Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Kansas warns residents to be prepared for a zombie apocalypse | Plog

Kansas warns residents to be prepared for a zombie apocalypse | Plog

Monique

Authored by Leandro Delgado

We have adt sensor that detect motion in our house at night. They go off if motion is detected around windows and doors. The sensors are placed at a level where they are not set off by animals, just people. We have never had a sensor set the alarm off until the other night. My husband and I frantically jumped out of bed. I ran to the kid’s room and he checked the alarm pad to see what had been set off. The keypad showed that the motion detector around our bay window had been set off. The police came and searched the house. They could not find anything. They suggested that it may have just been a fluke. When we got back in bed that night, it occurred to me that some pictures on the table underneath the window had been turned over. I thought about it and realized that I knew who the culprit was. It was our cat, Monique. She had leaped on the bench. When she jumped off, she must have reached a height that made the motion sensor think that she was a person. If I had realized this sooner, we would have gotten a lot more sleep!

Friday, June 10, 2011

What a Nightmare!

Here comes the water!  Bill is completely convinced that the boys and I should stay with his mom and dad till he gets back.  it is starting to look like we may have to.  I don't want to. I would much rather stay here than go through the nightmare of packing everyone up.  The boys and Sam will be thrilled.  Mama is going to be pissed.
Yes, my life seems to revolve around keeping the cat from getting pissed off.  She tends to attack people when she is pissy.
Anyway, I guess that is something that we will have to discuss when Mr. Bill gets up.  Speaking of Mr. Bill....he is only supposed to work 55 hours a week.  This week he had 77 hours.  Too bad he no longer gets overtime.  I can't even begin to think of everything that will have to be done if we leave.  AHHHHH
And its storming, again.  At least it won't be hot today:)

Friday, May 20, 2011

How To Decorate a Victorian Home?

I've decided that I will stop worrying about the outside of the house for now. I can't do anything about Mother Nature. The roof will be done when it gets done:)
So, instead of obsessing about things I can't do anything about, at the moment, I think that I should start thinking about the inside of the house. We have all of the original woodwork and most of the fixtures, but pulling it all together, is a real challenge for me. I am very challenged, in the area of decorating. I want things what look like they might have been around when the house was built, but I also need things that are sturdy and practical. The boys are really hard on furniture, lol, not to mention the dog and cats.
So, let's start with the master bedroom. Right now, I have a very generic head-board & footboard, mis-matched dressers, 2 bookshelves and a nightstand. Nothing matches. The curtains are a bit on the tacky side as well.
I did find some sites, that have a lot of the sort of nice furniture I have in mind, but some of it was just way to nice to even think about getting while the boys are still so young.
Have you ever been just looking around, with no intent to actually buy anything, and then, you see something, that you must have?
That happened to me. I think I must have seen about 200 things I must have, right now. I will of course, show Bill, but the odds are that right now with the roof being done, is not going to want to go on a shopping spree. That's why wish lists were created.:) I can't wait to show Bill and see what he thinks. I have a feeling he would lean more towards the wood furniture, we will see.
I really like more simple things, when decorating. Actually, I should probably say I would like more simple, tasteful things, if I did actually decorate.
There are just so many things I want! Really beautiful, antique looking dressers and night stands, that if the boys ever move out, I want!
So, If I am getting a new bed, I am going to need new bedding. Found some!  But, I am not sure if we will actually be getting anything new right now.
  Looking that those reminded me that, I have a wedding present to buy. I really don't know what I should get the happy couple. Comforter set? I don't think I really know their tastes well enough to pick out sheets. But, maybe something useful? 
Picking out gifts for other people is difficult. I have a hard time picking things out for myself. At least I was able to get several good ideas, that I can sit down and discuss with Bill. Plus, I am not thinking about rain.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Day 3 of the Rebuild, Still have a Headache from Yesterday

So, Mother Nature and the Home Improvement Store Gods decided to mess with us yesterday.
It Stormed. Rain, Hail and gusty winds.  The guys ran out of material at lunch time.  Menards ran out of what we needed and so they didn't deliver.  Chris, spent the day going to every home improvement store in the Greater KC area looking for the stuff.  Apparently there was a run on it and everyone and their brother is out.  So, I have no idea if anyone is going to show up today.  Lovely.  The forecast looks like crap for next week, that is very sucky.
Oh, and just to top off my wonderful day, full of Evan having some sort of Screaming & whining fest, I got the results of the mammogram.
Obviously, if the results we that everything was fine, I wouldn't have bothered to even mention it.  So, as you guessed, the results are not fine.  I got to letters.  One from the hospital, saying that they forwarded the test results to my doctor and based on their findings they have recommended further testing to validate the results.  The next letter was from my doctor's office, stating that I need to make an appointment immediately to go over the results.  It also said that I really should not fail to make this very important appointment.  alrighty folks, thanks for the free freak out.  I made the appointment, I go in Saturday morning.  So I don't get to do the D.O.V.E.s Walk/run, which I was really looking forward to.  They really should rethink the wording on their little 'your test results are wonky' letter.  The wording gives you the impression that death is imminent.  Which it probably isn't, but still.
So, I'll go and see what he wants to do next.  My luck it will involve needles, I am pretty sick of needles.  Maybe it will involve a nap.  I really like naps.
Whatever, no point in freaking out or worrying about it till I hear what the Dr. Has to say.  It may be that its just nothing.  I have other things to freak out about right now. Like where is my materials?  Where are my carpenters?  What did I do to piss Mother Nature off?
I guess while I wait, I can browse through my new Spring Hill Catalogue and pick out a ton of way to expensive plants that Bill will definitely not let me buy :)  But its still fun to look:)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Day 3 of Rebuild and the Headaches Begin

Day two started off good.  Except for Sam making an escape and being gone for almost 5 hours.  I was not a happy camper.  On Day one, I kept her shut up in the boys room, so she wouldn't get, we had extension cords running out the doors, and I just knew she would get out.  Day 2, I figured out how to run the cords threw one of the windows, so I let her stay downstairs.  She really doesn't like to be alone.  When we go in or out of the house, the rule is, the door must be locked!  Sam can't get out of a locked door.  She can however bang up against a shut door and pop it open.  Everything in the house is old.  Anyway, Bill knows this rule.  Well, He was going over some paperwork with Chris and they came inside to do whatever it was and didn't lock the door behind them.  Sam apparently took her chance. I thought I would let her run it off a little while and she's be back.  Not this time.  So about noon, I contacted Animal control to let her know that Sam had made her escape and was who knows where, doing who knows what.  Right after I sent the message, a truck pulls up with a big delivery and guess who shows up.  Ms. Nosy had to to see what was going on with the forklifts.  I was able to catch her and get her inside.  Maybe it was the truck showing up, maybe it was as Aden calls it, me "calling the animal police". Either way she was back, and I made sure to keep the doors locked.
The guys made good headway.  Most of the framing is now done, some of the sofits, a little of the fascia and some of the crown molding.  This is where is headaches begin.
I love my husband, I do, I do, but sometimes, he can be a little bit difficult.  He was not happy that they guys didn't use a plum line.  So unhappy in fact, that when he saw they weren't using one, he ran out and bought some masonry line for them. 
He is a perfectionist.  Its one of those qualities that I love about him.  He holds himself to, in my mind, a pretty unrealistic standard.  So, when he does something, especially to the house, its done right, the first time, even if it take forever :)
So, He is not very happy with how things are looking.  Let me see if I can give you the list of things that he finds wrong, so far.
Okay so the sofits are a little lower than they used to be. This means that the quarter round partially covers some of the dots on the gingerbread.
Nothing is straight. Please remember these are his complaints. The Crown molding is also a little smaller than the old one.  And then something about the drip edge for the roof, he said it will look retarded with the crown that small.  Personally, I don't see it, but then, I have half lost with what it is they are doing anyway.  I think it looks good.  And a hell of a lot better than it did.  Another thing that is pissing him off is the cost of the corbels.  $40 each.  Holy F'in poo people.  We 28 corbels. That's about $1120.  OMG.  We are having them done in PVC, so that hopefully, no one will ever have to deal with issues of them rotting, after another 122 years.  So far, only one has came down intact. The rest just disintegrated when they touched them.
So back to Bill's issues.  The house is old, nothing is level, nothing is plum, nothing is straight.  Nothing.  I don't see how it could ever be again, unless someone completely took the house apart and rebuilt it.
But, because I am the dutiful wife, I will relay his concerns to the contractor.  I wrote down what he said, word for word, so nothing will be lost in the relay.  But, this is one of those instances in which, I will keep quiet and nod and smile alot.  After 12 years, I have figured out which battles are not worth the effort to fight:)
The guys worked till dark last night.  Right now its raining.  Thunderstorms are expected today. With of course hail & gusting winds.  I hope not.
I'll get some pictures of a little later of what has been done so far :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Construction Day 2

