Being buried under nearly 4 feet of snow grinds everything down to a stop. After the shoveling, there is almost nothing we can do outdoors; inside, it's the same-old, same-old. This explains the long gaps between posts: nothing to say.
We have run out of fire wood. We knew that there might not be enough wood to make it through the winter and tried to make it last, only having a fire on the coldest of days, when the little electric space heaters seemed to make no difference in warming up our living spaces. The girls, though, seem to run on a higher temperature-- they are always trying to get away with just wearing summer dresses or shorts and short-sleeves. I have started to keep their summer clothes put away in my closet as I wash them, because if I put them back in their closets or drawers, they would surely be found and worn. We are forever asking the girls to put on sweaters or long pants.
Calling around to local people that sell fire wood has been a wasted effort. No one has any wood to sell. I think all the snow has people burning more wood lately. We are debating buying some oil for the oil heater, though we really don't want to do that. It's costly, and well, it's oil. There is also a minimum requirement to buy so many gallons of oil before they will send out a truck and we don't want to fill the tank, just want enough for a couple of weeks or so. Andrew is upset with himself for not having chopped more wood to keep his family warm. I try to reassure him, to tell him that a flaky chain-saw doesn't make his job easier and we have other ways of staying warm. Definitely, a new chain-saw is in the works if we get a nice tax refund.
We went into town on Friday. The whole family. Eager to get out and about, to hit a few stores and restock our pantry. We had plans! Andrew had to work from 2-5, so we were going to drop him off at work, do our shopping, then come back to pick him up and buy a frozen pizza to heat up when we got home. After dropping him off, I told him to take his key out of the ignition, I have my own key. I switched to the driver's side and the van would not start. Dead battery.
At least it was only the battery.
At least we near Sears, and they had the lowest price on batteries when we priced them a couple weeks ago.
At least it was right when we dropped him off and he was still there and Andrew has many friends in the Mall, friends that helped us out and there was a playroom for the kids to play in while we waited for the battery to be replaced.
At least we did not drive off, go shopping, and come back to a van that would not start far away from the Mall and me without a way to contact Andrew on his cell.
And you know what? That was the original battery when we bought the van new in 2001. 9 years-- that's a pretty good run if you ask me.
After a long delay, and a late co-worker coming in to relieve Andrew from his shift, we did everything we came into town to do, but did not get home until after 9pm. The kids were exhausted and tumbled into their beds without complaint. It started out rough, but turned out alright. I like to look at things positively and I am just happy that we happened to have the money to replace the battery at that moment. It was money meant for something else, but what are we gonna do? We need the van running.
The coming week looks to be more of the same-old, same-old. I have a few posts forming in my head, and when they are complete, I'll be posting soon. Stay warm and kiss your loved ones.
Showing posts with label Husband. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Husband. Show all posts
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Introducing...
When I first started this here blog, I wasn't too sure if I wanted to use our names. I read other people's blogs for awhile and there were only a few handful that used their real names. I wanted to use their names, but for privacy reasons, I decided to call my husband and children by what they were:: Hubby, Oldest, Middle, Youngest, and Baby.
This gets tiring for me sometimes... I have to edit myself after I type up a post and really, this is about me and my life and I want to print this all out someday to give to each of my children. Middle isn't really Middle anymore, she's the oldest middle child, and Youngest isn't youngest after Baby got here. And Baby, well, he's not such a Baby anymore. So without further ado, let me introduce 'Hubby'.
This is Andrew.
The love of my life, my best friend, my soul mate, my everything.
I'd be totally lost without him.
*sigh*
He's so handsome.
I love him so much!
BC the cat is making sure he doesn't miss the cat food coupons
I love that he'll sit at the table with me and help me cut out coupons.
We can laugh and joke and never run out of topics to talk about.
He supports all (well, almost all) of my harebrained ideas and gets as excited as I do about some of them. He didn't moan and groan when I wanted to get chickens, when I wanted to collect pallets for the chicken coop or when I wanted him to go and get them. He hooks up the tractor for me when it's time to till the garden, and he takes out the trash when I ask him to. He laughs at my silly voices and jokes and never tells me to "hush up".
He tells me he loves me 1,000 times a day and it never fails to make my heart beat faster. He tells me I'm beautiful when I wake up and before I close my eyes at night.
I love that he is the father of my children.He is a great daddy and you can see the joy in his face when he plays with them.
