Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

 

 

Outside my window... It is 8 am and the sun is shining and the birds are singing - it is going to be a gorgeous day! It did frost last night, and it is fun to watch the frost line recede across the back yard as the sun rises in the sky and over the roof line. Even though it is chilly I have the back door cracked open so I can hear the birds better.

I am thinking... about how much I love the yellow paint that is in the two rooms in the front of the house (east facing): the dining room and the piano room. Yellow is a bold color choice, but on mornings like this, the rooms positively glow. I was thinking about changing the paint color in the dining room since we are redoing the floor, but I can't bring myself to do it. I love that sunny glow too much!

I am thankful... that Jordan is flying home later this morning. I've missed my right-hand man.

From the Learning Rooms... This past week was our traditional off-week (last week of the month) so that is why Jordan left to do his visitation with his mom last week. On Tuesday I asked Rylan if she would like to do a math lesson (she was bored), and she said "NO! If Jordan is on vacation from school, then I am on vacation." Well. Even though she was "on vacation", she did manage to keep herself busy. She made a map of the downstairs (a treasure map), and paced around counting her steps from room to room. This was the day that I was tearing out the carpet in the dining room, so I had to keep shooing her out of there because of the carpet tack strips around the edges. Her map turned out pretty well. She hid the "treasure" (a drawing) inside an empty diaper box, and made her dad follow her map when he got home from work, since the treasure was for him. It was very sweet. She also made a bow with a stick and a long rubber band (cut) that I tied to each end. She had used a plastic stick with a point on the end (it came from a small American flag) as the arrow. Dean cut a notch in the end of the stick so that she could use it to hold the rubber band in place when she drew her 'arrow', and it actually works! So we have had a mini-Katniss running around all week. We have cautioned her about pointing it at the various living creatures in these parts. So far, it's only been near-misses.

In the kitchen... Is a floor that is 1/3 completed! Yeah!

I am wearing... pjs

I am creating... just this post I'm afraid...

I am going... to Denver Int'l Airport in about an hour. Then we head to the Denver Zoo for some family time, and then on to my brother and SIL's for dinner with family. It is Easter, but they are putting on a very relaxed meal. My SIL said that we had better show up in jeans or we'll be sent home to change. (love that!) In our family, Easter has been traditionally spent at my aunt and uncle's house - a family-style potluck of the traditional Easter favorites, followed by an egg hunt for the little kids. This year marks an abrupt change for all of us, since my uncle passed away in December. My aunt has flown to Florida to spend some time with her granddaughter, and the rest of us have sort of splintered off to do our own thing. The time felt right for me, personally, to make a change in how we celebrate the holiday all-together. As in, we don't. We did our baskets on Spring Equinox, dyed our eggs then and had a super-stinky fridge for a couple of days. The last of the four chocolate bunnies are on the back of kitchen counter..almost gone.

I am wondering...about the weather forecast that calls for snow tomorrow. Crazy Colorado weather.

I am reading... the same - The Year of Homeschooling Dangerously, and The Drums of Autumn. Neither of which I cracked last week, even though it was our off week and I could have easily disappeared into a book. Too much else to do.

In the garden... Peas, beets and spinach! I have ne-ver planted this early! I put them in on March 21, and staked out some soaker hose for use later, when it warms up. Nothing is up yet.

I am hoping... That our lawn some-what survives this summer with the watering restrictions that are going to be in place. We get to water two days a week.

I am looking forward to... the Zoo! Wish me luck - our license plates expire this month, and today is the last day of the month. As you may remember, I don't have much luck when it comes to the stupid parking police, so I am openly inviting potential trouble here...

I am learning... This past week I Googled for information about charitable tax-deductions and the Badoink! iPad 'virus' - and nasty thing that may have infiltrated our router. Strangely enough, it only pops up on my iPad whenever I click on a certain friend's link to her blog whenever she posts it in Facebook. It has happened twice now and it very disturbing and unsettling. It has nothing to do with my friend's blog per se - but it is super weird how it only happens with her links. And we all thought that Apple products were safe from stuff like this... :( I just may have to go visit the Apple store for this.

I am hearing... Depeche Mode's newest album 'Delta Machine'. I love, love, love the track 'Heaven'. The first few times I heard it (in the past couple of weeks) I kept thinking it was Muse - they sound exactly alike in that song...

