garbage

1. disposal - Ours broke about a week ago and today Lew & Brian put in a newer, bigger one! Phew! I have gotten too spoiled. I don't know how people with small kids can function without a garbage disposal!

2. picking - the apple has not fallen far from the tree. My Dad was The King of garbage picking. He even used to ride with a friend who was a garbage collector to help him - and I'm sure grab any goodies he came across. Once, the cops called him at work to inquire about his presence in an upscale neighborhood. Apparently, someone saw him driving slowly through the neighborhood and called the cops on him. He wouldn't think twice of driving though on garbage day looking for bikes or vacuums or anything good. The cops just told him not to go to that neighborhood anymore. They probably had a good laugh after hanging up.

As for me, I have picked up treasures such as : a wooden Melissa & Doug easel, the light wheel to an antique silver Christmas tree, various vacuums, 4 lawn chairs (we love them!), 6 plastic Adirondack lawn chairs (those, we did not love, but we put them up on Freecycle and someone grabbed them up), 2 of those motorized Jeep riding toys for the kids, other kid toys, and most recently... 3 wooden kitchen chairs. I am picking up one per week from the same house in our neighborhood. People are allowed to put out their garbage can and 1 extra item. So, this family must be putting out one chair per week. It's getting fun. I can't wait for next Sunday to see if I score Chair #4!

Last week, we put out a tiny rocking chair (that I bought from a garage sale of a friend's parents for $3) because the shellac was coming off on the kids' hands and there was a rusty nail sticking out. It was gone that night - so I am doing my part as well!