He keeps the kids busy when I am deep in the middle of a project or when I am in the kitchen cooking up a storm. He doesn't bat an eye about changing a poopy diaper or staying home with the kids so I can go out with my mom.
Everyday I count my blessings that he asked me to marry him.
Me! He wanted to marry me!
How lucky did I get?!?
Andrew & Jennifer sittin' in a tree,
k-i-s-s-i-n-g,
First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!
Who knew there would be 4 baby carriages!!
:o)
-
Monday, December 28, 2009
The End Is Near!!
I hope everyone had a nice holiday. We had a lovely time. We got icy rain on top of our 21 inches of snow on Christmas day, so my husband's parents and my aunt and uncle did not come that day. I expected the kids to wake me up early on Christmas morning, since the night before, I spent most of the evening, after they went to bed, wrapping presents and putting them under the tree.
Saturday, the weather cleared and we headed over to my husband's parent's house in Virginia. The grandparents got to have all 7 of their grandchildren together that day. It was a nice day, spent with family, food, laughter and love.
Being behind the camera most of the time, and having 4 little ones, it's rare that we get a decent picture of the Husband and I, so I am thrilled to have this lovely photo of us, thanks to my Mother-in-Law. I want to make that another resolution for 2010-- to get more family photos that include me!
Here's another 2010 resolution: Get back into blogging more often. I won't say daily because then I'll feel bad that I didn't blog that day, but at least 4 times a week--- and with the holidays winding down, it'll happen. I'll be making introductions in January, too, so stay tuned to meet the whole gang.
Have a Happy New Year, from all of us here at Mountain Mama.
Surprisingly, they let me sleep until I woke up around 8 am. I thought for sure they would have jumped on the bed, screaming in delight at the sight of presents under the tree, but they patiently waited. Wow. Middle noted that there were more presents than last year, and she is right. Thanks to Leslie and Tracey, 2 Mountain Mama readers, they each got new jammies, new fleece hoodies, baby dolls for each girl, a train for Baby, and various stocking stuffers. I can't thank you enough for all you've done for my children this Christmas. Thank you, thank you, thank you. They had a good Christmas and more presents than there would have been if not for Tracey and Leslie.
Saturday, the weather cleared and we headed over to my husband's parent's house in Virginia. The grandparents got to have all 7 of their grandchildren together that day. It was a nice day, spent with family, food, laughter and love.-
I didn't get into my usual holiday baking frenzy.. something to do with 4 kids constantly vying for my attention. We did make sugar cookies together on Christmas eve, and I made 2 kinds of fudge, peppermint bark, and caramel popcorn for gift-giving, along with jams and farm-fresh eggs. I wish I could have done more, but I can't keep stressing over it, so I'll just let it go. Next year I'll have to remind myself to get started on things earlier.-
Any New Year's resolutions?? I won't bother with the usual ones-- dieting, cleaning house, exercising, etc.. I'm always trying to clean house and watch what I eat and chasing 4 kids is enough exercise for me (huff puff). My resolution this year is to be a better person-- to be kinder and try to give back to people. We have been blessed with some wonderful people coming into our lives this year and I want to be able to pass along that kindness. I want my kids to see us doing good things for other people and maybe they'll take away something from that.Being behind the camera most of the time, and having 4 little ones, it's rare that we get a decent picture of the Husband and I, so I am thrilled to have this lovely photo of us, thanks to my Mother-in-Law. I want to make that another resolution for 2010-- to get more family photos that include me!Here's another 2010 resolution: Get back into blogging more often. I won't say daily because then I'll feel bad that I didn't blog that day, but at least 4 times a week--- and with the holidays winding down, it'll happen. I'll be making introductions in January, too, so stay tuned to meet the whole gang.
Have a Happy New Year, from all of us here at Mountain Mama.
-
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Letters
Dear Mr. Man That Helped My Husband Last Night,
On a very cold night, with heavy sleet coming down, my husband was trying to make his way home safely to his wife and children. He had told me around 8:45 that night that he was on his way home, which meant, allowing for slow driving, he'd be home around 9:45 or so. The roads were slick, thick with snow and ice and not yet salted or plowed by the state road workers, so that meant my husband had to drive precarious twists and turns with no 4x4 or chains on his tires. He managed to drive 20 miles without incident and then on a curve, the truck ended up skidding on ice and landed in a ditch. Not too long after, you came along with a nice, big 4x4 pick-up truck and asked if he was ok. Then asked if he had $50 bucks. Lucky for you, my husband had just cashed his meager paycheck on Monday and had not been to the food store or to the other store to buy a few presents for the kids yet. After handing over $50, you hooked up a chain to my husband's truck and pulled him out of the ditch and up the hill to a gas station. After asking where my husband was headed (another 10 miles through more twists, hills and turns) you gave him your business card and asked him if he had another $50 in case he got stuck in a ditch again. My husband said no more cash and you shook your head. You told my husband that you were going to be at this all night long, "helping" people get unstuck.
