My Husband: Goody Two-Shoes or Jail Bird?

Lee's grandma, a cute, petite Italian woman, got a phone call yesterday. It went something like this:

"Hello?"

"Hi grandma. It's your favorite grandson, Lee."

"Oh hello Lee."

"Grandma, I got a free American Airlines ticket and a friend and I went up to Canada.  We went to a park and met some nice people, and they needed a ride back to their hotel.  But, on the way there, I ran a stop sign and got pulled over.  And there was drug paraphernalia in the car.  I'm in a jail and I need bail money."

"Well, this doesn't sound like my grandson."

"[expletive] grandma! I need the money!"

"Now I know this isn't my grandson! He would never swear at me!"

-click-

Grandma  Italy (as we'll call her) then called Lee up on his cell phone and asked him if he was in Canada.  Lee said he most definitely was NOT in Canada, but was mowing his other grandma's lawn (Grandma Malad).

Apparently, the Granny Scam is popular, where a "grandson" in trouble up in Canada calls up his elderly, hard-of-hearing grandma or grandpa, asking for money to get out of jail.  The worried and concerned grandma wires the money and is out hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  Yeah.  Horrible, huh?  Please warn your grandparents!

You go, Grandma!  That Grandma Italy is smart one!

We're pretty proud of her, but this incident got me really thinking about a few things:

1. Was "mowing" simply a cover up or was Lee really sitting up in a Canadian jail? 
2. Is Lee truly Grandma Italy's favorite grandson?
3. Does Canada really have a big enough population to warrant stop signs?
4. Since Canada has two official languages, do the scammers scam in both English and French?
5. And how did a Mountie catch up to Lee driving a car?

What do you think?  Was Lee being a perfect angel--mowing grandma's lawn--or was he sitting in a Canadian jail hitting up grandma for cash?  We'll let you decide...

UPDATE:

Grandma Italy gave us a few more details about the scam.  She's so awesome!

"Grandma Italy adding to the story.  When I said he didn't sound like my grandson, he replied that he had been crying all night and that is why.  I then asked him what Winter thought about all of this and when he stammered for an answer, I stated  that he was trying to scam me.  The swearing followed.

Unfortunately, his phone number did not show up on my phone so I had nothing to give the police so it was useless to call."

Two Very Exciting Things

Note:  Before you all get excited and assume that we're having twins, we'll just tell you we're not having twins or any other babies at this present time.  We were warned by parents and sibs that we better not be crying wolf too much, hence the disclaimer.

This week was pretty nutso for us--going to work, taking care of things at the apartments, volunteering, planning youth conference, etc.  It felt like we were going from one thing to the next without a lot of time to enjoy anything.  We were too busy and just plain tired! 

During weeks like this, we try to look for little things to make us happy.  We had 2 exciting highlights for the week that made everything okay for us.

Exciting Highlight #1:  Potatoes!
As some of you know, we are using Lee's grandma's backyard for our garden.  We planted red Norland potatoes in the spring and we harvested our first crop of new potatoes. 

Lee seasoned them with crushed garlic, fresh rosemary (from our herbie planter), a little salt and pepper, and olive oil, and roasted them for 40 minutes.  Yummers!  Exciting, isn't it!

Exciting Highlight #2: A New Vacuum (plus a discount)!
Both Lee and I love to vacuum, and our little Shark vacuum doesn't suck.  What I mean...it sucks, because it hasn't been sucking up stuff from our floors as well lately  We've been saving our pennies for a good one that will last for a while.  Of course, we wanted the Mona Lisa of vacuums--a Dyson.  People, do you know how expensive they are?!?  They cost an arm and a leg, and that's a lot considering we've only got 4 arms and 4 legs between the two of us.

I'm the researcher--I find the good deals. And I've been watching the sales and found that the Home Depot had the Dyson DC14 on sale for $318 (retail is $399).  But online, I found that they had an "internet only" special for the same vacuum for $299.  Lee is the asker--he gets us more discounts.  I figured he could get the online deal in store, so I printed out the screen and we headed to the HD. Sure enough, Lee chatted up the clerk and asked for the same discount--and we got it!  Wahoo!

Lee was so excited that he vacuumed at 11:30 last night.  It was awesome!  And gross!

So what are some of the little things that make you happy during hectic weeks? Let's hear it!

Art + Putt Putt Golf = Cheap Date!

A few things we love:

1. Art--We love going to gallery strolls.  One of our first dates was to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the University of Utah Museum of Art.
2. Miniature golf--We think we're pretty good at it.  And it's just fun to say "putt putt".
3. Free stuff--Yes, we do!

So when we got an invitation to the "Contemporary Masters: Artist-Designed Miniature Golf" at the Salt Lake Art Center, we were all over it!  Who wouldn't be all over FREE artsy-fartsy putt-putt golf??  That's why we asked a few of our good friends to join us.

We had to wear stylish white booties over our shoes to protect the art that we ended up climbing all over.  Lee shows off his booties as he chips one into the hole. 

I wish Sharona and I had knickers and argyle socks on--it would have made this picture even better!

Some of these holes were terribly tricky to maneuver.  

That is some good form, Carrie and Rich!

Keep your eye on the hole!

The art was fascinating and fun!

Lee was drawn to the Donkey Kong game (with free credits on it!) that was attached to the Donkey Kong-themed hole.

We sure had a lot of fun being goofy!

And of course, we had to show off our sexy faces when we had conquered the entire course!

So, if you're looking for something fun and free to do for a cheap date or group activity or family outing, head on down to the Salt Lake Art Center and do a little "putt putt".  The clubs, balls, fashionable booties, and even scorecards are all included!

Fore!