Day one went so well!  I was really impressed by the carpenters that showed up.  They got alot done.  Most of the old Sofits and Fascia are torn off and some of the places that need to be rebuilt have been started.  They are here now and setting up the other scaffolding.  They did change their minds on the time frame for them to finish and they no longer believe they will be done today, lol.  We didn't think that they would be:)  It will probably take them the rest of the week. So the roof tear off won't start until next week.  But, they are calling for storms next week, so we will have to wait and see.  Whatever the case, this project is still moving along, which makes me really happy.  The picture loading thing takes a really long time, so I will add pictures as I can.  But for now you can have one that shows the sofits and fascia torn off :)

So that's it for now, I'll post more later :)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Construction Begins!!

Today's the big day!!! the roofers should be here in about 2 1/2 hours to start tearing off the old sofits  and fascia.  We had a bit of an issue with material deliveries yesterday.  About 11 am, Chris called, and told me that they would not be delivering.  He will bring materials out with him today and the rest would be here Tuesday.  Fine, whatever, as long as they get here.  He did say that the crew would be here at 9 am and he would be here within an hour of them.  Wonderful, just as long as everyone gets here and starts working.  I like that he has called just about every day, since we signed the contract and handed him a check.  Oh don't worry, we are aren't complete idiots, the check was only about 10%, the rest due at completion. Totally fair. I like it when things keep moving. 
Yesterday evening proved to be a bit trying.  Several of the neighborhood kids have decided that they like playing next door.  Around the house that is scheduled to torn down.  I have no problem with them playing in the yard or on the old garage foundation, but that house is not safe at all.  A couple of the kids were only 3  or 4 years old, they were hanging out with their older sisters, but the other kids were 8, 9, 10 & 11 years old.  I remember quite well what it was like at that age and I can see the appeal of the old house and all the 'treasures' that are in the yard.  I was watching them while the boys took baths last night and they had found some old tools and it looked like they were trying to build something with some wood that had fallen off the house.  I did see them try and go into the house a couple of times and after the 2nd time of warning them not to.  I went out, after the boys were settled in bed, and explained why they shouldn't.  I am sure they could see the roof was caving in, but they didn't like hearing about the floor caving in.  Mentioning that the basement is full of water and who knows what else, really worked on the girls, the boys just looked intrigued. lol  I think I kept watching them because I was a little bit jealous.  I remember finding an old abandoned farm house when I about 10 or 11, and a friend and I used to go over and play around it.  We never quite got our courage up to actually go in more than a few feet, but we had a ton of great adventures:)
The kids promised not to go in.  I promised not to tell their parents as long as they stayed out of the house, and they keep the little kids from running over my new garden :)  It was a good deal.  I almost hope they leave the house a little longer.  The kids are having so much fun and the garage is set back near the alley, so its pretty safe for them to play up there.  They have found some really cool stuff.  A few of the old glass 2 liter bottles, looks like Coke.  Several old wire egg baskets, an Adirondack chair, some really neat looking wooden candle holders.  Hell at this rate they can open up an antique store :)

Okay so it's now 9:12 am.  Are the roofer's here?  No.  I have this little thing with people being late.  I figure if you say you are going to be someplace at a certain time.  Be there.  Or say a later time and be early. 
Alrighty, I have my 40 minutes of freedom.  The boys are on the bus, and yet, the only creatures on my roof are pigeons....hmmm.
They better show up soon, or I may start throwing a tantrum.
Okay, I'll just wait and blog later.  I think I will get up and pace for a while :)

Alrighty they showed up just before 10am.  I thought I would be a bit upset with them being late, but damn!  I have not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 4 frickin' carpenters, working their collective butts off.  So far they are worth every penny.  I wonder if I can get them to come inside an bust out a few little projects inside:)  They have made great time with the tear off.  The first floor is all off and the second has just been started.  Chris arrived with the materials to start rebuilding.  This is really moving along.  I love it!!!!!
At this rate, and if the weather holds, I can really see the actual roof getting put on in the next few days.  Awesome, awesome, awesome.  And with only one small change, that no one will really notice and doesn't change the cost at all.

I'll post more developments as they happen.  I am going to try and get outside and get a few pictures with the woodwork off.  I just hope I don't get any thing dropped on  my head  :)

Sunday, May 1, 2011

A Beautiful Weekend!

Yesterday was so awesome!  We finally made a decision on the colors for outside the house.  It is final!  No one is allowed to change their minds, under penalty of slow and painful death :)
We got alot of stuff planted.  The rest of the green beans, Mesclun, Mustard, Spinach Mustard, Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers, California Bells, Sweet Peas, Basil and cilantro.  As of this morning the Rosemary plant I bought is still alive. I'll keep an eye on it, but I also think I should probably stay away from it.  I don't want to kill it:)
So of course, we plant and now they are calling for frost tonight and tomorrow night.  Nice, now I will have to go outside and cover everything.  Luckily, I saved all the plastic we had covering the windows for the winter.  I should have plenty.  We have to cover the windows with plastic in winter, because the windows, being 122 years old, leak like sieves. We do everything we can to try and keep the gas bill down.  I imagine that once the roof is done and Bill can get more insulation up in the attic, that will make a significant difference, not only will heating, but with the electric bill in the summer.  Its really only the upstairs that gets unbearably hot in summer.  The downstairs stays pretty cool because of all the brick. But since we are using window a/c units, the electric bill can get pretty high in the late summer. 
We thought about getting central a/c when we had the new furnace put in, but the costs of installing it was just ridiculous.  I really don't think we need it.  Surely, we can suck it up for 6 weeks:)
We've done okay so far.
The boys got to ride their bikes yesterday, and they did really well.  No one broke anything.  So, I promised them that if the keep practicing we will be able to go to the park and they can ride their bikes there. I think that may end up taking a while, since they seem to prefer me pushing the bike to them actually pedaling.  Today, because we played in the dirt most of the day, I will get to spend the day cleaning up all the dirt.  At least this time, its not a bunch of mud.  That clay is hard to clean up.  I should at least have a good amount of help this time.  The point system is working out pretty well with the boys.  Unfortunately for them, yesterday they lost points almost as quickly as they earned them, but at least they aren't in the negative.  They did alot of fighting yesterday, so every time they earned a point for helping, they would get into an argument, and I would end up taking the point away.  Why can't we all just get along !  But, their room is still clean.  Aden used his first and only 10 points so he could play a game and he only has 4 points now.  Evan used his 10 to get back the big Buzz Lightyear.  He has 4 points now.  He wants to get back the Lego's and since I decided that 10 points only gets him 4 Lego's it may be awhile before I have to worry about stepping on them.  I really dislike legos. Aden seems more interested in earning TV and game time than getting his toys back.  Fine with me 10 points = 30 minutes of either, but only one.  I am so mean!!!
Alrighty then I need to go get busy, the cleaning fairies seem to have taken the weekend off, again.  I think I will freak the neighbors out and blast some music.  Since I am in love with song I think I'll just play this over and over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mwsapFBX4U

I really love this guy, I have no idea what he's saying, I think caliente is 'hot'?? 
Of course I had to play it before I posted the link, so Aden is busting out his zumba moves!  He's not too bad :)
I really do need to find more music to zumba too, but really don't know any really good salsa music or reggaeton, its proving a bit of a challenge.  Why is this music so appealing to me??  its a long way off of my usual.  The Eagles it is not lol. It also bugs me that I have no idea what they are saying 90 % of the time, oh well, Music knows no barriers:)
So, I am off to blast the music and we can clean our butts of to some music that we don't understand, but yet are quickly becoming addicted to.  Bill thinks that I may be missing Florida, subconsciously.   I don't think so really, but it would certainly be easier to find out what music I might like :)
Only 2 days, till the roofers start!!



