Iron Man

Swimming lessons started again this week. Crazy Crazy. Nathan's are at 10:00 near our old house, Claire's are at 3:30, closer to here. Although Nathan seems to be off to a slow start with his class, so I may bump him back to the pre-swimmers class with Claire. He hasn't wanted to go underwater yet, and is a bit shy with the large morning classes. There are 128 kids signed up for classes, divided into a dozen classes in two time periods.

Claire is only half interested in her class. I was pleasantly surprised that she was willing to swim out with the teacher a few times, but then she gets distracted and goes off to play with sand toys. Today, the lifeguard wanted them to be monsters. Since Claire and I were playing "mud monster" yesterday, she ran up into the sand to get dirty instead of following the rest of the kids in the water. I should have gotten some pictures of that. My camera is supposed to be sand and water resistant, but the same can't be said for my phone. It's gotten scratched up from the sand in my purse, and the slider wasn't opening well because it has sand inside. Ooops.

I've already got hideous sunburn. I've had this skin for 36 years, you'd think I'd know better than to go out without sunblock, especially since the medication I take makes me more sensitive. At least my face is okay, since I always wear lotion with SPF in it. Poor Nathan got burned too, although it will hopefully fade by tomorrow. I went out last night and stocked up on some spray on lotion and some Aloe, and I'm going to make him wear a shirt some of the time.

Some Assembly Required

Don't have kids. It's a big mistake. Because if you have kids, you'll want them to have the best of everything, including a big, backyard playground. And instead of taking a day off with your husband to go to the movies, lounge around in bed, or eat a great meal, you'll spend the ENTIRE DAY putting together things like this. Well, except for the time spent running to the hardware store because your drill isn't working so you have to rent one, and one of the nuts went missing so you have to buy one.

We also had a couple of false starts from using the wrong piece in the wrong place. Given that there were 123 parts and 543 bits of hardware, it's not surprising that a few got mixed up. Wait a second. 123 + 543 = 666. It's evil. Evil I tells ya!

I suppose this is the moment when I say it's all worth it for the smiling faces on our children. Bah Humbug. I'm sore, I'm tired, I'm suburned, and I don't get to play on the swing because I'm too fat! Bah!

All mixed up

I'm looking at the Humane Society documents that say we have a Rotty/Lab mix, but pretty much everyone else says he's a German Shepard. The vet, the trainer we hired, random people at the park, our neighbor. One of his parents was a Shepard mix, so we'll see how things turn out. Here, take a vote

The Amazing Zeppo

Rottweiler Puppy

German Shepard Puppy


Every single picture of Rotty's I've seen have the brown eyebrows and brown markings on their chest and legs. But Zeppo has white legs and a white chest. And he certainly didn't get that from a Black Lab.

We had fun with the trainer this morning. She was here for an hour working on our command and reward system. We've got homework for the next week, crate training and working on Sit and Leave-it commands. And lucky me, I'll have lots of free time to train him.

Que sera sera

Monday morning, I found out that the receptionist/HR coordinator was leaving.
Monday evening, I was offered her full-time job.
Monday night, I crunched the numbers and decided I'd probably lose money if I took it.
Tuesday morning, I declined the job.
Wednesday, they gave the girl leaving the hard sell to get her to stay.
Friday, she accepted, with the caveat that the give her more help.
Monday morning, the woman I replaced was back training with Dawn.
Monday evening, I was fired.

Claire's Birthday present

We finally got the lawn mowed with the help of three people with lawn tractors, weed wackers and a wagon. Today, the swingset for the kids arrives. We'll see if Dan is up for a Father's day spent with tools in his hands.



I've also discovered the one advantage to my job, they're going to take down our damaged maple and trim our other trees for about half the going rate. I'd like to take the woodchips from that job and spread them under the playset. For that we need a wheelbarrow, and I've been spending the day getting one of those put together.

Not much else happening today. Nathan has been throwing up all morning, and it's been hard keeping Claire settled down so he could rest. He fell asleep watching "Attack of the Clones", but now he's awake and Claire isn't, so I should use this precious time to clean up the kitchen. Two weeks, and we still have tons of boxes everywhere.

The amazing jumping Zeppo

I starting a post about how completely exhausted I get from the between 6:00 and 8:00 on days the kids are at daycare. Which is now compounded by the needs of a puppy?


But instead I'll take a lighter path. Instead, I want to know why dogs never, ever, ever play with the toys that are purchased for them. We got Zeppo a rubbery Kong to put treats in, a stuffed fox, a stick-shaped tennis ball thing, a ropey/chewy thing, and a fabric toy. And what has he played with tonight? A plastic hanger, Nathan's sock, Claire's shoe, and a broom. He also likes to chew on the wood pile on the front porch.

I'm currently on poop watch. He prefers the kitchen to outside, but I'm keeping an eye on him now. Oh, and did I mention that it just took him one day to realize that he could jump the baby gate out of the kitchen if he got a running start.

The Zeppo

We didn't get Olive, instead we got Zeppo.

He's about 10 weeks old, and a Labrador/Rottweiler mix. I like the description of the Rottweiler that calls them stoic, because that seems like a great match for Dan. We just have to be very consistent with training and make sure we don't encourage his aggressive tendencies.

