Chandler Turns Seven

Well yet another milestone in the Williams family. Chandler turned seven! Hard to believe my baby boy is so big now. He’s so funny and all boy. We went bowling at his request and had a great time. He loves bowling. We almost didn’t make the bowling happen as we didn’t book an official party. We got there and they were having a tournament and all the lanes were taken by the tournament or birthday parties. We started to freak a little bit as we thought of options. We tried another close bowling alley and they too were completely full. So we had to try the alternate plan of Chuck E. Cheese. Sad part was we had to do it the previous birthday party because it was raining and we had no other choice.

So we asked Chandler if he was okay with Chuck E. Cheese and his face just dropped. It was one of those looks of utter disappointment. Becky’s heart was starting to break. He thought about it a few minutes and then he said he was fine with CEC. Of course we as parents weren’t. Chandler is the middle child and the only boy so between his domineering older sister and mommy-clinging little sister he usually gets the short end of the stick. Luckily he’s pretty flexible and goes with the flow, but we wanted his day to be special and for him to get what he wanted.

So after all the party guests had arrived I tried one more time at the counter. I asked if there was even one lane off in a corner we could use because he had his heart set on bowling and he was very sad. The guy at the counter looked and said he had two lanes that had just opened up. We of course grabbed them! Each child got 2 games and the guy didn’t even charge us for shoes because it was Chandler’s birthday! It was awesome. Pizza, soda and a big Spongebob cake. Everything went really well.

Needless to say Chandler had a great time and enjoyed his special day.

Mouths of Babes #2

“She drank God’s blood” ~ Chandler

This sounds like a rather vampiric statement for a seven year old. Becky was discussing our Easter visit to see her Grandmother on the phone. She was saying how we went to visit Nanny in the nursing home on Easter Sunday to sing some hymns with her, give her her Easter egg and just spend some time. Randy (Becky’s step-father) is a Methodist minister and he has a mini communion kit. We also planned to do Easter communion for her. So we did the bread and the blood, etc. So while Becky was relating all the events over the phone, Chandler chimed in with “She drank God’s blood.”

Yet another classic.

The Decline of the Spork

Sitting in my SharePoint workshop today I was staring down at my hotel breakfast hobby-kit and noticed I had three utensils… a fork, spoon and knife. Of course that is all the distraction my brain needed and off it went on a tangent.

I began to think about my favorite eating utensils, chopsticks, spatulas, fingers, etc. Then I came to the spork. I began to think about it and I hardly ever see the spork anymore. I remember it most back in elementary through high-school. I remember the small little package of a napkin, knife, salt/pepper and a trusty spork (usually white as a brown colored spork conjures questions of cleanliness). Truly the spork is an under-rated invention in the world of cutlery. Best of both worlds in one implement… spoon and fork. You can quickly shift from stabbing to scooping with zero delay. No need to balance the unused utensil on your plate, leg or lap. No fear of the unneeded implement falling to the ground and leaving you to try and eat your green beans with a spoon. Frustrating.

I’d like to actually meet the inventor of the spork. Just to say thanks. He definitely made life easier.

Now I sit and wonder why the spork has declined in popularity in recent years. It’s such a handy thing. Now I know you can’t go stacking bean after bean on it like a traditional fork but it’s far less frustrating than scooping them with a spoon. A spork is a spoon with a bite in my opinion. We need more sporks. But we need useful sporks.

The spork to the left I do not find very useful. At some point you are gonna get food on your hand unless you hold it in the middle which causes a loss of control. This could cause even more problems. I think the best design is the original. dual purpose head… good handle for control. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I say.

I think I’ll ask my kids if they know what a spork is. That will be the litmus test of spork usage in the 21st century. Of course it may have gone the way of the Dodo or ‘jorts’ (jean shorts).

No matter what its fate may be, the spork has a special place in my vault of strange memories.