<a href="http://www.hypersmash.com%22%3ehyper/ Smash</a>

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Okay so maybe while not technically, over any rainbows, it is still pretty high.  Oh, maybe I should explain what it is I am talking about.  Bill is on the roof.  That makes me pretty uncomfortable.  We have really good insurance, but still, its a very tall house.  Yesterday, he had to install a new vent, and because we are expecting rain, he needs to make sure its sealed up, so nothing leaks.  The roofers will flash around it when they get up there.  Today, he is going to install my new dryer vent.  Finally!!!!!!  For the last several months, I have been venting the dryer out of the window, which is an amazing pain in butt.  Its a long story as to why, but in a nut shell, the old vent wouldn't work with the new dryer, something about where it was located or something. Whatever, now it will be fixed and I won't have to deal with it.  Progress is awesome!
Managed to get the Wal-Mart run done early.  As suspected, no one was there, and they still had the stuff I went there to get.  Awesome.  Bill broke down and bought a new weed eater.  The old one was stolen last summer. Someone was going around stealing lawn equipment.  Maybe they wanted to start their own lawn service or something.  I just can't imagine what you would need 15 weed eaters, half a dozen lawn movers and 8 chainsaws for.  I finally just broke down and bought a Rosemary plant.  I hate admitting it, but I am completely incompetent when it comes to Rosemary.  I have no reason why, other than for the past 6 years I have tried to grow it from seeds and just can't seem to either get them to even sprout or if they do sprout the seedlings are so weak and pathetic they don't make it.  So, I got a very nice, good size plant, that hopefully, if I baby, it will live.  It better, if it dies, I will just give up.
We got most of the stuff moved out of the way yesterday and several more rows of beans in.  We are going to hold off on the tomatoes another week or so.  I think it is still to early, and my luck, we'd get them planted and then we would have a freeze.  I'll just wait:)
I got the wandering Jews re potted and outside, the tulips & irises weeded and a few herbs planted in pots.  And for the most exciting part of my day, I went into the house next door.
I was gathering up my pots and saw that there were about 10 of the gallon size black plastic pots laying around the yard next door and since no one is going to be using them, I snagged them.  Bill said since I was over there to look and see if the kitchen door had the hardware still on it.  So, being the dutiful wife I am, I did.
OMG!  We haven't been in there since early last summer.  I could not believe how much damage occurred over the winter.  I understand why the city said they wouldn't be responsible for accidents.  The first room I walked into was the kitchen.  The floor in the center of the room was gone, as was the ceiling over that part of the floor.  Since I am a pretty nervous nelly, and I am pretty familiar with where the joists are, I decided to stick near the wall and old step where the joists should be.  I went partially into what was the dining room and no further than that.  The ceiling in the living room and the front room as also partially down and big holes in those floors as well.  I could see into the hallway, and it was a mess.  The whole staircase had collapsed.  Their staircase was just like ours and the banister and spindles were all on the floor. With a huge hole in the ceiling.  I could see the sky in several places.  I can't even begin to describe how utterly sad it is to see that.  Their house is almost an exact copy of ours, alot of the woodwork was carved by the same man, and to see it, just rotting.  Each spindle is hand carved and so beautiful, to see them laying on the floor like that was really depressing. I am not sure why it struck me like that, or why that one think was so overwhelming.  Maybe its PMS??  who knows, but it is just really sad.  What's really bad is, the guy who owned it was a roofer!  When we moved in they had tarps on the roof, and never did anything other than put up more tarps.  I had heard that they had 50 gallon barrels on the 2nd floor to catch leaks.  I have to imagine  that it was true, since you can now see parts of barrels that are now in the basement. The basement is completely full of water.  Anyway, it doesn't look like much inside will be salvageable, there was some door hardware , but Bill will have to go and check that out. 
So that's it for now, I need to go and get the boys outside before they riot.

Friday, April 29, 2011

So Excited!!!

I am so excited about the roofers finally getting started!!!  Bill and I are acting like kids, on Christmas Eve!.  Got the mammogram this morning.  It wasn't that bad, a bit squishy, but pretty quick and painless.  I should get the results within 7-10 business days.  I am not worried, not one little bit:)
So, this weekend should be pretty fun.  The weather is gorgeous and it won't be hot, which I like.  I can't find my big floppy sun hat though.  I may have to get another one, I have alot of gardening to do:).
The Irises have decided to go on ahead and start to bloom.  Nice.  I was hoping that they would hold off until the roof was done, so I could actually enjoy them. They way they are looking this morning, they could open up within a few days.  For some reason, it seems a bit early for that.  Bill is hoping that he can get the rest of the beans planted today. That is after he runs a new vent pipe from the kitchen up through the closet and then out the attic.  Thinking about that, I imagine that will take a while.  Whatever, the boys and I will be enjoying the sunshine.  I have pulled out all of my big planters and I should be able to do the herbs exclusively in planters.  We just need to get to Wal-Mart to get some soil.  And groceries, because the boys have ate all the food.  We decided we will go in the morning about 6 am.  There shouldn't be anyone there and hopefully they won't be wiped out of the stuff I need to get. 
We have been trying for the last couple of years to move some Star Jasmine, to get it closer to the house.  We just love it and it smells amazing!  So, of course, because the roofers are going to trample everything, we have a nice patch that decided to come up next to the stairs.  Maybe it will be close enough they won't step on it, and I can trellis it when they are done.  I'd like to eventually get that and the morning glories trellised on both sides of the porch and between the bay windows.  We'll see how that goes.
Bill got to go on a Home Depot shopping spree this morning.  He really needed some drywall shims and a framing nailer.  He got them and several other things, because he can't just get one or two things.  I almost wish Home Depot didn't have an online store.  We would probably not spend so much.  But, we had a coupon!  Well, not exactly a coupon but a $100.00 Gift card, so that came in really handy.  Instead of the bill being $170.00 it was only $70.00 with free shipping. Gotta love free Shipping.
So, today will be a day of making sure the guys have a clear path around the house and that nothing is in their way, and getting the garden in.
I wish they were starting, yesterday:).  So far the weather forecast is staying clear for next week, I hope it stays that way!
I think we should grill tonight and tomorrow. I have less to clean up that way, besides the boys love BBQ chicken. Maybe I should make some potato salad...hmmm, I don't know.
I did happen to catch part of the Royal Wedding, while I was waiting to get squished.  It was lovely.  But then I imagine, if I had that kind of money and my grandmother was queen, I'd have a really nice wedding too:). I really did like her dress. I am just glad its over and the news can go back to reporting things that actually affect most of us.  Like, the economy, the war, natural disasters, you know, the normal everyday crap.
I think that is about all I have for now, I need to go and change so I can play in the dirt:)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Growth Spurts Sucks, The Royal Wedding, Grocery Budget & Mud Galore

