We're Off (almost)

Actually, I can't even say that much. We're not quite to 'almost' yet. Zach is cleaning up in the yard from completely digging it up yesterday and doing his big drainage project that's been waiting til the addition was squared away. I'm not sure if he's still planning on laying down the seed before we leave, but it would be kind of nice to come home in three weeks to some nice grass.

I'm in the house here getting this blog out of the way so I can pack the computer up. I'm packing pretty much the whole house because I can. We're taking the RV. It's huge and we love it. I'm still going to make Zach park a mile away from anyplace we're going to so no one sees us coming from it. I feel kind of ostentatious (in too much of a hurry to make sure I spelled that right). And I feel like a very Earth un-friendly person. If we have any money left after the trip maybe I'll consider purchasing some CO2 offsets or whatever it is.

Anyway, first stop: Rochester; graduation party. Although, I don't think we're going to make it there before the party is even over. Jacob is so stoked about the RV though. It doesn't matter where we end up, we'll have a great time just being away from home. Once we get on the road we'll figure out where the heck we're going

Well, what else can I say? I'll update as much as I can.

For Kevin

From Zach's lunch:

Rinse.

Peel off label.

Place in recycling bin.

Put out by the road on designated day.

Here they come....

There's either a major baby boom going on, or it just so happens that everyone I know is having a baby. Last week our friends, who were the first people we told when we found out I was pregnant, had their second child. They gave him the same name our other very good friends gave their baby the very next day when he was delivered still born. I just got word that another friend is finally, after two days of being effaced and dilated, having contractions. I expect she'll be giving birth to her daughter right about the time I am attending the graveside funeral of the child who should be a living, breathing, 7 lb. 12 oz. bundle of joy. Life is ironic, and so completely brutal that way, isn't it?

While we're away I'm going to be missing one baby shower and I expect at least one of the other babies will make their entrance; possibly two. But to the August baby: You'd better just stay put where you are til I get back cuz I've been waiting for you before you were even thought up.

My mom and Jamie were off visiting the latest addition to the family clan and hurried back into town so they could be available to watch Jacob while Zach and I are at the service tomorrow. Even though one of my other two options, as far as baby-sitters goes, is out of town, and the other is in labor, we would have figured out somewhere for Jacob to go. So after 24 hours of listening to me bawling my guts out over the phone about the emptiness my friend must be feeling, I really think that my mom just wanted to get home so she could, like she said, "Would you please get up of the floor so I can hold you."

And that's where things are at. I am so entirely spent that all I can do is lay on the sticky floor, begging an answer from the ceiling about the unfairness of life. The addition is not done. Zach is taking all the time he can off of work to scrap together some sort of completeness before we leave. We have no idea where we are going on our trip. We just found out that the RV being loaned to is is twice the size we expected, which is to say, bigger than our house, literally. We're asking ourselves now if maybe we should just take the van and do some authentic camping, which I am ashamed to admit I have never done.

We are so unprepared for this trip that it is hard to imagine we are leaving in four days. When we're feeling really overwhelmed, Zach and I fantasize about maybe just driving one state away and parking it for three weeks. We'll come back just as refreshed as we would have been after driving across the entire country (which, by the way, I have just come to realize is not do-able in 3 weeks), and probably more rested. I hear you can do amazing things with Photoshop, and no one would be the wiser.

I never got to finish my previous 'series post'. I am completely drained. A lot of things happened. I can only hope to be able to post some while we're away.

In the Beginning

I've been scanning all these old pictures of mine. Well, not so old, but pre-digital anyway. Here's the day we met the dogs and the first few days following bringing them home.

Nursing

All dirty and too thin...the trailer they came up in is behind.

It looks like they're sleeping, but she's actually licking his face.

It looks like we must have framed this shot, but she actually fell
asleep that way on her own. She liked sleeping in or on our shoes the best.

This is as far into the house Ginger would go for at least two weeks.
Mango was keeping her company.

A favorite sleeping position.

Another favorite sleeping place.

