HAVE YOU SEEN MY EYE?

Usually stress makes my face break out in an unpleasant mess of acne. This time around, I’m blaming stress (and more specifically my job) for this eye nonsense. Nonsense you ask? What eye nonsense?

This eye nonsense:

We’re on to week three with the eye nonsense. It started just feeling like dry skin under my eye. And then started to get flaky, and red, and a little puffy. Now it is all three at once and with the deep set wrinkles under there, it’s a mess. One friend asked if I’d been crying… just out that one eye. Nope, just this weird eye thing. It isn’t really painful, but it doesn’t look great and it does sting some. This week it is spreading to my other eye. Oh great.

There’s been a lot going down at work the last few weeks (no surprise there) and thus I blame the eye nonsense very specifically on work drama. At home I always joke that I want to say to my boss that I need less drama and then say, “HAVE YOU SEEN MY EYE??” But of course in person, I don’t say it. I beg for less drama or beg to be out of the middle, but leave out the comment about the eye. Although I did think perhaps looking like I’m crying all the time might help my cause…

So after a particularly dramatic day at the end of last week, one of the bosses and I were standing next to each other looking for something. He suddenly looks at my face and says “What happened to your eye?”

Me: “It’s the stress, man, it’s definitely the stress”

He chuckled. “No seriously. Did someone hit you?”

I then had to explain that it’s some sort or rash or dry skin issue of unknown origin. So much for the sympathy.

I went to the drug store 2 weeks ago to get under-eye cream. Wanting to reduce the signs of aging (and stress), wrinkles (and puffiness), I even spent what I consider to be too much money for a brand name under eye cream claiming to have all of those magical powers. And yet, even using that 3 times a day, the flaky, dry, red nasty look continues. “HAVE YOU SEEN MY EYE?”

Last night, in a moment of insanity, I applied my Burt’s bees natural chapstick to under my eye figuring maybe, just maybe, that whole medicated stuff for dry skin would help. Instead the minty freshness of the chapstick just made my eye water and the medicated chapstick stung the sensitive under eye. It’s a no go… or maybe I just need different, non-minty chapstick. Or a better story… some kind of bar fight story perhaps… because seriously, HAVE YOU SEEN MY EYE?

Important Update

I don't actually have time for updating right now, I should be in bed. Instead I am eating a late dinner of cheerios and have a rice bag on my sore back... so you've got until the heat runs out.

In brief:

1. My Destination Wedding Weekend has come and gone. I made it out the door Wednesday evening by 5.30 pm (only an hour later than I'd hoped) and arrived safely at Teresa's house before midnight. The back wasn't as sore as it could have been from the 6 hour drive, for which I was grateful.

2. The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of details and executing of those details, but the result was so worth it. Teresa and Jeff were surrounded by family and friends and everything was beautiful. I will fill in stories later. It was great to be with them, to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and hang out with the other awesome bridesmaids. So fun.

3. I am home safe and sound and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I started the day with a very early airport run for a friend of Teresa's, and proceeded to go to the 7.30 am Mass from there and then moving, packing up, checking out, etc. Busy busy day. Halfway home it started really catching up with me, so in the interest of safety I actually pulled off and took a catnap (I've never had to do that before). It worked and the rest of the trip was uneventful. So good to be home.

4. Tomorrow is the last day of October... and you know what that means... NO DRAMA NOVEMBER is just one day away. Just thought you'd want to start getting ready :) I pulled out my NDN sweatshirt and wore it this weekend in preparation (and celebration)...

Happy end of October friends.

Crunchy...

I went to the chiropractor today, my first ever visit to a chiropractor. It was my second recommendation, but since the first one said they could squeeze me in sometime mid-November, the second choice sounded better and better, especially when they had a late afternoon appointment. Whew. It was a rough day at work- sitting at my desk, working on my computer, having to stand up regularly... yeah, it was torture... I am not good at being sick and/or injured.

One of the forms I filled out for the chiropractor was your health history- beginning before birth. What? I don't actually know how many hours my mom was in labor. I just simply don't know! I know I was 9 lbs, 5 oz. Born at home at our Whitmore Lake house with the doctor. I know my Aunt Theresa was there (and swore she didn't want her own children after the experience). And that a guy from the community brotherhood showed up for dinner, not knowing the plans for the day had changed. And yes, every time I have seen this particular brother he has told me that he was there the day I was born. But sorry, I haven't asked the nitty gritty details like how many hours my mom was in labor. It also asks about falls, punishment as a child (yes, I was spanked), accidents... woah, I can't say I took note of most of my childhood falls. I did remember to mention the bike riding, flipping over the handle bars incidents with Maggie many years ago, and that seemed to be sufficient.

