We've been without a kitchen for 8 weeks now. You would think we would be going absolutely crazy, but I've got to say that we aren't. In fact, at the family reunion we attended yesterday I found myself telling other people how it was actually kind of nice not to have to do dishes. *gasp* Not only are we using all paper plates, but we have paper bowls, paper/plastic cups, and plastic utensils. Oh sure we have a wet bar sink to wash things in, and sometimes we have to use an avoidable reusable dish, but we can't even be bothered to wash silverware. We have taken this lack of kitchen thing to the extreme. I did breakdown and buy the "Earthware" paper plates the other day because the waste we are producing was starting to get to me a bit though.
Another unintended benefit is that you can't hear the kids screaming on the second floor if you hunker down in the office in the basement. Oh, of course we do have a baby monitor for such occasions, but what fun is it to hide in the office if you can hear the kids screaming? This way I can pretend that they are sleeping. Not that I am doing that right now or anything...
The bad part of this plan is that The Boy can get out of bed on his own and will wander around the house looking for me. He has also figured out that if he goes into The Girl's room and talks "to her" we can hear him on the monitor (assuming it is on). This of course makes The Girl scream, but at least we can't hear it.
Soon enough we will be back to living on the main floor, where it is almost impossible to avoid the screaming sounds that filter down from the second floor. At least we had a short reprieve.
7.01.2007
6.27.2007
Remodel: week 8
We are inching towards the two month mark with the big remodel. I won’t waste your time with a bunch of words, so without further ado here are some progress pictures:
The new hardwood floor
Dining room into the kitchen
Kitchen into dining room
The beginnings of a railing to make the basement stairs entrance a little safer
The new roll-in shower
Just a tiny curb to keep the water contained
Another kitchen view
Oh, and the basically complete playset
Countertops next week, electrical tomorrow…perhaps I can take some better pictures when we have lights again!
The new hardwood floor
Dining room into the kitchen
Kitchen into dining room
The beginnings of a railing to make the basement stairs entrance a little safer
The new roll-in shower
Just a tiny curb to keep the water contained
Another kitchen view
Oh, and the basically complete playset
Countertops next week, electrical tomorrow…perhaps I can take some better pictures when we have lights again!
6.26.2007
Bumper Sticker of the Day
Jesus Loves You.
Everybody else thinks you are an asshole.
Thank you Black Ford F150 for brightening my morning just a bit.
Everybody else thinks you are an asshole.
Thank you Black Ford F150 for brightening my morning just a bit.
6.25.2007
My weekend of P
I owe my darling boy a birthday tribute post, but I want to add pictures so it needs to wait for a few days. Instead I wanted to fill you in on my weekend of P.
The First P
The weekend started a little early as I left work a bit early to come home to help T Paint. Our contractor was itching to start installing the new trim throughout the main floor, and we wanted to get all of the walls painted before that happened. This resulted in a mad scramble to prime and paint all of the walls. The paint perfectionist himself even allowed me to paint, rolling no less, because he was too tired to do it all on his own. I wasn’t even the one to put a big roller mark of paint on the ceiling either, no I just managed to hit at least 5 edges of taped off trim. Still the finished result looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I’m sure it will look even better with trim up. We owe a great deal of thanks to T’s little brother T, and our Nephew for assisting with some taping and wall prep on Saturday. We also owe Buzz and Woody and Lightning McQueen a great deal of thanks for babysitting the kids for us.
The Second P
Not to be accused of living a sedentary life we also managed to throw a nice little birthday Party for The Boy on Saturday morning. The day started early, as I squeezed in a run, and then T made the playset suitable for the group of 3 year olds who would arrive at our house at 11 AM. This involved mounting the swings on the set. I set to work decorating and hiding the plastic bugs the kids were to find around the yard, and when we realized how squeezed for time we were we called in some reinforcements…sending T’s parents on a side trip to buy balloons. The guests soon arrived, the kids found their bugs, played on the playset, did a little craft, ate pizza, fruit, gummy worms, and finally some cake. After the little guests had departed we watched The Boy open his presents, the highlights being a bug/frog habitat (hey we can send away for a free tadpole!) and a remote control dinosaur that scares The Girl enough that we had to hide it with the other electronic dinosaur he got from my parents!
The Third P
After the party we went right back to painting, but if we fast forward to the end of the painting Sunday evening, there was a bit more work on the Playset. We managed to get the beginnings of the roof on the set, and finally rid ourselves of the last cardboard box of parts! We are in the home stretch now. I promise to post pictures of the completed set when we get there. Our stamina was running very low at this point though after a long day of painting so we called it quits pretty quickly.
The Fourth P
The scene, the kids’ bathroom, the crime: Poop in the tub. Enough said.
The Fifth P
The scene, the kids’ bathroom, the crime: a Potty accident all over the floor.
I was so very happy to come to work today to get a little bit of a break. I’m all P’d out!
The First P
The weekend started a little early as I left work a bit early to come home to help T Paint. Our contractor was itching to start installing the new trim throughout the main floor, and we wanted to get all of the walls painted before that happened. This resulted in a mad scramble to prime and paint all of the walls. The paint perfectionist himself even allowed me to paint, rolling no less, because he was too tired to do it all on his own. I wasn’t even the one to put a big roller mark of paint on the ceiling either, no I just managed to hit at least 5 edges of taped off trim. Still the finished result looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I’m sure it will look even better with trim up. We owe a great deal of thanks to T’s little brother T, and our Nephew for assisting with some taping and wall prep on Saturday. We also owe Buzz and Woody and Lightning McQueen a great deal of thanks for babysitting the kids for us.
The Second P
Not to be accused of living a sedentary life we also managed to throw a nice little birthday Party for The Boy on Saturday morning. The day started early, as I squeezed in a run, and then T made the playset suitable for the group of 3 year olds who would arrive at our house at 11 AM. This involved mounting the swings on the set. I set to work decorating and hiding the plastic bugs the kids were to find around the yard, and when we realized how squeezed for time we were we called in some reinforcements…sending T’s parents on a side trip to buy balloons. The guests soon arrived, the kids found their bugs, played on the playset, did a little craft, ate pizza, fruit, gummy worms, and finally some cake. After the little guests had departed we watched The Boy open his presents, the highlights being a bug/frog habitat (hey we can send away for a free tadpole!) and a remote control dinosaur that scares The Girl enough that we had to hide it with the other electronic dinosaur he got from my parents!
The Third P
After the party we went right back to painting, but if we fast forward to the end of the painting Sunday evening, there was a bit more work on the Playset. We managed to get the beginnings of the roof on the set, and finally rid ourselves of the last cardboard box of parts! We are in the home stretch now. I promise to post pictures of the completed set when we get there. Our stamina was running very low at this point though after a long day of painting so we called it quits pretty quickly.
The Fourth P
The scene, the kids’ bathroom, the crime: Poop in the tub. Enough said.
The Fifth P
The scene, the kids’ bathroom, the crime: a Potty accident all over the floor.
I was so very happy to come to work today to get a little bit of a break. I’m all P’d out!
6.19.2007
Oh, I'm supposed to be opposed to this
I got an annoying forwarded email from one of our neighborhood watch block captains the other day. I normally would have just deleted it without a second thought, but somewhere in the first few lines was the mention of Super Target. I was intrigued. Of course the gist of the email was that we were supposed to be opposed to this monstrosity that could perhaps one day be built 2.5 miles from our homes. Of course there already is a Target about 3-4 miles from our homes, but it isn't Super. It is just your standard old Target. The problem with the proposed site it seems is that the only access roads are already congested, and more traffic to the area would not be appreciated. I tried to be indignant. I tried to be against it, but I just can't. I love Target, and the thought of a Target that is running distance from my house is almost too good to be true.
So should I go to the community feedback meeting to rally for the city to rezone the area to retail? I don't drive that way all that often anyway, so it isn't like it would affect me daily. Right, right, I'm supposed to be opposed to this proposal. I mean we have a Target 4 miles to our North, and one 9 or so miles to our South, another 6 miles to the North, and well lots more to the east and west. We aren't lacking any Targets, and two of those I just detailed are currently closed as they transform to Super Targets. Do we really need more Targets? What is the ideal number of Target stores per square mile anyway? We are very under-Walmarted in our metro area, I think Target is just trying to keep it that way. I would certainly rather have a new Target than a new Walmart.
Maybe I'll just forward the email to a few other people and forget all about it. Yes, that is more likely, or just delete it without forwarding. Case closed.
So should I go to the community feedback meeting to rally for the city to rezone the area to retail? I don't drive that way all that often anyway, so it isn't like it would affect me daily. Right, right, I'm supposed to be opposed to this proposal. I mean we have a Target 4 miles to our North, and one 9 or so miles to our South, another 6 miles to the North, and well lots more to the east and west. We aren't lacking any Targets, and two of those I just detailed are currently closed as they transform to Super Targets. Do we really need more Targets? What is the ideal number of Target stores per square mile anyway? We are very under-Walmarted in our metro area, I think Target is just trying to keep it that way. I would certainly rather have a new Target than a new Walmart.
Maybe I'll just forward the email to a few other people and forget all about it. Yes, that is more likely, or just delete it without forwarding. Case closed.
6.14.2007
Remodel: What, is this week 6?