All the Things - Picture Portion

Mountain Laurel

The Lake

Jacob being cute & serene at the lake

The highly-anticipated camp fire

The dogs doing their thing...

And my favorite pictures in bigger sizes!

Drip, drip, drip...

I love the ears flapping and that she's getting some air!

The tongue flap
I call this one 'Ecstasy'

All the Things - Part II

At this point I am so backed up that I have to sit with the calendar in front of me so I can remember what day different things happened and if it was last weekend or yesterday, or not even in my lifetime! Not that I think too many people care about the things that went on in my absence, but here I go anyway.

11pm Saturday night: I've told Jacob that despite the fact that we just arrived at camp, he has to start to get ready for bed. And even though he was running around beaming with delight and repeating, "I so happy that we're at camp! It is so nice to be at camp!" because everything in his life has apparently been leading up to this moment, he is actually agreeable to the idea of bedtime. Then my mom calls home to check in with Jamie and let him know that we arrived. I hear her from the other room asking him what's wrong. He doesn't sound so good and admits to not feeling well. He's thrown up twice and is having pain in his lower right back (my mom uses the medical terminology that always makes it sound worse than it is).

Jamie had been golfing earlier and I figure he's probably dehydrated. In the background I'm all, "Tell him to drink some water." I'm a hydration freak. It is my answer to 95% of ailments I come across. How many of you reading this have had a bottle of water tossed at you by me, or been followed around the deck with your glass of ice water in my hand, have experienced me going to great lengths to return a sippy cup to you or have found something of the liquid nature tucked into your care package? You know I care when like the proverbial Italian mother shoving food in your face, demanding that you 'Manga', I come after you with H2O.

Anyway, it's not dehydration cramps. After my mom hangs up so Jamie can call my brother to take him to the emergency room, she explains that she thinks it's his appendix. Duh. Then she realizes that my brother might still be out of town, so before Jamie has time to call back, I put in a call to Zach. "Are you still awake?" (yes) "Have you had any beer?" (no) "Good. You might need to go pick up Jamie and take him to the emergency room." Which he ends up having to do.

Zach tells this so much better because he was there. Maybe I can convince him to be a guest writer...

I'll save the rest for another post, and to make a long story short, Jamie didn't need surgery so we didn't have to drive back home in the middle of the night! For a few hours though, we thought we might. So we stayed up til 2 waiting to find out what it was, and I figured if Jacob was only going to get this time at camp, he'd better spend it playing and not sleeping. Then of course, the next night was the same with the going to bed real late. Then the next day was the day we left. Jacob took a nice, long nap in the car at the most wrong of times. Late to bed again that night. And pretty much every night since.

Playing Doctor

Out of all the pretend games, I pretty much hate this one the most. I'm not sure why. I have fond memories of playing doctor with the boy next door and my best friend across the street when I was growing up. 'Doctor' is like the simplest of them too; the one where I can get away with the most. But anyway, here we are playing it.

'Doctor' pretty much goes the same way each time, with differing excuses as to why I have to get up and go do something, or why I need Jacob to go get me something, or why I need to just "close my eyes and rest for a minute because I am so sick." Here's an example:

Him: You pretend I'm the doctor and you are my patient.
Me: Oh doctor, my tummy hurts!
Him: (examining area of complaint) I have to give you a shot.
Me: What's the shot going to do?
Him: (very menacingly) It's going to hurt...
Me: (rephrasing) Why do I need the shot?
Him: Because you have to stay here for a few days.

Whatever. At this point I'm usually fed up with it and then I make my requests. Today I just had to write about it. When I got up from the bed and quesioned as to where I was going, I thought fast. "I have to go look up the medication I am already taking and make sure the shot you are going to give me does not interact with the my medicine."

Right now I am 'entering my query on WebMD'. This is getting long and Jacob's about to catch on. I guess it's time to go face the music. I'm just glad he can't read yet.

