Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ah, The Irony!

I seemed to have lost that old blogging mojo. As odd as it may seem to anyone who knows me, lately I haven't felt like I've had a lot to say. And then I got sick. And now Miss Serious is home from school with a hacking cough (but the rest of her feels ok). But on Sunday we all did the Habitat for Humanity walk, and the juxtaposition of the whole thing must be talked about.

I really like Habitat for Humanity - it's a very hands-on organization with clear and tangible results. I also like doing the walk, as it's a good way for us to involve the kids - I figure if they can learn the habit of helping others while they're young, it may stick with them. We did it last year as well, and it's about a 2 mile walk through some eye-poppingly expensive real estate. The irony of the whole thing is painful as you pass what can only be described as mansions, one after the other, many of which have a stunning view of the water. Miss Serious actually asked me at one point if we had ever thought of getting one of them (as if the only obstacle were that it hadn't ever occured to us to buy one of these opulent and crushingly expensive homes).

We enjoyed the walk, but I'm pretty sure the kids' favorite part was the munchkins and cookies at the end (I've decided that you could probably make my kids do just about anything if you dangle munchkins in front of them). Thanks to our generous friends and family we were able to raise $125, which probably pays for one day of hedge-clipping at one of the mansions we passed.

3 comments:

grmybmy said...

Hope you both feel better--this weather isn't helping either. At least the walk was on a nice day! Love, Grmybmy

Bezzie said...

I do love walking thru those neighborhoods and feeling like our presence scuzzes it up a bit. Hee hee! My landlord told me he had a friend who was a mover and that these opulent houses were only furnished on the first floor. Most of the time the families spent so much $ on the house they couldn't afford to fill more than just the first floor with furniture!

Anonymous said...

Hard as it was to walk past the mansions of the Joneses with affordable housing on our minds, it was worth it. We did good work and no one set the dogs on us. :-)

We did just fine talking to the kids about why we live where we do and how we do. I don't know that they understood it all, but they do appreciate what we have. I'd much rather spend time with the family than work myself into an early grave to pay for a bigger building. Our house is small, but it's a home. Plus think of how much lighter a carbon apartment-print is compared to a carbon estate-print!

For the record, I am also willing to work for munchkins.

Feel better!