Once upon a time, I rode along with a friend's brother, doing the very same thing you were doing last night. We pulled people out of stuck positions for 50 bucks a pop and at the end of the day, made somewhere around $600. Easy money! I suppose it is Karma, that it happened to us and we had to pay $50 to get unstuck. But now that I am on the other side of the game, it hurts to hand over that money, so that my husband could get home safely to his wife and children.
Thank you for your help. I hope that one day, when you are stuck, you get some help and whoever helps you does not charge you $50 to get unstuck. Have a Merry Christmas, sir.
Sincerely,
Worried Wife of Stuck Husband
___________________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Man That Gave Husband a Ride Home,
Not long after my husband left the gas station, he made it another 5 miles without incident. In the opposite direction, my Husband could see another vehicle coming fast, too fast in sleet conditions and on roads that still have not been plowed. By then it was 10:30 at night and the poor Wife was worried sick, unable to get through to his cell phone because the mountains block all cell service. As the vehicle came closer, the husband realized that it was in his lane and he had to take action or get involved in a terrible accident. He edged his truck as close as he could to the shoulder of the road but it was not enough and he ended up going into a ditch. Did the other driver stop? No, he sped on by, never stopping to see if my husband was alright.
You came along and stopped to check. You asked if my husband was ok and he was shaken, but fine. Both of you had no chains to pull his truck out, but soon a state snow plow came along and had chains. After pulling my husband's truck out of the ditch, he plowed a little parking lot where many commuters park for carpooling, so that my husband could park his truck there for the night. The last 5 miles to home are the curviest, and the hilliest and he knew, just knew that his truck would not make it that far. You offered my husband a ride, since you were headed that way and so you brought him home safely to me.
Thank you for your kindness, for not being an axe murderer, and for thinking of the welfare of others. You even turned down my husband's offer for gas money. You made a very worried wife happy and I hugged my husband tight when he finally came through the door, around 11:30 last night. May you have a wonderful Christmas with your family. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
With warmest regards,
Relieved Wife
-
On a very cold night, with heavy sleet coming down, my husband was trying to make his way home safely to his wife and children. He had told me around 8:45 that night that he was on his way home, which meant, allowing for slow driving, he'd be home around 9:45 or so. The roads were slick, thick with snow and ice and not yet salted or plowed by the state road workers, so that meant my husband had to drive precarious twists and turns with no 4x4 or chains on his tires. He managed to drive 20 miles without incident and then on a curve, the truck ended up skidding on ice and landed in a ditch. Not too long after, you came along with a nice, big 4x4 pick-up truck and asked if he was ok. Then asked if he had $50 bucks. Lucky for you, my husband had just cashed his meager paycheck on Monday and had not been to the food store or to the other store to buy a few presents for the kids yet. After handing over $50, you hooked up a chain to my husband's truck and pulled him out of the ditch and up the hill to a gas station. After asking where my husband was headed (another 10 miles through more twists, hills and turns) you gave him your business card and asked him if he had another $50 in case he got stuck in a ditch again. My husband said no more cash and you shook your head. You told my husband that you were going to be at this all night long, "helping" people get unstuck.
Once upon a time, I rode along with a friend's brother, doing the very same thing you were doing last night. We pulled people out of stuck positions for 50 bucks a pop and at the end of the day, made somewhere around $600. Easy money! I suppose it is Karma, that it happened to us and we had to pay $50 to get unstuck. But now that I am on the other side of the game, it hurts to hand over that money, so that my husband could get home safely to his wife and children.
Thank you for your help. I hope that one day, when you are stuck, you get some help and whoever helps you does not charge you $50 to get unstuck. Have a Merry Christmas, sir.
Sincerely,
Worried Wife of Stuck Husband
___________________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Man That Gave Husband a Ride Home,
Not long after my husband left the gas station, he made it another 5 miles without incident. In the opposite direction, my Husband could see another vehicle coming fast, too fast in sleet conditions and on roads that still have not been plowed. By then it was 10:30 at night and the poor Wife was worried sick, unable to get through to his cell phone because the mountains block all cell service. As the vehicle came closer, the husband realized that it was in his lane and he had to take action or get involved in a terrible accident. He edged his truck as close as he could to the shoulder of the road but it was not enough and he ended up going into a ditch. Did the other driver stop? No, he sped on by, never stopping to see if my husband was alright.