Anyway, questions like these do call into question what this appointment will be like... I'm all about a full health history, but this does seem to be taking things a little far? Not to fear, I liked the chiropractor, he explained why they ask and seemed pretty down to earth. I described my current issue, and questioned if my vertigo could also be related to chiropractic issues. Then I stand up and he starts his measurement stuff... apparently I can't turn my head like I should. My hips are uneven, my shoulders are uneven, my pelvis is twisted... you name it. He kept saying "You aren't going to make this easy on me, are you?" Uh. So we did a full set of xrays and then he started some adjustments. There was a surprising amount of crunching... ewww... and yet they didn't hurt and it kind of felt good, relaxing almost (other than the hideous crunching that accompanied some of the adjustments). He wants me to come back a couple times this week... uh... I'm leaving town at 5 pm Wednesday for a weekend wedding and need to be able to walk down the aisle (no, I'm not getting married, I'm standing up for my friend T at her wedding ;).

So, after some productive crunching, the back pain wasn't significantly less, but I was feeling a tiny bit better and feel at least we're making progress. We set an appt for 5 pm tomorrow for a second set of adjustments and hopefully we'll have made enough progress for me to walk comfortably again and make it through the eventful weekend.

So frustrated

Well... as of around 1:30 pm, progress came to a screeching halt. Grr. Before that, however:
- I slept in 2 hours longer than I planned (while not productive, I clearly needed it)
- Drank coffee
- Drugged the dog
- Cleaned the downstairs bathroom
- Purged papers and magazines in the dining room
- Disassembled a shelf that needs to be re-installed
- Talk to the vet on the phone-- Suzie's blood work is back and has some elevated level that may be explained by all of her skin issues, let's recheck in a month.
- Wash and arrange a bunch of pumpkins
- Rearrange kids books and put away kids art supplies
- Straighten guest room, fold blankets, make bed

And then, as I was heading out to begin my yard work, I bent down to pick up a flower pot and ooowwwww I threw out my back. This is the second time in 3 months that a simple act of bending down to pick something up left me in excruciating pain and wondering if I would ever move again. I'm trying to do my back exercises but it just hurts right now. So I am stiff and sore and even walking hurts, in spite of the ibprofen. Perhaps this is the incentive I need to finally find a chiropractor.

In the meantime, I think it is time for me to shower, run a couple errands, and maybe go to 4:30 Mass while hoping this round of throwing the back out is short lived.

So. frustrated.

Progress-ish

While not the most productive I've ever been, I am pleased to report that I'm managing some progress. So far:
- make important phone call, leave message
- go downstairs and begin folding a literal mountain of laundry
- throw in a load of dog blankets
- wipe down canning stove
- wash canners and put away
- notice dead centipede near laundry sink
- throw in a load of pillows from the family room
- light several candles, mmmm vanilla...
- have mental discussion with self over how many is too many rag towels and debate whether to cut some down to be small absorbent rags
- remember Suzie is back on steriods and decide to delay cutting down large rags into small rags since it is her steriod use that usually causes Lake Suzie in the kitchen
- light stack of said rag towels on fire by setting them on top of a lit candle on the now clean canning stove
- notice smell of something burning
- put out fire without incident
- throw singed towels in wash with more dog blankets, deciding some of them are now candidates for being cut into smaller rags - decision made!
- start a recycle bin for all the laundry soap containers lurking around the room waiting to someone to recycle them
- dust play kitchen, put toy food in correct bins
- let dogs eat cheezits out of the depths of basement counch
- fold blankets, rearrange pillows
- make mending stack on sewing desk
- "watch" Mr. Holland's Opus while folding laundry and starting a summer clothes pile to put away
- make Suzie happy by folding her blanket on the floor so she can nap at my feet
- dust corners of family room
- think about how badly the family room rug needs replacing... or at least cleaning
- think fondly of Karen and her carpet cleaner and wish I was with her down visiting Alexis... maybe next time
- check facebook and find Karen's key location, carpet cleaning can happen tomorrow! yay!
- get distracted writing long boring update on blog
- return to the basement and keep going??

