My friend Scott linked a blog to my facebook wall today.  I’ve gone through the whole thing and I just love it.  Go check out Mila’s Daydreams.

Edited to add:  If you click on Behind the Blog you can read a little bit about the writer and see a cool video featuring all of the photos.

I have no photos, I am photoless. 

Life here goes on, kids are growing, weather is hot.  Hotter than a thousand suns.  And life is good.

1.  Dad and his fiance, Gail, came to visit and we had a great time.  A nice, relaxing and great time.

2.  My daughter has actually learned how to swim and is no longer refusing to put her face in the water.  Go AG!!

3.  Jack Henry is growing like a weed, pretty much  sleeping through the night and he’s aaaaaalllll boy.

4.  A school has been chosen for AG for next year.  I homeschooled her this past year (didn’t talk about that much) and wanted her to go to a part time, umbrella school type program this year.  Well… that school closed.  I had to get over it and voila!  The kid is registered for a local private school and starts in 4 weeks.  It will be weird having her gone all day but I think she will really do well and enjoy it.

5.  I finished the Traveling Woman shawl and it is on the blocking board.  That would be shawl #3 for the 10 in 2010.

6.  It’s August.  My odds of finishing 10 in 2010 aren’t looking good.  Just sayin’.

7.  I was having sock withdrawals and now I’m knitting a basic, twisted rib sock.  Did the best short row heel of my knitting life.  Almost made me a little misty eyed. (Dang…thanks to spell check I just realized I’ve been misspelling withdrawal for like 40 years!)

8.  Screwed up the front of the above mentioned sock but did I tell ya about that short row heel I’ve got goin’ on???

9.  Casting on Ishbel.  This takes care of two items on my knitting New Years resolutions:  counts toward the 10 in 2010 that I will never get finished and it is a pattern by Ysolda Teague.  Knitting one of her designs was a goal for this year.

10.  Started Couch 2 5K (C25k).  Did run #1 of week #1.  It. was. torture.  But… I completed the entire session and I’m pretty dang proud of that.  I’m going to try for run#2 tonight.

11.  Bought a new guitar.  It’s a Breedlove and I. am. in. luuurrrrrv!!!!  Happy, happy, joy, joy.  Best part: went to lead worship the other night, plugged it in and IT WORKED!!  That is an event that had become kinda rare with my other guitar.

So…that’s about it.  What’s happening on your end of the skein????

My daughter’s got it….bad.

Anna Grace has decided that she needs to start kissing boys.  She’s been kissing Isaac and Noah.  She apparently has considered kissing Daniel and I even heard Jeremy’s name mentioned once.  I have tried to discourage this.  I did ask her why she kissed Isaac and she said “because I love him so much”.  I suggested she love him from a distance.  ;-)  I’m not gaining any traction!

Today AG was playing with Isaac and suggested they play a game where she chases him and if she catches him then she kisses him all over his face.  Isaac suggested they play with trains instead (smart boy!).  So… on the way home, I actually had to have a conversation with my daughter that included the line “please keep your lips to yourself!”.

I don’t think she was listening!!!

I guess this is the paybacks I get for kissing Hank and Billy Zehring when I was five!

My friend Becky posted this on Facebook and it makes me laugh every time I think about it….

Sinners can reform but stupid is forever.

That’s little tidbit has just been improving my outlook!

It was 10 degrees past hotter than Hades when AG and I (and Jack Henry too) headed to Walmart the other day.  I wasn’t paying complete attention and tried to enter through the exit door.  (And seriously… is this a crime!!???!!).  Usually doors just open if you are going the wrong way, these didn’t and I bumped the door with the shopping cart.  Okay, I did it.  My fault, my bad, my this, my that.

Walmart retiree greeter lady was so. not. pleased.

I got a firm talking to along with a teensy tiny finger shake and informed that if I didn’t try to go in the exit door that things like this wouldn’t happen.  Yep… I’m sleepy, I’m frazzled, its a million freaking degrees outside and, as a result, I wasn’t very alert and went in the wrong door.  I get it.  I’ll do better next time.

I nod and smile.  Yep.. you caught me, I messed up.  Thinking this is all just going to blend away into the day, I started doing our shopping.  Then Anna Grace decided she had a question.