For the last couple of weeks, Aden & Evan, have pretty much done nothing but, eat, sleep & whine about being hungry.
Evan is the worst.  I think our grocery bill has just doubled, if not tripled.  This morning alone, Evan has had; 1 big bowl of Raisin bran, 1 banana, 1/2 can of mandarin Oranges and now he is eating peanut butter.  Shit, they've only been up 2 hours.  I went to get him dressed for school Tuesday, and his jeans that fit on Saturday, were too small!!!!!!!!  We just got him a new pair of shoes about 4 weeks ago, they are too small now too.  And this isn't one of those, he needs a 1/2 size bigger, which was in the past how it went.  He went from a size 8 to a size 9 1/2.  I am glad I had set some in that size aside for Aden who is still in a size 9.
And the shirts!!!!!  Omg, none of his shirts fit.  Even Aden's shirts are tight on him.  At this rate, we'll go broke this summer just keeping Evan in food & clothes.  Okay so its really not that bad, but still.  Does the putting a brick on their heads thing work??  I have some bricks laying around, maybe I should give that a try and see. 
Bill expects me to keep us on our budget.  How exactly am I supposed to do that??? We just got groceries, now we are going to have to go again, this weekend.  So much for shopping every two weeks.  They just ate two weeks worth of food in 4 days. AHHHHHHHHH
Okay, enough of that, moving right along.
The Royal Wedding.
Okay so, I must admit that I was sucked it.  But now, its starting to get a bit old.  I am happy for the royal couple, but I don't really care who they invited or what the seating chart is.  Really, I could care less, it doesn't affect me.  I am going to a wedding this summer, which I am pretty sure will be alot more fun.  That is the wedding I want to hear all about.  Seating, food, who's invited, who's wearing What...These are details that concern me and I can't hear enough about it.
It may also be that I don't know the royal couple.  But, obviously, I know the people who invited me to their wedding this summer. And this will be my first dress up shindig, since Aden was born.  And, this is my favorite part....Children ARE NOT Allowed, at the wedding!!!  Brilliant!!  Its like they read my mind and are doing this all for me:)  Isn't that sweet of them!
This couple is awesome and I know them and have no doubts that they will have a brilliant and completely wonderful life together.  Because they compliment each other!  I don't know the royal couple, so I have no ideas on whether or not their marriage will last, besides, it doesn't affect me. So the only wedding, I care about is the one I get to go to.  Oh and I will go.  If the sitter backs out, Bill can stay with the boys. I am still going.  I need a dress, and shoes, maybe earrings.  Oh my God! what will I do with my hair!  Now this is excitement!
I am sure you will hear more about the wedding from me at a later date.  I need to move on, tons to say and not much time to do it.
So, since I am freaking all out about what to plant where, the boys and I went outside yesterday to see what containers I have that will work.  They were supposed to help me.  That went about how you think it did.  I worked, they threw mud at each other, and at me.  Once they had relocated most of the mud, we came in.  Mistake.  Big Mistake.
I should have stripped them down in the yard and hosed them off, even though it was a little chilly for that.  So stupid me, brings them inside, while they are covered, and I mean covered head to toe, in mud, into the house.  Evan immediately starts running around in circles, while I try to pry Aden's shoes off of him.  They were a bit wet, so it was a pain.  So now I have mud all over the rug, the couch, everywhere.  I finally get the shoes off and tell Aden to get undressed and into the bathroom.  I had to chase Evan, he thought it was a brilliant game.  Meanwhile, Aden decides to imitate Sam and do a spectacular shake that managed to get mud on the walls and ceiling.  Sam decided it looked fun, so she did it too.  More mud on the walls.  I still hadn't caught Evan, who is now rolling under the coffee table to avoid me.  I felt like one of the people who try and catch greased pigs at fairs.  I was not having much success.  Eventually, Mama cat decided to help, by getting her fat ass off the couch and standing in the doorway, hissing at everyone.  When Mama talks, everyone listens.  That stunned everyone long enough I was able to catch Evan.  I didn't bother trying to take his clothes off, I just carried him up to the bathroom.  Aden, decided to be generous and actually follow. Sam tried too, but Mama was blocking the doorway and wouldn't let her pass.  I had to give Mama a stern talking to. lol.  She eventually moved over a bit, and started licking her butt, so Sam could get passed.  I finally got everyone, including Sam in the bathroom.  After shutting the door, to hopefully prevent anyone escaping, I put them all in the tub, Evan with his clothes still on.  They would have to be washed anyway.  I considered it a pre-rinse:)  After, washing, rinsing and repeating a few times, I finally got them clean.  But now my house is trashed.  After threatening them with a slow and painful death, if they left their bedroom before I was done cleaning, I proceeded to clean my way downstairs.  Dinner was delayed by 2 hours, its hard for me to clean the 14 foot ceiling, even when standing on the ladder. 
They actually must have taken me seriously, because they did stay in their room, till I called them.  They hadn't had a good day anyway.  For 3 days I asked very nicely for them to clean up their room and put the toys where they belong.  They were told that if they didn't, I would clean their room and they would loose all of their toys.  They didn't clean it, so I took 2 big black trash bags with me, and I cleaned it.  I left them 1 stuffed animal each, 1 toy truck and one small buzz lightyear.  That was it.  I didn't throw their toys away.  I did tell them that they can earn the toys back, if they behave & do their chores.  So, I made up a point system. At 10 points they can pick one toy to get back.  They get a point for doing their chores or doing what I tell them to.  If they whine, talk back, fight or otherwise irritate me, they lose a point.  They so far have 1 point each, but their room is spotless  and I haven't stepped on any legos:)
I think that just about covers it.  I'm off to wash the mud crusted clothes:)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Gardening, Historical Issues & yet a few more Issues :)

So, we met with the Roofer yesterday.  Everything is set up and ready for them to start.  Colors have been picked, shingles are ordered, all other misc materials ordered. They will be out about 8 am next Tuesday to get started.  Since we are the first big job they have, we get a big crew to work.  With such a big crew, the sofits and fascia should only take 2 days for the entire house.  As soon as that is done, weather permitting, they will start the roof tear off and rebuild.  With a crew of 20 guys, he thinks that they can bang out the roof in 3-4 days, remember its an entire rebuild.  When that is complete, the gutter guys can start.  That may take as long as a week, and because of that they are going to set up a temporay gutter system thingy, in case it rains while they are trying to restore the Yankee gutters.  I can finally see the light at the end of the endless remodeling tunnel.  So, here is the Before picture. Hopefully, next week, I'll have a much nicer After picture.




Interesting bit of information.  The guy who we have been dealing with for the roofer, he's the owner of the company, is also the nephew of the people who used to live next door, in the house that is being torn down.  He told Bill that he really should go over and salvage what he can from the house, he spoke to his Aunt, who now lives in Texas, and she said it was fine with her.  That's nice and everything,but the city now owns the house.  So, I called the City.  They said no, at first. So then I called the historical society and told them the situation.  We need 3 windows, 2 window sills, and if we can get to them, we would like to snag 2 hardware pieces for one of our transome windows.  We would also like to see if they have any hardware left on any of the downstairs doors.  One of our doors doesn't have the original hardware.  After a few hours, the city called me back and said we could go and get what we need, as long as it is done in a safe manner, the house is condeemed after all and we get everything out by June first.  I don't think that will be a problem, seeing as how we need the stuff now. lol.  Since, the guy seemed in a generous mood, I asked about getting some of the brick, when they start knocking down the house.  He said that we can do that, after the basement has been filled in.  Outstanding!  That should give us plenty of brick to make the retaining wall in the back and a brick patio/bbq area.  Aden is still convinced that we should make him and Evan a brick playhouse.  He even drew up 'plans' so we will know how to build it.  We'll see. It would be kinda cute though.  I should post the picture he drew its a bit unrealistic.  But, then this is the kid, who thinks we should build a rocket ship out of brick too.  I don't think he really gets the whole concept of physics just yet:)
So, the Historical society will be out today, sometime to take yet more pictures.  They must have already taken several hundred.  I know that on the inital application, I sent 178 pictures. How many do these people really need :)  They are also going to be coming up through each stage of this roof thing, to take pictures of that.  So, that's that.
Next up on the list, the garden.  Man, this is turning out to be pretty tricky.  Since the roof materials will be dropped off in the back yard, where we normally put in the vegetable garden, we have to make sure the guys have a clear path to get to the materials.  So we have moved the garden over to the west side of the yard.  This does not give us enough room.  If I want to have enough vegetablea to put up for winter, I need alot more space.  It takes 5 rows, 20 feet long,  of green & wax beans, to give us enough to eat all summer and have enough left over to freeze or can, to get us through the winter.  I have enough space to do that, but then I don't have any room for anything else.  I eat a ton of spinach.  I am not kidding, we go through about 2 pounds a week of fresh spinach.  I also like lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cantalope and cucumbers. Not to mention the herb garden, which gets pretty big too, because what plants I don't bring in for the winter, I like to dry or freeze. Plus, we use them almost daily once they start coming in. That take alot of room.  I don't like it, but it looks like we will have to wait till the roofers are done, before I can put that stuff in.  Which means a longer wait till I can start eating :) Oh well, it is for a good cause.

