this is a law instead of the bottling companies. How much regulation will be imposed on us. How many rules or taxes will be created because somebody else knows what is better for me? How are they coming along on the sugar tax? or the french fry tax? Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer to keep my right to make decisions for myself.

Of course, what can I expect? I am in Oregon, liberal state where the freeway speed limit is 55 and a certain population of people conserve water by not showering. Pardon my facetiousness. There are a lot of great attributes, such as a beautiful coast line and lush green foliage. And of course, I do have some great friends who live (or have lived) here.

I am curious, however, about what other people think about creating laws like this?

Just for Tanner

Kailey

We haven't updated the kids' pics on the wall for a while now, so after shooting Jenny's kids I had Kailey pose for a few. I'll have to get Jessica and Austin later when they are feeling better (they were sick that weekend). Ignore the bad editing. I'll fix it later, but I'm not sure when I'll post again.

Jenny's Catch-up Photos

Alright, these are pre-editing and I had some issues with lighting, so I have some color editing to do.

No Christmas Pics

That would be because we skipped Christmas this year. It wasn't worth the drama. All I have to say about that, is that the rules and schedules mandated by law were created for a reason.

ON the bright side, Todd and I flew out to New Hampshire on Christmas day and I got to meet my sister-in-law for the first time. She wasn't able to come out to our wedding with her family because of work. We had a blast and got there just in time for some fantastic snowy days spent by the wood-burning stove in a historical home. A lot of card games, movies and family time made for a great trip.

November Birthdays

Bad boys get underpants for their birthday. I bet you didn't know that. It was the theme of the month.


Todd is very happy because the top layer of his cake is not actually cake. It was a box made out of a Hershey bar and filled with hard candies. For a non-cake lover (yes, they do exist), this is the best kind of Birthday.


The candy cake, courtesy of Jenny. Usually we collaborate quite a bit more, but this one was all Jenny. Very creative and fitting. Oh, and notice the candles, that was me, not her. However, there is one candle-less hole in the cake. That happened after Todd's mom informed us that he was not actually turning 39...just 38. Apparently we had gotten a little ahead of ourselves without doing the math. On the bright side, I have an additional year to plan the big 4-0. Wow. Did I really marry someone that old?


Austin's 11th birthday and his football field birthday cake. Cake themes are easy when there are so many sporting themes to choose from.


And yes, bad boys get underpants for their birthday, just like I told Austin many times in the month leading up to his birthday. Second year in a row. Luckily, we brought out the additional presents afterward.


Thank you Benders for the random pic, which I found after downloading my photos a few months later. I laughed heartily upon finding it. I'm sure that Daisy has previously never had so many people in her kennel at once.