Oh, you knew it would happen, you knew I started out with remodel day one, remodel day two, then would jump to day 8, then day 20 didn’t you? Now it has been more than a week since I last shared any house progress. Part of that is just being insanely busy with work and at home, but the other part is that there just wasn’t much to say. We’d come home each day and the house would look more or less the same as when we’d left that morning. Not too exciting to blog about, so I’ve spared you the details. Things are getting interesting around here now though, so for your viewing pleasure I give you:
Drywall and hardwood flooring
Coming up from the basement
From the living room into the kitchen
From the dining room into the kitchen
The new sliding glass door off of the dining room
Looking at the basement stairs...behold flooring!
Just one random picture of the stucco work (that is now done, so the scaffolding is gone, but well I’m too lazy to go out in the heat to take a new picture)
Oh, and because we didn’t have enough work to do we thought we would tackle building the Costco Sunray playset in time for The Boy’s birthday party next weekend. Surely T can fit that in along with painting the entire main floor of the house right?
The ground is not so level around here:
But the extra dirt is great for building “mountains”
Drywall and hardwood flooring
Coming up from the basement
From the living room into the kitchen
From the dining room into the kitchen
The new sliding glass door off of the dining room
Looking at the basement stairs...behold flooring!
Just one random picture of the stucco work (that is now done, so the scaffolding is gone, but well I’m too lazy to go out in the heat to take a new picture)
Oh, and because we didn’t have enough work to do we thought we would tackle building the Costco Sunray playset in time for The Boy’s birthday party next weekend. Surely T can fit that in along with painting the entire main floor of the house right?
The ground is not so level around here:
But the extra dirt is great for building “mountains”
6.12.2007
A run in the day
Morning was just a little smoother today…
Rather than bore you with my pre-runtorture schedule, I thought I would share with you my Tuesday morning run.
My runs all begin basically the same way: Out the door to set T’s Garmin GPS watch outside (finish getting ready inside while the GPS finds its satellites), then back out the door, ready to run, put the watch on walk down the driveway, start running.
Quiet morning today, I don’t see anybody outside until just before I get to my first major road crossing. Ah, but there she is, another runner. She passes less than 20 seconds before I reach the intersection. She is running on the other side of the street (she is running with traffic, where I will cross and run against traffic…more practically I’ll be running on the side of the road with the asphalt bike path while she is running on the side with concrete sidewalks – ouch her knees!). As I cross the street I notice another runner coming up the road I’m about to turn onto, she must not pass me. Oh, but she turns off onto the other street, no need to worry about her passing me. I decide I have to keep the other girl in my sights. She looks strong and also like she is moving at a nice clip. Oh, what’s this, there is a guy out walking, he’s wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt, I must pass him. Oh, but he turned off onto a side street; I won’t be able to pass him because I am continuing on. I’m impressed with myself as we reach the next major intersection, fast girl and I peel off in opposite directions on the same road at basically the same time. I was impressed with her pace, but then I was keeping it too, go me! Oh, look another runner going the other way, lots of runners out today. Garmin chirps at me, one mile down 9:19. Not bad I guess, though it certainly felt like I was running faster than that.
Now up the hill. Man do I hate this hill. Why do I insist on taking this route so often? Surely I could find a better route with fewer hills, oh that’s right but then I have to contend with the killer geese. I guess I’ll take my chances with the hills. Stupid hill, my legs hurt. I want to walk; surely walking just a little stretch wouldn’t be so bad. No walking. Right right, no walking, I’ll just run up the hill, I mean the worst part of the hill is only ½ mile long, then it has a few flats in it. I’ve run it many times before, stop whining. Look there is a woman out walking her dog, we should get a dog, I miss our dog. Stupid legs, my quads hurt, I should just walk a little. No walking. Ahhh a flat, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Yes it was, my legs still hurt, and there is still more hill left. I should look at my watch, no I won’t look at my watch until it chirps at me after this mile is done. More hill, but just a little more before we reach the shopping center complex, then there is the big downhill, almost there. Chirp, 10:40. 10:40??? How is that possible? I didn’t walk at all! I did it in 10:40 on Sunday and I walked twice, I didn’t feel like I slowed down that much today. Stupid hill, maybe my GPS lost its signal and I really ran it faster than that. Oh right, but it chirped at me at the exact same point it always chirps at me for mile 2, probably not a GPS error. Crap I’m slow.
Well at least I’m running downhill now. Look a minivan just pulled out of the underground garage in that apartment complex, I wonder if they like living in those apartments. I probably wouldn’t like living there since this street is so busy, but then we have a house so why do I care? Crap, there are geese on the side of the path ahead. There are 3 big geese and a ton of baby geese, they are so totally going to hiss at me and try to attack me. Damn this road is busy; I can’t even run in the road. I’m going to stop and cross the street to run past those stupid geese. Crisis averted, ran in the median for a while to get past the geese. After the near miss with the geese on the other route a few weeks back I just can’t be too careful, that was scary! I swear that goose was going to peck my legs. Okay onto the final stretch, just 1.5 miles from home. That’s just 6 laps on the treadmill; I can do that in my sleep. Why do I equate outside distance to laps on the treadmill anyway? That is weird. The nice little senior coop housing complex has its sprinklers on. Why do they insist on watering the sidewalks? I’m just going to run in the street to get past them. I don’t like running in sprinklers, even if I am hot. Another sprinkler on the sidewalk ahead, this is just so wasteful. How difficult is it to aim your sprinklers so that they don’t water the sidewalks? Chirp, 9:39. Well at least I am sub 10:00 pace again.
Just 4 laps left, and look I can start playing alphabet games with the street signs. This street name starts with L, the next street I cross starts with J. Oh, I’m already to I, then H, then G, look I’m all the way to F, and I get to hit the crosswalk button so I can rest for a minute before going across. Well that was a buzz kill, no wait, must keep running. Look two more runners out, I guess everyone is out running early to try to beat the heat and humidity. Is that the same guy out walking? What is he just walking tiny little laps around the area? I suppose it could be someone else in black shorts and a white t-shirt, not exactly a unique outfit choice. I mean I’m wearing black shorts and a purple shirt, but then this purple shirt has those stupid micro sleeves that flip out. Duck pond, almost home. I should just walk, I’m almost home, stop talking about walking, just suck it up and run the last 0.3 miles. I’ll just run around the next two corners and then I’ll walk, or maybe I’ll just run. Oh it’s a little dog ahead, I think he is threatened by me, yes he is barking at me, ah but now he is turning away and running back home, not so brave after all. Scrubs-wearing guy is out watering his immaculate lawn, and he ferries scrappy little dog away from me. I wonder if scrubs-wearing guy is a doctor. Do doctors wear scrubs other than when they are in the hospital? Look I’m almost home, seeing a neighbor out always stops me from walking. Home. No chirp, still need another 0.1 miles to make it an even 4. Should I bother? Nope. I’m done, at least I didn’t walk. 38:03 for 3.9 miles, not a speed record for me by any means but not too bad for a Tuesday morning.
Now the real work begins, getting the kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door. I suppose I should take a shower first.
Rather than bore you with my pre-run
My runs all begin basically the same way: Out the door to set T’s Garmin GPS watch outside (finish getting ready inside while the GPS finds its satellites), then back out the door, ready to run, put the watch on walk down the driveway, start running.
Quiet morning today, I don’t see anybody outside until just before I get to my first major road crossing. Ah, but there she is, another runner. She passes less than 20 seconds before I reach the intersection. She is running on the other side of the street (she is running with traffic, where I will cross and run against traffic…more practically I’ll be running on the side of the road with the asphalt bike path while she is running on the side with concrete sidewalks – ouch her knees!). As I cross the street I notice another runner coming up the road I’m about to turn onto, she must not pass me. Oh, but she turns off onto the other street, no need to worry about her passing me. I decide I have to keep the other girl in my sights. She looks strong and also like she is moving at a nice clip. Oh, what’s this, there is a guy out walking, he’s wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt, I must pass him. Oh, but he turned off onto a side street; I won’t be able to pass him because I am continuing on. I’m impressed with myself as we reach the next major intersection, fast girl and I peel off in opposite directions on the same road at basically the same time. I was impressed with her pace, but then I was keeping it too, go me! Oh, look another runner going the other way, lots of runners out today. Garmin chirps at me, one mile down 9:19. Not bad I guess, though it certainly felt like I was running faster than that.
Now up the hill. Man do I hate this hill. Why do I insist on taking this route so often? Surely I could find a better route with fewer hills, oh that’s right but then I have to contend with the killer geese. I guess I’ll take my chances with the hills. Stupid hill, my legs hurt. I want to walk; surely walking just a little stretch wouldn’t be so bad. No walking. Right right, no walking, I’ll just run up the hill, I mean the worst part of the hill is only ½ mile long, then it has a few flats in it. I’ve run it many times before, stop whining. Look there is a woman out walking her dog, we should get a dog, I miss our dog. Stupid legs, my quads hurt, I should just walk a little. No walking. Ahhh a flat, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Yes it was, my legs still hurt, and there is still more hill left. I should look at my watch, no I won’t look at my watch until it chirps at me after this mile is done. More hill, but just a little more before we reach the shopping center complex, then there is the big downhill, almost there. Chirp, 10:40. 10:40??? How is that possible? I didn’t walk at all! I did it in 10:40 on Sunday and I walked twice, I didn’t feel like I slowed down that much today. Stupid hill, maybe my GPS lost its signal and I really ran it faster than that. Oh right, but it chirped at me at the exact same point it always chirps at me for mile 2, probably not a GPS error. Crap I’m slow.