The next big issue is the boobs.  The big squishing is Friday morning, and I am starting to get pretty nervous.  Not so much for the squishing, I think I can handle that.  I am getting pretty nervous about the results.  I had someone ask me what I would do, if the results of the test were bad.  Ah, well, I am trying not to think about that.  But, she mentioned that I may want to, just in case.  But, I don't want to.  But, now the idea is already planted in my head, and it won't go away.  Its like a cheesy song that won't go away lol.  Maybe I should watch the Wiggles for an hour or so, that way the only thing stuck in my head is that Big Red Car song lol.   Yeah, I like the Wiggles...What of it?
I also really enjoy Turbo Dogs and Jane and the Dragon.  I heard that they are coming out with a Smurf movie.  I frickin' love the Smurfs!!!!!  Although, I always thought it was a bit strange that there was only 1 Smurfette and all of the others were boys....  It totally makes sense to me now.  No, wonder all the other smurfs, did whatever Smurfette wanted.  I'm not going to say it, but I think I know what was really going on!
I have noticed that alot with cartoons.  I never picked up on the adult humor in them when I was a kid, obviously.   But, now watching them again with my kids, alot of them are just really frickin' funny.  But, I still think I am old enough to know what it is that the Road Runner is saying, they can stop bleeping it out :)
Alright, I guess I should get off here and get busy.  I am sure there is something I should be doing:)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Rain, Headache, My Old House, Abandoned Puppy & Roofers

I woke up about 3:30 am with a massive headache.  So, I am sitting here waiting the Motrin & coffee to kick in.  Maybe that will help.  I am not sure if it is just a tension headache or maybe its the allergies, or maybe even both.  Whatever the cause, it is starting to get on my nerve.
I have a friend out in California, who has been beside herself worrying about a neighbor's 10 month old German shepherd.  The dog has been alone in the house since last Monday, crying.  She called Animal control, the police & several news stations trying to get someone to come and check on the puppy.  She couldn't go over there, she has cerebral palsy. Finally, yesterday after one of the news stations was able to get someone to check on the dog.  Still no sign of the owners, but at least the puppy has food and water.  They will keep checking on the dog, and if the owners don't show up soon, they will take him.  My friend, still would like a few minutes alone with the owners & everyone who wouldn't come out. Maybe now the puppy will be okay.
It has rained for 24 straight hours.  Which has had me running around like a crazy person, trying to catch the leaks.  That sounds worse than it actually is.  There are only 3 leaks.  2 in the attic, near the roof hatch and one where the addition meets the house. As far as that one goes, its because it needs new flashing. The two in the attic are being caught in buckets.  So I am doubly glad Bill is off today.  Those buckets are full and I am just not coordinated enough to bring full buckets down the ladder from the attic. 
They are calling for the rain to end this morning.  The forecast is clear until Saturday afternoon, so hopefully that holds true.  The roofer will be out today and I hope he can get everything started.  He said the whole job should take about 2 weeks.  Its not so much the tear off, re-decking and shingles that will take the longest, its all the other crap.  Fascia, Sofits, gingerbread, flashing, etc., that will take the longest.  They are pretty much ripping the roof off and rebuilding it.  Of course, being the difficult people we are, we couldn't just go with new gutters, we are repairing the old Yankee gutters.  Pain in the ass.  But, we have looked at alot of houses that have had the Yankee gutters replaced with the new kind, and it just looks funny.  Whats the point of having all of the fancy woodwork decorating the house, if you can't see it because there is metal covering it.  With the Yankee gutters, the gutter is build into the roof so you can't see it very much. 
I just want to get this done already.  I've been with Bill, twelve years now.  9 of those have been living in one remodeling project or another.  I love my husband and am so glad he is good at this sort of thing, but enough already :)  I have informed him that I will not, ever, live in another house that is not finished.  Completely.  If he wants to buy another handyman especial, he will need to rehab and or restore it, before I move in.  At least this house is structurally sound.  The place he did in Florida, was not.  It needed all new floor joints.  That was interesting.  But it was very impressive to watch Bill re-build it.  He has mad skills.  When we moved in here, the last owners had put in carpet throughout the house.  We of course ripped it up.  I don't like carpet.  They had used a very generous amount of glue on top of oak hardwood floors.  They had also glued carpet on top of Walnut stairs.  Walnut!!!!  The floors upstairs were pine, and only tacked down, but still.  They even had carpet in the bathrooms and kitchen.  Bill was able to sand down and re-finish all the downstairs floors, with the exception of the kitchen.  The carpet was covering several places that had severe rot.  Upstairs he had to put in new wood floors.  So instead of pine he went with a 4 inch oak planks.  I love those floors.  You can really see the grain because those aren't stained.  The downstairs floors are stained and because of the boys and all the critters, will have to be refinished, eventually. 
Other issues with house, included burl wood, pocket doors, that had the hardware removed and the doors were shoved back into the pockets, while they were not hung.  We found the hardware in basement in a pile of junk. Bill got those all fixed up and hung.  There also wasn't a level surface in the house.  He spent months jacking up the floors, quarter inch, by painful, quarter inch.  The floor joists are made out of Redwood.  And they are pretty much petrified now.  But, they still smell really nice.  Strange.  Anyway, its been one thing after another.  Jacking up floors, so doors would work. Finding William Morris wallpaper in the bathroom along with an archway that had been sealed up, that led to the master bedroom.  But the roof is our last major project.
Once that is done, its all smaller things.  Rebuilding the addition, this time to code, with insulation and proper wiring & plumbing.  It sounds like a big job, but its really not. The back room is small.  Then some minor cosmetic things.  Then we can actually hang pictures on the walls, get curtains to match, and make it look like people live here. Not like people are just are working here:)
That the house doesn't look like much of a home, has always bugged Bill's dad.  He is the type that just hires the work done.  He was always telling us just to hire someone.  And pay them with what??  Our good looks and Charming personality??  Right.  Besides, Bill likes doing it himself, yes it takes him a while to get stuff done, because he is always working, but its done right, the first time.  He is a bit of a perfectionist, which is okay with me:)
It looks like we'll be in the house for several more years, so why not have it the way we want it?  Yes, alot of things could have been done the easy way, like using drywall, instead of plaster, to repair the walls and ceilings, but we like plaster :)  We like the old floors and the 6 foot claw foot tub. The tub was the deciding factor for me, on this house.  The only way they could have gotten the tub into the house, was by putting it in before the roof was on.  They hoisted it up with mules.  That to me is just awesome.
Once everything is done with the house itself, I can get down to the business of finally landscaping!!!  Organized gardens, instead of just putting stuff wherever I can find a spot. 
Anyway, it will probably be a long day, so I should probably get busy.

Monday, April 25, 2011

It's A Beautiful Day in OZ

Oh what a beautiful day!  Its raining, outstanding!  It is supposed to rain and storm most of the day.  Which means I'll spend most of the day trying to keep the boys from bringing down the house around my ears.  I can't wait till we get the fence :)
Not to worry, I have paints!  With enough paint and paper, I should be able to keep them occupied for at least 10 minutes.  I just hope that this time, they don't paint the dog, or the cat.
Sam didn't mind so much, but Mama, got pretty irritated.
My surgeon should be back in town today, so hopefully, I can get in touch with him before I go to the other guy about the stitch thing.  I really don't want to go. 
What I want to do is go on vacation!  The roofers are supposed to be here tomorrow!  I hope they can get started this week.  Bill informed me that he wants to go ahead and have a garage sale really soon.  Okay, that would be nice, except, every time we have one, he ends up working and I have to do everything myself.  That sucks.  He suggested the first weekend in May.  I wonder if he realizes that is next Saturday.  Yeah, that isn't going to happen.  I need more than a weeks notice.  Besides, if the roofers are working on the roof, how exactly am I going to have a yard sale in my front yard???  He'll just have to wait.  I can probably get someone to come over and sit with the boys while I have it.  I'll have to, there is no way I can chase them and do the yard sale.
I say we wait till the roof is done, and the house looks all pretty.  Just a thought.
There is a house next door, that the city took over and is going to knock down sometime this summer.  Its almost exactly like ours.  We need to go and loot it lol.  We still have the original windows and need 3 replacements. And some door hardware and a window sill.  Think the city would mind???  I doubt they would.  The only problem would be that the house next door is condemned and the second floor has collapsed.  May be a bit tricky to get the stuff lol.
I have decided that from now on, when I clean the house, I am going to take pictures and put them on the fridge.  That way people can see that I do actually clean the house.  It only stays clean about 10 minutes.  Well, yesterday I think it was about 15 minutes before the boys discovered I had cleaned the downstairs and decided they needed to 'fix' it.  Oh well, at least the mud is gone.

