of sorts.
Because I *had* to finish this book last night, I thought I'd tell my blog that my family and friends that they have to read it -
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks (ok, yeah, I know I wasn't going to read more of his books but I figured why not, I'd gotten several duds from the library last week so 'good and sad' seemed better than 'bad and awful')
So.. go. Run to your library and borrow it. Or don't. It's your loss.
Not to spoil it.. but the protagonist girl is a PA. And the 2 pages on the one day she was at work were spot on.
ETA just for my reference since my memory has the sticking power of teflon:
List of books to skip:
"somebody else's daughter" by Rutladge?
"true believer" Nicholas Sparks
List of books to read:
"The choice" Joan Johnston
"message in a bottle" Nicholas Sparks (but not if you're already depressed)
Time Traveler's wife (ditto the above depressed comment)
Ones if you're hard up enough and there's nothing else:
Oh, crud.. can't remember.. something about a pregnant teen living in a wal mart in Oklahoma. Oprah had it on her book club list, or so the cover said.
And.. on an aside...
WHAT is it with the description of "strawberry shampoo" in the description of the smell of women's hair?! I thought nothing of it in the first 2 books that mentioned it but really.. now it's been 3 or 4 books and I just don't get it.
WHAT woman uses strawberry shampoo in real life?
Really. I'm not even sure they make it and if they do, it's the cheapo suave version. I know my KID's shampoo is watermelon or strawberry.. but mine. nope, sorry. Normal Adult shampoo does not come in strawberry scent. Nor does the mouse, gel or hairspray that adults use.
Ok. vent over.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Another Monday
The Yard update is still on facebook here
We have grass now. Instant grass= sod. The kids are happy and have started playing soccer in preparation for the fall soccer team I signed them up for and in preparation for a re-match against their uncles sometime in thefuture.
We got word this past week that Larry will not be deploying in September after all. And I'm kicking myself that I lost so much sleep and worry trying to prepare for him going. Next time I'll worry about it the day we're saying goodbye. Assuming there will be a next time. God seems to have a hand of protection on him for alot of his life.
In other news, the Van is apart (again) in the driveway. The rear AC was broken. It took a back seat to the no brakes issue, but when we got in the van on these 90 degree days we've had here inland so Cal, it would have been nice to have AC.
So.. Larry took it apart, found the wrong piece.. and get this.. it's a piece he used to work on back when he was in engineering in CT. The foreshadowing in our lives continues. Crazy. He pulled it out curing the cheap chinese plastic case and then opens it up and says, oh, this was the part that Don was working on fixing.. says something about the inherent problem of this board.. and I of course don't understand much of it other than that the irony of a piece of something he's worked on ended up broken in our van in CA 9 years later. And today I have to find a Chevy dealer to see if I can order it.
But as far as the truck goes, I hit yet something else with it and scratched the paint this time. (sigh) Larry sent me to a lumber yard with the trailer. And to pick up the stuff I needed to get, they had me pull into the lumber yard and I couldn't pull forward and around but had to back up. While I've gotten loads better at backing up a trailer I can't see from the truck... I still managed to miss the lumber cart in the front of the truck and while turning the wheel and crunched it. And scratched the paint. Larry of course hadn't noticed the other scratches on the paint that had showed up in the month he was driving it and I was driving the Civic and blames me for them. It'll be one of those issues that we don't agree on until we die, I think. We have a few of them, not that I can remember what the others are, but they're issues we both think the other one is wrong but we'll just ignore them until one or the other of us forget them. See I forgot already what the other issues were. And lest you think I'm the only one who runs things over.. Larry this summer ran over a trash can at the state fair. And he still has the award for most expensive mistakes when he took the front end off a compact car. And that was with an F150, not the Excursion and not with the Excursion full of kids talking/arguing making any concentration impossible.
Anyway.. that's life here. It's a wonder I can do anything with the amount of constant distractions that are going on here. I'm sure I'll miss it when the kids are teens and refusing to talk to me, but for now, it takes every once of effort to not scream "I don't need to hear 8 times that you think the sunset is pretty!" I don't know what it is that makes them all repeat what they say over and over, even after it's been acknowledged. Much worse is that they all talk at the same time, so Child A is going on about the sunset, Child b is talking about the construction happening next to the road or the next "greatest invention" he's planning on making -some form of rocket launcher or lego launcher, Child C is telling me about her friends and child D is asking "is it raining?" over and over again.