Claire isn't sure how she feels about this yet. We think her main reaction today was jealousy, because she was excited to see the dog until she realized how much time we were spending with him. Nathan is fine, although he jumps around a bit too much and gets overexcited. And the jury's still out on Sprite's reaction.

Stone Mason needed, apply here

This is the back deck. I suspect that it was originally an add-on to the house used for storage and may actually never have been a traditional deck.

Dad was here the weekend, and helped Dan tear up the old rotted wood that was poking up. So now we're left with this, and I'm not sure what to do next. If we scrape away the dirt and weeds, there is a concrete slab. But we're not sure how big it is and how badly cracked.

Rather than put a wood deck in, I'd like to investigate something with stone or concrete pavers. I really want to find a way to incorporate the stone work that is already there.

For instance, this gigantic stone that served as a step for whatever was here before.


And the edging/foundation that is made of local sandstone.



But I also have to worry about this bizarre exposed area under our kitchen. It's kind of looking like when they extended the kitchen by a few feet, they just laid the addition on 2x4's. So I want to make sure that whatever we lay down will also protect this area, and cover up the gross plywood.

Seeing the positive in a power outage

I wish I'd been able to take a picture of this, because words just aren't going to do it justice.

We had a thunderstorm on Friday night, and the power went out again. As I was sitting in the dark, talking to Dan before bedtime, I glanced out the window and saw a beautiful sight. The hayfield across the way was filled with hundreds of fireflies. It was like looking at a starry sky of twinkling lights. So pretty and unexpected. And something that may have been there night after night without me noticing because I had the lights on.

Ruff Ruff

What makes me think that I can go to the Humane Society and just browse? Certainly not when there is a new batch of about 10 five-month old labs waiting to come home. I stopped by with the kids on Saturday and decided this was a great chance to get the type of dog we want. Dan went back on Monday and reserved one for us. After she gets spayed this week, she'll be able to come home with us next week. The picture above is not necessarily Olive, which is the name we've settled on after going through a stunning run of bad name ideas. (Tootsie, Shadow, Bear) The trainer said that she's her favorite of the bunch, and should be gentle with the kids. We just have to agree to give her a safe crate to retreat to inside, and keep her on leash outside until she's at least a year

This means more trips to the hardware store to buy supplies, including a nylon crate, dishes, leash and toys. Claire is going to have to be taught that this fox is not hers.

Maybe I should try a bribe this time

These people are hiring again. I'm just not sure how to write a cover letter for a job that I've already been rejected for once.

I'm excited to do laundry. What has happened to me?

Here are the pictures to go with yesterday's post.

This is the door that got turned inside out and upside down by the wind. I haven't the faintest idea what's holding it up now. Rust?


Here's one of the ancient maple trees I was raving about a few weeks ago.

And a little girl to put it in perspective. Plus, you can see what happens to a lawn at an unoccupied house in the spring.


Here's the happier stuff. The new Kohler shower head that was absolutely heavenly this morning.




And just call me Ms. Fix it.

I added a length of PVC to the outflow pipe so the washing machine drain water wouldn't wash back into the washer. Then I went to three hardware stores to get a cap so the hose from the washer wouldn't fall out. I've been to five hardware stores in the last two days. That's got to be a record. Now that the kids are asleep, I need to go outside and pull the dryer vent the rest of the way through and put a venting plate over it. Then we can finally do laundry. Oh happy day!

Three steps forward, two steps back

I should have pictures to go with this post, but I don't know where the camera is and I don't have the phone connection figured out yet.

We've got all our crap in Potsdam now. A large portion of it is still in boxes, although we think that the majority of unpacked stuff is now books and seasonal stuff. Except the kitchen, which has been a pain to sort out. Until we get the washing machine and dryer hooked up, we can't put some shelves in the laundry area for cleaning supplies and miscellaneous kitchen stuff.

We dropped $200 at Home Depot today. Part of that went to a fancy new shower head that we hope feels as good as it looks. I think Dan will shower tonight for the fun of it. I also got PVC pipe to fix the washer connection so we can do laundry tomorrow. And Dan got a pruning saw to take care of some dead branches on our lilac tree. We also put some House Numbers up on the porch, and added our name to the mailbox. That's fun.

Now, for the setbacks. We had a violent storm tear up the street yesterday. The kids and I came home to find a big chunk of Maple tree lying next to the house and on top of what I thought was the power line. It wasn't until 4 hours later when the power came back that I found it was the cable line instead. And somehow, the wind blew open one of the garage doors, which we already knew was broken. It is now upside-down and backwards. We're kind of afraid to touch it for fear it will crash down onto us. And it's neighboring door has been half off it's rail since the day we moved in. Needless to say, all the boxes we'd thrown in the garage got soaking wet. So, we'll be moving garage doors up to the top of the contractor list, ahead of a deck and roof. I had also left the house without closing the side door, and the new storm door there was put on badly and doesn't close well. So I came home to find it blown open and the entire foyer wet from floor to ceiling. Yikes. Plus, the storm is in even worse shape now because the rod got slightly bent from being tossed open by the wind.

Alright, I have to test the washing machine now and make sure the drain pipe doesn't overflow. Then, more unpacking as I keep a spare eye on the Sox/Yankees game.