Well at least I’m running downhill now. Look a minivan just pulled out of the underground garage in that apartment complex, I wonder if they like living in those apartments. I probably wouldn’t like living there since this street is so busy, but then we have a house so why do I care? Crap, there are geese on the side of the path ahead. There are 3 big geese and a ton of baby geese, they are so totally going to hiss at me and try to attack me. Damn this road is busy; I can’t even run in the road. I’m going to stop and cross the street to run past those stupid geese. Crisis averted, ran in the median for a while to get past the geese. After the near miss with the geese on the other route a few weeks back I just can’t be too careful, that was scary! I swear that goose was going to peck my legs. Okay onto the final stretch, just 1.5 miles from home. That’s just 6 laps on the treadmill; I can do that in my sleep. Why do I equate outside distance to laps on the treadmill anyway? That is weird. The nice little senior coop housing complex has its sprinklers on. Why do they insist on watering the sidewalks? I’m just going to run in the street to get past them. I don’t like running in sprinklers, even if I am hot. Another sprinkler on the sidewalk ahead, this is just so wasteful. How difficult is it to aim your sprinklers so that they don’t water the sidewalks? Chirp, 9:39. Well at least I am sub 10:00 pace again.
Just 4 laps left, and look I can start playing alphabet games with the street signs. This street name starts with L, the next street I cross starts with J. Oh, I’m already to I, then H, then G, look I’m all the way to F, and I get to hit the crosswalk button so I can rest for a minute before going across. Well that was a buzz kill, no wait, must keep running. Look two more runners out, I guess everyone is out running early to try to beat the heat and humidity. Is that the same guy out walking? What is he just walking tiny little laps around the area? I suppose it could be someone else in black shorts and a white t-shirt, not exactly a unique outfit choice. I mean I’m wearing black shorts and a purple shirt, but then this purple shirt has those stupid micro sleeves that flip out. Duck pond, almost home. I should just walk, I’m almost home, stop talking about walking, just suck it up and run the last 0.3 miles. I’ll just run around the next two corners and then I’ll walk, or maybe I’ll just run. Oh it’s a little dog ahead, I think he is threatened by me, yes he is barking at me, ah but now he is turning away and running back home, not so brave after all. Scrubs-wearing guy is out watering his immaculate lawn, and he ferries scrappy little dog away from me. I wonder if scrubs-wearing guy is a doctor. Do doctors wear scrubs other than when they are in the hospital? Look I’m almost home, seeing a neighbor out always stops me from walking. Home. No chirp, still need another 0.1 miles to make it an even 4. Should I bother? Nope. I’m done, at least I didn’t walk. 38:03 for 3.9 miles, not a speed record for me by any means but not too bad for a Tuesday morning.
Now the real work begins, getting the kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door. I suppose I should take a shower first.
6.11.2007
Alarm clock
2:43 AM – loud screams heard from The Girl’s room
2:44 AM – decide T isn’t going to get up in time to stop The Girl from waking up The Boy, so I go get her from herprison crib
2:45 AM – settle back into bed and fall asleep (The Girl close beside me)
Unknown too BF early time – Wake to the feeling of someone breathing on my face
Still unknown too BF early time – Pretend I don’t feel the breathing that is coming from the edge of the bed where no person should be standing
4:29 AM – Tell The Boy to just climb up in bed already
4:30 AM – fall back asleep
5:29 AM – wake up for no apparent reason
5:29:55 AM – turn off alarm clock so as not to wake the two sleeping children to my left
5:33 AM – Wake to T’s alarm clock
5:34 AM – get out of bed and head to the bathroom to change into running clothes
5:35 AM – Emerge from bathroom to find The Girl is missing from the bed
5:35:01 AM – Find The Girl trying to affix the toilet insert seat onto the toilet (seat left up by The Boy)
5:35:45 AM – Listen to The Girl tell me “My need go toy-et”
5:36 AM – Change The Girl’s diaper
5:37 AM – Briefly consider just forgetting my run and sleeping in with the kids
5:37:22 AM – The Boy wakes up, and both children start whining at the prospect of me leaving for a run
5:38 AM – Turn on Disney Channel, shut the gate at the top of stairs, and leave for my run, T will wake up eventually
2:44 AM – decide T isn’t going to get up in time to stop The Girl from waking up The Boy, so I go get her from her
2:45 AM – settle back into bed and fall asleep (The Girl close beside me)
Unknown too BF early time – Wake to the feeling of someone breathing on my face
Still unknown too BF early time – Pretend I don’t feel the breathing that is coming from the edge of the bed where no person should be standing
4:29 AM – Tell The Boy to just climb up in bed already
4:30 AM – fall back asleep
5:29 AM – wake up for no apparent reason
5:29:55 AM – turn off alarm clock so as not to wake the two sleeping children to my left
5:33 AM – Wake to T’s alarm clock
5:34 AM – get out of bed and head to the bathroom to change into running clothes
5:35 AM – Emerge from bathroom to find The Girl is missing from the bed
5:35:01 AM – Find The Girl trying to affix the toilet insert seat onto the toilet (seat left up by The Boy)
5:35:45 AM – Listen to The Girl tell me “My need go toy-et”
5:36 AM – Change The Girl’s diaper
5:37 AM – Briefly consider just forgetting my run and sleeping in with the kids
5:37:22 AM – The Boy wakes up, and both children start whining at the prospect of me leaving for a run
5:38 AM – Turn on Disney Channel, shut the gate at the top of stairs, and leave for my run, T will wake up eventually
6.07.2007
To delay or not to delay that is the question
The Boy is quickly approaching his fourth birthday. We have been busy with party planning, and dealing with constant questions from him on the order of “will it be my birthday after nap?” No, honey your birthday is still more than two weeks away, we answer. Blank stare from him follows, and as you can practically see the wheels turning in his head he comes back with “why is my birthday two weeks away?” I know he is having trouble dealing with delayed gratification here, he’s been privy to perhaps too much of the party planning (we are having a bug party, and he is very excited about this prospect), and knows we have a stash of plastic bugs hidden away. It is very hard to explain the concept of two weeks to my nearly four year old. He has started to grasp the idea of what tomorrow means, but he isn’t quite there yet. He says things like “will it be tomorrow when I wake up from nap?” In his mind nap during the day vs. sleeping at night equates to the same thing, but to be clear for your sake he does mean sleeping at night. We answer that yes it will be tomorrow when you wake up from sleeping tonight, but…then it will be today. You can see why he thinks we are playing mind games with him.
In instances like this I find it impossible to believe that he will start preschool in the fall, and that technically he should start Kindergarten in a year and a few months. I mean certainly he needs to grasp the concept of time a little better before Kindergarten right? He is bright, inquisitive, energetic, and just wonderful to be around. Why is it that I am forced to look at his not so perfect qualities as I decide whether or not he will start kindergarten “on time?” I actually hate that it is even a question. As the parents of a boy with a June birthday, we have been told many times that we should really plan on him starting Kindergarten at six rather than at five. The rationale is based on the fact that they are shoving so much academic learning down into Kindergarten now, that young five year olds are at a huge disadvantage which will carry along with them for the rest of school. The cutoff in our state is September 1st, and it is a hard cutoff, no leeway to let a child with a September 2nd birthday start school early.
I’m not really opposed to starting The Boy later than his age dictates, but the whole idea drives T crazy. He will rail that if we are holding June birthdays back eventually it will be May, then April, etc., where do we draw the line? He will claim that unless there is a real reason to delay people should be forced to enroll their kids when they meet the age requirements, because frankly the schools are only getting around all of this No Child Left Behind garbage by forcing what used to be the first grade curriculum into kindergarten. Of course it is easier for teachers to teach a first grade curriculum to kids who are six at the beginning of the year (you know first graders!), kids who in many cases have had an extra year of preschool to prepare them for kindergarten. T says that we need to push back so schools can’t keep shoving more and more into kindergarten, but then who wants their June birthday boy to be a test case for how the school system failed them? In theory it is a good idea, but come on am I really going to play games with my child’s future?
I just read an article in the New York Times magazine titled: When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?, where this topic was discussed in great detail. I am most struck by the quote from a mom who did start her child who just made the deadline:
Yes, this is what T and I will struggle with when we make the decision for our boy. Not, is he ready now, or is this the morally right thing to do, but will we watch our boy struggle through school and kick ourselves because we let him start Kindergarten on time. For now the decision remains on the back burner. We’ve decided to revisit the topic with his preschool teacher so we can make more of an informed decision. We still have lots of time to mull it over, and there is no point in agonizing about it now. I’m sure by the time he is five The Boy will know all too well what it means to delay his birthday party for an entire week so his grandparents can attend the party. How do I explain that to him now though?
In instances like this I find it impossible to believe that he will start preschool in the fall, and that technically he should start Kindergarten in a year and a few months. I mean certainly he needs to grasp the concept of time a little better before Kindergarten right? He is bright, inquisitive, energetic, and just wonderful to be around. Why is it that I am forced to look at his not so perfect qualities as I decide whether or not he will start kindergarten “on time?” I actually hate that it is even a question. As the parents of a boy with a June birthday, we have been told many times that we should really plan on him starting Kindergarten at six rather than at five. The rationale is based on the fact that they are shoving so much academic learning down into Kindergarten now, that young five year olds are at a huge disadvantage which will carry along with them for the rest of school. The cutoff in our state is September 1st, and it is a hard cutoff, no leeway to let a child with a September 2nd birthday start school early.