Just another day in paradise, where the women are strong, the men have prema-scowls and the children are never quiet~~~
We have grass now. Instant grass= sod. The kids are happy and have started playing soccer in preparation for the fall soccer team I signed them up for and in preparation for a re-match against their uncles sometime in thefuture.
We got word this past week that Larry will not be deploying in September after all. And I'm kicking myself that I lost so much sleep and worry trying to prepare for him going. Next time I'll worry about it the day we're saying goodbye. Assuming there will be a next time. God seems to have a hand of protection on him for alot of his life.
In other news, the Van is apart (again) in the driveway. The rear AC was broken. It took a back seat to the no brakes issue, but when we got in the van on these 90 degree days we've had here inland so Cal, it would have been nice to have AC.
So.. Larry took it apart, found the wrong piece.. and get this.. it's a piece he used to work on back when he was in engineering in CT. The foreshadowing in our lives continues. Crazy. He pulled it out curing the cheap chinese plastic case and then opens it up and says, oh, this was the part that Don was working on fixing.. says something about the inherent problem of this board.. and I of course don't understand much of it other than that the irony of a piece of something he's worked on ended up broken in our van in CA 9 years later. And today I have to find a Chevy dealer to see if I can order it.
But as far as the truck goes, I hit yet something else with it and scratched the paint this time. (sigh) Larry sent me to a lumber yard with the trailer. And to pick up the stuff I needed to get, they had me pull into the lumber yard and I couldn't pull forward and around but had to back up. While I've gotten loads better at backing up a trailer I can't see from the truck... I still managed to miss the lumber cart in the front of the truck and while turning the wheel and crunched it. And scratched the paint. Larry of course hadn't noticed the other scratches on the paint that had showed up in the month he was driving it and I was driving the Civic and blames me for them. It'll be one of those issues that we don't agree on until we die, I think. We have a few of them, not that I can remember what the others are, but they're issues we both think the other one is wrong but we'll just ignore them until one or the other of us forget them. See I forgot already what the other issues were. And lest you think I'm the only one who runs things over.. Larry this summer ran over a trash can at the state fair. And he still has the award for most expensive mistakes when he took the front end off a compact car. And that was with an F150, not the Excursion and not with the Excursion full of kids talking/arguing making any concentration impossible.
Anyway.. that's life here. It's a wonder I can do anything with the amount of constant distractions that are going on here. I'm sure I'll miss it when the kids are teens and refusing to talk to me, but for now, it takes every once of effort to not scream "I don't need to hear 8 times that you think the sunset is pretty!" I don't know what it is that makes them all repeat what they say over and over, even after it's been acknowledged. Much worse is that they all talk at the same time, so Child A is going on about the sunset, Child b is talking about the construction happening next to the road or the next "greatest invention" he's planning on making -some form of rocket launcher or lego launcher, Child C is telling me about her friends and child D is asking "is it raining?" over and over again.
Just another day in paradise, where the women are strong, the men have prema-scowls and the children are never quiet~~~
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The hamsters in my head need to take a nap
Because they're making me dizzy with all the wheel spinning they do.
I don't know if it's a product of age, motherhood, or doing too much or if Larry's right and I do have some minor case of ADD..(of course I vehemently say it's from living with him if I've picked that up) but it's only gotten worse the older I get.
And this week the hamsters think I should write a book. They haven't decided what kind of book, even, just a 'hey, you should write a book' recurring thought. The last book I remember writing was in 4th grade, something about "Andrew gets a dog" which of course wasn't even fiction, but rather embellished non fiction. I didn't have a whole lot of creativity as a kid, either, so I think the hamsters are pretty delusional. But because they won't go away, I'm here writing about them.
Other than that the hamsters think I should go to the beach today since they're tired of the heat. Mind you, last week in CT they thought the weather here was pretty fantastic, but now that we're here they have "last hurrah of summer" on the brain and want to get out of the heat. Of course the beach will be cold, but it's hot at the house in that weird inland California gets hot while the beach is cool way.
