*COMEDY* You found THAT in a dumpster?

Ok, so my phone case is looking a bit haggard. But I really like it. And by the time I ordered the wrong size, returned it, and bought a new one, I was just grateful to have one. Its the wallet kind with a vinyl strip that folds over the front. Its cracking where it bends. So I covered it with a vinyl sticker. Which then started to peel after a few days. Desperate, I used two staples to fasten the sticker down. Yes, it looks trashy. I know, I know. But it works, and I really am not in the mood to order another phone case.

Here's the exchange between me and my daughter (who is, by the way, a comedian of first-rate quality at the age of 14):

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At breakfast I show my daughter that my phone case is peeling and falling apart.

Me: See here, this needs fixed.

Daughter: Yeah. I've had the same problem with mine. I've tried super glue.

Me: Hmmmm....

Later that day, daughter and I are standing in the kitchen, snacking. I gesture to my now-fixed-with-staples phone case on the counter.

Me: Check out my phone case.

Daughter: (eyes shining with admiration, she gingerly picks it up mouth open in awe) You found THAT in a dumpster!?!?

Me: (laughing too hard to talk)

Daughter: I didn't know people threw THESE away!

Me: Such luck. You never know what you'll find in a dumpster. Just wait and see what I've been saving you for Christmas!

Both of us nearly pee our pants, and keep laughing.

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The truth of the matter is, we joke about dumpsters a lot lately. We live in a construction zone. Our neighborhood is being built up and we see dumpsters every day. Sometimes we take stuff out of the dumpsters: 2x4's, carpet strips, 5 gallon buckets. My husband and I have joked (in a red-neck voice) with my daughter, that for Christmas, if she's really good, we'll get her a couple of half-empty caulking tubes, and maybe even a 5 gallon bucket with a couple of 2x4's nailed to it. She's the only child living at home, so she basically has no choice but to laugh at our jokes because there is no way to hide. So she laughs.

Recently a neighbor moved and left a few nice things on their front driveway, free for the taking. We took some of them. A pull up bar, a coffee table, a punching-bag. Great stuff! But we have started to think that the neighbors may be formulating some concerns about our family as they see us dragging particle board home from the dumpster a block away, and then helping ourselves to the free stuff on the driveway.

So yeah, dumpster diving has been a thing we've joked about lately. And now there's a new "thing" at our house: "You found THAT in a dumpster?" We'll use it to "complement" each other as often as possible... I have fantasies:

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Daughter: Do you like my new shirt?

Me: (eyes full of wonder) You found THAT in a dumpster?

later

Me: Dinner is ready, doesn't this look good?

Daughter: You found THAT in a dumpster??

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Oh yeah, its gonna be good.