I’m not really opposed to starting The Boy later than his age dictates, but the whole idea drives T crazy. He will rail that if we are holding June birthdays back eventually it will be May, then April, etc., where do we draw the line? He will claim that unless there is a real reason to delay people should be forced to enroll their kids when they meet the age requirements, because frankly the schools are only getting around all of this No Child Left Behind garbage by forcing what used to be the first grade curriculum into kindergarten. Of course it is easier for teachers to teach a first grade curriculum to kids who are six at the beginning of the year (you know first graders!), kids who in many cases have had an extra year of preschool to prepare them for kindergarten. T says that we need to push back so schools can’t keep shoving more and more into kindergarten, but then who wants their June birthday boy to be a test case for how the school system failed them? In theory it is a good idea, but come on am I really going to play games with my child’s future?
I just read an article in the New York Times magazine titled: When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?, where this topic was discussed in great detail. I am most struck by the quote from a mom who did start her child who just made the deadline:
“I kick myself every year now that we sent her ahead.”
Yes, this is what T and I will struggle with when we make the decision for our boy. Not, is he ready now, or is this the morally right thing to do, but will we watch our boy struggle through school and kick ourselves because we let him start Kindergarten on time. For now the decision remains on the back burner. We’ve decided to revisit the topic with his preschool teacher so we can make more of an informed decision. We still have lots of time to mull it over, and there is no point in agonizing about it now. I’m sure by the time he is five The Boy will know all too well what it means to delay his birthday party for an entire week so his grandparents can attend the party. How do I explain that to him now though?
6.05.2007
Caution: May cause shrinkage
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the size of my chest. I never used to care all that much that I wasn’t well endowed, but after breastfeeding The Girl I started to care. I certainly don’t regret the fact that I breastfed her for fifteen months, in fact I’m quite proud of it. After my failure to breastfeed The Boy it felt like a minor victory to be able to feed her sans pump for so long. It may have been a tad ironic when she absolutely refused bottles for a good stretch, but we struggled through. What I didn’t realize is that by pumping for The Boy and breastfeeding The Girl my breast tissue would somehow escape from my breasts along with the milk. Nobody tells you this will happen, and physiologically I’m not entirely sure that it is possible, but where there used to be B cups there are now just sad little A cups. I used to laugh at padded bras, now they are my mainstay.
Oh I know many of you have large breasts, so large that you cannot possibly understand what I am talking about. You pee on a stick, get a positive, and two minutes later you have grown from a D cup to an F cup or some such thing. I’ve read about it happening, and read the complaints about it happening, and just nodded quietly. I don’t understand what you are going through. You bemoan the fact that you can’t find pretty bras in your size well wah, have you ever looked to see what the selection is like for us A cup gals? I got positive pregnancy tests and never once had the sore breasts you read you might have as a symptom. My breasts stayed exactly the same size until my milk came in each time. Oh, I suppose there was some rib spreading that may have affected my band size, but the cup size never flinched. Even with my milk in I wasn’t that big, a full B cup, maybe a small C cup when fully engorged. Of course when I weaned I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I was expecting to go back to my normal size. No such luck, both times I quickly deflated to A cup size, and after The Girl I had to give up on my B cup bras because they looked silly all dimpled and sad.
I realize that there are much more important things to worry about in this world, but for the first time in my life I feel like I actually want to have something done about this. After I am 100% sure we are done having kids I plan to have small implants added, under the muscle. I’m not hoping to get that large, just enough so that I am not embarrassed to wear a tight fitting t-shirt. I’d like to feel like a woman again. I suppose this makes me shallow, or vain, or some combination thereof, but I don’t care.
Several years ago T and I, and another couple were bowling at a loud club like bowling alley. I was at the lowest weight I’ve ever been, wearing a nice form fitting turtleneck sweater, and jeans. I was pretty happy about my appearance. Then something strange happened. A random guy came and sat next to me in the bowling alley lane seating (which frankly is weird in and of itself), while T was up bowling his turn. The guy leaned over and said something along the lines of “you have the smallest tits in the world.” I just gave him a death stare and got up to bowl. The guy eventually left our area and went on to bother other people. I didn’t say anything to T because I didn’t want him to cause a scene, but as we left the bowling alley I told T and the other couple we were with what the idiot had said to me. They were all livid on my behalf, and came up with oodles of good comebacks I could have used, things like “well you should know since you have the smallest penis on the planet.” We moved on and honestly it didn’t bother me that much, but now I feel like saying you ain’t seen nothing yet, because they are in fact smaller now then they were then. I still wonder if that was just the world’s worst pickup line or if the guy was just an asshole.
I don’t want you to get the mistaken impression that the idiot in the bowling alley was the precipice for this thought, because he wasn’t. T wasn’t the instigator either, I mean T certainly isn’t opposed to the idea, but you know loves me the way that I am and all. It was only recently when I read about someone else having the procedure done that I started to think more seriously about it. I need to give it more thought, do some more research, and confirm that given my family history of breast cancer (My Mom and her Mom) that it wouldn’t impede routine exams and such. Of course if my current breasts managed to get breast cancer it would be like some cruel little joke, I can’t imagine what I’d be left with after a lumpectomy.
I’ve decided that we should warn other women about the dangerous effects of breastfeeding. If formula has to have a warning label on it telling women that it is inferior to breastmilk, breastfeeding supplies and literature should have to tell women that breastfeeding could in fact cause their breasts to shrivel down a size or two. Something like Caution: Breastfeeding my cause breast shrinkage. It is only fair right? Of course I’m sure some breastfeeding advocates would slam me for saying that, just like they slam people who say that breastfeeding hurts like a mofo in the beginning even if you are doing it right (yes The Girl’s latch was ‘perfect’ and yet I still had bleeding raw nips for several weeks, having to wince through the beginning of each and every nursing session and take 600 mg of Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours to cope). We are supposed to live in bliss knowing that any sacrifice in breast size and any temporary pain is all a gift to our children. Whatever. If we ever lose our minds and have a third child I will breastfeed again, but I’m now under no illusions that it is all magical and wonderful. I’ll probably be a “nearly A” cup by the time I finished nursing another. Lactivist? Not so much.
Oh I know many of you have large breasts, so large that you cannot possibly understand what I am talking about. You pee on a stick, get a positive, and two minutes later you have grown from a D cup to an F cup or some such thing. I’ve read about it happening, and read the complaints about it happening, and just nodded quietly. I don’t understand what you are going through. You bemoan the fact that you can’t find pretty bras in your size well wah, have you ever looked to see what the selection is like for us A cup gals? I got positive pregnancy tests and never once had the sore breasts you read you might have as a symptom. My breasts stayed exactly the same size until my milk came in each time. Oh, I suppose there was some rib spreading that may have affected my band size, but the cup size never flinched. Even with my milk in I wasn’t that big, a full B cup, maybe a small C cup when fully engorged. Of course when I weaned I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I was expecting to go back to my normal size. No such luck, both times I quickly deflated to A cup size, and after The Girl I had to give up on my B cup bras because they looked silly all dimpled and sad.
I realize that there are much more important things to worry about in this world, but for the first time in my life I feel like I actually want to have something done about this. After I am 100% sure we are done having kids I plan to have small implants added, under the muscle. I’m not hoping to get that large, just enough so that I am not embarrassed to wear a tight fitting t-shirt. I’d like to feel like a woman again. I suppose this makes me shallow, or vain, or some combination thereof, but I don’t care.
Several years ago T and I, and another couple were bowling at a loud club like bowling alley. I was at the lowest weight I’ve ever been, wearing a nice form fitting turtleneck sweater, and jeans. I was pretty happy about my appearance. Then something strange happened. A random guy came and sat next to me in the bowling alley lane seating (which frankly is weird in and of itself), while T was up bowling his turn. The guy leaned over and said something along the lines of “you have the smallest tits in the world.” I just gave him a death stare and got up to bowl. The guy eventually left our area and went on to bother other people. I didn’t say anything to T because I didn’t want him to cause a scene, but as we left the bowling alley I told T and the other couple we were with what the idiot had said to me. They were all livid on my behalf, and came up with oodles of good comebacks I could have used, things like “well you should know since you have the smallest penis on the planet.” We moved on and honestly it didn’t bother me that much, but now I feel like saying you ain’t seen nothing yet, because they are in fact smaller now then they were then. I still wonder if that was just the world’s worst pickup line or if the guy was just an asshole.
I don’t want you to get the mistaken impression that the idiot in the bowling alley was the precipice for this thought, because he wasn’t. T wasn’t the instigator either, I mean T certainly isn’t opposed to the idea, but you know loves me the way that I am and all. It was only recently when I read about someone else having the procedure done that I started to think more seriously about it. I need to give it more thought, do some more research, and confirm that given my family history of breast cancer (My Mom and her Mom) that it wouldn’t impede routine exams and such. Of course if my current breasts managed to get breast cancer it would be like some cruel little joke, I can’t imagine what I’d be left with after a lumpectomy.
I’ve decided that we should warn other women about the dangerous effects of breastfeeding. If formula has to have a warning label on it telling women that it is inferior to breastmilk, breastfeeding supplies and literature should have to tell women that breastfeeding could in fact cause their breasts to shrivel down a size or two. Something like Caution: Breastfeeding my cause breast shrinkage. It is only fair right? Of course I’m sure some breastfeeding advocates would slam me for saying that, just like they slam people who say that breastfeeding hurts like a mofo in the beginning even if you are doing it right (yes The Girl’s latch was ‘perfect’ and yet I still had bleeding raw nips for several weeks, having to wince through the beginning of each and every nursing session and take 600 mg of Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours to cope). We are supposed to live in bliss knowing that any sacrifice in breast size and any temporary pain is all a gift to our children. Whatever. If we ever lose our minds and have a third child I will breastfeed again, but I’m now under no illusions that it is all magical and wonderful. I’ll probably be a “nearly A” cup by the time I finished nursing another. Lactivist? Not so much.