And if I get to the beach, maybe, just maybe I'll get a few minutes to read.
I guess that's what really started the hamsters on the writing idea- I've started reading again. And not stuff to better my brain- just mindless fiction. And if anyone has a good suggestion for reading, please send it my way. I'm not into scary fiction and can't start even an Agatha Christie book without knowing how it ends before I can sleep at night. And nothing uber-romantic, or too sad. I've read 2 Nicholas Sparks books and decided I need something with a happier ending.. yeah, I see why the hamsters want me to write, because they've been re-writing the end of his books so they're not so depressing. Maybe they'd be good if I wanted to cry, but I don't. I'm not going to turn this into a therapy session right now to discuss the whys or why nots of that.
But the real reason I started reading was to motivate my rear to get on the treadmill.
Because If I don't use it more than 50 miles in 2 years, it's not worth moving AGAIN. And it's on my "have to do list" to get in better shape for 40 than I was at 30, or perhaps 35 would be a better goal. So.. there it is- out there in print for someone to hold me to it. I thought about making a 1/2 marathon a goal, but in reality ANY sort of timed run in public would probably be a reasonable goal- like one of the dozens of 5 or 10Ks they have here in the fitness center of the world.Or the 1K fun run with the kids... (setting realistic goals now)
Part of me was planning on joining the Y and going every day after I dropped the kids off at school. I still might do that- give me something to think about other than the fact that I'm dropping my babies off to grow up. And I guess that's what scares me- not as much what they'll learn from the other kids, not even the propaganda they may or not learn from California mandated topics, but it's really the fact that I'll have to acknowledge that they're growing up. Fast. And it's enough angst to pour into a book and share with others.
So.. again, it's turned into a therapy session here at the blog. The house is calling me to clean it up (again) now that they're mud tracked across the light colored carpet (remind me next time - DARK colors, even if they say it's "stain resistant") and there are a few loose ends from the business I need to nail down. And then I'll find a book and a towel and head to the beach- where the book will sit in the bottom of my bag and get sandy while I try to keep an eye on the kids and keep them from wandering off or drowning... Somehow the life of luxurious sitting around and reading while sipping iced tea has escaped me. Guess that's what my book would be about.
I don't know if it's a product of age, motherhood, or doing too much or if Larry's right and I do have some minor case of ADD..(of course I vehemently say it's from living with him if I've picked that up) but it's only gotten worse the older I get.
And this week the hamsters think I should write a book. They haven't decided what kind of book, even, just a 'hey, you should write a book' recurring thought. The last book I remember writing was in 4th grade, something about "Andrew gets a dog" which of course wasn't even fiction, but rather embellished non fiction. I didn't have a whole lot of creativity as a kid, either, so I think the hamsters are pretty delusional. But because they won't go away, I'm here writing about them.
Other than that the hamsters think I should go to the beach today since they're tired of the heat. Mind you, last week in CT they thought the weather here was pretty fantastic, but now that we're here they have "last hurrah of summer" on the brain and want to get out of the heat. Of course the beach will be cold, but it's hot at the house in that weird inland California gets hot while the beach is cool way.
And if I get to the beach, maybe, just maybe I'll get a few minutes to read.
I guess that's what really started the hamsters on the writing idea- I've started reading again. And not stuff to better my brain- just mindless fiction. And if anyone has a good suggestion for reading, please send it my way. I'm not into scary fiction and can't start even an Agatha Christie book without knowing how it ends before I can sleep at night. And nothing uber-romantic, or too sad. I've read 2 Nicholas Sparks books and decided I need something with a happier ending.. yeah, I see why the hamsters want me to write, because they've been re-writing the end of his books so they're not so depressing. Maybe they'd be good if I wanted to cry, but I don't. I'm not going to turn this into a therapy session right now to discuss the whys or why nots of that.
But the real reason I started reading was to motivate my rear to get on the treadmill.