You came along and stopped to check. You asked if my husband was ok and he was shaken, but fine. Both of you had no chains to pull his truck out, but soon a state snow plow came along and had chains. After pulling my husband's truck out of the ditch, he plowed a little parking lot where many commuters park for carpooling, so that my husband could park his truck there for the night. The last 5 miles to home are the curviest, and the hilliest and he knew, just knew that his truck would not make it that far. You offered my husband a ride, since you were headed that way and so you brought him home safely to me.
Thank you for your kindness, for not being an axe murderer, and for thinking of the welfare of others. You even turned down my husband's offer for gas money. You made a very worried wife happy and I hugged my husband tight when he finally came through the door, around 11:30 last night. May you have a wonderful Christmas with your family. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
With warmest regards,
Relieved Wife
-
Monday, November 9, 2009
Busy, busy, and busy!
We've had a great weekend! The temperatures were just fantastic, it got as high as 80 yesterday, so we spent most of the weekend working the wood and raking leaves. We gathered both cured and green logs from our woods and sorted out the green wood for next year; the seasoned wood got split. At least until the log splitter sputtered out. Hubby thinks it needs new spark plugs.
Anyway, we stacked freshly-split wood by the basement, and while it is nowhere near the amount we need to last the winter, it felt good to get something out there! Gotta start somewhere!
While Hubby puttered away on the log-splitter engine, I started raking. And raking. AND raking!! Whew! Being surrounded by trees makes for a lot of leaves to rake! I raked only the back yard where we spend most of our time-- around the swing tree, the chicken coop, the wood pile. Then I raked them onto a tarp and dragged the leaves to the garden area. I made 6 trips and I AM SORE! I got a blister that popped between my finger and thumb, my ribcage aches and my lower back is killing me, then add sore arms and picking up a heavy baby.. oof! But it's a good kind of sore.. the kind where you know you did good, honest work to benefit the garden.
Oooohhh!! I am SO SO SO looking forward to the garden next year! we have big plans and hopes and good intentions. I hope we follow through this time! :o) I don't know about you, but there have been plenty of times where I have said I was going to do something, and then didn't. Hopefully Garden 2010 will be the year for doing what we said we will do!
We went to the memorial service for my husband's cousin today. We took the kids with us. He was cremated, so his ashes were in a nice wooden box, parked on a table next to his picture. The kids did alright, I had the foresight to bring notebooks and colored pencils for the girls to draw, and Baby got a little antsy there, but settled down after a bit. I had planned to sit in the back, but apparently, family gets ushered into the front pews and then on our way up, the Baby's snacks spilled out of it's container onto the floor, so I held up the line a little bit and I got flustered there, but whatcha gonna do? I picked up what I could and hurried on. I didn't expect to sit in the very first pew, and I swear I felt eyes on me when Baby started getting loud, but he's a baby, and I thought he did pretty good.
It was a nice service, what I caught of it. I was the only Deaf person there, so they didn't arrange for interpreters, and I didn't expect them to. I knew I would be kept busy with the kids and I mainly went to support my husband. I didn't know his cousin well, he never came to family gatherings, despite repeated invitations. I think I've only met him maybe 10 times in the nearly 13 years I've been with my husband, and even then, it was a polite 'hi-how-ya-doin' kind of thing. He'll be missed, and I hope he's in a better place now.
My jams have been slowly selling! I'm excited, I just sold another sampler set (it's on its way tomorrow! ) and they make nice Christmas gifts to a foodie. They bake well in desserts, too, so don't forget your Christmas baking!
I'm heading out of town again tomorrow, have to take my Mom to meet Auntie and Uncle so they can take her to her doctor appts this week. I'm hoping this week I can squeeze in some time to post some more things to sell in my etsy shop. I have some vintage Christmas items that I need to part with to make room for others... I'll let you know when I update the shop!
Here's to another busy week!
Anyway, we stacked freshly-split wood by the basement, and while it is nowhere near the amount we need to last the winter, it felt good to get something out there! Gotta start somewhere!