Around the house... The contents of the dining room are now temporarily in the piano room while Dean finishes the floor. Dean reconnected the dishwasher earlier this week, so after two weeks of washing dishes by hand, I have a machine again! Which is awesome, because the dirty dishes definitely had the upper hand there.

I now have a clean desk! After months and months of mess, I finally pushed through and got it done - it was my goal for this past week.

I am pondering... What will happen with the North Korea situation. That's a little scary, isn't it?

One of my favorite things... A clean desk.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Back to schoolwork! And the normal activity routine.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Our spring baskets...

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today! :)

 

 

 

To read more entries and visit a variety of other blogs, go here...

 

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Season's Greetings

 

 

I am totally rockin' the procrastination thang..

 

 

At long last I have gained back that square foot of desk space that has been occupied by the stack of unfinished Christmas cards since mid-November.  Our Shutterfly family photo card framed in festive greens and reds, along with the ubiquitous 'Annual Christmas Letter' (revised multiple times as time kept ticking by) is officially on its way to 40 or so unsuspecting family members and friends.

 

 

I.  am.  awesome.





Spill all the Kool-aid you want...

How to 'remove' carpet stains.

 

1. Remove the photo-bombing kitty.

 

2. Remove the carpet.

3. Put your feet up and call it a day*.

 

 

Time spent removing stains: seven minutes. Beat that, Resolve carpet 'cleaner'!

 

 

(*after you spend the next hour pulling carpet staples and nailing strips)

 

(Good times)

 

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To Deanna, with love...

My friend Deanna is infatuated with the city of Loveland, CO. She makes a point to regularly extol its many virtues and laments the fact that she is, sadly, only a weekly visitor and not a resident - I mean she really, really loves Loveland. ;)

And I mean, what's not to love? There are fabulous sculptures on every street corner and in every park... (and I really do love that about Loveland)

There are dozens of cultural events throughout the year...

Larimer County Fair, 2012

 

'Pastels on 5th' 2012 (benefit fundraiser for Alternatives to Violence)

 

 

Loveland Downtown Trick-or-Treating, 2012

 

 

Friends to meet at the park...

 

Homeschool Park Day, 2012

Homeschool Park Day, 2012
(the one where the girls brought their princess dresses)

Beautiful natural areas...

Gathering water samples along the Big Thompson River, 2012

The weather can get a little too hot though...

I hate summer...

 

 

And then the freak show begins...

 

 

First you have the haters...

 

If any of your liberal friends have gone missing, you might want to check with this guy.

 

Then you have the decorators who touch up your car 'for free'...

 

 

 

Then... you have this.

 

 

?

 

Thank goodness Deanna alerted the blogosphere to its existence, because when I caught sight of it the next day while spending time at a park while the older two were in karate class, I was prepared. I had on sunglasses. With UV filters. I can just imagine the sort of damage this might do to your retinas, otherwise.

 

 

 

So let the freak show continue! Loveland, you entertain me (us) in so many ways...

 

(I'm just glad I live outside your city limits.)

 

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Workin' on the weekend...

Ta-dah!

 

My wonderful husband put in some serious 'honey do' time this past weekend. He did a tremendous amount of work on the flooring - it was tricky getting all of the measurements right for each of the four extended areas under the desk, refrigerator, garage door and closet. They needed to be spot on, because as the flooring moves across the kitchen, the 'line' needs to extend in one long, straight shot into the dining room.

 

That piece right there, on the edge, will go all the way through the hallway and to the front wall of the dining room. It is hard to show through pictures, but several pieces had to work around cabinetry and walls and under the present moulding, so some boards had to ripped or carefully notched. Dean figures the board waste was close to 25%. Thankfully the hardest part is over and the rest will be fairly easy. (so says the person who is doing 0% of the work. Well, okay...sometimes I help sweep). My husband also gets a gold star because he cleaned up and put most of the tool paraphernalia away for the week. ;)

So, as you can see, our beautiful new fridge arrived safe and sound on Saturday. We had a huge snowstorm blow through, so we weren't sure it would get delivered after all. It was snowing like crazy and there was at least 6 inches on the ground. But Home Depot confirmed our delivery window of 12-4pm, and the delivery guys called at 11:35 am and said they would arrive in a half-hour.

