The Price of Rocks

Becky goes to camp next week. Camp is one of those summertime activities that the kids really look forward to, but boy-howdy does the cost add up times several kids. Some things are definitely worth paying for though. This doesn't mean that we're not extremely grateful for fundraisers that the church does to help offset the cost of camp. That gratefulness extends to you wonderful bloggers who contributed toward Becky's camp fund a while back. Thanks oodles and bunches.

So anyhoo, the kids held a car wash, a bake sale, collected aluminum cans to turn in for cash and worked their tails off for families willing to pay them a few bucks. Seeing teens work was worth the cash, let me tell you. Most of the money has been raised, and the church generously tries to fill in for any balance left over, but we all know that if kids work for something they appreciate it a whole lot more. Instead of just forking over cash, the church paid the kids $10/hour to do some work on the grounds.

Said work involved the relandscaping project going on. The church has tons (literally) of river rock around it, and the pastor has decided that he's so over that and wants it out of there. I so would love to have it, and graciously volunteered to take it off his hands when he was ready to ditch it. The sweet part is that my daughter is getting paid by someone else to do work that benefits me. And the church sends out able-bodied teen boys to shovel the rocks off the trailer on this end. Total score.

Except not.

The weight of those rocks is being sorely underestimated. The first load managed to get home without incident, but the second load made up for that in a hurry. Not only did the tire blow out, but the rim was bent into somewhat of a star shape.

















After replacing that mess, the replacement started smoking and squealing, threatening imminent demise. A short stop along the road while we frantically shoveled rocks into the back of the truck managed to get us home. The third trip was only half the weight of what the first and second ones were, but a tire blew out regardless.

Some things aren't really priceless. Seeing the daughter work like a slave and being paid by someone else, while greatly benefitting us as well, is getting rather spendy. But I have tons of river rock, and have realized where Luke gets his love of rocks from. I am in rock loving heaven.