While Hubby puttered away on the log-splitter engine, I started raking. And raking. AND raking!! Whew! Being surrounded by trees makes for a lot of leaves to rake! I raked only the back yard where we spend most of our time-- around the swing tree, the chicken coop, the wood pile. Then I raked them onto a tarp and dragged the leaves to the garden area. I made 6 trips and I AM SORE! I got a blister that popped between my finger and thumb, my ribcage aches and my lower back is killing me, then add sore arms and picking up a heavy baby.. oof! But it's a good kind of sore.. the kind where you know you did good, honest work to benefit the garden.
Oooohhh!! I am SO SO SO looking forward to the garden next year! we have big plans and hopes and good intentions. I hope we follow through this time! :o) I don't know about you, but there have been plenty of times where I have said I was going to do something, and then didn't. Hopefully Garden 2010 will be the year for doing what we said we will do!
We went to the memorial service for my husband's cousin today. We took the kids with us. He was cremated, so his ashes were in a nice wooden box, parked on a table next to his picture. The kids did alright, I had the foresight to bring notebooks and colored pencils for the girls to draw, and Baby got a little antsy there, but settled down after a bit. I had planned to sit in the back, but apparently, family gets ushered into the front pews and then on our way up, the Baby's snacks spilled out of it's container onto the floor, so I held up the line a little bit and I got flustered there, but whatcha gonna do? I picked up what I could and hurried on. I didn't expect to sit in the very first pew, and I swear I felt eyes on me when Baby started getting loud, but he's a baby, and I thought he did pretty good.
It was a nice service, what I caught of it. I was the only Deaf person there, so they didn't arrange for interpreters, and I didn't expect them to. I knew I would be kept busy with the kids and I mainly went to support my husband. I didn't know his cousin well, he never came to family gatherings, despite repeated invitations. I think I've only met him maybe 10 times in the nearly 13 years I've been with my husband, and even then, it was a polite 'hi-how-ya-doin' kind of thing. He'll be missed, and I hope he's in a better place now.
My jams have been slowly selling! I'm excited, I just sold another sampler set (it's on its way tomorrow! ) and they make nice Christmas gifts to a foodie. They bake well in desserts, too, so don't forget your Christmas baking!
I'm heading out of town again tomorrow, have to take my Mom to meet Auntie and Uncle so they can take her to her doctor appts this week. I'm hoping this week I can squeeze in some time to post some more things to sell in my etsy shop. I have some vintage Christmas items that I need to part with to make room for others... I'll let you know when I update the shop!
Here's to another busy week!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Ba-Ba-Ba!
I like watching Glee on hulu.com. It's a musical comedy show and I've always had a thing for musicals, never mind that I can't hear!
Anyway, on one of their recent episodes, one of the characters sang a shortened version of Neil Diamonds' 'Sweet Caroline'. I remember that song from when I was a kid and since watching that episode last week, I have Sweet Caroline stuck on the broken record player I have in my head, only I can't remember the words, so it's "Sweet Caroline, ba-ba-ba, dah dah dah da da da dah, sweet caroline, ba-ba-ba..." over and over.
I was humming it while making breakfast this morning and Hubby interjected his version of the song, saying I wasn't singing it right and it went "ba-da-da" (or something like that) and we got into this whole debate over who was singing it right. Let's see, deaf girl versus die-hard music lover hearing man? Guess who was right?
I played the clip from Glee because it was captioned and after it was done, Hubby told me to youtube it, so I did and guess what? I was still right! Hah!
We were laughing about it, so it wasn't a fight or anything, just one of those laughing-can't-believe-we're-arguing-about-this kind of debate. Still, though, it felt good to be right. Then, Mom and I were talking about how Neil Diamond was jewish and all, and the Hubby interupted with, "wait, what? He's jewish?" Ah-hahahahaha!! TWO deaf ladies know more about a singer than he did!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my husband. It's SO much fun being married to him and I love that we can laugh over stuff like this. That I can hum and sing a song, even though I know I'm not in tune and probably not singing the right words half the time, and you know what? Hubby will sing right along with me! Wrong words and all!
Now, go youtube it and sing Sweet Caroline! :o)
Anyway, on one of their recent episodes, one of the characters sang a shortened version of Neil Diamonds' 'Sweet Caroline'. I remember that song from when I was a kid and since watching that episode last week, I have Sweet Caroline stuck on the broken record player I have in my head, only I can't remember the words, so it's "Sweet Caroline, ba-ba-ba, dah dah dah da da da dah, sweet caroline, ba-ba-ba..." over and over.