Because If I don't use it more than 50 miles in 2 years, it's not worth moving AGAIN. And it's on my "have to do list" to get in better shape for 40 than I was at 30, or perhaps 35 would be a better goal. So.. there it is- out there in print for someone to hold me to it. I thought about making a 1/2 marathon a goal, but in reality ANY sort of timed run in public would probably be a reasonable goal- like one of the dozens of 5 or 10Ks they have here in the fitness center of the world.Or the 1K fun run with the kids... (setting realistic goals now)
Part of me was planning on joining the Y and going every day after I dropped the kids off at school. I still might do that- give me something to think about other than the fact that I'm dropping my babies off to grow up. And I guess that's what scares me- not as much what they'll learn from the other kids, not even the propaganda they may or not learn from California mandated topics, but it's really the fact that I'll have to acknowledge that they're growing up. Fast. And it's enough angst to pour into a book and share with others.
So.. again, it's turned into a therapy session here at the blog. The house is calling me to clean it up (again) now that they're mud tracked across the light colored carpet (remind me next time - DARK colors, even if they say it's "stain resistant") and there are a few loose ends from the business I need to nail down. And then I'll find a book and a towel and head to the beach- where the book will sit in the bottom of my bag and get sandy while I try to keep an eye on the kids and keep them from wandering off or drowning... Somehow the life of luxurious sitting around and reading while sipping iced tea has escaped me. Guess that's what my book would be about.
Monday, August 16, 2010
We survived
Of course in the interest of internet security or what not, I decided to not announce to the world that we were going on vacation, or at least the exact dates of that vacation. I'm just announcing we survived our vacation.
The kids had a great time conning their grandparents into candy, cookies, ice cream and Zhu Zhu hamsters. There are now 6 (?) battery powered rodents in my house. Sadly, I don't think our contract with Terminix will eradicate them. Nor has the dog shown any interest in chewing them to bits. Surprising to me as well.
And it's been a good 2 years since we've flown and I can say it went far smoother than our last plane trip, I'd still debate a lengthy visit to the dentist over the all day flight again. And I'm rethinking the snacks packed and think perhaps less candy and gum would have made for less hyper kids (uh.. yeah.. what was I thinking?!)
Going there we took the car seat and stroller.. Thinking that JM might might might sleep considering we started our day at 3 am. What I didn't plan on was that the car seat did not fit down the isle of the plane. I had to hold it over my head, balance it and the backpack and purse and try to corral JM to a row without 2 people in it.
And THEN it took moves that would make hoodini proud to get that thing installed.. but installed I did get it. And Sleep he did. For 10 minutes. For the rest of the time, he tried to get the tray table on his lap so he could color, however, the height of the car seat simply made it a ramp for all his pencils and crayons and I spent the better part of the trip banging my head on the seat in front of me, reclined as far as it could go, trying to retrieve said instruments before they rolled away.
And when the plane landed... I could.not. lift the buckle to release the seat belt. And neither could the couple behind us flying with 3 month old twins get their seats un-installed, either. (oh, did watching them bring back memories....) (Note to self.. hunt down stewardess and get that seat belt extender thing I've heard about next time) I did get it lifted finally, somehow, I'm not sure how, but I'm sure the fury I had at it and the adrenaline thinking that I didn't have any options that involved cutting the dang seatbelt since anything sharp was contraband.. and I wasn't about to admit defeat infront of those super grouchy flight attendants. It's the same fury that I attacked a riding lawnmower with many moons ago. (again.. those old memories strung out on fertility drugs trying to get pregnant with said twins)
But in all, it wasn't THAT bad. JM didn't scream for the entire 7 hours, infact he didn't scream at all. (talk the entire time, rendering my ear drums to a bleeding pulp, yes) Nor did we sit in a Chicago airport for 3 hours with a plane delay after 2 gate changes that left us sprinting before they delayed the plane and then sat on the runway for an hour.
