Answering Machine Trials.....

Starting in May, our answering machine says things like, “Hello from Full Circle Farm! Asparagus is finally here! Leave the amount you want, name and phone number and we will have it ready for you on the porch. Strawberries next. Anyone else, leave a message and if we get a minute, we'll call you back.”

And it just goes from there. We go through the spring, summer and fall with Hubby leaving a message like “hey, pickles are done for the year and mention we won't sell tomatoes by the half. Where the dickens you at? Well, love you. Call me when you get done napping or whatever you are doing.”

Which will leave me fuming. So I'll change the answering machine and call him back to say I was hanging more laundry on the line and never heard the phone because Curious George was too loud.

No hostility there.

In the late fall, we get to have fun with the answering machine until spring again. It's fun to have the boys on the machine, in case I have to call home (this never happens), I can hear my boys sweet voices on the phone.

Getting them to sound sweet is quite the trial....

So, we decided to change the machine this weekend. We just got a new phone and the answering machine is pretty tricky. I'll finally have it figured out about the time we need a new phone.
S3 has learned a new song at school “The turkey is a funny bird his head goes wobble wobble the only thing that he can say is gobble gobble gobble”. Adorable! So, we practiced this song (pretty easy, you have to admit) and even Hubby agreed to sing it with us on the machine.

After dinner, I had us gather around the phone (that's how you record your message, you talk into the phone and not the machine...) and did a quick practice of the song. That is when the trouble began.

S4 had napped earlier in the day and he suddenly realized that we all knew this song because we had practiced it while had slept. The nerve of us! He was sure he didn't know the song and he couldn't sing it. He hung his head in sadness.

Thinking quickly, I offered him the prize...a lone speaking part. “Can you say Happy Thanksgiving?” I asked.

He was appeased.

We sang, we got to S4's part and he cheerily called out “Happy HALLOWEEN!”

Three tries later with the same results, I offered whispered “Happy Thanksgiving” in his ear and he said it out loud and S2 screamed “yah!” in victory before we could all do the grand finale ending.

So we tried again.

Every time S4 said it right, someone cheered.

Finally, we gave up. If you call our house, you will hear us singing but Husband, who called all ready to check out the answering machine and make sure I wasn't napping (at 8:15 in the morning) said it sounded warbled and distant but it might work for a bit.

It'll be awhile before we feel like attempting the answering machine again.