Pure panic ensued because we were dilly-dallying thinking that it either wouldn't happen, or that they would be seriously late. I still needed to unload our old refrigerator. Dean needed to shovel out the driveway and front walk. I needed to move furniture out of the way. Crap! Now I need to vacuum up dust bunnies! Rylan helped me cart down small loads of food to the basement fridge, and when we maxed out on space, we put the rest in the snow. Wintertime's natural refrigeration is awesome!! This is, by far, the best way to achieve that *perfect* glass of cold milk.

 

 

The appliance delivery guys were just awesome. They braved some serious winter weather and tough driving conditions coming up from Denver that morning. They were very nice. They saved the box for the kids (can you say the most fantastic fort e-ver?!) and powered through Colin's and Owen's verbal assault of comments and questions about anything and everything. They helped set it up, move it in place and gave a quick run through on basic operations. They were also kind enough to move the old fridge out to the garage - Habitat for Humanity will pick it up on Wednesday.

 

So here she is! I call her 'Bessy'.

 

"Girl? You're huge!"

I think the fruits and vegetables need their own zip code...

 

This thing has two ice makers. Now, whenever we get ready for camping, I won't feel like such an idiot for forgetting to get a bag of ice. I always forget to get the ice...why is that? And when I DO remember, I pay for it and then forget to retrieve it from the ice machine.

 

There is still so much to do - baseboards, trim, paint...and actually finishing the floor. We are doing the entire ground level, which is just about 1,000 sq.ft. We should be done..oh...about the end of never?

 

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The flooring project continues...

So now that a bazillion old flooring staples have been pulled, there are about a bazillion tiny holes all over the kitchen subfloor. A few nights ago it was late by the time we had called it quits. Dean and Jordan were finishing up in the kitchen and had turned out the lights. When they did so, thousands of little tiny points of light came shining up through the floor because the basement lights were still on. They called me in to see. It felt like we were walking on top of a planetarium screen! It is almost a shame to cover it up - but cover it up we will because it is now time to add some new holes when we lay down the plywood sheeting.

We decided to take some sage advice and lay down a 1/4 inch layer of plywood sheeting before we put in the Pergo. It is slow, tedious work to measure all of the various cut-outs along the cupboards in order to get each section to fit perfectly - which means it's the perfect job for my engineering husband. I get to use the nail gun, which is the perfect job for me! It goes way too fast though. Two minutes and 100 staples later and my fun is done until the next piece is measured and cut. :(

I like building stuff. I haven't flexed my building muscle in a long, long time. During the past few years, all of the building has been Dean's domain. The sandbox, composter, garden beds, basement wall and setting a couple of replacement fence posts have all been completed by Dean. And I was all too happy to step aside and just set myself to the task of keeping the kids away from the power tools and paint stuff here and there.

Back in my building hayday though, I was busy! In anticipation of the purchase of my first home, I felt that it was important for my dogs to have a dog house. The home was going to be new construction, with no yard or shelter, so they had to have a dog house. (Never mind that they were two of the biggest pansy-assed huskies you ever met. They were *inside* dogs...). So I bought a how-to book about basic framing, got a Skilsaw, fresh 2x4s, plywood sheeting, roofing paper, shingles, hurricane clips (yeah, I know..overkill) and set to work. I learned all about subfloors, sole plates, top plates, stud framing and how to make a 45 degree cut with the saw. It was the best experience ever. I learned so much.. And this was in the day and age before Google or YouTube! That dog house was absolutely huge, as it was meant for two dogs. When it came time to move it to the new house, it took six people to push and shove it out of the garage and onto the ramp of a flat bed trailer where a winch could do the work and pull it on the rest of the way. That dog house was hurricane proof, man! You know what the kicker was though? THE DOGS NEVER USED IT.... NOT EVEN ONCE. I managed to make a terrific home for spiders and other creepy crawlies.

But that experience is what started the building bug for me. Since my house was new construction, I had to fence in my yard, and I had no neighbors yet. I had to dig 42 post holes. I mixed 42 bags of concrete. I hung 84 stringers. I screwed in 2,500 pickets. (No exaggeration). I built two gates. I was tired. It took three months to get it done...and I think it took a few years off my life as well. I also built a very large fenced-in garden with raised beds and a huge pergola over my back patio. I loved trips to the lumber yard and the smell of damp cedar. I loved, loved using power tools. I worked outside every evening until the mosquitoes were bad enough to drive me inside. I went to bed sore and tired every night, but blissfully happy about the work that I got done that day. It is my fervent hope that all of our kids will learn basic building skills as well - because the satisfaction of doing yourself has no parallel.

