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Almost Home Free

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Originally uploaded by MBooth_98

So..we are almost done. The bathroom is tiled (as you can see), the plumbing is now working, as is the AC. (oh yeah, and we replaced the ugly light fixture in this picture with a nice one) The only big things are the installation of the gas fireplace, the ceiling of the porch, and the soffits all around the roof. Pretty much everything else is cosmetic - touching up paint, closing holes in the plaster from the central A/C, repairing (replacing) the ceiling in the basement, couple moldings here and there. Possible final inspection next week..we'll see!

Flowers for Those of Us with Purple Thumbs

So I love gardens, fresh cut flowers, the whole bit. But I am not a huge fan of gardening. I like planting stuff, but I HATE weeding. Hate it a lot. So I rarely do it. I will usually plant a bunch of stuff (bulbs in fall and some flowers in spring/summer), but I rarely weed. Now I have found an even easier way to plant, and I am so excited. Dutch Gardens catalog (and website) has biodegradable bulb trays. These are trays that come pre-loaded with bulbs of your choosing, and you just dig a big whole and put the whole shebang in there, cover it with dirt and water. They even have special ones made for big flower pots. This is so freaking brilliant. I cannot wait to try this. I haven't ordered them yet, because they are about to start landscaping my yard, so I'm afraid they would pull them up if I started, but I LOVE these. Actually I think I will buy one or two of the ones for pots and plant those. Then I can see if they work. Will keep you posted - I am so excited to try! I still doubt I'll weed, but I will probably plant lots more bulbs!

Baby I Was Born to Run

ok..maybe not, but I did complete my first 5k today! YAYYYY for me! I had three goals for today -- finish the race, do not walk at all, and finish under 40 minutes. I made 2 out of 3. I finished at 40 minutes, 20 seconds. Bummer...I wish they had put the clock somewhere you could see it sooner. I didn't see it until I was about 100 yards away at 39.57. Oh well..very close. We had a good day - not too hot, and there were lots of racers. Their megaphone wasn't working so the start was a little weird -- first I knew we were starting was when everyone ahead of me started to run. I hit the play button on my iPod, but it didn't start, and so my first 200 steps running I was fiddling with that, but after that it was pretty good. My first mile was 12.54 at mile two I was at 25.57...I really thought I might make it, but oh well. I am very happy with how it went, and my DH and kids were all at the finish line. I am very proud of myself - 5 months ago I couldn't run for 60 seconds -- now I did 40 minutes and over 3 miles.

And, what do you know..the scale is finally starting to catch up!

Countdown -- only 26 days left

So we LOVE Halloween. Its the one holiday DH and I have always been into. We nearly always have a party (costumes strongly desired), decorate our yard like crazy, and now that we have kids, try and do as many Halloween-related things as possible.

With all the construction going on, the yard will be a challenge this year. First, the yard itself is full of crap - discarded shrubs and other greenery, lumber, assorted other building materials. Second, when they put the new HVAC system in, they had to run lots of ducts through the attic. I can't imagine how they did it, although I am sure they were cursing us the entire time. But now, with all the stuff we had up there (Halloween decorations, Christmas decorations, sizes of clothes I hope to fit in soon, outgrown kids clothes, my stained glass materials, etc) - you cannot move ANYTHING up there or find anything. It is awful. But I intend to try. We may not have all the stuff we usually get up outside, but we are going to make some kind of effort.

We also go all out on costumes -- for the whole family. And we wear them as much as possible. Last year, I was Minnie Mouse, DH was Mr Incredible, K was Violet Incredible, B was a sheep (or a Baa, as she likes to say - after her favorite stuffed animal of that name), and Big Man was a fuzzy monster. This year I decided we were going with a theme. We are all Superheroes. I am Wonderwoman (complete with strapless costume that wouldn't stay up in a million years- I'll be wearing a t-shirt underneath), K is Batgirl, B is Supergirl (a pink costume - not the traditional red and blue), Big Man is superman, and DH is Zorro. Ok, Zorro is a bit of a stretch, but the costume was so cool. We all look great as you will see in Halloween Cards in your mailboxes soon (and I may post here closer to the holiday).