But I have a new appreciation for assigned seats. (So you know what airline we flew). Back when I was single, I flew this particular airline all the time and it didn't make a huge difference to me. NOW that I'm trying to get 6 seats together.. it's not so easy. And because they charge $10/person/way it'd be $120 extra for them to give us preferred boarding. So we thought "hey, don't they let families that need more time to board early?" [Answer: uh.. not really.. if you have a kid under 5 yes, you can board after 1/3 of the plane is boarded. In theory this gives you the chance to get seats together. In Practice on our flight from CT to CA via a plane change and potty bread in Vegas, I was threatening strangers with sitting next to my kids (who talk in one volume (which is excited/exclamation) while traveling announcing every cloud, bird, tree, car and house they see as well as what they are looking for and thinking about- if someone didn't move their seats.] If we skipped the potty break, we probably could have made it to the plane during the time between the 1/3 and 2/3 people, but well.. hindsight is 20/20 and Larry was threatening suicide if he had to try to take 1 more kid to the bathroom on the plane that day. (lest you think he was assigned that role, he only had 2 kids to take. I had the other 2 and also had worn a path to the bathroom not big enough for 1 person much less 1 person and the kid they're trying to help)
So we celebrate our survival and today it's back to the normal attempt to control the chaos that reigns daily here. Until school starts. *sob* not ready for that, yet, so I guess I'll appreciate the chaos a bit more.
The kids had a great time conning their grandparents into candy, cookies, ice cream and Zhu Zhu hamsters. There are now 6 (?) battery powered rodents in my house. Sadly, I don't think our contract with Terminix will eradicate them. Nor has the dog shown any interest in chewing them to bits. Surprising to me as well.
And it's been a good 2 years since we've flown and I can say it went far smoother than our last plane trip, I'd still debate a lengthy visit to the dentist over the all day flight again. And I'm rethinking the snacks packed and think perhaps less candy and gum would have made for less hyper kids (uh.. yeah.. what was I thinking?!)
Going there we took the car seat and stroller.. Thinking that JM might might might sleep considering we started our day at 3 am. What I didn't plan on was that the car seat did not fit down the isle of the plane. I had to hold it over my head, balance it and the backpack and purse and try to corral JM to a row without 2 people in it.
And THEN it took moves that would make hoodini proud to get that thing installed.. but installed I did get it. And Sleep he did. For 10 minutes. For the rest of the time, he tried to get the tray table on his lap so he could color, however, the height of the car seat simply made it a ramp for all his pencils and crayons and I spent the better part of the trip banging my head on the seat in front of me, reclined as far as it could go, trying to retrieve said instruments before they rolled away.
And when the plane landed... I could.not. lift the buckle to release the seat belt. And neither could the couple behind us flying with 3 month old twins get their seats un-installed, either. (oh, did watching them bring back memories....) (Note to self.. hunt down stewardess and get that seat belt extender thing I've heard about next time) I did get it lifted finally, somehow, I'm not sure how, but I'm sure the fury I had at it and the adrenaline thinking that I didn't have any options that involved cutting the dang seatbelt since anything sharp was contraband.. and I wasn't about to admit defeat infront of those super grouchy flight attendants. It's the same fury that I attacked a riding lawnmower with many moons ago. (again.. those old memories strung out on fertility drugs trying to get pregnant with said twins)
But in all, it wasn't THAT bad. JM didn't scream for the entire 7 hours, infact he didn't scream at all. (talk the entire time, rendering my ear drums to a bleeding pulp, yes) Nor did we sit in a Chicago airport for 3 hours with a plane delay after 2 gate changes that left us sprinting before they delayed the plane and then sat on the runway for an hour.
But I have a new appreciation for assigned seats. (So you know what airline we flew). Back when I was single, I flew this particular airline all the time and it didn't make a huge difference to me. NOW that I'm trying to get 6 seats together.. it's not so easy. And because they charge $10/person/way it'd be $120 extra for them to give us preferred boarding. So we thought "hey, don't they let families that need more time to board early?" [Answer: uh.. not really.. if you have a kid under 5 yes, you can board after 1/3 of the plane is boarded. In theory this gives you the chance to get seats together. In Practice on our flight from CT to CA via a plane change and potty bread in Vegas, I was threatening strangers with sitting next to my kids (who talk in one volume (which is excited/exclamation) while traveling announcing every cloud, bird, tree, car and house they see as well as what they are looking for and thinking about- if someone didn't move their seats.] If we skipped the potty break, we probably could have made it to the plane during the time between the 1/3 and 2/3 people, but well.. hindsight is 20/20 and Larry was threatening suicide if he had to try to take 1 more kid to the bathroom on the plane that day. (lest you think he was assigned that role, he only had 2 kids to take. I had the other 2 and also had worn a path to the bathroom not big enough for 1 person much less 1 person and the kid they're trying to help)
So we celebrate our survival and today it's back to the normal attempt to control the chaos that reigns daily here. Until school starts. *sob* not ready for that, yet, so I guess I'll appreciate the chaos a bit more.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A quick note
We survived the termite tent experience.