I was humming it while making breakfast this morning and Hubby interjected his version of the song, saying I wasn't singing it right and it went "ba-da-da" (or something like that) and we got into this whole debate over who was singing it right. Let's see, deaf girl versus die-hard music lover hearing man? Guess who was right?
I played the clip from Glee because it was captioned and after it was done, Hubby told me to youtube it, so I did and guess what? I was still right! Hah!
We were laughing about it, so it wasn't a fight or anything, just one of those laughing-can't-believe-we're-arguing-about-this kind of debate. Still, though, it felt good to be right. Then, Mom and I were talking about how Neil Diamond was jewish and all, and the Hubby interupted with, "wait, what? He's jewish?" Ah-hahahahaha!! TWO deaf ladies know more about a singer than he did!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my husband. It's SO much fun being married to him and I love that we can laugh over stuff like this. That I can hum and sing a song, even though I know I'm not in tune and probably not singing the right words half the time, and you know what? Hubby will sing right along with me! Wrong words and all!
Now, go youtube it and sing Sweet Caroline! :o)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Here We Go Again!
It's that time of year again, to stockpile wood for the coming winter months. It has gotten chilly here already. It seems like as soon as September got here-- poof! Chilly days and nights! We had cut down trees here and there, then cut the logs and left them to age until they were dry. We spent yesterday and today gathering, splitting and stacking them.
Cutting logs down to size.
A growing pile of split wood. This is only a small percentage of how much wood we will need for the winter. Last year we used approximately 8 stacks this size. We still have a long way to go before we have enough for this winter.
When the power company came through last year, to install a new power line to the property adjacent to us, they had to cut down trees on our side for the new line. We asked them to leave the cut trees and they did. We were over on the far edges of our land today, gathering the logs. There are a lot of trees cut there, and I hope that there will be enough for the season.
Cutting logs down to size.
A growing pile of split wood. This is only a small percentage of how much wood we will need for the winter. Last year we used approximately 8 stacks this size. We still have a long way to go before we have enough for this winter.When the power company came through last year, to install a new power line to the property adjacent to us, they had to cut down trees on our side for the new line. We asked them to leave the cut trees and they did. We were over on the far edges of our land today, gathering the logs. There are a lot of trees cut there, and I hope that there will be enough for the season.
Archie the cat, lounging in the shade, keeping an eye on our noisy work with the chainsaw and log splitter.
Monday, August 31, 2009
If He Only Had Hair...
My husband is bald. He started losing his hair back in his twenties and by the time we met, it was thinning on top, but he still had hair up there. Then about 8 or 9 years ago, he decided to shave it all off and on a near daily basis, he shaves it to keep it shiny and smooth. With his gold hoop earring, he could almost pass for Mr. Clean!
On days that the Husband does not have to work, he doesn't shave, and then you can see a shadow where his hair starts to grow and I can easily see his hairline. Tonight, in a silly mood, he asked the girls if they wanted him to grow his hair long and then he'd comb it up and over his bald spot. The girls all nodded yes, because, really- they don't know what a comb-over is! How do you explain a comb-over to the girls?
I grabbed a washable marker and started coloring in his hair and then pretending his hair was long enough, drew in a comb-over!
side view
other side
top
Husband laughed so hard, tears came to his eyes! 
Middle
Oldest
Youngest
"Meow!"
On days that the Husband does not have to work, he doesn't shave, and then you can see a shadow where his hair starts to grow and I can easily see his hairline. Tonight, in a silly mood, he asked the girls if they wanted him to grow his hair long and then he'd comb it up and over his bald spot. The girls all nodded yes, because, really- they don't know what a comb-over is! How do you explain a comb-over to the girls?
I grabbed a washable marker and started coloring in his hair and then pretending his hair was long enough, drew in a comb-over!
side view
other side
topHusband laughed so hard, tears came to his eyes!Then of course, the girls wanted in on the fun...
MiddleOldestYoungest"Meow!"Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Finally, a Normal Day!
Whew! 2009 has been our busiest year yet. When my mom's home caught fire in January, the insurance people hired a fire damage cleaning company that will come in the home, pack everything, clean anything smoke damaged, store your items and clean the home before the contractors come in and rebuild. Mom has a lot of stuff, I think I mentioned she is a pack rat, so there were a lot of boxes packed and stored in their warehouse.
