We had a visit last weekend from Uncle Jeffrey, and Auntie Monica came for couscous too. Uncle Jeffrey lives in Albany, and Auntie Monica is married to Uncle Brady and lives in Framingham, if you’re trying to keep the Greene/Benabderrazak family tree straight. The couscous was a masterpiece!
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I was driving down Route 9 yesterday and I could see black smoke ahead. Everyone else kept driving so I figured it wasn’t a terrorist attack or imminent explosion and I followed along like a good little lemming. When I got close to Lee Volvo I saw a cell tower on fire and tons of emergency vehicles. I didn’t see the tower fall because a building was in my way at that moment, but by the time I reached Lee’s driveway, the tower was gone. Luckily, someone posted this video on Youtube.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/multimedia/x1278516165/Cell-phone-tower-collapses-in-Wellesley
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The other day after picking Norah up at Lina’s we saw two beautiful doe right around the corner from her house. It’s a pretty dense residential neighborhood right off of Edgell Road, but there is a small area of open land nearby. The two deer were standing right in someone’s front yard. Even after growing up in Vermont and seeing plenty of deer in my lifetime, it’s still exciting to spot wildlife. The kids were freaking out and Norah yelled “Hey Santa!!!”.

I can’t wait to take the kids on safari in Africa so they can see elephants and wildebeests on the side of the road. Seriously, that’s what it’s like. You’re just driving along and “Hey! There goes a giraffe!” Once when we were sitting in camp an elephant meandered by, and we also had campsite visits from hippos, bush pigs, and hyenas, who almost ate me on my way back from the bathroom. We also had a leopard cross in front of our jeep, and an elephant charge out of the bushes and threaten us. I was in the front of an open jeep with the guide and after the elephant ran off the guide said, “Mock charge.” I asked him how he knew it was a mock charge and not a real one and he said, “Because the elephant didn’t pick you up out of the jeep.” We eventually got used to seeing wild animals everywhere. When I was in the taxi after landing at Logan, I saw a crow on a telephone wire and my first reaction was that it was a monkey.

When I was looking for a deer picture to add to this post, I found this very cool shot:

It’s really hard to find good service these days, so I have to mention our experience at ScrubaDub Carwash. I bought Ben a gift card to have his car cleaned for his birthday. It was SO DISGUSTING! I made an appointment for the following Sunday, but someone from the carwash called to ask if we wanted to reschedule due to the forecasted snowstorm. We changed the appointment to the following Sunday, and there was another snowstorm in the forecast. I checked the voice mail on Saturday night, and there was a message from ScrubaDub asking if we wanted to reschedule. They had called us 5 TIMES when I wasn’t home, and Ben couldn’t haul his butt off the couch to answer the phone. It was too late to call back, and when we woke up in the morning there was close to a foot of snow. I called ScrubaDub at 8 a.m. and asked if they were open and wanted us to bring the car in. The manager said that he and two employees were there JUST FOR US! They weren’t open because of the storm, but since they hadn’t been able to reach us they came in just to clean Ben’s car. I was very pleasantly surprised and the car looks great!
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We surprised Adlani’s teacher, Maria, for her 50th birthday at snacktime on Tuesday. We marched in singing with balloons, cupcakes, and birthday hats/tiaras. The kids loved it and I think Maria did too. She’s SUCH a wonderful teacher! She’s so patient and loving, and the progress she has made with all of the kids’ Spanish is unbelievable. The good news is that Norah will have her for her second and third years in preschool. I can’t imagine what Norah’s level of Spanish will be like when she arrives for her first day in kindergarten after spending two years with Maria.

I am so glad we changed preschools when Next Generation wouldn’t let us take the summer off. I guess it’s true that everything happens for a reason!
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