Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Let there be light

So Pants spent the last 2 days trying to fix Meimei's ceiling fan so the electrical box was strong enough to hold it. He finally got it up and put together tonight.

Upon surveying the scene, there was insulation everywhere. On every surface. See, we have blown-in insulation, not the nifty roll-out blankets. And it has been ungodly hot, so Pants had the fan on in there. And as the insulation fell out of the ceiling in buckets, it was nicely spread across the entire room by the fan. Yay.

So I vacuumed every surface in the entire room. Changed the sheets. Did everything I could to get up all the fiberglass before Meimei went to bed. I hope she doesn't wake up itchy.

Oh, and I found out that the damn thing only takes those stupid little candle bulbs. Grrr.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Thursday, July 24, 2008

I am so over...

Heidi and Spencer. Speidi. I don't even watch the Hills, but I can't seem to avoid them.

And what are they doing now? Practicing at the firing range. And why is that, Spencer? So when we go to Iraq to entertain the troops, we can be prepared if something goes down and they throw us a gun. Which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard - like the USO tour gets attacked all the time and they just throw guns at quasi-celebrities to start shooting. Yeah, I bet that's what happens in Iraq. Those wacky military-types, just flying by the seat of their pants.

Another Spencer gem? He wants to adopt a baby from Africa and name it Dunk. You know, for when he plays basketball. I can only hope the home study would exclude them from adoption for being prejudiced idiots.

Scarily close




What Your Fridge Says About You



You aren't greedy, but you don't really deprive yourself either. You strike a good balance with the stuff you buy.



You are not careful with your money. In fact, you rarely think about how much you are spending.



You don't tend to be a very adventurous person, but you do surprise everyone now and then. You have a bit of a wild side.



You try to be responsible, but you don't always succeed. Your heart is in the right place though.



You are likely to be married - and very busy.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Random Thoughts

My vampire name is Opal of the Vile.

I have decided that my future tattoo is a phoenix.

I am on a Target diet again. Starting...... now.

And not starting this afternoon because the best $20 I ever spent was on the tower fan I bought this evening. I'm actually almost cold now.

I have to start bringing lunch to work and cooking at home. I want to involve the kids in cooking - maybe on the weekend and freezing food again? It was just so... tasteless.

My drag queen name is Donna Sommersault.

Where is the best place to get a tattoo? I don't want it on my back, I won't be able to see it. Stomach is out, I would eventually like to shrink that a bit. And god forbid it grows.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

You might be a redneck if...

...you're having a family reunion because your uncle just got out of prison.

...you can count on one hand the number of people there with all of their teeth.

...there's no beer at the picnic because we don't need anyone back in prison.

...one of the cousins didn't really feel the need to bring shoes.

...your 19-year-old cousin brought her boyfriend. Her dad's 37-year-old boss.

...the cousin who drove up from Tampa had to make a stop in Kentucky to retrieve his mother's belongings from a relationship that went sour a few years ago.

So yeah, we went to a family reunion this weekend in SD, and sadly, all of those things and more are true.

It was the kids's first real road trip at 5 hours one way. We thought we were being really smart by feeding them dinner at home Friday, wearing them down a little, packing up, and leaving at bedtime with them in jammies. Meimei dropped off right away and slept for about 90 minutes, but Kitten didn't. She kept thinking this was the adventure and we better get on with it, because it was getting late and she was getting tired and she had to get home to bed. After 2 screaming fits, they both finally dropped off about an hour from the hotel. So did I.

The hotel was another adventure. The kids don't sleep with us and Meimei doesn't sleep in a bed, plus they had just had an hour nap and were a bit restless. Kitten slept with Pants, but was apparently plastered to him all night. He had to get up and go around to the other side of the bed and start over. Meimei wanted to sleep on a pillow, but couldn't figure it out. She ended up sprawled on her stomach at the end of the bed. I moved at some point in the middle of the night and must have startled her because she flipped out and flew off the bed, cracking her head on the wall on the way down.