So enough about me - back to our kitchen! The side panel of the cabinet adjacent to the fridge space had significant water damage, so a new panel was cut, stained and put into place, and the ugly pink (seriously! WHO puts PINK countertops into a kitchen!!) countertop is back in place so I can reload the cabinet with my baking pans. New countertops will happen eventually... We moved the cabinet above the fridge space up a couple of inches to accommodate the increased height of the new fridge. I store all of my grandma's china up there, so it was a chore to unload (thanks mom, for the help). It was a couple of nerve-wracking hours that I had to constantly shoo small children out of the kitchen until Dean got home from work and moved the cabinet up to the correct level. I could just picture the mayhem of broken china plates... (shudder). When Dean removed the cabinet at first, we discovered that it was attached to the wall and adjacent cabinet by a total of four screws.  FOUR. Do you know how heavy china is? It is a miracle it did not come crashing down. It has about eight screws now...that baby isn't going anywhere.

So here it is, Saturday morning and our new fridge is supposed to arrive between noon and 4 pm. This is what our kitchen currently looks like...

We have just a little more Pergo to get in place before they can move the fridge in. We've got a couple of hours yet...

This is what it currently looks like outside...

This picture does not do it justice. The snow is about 6-7 inches so far, blowing sideways and showing no sign of abating any time soon. I wonder if this will affect the delivery? (duh)

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Happy Spring Day

 

This post could go in a thousand and one different directions, so I hope I don't confuse the masses. (Okay, more like the 3 or 4 people who read it because it's their family obligation.... ;)

First, let me preface this by saying that I have all kinds of people in my life who I care about and are important to me. Liberals, free-thinkers, conservatives, a couple of pagans, dog AND cat owners, carnivores, omnivores, vegans, chocoholics and maybe a couple of Twilight fans. As long as they are with Team Jacob, we're good. I love you all. I love that you embrace the theology that you aspire to, and that your faith - whether in God, Mother Earth or the sciences or a combination of them, sustains you. Please remember that this missive is not about you or a judgement of you*. It is about me and my 'faith' journey.

*I may judge you harshly, though, if you think Glenn Beck is intellectually enlightened, or if you actually believe the Earth is only 10,000 yrs. old.

For many years the coming of spring has been a rough time for me, emotionally. I've made it abundantly clear that I am no fan of late winter/early spring. This year is different though. I credit my change of heart to my magical little blue pill that I take every morning - Zoloft. It is a wonderful thing. I know that it is making a huge difference in me because I feel different, this spring. I think I might actually be feeling hopeful anticipation for the first time in many, many years. I didn't even feel this 'good' eight years ago at this time, when I met Dean and we began dating and ended up marrying 5 months later. (Don't take it personally, honey!) There was just a deep well of sadness and self-doubt that I had to work through in combination with a wicked annual case of SAD. Self-doubt still plagues me to this day, though. I missed a week of meds in mid February, and it was markedly noticeable. Pictures and stories of friends having fun with other friends were flooding my social media, and it totally effected me. Feelings of exclusion consumed me rather than gladness that my friends were happy. I'm good now, for the most part.

So, this year, with good feelings in abundance, I am ready to make a change. (I credit my homeschooling friend Dalliss for planting this seed, many years ago.) I am ready to change how we celebrate a holiday and formulate a new family tradition instead. Not earth-shattering news to be sure, but it involves a lot more than deciding what decorations we put out and whether to cook ham or turkey. It involves a deeper connection to who we really are and what we truly want to celebrate and how we want to celebrate.

See, the problem is that I (we) really don't want to celebrate traditional Easter anymore. To be sure, I love chicks and bunnies and chocolate and hunting for pastel colored eggs... I just don't like anything...else about the 'holdiay'. I have felt a growing disconnection from organized religion for quite some time, so going through the motions of the Lenten Season seems borderline ridiculous for me, personally. I have never felt anything positive about the dark and depressing acts surrounding Jesus's crucifixion (or the act, itself). It scared me as a child, and I don't feel compelled to expose my own children to any of that at all - the crucifixion, the tomb, the resurrection - and to actually celebrate it. I know, I know, it more about the spiritual connection to the sacrifice, the hope, the promise, the rebirth. It also comes down to belief. I just don't believe any more - in any of it. I just...don't. I'm not sure if I ever did. I can't pretend to be what I am not. I can't pretend for my children, my family or anyone else.