All the things - Part I

I don't really have time to be writing now, but there so much to catch up on that I think I'll explode if I don't start typing it all out of my system right now. I'll see how far I can get in the next few minutes. Two weeks ago was the digusting day where I found out about the bugs in the yogurt, right? Then the next day was an ice cream playgroup at another mom's house (we are a fun bunch), then to a meeting at work, and then I went over to a woman's house with Angie to meet the two dogs I agreed to pet-sit for. Angie is about due with her second baby and I think she's getting away from the pet-sitting business because of this. That was probably the day that my mom and I decided if we were going to get Jacob up to Camp before we left for our big trip across the country, it was going to be Saturday-Monday.

Friday was a day trip to Vermont, which most people who know me, know is code for 'therapy'. I wonder if anyone ever wonders why the hell I 'go to Vermont' so much. I'm not secretive about it. I'll talk about it all day if you want, I just think half the people are totally unfamiliar with that kind of thing and therefore would think I'm insane. Whatever. It's my one thing. I won't call it a guilty pleasure, because by God, if I didn't clear my head every 3-4 weeks, I might implode (the opposite of what happens when I don't get to write).

Saturday we had some friends over as we couldn't leave til the late afternoon anyway since my mom was at Marisa's recital. Of course it took many more hours than expected to pack for the two days out of town and we didn't end up at our destination (four hour drive) until almost 11pm. All had been well in the sleep department, remember. So Jacob understood that as soon as we got there he was going to start to get ready for bed but then my mom called home to check in and Jamie didn't sound so good.

Anyway, I have to go take care of a couple handicapped dogs which you'll have to stay-stuned to hear about, and I have to get final approval as to whether I'm allowed to write about the emergency room drama with Jamie!

Great.

Zach just came out of the bathroom and said , "Look pookie," and I turned around to see a man who is not the man I married. I agreed to marry someone who had a goatee. He shaved it off once at Christmas 2000 and I hated it. I made him promise he would never do that again. I told him that if he did I wouldn't love him anymore. Well since it's Fathers' Day I suppose I can't divorce him over this...

He's threatening to keep shaving it and I'm frightened by this. Like all the times in the past six years when he has threatened to shave it off, I believe this to be an empty threat. I cartainly hope it is. I know I sound shallow, but this is just weird. He looks totally different. I'm having to just steal little glances a second at a time. It's like looking directly at the sun...my eyes are too vulnerable to look straight at the emptiness on his chin.

I can't bring myself to post a picture...it is just too revealing. I won't even give him the satisfaction of taking a picture.

When Zach showed Jacob what he had done, Jacob said, "Put it back on!" My thoughts exactly, little man, my thoughts exactly...

BRB

I will, I promise. I can't believe I've been away from here for over a week! I think that's the longest I've gone without posting. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, so much has been going on. Funny stuff too. I can't wait to write about it all; hope I get to soon before I start forgetting it all. Here's a little tidbit though: I had my computer-free day, rather, internet-free day...

Bet my day was more disgusting than yours...

I get these daily e-mails, 'Ideal Bites'. They're green living tips and I love them. Today I got a particularly interesting one:

http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/culture_club/

I learned from today's tip that our favorite yogurt is made from crushed-up beetles. Yum-my! Not only is this revolting to think about, but it is cruel and so very unvegetarian. According to my Yoplait and Colombo containers currently in the fridge, it's referred to as carmine. How did I not know about this before??

The following link -

http://www.foodnet.cgiar.org/market/Tropcomm/part2c2.htm

- gets you this information:

COCHINEAL (also known as Carmine Red)

Cochineal is a red dye made from the dried bodies of the pregnant females of the species of insect Dactoylopius coccus which feeds on the cactus Napalea cochinillifera.

And if you want to know how they are gathered and 'prepared' for use as a food dye, see paragraph 5.

Anyway, it was a sad day here in this house because Jacob and I are going to have to find an alternative yogurt. I already buy Stoneyfield Farms vanilla and banilla, but nothing beats the Yoplait strawberry. Damn. In the store today, I did a little research in the refrigerated section; nothing else had carmine in it - not raspberry, cherry, or any other pink/red yogurt. What's wrong with beet juice that it can't also color our beloved strawberry yogurt?

