The care and feeding of trees

Written on Monday, June 19, 2006 by Jessica

S.'s five-year-old daughter is just too cute. This story cracks me up. Here's a clip:

My daughter and I had a very long talk yesterday about what happens when you die. I wanted her to know what was going on with Tasha [the cat they were forced to euthanize], I didn't want to lie to her and tell her she went to live on a farm or something like that. So I tried to explain the cycle of life, how the molecules that were Tasha will become part of all the rest of the earth and how she will live on physically that way and also always live in our hearts. As part of trying to explain I was telling her that the molecules will help other things grow — the plants, the flowers, and such. "The trees too, mommy?" "Yes, honey, she will help feed the trees." She said "Trees like to eat KITTIES?" and there was panic on her face as she looked out our living room window at the large orange tree in the backyard. God help me, I had to choke back a laugh as I imagined the trees lying in wait for unsuspecting cats then swooping them up with lowered branches.

Fortunately for me, I was only reading the story. I couldn't have choked back a laugh if I tried.

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Insurance update

Written on Monday, June 12, 2006 by Jessica

It took a whole month for the insurance company (Allstate) to inform us that they were cancelling our policy. We were naively expecting a detailed letter explaining what needed to be fixed and how to schedule a reinspection. Nope. The letter vaguely listed some (but not all) of the problems, recommended that we find another insurance company, and even provided us with information about obtaining a policy from the state. (You know, one of those expensive, last-chance policies that states typically offer.) Basically, Allstate wants nothing to do with us.

We've switched to Auto Owners. They're not writing us a regular policy, but they're charging a reasonable price for a fire policy, which will give us time to fix the issues. Then we can convert to a standard homeowners' policy easy peasy. I can't believe I spent so much time stressing about Allstate. If they're okay with our switching all of our policies to another company -- fine, it's their loss.

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