A Weekend at the Homestead

It has been awhile since I completely bored my reader (I know there's only one of you out there ;) with the mundane details of my life. And by mundane, I mean REALLY mundane. But here's how it is... I had a rough week at work, way too much work, changes in the works, but still just means even more work for me. I didn't accomplish anything I set out to accomplish and I just need some small success in my life. This weekend is my first real weekend at home and without set plans (or applesauce) in 3 months. 3 MONTHS!!! First REAL Saturday at home. Imagine how many projects and how much house cleaning I desperately want to do... and it is just one short little weekend... So I'm asking all of you (my one reader) to hold me accountable for a productive weekend at home.

Here's the problem: I am fried. Left work after a mere 8 hours to race home, find a stool sample, and take an itching miserable Suzie to the vet... sigh... where I spent half of my week's pay and left with two new drugs (steriods and antibiotics), a new eyedrop, and a bag of fricking expensive "prescription" hypo allergetic dog food. Sigh.

I really shouldn't say this or record this anywhere, but it is a darn good thing Suzie (the sweetest dog on the planet) is the one with all the expensive health woes. Maggie just plain wouldn't survive. Not only is she bitchy, she is the worst behaved dog at the vet. They can't actually do anything with her and have to hold her down with several technicians just to do her every-three-years rabies shot - much less any attempt at a blood draw, checking the eyes and ears, palpating the stomach... yeah, it isn't pretty. So, although I do hate spending a fortune at the vet, Suzie is worth it and at least behaves her sweet self there, for the most part, though even Suzie doesn't sit still for the blood draw.

But I digress... Right. Back on task. The vet visit is done. I am hungry and don't have energy to cook. I should attack the cluttered and unorganized laundry room and basement family room and give them a much needed clean, purge, organize. I'd love to do that tonight so I can focus tomorrow on that final mowing, yard clean up, and organizing the shed so I can fit all the patio stuff in there and some basics like cleaning floors and bathrooms. Hmmm.

Wish me luck... and stay tuned... it is quite likely I will bore you with my lack of progress regularly over the next 48 hours...

Munchkin Time (aka Teaching Important Life Skills)

Saturday morning three of my favorite kids arrived bright and early bearing some beautiful fall mums, donuts for breakfast, cheerful smiles, and overnight bags. There's a recipe for a good weekend.

One of our projects was to set up the guest room. Since Elana moved out, it's just a mostly empty room with curtains that don't match. Which simply won't do. The blue floral curtains looked great when the walls were light blue, but the bright green doesn't work with them. Sigh. Enter Meijer clearance shelf. There they were, chocolate brown curtains marked down to $10 each and then an additional 25% off. Perfect. So I bought three panels (two for the windows, 1 for the closet). I had also gotten a daybed frame off craigslist a few weeks ago to house the mattress that's been on the floor in there for quite some time. So this morning Jane and Lucy and I put the guest bedroom together (or as Jane calls it "our new room"). We put the bed frame together, added the mattress, took down the old curtains and put up the new ones. And there are now about 30 stuffed animals living in the dresser. Jane was a little concerned though, "Aunt Reenie, the closet is still empty. We have to put something in there!" She was also very proud of herself for arranging her teddy bear to sit in the corner of her new room. Perfect.

In addition, Lucy learned what I deem to be an Important Life Skill. Under my careful tutelage, she removed the old broken electrical plate cover and installed the new one. She was clearly digging the project and stood back to admire her handiwork. "That looks SO much better." I did tell her that no matter where she goes and what she does in life, it is always important to know how to replace switch plates. There we go, teach niece important life skill, check!

Sunday got even more exciting. Two more nephews arrived to join in the fun. And Elijah from next door came for pretty much the whole afternoon. I even managed to get a few things done while everyone was playing, well a few things beyond enjoying the beautiful sunny warm weekend and the very entertaining company.

Suzie got a TON of love all weekend. She's horribly itchy again (after a couple weeks of fooling me into thinking things were improving). Every few minutes one of the kids would scritch scratch her and call excitedly "Look, I got her leg is going" as her leg would twitch and try to scratch. It's a great game and nearly qualifies as yet another Important Life Skill-- but not quite (especially when every inch of this dog is an itchy mess right now). By the end of tonight, Suze was tired and ready for some space. Being followed and loved every minute of a weekend does get a little exhausting, even for a dog as needy as the Suze.

Maggie, in her own right, earned points this weekend. She now lets Geno order her around (some anyway), will take treats gently out of the kids hands without growling, played several rounds of the "down stay treat" trick with Jane, and was generally okay with the kids all weekend. Look at Maggie finally acquiring some Important Life Skills. We barely had to shut her in the basement (except for today, because let's be honest, even with a good weekend going, 6 small (and very unpredictable) kids would have blown that out of the water).