Well, Zach is rolling his eyes and telling me that sounds a little extreme, even for me, so I'm guessing everyone reading this is bored silly. Here's the real disgusting part of my day: I had to stick my finger up Mango's butt. That's right. Something's going on down there and it's causing her anal glands to fill up. Now I don't know what the natural state of anal glands is supposed to be, but apparently 'full' is on the undesirable list.

So today I visited a new vet (good news - he says he can do Ginger's surgery for less than half of what we thought we'd have to pay). This is the third time we've had to have them drained, and each time has been less than a month since they were last drained. At $20 a pop, it's getting costly. Thus begins Anal Gland Drainage 101 where phrases like, "Say her butt is a clock, you want to aim for 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock," and, "Go in about a centimeter further...and you're looking for a grape-sized lump," can be heard from the long, empty corridor outside the examination room.

I didn't have any luck getting the amber-colored ooze out, but I got to be there when the doctor did and I got to smell it - all the way home. And then when we walked through the door, Ginger (click on the blue to see pictures I just added) greeted her daughter with a hearty butt-lick. I'm sure going to try again though, because do you know how much leverage this will give me within my marriage? "Sweetie, can you please take care of the dishes? I just had to drain Mango's anus."

Do I win, or what?

Sew Productive

Things got done around here this weekend for a change! The boys painted. Two rooms are done being painted, now they just need trim. Oh yeah, and floors. Then there's another room to be painted, and floors to be put in there too. Then Zach has to repaint a couple rooms that connect with the addition. Oh geeze, the more I list, the bigger the job seems. There is no way this is going to be even close to done before we leave. Here's a big fat hint for all you local people: I'll hide a key for you outside, give you the exact dates we'll be gone...do whatever you want, just don't do any painting. Zach is a perfectionist with his painting. I've already tipped off my mom and Jamie that three weeks out of town is the perfect time for our existing hardwood floors to be redone...haha.

Jacob's been painting too. This is the box that his digger came in. But Chris, try not to look at the right-hand side of the picture. If there are any questions as to my meaning, please direct them to my husband. That's Jacob's smock, or one of my old shirts, and apparently now his 'painting shoes' that he's wearing.

And here's what I did on Saturday night. I made an outfit! Rather, I turned some winter clothes into summer clothes. Thanks to 7th grade home ec. and all those pillows we made, I do know how to use a sewing machine, but I want to learn how to make clothes. I have all these creative urges ready to bust out of me, and not much in the way of outlets. I have all these piles of clothes that I have plans for: Capris out of these overalls from high school; short sleeve shirts out of Jacob's winter shirts because by next fall they'll be too short on his arms; shorts out of his 2T pants because they just stopped falling down off his little butt, but his legs are too long for them now. This way I don't have to spent money on new clothes, which is good because all our money has been put into this house.

My mother-in-law was here over the weekend and she brought her sewing machine. She showed me just enough to get started and then I couldn't be stopped. When I'm done altering all the things in waiting, I want to figure out how to make clothes...I know I could learn the right way, but to me that doesn't feel as 'creative'. We'll see.

So here's Jacob posing in his 'new' outfit. He told me he was so proud of me! In this first one I tried to pose him a little. And then for the one below, he made up his own little pose and insisted I take a picture. He got very into it...

Oh, and here's you link, Kevin.

Things I'm not allowed to throw out...

What do these three things have on common? Haha...yes, well, I already gave you the answer, but seriously, I think I should explain. I'm a sentimental person with a sentimental child, yet I know what a burden it can be to have the desperate need to keep everything you ever come in contact with, so I'm trying to help Jacob break free of this illness while he's still young. I have two options when I want to get rid of something that concerns him: I can casually ask if it's ok to throw something out. If he says yes then I'm home free. However, odds are it won't work and I've just signaled to Jacob that said item is now 'hot', as in Mom's got her eye on it so you must keep a constant radar going as to its whereabouts. I'll try to bury these things in the garbage when Jacob isn't looking but somehow he knows. I'll walk in the room an hour later and he's standing there next to the trash can, ankle deep in garbage, holding the chewed block/pencil eraser/broken toy, all covered in slime from whatever it was burried under. "How did this get in here?" he asks in a tone that says, please lie to me because I can't bear to think that my own mother would do such a thing. The second option isn't much better because it involves quietly sneaking the item to the back corners of my closet, a deep cupboard, or somewhere equally remote. I place it there telling myself that I'll wait about a month and if Jacob doesn't notice it's gone then I can finally get rid of it. The latter doesn't really yield better results because chances are when the designated month is up, I've forgotten about it too.