6.04.2007
Status Report
As you may or may not know I have been making little tweaks to my life this year. I decided that it was time for an update, so here it goes. My newest life change has been the shift of my obsessive compulsive running habit from after work to early morning. I now wake up at 5:30 AM most weekdays to run or do some other form of exercise (an exercise video which shall remain nameless because frankly I don’t think it deserves any more attention, has found its way into my routine once or twice a week now). Those first few weeks of waking up nearly an hour earlier than normal were brutal. I had to drag my butt out of bed each and every day, and I kept wondering why I was torturing myself. Now, while I can’t say it is easy to get out of bed in the morning, my body has adjusted and I actually wake up before my alarm goes off most days. I can run up to 5 miles or so before my late return starts to impact T’s morning routine. I’ve been getting up early now for perhaps six weeks, I guess that means it has become my new normal.
Having my run/workout out of the way early in the morning has given me more flexibility in my schedule. I no longer have to scheme ways to fit in my run after work, and I can actually pick up the kids at daycare if I so choose. I’m still getting to work at close to 8 AM, but I am sacrificing an hour of sleep. I know my body has adjusted, but my eyes are bloodshot nearly every day. I don’t think I’m getting enough sleep, but going to bed at 9:30 PM isn’t appealing to me. For now I’ve decided that the pros of getting up early outweigh the cons, we’ll see how I feel in the dead of winter when it is bitch black outside at 5:30 AM.
My other big news is that I approached my boss with an idea that will help me fill in some of the downtime I occasionally have at work. While, it doesn’t seem as though there will be much downtime for the balance of the summer, I was given the go ahead for my plan. I’m excited by the challenge, and hopeful that it will bring good results for the company. Mostly, I’m thrilled that I took the time to put myself out there, rather than just staying with the status quo that was making me miserable. I’m not going to post the specifics about what I’ll be doing because I’m still under the illusion that this blog is not known about at work. While I’ve never said anything derogative, my little online journal isn’t exactly what I want my boss to read. If you want more details, feel free to email me…I keep meaning to set up an email link here and perhaps this will spur me to actually do so.
Baby steps really do get you where you want to go if you have a little patience and a lot of persistence.
Having my run/workout out of the way early in the morning has given me more flexibility in my schedule. I no longer have to scheme ways to fit in my run after work, and I can actually pick up the kids at daycare if I so choose. I’m still getting to work at close to 8 AM, but I am sacrificing an hour of sleep. I know my body has adjusted, but my eyes are bloodshot nearly every day. I don’t think I’m getting enough sleep, but going to bed at 9:30 PM isn’t appealing to me. For now I’ve decided that the pros of getting up early outweigh the cons, we’ll see how I feel in the dead of winter when it is bitch black outside at 5:30 AM.
My other big news is that I approached my boss with an idea that will help me fill in some of the downtime I occasionally have at work. While, it doesn’t seem as though there will be much downtime for the balance of the summer, I was given the go ahead for my plan. I’m excited by the challenge, and hopeful that it will bring good results for the company. Mostly, I’m thrilled that I took the time to put myself out there, rather than just staying with the status quo that was making me miserable. I’m not going to post the specifics about what I’ll be doing because I’m still under the illusion that this blog is not known about at work. While I’ve never said anything derogative, my little online journal isn’t exactly what I want my boss to read. If you want more details, feel free to email me…I keep meaning to set up an email link here and perhaps this will spur me to actually do so.
Baby steps really do get you where you want to go if you have a little patience and a lot of persistence.
6.02.2007
Remodel: Day 20
Days are counted as actual contractor working days since the project began. Perhaps this is confusing for you since it is for me (technically it would be day 19 since there was a holiday on Monday). It has been 4 solid working weeks for our contractors, or nearly a month. I haven't updated lately because honestly it basically looks the same as it did when I last posted on day 8. Okay that isn't entirely true, some HVAC vents have been moved, some plumbing perhaps has been moved, oh and we did get the new windows installed and the new wonderful 3-panel sliding glass door. A big milestone occurred yesterday though, our new drywall was delivered. Just as The kids and I were leaving for daycare/work, the huge flatbed truck with A CRANE MOMMY!, parked in front of our driveway (blocking me in). They graciously moved so I could get out of the driveway after I learned that said delivery would take nearly an hour. Of course the drywall wasn't put up yesterday, but we can see the nice neat stacks up against our walls just waiting to be installed. I foresee new exciting pictures to share in the early part of next week.
5.24.2007
Let's talk about...laundry?
After my tribute post to my darling daughter I’ve been having a hard time coming up with something to write about. Rather than search for something profound or even remotely interesting I’m just going to write about laundry. Or more correctly, I’m going to write about my laundry problem. Perhaps I have mentioned before that I am a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to laundry. Can you be a little obsessive compulsive? No, I suppose you can’t be. Anyway, it isn’t that I require my shirts to be washed on the sanitary cycle or heck even my underwear (the sanitary cycle takes like an hour and 40 minutes and that would severely cut into my ability to finish the chore), but I do have to finish my laundry on Sunday. There is some slack in when the laundry is started. If I know Sunday will be a busy day, I will occasionally start a load of laundry on Saturday evening, but otherwise it starts and finishes on Sunday. There is something about having a laundry day that just appeals to me. Ever since I’ve lived on my own I have done laundry on a set day of the week. Going to bed Sunday night, knowing that all of my clothes are clean and ready for the week just feels good. This likely stemmed from the fact that I used to only have enough clothes to last me through one week, so that was about as long as I could put it off. Eventually it became a habit.
Now that there are two kids in our house, the weekly laundry has grown from 3-4 loads to 6-7 loads, 8 if someone barfs/poops/pees on clothing/bedding/towels (and mid-week laundry exceptions are sometimes made when the aforementioned bodily fluids make their way onto washable fabrics). I don’t claim to be a laundry genius, but I hold my own. I’m a whiz with the shout gel stick, and have an eagle eye at spotting stains that need to be slathered with it before the wash cycle. However, I’ve been a little lax lately about pre-treating stains the same day they were incurred. This means that sometimes The Girl’s ultra sloppy tendencies come back to bite me in the behind. The Boy can be sloppy too, but for some reason his clothes usually manage to emerge from the washing machine stain free. Not so for The Girl’s clothing. In the past two weeks we have suffered the untimely demise of five of her shirts. Three of her lost shirts were from Target, ranging in price from $3.99 to $4.99, so no huge loss. One was a hand-me-down shirt from a good local friend of mine…an Old Navy shirt, that I’m afraid won’t live to be handed down again, and finally there is the ultra cute shirt I actually paid a fair amount of money for at Nordstroms. It has a cute butterfly on it, and it matches a great pair of leggings. Ah well, she can still wear it I guess, it just won’t look nice anymore.
If you have any stain fighting tips I’m all ears. The 5 shirts have not yet been dried, so technically the stains aren’t “set,” but I fear that I have already exhausted my hopes. I have however washed all of them with a wide variety of pre-treaters, soaked them in a bucket full of water and Oxy Clean for several hours, sprayed them with pre-treater for “set in” stains, and rubbed powdered Oxy clean on top of the pre-treater, let them sit like that overnight, and rewashed them. All to no avail, the shirts still have big blotches of dirt/food/whatever all over them. I am considering the unthinkable of just soaking them in water and regular chlorine bleach and living with the color changes that ensue. At least if they are bleached they won’t look blotchy right? If that doesn’t work, at least she has a great stash of back up clothes for daycare (when she spills more food/dirt/whatever on herself).
I'm open to any ideas you might have.
Now that there are two kids in our house, the weekly laundry has grown from 3-4 loads to 6-7 loads, 8 if someone barfs/poops/pees on clothing/bedding/towels (and mid-week laundry exceptions are sometimes made when the aforementioned bodily fluids make their way onto washable fabrics). I don’t claim to be a laundry genius, but I hold my own. I’m a whiz with the shout gel stick, and have an eagle eye at spotting stains that need to be slathered with it before the wash cycle. However, I’ve been a little lax lately about pre-treating stains the same day they were incurred. This means that sometimes The Girl’s ultra sloppy tendencies come back to bite me in the behind. The Boy can be sloppy too, but for some reason his clothes usually manage to emerge from the washing machine stain free. Not so for The Girl’s clothing. In the past two weeks we have suffered the untimely demise of five of her shirts. Three of her lost shirts were from Target, ranging in price from $3.99 to $4.99, so no huge loss. One was a hand-me-down shirt from a good local friend of mine…an Old Navy shirt, that I’m afraid won’t live to be handed down again, and finally there is the ultra cute shirt I actually paid a fair amount of money for at Nordstroms. It has a cute butterfly on it, and it matches a great pair of leggings. Ah well, she can still wear it I guess, it just won’t look nice anymore.