I am still unsure what to do with my herbs this year.  Where I normally have my herb garden is right were the fence is going to go.  I do have a very old radio flyer red wagon, one of the old metal ones, that is all rusted and the handle is busted.  I may just have Bill drill a couple of holes in it and line it, then I can plant some of the herbs in there.  Very convenient for moving around the yard, to keep out of the roofer's way.  Everything else will have to go into containers.  Although, the metal is pretty rusted, I may be able to poke holes in it with a screwdriver:).  Yep, its decided.  That is what I will do.
I wanted to put in planters that hang over the porch railing, maybe I can do that after everything is painted.  I have these brass rectangular planters that I was going to use, so I can bring some of the herbs in the house for the winter. 

Just spoke with my surgeon.  He said not to worry. It would have been one of the stitches that was supposed to dissolve.  Good!!!!!!  I didn't want to be poked today anyway.  He said he'll see me Friday if I am still concerned.

Okay, the laundry is calling me, oh the fun just never ends :)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday, The Roof gets started, Victorian Colors & Garden started

Alrighty then, got a bit of gardening done yesterday.  Got the Irises, Sweet William & some Marigolds planted around the maple tree in the front.  I figure they should be safe from the roofers there.  We also 2 rows of wax beans planted.  So we are well on our way to getting the garden planted.  The boys and I will see what else we can get in today.  I need to figure out where I can safely put my herb garden so it doesn't get trampled. 
Everything is all set to start the roof.  They should be able to start Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the weather.  It should only rain thru Wednesday, so hopefully the forecast will hold and they can start.  I think the dumpster is scheduled to be delivered Thursday regardless.  We have settled on some colors, I think, but who knows.  We are a ways off from painting. 
Bill has figured out what he is going to do about the porch.  In order to get the North column back in plum,  he has to replace a joist, and re-deck the porch, which he was going to do anyway.  That however, can wait until after the roof is done. 
Passover was awesome!!!!  It was so good to see everyone, well almost everyone.  Barry had to work, so that was depressing, but the food was good and the boys were fairly well behaved :)  We didn't get home till after 11pm which I knew was going to be a problem and it was.  Sam and Mama alone, in the house for long periods of time, usually means trouble of one kind or another.
Apparently, Sam had problems holding it till we got home.  It was a mess.  I ended up staying up till almost 2 am cleaning up pee, crap & blood.  Not sure what Sam did this time to annoy Mama, but she was a bloody mess.  The couch is micro-suede, and it took forever to get the blood off of it. Glass Cleaner is what I finally had to use.  I know sounds strange, but it worked.  I just had no idea a dogs ears could bleed that much.  I think Mama isn't just scratching her, I think she is biting her.  I think we might want to consider a life insurance policy on Sam, just in case.  They seemed to have worked it out by the time we got home, because they were both hanging out on the couch, watching me clean. 
We discovered yesterday, that the kitten Gravy, is in fact a girl, not a boy as we had originally thought.  Which gives Gravy a much better chance of getting into the house.  Bill is a sucker for girls :)
It looks like half of the mud from outside, is now inside.  The boys kept running in and out yesterday, so I am going to have some massive cleaning to do today.  If I was smart I would wait until we are done outside today to clean it up.  But, I can see the chunks of mud all over the floor and it is starting to get on my nerves lol.  But, this is one reason we only have wood floors, its easy to clean :)
I might well go ahead and do it now.  The boys are actually occupying themselves in their room and besides it is sprinkling now.  We may have to wait a few days to plant anyway. 
Well, its already 9am and I haven't gotten anything done today, I want to get alot of crap done today, just in case tomorrow doesn't go well.
I still have hopes that the doctor can do whatever repair work he needs to do without keeping me in the hospital more than a few hours.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow afternoon :) 
Anyway, I better get busy.  Happy Easter :)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Friday, Mammogram Postponed, Seder & Storms

Finally, its Friday! I had to reschedule the mammogram, because Bill has his monthly staff meeting which just happens to start at the same time my appointment was.  He thought the meeting was yesterday.  Anyway, I am not happy and happy at the same time.  Happy, because I really didn't want to go get squished.  Unhappy, because now I have to wait, yet another week to find out what is going on.  I am trying not to obsess or even think about it, but its hard, I don't like not knowing.  :)

So, tonight we go to Nana & Papa's for the Seder dinner, it is still Passover, after all. I love Passover.  Of all of the Jewish holidays, it is by far my favorite.  I think it is because it involves several of my favorite activities.  You get to drink alot of wine, I like wine.  You get to read a really cool story about vengeance, and why it is a bad idea to irritate Jews.  Then there is food.  Lots of food.  And some more wine.  There is also singing at the dinner table.  Lots of loud rambunctious singing.  And a little more Wine.  Its just a overall great holiday. 
I didn't find any dress pants for the boys, so they will wear jeans, no big deal.  I did find some nice shirts, so that will work. 
Papa has a tendency to go pretty quickly over the plagues, so the boys mostly miss what he says, they have also been too young in the past to actually know whats going on.  I think this year, Aden may at least understand some of what is going on. 
Several years ago, I watch a movie, called ' The Devil's Arthimetic'.  It had the girl from the original Spiderman Movie, I don't remember her name, but the cute blond girl. Anyway, she plays a Jewish teenager that doesn't want to go to Seder, because she thinks its a waste of time. And of course, in the way of movies, she learns different.  It is a great movie, but it made me bawl like a baby for most of it.  But it is still a really good movie. 
The boys are still way to young to watch it, it deals with the holocaust, but eventually, they will watch it.
Speaking of the boys, they are so excited to go to Nana's. But then, they usually are.  The trick will be to keep my sanity until we go.  They tend to be harder to control when they are excited :)

They are already driving me nuts.  Aden had to start off the morning by coming into my room at 5:06 am and telling me what time it was.  I told him fine, he could go downstairs.  Which he didn't.  He went in to his room and proceeded to wake Evan up.  Evan was not ready to get up.  So, Evan is still cranky and probably will be all day. 
I am hoping that I will be able to figure out the video camera I got Bill.  I have never seen anything so small.  Its the size of a credit card. But, it is really cool! If I can't, no worries, I still have the digital camera.

Well it appears that the storm has finally reached us.  Its been raining with a bit of occasional thunder for the last couple of hours, but now it's shaking the house.  I love a good storm.  They aren't calling for much severe weather.  Only golf ball size hail, frequent lightening strikes and some strong, damaging winds.  Nope, that doesn't sound severe to me.  Flooding though.  There could be some flooding.  Aden asked if the whole world was going to flood.  I said no, not today, its Passover, it may rain frogs, but we'll be okay :)

Bill is off to his meeting & I am off to see if I can't get something accomplished this morning.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