Mom's home is almost completed, and they were about to put all of Mom's things back into the home. Ack! No! No, no, no, we want to sell the home and keep it empty! So Husband has been making calls to find storage space and moving vehicles. We explored several options-- buying an old trailer and using it for storage: kind of pricey but it's a permanent solution; buying and building storage sheds/buildings: pricey, plus we just don't have the time to build them and didn't know where we would put the sheds; renting storage space: none of the local storage places have available space and unlike commercial storage places in the city, these local places don't have a whole lot of choices, plus that's a lot of monthly payments to store those things long-term.
Finally, the Husband and I talked and talked and we agreed to put her stuff in our garage and basement. We have a big enough house that we don't really use the basement for much-- mostly it's a catch-all for things and we already decided that we were going to eliminate the play area for the kids. So we cleaned up a corner and moved all the toys and stuff to the other side of the basement. We cleaned out the garage and moved out the truck and van. Then we made the call and they delivered Mom's stuff for a fee (wayyyy cheaper than renting a truck and they also unloaded it, so we saved our backs!). There were 5 truckloads of my Mom's things. Holy cow, what a lot of stuff.
One truck was mostly furniture. Those went directly into the apartment. 3 trucks were filled with boxes, and those all went into the basement and the garage. Totally filled up the place. A fifth truck was maybe half-full, a mixture of boxes and some odds and ends that didn't fit in the furniture truck. It was nice that we didn't have to rent a truck and do it ourselves, which we were prepared to do, but dreading. We would have also needed to drop the kids off at the grandparent's house and that would have added onto the driving time as well. All in all, it worked out. With Mom's stuff here, I can go through her boxes and get a head start on sorting it for her, and selling some of the extras at yard sales or in my etsy shop.
Today, the Husband is off and it's so nice not to have to go anywhere or do anything except just regular stuff-- I'm working on the cherries we picked and he's doing yard work. The kids are playing outside, begging to use the slip and slide. They're pouting because we said no, the ground is still soggy from all the rain we've had, but we have something up our sleeves for tomorrow. If it's hot tomorrow, and it is supposed to be, we are going to the state park where you can swim in a mountain-fed lake! I'll pack a picnic and everything!
And because I don't like posting without pictures, here's a couple of pics taken recently...
Here chicky, chicky, chicky! Come and hop in my frying pan!
Oldest found a four-leaf clover!! What good luck!
Mom's home is almost completed, and they were about to put all of Mom's things back into the home. Ack! No! No, no, no, we want to sell the home and keep it empty! So Husband has been making calls to find storage space and moving vehicles. We explored several options-- buying an old trailer and using it for storage: kind of pricey but it's a permanent solution; buying and building storage sheds/buildings: pricey, plus we just don't have the time to build them and didn't know where we would put the sheds; renting storage space: none of the local storage places have available space and unlike commercial storage places in the city, these local places don't have a whole lot of choices, plus that's a lot of monthly payments to store those things long-term.
Finally, the Husband and I talked and talked and we agreed to put her stuff in our garage and basement. We have a big enough house that we don't really use the basement for much-- mostly it's a catch-all for things and we already decided that we were going to eliminate the play area for the kids. So we cleaned up a corner and moved all the toys and stuff to the other side of the basement. We cleaned out the garage and moved out the truck and van. Then we made the call and they delivered Mom's stuff for a fee (wayyyy cheaper than renting a truck and they also unloaded it, so we saved our backs!). There were 5 truckloads of my Mom's things. Holy cow, what a lot of stuff.
One truck was mostly furniture. Those went directly into the apartment. 3 trucks were filled with boxes, and those all went into the basement and the garage. Totally filled up the place. A fifth truck was maybe half-full, a mixture of boxes and some odds and ends that didn't fit in the furniture truck. It was nice that we didn't have to rent a truck and do it ourselves, which we were prepared to do, but dreading. We would have also needed to drop the kids off at the grandparent's house and that would have added onto the driving time as well. All in all, it worked out. With Mom's stuff here, I can go through her boxes and get a head start on sorting it for her, and selling some of the extras at yard sales or in my etsy shop.
Today, the Husband is off and it's so nice not to have to go anywhere or do anything except just regular stuff-- I'm working on the cherries we picked and he's doing yard work. The kids are playing outside, begging to use the slip and slide. They're pouting because we said no, the ground is still soggy from all the rain we've had, but we have something up our sleeves for tomorrow. If it's hot tomorrow, and it is supposed to be, we are going to the state park where you can swim in a mountain-fed lake! I'll pack a picnic and everything!
And because I don't like posting without pictures, here's a couple of pics taken recently...