AG: Mom, did you go the wrong way?

Me: Yep

AG: You went in the wrong door?

Me: Yep

AG:  Is that ’cause you’re classy like that?

Awwww….. she’s tryin’ out the sarcasm at the early age of 6.  Makes a momma proud!!!

Not much has been going on around here.  Just a few things here and there.  How about  a list?

1.  The search to replace the school that closed before we ever got enrolled has been grueling, depressing and may make me drink.  Episode 923 of the saga took place today and all I can say is stink, stank, stunk.

2.  Working on improving my positive outlook and failing.  For evidence, see item 1.

3.  Jack Henry slept through the night Saturday night!  Woot.  Last night he woke up twice.  Guess he was just messin’ with us.

4.  Contractors.  There are still contractors…and power tools… and waaaaaay too many “coin slots” around this place. Wish these guys would just pull up the pants… that’s all I’m sayin’!

5.   Veggies.  I actually have some veggies growing.  Not sure if they’ll live or die.  I can say that the most neglected of the group (the jalapenos) are flourishing.  Not sure what that says about my “green thumb” that if I actually ignore something, it lives.  If I try to take care of it… bad things happen.

6.  Can’t stop giggling reading item 5.  I can just hear Jeff Dunham saying Jose Jalapeno…on a stick.

7.  My dad and his fiance are coming to visit.  Can’t wait.  Hoping my sister Liz will come visit this summer as well.

8.  My guitar….  it’s too depressing to talk about.

9.  Traveling Woman Shawl:  back on track and essentially dog hair free.  Just started the last chart.  Love this pattern.

10.  Swimming lessons for AG started today. So far, so good.  Not sure if this is going to be a “kick apraxia in the butt” type of event or if it will be more of a hand-to-hand combat against the apraxia.  We’ll see but either way… she’s got enough fight in ‘er to get the job done.  I know she does.

That’s all for now.

Carpe Llama!!

Then

Now

Shelly and I each had our hands full during rehearsal this morning.  Jack Henry and Grace were born 4 days apart and are a huge blessing to each of their families.

Traveling Woman Shawl met a tragic end yesterday at the hands of Sara the Cat.  Found by her owner shredded and covered in dog hair, it was determined that she could not be saved.  Frogging commenced and she is no more.

Reincarnation efforts have begun.  Progress minimal.

Building Permit and Not-So-Dumb Me

In addition to the indoor construction going on around here, we’ve also been having a fence put up.  The fence was initially set up and installed in a place I hated.  Dana said it need to be there because of yard slope, expense, etc.  I said it looked dumb and that it was going to cost him even more to landscape from the fence line to the property line to prevent the thing from looking silly.  Delightful discussions ensued and Dana put the fence where Dana wanted the fence.

Fast forward 4 weeks.

Dana and I are trying to figure out a plan to landscape from the fence to the property line (deja vu, anyone???) and trying to come up with a plan that won’t look dumb.  Meanwhile, I’m almost afraid to go in the yard anymore during the week because all the neighbors that walk by keep asking why we put the fence there.  I start growing a tad tired of these questions especially since I didn’t want the fence placed in its current location.  Then Dana figures out that hey… Kris may have had a point…. any money saved by placing fence in current location is now lost because of how much money landscaping costs.  Ahem!

So…. even though I think it nearly killed him…. Dana called the fence contractor back and hired him to move the fence.  I tried hard not to snicker or gloat but hey, nobody’s perfect. 

Fence contractor and Dana make a deal and now the fence will be moved.  On the day of, the installers knock on the door and ask me to point out the property line.  I am confused because they should know this if they got the permit that they agreed to get.  I call Dana, Dana calls the owner who says oops, sorry, he didn’t get the permit.  But, he promises that it isn’t a big deal and he can get it after the fact.  Let the guys to their work and he’ll go get the permit.

Days pass… no permit.  Plus, I’m fairly certain the fence is in our neighbors yard.  Dana contacts fence contractor who says to “leave it alone” and states that he mislead Dana (on purpose) because “you don’t want to open that can of worms” when it comes to getting a permit for a fence revision.  I then stated that I could go and get the permit and the fence guy implies that it is too complicated, I’m not savvy enough or it would be waaaaaaay too hard for someone “like me” to go and get the permit.  He then asks for $125 and he will go get the permit.

