“There’s something brown in the town.”
— Lucy spots Wubie in the kitchen

We got a new iMac a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty spiffy. The deal I made with myself on the actual purchase was:

You want a new computer? Fine—but only if you can pay for it with money made from selling stuff you already have. And make sure to sell the old computer while you’re at it!

Though I’d sold a few things to help pay for it, I hadn’t sold enough to cover the entire purchase—until this morning. Now, it’s been covered (and then some).

I had a pricey gadget that had been sitting in my closet for a while. I decided to post it on a few sites to gauge interest. One of the places I tried was Facebook Marketplace. Talk about a waste of time! Within a few hours of posting the item on Facebook, I received four messages. “Wow, that’s cool!” I thought as I opened the messages. All four messages were from different users with variations on the same scam:

“My (friend/cousin/sibling/etc.) would be very interested in this item. However, they are in (Nigeria/Africa). Can I pay you now? Would you take the following (goofy circuitous route) of payment?”

“Wow, that’s completely lame!” I thought as I deleted the messages.

Luckily, Craigslist came through for me. The prospective buyer and I exchanged emails during the week. Once I determined he was on the up and up, I arranged to meet him in an open public space (a mall). Rules I have on selling stuff:

• never let a prospective buyer inside your house
• cash only

If it’s an inexpensive/bulky item, I might meet them outside my garage. However, for higher priced items, I always meet them in a public space.

You never know who’s going to show up, so you’ve got to use your head and play it safe.  Anyway, the transaction went off without a hitch. Once it was completed, I had a bunch of cash and felt like a rapper for a second. However, I quickly reminded myself that this was money already spent.

Yep, the pragmatic polka singer in me usually wins out.

Around mid-week, the cat grass showed the tiniest of sprouts before we went to bed…in the morning they were much bigger, almost half an inch!

Each day they grow several inches…and Wubert has taken an interest.

The other plants are sprouting too, the catnip, wildflowers, and lettuces each show tiny sprouts. Just waiting on the alpine strawberries to shoot up…they were planted a bit deeper, so we hope to see them soon.

Lucy really likes a series of YouTube videos about a cat in Japan named Maru. Above is one of her fave Maru videos, “Big Box and Maru” a short we’ve probably watched a dozen times.

Here is a half-minute edited video of Lucy watching Maru. At the end of the video you can hear Lucy say one of her favorites words: “Again!”

Watching Maru from Mike C on Vimeo.

Camera Used: Canon Powershot SD750. Soundtrack:

• “Wildwood Twist” from The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark by Roy Clark

For the last few months, whenever the kid came across something with three animals, especially if they were of different sizes, she’d immediately equate them with our family.

A picture of three penguins? “Daddy Penguin, Mommy Penguin, Baby Penguin!” she’d say.

Of course, whenever she mentioned the “baby” part, she’d also pat herself on the chest so that there’d be no confusion as to who the baby in our threesome was.

Alas, the kid is growing up. Yesterday, while wolfing down a piece of Jill’s bundt cake, (thanks for the pan, Tom and Karen!) I pointed at a toddler in a random newspaper ad and said, “Look, Lucy. A baby…just like you!”

Upon hearing this, the kid looked up from the scattered and soggy remnants of her bundt cake snack and with much indignation said, “No Daddy. *You not baby—TALL GIRL!” And with that declaration the kid patted herself on the chest for emphasis (and in the process smushed pieces of cake into the mug of the cat that adorned that day’s shirt choice.)

After cake, the kid started to sing and act out one of her favorite Richard Scarry cartoons. Trying to approximate a good father, I attempted to warble along with her song, thinking she’d be most appreciative of the vocal support.

Boy, was I mistaken. Immediately, her song and dance came to an abrupt halt. She then turned to me with a stern Dirty-Harryish look and said, “Daddy talk—no.”

I got the message and took my place (silently) next to Jill on the couch. Just as quickly, Dirty Harry disappeared and Lucy continued on with her song and dance.

*The kid refers to herself as “you.”

Today Lucy visited Gma Vita’s house, and got to meet her Uncle Jim (see pic) for the first time. She also got a good look around Gma’s yard before it started raining, and saw….the neighbor cat!

She was very excited to see kitty and kept pointing. That’s her new thing, pointing, oh, and walking. Yep, she walks perfectly now! That was quick!