I've felt like this for a number of years. We stopped going to Easter services a couple of years ago, but why did we continue to celebrate that day? What are we actually celebrating as a family? The word 'Easter' is historically related to 'Eostre', a Saxon dawn-goddess who compelled hares to bound forward, carrying the sunlight of a new day, and 'Ostara' the Germanic fertility Goddess associated with human and crop fertility. Well, I'm not actually interested in celebrating either of those Goddesses. We have had enough fertility in these parts, thank-you-very-much. Then we have the ancient Mayans who gathered at El Castillo (Chichen Itza) to watch the sun serpent descend down the northern staircase of the pyramid as the sun travels across the sky. I've been there and hiked up those very stairs. I'm willing to celebrate the incredible creativity that the astronomers and mathematicians of that era used to create such an amazing spectacle. Then we have Hilaria, the ancient Roman celebration of Cybele and her lover, Attis. Attis was born of a human woman (a virgin, no less) and a God. He was sacrificed on Black Friday, crucified on a pine tree - his holy blood spilled to redeem mankind, and resurrected three days later. Sound sorta familiar? The Roman cult of Cybele, centered on what is now Vatican Hill, came into existence in about 200 BCE. And this is just one of several man-god/sacrifice/resurrection stories that were in existance - long before Christianity took hold. As I've said, I'm not into celebrating crucifixion or resurrection - the original or the Christian copy-cat. So what's left to celebrate?

Well, today is Spring Equinox. The days to come will bring increasing light and warmth. That is something worth celebrating! (just not the summer heat that comes after that). The bird song, the blooms and buds, the newborn animals... the fact that life is stirring after a long, cold winter is reason enough to celebrate. And that is what I want to celebrate. I want to celebrate that joy in renewal. It is a renewal of life and spirit. It is deeply personal, afterall, because my own spirit has finally reached a state of renewal and joy.

So, years ago, when my friend Dalliss related to her own family's version of Easter, my ears perked up. They did baskets - but on the first day of spring, not Easter. It was the spring bunny that came - not the Easter bunny. And now, so it is with us. Early this morning the spring bunny left lots of goodies in the baskets that were left out last night in the hope of a visit. We will dye eggs today and go out for some outdoors time to look for signs of spring.

In my quest for information about the Spring Equinox and various celebrations tied to this day, I did find a celebration that I could relate to. The Iranian people, specifically, along with several eastern European and central Asian countries, celebrate the Spring Equinox with the secular holiday of Navroz (of which there are about twenty different spellings...). Navroz is a modern-day relic of the religion of Ancient Persia; Zoroastrianism, and the holiday has survived for over 4000 years. "No Ruz" translated means 'New Day'. Here is a great post about one family's Navroz celebration. There are definitely some elements in there that speak volumes to me. I will think about expanding this day a little for us, next year.

Thanks for reading. And in the meantime....

 

 

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

 

 

Nothing says 'Irishness' better than a Stormtrooper wearing a kilt...

 

?

 

 

And now for a round up of the rest of yesterday's festivities...

 

Mom's birthday lunch...

 

 

Rylan earned her brown belt...

 

 

 

 

And Jordan earned his green chevron (an extra step between green and advanced green)

 

 

It took some digging through the laundry piles (clean) to locate something green for everyone to wear today.

 

Which means that I have been washing/drying/sorting/folding laundry for the past several hours, in order to get caught up. But at least I am working at making it somewhat enjoyable - I've watched multiple DVR'd episodes of The Pioneer Woman. Which means now I am really, really hungry.

 

 

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Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

   

Outside my window... It is 6:55 am, just minutes before the sunrise, and the birds are waking up. When I let the dog out just a short while ago I sniffed the air and it smelled nice and clean. A wildfire began yesterday, just a couple miles northwest of us. It is right in the same vicinity as where a portion of the huge fire from last summer burned, and just mere hundreds of feet from where a homeschooling friend lives. I feel bad that she (and several others, for that matter) had to evacuate - again. As far as I know, though, no structures have burned. The smoke was extremely bad all afternoon and evening yesterday, so I am hopeful that the firefighters made good progress through the night.