If you have any stain fighting tips I’m all ears. The 5 shirts have not yet been dried, so technically the stains aren’t “set,” but I fear that I have already exhausted my hopes. I have however washed all of them with a wide variety of pre-treaters, soaked them in a bucket full of water and Oxy Clean for several hours, sprayed them with pre-treater for “set in” stains, and rubbed powdered Oxy clean on top of the pre-treater, let them sit like that overnight, and rewashed them. All to no avail, the shirts still have big blotches of dirt/food/whatever all over them. I am considering the unthinkable of just soaking them in water and regular chlorine bleach and living with the color changes that ensue. At least if they are bleached they won’t look blotchy right? If that doesn’t work, at least she has a great stash of back up clothes for daycare (when she spills more food/dirt/whatever on herself).
I'm open to any ideas you might have.
5.20.2007
Another year older
Two years ago today I was holding you for the very first time. You kept us all guessing as to when you would arrive, and only after a scheduled induction for the next day did you decide it was time. You might have been a week overdue, and you might have cried for most of your first 3-4 months of life, but you are worth all of it. You have changed so much over the past two years. I look at you, and you are no longer that dark haired little girl who's head I spent hours staring at (and picking away the cradle cap from) while you nursed.
This little squimy newborn who wasn't quite ready for the world after 41 weeks minus two or so in the womb. No, now you are ready for any adventure. Ready to run, climb, jump, whatever your big brother is doing you surely aren't far behind.
It is a gift to get to watch you grow and change as each day passes. Your first birthday wasn't so long ago, but yet you are completely changed from then as well. You are becoming less baby and more big girl with each new month.
Happy Birthday, my amazing girl, you seem to have enjoyed your party
and your cake
and all of your loot
I love you, more than you can ever know.
This little squimy newborn who wasn't quite ready for the world after 41 weeks minus two or so in the womb. No, now you are ready for any adventure. Ready to run, climb, jump, whatever your big brother is doing you surely aren't far behind.
It is a gift to get to watch you grow and change as each day passes. Your first birthday wasn't so long ago, but yet you are completely changed from then as well. You are becoming less baby and more big girl with each new month.
Happy Birthday, my amazing girl, you seem to have enjoyed your party
and your cake
and all of your loot
I love you, more than you can ever know.
5.17.2007
Remodel: Day 8
I know you don’t really want to read about the remodel, you want to see pictures. I will come back to add pictures to this post when I get around to downloading them from our camera. You will just have to wait.
Significant progress this week is the installation of the new steel beam to replace the old header that essentially divided our living room into two spaces. It will be a huge space, and we will use it as two spaces eventually (an area by the front window with a couple of chairs and a table between them, will become somewhat of a “sitting room”), but it is nice to have the freedom to decide furniture placement not based on some arbitrary header beam on the ceiling.
In case you've forgotten, here is the beam before:
The dreadful entry way tile has been almost completely removed to make way for the new hardwood flooring that will be installed. Electrical rough ins are almost complete, as are plumbing rough ins, and HVAC rough ins. A few more city inspections need to be completed, but then they can begin adding new drywall. Perhaps by the end of next week we will see walls and ceilings starting to take shape?
On the disturbing end of things, we now have a portable toilet in our driveway. There is some plumbing issue with our brand new basement toilet (T had lots of fun cleaning out all that backed up into our brand new shower down there), that is supposedly being taken care of today. The portable toilet was mostly a response to that event, and frankly wasn’t the most welcome sight when I drove up to our house last night. Oh well. I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy about all of the workers using our bathrooms, but much prefer it to having a Biffy in our driveway!
So how are we coping with all of the chaos in our house? We are doing okay. We are using the wet bar, that isn’t very wet, as our temporary kitchen (the plumbers are supposed to give us a quote for hooking up actual plumbing to this sink…right now it has refrigerator tubing, and the flow is about one drop per minute). We have the old pantry cabinet in the basement so most of our food is stored there, and the refrigerator was moved to the basement to make things livable for us. We have the microwave, and the toaster oven, and of course the gas grill outside. Thankfully we purchased the grill with a side burner last summer because it definitely comes in handy for boiling pasta – a staple for our kids’ limited palates. We’ve altered our dinner menu choices to reflect the absence of a range, but have found that the toaster oven does quite well with small portions of frozen fries or chicken nuggets. I get a little grumpy about having to walk any dishes over to the utility room to wash them in the utility sink, but aside from that it works (as does using mostly paper plates/bowls/cups).
There are some minor annoyances that come with the territory, things like having the basement disturbed because plumbing, HVAC, or electrical needs to be run in the basement ceiling. There is also having the plumbing main shut off during the day which means when we turn on faucets they all sputter as the air escapes, and my stupid alarm clock that is always blinking when I go to bed at night because a circuit breaker was switched off.
See how nice and open our entry way is now?
Still it isn’t all bad. Living in the basement has given me a new appreciation for just how nice our back yard is. It isn’t a big back yard, but there is plenty of space for the kids to run and play. We’ve been outside a lot more than normal. It is hard to say if that is because we simply look outside the sliding glass door and see the deck/yard, because it has been so warm lately, or because the kids are finally old enough to request er demand to go outside. I’ve also been trying to keep up with the weeding for the first time since we moved in more than two years ago, which I’m sure pleases our neighbors. Of course now I’ve begun dreaming of removing all of the old rotting railroad ties that form our landscaping, and remember that we can’t spend money on landscaping this year. Anyway, a huge benefit this year is that there is absolutely no guilt on my part for ordering The Girl’s birthday cake, and ordering all of the food for her birthday party that will take place this weekend. I have an excuse not to cook this year (not that I would have made the cake anyway, but I’m rationalizing here).
Some backyard fun:
The Boy mowing (that is a bubble mower he's not even four!) - just a glimpse but you can see how nice our neighbors lawn is, in comparison to ours
The Girl just being cute:
And some swinging on Mother's Day - not our backyard!
Significant progress this week is the installation of the new steel beam to replace the old header that essentially divided our living room into two spaces. It will be a huge space, and we will use it as two spaces eventually (an area by the front window with a couple of chairs and a table between them, will become somewhat of a “sitting room”), but it is nice to have the freedom to decide furniture placement not based on some arbitrary header beam on the ceiling.
In case you've forgotten, here is the beam before:
The dreadful entry way tile has been almost completely removed to make way for the new hardwood flooring that will be installed. Electrical rough ins are almost complete, as are plumbing rough ins, and HVAC rough ins. A few more city inspections need to be completed, but then they can begin adding new drywall. Perhaps by the end of next week we will see walls and ceilings starting to take shape?
On the disturbing end of things, we now have a portable toilet in our driveway. There is some plumbing issue with our brand new basement toilet (T had lots of fun cleaning out all that backed up into our brand new shower down there), that is supposedly being taken care of today. The portable toilet was mostly a response to that event, and frankly wasn’t the most welcome sight when I drove up to our house last night. Oh well. I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy about all of the workers using our bathrooms, but much prefer it to having a Biffy in our driveway!
So how are we coping with all of the chaos in our house? We are doing okay. We are using the wet bar, that isn’t very wet, as our temporary kitchen (the plumbers are supposed to give us a quote for hooking up actual plumbing to this sink…right now it has refrigerator tubing, and the flow is about one drop per minute). We have the old pantry cabinet in the basement so most of our food is stored there, and the refrigerator was moved to the basement to make things livable for us. We have the microwave, and the toaster oven, and of course the gas grill outside. Thankfully we purchased the grill with a side burner last summer because it definitely comes in handy for boiling pasta – a staple for our kids’ limited palates. We’ve altered our dinner menu choices to reflect the absence of a range, but have found that the toaster oven does quite well with small portions of frozen fries or chicken nuggets. I get a little grumpy about having to walk any dishes over to the utility room to wash them in the utility sink, but aside from that it works (as does using mostly paper plates/bowls/cups).
There are some minor annoyances that come with the territory, things like having the basement disturbed because plumbing, HVAC, or electrical needs to be run in the basement ceiling. There is also having the plumbing main shut off during the day which means when we turn on faucets they all sputter as the air escapes, and my stupid alarm clock that is always blinking when I go to bed at night because a circuit breaker was switched off.
See how nice and open our entry way is now?
Still it isn’t all bad. Living in the basement has given me a new appreciation for just how nice our back yard is. It isn’t a big back yard, but there is plenty of space for the kids to run and play. We’ve been outside a lot more than normal. It is hard to say if that is because we simply look outside the sliding glass door and see the deck/yard, because it has been so warm lately, or because the kids are finally old enough to request er demand to go outside. I’ve also been trying to keep up with the weeding for the first time since we moved in more than two years ago, which I’m sure pleases our neighbors. Of course now I’ve begun dreaming of removing all of the old rotting railroad ties that form our landscaping, and remember that we can’t spend money on landscaping this year. Anyway, a huge benefit this year is that there is absolutely no guilt on my part for ordering The Girl’s birthday cake, and ordering all of the food for her birthday party that will take place this weekend. I have an excuse not to cook this year (not that I would have made the cake anyway, but I’m rationalizing here).
Some backyard fun:
The Boy mowing (that is a bubble mower he's not even four!) - just a glimpse but you can see how nice our neighbors lawn is, in comparison to ours
The Girl just being cute:
And some swinging on Mother's Day - not our backyard!