Overheard:
Lucy: Geno, here's something to chop people's heads off with.
Geno: Oh thanks Lucy!

Jane: Shiny has a lovely big house. Shiny is a very lucky dinosaur.

Lucy, what is that?
It's a decoration.
Lucy, battles don't have decorations.
Geno, it's a Castle not a Battle.
The battle is going to happen at the castle. Argh.

Jane: "Can I be done? ... Wait (correcting herself), it's May. May I be done?"
Lucy: "It's not May, it's OCTOBER! heh heh heh"
We've got another punster on our hands. Those Cous genes run strong. :)

Here's my list of accomplishments -- not up to my usual weekend standard, but not bad considering (and yes, this list is for me not you-- seriously, why are you still reading? get a life already):
scoop & mow backyard
pick stuff from garden
bake bread
feed kids all 3 meals (clean up after all three meals) each day
oven roast tomatoes (some for dinner, 1 bag for the freezer)
sweep the entire first floor
clear roadtrip crap from dining room table
put an extra dinner in the freezer for later
clean the downstairs bathroom
bathe the dog
set up the guest room (mentioned above)
read a lot of short stories
Sam's club run
clean up toys, books and crayons (numerous times)
wash (but not fold) two loads of laundry
water the house plants
cut the girls hair
soak in the gorgeous weather

As if life wasn't stressful enough...

Today I walked in the door and the big dog growled and cowered. Crap. Back to that again? Only this time it wasn't anything off the counters (thank you month of mouse trapping, thank you). Nope, it was the bathroom garbage... chewed to pieces all over the living room rug. A first for us. Awesome. A new obsession. I am certainly willing to take some responsibility in this- I have been neglecting the big dog (and the little dog) something terrible lately. But it couldn't be helped. And seriously? We're taking revenge on my poor tired self by eating the bathroom garbage? Gross. There has got to be a better way. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Dogs are gross. There's simply no getting around that.

And strangely, there is something comforting about coming home to a gross dog moment. There's enough high level stress in my life right now that coming home to that was strangely comforting (though gross). Okay, someone commit me. I just admitted that on my blog. Oy. Maybe I'm more exhausted than I thought.

So much to say, so little time

I figured I should update this blog just so the angsty post moves on down the line. Can't have that be the last thing on there. Lately I have tons to say but this isn't the place. And other stories to recount that are certainly blog-appropriate but no time to say them.

Suffice it to say... September is now over. What a wild month!! Out of town 3 out of the 4 weekends (and stories to tell from all of them). Stay tuned. Some day I may tell you about a Very Bridesmaid Chicago Adventure (aka "The Drinks are in the Sink"). Or the Awesome Ladies Weekend (wish I could come up with an awesome tagline for this) in St. Joseph, MI. Or the car ride with a car sick toddler. Or about meeting my new neighbors. Or about my latest adventure to New Orleans to pack up and move an apartment. And the awesome time I had with my brothers who live there and the rest of my fam who I traveled with. Heck, if I get really crazy I may even post pictures from some of those awesome events.

But for now... I am shocked it is October. Exhausted beyond belief. And thankful for a Father who continues to give His grace in abundance in all things. God is good.

Good night all.

Blog Angst

As you may know, I am opposed on principle to blog angst. Angst somewhere else, right? But today I have this almost irresistable urge to angst right here on the old blog...

Breathing... breathing... breathing...

Okay, here goes: I am getting sick during a week I simply do not have time to get sick. Have that tickle in the back of the throat and general unwell feeling beginning. Probably just a cold, but still, I do not have time to get sick. I have three evening meetings / activities planned this week leading up to leaving town for a long weekend to drive a long way to move some people that I love. I'm not upset about the trip- I'm honored to be able to help out in this way. And besides, I'm kind of excited for the adventure, happy for some good old fashioned family roadtripping, glad for the chance to see some of my far away brothers, but also just a little overwhelmed at the busy beginning of the week and this confounded almost-cold I am fighting. Say a prayer. I have talked to the Almighty about the state of things, but I can use all the help I can get.