I am thinking... How nice it is to be up when the rest of the family is asleep, so I can write in peace. I am in such a lazy rut lately.. it is so hard to pull myself out of bed! I had to, this morning tho', to get the whites through the washer and dryer. Rylan has belt testing/promotions this afternoon, and her gi was filthy because she played in the sandbox after karate on Thursday, before changing out of her gi and into regular clothes.

I am also thinking about my mom. Today is her 69th birthday. LOVE YOU MOM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) We will be celebrating with her in just a few short hours.
Today is the eighth anniversary of my first date with Dean. We went to Johnny Carino's. My spaghetti kept slipping off my fork, and to this day Dean reminds me of that every time my forkload falls to my plate before I can get it to my mouth.

I am thankful... that we have our home and each other.

From the Learning Rooms... Kinko's (a local copy shop) is becoming my new best friend. I finally got my act together and printed off the math practice sheets from both Jordan's and Rylan's remaining math lessons (there are a total of 175 in one 'year') and had all 175 spiral bound into a workbook. I passed Jordan's book to him when it was done and he was actually excited. Only a homeschool kid...

 

We just purchased a school subscription to Wordly Wise 3000 online based on a one-day special deal that Homeschool Buyer's Co-op was offering. The best 40 bucks I've spent in awhile... Jordan has completed workbooks 2 and 3 in the past, and liked it 'okay' but he is really turned off on anything that requires the physical act of writing. Last summer we had decided to pass on continuing with Wordly Wise since we were going to take up Shurley English. I am glad we are picking it up again. Vocabulary knowledge is something Jordan has continued to struggle with, so this will really help. The online version still requires a written response to the reading exercise for each lesson, so this is where Jordan can really work on his typing skills. (Which are nonexistent at this point, so I am thrilled that he gets more practice.)

In the kitchen... is a mess. But I do have hot, fresh coffee!!

I am wearing... pjs and a robe.

I am creating... a list of reasons why construction projects and food preparation should not occur in the same room, at the same time. (see previous post)

I am going... We are going to our city's St. Patrick's Day Parade this morning with my mom and my brother and his family. Then we are off to a nice lunch at a local Italian restaurant and then we have Rylan's and Jordan's belt promotions this afternoon. Then it is an evening full of sawing, hammering and most likely some cursing.

I am wondering... If it will actually rain today. The forecast calls for a 30% chance... boy I hope so. It will really help with the fire situation. Just... not during the parade.... please?

I am reading... Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon. I blew through the first three, and now I've backed off on my pace quite a bit - for no other reason than I was totally shirking anything else that needed to be done around here.

In the garden... Geez! It is almost time, isn't it? Not sure what my plan is yet this year because I know that watering restrictions will be in play this summer. I would really like to do some cool-season stuff like spinach and lettuce, so I guess I'd better do more than idly think about it.

I am hoping... That we get at least a portion of the kitchen floor done by the end of this weekend. The new fridge comes next Saturday. (We purchased it last night at Home Depot - great sale that ends on the 20th!) We already know that the cabinet that is currently above the present fridge will have to be moved upward by at least an inch to accommodate the new (bigger!) fridge.
I began physical therapy for my shoulder this week, so I hope I get some pain relief soon. This all started with my weird chest pains early last fall. We ruled out heart attack after my doctor ran an EKG, did a chest xray and I wore a heart monitor for two weeks. My heart felt like it was squeezing and I was having episodes where I felt like my heart was racing. Then it all just stopped - except for the pain. My doctor seemed convinced that I must have pulled a chest muscle at some point, and the rest was just plain ol' stress. Then the pain gradually moved upwards and outwards. The entire chest wall on my right side is now in a constant state of soreness. My pectoral muscle is tight and tender to the touch, and now my entire rotator cuff is involved. I experience occasional numbness in my right arm, I can't raise my arm above my head or reach back behind me. Carrying small children is excruciating. The pain and the number of muscles involved has been slowly increasing since the fall. It's like new muscle groups keep trying to compensate for everything else, and then they start to show the strain.

I am looking forward to... The parade! We've had to miss it for the past two years, due to karate testing. It always falls on the weekend before St.Patrick's Day, and testing times have traditionally been in the morning. They recently changed up the schedule so that adults go in the morning, followed by the kids in the afternoon. So as luck would have it this year, the parade falls on my mom's birthday, and we have the morning free!

I am learning... more about sub flooring than I ever wanted to know.

