My New Hobby

If you happen to drive by a house and see a woman with her head halfway out the kitchen window and a bug-eyed crazy look on her face, wielding a gun - a glue gun, that is - it's probably me. I'm at war with the sugar ants. But since I'm the kind of person who can't hurt a fly, I've got to take the defensive approach. I can't just go get something that's going to kill them - the ants have as much a right to live as we humans do. What I've come up with a systematic approach, well, really, it's quite random, but let's just pretend for a minute that it's sane.

Anyway, here's how I've been spending my time: I come into the kitchen to say, cook a meal, but before I can do that, I've got to clear out the fifty ants who have taken up residence on my kitchen counter. They're coming in the window, that's clear, or at least that's how they started, now I think they live in the kitchen, under the counter, somewhere within the window frame, in small crevices that humans cannot see.

Two night ago I had a freaky dream in which I was at my church and for some reason I ended up in the hearth room and there were all these ants coming out of the woodwork. A nun, which we don't have in the Episcopal church, came in, turned around an old organ and there was the Ant Colony of the Century. It was crazy alive with ants. I was totally freaked in that dream and my skin has been crawling ever since.

After that point, I declared (humane) war on the Ants. I brought out the glue gun a then and I follow the creepy little suckers back to their home. After the hole they're going through is clear, I fill it in with dripping hot glue. Take that, suckers! I think. Eventually more ants come out, and it's always when I'm not looking. I'm sure they have guard ants standing in places I can't see who tell the explorer ants when my head is turned. Then, when I've just glanced away, they come out in droves. I swear, I can't figure out where they are entering from, but I've figured out that they get scared of me when I come into the kitchen so I bang around, or blow air on them and get them to run back to where they came from (or at least I think they are going back to where they came from, but I wouldn't put it past them to use decoy ants to throw me off their trail). When I see their entrance hole, I seal it up with Hot Glue. The ants who didn't make it back home scramble around, searching for an escape, but I'm not sitting there laughing or applauding myself, I actually want them to find an out, I want to know all their little nooks. I want them to be able to return home to safety and be alive, I just don't want them in My Kitchen.

I've covered several feet of teensy cracks in the kitchen, but they're still making it in. I've emptied the counter of clutter, the better to clear crumbs. I clean the counter many times a day with vinegar or stronger stuff - they still want in. I don't know what to do, I already spend half my life in the kitchen, these days I'm basically there all the time, with one eye on the windowsill, just waiting for the little buggers to enter. I haven't found anything that will stop them for good, but then again, I haven't had time to research natural ant repellents because I can't leave the kitchen.

Jacob's Barn

Here it is, finally completed! Zach and Jacob were hard at work during the three weeks Zach had off after Sabine was born.

Below is some of the process and a bunch of completed pictures because Jacob wanted prints to "show the guys at True Value" because they all get a kick out of him when he goes there with Zach, and they like to keep up with what projects he's up to. Zach said Jacob really was a big help and saved Zach a lot of time on certain parts of it.

More mice issues

Last night Jacob yelled down to Zach and I that he saw a mouse in his room. Since Jacob's currently in that 'telling tall tales' phase, we didn't consider that he might be telling the truth for even a second. We humored him for a minute and then let it go.

Well tonight I was messing around with more baby stuff and Zach was hanging something from the ceiling in what will soon be the kids' room, rather than just Jacob's...and he called me over to look at something on the dresser. It was a mouse poop. We considered that it could have fallen out of something that had been sitting on the dresser, but really there was no denying that it wasn't there the day before and that it most likely came directly from a mouse butt. I. Wanted. To. Hurl.

I'm pretty comfortable with the idea that most houses in this area have mice living in the attic at any given time, and fine with the knowledge that we've got them in our attic, but when they come mingling into our lives like that, that is where I draw the line. Even worse than that is what Zach told me next, he said he saw a mouse in the new part of the basement last night, as well as a dead baby mouse down there. Ughhhh. This makes sense because a couple weeks ago we found a little guy wandering around the outside of the house and we captured it for release in the field.