In addition: My dining room smells like dog. There is dog hair in the corners. I haven't met the new neighbors, who, incidentally, were grilling just off their carport while staring into my dilapidated vegetable garden- which seems a little weird. The tub needs re-grouting in spite of the "lifetime guarantee" of last year's grout. I'm not sleeping well lately. I have an awesome story that I want to write down before I forget all the details but haven't had time. It is now dark at 8 pm. Work is scheduling more and more meetings before 8 am, which annoys me. It throws off my morning Mass schedule and just makes for really long days. Seriously people, lets have some meetings after 8 am for a change. And speaking of work... never mind, let's not speak of work, that could take this much further than I intended. Let's just consider work ranted over.

And to make up for that little rant... I am thankful for so many things, and have no right to rant at all. Here's my happy thoughts:
- I got to see some friends this weekend who are very dear to me, and my darling Goddaughter
- I had dinner out with a friend tonight, great to catch up with her
- I had a Saturday at home
- I spent part of that Saturday at home with two dear boys (my nephews)
- My favorite baby brother came over and did yard work for me. Sometimes good help is invaluable, and it was invaluable to me having him doing the mowing while I attempted to get a few things done in the house and yard (while hanging out with above dear boys)
- My new niece and sister in law have now arrived, can't wait to meet the new girlie... now I just need to not get fully sick and find a moment to go see her sometime before leaving town.
- I went to Mass at my home parish today after 3-4 weeks elsewhere. I love my parish!
- The little dog appears to be itching slightly less than before. Still needs drugging around the clock, but I think the bath helped and it is getting later in the season
- There are flowers blooming, which always lightens my mood.
- This fall weather is absolutely lovely.
- The limestone base on my road is down so the mucky mess of the last few weeks is better. Still not completed but much more livable.
- I love my homies. They rock.
- I am truly blessed with fabulous friends (some of whom are crazy enough to still be reading this ranting blog post).

There you have it. Stream of consciousness for today. I apologize for breaking my "no blog angst" rule and promise to do better in the future. Happy Sunday!

August Rush

Apparently it has been really quiet here... I cannot believe how fast August is rushing by and I keep wishing I could slow it all down, 'cause once August is done, we're on to fall and you know what comes next? Okay, I won't say it, but it feels like it is coming awfully fast.

So far August has been a rather high drama and insanely busy month, we'll see what I remember:

1. Celebrating my brother Emmet's 21st birthday (makes me feel really old).

2. Going to see the same brother's band perform in a show in Ypsi. My mom came and as we sat in the outdoor patio area of this bar, having a beer before the show, she pulls her knitting out of her bag. Oh gosh. We told her in no uncertain terms the knitting was not allowed inside the bar. It just simply does not do to knit during a rock show in a bar. The show was good- the drummer (neighbor from growing up) was fabulous. Emmet was a fabulous base player. And the guitarist was good at the guitar and did more yelling than singing. Guess you can't have it all.

3. Taking my little sister shopping for dorm supplies. You heard that right, my baby sister is heading of the Franciscan University in just a couple days!! We had a blast navigating ikea in search of the necessary bedding, plastic bins, closet organizers and other critical items. I'm so happy for her and yet it is hard to believe she's heading off to college!! I'm going to miss her!

4. Work... lots of stuff going on at work. I inserted myself, for the good of the company (believe me, it was absolutely necessary) in the middle of some politics between the bosses. Intense for me, especially since I try to avoid politics and conflict at all costs. But I am still sure it was the right thing and hope it brings about some needed changes. Still working too many hours, but I've been averaging high forties instead of fifties, so I guess I'm still trending in the right direction.

5. Tomatoes. The tomatoes are rolling in. The plants aren't doing fabulously- they got leaf spot and something is eating half of the ripe tomatoes closest to the ground-- but as usual, if you plant enough, no matter how badly you do, you're bound to have plenty. Mmmm I love tomato season. So far I canned one big batch of salsa and tonight I made a big batch of fresh salsa. Lots more to come.

6. Celebrated my sister in law Lindsey's birthday last night-- same day as my brother Garrett- though he lives far away so I had to celebrate his from a distance. August is an insane birthday month in our family... and at the end of the month, my dad turns 60! Gasp! That's practically old!

7. Cous family reunion with the extended family last weekend.

8. Doctrine classes at church (fabulous!)


9. Suzie has begun the late August trend of attempting to scratch all the fur off her body. I predict we make it another week before I break down and take her to the vet for her annual August steroids round.