I-Phone, Tomato Thieves, SWAT Teams & Stupid People

I still haven't got the hang of the title thing. I was told to make sure my title is relevant. Relevant to whom? Me, You, People in Singapore, the Dog? Now its been a long time since I took any writing classes or even an English class, but I seem to recall, way back in the day, before crawlers, that your title was just your title. Not a bunch of key words strung together. Granted, they didn't have crawlers then, but why should I cater to them? If I was doing the title I wanted it would look more like this.
'Stupid Mother leaves babies in car, Swat Team called in while Tomato Thieves run Rampant through Florida, all while being tracked by their I-phones'.
Its a bit long, but I think it sums it up better. I am starting to really dislike key words. I especially don't like tags.
Whatever, I should stop or I'll end up complaining about it all day :)
So the porch guys came back out yesterday with an engineer this time. Smart move on their part. After several hours of fiddling, the North column is as good as it is going to get, with taking it completely apart and getting a real mason to rebuild it.
Bill is actually considering this. I think it is a very bad idea, for now. The porch roof is supported, it will not move. The columns are as level and straight as they are going to get. Let's just get the roof done, before any more damage is done. We can always rebuild the column at a later date, after the roof is done.
Speaking of the roof, we just saved $3500 on the roof, by switching 2 materials for the sofits and facia. Awesome!!!! We aren't sacrificing anything because both materials have a 50 year warranty. Works for me. So instead of using PVC for the facia, we are going with fiber cement. And Engineered wood Strand for the sofits. So, there we are. Hopefully, very soon, I can start complaining about what a mess the roofers are making, I hope.
Let's see, Evan is feeling better today, I think. Yesterday, I couldn't get him to eat anything, which is very strange for him. He eats everything in sight.
Bill is so looking forward to having the weekend off! I am too. It just seems like I see him less now, than I did before he was promoted.
I wanted to make sure the boys had something to wear for tomorrow night, so I went upstairs to make sure I could find their dress clothes. Yep, I found them. Damn it! they don't fit! How can this be? Evan's slacks are about 2 inches to short, Aden's are to tight in the waist, which means Evan won't be able to wear those either. At least, I can give Evan, Aden's shirt, then I am only down 1 shirt and 2 pairs of pants. I know I kept alot of boys clothes from when I was doing Ebay, so I should have a bin or two somewhere, with pants and shirts. But I think I only kept size 6,7 & 8. Aden needs a 5 slim or he did. I have the sewing machine out so I can always take in a size 6 and let it out later. But what a pain. At least I found out yesterday, and not tomorrow when I was trying to get them ready. Now I just have to find that bin! And I have to fine me something that fits. It does really amaze me, how skinny Aden is now. He was such a fat baby! Not chubby, huge.
I did find this sewing sit online, that talked about customizing your store bought bras. They had awesome instructions on how to take in your bras. I followed the instructions and now one of my nice bras fits! Finally! I had to take in 2 inches on each side of the band, but I was to scared to actually cut the material out. What if I end up getting bigger and need those inches back? Bras are stupid expensive. Well, the ones I got were anyway :)
But since the sewing machine is out I can start taking in my jeans so I don't have to keep using Bill's belt. I know, I could just go and by a belt, but that would involve actually spending money :)
Storms today and it looks like through the weekend :( I wanted to try and get the garden in Saturday. I want to at least get in spinach, lettuce, tomatoes. I think the green beans & peas can wait a couple of weeks.
Bill will just have to fence around the garden.
Okay so I watched the news this morning. Yep you guessed it, it was an idiot fest.
First, we have a mother, who drove her mini-van to dollar general or dollar tree, one of those, left her 11 month old and her 3 year old in the van, while it was running, and she went into the store. When she came back out she noticed her van driving away. The SWAT team was called in, and a 3 hour stand off, ensued. The children are okay. Maybe its just me, but what kind of idiot leaves her kids in the car, while its running, to go shopping????? Does she not watch the news, ever? She told authorities that she has never had a problem before, because the 3 years looks after the baby... The 3 year old! Really? I have a three year old, I wouldn't trust him to babysit anything living. I can't believe the mother isn't in trouble.
Next up on the list.
It seems that there is a new organized crime ring in Florida. If this doesn't convince you the economy is in the toilet, nothing will.
Apparently these guys, set up a fake trucking company, in order to steal....wait for it.......tomatoes.
Tomatoes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of...tomatoes. They have yet to be caught. So, be very careful out there. They could be armed with bacon & lettuce. Very Dangerous. I wonder if when we plant our tomatoes we should put in some sort of security system??? Maybe we will just let Sam stay outside at night to guard them? Maybe we should get a couple of vicious Doberman's to guard the tomatoes.
The next idiot was perhaps my favorite. This guy was in court for parole violations and he decided that instead of going to jail, he would try jumping out the window. He broke the window, then tried to jump out. He was stopped by a petite policewoman, who yanked him back into the room. He only suffered cuts and scraps. She probably saved his life, since it would have been a fall of a couple of stories. I think, she should have let him jump. They would have had plenty of time to send officers down to the parking lot to make sure he didn't get away, just in case he lived. He might have only broken his legs. It would have saved the state tons of money. Unless of course he did live and broke alot of bones, then the state is stuck paying his medical bills. Okay, I have to change my mind. The policewoman was right to stop him.
But it was still funny.
Then we have the story about how people with I-phones are having their movements tracked by their phone. Gotta love it.
On today's agenda, we have alterations to make and hair to cut, if Aden will let me. He is starting to look a bit like Shaggy (from Scooby Doo, not the singer, although I really like that Shaggy)
I hear the laundry and litter box calling my name. Oh joy of joys!
Protect your tomatoes!!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Reconstruction, Column Do-Over, Passover & losing my mind

I really don't even know where to begin.  Everything is just wonky.  Let's start with the Porch.
I thought the guys did a good job, Bill however, was livid.  The south column, was cracked and not where he wanted it.  Not to worry though, I just spoke with the guy who did the job, and he will be here in about 1 1/2 hours to fix it. 
Moving on.
Went to the doctor yesterday and he pretty much threw his hands up and said, "I cannot fix this and I would be afraid to try."  Nice.  So he is sending me to an OB/GYN surgeon who specializes in this sort of reconstruction.  I was a bit surprised when I learned who this specialist is.  It was my OB/GYN that delivered Aden and Evan.  Well, he didn't actually deliver Evan, he was out of town that week, but anyway.  He is the doctor who, because I had so many issues, told me that if I got pregnant again, he wouldn't see me.  I was to much of a liability risk.  No Shit Sherlock! There is a reason why Doctor's are required to carry malpractice insurance.  I was amazed that I even got an appointment with him.  I really like him, and have tried several times in the last couple of years to get in to see him.  But, getting an appointment with him is like trying to get an audience with the pope.  Actually, it would probably be easier to get in to see the Pope :)
So, I go and see him Monday at the hospital.  Apparently, it is enough of an issue that he'll see me.  Now, I like this doctor, the one I am seeing Monday.  But, I had alot of issues with Staph infections after the surgeries up in St. Joseph.  2 staph infections after Aden and 5, yes 5 different stains of staph after Evan.  That last one required an almost 3 week hospital stay. 1 of those infections was MRSA.  Now I know that the doctor himself doesn't give you the staph infections, its the hospital.  And I really don't want to go through that again.  So, I would rather not have to have the surgery in St. Joseph.  But, I don't know if this doctor has surgery privileges at the hospital here in town.  I didn't get a staph infection after this last surgery, so apparently its a cleaner hospital.
I know that I shouldn't focus on it, but it just really sucks, and I can't come up with a backup plan for this, should anything else go wrong. 
I won't know until Monday, whats going to happen.
It could be a fairly easy fix and he can do it Monday with a few quick stitches.  Or, it may be that I have to be sliced open again so they can completely re-build the cuff.  That is supposed to require a hospital stay, but that is not going to happen, I will not stay. The biggest problem would be the recovery from yet another surgery.  having another surgery this quickly would not be a good thing.  I think I should stop worrying about it for now.  It is what it is and I am sure it will work out.
I got the mammogram scheduled for Friday morning.  I am not looking forward to being squished, but it will be good to even if its nothing to have a baseline before I turn 40. 
But I must say, I am getting really sick of being felt up lol. Well, being felt up by people who I don't want to be feeling me up :)
Bill is pretty disappointed to!  I really feel for him.  We just got the go ahead to get friendly and now he's cut off again.  Poor guy.
Friday night, we are heading up Bill's mom's for Passover dinner.  I think this year, to save myself the headache and the whining, I'll feed the boys before we go. That way they don't think they are going to starve to death, waiting on the actual food.  Dinner isn't suppose to start until sunset, but she's going to start about 6pm because otherwise the boys pass out at the table.  Usually they only make it till about 8:30 pm before they start nodding off.  Hopefully this year we can wind it up by 10pm.  No brisket this year :(  But we do get the chicken liver which is all I care about :)  I think she is making chicken this year. 
I should probably get off here and go shut the dog in the boys room before the guys show up.  Sam was NOT a happy camper when they were here before and I was sure she was going to break the door down.  Mama of course didn't care.  I'll post the before and after pictures in a few days.  The historical society is coming up tomorrow with their architect to check out what they did and to drop of the paperwork for the roofer to fill out about the gingerbread and cornices. 
Ah, The Fun just never ends :)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Mama Goes for a Ride!