So this is just great, a great time to have a mouse problem. I've just done forty loads of laundry for all the baby stuff, I really don't want to have to wash all that stuff again. I won't unless I find irrefutable evidence, but now I want to sanitize every surface in the house.

Let the Nesting Begin

I stopped by Target today and picked up a bunch of those plastic storage bins because I knew they were on sale. I'm experiencing that post-Christmas freak out where I'm looking at the size of our house, lack of storage space and all the new things that need to have homes found for them. The project I had in mind was Jacob's closet. Since the time he outgrew his first onesie it has been on its way to looking like this:
I just always packed his clothes up in cardboard boxes and they had to stay in the closet because they wouldn't be safe in the attic or basement. Not much is safe in the attic and basement. The attic is a tiny little strip of space that not much can fit in anyway. The basement is dusty and messy, half of which is designated for the bunnies, and we always have projects going on in there so anything that does get stored down there would just need to be moved around every couple months.

I've got to clear some space before the baby comes so Jacob and I didn't waste time re-packing the clothes in the new bins. It was so funny going through everything and being reminded of some of my favorite outfits Jacob wore. He got such a kick out of seeing the tiny little things too. It was nice for me because I got to refold everything so it all matched perfectly and sort them into categories...and you know how important extreme organization like that is to me.

My baby shoes

The shoes Jacob wore to our wedding
before he was a year old

My most favorite jammies of his -
Under the Nile Organics and the pea hat

Shirt that was originally mine as a
baby, and Jacob wore too

Hat Jacob wore home from the hospital,
and the socks he was supposed to wear
but his newborn feet were too big!

I'm always looking around and seeing all the clutter in our house, wondering how it ever got like this, how we acquired so much in such a small period of time. I'm starting to realize the main difference between our house and a normal person's house is not that we have more stuff or more junk, but that we have absolutely no storage space. We have a small closet in Jacob's room just deep enough for the clothes in it, a bigger one in our room and then a (slanted) coat closet under the staircase, but it's not accessible for stuff that you'll need on a daily basis. We have no garage, a tiny shed, and the basement just isn't practical for storing anything other than tools and crap. So all our 'stuff' either has to fit in a desk drawer or under the couch, and the rest is right there for all the world to see. I have gotten control of my former hoarding self, but it's like a 12 step program where all your faults (clutter) are there in plain view of everyone.

Anyway, we did pretty good with Jacob's closet and now there is some room on the floor for the overflow off toys for which there are no other good places. But just once I would like a portion of floor or wall that is just there, empty.

We're back...

...but this is where we were:

Saturday, 10/6/07

I never got to post before we departed, but Jacob and I left town yesterday in order to get out of the way so Zach could do his big roof project. He has to do the siding eventually too. I don’t even care that the back of the house is just tyvek, I could live with it like that, but last winter it leaked badly. So we need the siding. That will be more money and more time that Zach is mostly unavailable to us. I am so tired, and ready for this to be done.

It’s also nice being away because that means there’s really no errands or chores to be done. There’s just me, Jacob, my mom and Jamie, the dogs, and all my ‘projects’ that I never get around to at home. I packed the trunk of the car full of projects (and Jacob packed half his toys): Computer, camera, scanner, old photo albums, a bunch of reading materials I need to get out of the way, thank-you notes, etc.

Among the ‘etc.’ is the new sewing machine my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday. I sort of know how to sew, and I really want to learn more and become better. I’m psyched to have my own sewing machine now, but that doesn’t mean I have the slightest idea what to do with it. I HATE reading directions and figuring stuff out. With my camera, it was kind of just trial and error learning, something I could self-teach myself. I’m still learning. One time on our trip in July I picked up the booklet and read about half of it. Unfortunately the sewing machine isn’t something I can really just go at with no knowledge base and figure out as I go along.

