7 Quick Takes about the Human Warranty, Things A.I. Won't Do for Love, and Decorations that Go Way Beyond My Skill Set

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

In third grade, my kids' school does a project where each student designs and 3D prints their own custom keychain with their name on it. 

So when my youngest boy came home and said "Mom, I made a keychain!" I thought I knew what I was going to be seeing until I looked closer:

"DUCKZ"

You can probably tell, but the kid has a slight obsession with stuffed ducks and duck-themed toys. 

—2—

Phillip continues to have a rough time. He has a "bad shoulder" (as we now refer to it) from swinging off a rope swing in July, a mysterious foot/ankle sprain that is still giving him trouble from August, and then I gave him COVID at the beginning of September which was rough for him. Then a few days ago, his back started hurting for no discernible reason.

"What did you do to hurt your back, Daddy?" the 12-year-old asked.

"I got old," he answered.

I've always joked that the human body warranty runs out at 40, but I guess it's actually 44 so that's what I have to look forward to in a few years.

—3—

I've been thinking a lot lately about some bigger home improvements I'd like to make, and I have a question: HOW?!?

How does any real person have enough money to pay professionals to design/build anything on their home, or conversely, how does an actual person find enough time to DIY a major project? Either option just doesn't seem like it logistically works. 

I thought about it for a while, and decided that my best course of action is to do nothing right now. If you need me, I'll be enjoying the fall colors from my dilapidated deck under the illusion that building a louvered pergola someday in our spare time is a legitimate possibility.

—4—

Gemini, Google's AI model, sent me a text: "Chat with me to draft messages, brainstorm ideas, plan events or simply have a fun conversation."

Phillip is always playing with AI, so I jokingly asked it to do a task for me:

Blech. It was too much even before the heart emojis.

Anyway, Phillip decided to one-up me with his preferred AI, Claude. Only apparently Claude is more judicious about meddling in other people's love lives:

That last sentence! It's like getting verbally spanked by an AI: "Write your own love letter, you cretin!"

—5—

As part of our new budgeting effort, we talked to the kids about using energy at home and how they can help. We put a jar in the kitchen and every time they turn off the lights on their way out of a room, they can add a button. Every shower under 10 minutes (15 for the girls) is worth five buttons. 

Yes, they immediately found the loophole of flickering the lights on and off like a strobe light, as well as the clever "turn the lights off on our siblings and act like it was all in the name of conservation" trick. 

But overall, it's working! 

(Actually, I suspect it's mostly one child who's going around turning the lights off after all of the siblings, but as long as the jar gets filled, I guess everyone is happy in the end.)

When they fill up the jar, we're watching The Princess Bride.

The other day I caught my 10-year-old putting a button in the jar, doing a fist pump, and yelling, "Energy conserved!" like a superhero. (I think he's actually imitating this character.)

—6—

On Sundays after church, my younger kids have been doing these Draw With Me videos on a YouTube channel called Gospel for Kids. 

This week they picked "city on a hill."

I really, really love the format of these videos. The kids are keeping their hands busy and their minds engaged, but at the same time they're listening attentively to the artist explaining the gospel as it relates to whatever they're drawing at the moment. It's such an amazing way to teach.

Some of the content is specific to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I think people of any Christian denomination can find plenty for their kids to enjoy here. I also like their animated video series a lot. 

—7—

This week, our church youth group put on a talent show that we've done for the last few years. The girls supply the talents and the refreshments, and they invite the older women in the congregation (ages 65 and up) to be our special guests and audience. It's a small but special gathering.

Decorating is definitely not my talent, so I texted the other youth leaders a few days beforehand asking if they had any fall decor for the centerpieces, thinking we could just plop a couple of pumpkins on the tables or something.

One of the other women texted me this picture a few minutes later and asked, "How about this?"

Oh, you know, just a little something I threw together. Because I'm Martha Stewart and I'm also a wizard.

You guys, she made three of them. And teamwork made the dream work: the talent show turned out to be a really nice event, complete with lots of positive comments on the centerpieces.

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