Never let corn husks down the disposal and other useful tips

Yes, indeed, never let corn husks down the garbage disposal, no matter how small and innocent of a piece you may think it is. They have evil powers. Evil, I tell you. On the other hand, it's a great couples bonding exercise: on account of practically rubbing my hands raw and bruising my knuckles pulling out strand by strand of wicked corn husk rope (they should use this material in space shuttles, parachutes, and bungee cords if you ask me), Mike took over valiantly, and we cheered each other along rather joyously with every new strand that we pulled out of the disposal. Current status: it drains but doesn't grind. I'll take what I can get.

Other useful tips:

• Always shred important documents, and try to involve the whole family. Besides teaching important lessons such as how to prevent identity theft, it is a great activity for those you've-tried-every-other-activity-under-the-sun-and-
  the-kids-are-still-bored days :)
  
  

• Never ever accidentally press weird buttons on your new camera (keep all fingers under control at all times). Otherwise you will somehow mangle the recording of your daughter's very first ballet recital, reducing it to a microscopic-sized window. :( However, the pictures turned out nice, so here is the slideshow :)

• While tending to infant and toddler twins may be somewhat time-consuming, try to mulch, weed and pay some minimum attention to azalea bushes every 3 years or so! .. ours were on the verge of death, until I took 2 days off last summer to try to revive them. Miraculously, they did this this year:
  
  

And, finally, the merry-go-round!