I've been packing and stressing myself out over every single detail for our upcoming trip east. I'm hoping and praying I have enough to keep the kids busy for 7 hours in 1 plane tomorrow. As much as I hate changing planes and missing connections, I almost would welcome that just to get out of the plane and stretch our legs. I'm actually a little worried that I'm developing claustrophobia. We took a bus that got stuck in traffic for 15 minutes and I was nearly hyperventilating. Oh, and that submarine ride at Disney- forgetaboutit - serious panicking happening waiting to get off the thing. I'm going to hope and pray we don't get stuck on the tarmac like we did for an hour flying our here... I know a dr but can't get him to prescribe me and the kids valium for this trip (I'm only part way joking).
The landscape project was flying along until the Shed. Our hired help worked in "construction" but they obviously weren't the roofers or the carpenters. However, it's moving along, the neighbors haven't complained and when it's done it will look nice. Our hired help is off while we're gone, so it'll be another week once we get back before it is done.
Other than that... the van remains parked off cinderblocks. The suitcases are 80% packed and I can't find either of my bathing suit bottoms to save my soul. Hard to believe I can have 3 bathing suit tops and 0 bottoms, but yep, that's what I have right now.
Guess I better go finish hunting one up. I'll be seeing my east cost family soon enough and if you're in between the 2 coasts I'll wave to you from 9000 feet...
I've been packing and stressing myself out over every single detail for our upcoming trip east. I'm hoping and praying I have enough to keep the kids busy for 7 hours in 1 plane tomorrow. As much as I hate changing planes and missing connections, I almost would welcome that just to get out of the plane and stretch our legs. I'm actually a little worried that I'm developing claustrophobia. We took a bus that got stuck in traffic for 15 minutes and I was nearly hyperventilating. Oh, and that submarine ride at Disney- forgetaboutit - serious panicking happening waiting to get off the thing. I'm going to hope and pray we don't get stuck on the tarmac like we did for an hour flying our here... I know a dr but can't get him to prescribe me and the kids valium for this trip (I'm only part way joking).
The landscape project was flying along until the Shed. Our hired help worked in "construction" but they obviously weren't the roofers or the carpenters. However, it's moving along, the neighbors haven't complained and when it's done it will look nice. Our hired help is off while we're gone, so it'll be another week once we get back before it is done.
Other than that... the van remains parked off cinderblocks. The suitcases are 80% packed and I can't find either of my bathing suit bottoms to save my soul. Hard to believe I can have 3 bathing suit tops and 0 bottoms, but yep, that's what I have right now.
Guess I better go finish hunting one up. I'll be seeing my east cost family soon enough and if you're in between the 2 coasts I'll wave to you from 9000 feet...
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Today's project
Is to pack and get ready for our house to have a big pretty termite tent over it on Thursday. What a pain in the neck! They give you these cellophane bags specially designed to keep the gas that kills all living things from getting into your foods with specific instructions that all boxes of food need to go into them
Cept they are fragile. Well, not really fragile expect for when a cereal or pasta box corner hits the side of the bag it goes right through it. They gave us 100 bags and said "oh, that's enough for a family of 9" and I said "Can I have more, anyway?" and it's a good thing, because at the rate I've popped or broken them I still might need more. I'm getting about 5 bags done for every 2 popped. Oh, yeah- you have to double bag everything. And that includes toothpaste, vitamins and all other things you might put into your mouth. Oh, yeah, and I joined Costco last week. I didn't think I went overboard on buying stuff but now realize maybe the week before we were having our house tented wasn't exactly the best timing for buying warehouse size boxes and bags of granola bars, peppers, veggies, and flour.
