Going bananas (and other random musings from this week)

I'm getting tired of bananas. They're one of Baby C's favorite foods, so they're a staple around the house, but I'm starting to grow weary of them. I may need to cut back on them this week, just to give myself a reprieve.

Did you know that bananas naturally separate into thirds lengthwise? I didn't realize this, but I quickly discovered it as I've been feeding the baby bananas each morning. I found it very interesting. I also noticed that there's a string that runs from one end to the other in the very center of the banana. It appears all the seeds come from this stem (for lack of a better word). Also, the older your banana is, the darker this string will be. Interesting, isn't it?

I used a shopping bag the other day that I brought back from the Philippines. It was my mom's. I discovered a tag with a barcode on the handle, and saw that the grocery store she frequented gave the user points for using the bag. Isn't that ingenious? Lots of stores already have cards that you present to get special discounting; wouldn't it make sense, then, to award points for using a recyclable bag, too? Even if it's just a penny that goes into a Upromise account, that would be much more cost-effective than continuously needing to restock plastic bags.

I realized last week that I have a tendency to talk about my sister as if she's somebody that everyone knows. I think this dates back to elementary school, but I just noticed it the other day. It's weird. I was talking to someone on the phone, and I said something like, "Well, my sister, Ethylene X, blah blah blah," in an almost bragging tone, kind of like my sister is someone I expect you to know. And she is. After all, she's Ethylene. (As if that needs any explanation.)