In the picture above are the current items in 'holding'. Top left you have Jacob's leftover breakfast. He's saving it. Top right is the head of Nemo which stuck out one side of the bottle of bath bubbles we finished six months ago. There was a back half too. I successfully tossed it last week. Bottom right you have Jacob's 'baby corn' which has been sitting in the bottom of the fridge for three weeks. Jacob was husking some corn on the cob a few weeks back and out of one of them popped this extra 'baby' corn. It was love at first sight. And there should be a bright coral, foamy starfish at the bottom left of the picture but here's what happened to it after I set the items up and before I got to take the picture:

This was something that was given to Jacob by Jen and Dan just after Christmas. It was one of those that you stick in the water and they expand to so many times the original size. They had long been taken out of the water and shrunk back to normal size. And actually, they had been in the trash twice. And I got caught. Because of his sheer determination to save the starfish I was prepared to let Jacob keep them for the rest of his life. At dinner tonight he spotted them up on a high shelf and climbed to get them. That's actually the reason I got thinking about this topic. There were two of them. Before I even brainstormed this post, Mango had eaten the first one and Jacob, very unsentimentally, placed the remains in the garbage. So I'm pretty sure it's ok that I did the same with the remains to the second one (seen above) after Jacob had already gone to bed. But dear God, what have I let happen?

Here's what went down after I took the first picture:

Can you see what's happening? Having finished off the starfish, Mango is back for more. She takes the corn and - I let her! I think she had that thing swallowed in ten seconds flat. I opted to take a picture, rather than save my son's beloved corn and in the morning I will pay the price.

Changing Gears

I had my last scheduled day at work this week. The place is closing. Have I mentioned that before? Just the one location where I mostly work is closing. Closed. The other sites are staying open and I will still work at those places when they need me to fill in. I've been looking forward to the break though. And I will go in a couple times a week still to help out with the cleaning out process, but this will be at my own pace and on my own schedule. When I locked up and left that last day, the rush of relief came right away. Then the let down. And I was in a funk for a couple days. The pace of our days is changing, and even though it's going to be nice, it's still a transition, and I always have trouble with transitions.

Now I've got the time that I've been needing to plan our trip. Today is four weeks until we leave. Holy crap. We're never going to be ready. We are so worn out from the addition and being stretched to the limit in every way that it's hard to even get excited about the trip. We so should not be spending the money. We are tired. And we're racing to get this addition done, and when it is done we want to sit around a lot and be lazy, and enjoy it. Not leave for three weeks. But we just have to get out of here. Packing, leaving and saying goodbye will be the hardest. Once we leave we'll be fine. We'll have a great time.

In other news, the painting has begun on the addition. Woohoo! Here's a picture of the paint chips we used to decide on colors. Remember how I have a thing with colors? I love colors. I still remember all the names of the colors from the first round of painting when we moved in here. Honeydew, Butter Up, Reticence, Sandstone, Sweet Orange, Daydream - I have to at least like the name of the color and if it has meaning then that's even better. Here's what we're going with for the new rooms: Solitude (blue-ish) in the bathroom (because that's the one place you really want privacy); Grounded (dark brown) and Lemongrass (light green with a hint of yellow) in the dining room. When Zach started painting the Lemongrass onto the bare white wall, it looked so good I told him I wanted to lick it!

Well, with work slowing down I'm looking forward to having the time for other things. We're already getting out more with the moms. It was like Park City for us this past week because we were at a park every single day.

What the Hail?

Yes, we had hail the other day. For the complete story, go here.