Porch, Ho!

So the house renovation is going really well. The back now has siding and a roof, skylights and most of the windows. This week they started working on the porch. Here is what it looked like two weeks ago (after they had pulled out most of the bushes and weeds and such):

Here it is now:

Isn't it so cool? The one and ONLY one good thing our idiot architect contributed to this project is the skylights on the porch. This will allow us to still have light in the front room of our house. You can't tell from this shot, but the triangle over the door goes with the one over the dormer on the left. I really like it.

As I am told happens with all remodeling, we are now officially hemorrhaging money. There is the overall project which we refinanced our mortgage to pay for (hey honey, after 9+ years of owning our house, we owe twice on it what we did when we bought it -- yay!); then we got a new hot water heater a few months ago to include the new bathroom; now we are upgrading the HVAC in the new space to provide for central air conditioning to the whole house; then we had them fix one part of the roof and realized it was probably just as big a problem everywhere and are having the whole roof replaced; we also have to move the gas meter from the front because of the porch. Everyday we look at each other and say "how many thousands of dollars did we spend today, honey?" never mind the fact that we have no grass or bushes or landscaping anymore... Oh well, its just money, right?

August = vacation

For me, August means vacation. I have a job that limits when I can take vacation time. August is always a good time. So we have 2 weeks of vacations planned. Next week we will take our (previously planned for 4th of July) trip to Pennsylvania. We first will go to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster. Then see Strasburg Railroad and take a buggy ride. Then we head north to Sesame Place for a day. Then off to visit friends in Allentown and go to Dorney Park. We end off the week with a trip to the Crayola Factory and the Herr Potato Chip factory before heading home. Will be a whirlwind of amusement parks. Poor big man will not be happy missing naps and will hopefully crash in the stroller.

At the end of the month we got to the beach -- the Outer Banks, specifically. This is a tradition -- I think it will be my 14th or 15th or so year. Maybe more. This year we will have 12 adults and 13 kids under age 8. in one house. It will be NUTS and very very fun. I can't wait. The spreadsheet for dinners, happy hours, cleaning and activities is getting filled. Yayyy!

Will try and post from the road next week, but not sure I know how. Beware of strange looking posts!

Gotta love being a mom

So DH has been working like a dog. He decides he is going to have dinner with us on Friday night, so we decide to make it fun for the girls. When I get them at daycare I tell them we are going on a "secret mission". They cannot tell daddy. We are going to get him to drive home the "wrong way" so we can get ice cream for dinner. They are totally psyched and can't wait to get started on the secret mission. When we meet DH in the hallway, they say that Mommy is going to drive us "home"..giggling all the way. DH plays along and says "what?! uh..ok" The girls are hysterical. Of course we get about two blocks away and oldest daughter tells DH that mommy has a "secret mission" way to get us home. Youngest daughter says "yeah..secret mission!" Then in stage whisper that could be heard several cars away say, "But mom, what about the ice cream?" OD says "shh..that's the secret mission"...YD says "I know its the secret mission..but what about the ice cream?" She repeats this about 5 times until DH and I are hysterical in the front seat. OD gets that Daddy is in on it, but doesn't get upset. It was too funny.

My son, Big Man, has been fighting an AWFUL diaper rash for almost 10 days. Two nights ago I decide to get serious. I spend about 10 minutes blow drying his butt. Yup. There I was, sitting on a step, holding the blow dryer on cool, pointed at my son's naked behind as he played with stuff on the edge of the bathtub. But know what? It worked. His butt looks much better this morning. I did it last night too.

I love being a mom.

Cut Off From the Outside World

Ok, not really. But on Saturday morning when my MIL came by, she informed me that my phone was constantly busy. I picked it up -- no dial tone. So, I grabbed my cell and attempted to figure out who to call at the phone company. It was not easy. "0" did not work. I then had to call 411 to get them to forward me. I then had to deal with automated phone hell. Finally I got a person. I tell them my phone has no dial tone. First question? "are you calling me from that phone?" Um, yeah...i know how to dial without a dial tone. She transferred me to someone else. First question? "are you calling me from that phone?" What the #)(&$(#*@? Once we get past that, they run "diagnostic test" whereby they determine that the phone line is broken on there end, and they will have someone out as soon as possible, Monday morning. What? I have to live with no phone all weekend? They say they will forward it to my cell. That lasts about 5 hours. Then it stopped working.

Then on Sunday morning I go online to get directions to where we are going. Keep in mind we were surprised to still have Internet as they are both Verizon, and we assumed connected somehow. But, no Internet was working fine. Until about 1pm, whereby it was no longer working. ARGHH. Oh well. We'll see if them fixing the phone line fixes the Internet, or if we have to schedule that separately. Luckily DH is working so hard, he doesn't even miss his WoW fix.

Bad Girls, Bad Girls

I am so glad my girls are not teenagers..or even pre-teens. I don't have to explain the Parises, Lyndseys and Nicoles of the world to them. What is going on? And WHERE are these girls parents??!! Seriously. Not that they aren't old enough to be responsible for their own actions -- but at least for Paris and Nicole, their parents are completely and totally enabling this behavior!!! Its not like the are earning the money they use to buy drugs and alcohol. (Ok, I'm sure the Simple Life makes them money, but not the kind for how they are living). What is with these people. I guess we had the decade of the bad boys back in the 50s..now its the girls turn? I'm over it. And so glad I don't have to explain this to MY girls.

WOW!

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Originally uploaded by MBooth_98

Going up fast. We now have the exterior framing for the first and second floors. Pretty cool -- went up so fast! We are really liking it. Post holes for the porch in front are dug, and they will start framing next week. Not sure how we will be getting in our house!? Bedroom is big, but will be taken up by 3 closets and a bathroom. Not a whole lot of living space left over, but frankly, how much real living gets done in the bedroom anyway? I'd rather have the closets. We will have a window seat near the HUGE windows on the sides, so that is cool. Getting very excited about how it is all coming. Of course, we are just realizing how much more we will need to do. Landscaping alone will be a killer, but right now we have LOTS of mud, dead grass, and debris. Ahh well...it will all be worth it!

Daily Musings...

So..what's going on in my life?

• home renovation going GREAT! Roof/ceiling on the first floor, when we left this morning walls were going up on the 2nd floor and posts were being dug for the front porch. The obliterated all plant life there yesterday (including my HUGE azaleas, but LOTS of weeds as well).
• DH's work is INSANE. It will be nice when we all get to see him again.
• Can't wait for vacation! Hoping to go to PA in 2 weeks, and then the beach at the end of August. YAYYYY! (has Congress gone home yet??!!!)
• Still running..tomorrow up to 25 minutes with no stops!
• Just had the BEST watermelon aqua fresca...think it would be even better with tequila!
• DS turns one in 2 weeks!! It has gone so fast!

That's about it for today. Will post more pics of the renovations later this week...