5.15.2007
Seven things about me
Jennifer tagged me for this, so that is my excuse. I’m not big on memes because usually I’m just too self-absorbed to want to answer questions other people have posed to me. I’d rather just blather on about what I want to talk about and screw everyone else. Still, I guess this meme is all about me, so I’ll play along. The gist of this meme is that I’m supposed to tell you seven things about me that I want you to know. So here goes:
One
I’m obsessed with running. If I don’t run for a couple of days I start to get an itch, and I start making everyone around me miserable. T has been known to tell me “go for a run,” when I am complaining about something trivial. It usually works. I’ve been a runner since 1999, and have only taken two brief breaks from it since then (surrounding the births of my children). I was so sad when extreme calf pain forced me to stop running when I was pregnant with The Boy, and while I continued to walk it just wasn’t the same. People figured I was miserable because I was in my third trimester, but the truth was that I was miserable because I couldn’t run. I promptly started running again when he was around 2 weeks old. I think I waited 3 weeks after The Girl was born, because the logistics were such that it just wasn’t possible to run before then.
Two
I have a bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering (yes that’s a BME not a BS), but I have zero mechanical aptitude. T once told me that a colleague of his had said “it must be cool to have a wife that is a mechanical engineer, because she can fix things.” He laughed heartily at the poor guy, because he has seen my ability to fix things. I understand math, I understand physics, and honestly that is what you need to be an engineer, fixing things has nothing to do with it! Plus the MBA has effectively cancelled out all of my engineering knowledge.
Three
I have a hard time spending money on myself. I will buy the kids new clothes, T new clothes, and things for the house before I will buy myself new clothes. When I do buy clothes I tend to buy things that are on clearance, and have the hardest time spending much more than $50 on any article of clothing. Really less than $30 is my comfort zone. I am one to agonize over a purchase for weeks before following through, or more likely before convincing myself that I don’t need it.
Four
I’m addicted to caffeine. I routinely have 3 cups of coffee a day at a minimum. Thankfully I don’t have to pay for the coffee at work, though to be fair the free coffee is the reason I’m at 3 cups a day now. I’m also addicted to diet soda, but I have managed to wean myself down to just one can per day. I really like Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, yummy!
Five
I think my kids are the brightest, cutest, best kids in the entire world. Oh, I am capable of seeing the good in other people’s kids, but my own will always be better. No offense.
Six
I hate having my house ripped up. I need to have a sense of order in my life, and having the entire main floor of my house destroyed is not good for this desire. I put the kids’ toys away for them most of the time because I just can’t handle looking at the clutter. I even clean The Boy’s room for him almost nightly because those dumped over toy bins drive me absolutely insane. Also, the stepping on a hot wheels car or Lego in the middle of the night isn’t so fun either, so cleaning has a practical side.
Seven
You would think I had always been a neat freak based on number six above, but that isn’t the case. I was a slob until well into my twenties. I’m not sure what changed, but I do recall that T and I would leave stacks of dishes in the sink until we just had no dishes left to use. The thought of that now makes me want to vomit, but I guess at that point in my life it was okay.
Now it is time for me to tag others for this meme. This is tricky since most of my default tagees have already been tagged. I’m tagging Kate, Leslie, and Christine, have fun!
One
I’m obsessed with running. If I don’t run for a couple of days I start to get an itch, and I start making everyone around me miserable. T has been known to tell me “go for a run,” when I am complaining about something trivial. It usually works. I’ve been a runner since 1999, and have only taken two brief breaks from it since then (surrounding the births of my children). I was so sad when extreme calf pain forced me to stop running when I was pregnant with The Boy, and while I continued to walk it just wasn’t the same. People figured I was miserable because I was in my third trimester, but the truth was that I was miserable because I couldn’t run. I promptly started running again when he was around 2 weeks old. I think I waited 3 weeks after The Girl was born, because the logistics were such that it just wasn’t possible to run before then.
Two
I have a bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering (yes that’s a BME not a BS), but I have zero mechanical aptitude. T once told me that a colleague of his had said “it must be cool to have a wife that is a mechanical engineer, because she can fix things.” He laughed heartily at the poor guy, because he has seen my ability to fix things. I understand math, I understand physics, and honestly that is what you need to be an engineer, fixing things has nothing to do with it! Plus the MBA has effectively cancelled out all of my engineering knowledge.
Three
I have a hard time spending money on myself. I will buy the kids new clothes, T new clothes, and things for the house before I will buy myself new clothes. When I do buy clothes I tend to buy things that are on clearance, and have the hardest time spending much more than $50 on any article of clothing. Really less than $30 is my comfort zone. I am one to agonize over a purchase for weeks before following through, or more likely before convincing myself that I don’t need it.
Four
I’m addicted to caffeine. I routinely have 3 cups of coffee a day at a minimum. Thankfully I don’t have to pay for the coffee at work, though to be fair the free coffee is the reason I’m at 3 cups a day now. I’m also addicted to diet soda, but I have managed to wean myself down to just one can per day. I really like Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, yummy!
Five
I think my kids are the brightest, cutest, best kids in the entire world. Oh, I am capable of seeing the good in other people’s kids, but my own will always be better. No offense.
Six
I hate having my house ripped up. I need to have a sense of order in my life, and having the entire main floor of my house destroyed is not good for this desire. I put the kids’ toys away for them most of the time because I just can’t handle looking at the clutter. I even clean The Boy’s room for him almost nightly because those dumped over toy bins drive me absolutely insane. Also, the stepping on a hot wheels car or Lego in the middle of the night isn’t so fun either, so cleaning has a practical side.
Seven
You would think I had always been a neat freak based on number six above, but that isn’t the case. I was a slob until well into my twenties. I’m not sure what changed, but I do recall that T and I would leave stacks of dishes in the sink until we just had no dishes left to use. The thought of that now makes me want to vomit, but I guess at that point in my life it was okay.
Now it is time for me to tag others for this meme. This is tricky since most of my default tagees have already been tagged. I’m tagging Kate, Leslie, and Christine, have fun!
5.14.2007
Not twice the effort
I had a fabulous run yesterday, one of those runs where you feel like you could run forever, but your body still thanks you when you stop after 6.5 miles. I wasn’t running fast by any means, but I did finally venture back to the scene of the great snake sighting. Running by that creek always puts me in a good mood. I was reminded again just how lucky I am to have such a scenic trail so close to home. Mostly though I just let my mind wander. I started thinking that I should really sign up for a race because it has been many months since I last raced. Perhaps a summer half marathon is in order to spur me to run longer than a seven mile long run each week (or 6.5). I should check the race calendar to see what my options are.
As I was contemplating the idea of a half marathon, I was reminded of a conversation I had after completing one of my early half marathons. I was relating that a half marathon was a huge effort, and I didn’t see how it would be possible to run twice as long in order to complete a full marathon. A half marathon was taxing enough, I just didn’t see how I could expend even more effort to run a full. I honestly can’t remember who it was that responded that “A marathon isn’t twice the effort; it is the same effort, longer.” I remember thinking this couldn’t possibly be true, but after running a few marathons I’d wager that she was right. Of course getting to the point of being able to expend the same effort for twice as long isn’t trivial. It takes many weeks, and many long runs in order to build your endurance to that point.
I was trying to decide if the whole not twice the effort, just the same effort longer thing works for other areas of my life. Does it work for having more than one kid? No, having two kids is definitely more effort than having just one. Or is it? Yes, most definitely it is. Although, a case could be made that it is just the same effort longer. I mean yes there are two kids to get dressed in the morning, two kids to help put shoes on, two kids to get strapped into their car seats, and two kids to hug and kiss goodbye when they are dropped off at daycare. That all boils down to the same effort spread over more time though. Helping The Boy get dressed isn’t all that different from helping The Girl get dressed, one involves a diaper change and the other involves some prodding to use the toilet. Still, it isn’t all bad, there are now two kids who look at me like I am their world, two kids who say “I love you Mommy,” or in the case of The Girl “My love you Mommy.” Two kids who I get to watch transform before my eyes as they learn and grow each and every day.
I don’t plan on running any marathons in the near future, but it is clear that I will be participating in plenty of endurance sporting for the next several years. Yes, I will keep running, but the biggest test of my endurance to date seems to be this thing called parenting. There is no option of taking the DNF here either. In a marathon I can quit at any point, but with kids we have to just keep on running no matter how tired we are. Whether it is lying on the floor until The Girl goes to sleep, or handling the tough life and death questions with some sort of clarity, there is always a new challenge. I expect that while the physically challenging aspects of parenting (sleep deprivation, having to carry children around, etc.) will diminish as the kids age, the new mental challenges will be just as great. I swear, I never thought of any of this when we first decided to have kids.
As I was contemplating the idea of a half marathon, I was reminded of a conversation I had after completing one of my early half marathons. I was relating that a half marathon was a huge effort, and I didn’t see how it would be possible to run twice as long in order to complete a full marathon. A half marathon was taxing enough, I just didn’t see how I could expend even more effort to run a full. I honestly can’t remember who it was that responded that “A marathon isn’t twice the effort; it is the same effort, longer.” I remember thinking this couldn’t possibly be true, but after running a few marathons I’d wager that she was right. Of course getting to the point of being able to expend the same effort for twice as long isn’t trivial. It takes many weeks, and many long runs in order to build your endurance to that point.
I was trying to decide if the whole not twice the effort, just the same effort longer thing works for other areas of my life. Does it work for having more than one kid? No, having two kids is definitely more effort than having just one. Or is it? Yes, most definitely it is. Although, a case could be made that it is just the same effort longer. I mean yes there are two kids to get dressed in the morning, two kids to help put shoes on, two kids to get strapped into their car seats, and two kids to hug and kiss goodbye when they are dropped off at daycare. That all boils down to the same effort spread over more time though. Helping The Boy get dressed isn’t all that different from helping The Girl get dressed, one involves a diaper change and the other involves some prodding to use the toilet. Still, it isn’t all bad, there are now two kids who look at me like I am their world, two kids who say “I love you Mommy,” or in the case of The Girl “My love you Mommy.” Two kids who I get to watch transform before my eyes as they learn and grow each and every day.