We also try and do as many events as possible. Last year we had our party and Boo at the Zoo (which is this great nighttime ticketed event at our zoo with trick or treating and everything), where all 5 of us dressed up. The kids also had a parade at their school. This year, we hope to have a party, we have Boo at the Zoo, the younger two have a parade a daycare, K has a parade around the neighborhood with her school, and our neighborhood is having a Halloween block party with parade!! Yayy! I can't wait.

I'm not sure why I love Halloween so much, but I really do. I may even take the day off so I can be sure not to miss all the kids in their parades. What are y'all going to be for Halloween?

Surgeons Suck

So, as previously reported, Big Man's ear tube surgery went great. Until he took a late afternoon nap. When he woke up there was blood all over and in his left ear. I kinda freaked out. I reread our post-surgery instructions - NOTHING about blood. The sheet says there can be some discharge -- but I thought that meant clear fluid or the like. Anyway, I call the dr's emergency line, and - to give him credit - he calls me right back. Now I have never been a big fan of this dr. The first time we met (it was only about a week ago!), he was very cold, examined my son for about 3 minutes, and declared he needed ear tubes. But, he was very highly recommended, so I was like, fine. Yesterday prior to the surgery he maybe spoke 15 words to me. "Any questions? It will be over in 10 minutes". After surgery I think there were less "you've already made your post-op appointment? Give him these ear drops 2x a day". So when he calls back and I explain the problem, there is a bit of silence, then a defense "I'm very surprised to hear that." -- I'm like, surprised in that you nicked his brain stem and he is slowing dying? or surprised because this sometime happens but you didn't expect it to? or surprised that I would call over such a little thing?. He goes on about how his ears were "bone dry" after the surgery and he is really surprised. I'm still freaking out about it and he finally says that worst case he may have to take the tube out and reinsert it if the tube is now stuck up with dried blood. The blood was not currently flowing, but had dried and after wiping it off the outside of the ear, it still looked gunky going into the ear. So, the Dr says to just call and make an appointment, and he would take a look - but, btw, he was in surgery the next 2 days, so it may have to wait until Friday. Now luckily, big man doesn't seem to be bothered at all. I am calling the Drs today to see if I can get the next available appointment - with either dr in the practice. I figure it should take 2 minutes for them to look and see if its a problem. Hopefully we don't have to do this all again.

Now, I watch ER and Grey's Anatomy - I get that surgeon's are assholes. This one fits the mold perfectly. It just really bugged me that he was more offended that something hadn't gone perfectly in his surgery then worried about the impact on my son.

UPDATE - just went in to see the Dr. The left tube is clogged with dried blood. We have new eardrops that we hope will dissolve it. We go back end of next week and see. If they have not fixed it, then the Dr will try and suction it out (something he said we would have to restrain Big Man for) or, at the extreme, he can take the tube out (also something done in the office, and I imagine involves restraints). Lets hope the drops work!

Post-op Happiness

So big man had his ear surgery this morning. He was a champ. Last night he couldn't even sleep in his room, cuz they had painted upstairs and I could still smell it, so we made him sleep in a pack n play in the den. Then I had to get him up at pre-dawn for the surgery at 7:30. We got the hospital at 6:15 (they wanted us there at 6, but I thought that was nuts)..we got checked in and by 7:25 they were taking him in. Before 8 he was back with me. The thing they don't tell you is that when kids wake up from the anesthesia, they are "inconsolable" for anywhere from 5 - 20 minutes. The dr said that it is just their brain trying to figure out what is going on and work its way out. Luckily he wasn't thrashing or anything too much -- just crying a weird cry. After about 15 minutes he calmed down and within another 5 was drinking juice and eating crackers, and smiling up at me. We are now sitting at home and he is playing with his toys - happy as a clam. So far so good -- Dr said everything went fine, but the gunk in his right ear was really thick and sticky so its a good thing we got it out. Hopefully he will be feeling better. He is such a happy baby, its amazing, really.