vacations!

In all the craziness it is suddenly time for vacation! Today was supposed to be the last day of swimming, but for some reason the pool was "unbalanced" and they canceled til tomorrow. So daddy will have to pick D up from the neighbors and take him (fun). Because tomorrow is the day K and I go to the Tetons! Girl weekend here we come. Of course the timing is terrible, because the next weekend is my family reunion at the beach (which should be delightful also) AND the audition which is right after I get back! So hopefully I won't be too awful to be around, and I'll get good practicing as well as good visiting in. I swear I don't plan the auditions to fall right after vacations, it just keeps happening that way.

new dog

I guess I haven't mentioned the fact that another dog has been left with us. It appears that he was dumped on our road (same as Donna 3 years ago) and he is the same age she was - around 8 months. Weird. Also strange is that they look like twins - black lab-like with white chest markings. So alike that the person who found the dog thought it was Donna and brought him up to our place!

Since Donna was there in the driveway, it was pretty obviously not her. Also the male factor, and the age were good clues. But the "finder person" was going to take him to the vet, where they only can hold lost pets for 3 days. She was willing to make posters to put around the neighborhood, and we agreed to keep the dog if/until the owner called. We also advertised on Craiglist, but no one called, so last week we took "Darwin" to the vet for the big snip-snip.

Darwin is not the smartest of dogs. The day after the vet experience he discovered a new species: porcupines! Both he and Donna had a face full of quills. Fun. A couple years ago we took our first dog to the vet for porcupine quills and it was $300! Since then we (mostly J) pull them out ourselves. The dogs aren't happy at the time, but they keep going back for more! And indeed, Darwin was quillful again the next day (yesterday). Hopefully he is getting a clue, but I'm not holding my breath.

ha!

Ok a month later and I'm at exactly the same place with the house! That is sad, and it will be my goal to muck out the living room by the end of July.

D is out of school now - next fall he starts 2nd grade! We have done one session of swimming lessons, I was not really thinking he would be into that, but he did great! He's kind of timid about new things, but armed with grama's goggles (thanx G!) he was a little tadpole. We are signed up for another 2 week session for the end of July. Last week he did a 1 hour a day drawing class - not as instructive as we had hoped for but he had fun and drew lots of obscure prehistoric insects (the new obsession).

We did have a crazy driving marathon for the 4th - went to J's old stomping ground (the farm) on Thursday night (after swimming lessons), Friday we drove on the the beach house and grampa joined us there. It was really great, we had a fun time and D tried oysters for the first time and loved them. Nasty. We went to the beach and D had a shovel - spent the whole time digging little nature displays (his words) and putting pieces of shells, sticks and one dead fish (very small) in them. When J found the dead fish D was so excited, and as we left he said "This is the best day of my life!" Awwww.

Of course then we headed back for the farm and fireworks with Uncle S (Boom-Boom). This is a neighborhood effort, usually held at another farm. The boyz really go crazy and the display rivals that of many towns. Also LOTS of fireworks - went on from kid stuff during dinner, big stuff starting about 10 til 12:30 in the morning!

The next morning we headed back home in HOT weather, fortunately we had missed most of the heat at the beach (only staying at the farm in the evening) but I was really grateful for the A/C in the car! Looking forward to getting some stuff done around the house (yeah right) and the Fireworks Concert coming right up (last Sunday of July).

rats in a maze

We are at the stage of "decorating" the house, and "landscaping" the yard. These are in quotes because I am trying to do this for no money! Additionally I am really trying NOT to buy additional furniture since we have SO MUCH STUFF! Of course this is a problem if you need a storage containment unit, so we may end up buying some things after all.

I'd really like a system for the DVDs, we have hundreds and they are in a motley assortment of racks. As you know I love the mission style and we have one closed mission style DVD case, would love to have more or build some that "go". If we build something it will just be open like a bookshelf. J is getting really frustrated that we aren't moving stuff into place, but he WON'T move furniture once it is situated, so I have one shot. And until we get the furniture up there and see how it fits I don't know where to put his stupid bookcase. This is the bc full of "decorative books. I hate "books for show", but if he wants them it's ok. Kind of like a painting I don't like, or the chair he doesn't want (what am I saying, he wants everything!)

The yard is insane - all kinda beat up from the earth moving. Our neighbor may help us since he is a master garden and will work for cheaper than a landscaper. The sort of plan is to get fill and top soil and smooth it all out with the tractor. Then put in the sprinkler system. Then plant or sod a lawn (this could be next year). I actually sprinkled grass seed over the lawn area (which is all rocky and lumpy) just so we wouldn't have a field of mud. We'll see what happens!

pix finally

Here are some pix of the house - now that the guys are all "done" it seems harder to get things in shape than I expected! The porch is great and while the lawn is a disaster, not much to do on the actual porch. I love it.

The "library" was Js old office and he hates having to walk 12 steps to his new area, I really like how this space is kind of restful and welcoming. You may not be able to tell that from a photo, but if you ever saw Js old office, restful and welcoming it was not. (sorry hon, just the way it is) His new space looks great.

The "pink room" is no longer pink. It is so hard to capture the space with my little camera, but this room looks great. I'd like to stay here! So get ready to come see us.

finally

Ok, I am so tired! I thought once the carpet was in the house would be "done" but apparently this is just the tip of the iceberg. Now we have to move all the stuff back! Way bigger chore than I anticipated. So - here are some shots with minimal furniture, but at least you get the idea!

This is the new dining room (old living room)


Jim's new office (possibly) - where the old dining room used to be off the kitchen - hoping his desk won't be as apparent here...


And the "library" Jim's old office - imagine more bookcases along the wall, but at least you can see the colors.

house update

Well, in the wreck of clutter that is our home right now (yes, I know it's hard to tell from the usual state of things!) I appear to have lost my camera. I'm sure it is somewhere not too far off, but no pics today.

Things are really starting to wrap up - we have all new carpet (complete with annoying seam, don't get me started on that), gutters, sealer on all the wood outside, and as a bonus K is putting in our swamp cooler that has been languishing on the back porch for two years. Yay! And except for the disappointment with the carpet people and the lack of resolution there, everything looks really good (just imagine there is a pic here). Hopefully I'll find the camera soon and you will all be amazed!