Garage Sale

We've been prepping for a bit to have a garage sale and thin the herd of things we got back from storage. I've got my signs all painted - bought posterboard and poster paint at some of the estate sales we've been hitting for our new furnishings - our stuff is generally sorted and sitting in the Pod waiting to just roll out for the sale, Penny is spending the weekend at Mom's. I wrote a very specific ad for Craigslist so people will know what we have and be able to decide to come. Our neighbor is even having a sale the same weekend, so it seems like that would increase visibility. Then I read his ad on Craigslist. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up:


"Great Kills, Sunday May 20, 8 - 4 (Corner of Osborn and Russell)
"One day garage sale
Attic and storage clean out
little bit of this, little bit of that
No early birds
Early birds will be shot and there carcass sold along with everything else.
By the way, we sold that old violin, old records, musical instruments, collection of vases, ming dynasty,
insert whatever you're trying to strike it rich with here _____________________, last year.
Rude people will be tasered. I always wanted to try my new taser.
Stop by and look around
Haggle"

So we'll see what kind of an audience we get with this kind of invitation. I have also posted, but made sure to use our street address instead of our intersection. What exactly does this say about our neighbors? Hmmm...we were told that this particular one works major case squad for the NYPD. For those of you familiar with Law and Order, that's the Criminal Intent series. Perhaps people in that line of work have a different sense of humor than most. Many of our neighbors are NYPD, FDNY or retired from there, so perhaps we'll need to get more accustomed to this sense of humor. Hmmm...

Zoo

We had some fun at the Staten Island Zoo a little while ago. Of the zoos in the area, I like this one best because it's a good size for the stamina of teeny kids and you get to feed the farm animals. The enclosures are also nice because teeny people have no problem seeing inside. The biggest critters are either the Clydesdales or the leopards, but there's still plenty of excitement as the otters wrestle or the guinea fowl follow you around the picnic tables.

Dan was concerned that Paul wasn't getting much out of his visit while reclining in his stroller, so he carried him either in the Baby Bjorn or by hand. Needless to say, his arms were pretty tired fairly soon. Paul was having a blast babbling at the Macaws and trying to grab the rattlesnakes. He didn't pet any of the animals, but Penny did - rat snake, donkeys, llamas, python ("that starts with 'p,' Mommy!"). We went with our friends the Winklers, who will soon return South for residency in Alabama.

I was excited to see that there were some renovations and new animals since I was last there. There was even a little section where you walk in and you are in the enclosure with the birds and other critters, which is always fun. It's nice to see the place seeming to do well since I worked there a couple of summers ago. Maybe once we get a bit more of a routine and our new little stinker is weaned (don't even bother trying the bottle any more because he put up such a fight)...maybe I can do a bit of work there again. It was nice just hanging out with the kids and getting them excited about the animals. Plus, I hear they've got some fun new animals to handle.

Though they were the zoo used to film Mr. Popper's Penguins recently, SI Zoo does not actually have any penguins (other than these guys).

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