10. They are replacing the water main on my street and repaving parts of the surrounding streets. So everything is torn up and I'm never sure which way to go out in the morning. Strangely this has made me miss my civil engineering world / job more than usual. I know what goes into these projects. I used to be the one prepping all the bid docs, processing change orders and pay requests... I miss those days. And somehow my street being ripped up floods those memories back-- not that it's a bad thing, I just never could have told you that road construction would make me so nostalgic :)

11. Softball has been a blast, maybe my favorite season ever. Tomorrow is our final tournament. Sad to see it coming to an end. It sure has been fun.

12. And somewhere in there I've visited a few friends, cleaned a few bathrooms, mowed the lawn, worked on plans for the next couple weeks, and attempted to keep my head above water. I am no further ahead on any projects or anything else, but at least I am still treading water for the time being.

Okay, there you have it. August so far. I hope it slows down for this final week...

Counting down the hours...

Well, the last two days have been good. More peaceful than I hoped for- thanks for your prayers!! I'm down to the wire. I have worked over 40 hours and haven't hit Friday yet... but I did bring home some work to do tonight... and then there's that conference call in the morning. And that's it. Done. Till a week from Monday. Yayay!

I got to spend last evening with my good friends in town for a wedding this weekend. Great to catch up. Great to snuggle those crazy munchkins. Great to just be with my people. :) Looking forward to another great day of that tomorrow (different people-- including my sister and her family in town!! yayayayay!) and then a week of that on vacation.

As overwhelmed as I can get in life, I am constantly amazed at the gift God has given me in friends and family. Each one of you is a constant sign of His great love and mercy in my life. Thank you.

And here's to the vacation countdown... just a few more hours...

2 days and counting...

This is it... the week before vacation... never a particularly peaceful time. And maybe even less so than usual because I don't know how on earth they are going to manage next week. On the one hand, that sounds conceited. But really it's just the reality, I am the hub. That's my job. It's what I do. So next week could get really interesting with no hub there keeping things spinning. I told my boss today (when he was panicking a little about next week) that next week they would all realize how much they miss me... or realize they don't need me at all. Either way, coming back will be interesting (and I won't dwell on that again until next Sunday night around 9 pm). In the meantime, I'm trying to get a lot done this week at work...

And things at home are busy too. All the usual stuff. Plus scanning photos for a slideshow for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Plus dog sitting (though we love having Buck here). Plus house cleaning. Plus paying bills. Plus cleaning for a BBQ on Friday. Plus trying to see some good friends who will be in town this week. Plus anticipating my sister and her family coming in (hooray!!!) Plus laundry and packing for vacation. And buying dog food (don't forget the dog food whatever you do). Yeah, I'm working myself up to needing a vacation even more than usual (is that even possible?).

The launch to vacation will be intense:
Mon-Thursday - work like a crazy person to get stuff ready for me to leave.
Friday - I'm off work except conference call first thing (meaning my vacation technically begins at 10.30 am). Then mowing the lawn, hosting a BBQ (can't wait to see everyone).
Saturday - wedding for a family friend, help wrangle friend's toddlers at wedding and reception (yes, some of my favorite toddlers, so I'm definitely looking forward to some quality time!)
Sunday - pack the car in the morning, Mass in Monroe (mid day) and reception for my grandparent's 60th anniversary. Back to Saline for 2 softball games. Drive up north after the games end (around 9 pm). And finally vacation...

A whole week with my extended family... it's going to be awesome... Can't. Wait...

Update on the house flies

It was hot and humid enough for even the miserly Favorite Aunt to turn on the AC. And of course that means closing all the windows and doors and keeping them closed. I pulled out the flyswatter and got a few of the ones lingering in the kitchen. The dogs ate a few. And amazingly, it is fly-free around here (proving the point that if you leave your doors closed, the flies can't come in... shocking, I know).

Hey, I never promised this would be interesting... it's called Stream of Consciousness for a reason :)

Trivial

I love almost everything about summer. And yet, I do not enjoy flies... especially the ones buzzing around my living space. Most days I have two very active fly catchers after them, so they don't last too long. Today the flies seem particularly bad and I know that I am certainly to blame. I am a leave-the-patio-door-open-all-weekend kind of gal. Why? Well, partly because I am in and out all weekend, and because you simply cannot have too much fresh air, but mostly because I like to give the dogs access to the house and yard when I'm home (particularly for long stretches on the weekend). I certainly could shut them in one location or the other, but since one of them is always following me from place to place and the other is outside as much as possible, it is just less complicated to leave the door open. Enter the flies.