I'm actually glad we're not doing this the day before we are getting on a plane. I think I'd spin myself into OCD orbit. As it is I'm packing beach and pool stuff, food, clothes, toiletries and the dog and all her stuff to last for 3 days. I can imagine how much more spazzy I'd be if I was packing for our plane trip, too. That was the original plan, but the termite company said they needed to do it sooner than August.
And there's still unresolved issues there. When they were messing around in the attic last week someone one stepped off the attic joist and cracked our ceiling. And not only did they crack it, they cracked it where it is super vaulted and where we had just had it textured and painted it in the fix-the-house-project. That seems to be the theme of this house- any company we hire here has some sort of problem.
The non-company hired help outside has been working out well. The cement pad is in for the shed, the brand-spanking-new backyard sprinkler system is working. It's amazing how fast things can be doine when you have 2 people working on it full time who aren't trying to keep the kids out of danger and from destroying work already done.
It's been unseasonably hot, so I've been keeping the kids mostly inside anyway. Because they can cause a whole lot of damage and because it's just plain old too hot to run around outside for long. I'd let them play with the hose except all it does is make mud that gets on everything. They did have a water gun fight. And as soon as we check into the hotel next to the pool I can guarantee you the weather will be unseasonably cool. That's how this works, ya know.
So my break is over. Back to filling and breaking those dumb cellophane bags...
Cept they are fragile. Well, not really fragile expect for when a cereal or pasta box corner hits the side of the bag it goes right through it. They gave us 100 bags and said "oh, that's enough for a family of 9" and I said "Can I have more, anyway?" and it's a good thing, because at the rate I've popped or broken them I still might need more. I'm getting about 5 bags done for every 2 popped. Oh, yeah- you have to double bag everything. And that includes toothpaste, vitamins and all other things you might put into your mouth. Oh, yeah, and I joined Costco last week. I didn't think I went overboard on buying stuff but now realize maybe the week before we were having our house tented wasn't exactly the best timing for buying warehouse size boxes and bags of granola bars, peppers, veggies, and flour.
I'm actually glad we're not doing this the day before we are getting on a plane. I think I'd spin myself into OCD orbit. As it is I'm packing beach and pool stuff, food, clothes, toiletries and the dog and all her stuff to last for 3 days. I can imagine how much more spazzy I'd be if I was packing for our plane trip, too. That was the original plan, but the termite company said they needed to do it sooner than August.
And there's still unresolved issues there. When they were messing around in the attic last week someone one stepped off the attic joist and cracked our ceiling. And not only did they crack it, they cracked it where it is super vaulted and where we had just had it textured and painted it in the fix-the-house-project. That seems to be the theme of this house- any company we hire here has some sort of problem.
The non-company hired help outside has been working out well. The cement pad is in for the shed, the brand-spanking-new backyard sprinkler system is working. It's amazing how fast things can be doine when you have 2 people working on it full time who aren't trying to keep the kids out of danger and from destroying work already done.
It's been unseasonably hot, so I've been keeping the kids mostly inside anyway. Because they can cause a whole lot of damage and because it's just plain old too hot to run around outside for long. I'd let them play with the hose except all it does is make mud that gets on everything. They did have a water gun fight. And as soon as we check into the hotel next to the pool I can guarantee you the weather will be unseasonably cool. That's how this works, ya know.
So my break is over. Back to filling and breaking those dumb cellophane bags...
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Nothing New
No really. It's been an uneventful week. Our hired help has been making quick work of the landscaping project. One of our neighbors saw our backhoe last week and came up and asked if they could have the dirt we would be removing for the pool they thought we were putting in. I was a bit disappointed that we weren't putting in a pool, too, but we did manage to donate a bit of dirt after all the moving of dirt around.
Let me tell you... the 18 houses between us are just *thrilled* to pieces that he drove his tractor up and down the street picking up dirt from our house and delivering it to his. I'm sure they're scratching their heads and wondering if they can come up with an ordinance against such redneck activities.
