Uneventful Week, Let's Talk Extinction

It's been a pretty uneventful week here in the Kutscher household. Except for a nasty chest cold that has ripped through the family....okay, Landon and now me...there's nothing much to report. We survived the first week back at school. Working five days?! Such a joke! Chad actually didn't even make it five days, he "got" to stay home with Landon on Friday.

I did hear something kind of interesting on the radio this week. My favorite morning show, the one that I get to hear exactly 1 minute and 45 seconds of, if they're not on commercial when I get in the car, was talking about this list of "24 Things About to Become Extinct in America." And we're not talking bald eagles and things with fur and feathers. As they were reading the list, some of the things, I was thinking, well yeah, of course. But some of the things made me just a little sad. Here are some highlights:

"Well, yeah, of course" things:

Yellow pages, Video Rental Stores, Dial Up Internet, VCRS, answering machines, cameras that use film, the milk man (I thought he was gone a lone time ago really), personal checks, and mumps and measles (good riddance!)

Things that made me a little sad:

*Classified Ads: Okay, I've never bought or sold anything from a classified. I almost said I've never applied for a job from a classified either, but that would've been a lie. I heard of the job that I had in New Berlin for six years through the classifieds. I don't know why I have an emotional attachment to them, but I kind of like sifting through the classifieds, just to see interesting things. You know, like people trying to sell a 50 gallon aquarium for $200, or I'm getting a divorce everything's gotta go: turntable, hutch, grandma's china. Take all of it for $50. Okay, I've never read anything exactly like that, but equally entertaining. That's probably a little wrong to be getting a chuckle over people getting a divorce, but I'm always surprised by the wording some ad placers choose.

*Handwritten Letters: This really upsets me, although I must say that I haven't sent nearly as many of these as I used to in the last few years. Getting a real letter in the mail always makes my day though. I'm going to make more of an effort to send more of these. Jump on the bandwagon people. We're gonna bring it back!

*Drive In Movie Theaters: I don't think these will ever totally be extinct. People have been worried about them for 15 years at least and they're still around, because they just can't be replaced. One of my youngest memories I have is watching Splash at the drive in with mom and dad and being terrified out of my mind. We're lucky enough to have a drive in here in Springfield that we go to at least once a season, sometimes more. If you've got great weather, it's a really cool thing to do. We did make the mistake of going once in October though and the second movie of the evening was Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I must say we left because I was a little frightened. Other than that though, I think drive ins are good family fun.

* Number one on the list is the family farm, which of course makes me sad. I've got plenty of memories of sitting on the arm rest of many a tractor. Michael and I named countless cows and pigs, only to find they were slaughtered months later when they showed up on our dinner plates. :) Don't worry, I don't think we really made that connection when we were really young. We also had plenty of fun fishing in Grandpa's pond. I vividly remember falling IN to the pond while fishing with Dad and Uncle Brian. What I remember most is Dad and Uncle Brian laughing hysterically while I flailed in the water convinced I was drowning. NOT FUNNY, Dad. I remember making lunches and filling jugs of water with Mom and Grandma to deliver to the field and Grandma talking to Grandpa on the CB radio. There was one particular trip we made to the field to deliver lunch, where Michael and I were at each other's throats. It ended with me spitting on his face, him crying like a baby, and me getting a major spanking. :) One of my first dates in high school ended early when my suitor was called home to help deliver a breached baby calf. I didn't help, but I did watch. Ahh.....those were good times.

I think there are some things that we should work on making extinct in our society instead of the above mentioned. For instance, I have never been a follower of celebrity gossip. I'm not judging those who are, because plenty of my friends and family are on the up and up with the stars. Here's what I am sick of though: Angelina and Brad. I would never wish to make people extinct, but I bet if I wrote a handwritten letter everytime I heard their names or saw their faces on magazines, newspapers, or TV, everyone of you who read this blog would be getting a letter in the mail from me within a month.

While I'm on my soapbox, here are some other things that I wish would just go away:

*Telemarketing phone calls....especially the ones that come during dinner time or after 8:30 that on occassion wake Landon.

*Credit card offers in the mail, kind of along the same lines. We're worried about paper use and saving trees. Getting rid of those could save a whole forest in a matter of hours.

*Hummers and other ridiculously sized vehicles that suck gas and take up a lane and a half of the road.

*Infomercials selling get skinny fast miracle drugs. Seriously, how can they market this stuff legally? Maybe it's just because it's a new year, but I've seen a ton of them lately.

*After his Friday home with Landon, Chad would like me to add Yo Gabba Gabba and its host DJ Lance Rock to this list. Anyone else seen this show? It's out there. And of course, Landon loves it.

I could go on, but I've reread what I've typed, and I'm at risk of sounding like a cynical old crotchety person, so I'm going to stop. Despite the way this all sounds, I do have a positive outlook on life. Just make sure you read the classifieds of your newspaper, write a hand written letter, go watch a movie at a drive in theater, and buy goods that come from family farms, and I'll be happy. That's not too much to ask is it? :)

Landon's got a touch of cabin fever this weekend since he's been a little under the weather. I put a couple of pictures of his idea of entertainment this afternoon at the top of the blog. And here's a video of him eating his dinner tonight. We've created a monster. He is obsessed with looking at himself in pictures and on video. Added to his list of possible careers (soccer player, politician, chef) is now a super model. Let's hope he gets some height somewhere from the gene pool.