I need to set up cameras all over the house, just to record the weird crap that goes on here.  Once again, something worth recording happens and I have no idea where the camera is.
Yesterday afternoon, Mama Cat was lounging on the couch when Sam decided she needed to go sniff her.  I am still not sure what the sniffing is about, but apparently it needs to be done often.  Sam tried to sneak up on Mama.  Have I mentioned that Sam may not be the smartest dog in the world?  I certainly wouldn't try and sneak up on a cat that kicks my ass every other day, but then, I think I am smarter than this dog.
So, Sam slinks up to the edge of the couch and proceeds to try and stick her nose up Mama's butt.  As I am sure you guessed, this did not go as planned.  It took me a while to process what I saw, because it was just so....odd.
I had no idea Mama could move that fast anymore.  She rarely moves at all.  But, she jumped up on to Sam's back and stayed there.  Sam of course panicked.  I would too if a 30 pound cat jumped on me and was hanging on with her claws.  Sam was running in circles, trying to get her off and Mama, who I think was laughing, kept hissing and swatting at Sam's head.  The boys were screaming, "she's killing Sammi", "help her", and a bunch of other really helpful phrases.  To be completely honest, I did not want to be involved.  I was thinking about calling animal control to come and separate them.  Mama scares me.  She had a free set of claws, I did not want to be mauled.  But, Sam wasn't having much luck dislodging her.  I finally decided to try and rescue the dog.  But she wouldn't hold still. No that I blame her, I am sure it hurt.  Finally, I convinced the boys to come and help me hold Sam still, while I got Mama's claws out of her back.  Mama did not want to let go.  Finally, we go Mama off and she walked around in a circle and hissed at us, then sat down and proceeded to lick her butt.  Sam ran upstairs and hid in the bathroom.  I think the whole thing maybe took about 3-4 minutes but it seemed like an hour.  Sam is fine now, just a few holes, and nothing a little neosporin & peroxide won't fix.  The boys are traumatized and none of them wanted to brush Mama later. They didn't want to even be on the same side of couch as her.  That's too bad really, because its not about what everyone else wants, its about Mama.  When she wanted some attention, she just went and flopped down on whoever it was she wanted to pet her.  Everyone obeyed.
Aden has finally stopped puking.  It must have been some quick stomach bug they picked on vacation, because I heard that Nana was sick yesterday too.  But Aden was fine by mid-afternoon yesterday.  Evan however, started puking about 3 am.  So we've been up since then. No fevers so hopefully this will blow through the house quickly.  Because I am sure we will all get it.

The porch guys should be here in an hour or so.  They are planning on completely destroying my side yard.  The process was explained to me, but, I lost interest about half-way through.  Something about they are going to dig down and put in concrete supports or something and attach permanent jacks that will go underground to the bottoms of the columns.  Something like that.  That will be after they jackhammer up the sidewalk.  My neighbors are gonna love us!!!  Especially since there is no school today, and I imagine several people thought they might be able to sleep in. HA HA

What else? Oh yeah, Passover begins at sundown today.  Yippie! No really Yippie :)
I love passover.  But then any holiday that insists that you drink copious amounts of wine with dinner, is wonderful in my book :)
We are going to have to do the dinner on Friday, because of everyone's schedules.
I have the lovely mammogram on Friday, so I am sure I'll be in a wonderful mood.  Good thing there will be wine :)
Tomorrow morning I head back to the doctor to see if he can sew me back together or if I need to go to a specialist.  I'm thinking super glue, lots of really expensive, super glue.  Why wouldn't that work???

Anyway, I should go and start the stinky, puke covered laundry,  I know, sounds fun.
The pier guys should be here by 8 am, permits have been pulled, utilities marked off, contracts signed and checks written (that was difficult). 

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Home Again, Birthday, Drama, Contractors & More Drama

Ah, home Finally!!!!!!  After what has seemed like the week from hell, the boys, Sam and I are finally back home.  Now, were to begin.............
Let's go back a bit.
Okay, so Last Tuesday, I had my doctor's appointment and then another company was supposed to come by and take a look at the porch columns.  I'll go into the Doctor's appointment later, because I'm going to classify that with the other drama.
So, Contractor shows up, on time, brownie points for that.  He and Bill walked and they talked, and the contractors said he's get with the company's engineer & get back to us.  He did.  Apparently, it can be fixed!!!!!!  And they will start Monday.  It should be done no later than Tuesday, including replacing the sidewalk they will have to rip up.  from what I understand, it will be very loud and very messy.  I don't care as long as it gets done.  The roofers will be here Tuesday.  I am not sure how much they will get done this week because it is supposed to storm all week, but at least the porch will be done.
It will cost $5000.00.  Peachy.  I am supposed to be grateful it isn't twice that, but I can't help being a bit freaked out with the price tag. That is pretty much the entire budget for the Fence and the back bathroom.  We will probably still be able to do the fence, but probably not as soon.  The bathroom????  Who knows, but probably not this summer. 
So that's that.
Next, Doctor's appointment.
It sucked.  It just really fuckin sucked.  I can't begin to express how much it sucked.  But, being the kind of person I am, I'll give it a go. 
So, we'll start small and work our way to the big stuff.  I seem to have pulled a muscle in my stomach while doing Zumba.  Not a really big deal, except when I cough.  Then I want to die.  With the allergies as bad as they are, I am coughing alot.  But, its not life threatening, which is a plus. 
During the getting felt up portion of the exam, the doctor found a,  and I'll quote here, "little, small, bump like spot"??????  Huh?  
Now, I don't tend to get freaked out about much.  But when a Doctor starts repeating himself and asking stupid questions, I get concerned.  I am really not all that worried about it.  I'll just go get the mammogram and be done with it.  But I am not looking forward to it.  I was supposed to go last Friday, but because of other drama, I wasn't able to. I am pretty sure its just scar tissue  or something like that, since I do have a talent for scar tissue and the only risk factor I have for breast cancer is that I have breasts.  I'm not really worried.  I'll just keep on saying that :)
And just because its my birthday week, there just had to be yet more crap.  Within a few hours of learning that for my birthday I had to go get the squish the boobies test, we learn that I will need to pack up and go stay in Kansas city for the remainder of my in-laws vacation.  That was a pain in my ass.  I had a considerable amount of things to do at my home.  Anyway, it was alot of Drama.  Don't really care for drama.  Eventually, I will go into why I had to, but I was asked, in order to protect the guilty, to not say anything about it.  Okay, I'll try.  Please take bets amongst yourselves, as to how long I will remain silent. 
Oh wait!  I forgot to mention that I will need to go back to the doctor because it appears that some of my permanent stitches have come undone and I may need yet another surgery to repair what has come apart.  Maybe, I'll find that out Tuesday. Again, Maybe I'll find out.  He may have to send me to a specialist.  Lovely.  Just F'ing lovely.
Apparently this is not a good thing   For the record, I didn't do anything to cause this.  He was that last person anywhere near it!!!!  Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeee!

I think that about covers it.  Nope, but wait there is more...........
We get home yesterday, and Aden pukes the second we walk in the door.  And has continued to puke every few hours since then.  He was apparently not sick enough to prevent him from running through the house like a maniac chasing his brother, but just sick enough to make a bit more work and see if he can play this off so I will wait on him. Well, it works.  I think it may be that his digestive system is all wonked up, from his vacation.  I hear that it was the best vacation a 5 year old could possibly have outside of Disneyland :)

Mama Cat was not pleased to see Sam.  Sam got a little bloody.  They seem to have worked it out though.  As long as Sam stays away from Mama, and stops trying to sniff her butt, things should be fine.

I was amazed at how clean the house was when we got home.  That lasted about 3 minutes.  And there was toilet paper on the dispenser!!!  it was almost out we we left.  I think Bill may have actually changed it himself!  Or maybe he had someone else come over and do it, I didn't ask. 
The boys and I have a few little things to do outside today to make sure we are ready for the guys to come tomorrow.  I am not sure what I am going to do with my wind chimes.  I will probably just put them on the pear tree out back.  I don't think the tree will look too stupid with 8 wind chimes on it :) 

It finally looks like we are going to get the outside finished!!!!  I can't wait.  The historical society has requested pictures of ever stage of the of the process which, will be a bit of a pain, but not too bad.  It's for a good cause :)

Bill want to start taking my e-cig to work with him.  I think I'll be okay without it after today.  I think I just need a day or so to calm down a bit.  But, it did end up working pretty good for me.  I am now down to using the 11mg cartridges and I don't use it that much.  I mostly just carry it around like a pacifier :)

The weather is at least beautiful, if I ignore the the pollen.  The claritin is at least working pretty good now.  Now if I can only convince Evan to stop trying to pick up mama, we should be okay.  Although, he would only have to do it once and I bet she'll convince him it wasn't a smart move :)  She is at least alot more gentle with the boys.

Zumba is calling....I'd better go answer :)