The drive home Saturday night was more of the same. We all slept through SD and woke up when we hit MN, after which we were all awake for the remainder of the journey. We stopped at the McDs in Morris and I drove thereafter, being more familiar with the roads. You will be happy to know the McDs is fine, the guy who raises bison and emu is still there, and the stretch between Glenwood and Sauk Center is still just as desolate. We got home about 11:30 and the kids went to bed. They got up this morning at 10.

So the first road trip was a little bumpy, but not bad. I wouldn't have missed the reunion for anything. One of the cousins on my grandma's side brought all of the old photo albums from grandma's sisters and I actually got to see my grandparents's wedding photos. Never saw them before. And seeing the relations I haven't seen in 20 years is fairly priceless.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Moving up the list

I realized this morning that the upstairs bathroom remodel needs to move up the list.

It's not the green sink, tub, and toilet that bother me, the leaks, the flecked laminate countertop, or the 6 gallon flush (although we've been meaning to fix that anyway).

It's because this morning I brushed my teeth while Kitten stood on a stool and brushed hers and Meimei stood at my leg begging to brush hers too. This is cute today, but will be hell in the coming months and years.

I wish this meant just tearing out the vanity and having a plumber come and split the pipes and hook up two sinks instead of one. If it was this easy, I would plan it as a weekend project. Like this month.

But no. The floor is tiled up to the vanity but not under. And the wall is tiled about 4 feet up with a cutout over the sink (we assume for the mirror). So tearing out the vanity will at least leave a hole in the floor tile, if not the wall as well, although we don't know. The space involved means we have to either do something very creative, put in two small pedestal sinks, or recreate this look from Ikea (which I love).

To work with the space we have means we have to either live with the ugly, uneven floor (and possibly wall) or redo all the tile.

I need to win the lottery.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Glad I left early

All apologies to Sam Brody and his parents, as well as the ever-fabulous hosts Puck and Pusher, but I almost missed the impromptu swim.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Today's projects

Brought load of crap to MIL's for future garage sale. Took new load of crap home from her friend's stash.

Began installation of new ceiling fan in Meimei's room. Could not complete installation, as electrical box is not nearly stable enough to take the weight, much less activate the fan blades. Bummer dude. Now there is no light in her room.

Put up 2 shelves in Meimei's room, got decorative stuff off dresser, put up a shoe organizer/bag thingy (shortened with scissors) in closet for additional storage.

Verdict on Meimei's room: going to hardware store tomorrow to pick up stabilization kits (stabilizing the fan in Kitten's room too), brackets for the curtain rod to hang her valance, maybe a new roller shade instead of the current plastic blinds, and a couple of plant hangers to rehang her balloon lamp.

Put together trove of goods for Sam Brody's enjoyment.

Just got called away to help Pants move the old grill down off the deck and move our grill up. More trash left by previous owners. Blah.

Still left do:
Clean entryway so I can get my new (old) cabinet in.
Change cat litter. Refill food and change water.
Clean bathroom.
Load of dishes.

Gah. Better get going.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday I took money matters in hand, paid the bills, made some phone calls to straighten out our cell and satellite accounts, and figured out how to pay off a bill and drop our monthly bill load $200/month.


OMG. Today at work, things were still a bit dicey, but this evening. My, this evening, how different things have been. The girls and I cleaned Meimei's room, set up her toddler bed (formerly Kitten's toddler bed) and put the sheets on, moved the bench out of her room to give her more play room, put all the toys away in her toy organizer thingy, and started on the closet and dresser organization. She's still in her crib for now, but her room was really our huge project for this weekend. Now we're about 40% done - on the first evening.

And the kids did better this evening, probably because I was nicer to them. Kitten went to bed better than she has in weeks. Meimei let me put her jammies on and change her without a fit.

Did I mention her room got cleaned?

And now I'm about to clean up the entryway. Like I've been planning for 3 weeks. And put the Low-e film purchased last weekend on the patio doors.

Hmmm. Think the depression might have been about the money? Yep. It's not completely done yet, but I feel much better.

Moral of the story? Grab the reins, chica. Grab the reins.