Let’s review: you’ve been paid to put in a fence and that payment included the permit you didn’t get and now you want to be paid to get the permit you’ve already lied about.  NICE!

In realizing that the fence guy thought I was a tad too…. ahem….. dense to pull a permit, I was a bit hurt.  And then I got mad.  I mean seriously… dude… you fill out an application, you pay the lady 55 bucks and voila!, you get yer stinkin’ permit!!!  Dana said he’d go but I thought that I would receive a tad more grace than he would and he was really hacked soooo…he’s going to have a hard time not telling the entire building department all about the fencing contractor and his dirty, rotten ways.

Partners in Crime

So what happened?  Well…. I thought and considered and thought and came up with a game plan.  Here’s what I did:

1.  I took Anna Grace, who is already a very active and inquisitive little kid, to the doughnut shop and bought her not one but two chocolate doughnuts.  On purpose.  I coordinated the time that I thought it would take for this child to be fully jacked up on sugar with the time that Jack Henry (6 weeks old at this time) to be hungry and screaming for his next feeding.  When that perfect storm began to form, we entered city hall.

2. As I approached the counter, I told Anna Grace that if she was really good, we could go to McDonalds, a place she is never, ever, able to go.    I didn’t tell her when or where…intentionally.  Anna Grace then began jumping up and down and asking how long until we go to McDonalds, am I being good, are we still going to McDonalds? Are we? huh? huh? huh?  etc.

3. I went to the building department and explained my issue.  I explained the situation with the contractor while trying to not speak too poorly of the guy and began to ask building department for help.  I was told to fill out an application and I did while JH fussed and AG asked, again, about that trip to McDonalds.  I was told to draw the proposed fence changes on our survey.  I gave dazed and confused look, poor woman took pity on me and explained exactly what I needed to do.  AG and JH…. nothing has changed there and I apologize to the lady for the fussy kids.

4. Building department lady begins to ask about JH, she can’t believe I had to come down there with a baby that young, what was that contractor thinking when he wouldn’t take care of this for me, what is the world coming to, etc.  Building department lady determines that it is just silly to make me do 2 of the forms as I “already have my hands full”.

5.  AG begins talking to another lady working at city hall and asks if there is a basement.  Lady says there is and offers to take AG to the basement after we’re finished.  AG thinks this day has serious potential to be totally awesome.

6. I pay fee for permit and then ask if I need to pay a fine.  Building department lady tells me that I’ve been through enough and she has waived the fine.   She then tells me that zoning will review my permit and then I’ll be ready for inspections.

7.  City Hall lady takes AG, JH and me to the basement.  On the way down in the elevator AG asks “are we on a field trip?”.

Me.…thinking….thinking….thinking…… Why sure…that’s it.  We’re on a field trip.  That’s the ticket!  

AG tours entire basement, sees cool antique safe, rides elevator back to first floor and declares that city hall is quite cool.

We then leave city hall, go to McDonalds as promised and I spend the remainder of the day dealing with a really jacked up 6 year old who can. not. stop. talking!!!!!

8.  Five days pass and I get a call to come pick up my permit.  I now have to call for inspections….inspections that, if I’m right, we won’t pass and I’ll have a bit of drama on my hands.  If contractor-who-shall-remain-nameless is right, then we’ll pass inspection, my fence will be legal and all will be well with the universe.

9.  I go to city hall…. 2 kids in tow…. and pick up permit.  I get my instructions and I turn to leave.  As I’m walking out of city hall I hear the permit lady calling over to the inspectors office.  I hear her mention our address and she tells the inspector about the contractor, tells him to not give me a hard time and informs him that I’m having to come down there with a “fresh baby” and I look “just wore out”.  She also informs him that issues with the fence are the contractors fault, not ours and that they just need to be nice and tell us what we need to do. Gotta love that lady!

10.  I come home, call for my inspections and tape the permit to the window and wait.  Dana comes home and I tell him about the whole process, etc.  Dana then informs me that I am officially the queen of the Jedi mind trick.

BAHAHA!