It is probably even worse this time because I also missed trash day this week. So not only did I leave the door open for them, I tempted them with week old trash. Bad move Reenie. And then today I wore out my fly catchers with a hot bike ride... so they aren't budging to eat the flies like they usually do. So it feels particuarly fly ridden in here today. And here I sit, searching the internet for homemade fly traps, thinking I should still take out the garbage and put away the bike, and finish a bunch of other stuff before bed... which should be in about 20 minutes. Ah well.

And there you have it, a trivial post about the one thing I do not love about summer, the house flies. (Please share if you have some secret on fly control-- other than closing the door- I can't possibly entertain that obvious of a solution).

End of the weekend

I think the mid-progress brain dump is more interesting than end of the day (or weekend) progress. So I'll leave it at this:

-- The oven roasted tomatoes were delicious and I froze 3 bags of them. I highly recommend them. Mmmm.
-- The bread pudding needed more pudding and less bread. Guess it serves me right for using whole wheat bread instead of french bread and not measuring.
--The house isn't clean, but progress was made, in spite of the broken flower pot right when I thought I was finally getting somewhere.
--I also managed to caulk around a couple windows outside and trim some bushes and do a bit of garden clean up.
--Applesauce was made with friends and at someone else's house. "Hi. My name is Reenie. I can."

And here we are, Sunday night... me, hiding in a dark house since I didn't buy candy or make plans to be out of the house. I could have gone out (thanks for the invite) but I really needed some quiet at home time-- so we did it in the dark. Barking like crazy when people did ring the doorbell.

Mid-Saturday Progress (or lack thereof)

- Sleep in until 9:15-- lovely but surprising for me.
- Feed and drug dogs.
- Spoon with the Love Sponge (who is particularly needy today) while coffee brews.
- Visit with the homies and bitches while drinking coffee (I have the greatest homies ever).
- Vacuum living room rugs, sweep living room. Daydream about a vacuum that sucks better than mine. Decide to declutter and reorganize the whole room (but without actually doing so).
- Start clearing dining room table-- find source for bad smell: tomato that has gone bad and leaked through basket and onto dining room table. Eww. Kick myself for being so dumb.
- Pick basil leaves off stems for cooking with, throw stems into compost. Decide the yard definitely needs to be raked, scooped, mowed, edged (but without actually do so).
- Dump all the tomato bowls into the sink to wash green and red tomatoes to save myself from another mushy tomato disaster.
- Finish loading the dishwasher and start it.
- Notice the bread that I flopped last weekend. Decide to make crockpot bread pudding.
- Look up recipe for crockpot bread pudding and put everything in the crockpot and turn on (yay!! one thing actually accomplished)
- Go back to the tomato situation. Lots of ripe tomatoes... hmmmm. Look up recipe for oven roasting tomatoes (which I've always wanted to try and never get around to).
- Make oven roasted tomatoes-- well, get them into the oven, there to roast for awhile. Mmmmm. Smells incredible already. Oh wait, that might just be all the garlic I put on them.
- Check out the kitchen disaster and contemplate making bread since it is already a disaster area.
- Sit down to check facebook and blog about my lack of any real progress so far while eating lunch.

News of the day

It is a gorgeous evening at the homestead. After a couple weeks of oppressive humidity and hot weather, it cooled down today to what I consider a perfect summer temperature, with a nice breeze. So we turned the AC off and we are back to life as it should be, windows open, breeze wafting in, three dogs in peace and harmony (yes, I'll explain about a third dog), and a moment to sit down before starting my evening tasks. Oy.

So... this mysterious third dog. You got another dog Reenie? Really? No. I did not get another dog. The homestead is now and will remain a two dog household for the foreseeable future. However I am not good at saying no, as you may remember. Sigh. So some friends have a friend staying with them. He just got a job in the area while his wife and kids are packing up and selling the house in Florida. Turns out he needed to drive up with the dog last week and was desperate for a place for her to stay with a fenced yard. The mutual friend he is staying with has a huge unfenced yard, not ideal for this pup. I said I would be okay with it for a week or two (or so I thought) if this dog got along with Maggie. Maggie is a very dominant bitch. There's just no way around it. Some dogs won't back down, which causes there to be fighting because Maggie will not back down. ever. So I said if the meet up went fine, we'd house his dog for a few weeks.