But until then... We've made nice with the neighbor with the apple pies and made them an apple pie to ensure the constant supply of apples landing on our doorstep. I thought apples need a hard frost to grow, but apparently there is some (I shudder to wonder if it's genetically mutated) granny smith apple tree that grows here. And it's a more mushy apple than one I'd love to pick and munch off a tree from New England it's just perfect to make my most favorite thing with apples- apple pie and apple crisp.
And yeah, they're ripe now. I know. Weird California growing seasons.
We discovered we had 2 peach trees in our back yard on the other side of the fence, but the ground squirrels ate all buy 1 measley peach which they couldn't reach. I declare war on them. My old WW2 vet neighbor we call "the warden" admitted to me that you can kill them with the pellets you can shoot from a bb gun. I thought that was a fabulous idea and debate getting one for Joey although the phrase "you'll shoot your eye out" comes to mind and the realization that it wouldn't be his eye that gets shot out.
We still have a leaking pipe or two which will be replaced or fixed this week. Or so I'm told.
I've commandeered the Civic for my own personal use since S and J are spending the month in CT. It's been nice having a zippy little car. Really nice. I wish they made it in a hatch back version with an optional 3rd row seat. And Larry's been using the truck to get all the supplies and parts at Home Depot that we've been needing this month.
And yeah, the van still needs to be fixed. I parked it across the street and down a bit in front of a neighbor's house while all the landscaping has been getting done. Better than in our driveway and put it on cinder blocks. I'm only partly kidding.
So with that non update I need to go water my dirt so it'll be easier to dig up tomorrow. If you ever want to understand mudslides here, you need to come play with our dirt. When it's dry it feels and digs like cement- nearly impossible to get through and feels incredibly solid. Wet it turns to slippery sloshy claylike mud. Weird. But you can slosh it into bricks, let it dry and build a house. Which explains why they did that. Cept it's not so great when it rains. Albeit it rains hardly ever, so guess it's a well calculated gamble.
Let me tell you... the 18 houses between us are just *thrilled* to pieces that he drove his tractor up and down the street picking up dirt from our house and delivering it to his. I'm sure they're scratching their heads and wondering if they can come up with an ordinance against such redneck activities.
But until then... We've made nice with the neighbor with the apple pies and made them an apple pie to ensure the constant supply of apples landing on our doorstep. I thought apples need a hard frost to grow, but apparently there is some (I shudder to wonder if it's genetically mutated) granny smith apple tree that grows here. And it's a more mushy apple than one I'd love to pick and munch off a tree from New England it's just perfect to make my most favorite thing with apples- apple pie and apple crisp.
And yeah, they're ripe now. I know. Weird California growing seasons.
We discovered we had 2 peach trees in our back yard on the other side of the fence, but the ground squirrels ate all buy 1 measley peach which they couldn't reach. I declare war on them. My old WW2 vet neighbor we call "the warden" admitted to me that you can kill them with the pellets you can shoot from a bb gun. I thought that was a fabulous idea and debate getting one for Joey although the phrase "you'll shoot your eye out" comes to mind and the realization that it wouldn't be his eye that gets shot out.
We still have a leaking pipe or two which will be replaced or fixed this week. Or so I'm told.
I've commandeered the Civic for my own personal use since S and J are spending the month in CT. It's been nice having a zippy little car. Really nice. I wish they made it in a hatch back version with an optional 3rd row seat. And Larry's been using the truck to get all the supplies and parts at Home Depot that we've been needing this month.
And yeah, the van still needs to be fixed. I parked it across the street and down a bit in front of a neighbor's house while all the landscaping has been getting done. Better than in our driveway and put it on cinder blocks. I'm only partly kidding.
So with that non update I need to go water my dirt so it'll be easier to dig up tomorrow. If you ever want to understand mudslides here, you need to come play with our dirt. When it's dry it feels and digs like cement- nearly impossible to get through and feels incredibly solid. Wet it turns to slippery sloshy claylike mud. Weird. But you can slosh it into bricks, let it dry and build a house. Which explains why they did that. Cept it's not so great when it rains. Albeit it rains hardly ever, so guess it's a well calculated gamble.
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