I just spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to thread the needle. I swear to God I’m going to throw the thing out the window. To my credit, I did read the directions, but directions are rarely what they should be. I’m a stickler for the accuracy of things like directions, spelling and grammatical errors. I can’t read any kind of writing without wanting to edit it. I was reading one of those local advertising publications earlier and there were all kinds of mistakes. In one pet-sitting ad it read, “We stay while your away!” I could hardly read on. It’s one thing if the mess-up is in your own personal blog, or whatever, but if this is an ad for a business, the way you make a living, c’mon. My mom, Jamie, and my uncle were all here. I showed it to them and they were equally as appalled. That’s the kind of family I come from. But of course you have to be careful going around talking about other peoples’ mistakes, because that’s when you’re bound to make your own.

Sunday, 10/7/07

It’s a good thing we all have our projects to work on because it rained all day yesterday. It would have been ok but it was mine and Jacob’s first day here and we wanted to get outside to move around. We’re both like that, we need a lot of moving around and exercise to stay happy. Today was much better; the weather has been nice. Jacob got ’work’ outside for hours on end and I got to go running. The dogs hadn’t been happy with being cooped up either, so it was nice for them to be outside again.

And by the grace of God, my aunt (the quilt-making queen) showed up last night. She sat down with me for over an hour today and ran through the basic directions, then walked me through hemming Jacob’s Carhartt pants. He now has Carthartt capris.

Monday, 10/8/07

It’s raining again. Jacob is crazy insane like he was our first day here. Yesterday he was not (crazy insane). It there was ever any question about his need to be outdoors, this proves it. I, however, did go running even though it was raining. I couldn’t’ take another day of just sitting around. It was a short run because I took Mango with me. I still don’t get it though - any ideas on how to train a dog to walk on ONE side of you? She’s all over the place, criss-crossing around, tripping me.

For the first time since I was a kid, I am bored at Camp. I don’t ever remember it raining like this, for multiple days of a trip up here. Actually, if we stay through the week (we’re playing it by ear), it will be my longest trip up here ever. I never got to spend entire summers here like my mom did growing up, or even as my siblings sometimes did. So we are bored and taking a little bit of a day trip to a nearby visitors’ center to see some stuff.

Tuesday, 10/9/07

I can’t start a fire to save my life. I do just what everyone else does, it just doesn’t catch for me. It’s freezing here. I brought warm clothes for Jacob and I, but I sort of forgot the layer part. We’ve each got plenty of sweatshirts, long sleeve shirts, and fleeces, but no jackets or coats, or rain gear. So he and I have been going around the whole time here with four layers of sweatshirt instead of a coat like normal people.

It was sunny for a few hours today and we got to go outside, but that only lasted so long because, again with the freezing. Now we’re ‘in town’, which is to say a 20 minute drive from camp. I just had to pack us into the car because I’ve grown that bored. I just tested out the Walmart parking lot for an internet signal. Nothing. So now I’m in the parking lot of the dollar store. I want to take Jacob in and give him a dollar, but he’s asleep in his carseat from boredom. I told him we’d go to the park on the way back, but now it’s raining. Again. So I guess that is out.

Wednesday, 10/10/07

It's mine and Zach's third wedding anniversary. I knew it was coming and knew we'd be away from him, but it didn't really matter to either of us. We don't get excited about things like that, or at least we don't have enough of a life of luxury to get excited about things like that. I didn't realize it was the actual day until Zach called to wish me a happy anniversary. Points for him.

Also, Jamie left today. He has his dart league tonight and he couldn't miss that. So my mom, Jacob and I are staying on (also Ginger, Mango left with Jamie). This is by far the most beautiful day we've had. Too bad because just a little while ago we resigned to come home a day early. The rain just got to be too much of a bummer. But really, the day was gorgeous. The best day to spend as your last one here for the season.

Thursday, 10/11/07

Well we packed it up and were out of there only two hours from when we said we would leave. A new record? Possibly... I'm back home. The drive was nice and I got back in time to do some unpacking before Danielle came over to drop something off, and then the both of us left for a free camera class at the store where we bought our cameras. Did I mention it rained all day?

Sunday, 10/14/07

I've been a bit distracted the past couple days and now I've finally got all the pictures that I was waiting for to be uploaded. Enjoy.

By the way, the roof still isn't done.