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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