THE Playset...

My brothers, sister, their kids, and my parents are congregating at our house on the 4th of July.  My brother will be making his famous sushi rolls while we watch the fireworks from our backyard.

Sure, our backyard is 'sketchy'.

'Sketchy' meaning... mowed weeds since we can't afford landscaping... and even if we could afford to plant something green, we couldn't afford to water it at the California premium water prices.

Chris asked what we planned to do for the kids to keep them entertained.

"Give them sugar and send them home?" I said.

"I'm thinking we should put a swing set in the backyard.  Cash is going to need one anyway so let's put it in a little earlier so your nieces and nephews can enjoy it" he said sincerely.

This is exactly why I can't divorce him.  He'd win my parents in a custody battle. 

"Yeah.  That would be OK.  We both get an extra paycheck this month so let's save most of it and pull a little out for some swings" I said.

I was thinking we'd go on Craigslist and buy some cheap swings for 50 bucks.

Chris... well... he was thinking more along the lines of this:

"Honey.  We live less than a mile from a really nice park.  Why would we invest in anything grand for our yard?" I asked.

"Because you can't take wine to the park" he said.

...And that's the story of why we have a huge playset in our backyard.