Here chicky, chicky, chicky! Come and hop in my frying pan!
Oldest found a four-leaf clover!! What good luck!Sunday, May 17, 2009
Eleven and One Day
That's how many years my husband and I have been living in wedded bliss. sigh...
It feels like I have been married to him for much longer and 11 years just seems too short.
After we exchanged our vows, kissed, celebrated with guests and ate cake, the wedding seemed like it was over too quick. We were home by 6 and our drive to our honeymoon destination was not until the next morning. It almost felt like we had just gotten back from a fancy party and not our wedding. We changed into regular clothes and looked at each other as if to say, "What now?"
It feels like I have been married to him for much longer and 11 years just seems too short.
After we exchanged our vows, kissed, celebrated with guests and ate cake, the wedding seemed like it was over too quick. We were home by 6 and our drive to our honeymoon destination was not until the next morning. It almost felt like we had just gotten back from a fancy party and not our wedding. We changed into regular clothes and looked at each other as if to say, "What now?"
We were hungry. I didn't want to cook. He didn't want to cook. My favorite place to eat at the time was a pizza joint in the local mall. So we went to the mall for dinner!
We drove in our car with 'Just Married' written all over the back window and parked in the mall lot and we ate at the mall. On our wedding day. I still think that's funny.
Here's to plenty more years of wedded bliss, baby! Mwah!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Inside Connections
There are advantages to my husband working at the Mall. He's the friendly sort, the kind of guy that can strike up a conversation with just about anybody. I love that about him. He has made friends out of a lot of the other people that work at the Mall: the security guard, other sales clerks from the shops, the janitors, even the regular Mall walkers.
Because of these friendships, he comes home full of new information about all kinds of things; interesting tidbits from conversations held with people of all ages and cultures; and sometimes, pretzels!
Oh, yes! Pretzels! The kind you find only at the Mall. The big, soft, warm kind of pretzels that cost an arm and a leg to buy. Mmmm, pretzels!
A friendship with the janitor has proven to be very smart, indeed! Turns out that the pretzel place does not throw away the extra unsold pretzels at the end of the day and instead, they give them away to the Mall workers. Mr. Janitor has connections to the pretzel place. One of the other workers told Husband that if he wanted free pretzels, talk to Mr. Janitor.
`
"Mr. Janitor, I hear you're the guy to talk to about pretzels."
"Why, you want some? How many you want? I can get you as many as you want."
Thus began our love affair with the pretzels.
The Husband only gets pretzels when he and Mr. Janitor work the evening shift. Then, just before closing and the Mall shuts down, here comes Mr. Janitor with a bag full of pretzels! Just the other night, Husband came home with 20 pretzels! Mmmm! What am I going to do with 20 pretzels? Well, freeze them, of course!
I got a Foodsaver for Christmas from my Dad and his Wife and I've been putting it to use, saving those extra pretzels in the freezer. (Thanks for the Foodsaver! I love it!)
Thanks to Mr. Janitor, we now have a nice stash of pretzels in our freezer. Inside information, it's priceless!
Because of these friendships, he comes home full of new information about all kinds of things; interesting tidbits from conversations held with people of all ages and cultures; and sometimes, pretzels!
Oh, yes! Pretzels! The kind you find only at the Mall. The big, soft, warm kind of pretzels that cost an arm and a leg to buy. Mmmm, pretzels!
A friendship with the janitor has proven to be very smart, indeed! Turns out that the pretzel place does not throw away the extra unsold pretzels at the end of the day and instead, they give them away to the Mall workers. Mr. Janitor has connections to the pretzel place. One of the other workers told Husband that if he wanted free pretzels, talk to Mr. Janitor.
`
"Mr. Janitor, I hear you're the guy to talk to about pretzels."
"Why, you want some? How many you want? I can get you as many as you want."
Thus began our love affair with the pretzels.
The Husband only gets pretzels when he and Mr. Janitor work the evening shift. Then, just before closing and the Mall shuts down, here comes Mr. Janitor with a bag full of pretzels! Just the other night, Husband came home with 20 pretzels! Mmmm! What am I going to do with 20 pretzels? Well, freeze them, of course!
I got a Foodsaver for Christmas from my Dad and his Wife and I've been putting it to use, saving those extra pretzels in the freezer. (Thanks for the Foodsaver! I love it!)
Thanks to Mr. Janitor, we now have a nice stash of pretzels in our freezer. Inside information, it's priceless!
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