I don’t plan on running any marathons in the near future, but it is clear that I will be participating in plenty of endurance sporting for the next several years. Yes, I will keep running, but the biggest test of my endurance to date seems to be this thing called parenting. There is no option of taking the DNF here either. In a marathon I can quit at any point, but with kids we have to just keep on running no matter how tired we are. Whether it is lying on the floor until The Girl goes to sleep, or handling the tough life and death questions with some sort of clarity, there is always a new challenge. I expect that while the physically challenging aspects of parenting (sleep deprivation, having to carry children around, etc.) will diminish as the kids age, the new mental challenges will be just as great. I swear, I never thought of any of this when we first decided to have kids.
5.11.2007
Screening
The Boy has his preschool screening tomorrow morning. It is required in our school district, and needs to be completed between the ages of 3.5 and 4. I’m a little nervous about the screening, however irrational that may be. I was filling out the intake paperwork the other night and it asked me to list my child’s strengths. How can I possibly do that? Picking my child’s best qualities? It seems impossible to me since he has so many, and the space on the form is very limited. I have to make T take a look tonight because perhaps he is a bit more objective than I am.
I’m not going to link to the screening information, but here is a snippet from their website:
I don’t know why, but the biggest issue I have with this is the being separated from my child during the screening. I’ve written before about The Boy’s natural tendencies, and I worry just a little that he will not speak to the screener at all. Of course he will likely do much better with no parent around than he would with me hovering. I realize this is just a blip in what will be many “tests” of my children as they grow, but it makes me face the reality that he is getting older. I hate that testing has to begin so early.
I’m not going to link to the screening information, but here is a snippet from their website:
What is Early Childhood Screening?
Screening is a free check of your child's vision, hearing, height, weight, and development, as well as a review of her or his immunization records. Children are screened by licensed teachers from the Family Center. Your child will be assessed in three important developmental areas, motor skills, concepts, and communication skills. This not an IQ test. It does not rank children according to scores. The purpose of screening is early detection of children's development, health, and other factors that may interfere with a child's learning, growth, and
development.Following screening, a teacher will talk with you about your child's results. You'll have the opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have about your child's development or circumstances that could affect your child's learning. The teacher may refer you and your child to another agency to be rechecked or to receive services that will help your child. The screening process takes about 45 minutes.
Please note: For the most accurate results, it is best if parents are not present in the same room as the child during screening. Parents wait in a room close by. Please explain this to your child before you come to screening.
I don’t know why, but the biggest issue I have with this is the being separated from my child during the screening. I’ve written before about The Boy’s natural tendencies, and I worry just a little that he will not speak to the screener at all. Of course he will likely do much better with no parent around than he would with me hovering. I realize this is just a blip in what will be many “tests” of my children as they grow, but it makes me face the reality that he is getting older. I hate that testing has to begin so early.
5.09.2007
Best you've never heard of
If you read any of the big popular blogs I’m sure you have seen the varied blog awards that are floating about. Nominate what you think is the perfect post for the month, or the post that made you pee your pants because you laughed so hard, or just nominate/vote for the best *insert blogging niche here* blog around. You know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t just check out the links. I’m not all that interested in those contests, well truthfully, if I were to win something I would likely become interested, but that is neither here nor there! It is not that I think there is anything wrong with the awards; it is just that I don’t make the time to read a large number of blogs on a regular basis. I try to comment on a post if it resonates with me, but sometimes I am too pressed for time to even do that. Or sometimes I’m stealing a few minutes in the office and I need to Alt Tab away from my IE window so it doesn’t look like I’m wasting time at work. The majority of the time I put my focus back on the super fascinating spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentation I am working on and forget what I was going to say. Blogging and reading blogs is, my hobby, not the job that pays the bills (you’ve seen the house renovation posts, believe me I need the job!).
What exactly am I getting at here huh? I do have a slew of favorite blogs. I read them fairly regularly, some are big popular blogs, some are small private blogs, and others are well somewhere in the middle. Although I do have links to a few of my favorite blogs over on the right, I thought I would give some love to the special little gems I read. This is my attempt at a Mother’s Day present for them and hopefully others as well.
PDX Mama is fabulous in so many ways, the least of which not being that our oldest children are just one day apart. We met on a message board that shall remain unnamed way back when we were both struggling to breastfeed our lazy little firstborn nursers, and have become closer as the years have gone by. She has a fabulous positive outlook on life, and her enthusiasm is often contagious. She is also real, and I love that about her, and her blog! It is also wonderful to read about her new running adventures, as I can see glimpses of me back in 1999 when I first started running. PDX Mama is also great about pointing me to other good blogs. If I recall correctly she was responsible for first leading me to Mom 101 (must have been the too young for Chutes and Ladders post). I’ve also picked up a few new favorites just from looking at the blogs of those who comment on PDX Mama (Lawyer Mama for one).
Another of my favorites is Jennifer at Take a Walk on the Childside. Hers was the first blog I read regularly. Reading her blog is what led me to believe I could possibly manage to have a blog of my own, or rather that my ramblings could possibly be interesting to other people. Jennifer is a strong woman, and while she has had some struggles lately, I know she will emerge through them as the powerful woman she is.
I do have other favorites, but I just don’t have time to pay them the respect they deserve right now. Mostly I want to hear about your own little favorite blog in the rough. Tell me about your favorite blog that nobody has ever heard of (in the comments here or back on your own blog – link here and I’ll find you eventually).
To all of my reader Moms, I just want to say Happy Mother’s Day a little early. Forget about what your significant other or your kids do or don’t do for you on Mother’s Day. Take some time to give yourself a pat on the back for doing a great job. This Motherhood job is often thankless, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. If you get a moment, just sit back and look at your kids when they aren’t paying attention. You know they are the best kids around. You get the credit for that, and you deserve to celebrate it.
Of course I can’t leave this without giving a shout out to my own Mom, thanks for being such an inspiration to me. I love you Mom!
What exactly am I getting at here huh? I do have a slew of favorite blogs. I read them fairly regularly, some are big popular blogs, some are small private blogs, and others are well somewhere in the middle. Although I do have links to a few of my favorite blogs over on the right, I thought I would give some love to the special little gems I read. This is my attempt at a Mother’s Day present for them and hopefully others as well.
PDX Mama is fabulous in so many ways, the least of which not being that our oldest children are just one day apart. We met on a message board that shall remain unnamed way back when we were both struggling to breastfeed our lazy little firstborn nursers, and have become closer as the years have gone by. She has a fabulous positive outlook on life, and her enthusiasm is often contagious. She is also real, and I love that about her, and her blog! It is also wonderful to read about her new running adventures, as I can see glimpses of me back in 1999 when I first started running. PDX Mama is also great about pointing me to other good blogs. If I recall correctly she was responsible for first leading me to Mom 101 (must have been the too young for Chutes and Ladders post). I’ve also picked up a few new favorites just from looking at the blogs of those who comment on PDX Mama (Lawyer Mama for one).
Another of my favorites is Jennifer at Take a Walk on the Childside. Hers was the first blog I read regularly. Reading her blog is what led me to believe I could possibly manage to have a blog of my own, or rather that my ramblings could possibly be interesting to other people. Jennifer is a strong woman, and while she has had some struggles lately, I know she will emerge through them as the powerful woman she is.
I do have other favorites, but I just don’t have time to pay them the respect they deserve right now. Mostly I want to hear about your own little favorite blog in the rough. Tell me about your favorite blog that nobody has ever heard of (in the comments here or back on your own blog – link here and I’ll find you eventually).
To all of my reader Moms, I just want to say Happy Mother’s Day a little early. Forget about what your significant other or your kids do or don’t do for you on Mother’s Day. Take some time to give yourself a pat on the back for doing a great job. This Motherhood job is often thankless, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. If you get a moment, just sit back and look at your kids when they aren’t paying attention. You know they are the best kids around. You get the credit for that, and you deserve to celebrate it.
Of course I can’t leave this without giving a shout out to my own Mom, thanks for being such an inspiration to me. I love you Mom!
Remodel: Day two
I managed to take and upload pictures yet again, so here are some day two photos:
The carpet is now gone, apparently the previous owners had pets…ick
The half bath now has the level of privacy the kids only dream of for the rest of the bathrooms (when T or I are using them that is):
A nice view from the kitchen
The office has been demolished:
The basement stairs are next, plastic sheeting installed in preparation:
Life isn’t all bad for us though; the new basement bathroom is really nice, just missing some molding and trim:
The shower:
This will all be worth it 3 months from now. This will all be worth it 3 months from now. This will all be worth it 3 months from now…
The carpet is now gone, apparently the previous owners had pets…ick
The half bath now has the level of privacy the kids only dream of for the rest of the bathrooms (when T or I are using them that is):
A nice view from the kitchen
The office has been demolished:
The basement stairs are next, plastic sheeting installed in preparation:
Life isn’t all bad for us though; the new basement bathroom is really nice, just missing some molding and trim:
The shower:
This will all be worth it 3 months from now. This will all be worth it 3 months from now. This will all be worth it 3 months from now…
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