The meet up was okay. Maggie was her usual growly, territorial self, and this little dog rolls right over submissively. No fighting, just immediately admitting to Maggie's superior bitchiness. That first day Dallas was uber submissive and rolling over constantly for both of my dogs- even Suzie of no backbone. She was mousey and quiet and unsure. She had just been in the car for 22 hours coming up from Florida. And then... the real Dallas got going the next day. We call her Spasto-dog. She is everywhere all the time. Barking. Weaving between your legs. Wanting to play. Wanting to piss off Maggie. Moving shoes around the house. Not listening to a blessed word we say. Sigh. She is awfully cute but clearly needs a lot of training. So for the next couple weeks, she's introducing chaos into our lives. And then she will leave, and it will be so blissfully quiet and well trained around here we won't know what to do with ourselves.

Also... today was one of the best Mondays I've had in awhile. It's amazing how some great news scattered throughout the day can perk up even a very busy Monday at work. Since this is the interwebs, I will be vague-ish and just say the following:
-- Two friends I've been wanting to date for a long time now started dating last night. Eeeeee. So stinking excited (and not just because Lindsey and I are such awesome matchmakers).
-- I get to see my good friends who live out of state this week, a couple times even!! Gosh I miss living in the same state! I'm thrilled to pack a couple visits into a busy trip for them. And have I mentioned they come with four beautiful munchkins that I love?
-- I'm loving life here at the Nichols Homestead. I have two fabulous housemates-- both no-drama, fun, great ladies. Evenings when we are home are low key and delightful. God is good. And they put up with my scattered life, being behind on everything, and the random annoying dog staying here for weeks at a time. God is good!!
-- I get a new to me car in two weeks. It's my aunt's Honda CRV, my long time dream car. Imagine the things I can haul in that lovely vehicle! Two dogs and a crate at the same time! Lumber. It even has a trailer hitch!
-- Two weeks from today two of my friends and I will climb into said new car and head west on a road trip adventure to visit Kate and Mark at their new digs in Washington State and stopping to see lots of friends along the way. I can't wait! What an adventure! And looking forward to that trip has made saying good bye a little easier-- oh not easy, it definitely wasn't pretty, but better to say "see you in a month" than just plain good bye. Not to mention my love of road trips (I know, I can still do that-- I don't have munchkins in tow).

Okay, that's the latest. Happy Monday to all of you!

The best laid plans...

Making it to vacation got even more complicated than I thought. I'd made some progress on that list and then headed off for a wedding on Friday, planning to pull a long night and get a lot done in the wee small hours- and then whatever it took Saturday morning. But no... instead, while I was at the wedding (where it stormed both during the wedding and the reception, but not between, thankfully), the Nichols homestead was getting the full brunt of a summer storm. My housemate even went to the basement when the sirens went off because the wind was crazy and shaking the house, reportedly. And then we lost power. Zap.

I didn't know about any of this until I was driving home from the reception in Canton, about half an hour away. All the way home I watched a gorgeous lightening show in front of me. And when I got into Saline, it was eerily dark. Maple (the road I usually turn on) was closed off. The traffic lights were out. There was no power for the few blocks near my house. Trees were down everywhere and branches and leaves were all over the street. Lovely. Our street was completely dark, not a light in sight. Just some downed trees. Remember all my plans to clean, finish laundry, pack, etc? Oh yeah, hard to do by candlelight (and with a flashlight). So I hung out for a bit with my roommate and then went to bed, hoping against hope the power would be on by morning so I could do that final coat of paint on the cabinets with the power sprayer.

Morning came too soon and too hot and still without power. I started packing, trying to find games, laundry, etc in the basement by flashlight, and trying to survive the horrid heat and humidity (with no air circulation). It was miserable. I was seriously annoyed. I delivered the dogs to their vacation destinations, still hoping for power... I spent an hour on hold with DTE, only to hear the repair estimates for sometime late Sat night. Well, I guess we won't wait around for that. Meanwhile I'm nervous leaving a house without power and no one living there. But we've gotta go. We need to finish loading the car and get outta dodge. It eventually happened. It wasn't pretty, but we did finally leave around 3 pm, just grateful for AC in the car and praying the fridge and freezer wouldn't defrost entirely before the power came back on...

Cue the vacation.

Living it up

Yes friends, I am living it up in this newly found freedom, this new phase of recovery. I haven't had to take pain killers all week (even over the counter ones). I am back to my usual productive / power walk with no pain. I weeded last night for a bit, between rain storms- no pain. I carried heavy trash to the curb, by myself. And now my head is spinning to figure out what I should tackle first this weekend... oh a weekend! A real for real productive weekend. So. Excited.

I know, I'm a little out of control. And loving my "normalness." (Thanks to Alexis for telling me to enjoy my normalness, no one has ever said that to me before ;)