I am hearing... Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. And the bird accompaniment from outside.

Around the house... (I think I have covered this is in incredibly boring detail)

I am pondering... what to have for breakfast...

One of my favorite things... my new Keurig! The downside is that I miss that tantalizing brewing coffee smell - the anticipation is an important of the whole coffee 'experience'! The upside is that your coffee is ready before you can even extricate the creamer from the fridge and locate a clean spoon (okay, so maybe not everyone has that particular challenge).

A few plans for the rest of the week... the usual schooling and activity schedule, a meeting for me, an ortho appointment for Jordan and then he leaves for OKC on Friday for his Spring Break visitation with his mom. We will celebrate the Spring Equinox on Wednesday - I intend to write more about that in the next day or two.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

This was what was happening at this time, last week. Crazy Colorado weather!

A blizzard one week, a heatwave and wildfires the next...

 

 

 

 

 

To read more entries and visit a variety of other blogs, go here...

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Ahhhh...the smell of mold in the morning.

Good morning to you, nasty kitchen floor!

 

Let me back up a bit, and present to you how our kitchen was...

 

This is our kitchen now...

Or should I say that this is how Dean left it as of 10:30 last night. I've got about 300 staples to pull out of the subfloor before I can put the stove back. And I need to use the stove today. Well, every day for that matter..

 

See, it all started with a leak. (isn't that typical?). A few weeks ago we noticed that quite a few of those ugly laminate tiles were starting to bubble up near the fridge. (They are the ugliest tiles e-ver. They may hide dirty smudges well, but they're MAUVE). The bubbled-tile radius began to expand in all directions. If you walked across the floor barefoot, you risked getting seasick. So, with a plan in mind (we were ready to replace the kitchen floor with Pergo anyway), this past weekend we took a deep breath and pulled out the fridge. Then we pulled up a tile. And then another one. And then another one. Demolition is fun!

 

 

Owen was worried that we were tearing the house apart. Rylan pulled on the work gloves and got dirty. (Atta girl!) Colin stepped on staples. Barefoot. Jordan asked if he could play Minecraft. Sigh. In very short order the kitchen and hallway was tile-free. That blue underlayment smelled nasty - like dirty wet socks. And look! Ugly laminate flooring that the previous lazy-ass owner left in and just threw the ugly mauve tiles on top of! Now that explains why the ground floor is not level! BUT it also saved our ass with this leak. It protected the subfloor from moisture damage - everywhere but right beneath the fridge, as you can see in the top picture.

 

So the source of the leak was the shut-off valve on the water supply line for the ice-maker. Dean had moved out the fridge a while ago to look at something, and when he pushed it back into place, it must have put just enough pressure against the valve that it started a slow leak, right at the floor level. After we had moved the fridge out away from the wall, there was another small puddle under the fridge when we moved it again a couple of hours later. Not sure if the fridge is leaking itself.. We had a copper supply line that looked like it was in decent shape. Then again, the fridge is seventeen years old, and the valve was probably 22 yrs. old. Dean replaced the valve and got a flexible braided steel supply line to replace the copper one. Now we are contemplating replacing the fridge. We weren't exactly budgeting for that. It will take a good portion of what we had budgeted for the floor, which means we will be replacing the floor in piecemeal fashion over the coming weeks. (Months). Ugh.

 

Well, I'm off to vacuum the layer of moldy, wood and laminate dust that has now covered every surface on the ground floor, and throw open the windows to let in some fresh air. Ahh.. behold the smell of mold.

 

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Happiness in a cup

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have been struggling in the coffee-making department. First my Mr. Coffee died about a year ago. That's okay - I had a French Press that was feeling pretty unloved and was only too happy to step up to the task. Then, a couple of months ago the glass carafe for the French Press got knocked off the kitchen counter and it shattered. So then I was reduced to taking desperate measures by using just a coffee filter stretched over the top of the cup.

 

This was my coffee I made this morning...

 

 

It has been a long couple of months of extremely bad coffee.

 

My $tarbuck$ expenditures have been atrocious.

 

 

And then...

 

(Cue up the choir of angels! With lots of sopranos! And harps! And sunbeams! And glitter!!)

 

*~*T H I S*~* was delivered by a very nice FedEx man just a few hours ago!

 

 

The wait has been long, but sooo worth it.

 

Thank you Honey! ;)

 

 

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