Inspiration . . .

Okay, I'll be honest here.  Mostly I think police are the good guys.  I like the many, many officers who have visited our home since our neighbor engaged her hate campaign.  The police we've met have been nice normal people.  It never occurred to me to film them doing their jobs - heck, it never occurred to me to film my own kids being cute.  But, after seeing this video, I'm kind of rethinking things.  What do you all think? 

The law is the law and the law was totally on the police side of this.  BUT, where is the common sense?  Where is the judicious use of resources? They brought out five police cars, some government woman in her sweatshirt and mom-jeans (someone nominate gov't woman for a segment of What Not to Wear) AND A back-hoe to remove a pole that had been there for 60 years? I won't even mention the government lady flat-out lying.  Gah!  I complain about our little town wasting money, but, come on, Delaware has nothing better to do with their resources? 

Whatever, you can watch and see for yourselves.  I have to say, the mom climbing to the top of the basketball hoop was an inspiration to me.  I don't know that I could do that.  Push ups in the morning.  And, someone remind me to get Mike to add sandbags to the bottom of the basketball hoop, I'm not as tiny as that lady, with my luck I'd tip over and crack my head open on the concrete and then our mean neighbor would make Mike and the boys clean my brains off of the street before they could bury me. 

Go ahead, smile . . .

When Andy was 2-3, still taking nice long naps, he would wake up and demand to watch Paula Deen.  Why?  No clue.  I don't usually watch cooking shows.  I think he liked her voice.  I would sit and watch with him and continually be astounded by her use of butter.  I love butter.  I use it a lot, but Paula Deen continually put me to shame.  So, when I saw this tonight on Facebook, I knew I had to share. 

Spring Breaking . . .

That's what I've been doing. Like everyone, I have talents and I have weaknesses.  Unlike many who blog, I don't always share my deepest thoughts, just my entertaining ones.  After my last post, we broke for Spring Break.  I opted to break from blogging because one of my "talents" is meanness.  If I just blog on the spur of the moment, I'm likely to hurt someone's feelings and just because I think something in the heat of the moment doesn't mean I want to hurt anyone, so I took a week off. 

The older boys still had their classes (their break was the week before ours) so it was me, Andy and the dogs.  Cally, though taller than Scout is definitely a puppy.  Yikes.  In one way it's easier than having a toddler, I can just dump food into her bowl and go back to my own caffeine.  In another way, it's harder because I think she's about as smart as she's going to get, so my general toddler activities are not working on her.  Imagine!  She ate the play-doh, crushed the sidewalk chalk and ate the dough before we could make biscuits.  (kidding)

Actually, we had a great week.  After St. Paddy's Day, we started break.  The temps have been climbing here and our neighbors opened their pool on Friday evening.  The kids swam; the grown-ups were in sweatshirts and socks and shorts shivering.  Monday, we took Scout in for her first steroid shot.  Must have been old dog day at the vet's.  There were five dogs about Scout's age all waiting in the lobby for their shots.  The vet didn't even bother to bring us to a room, they came out with a tray of "old dog" shots for everyone and there was not even a heavy breath.  Good news, though, as I'm typing this Scout is on DAY SIX of no cone and no chewing off her tail or her legs.  It's wonderful. 

Tuesday, Andy and I ventured over to the Brevard Zoo.  It's about an hour from here.  WOW!  It's so easy with just one kid.  We packed a lunch, stopped and got drinks for the ride out there and had an amazing day.  On the way out, it occurred to me that we could actually buy an ice cream since I would not have to buy four.  Andy was shocked and awed.  In fact, when we got home, he could not get out of the car fast enough to tell his brothers that "Mom bought ice cream at the zoo!"  Danny was actually mad about this.  (FTR, the ice cream was delicious.)

The rest of the week was spent on reading books we wanted to read, rather than books we HAD to read, working in the garden (really, pictures soon - it's incredible - everything is growing!), teaching Cally the electric fence and some basic manners and just enjoying the ease of daily life with school not in it.  I spent quite a bit of time thinking about soap and how/if I want to sell it . . . undecided as of yet.   I spent a LOT of time in each room of the house culling things we don't use or need or want.  YIKES!  We're not really shoppers, so where did all this stuff come from?  By Saturday, though, I felt lighter and ready to face anything.  It's great to get rid of stuff you don't love or need.  Anyone here ever do FlyLady?  I did for years after Andy was born and lost track of it.  I think I might start up again.  I loved it when I did it (except the wearing shoes all day).  Anyone want to join me?

Sunday we had some neighbors and my parents over for an End-of-Spring-Break cookout.  It was so much fun (aside from one my neighbors caving to her younger son's sickness of early that week and having to go home - poor bunny isn't even nice enough for how sick and sad she was).  I have to say, though I never would have said it when I was 18, my parents are so cool and awesome and fun.  Really, it's such a surprise and such a gift to have such amazing parents.  

It's nice to get everyone together when it's not a holiday or birthday or any other event.  It's nice to just come together and eat and talk and have fun.  I heart Mike.  He made shish-kabobs (veggie - pork- chicken - hot sausage), snickerdoodles (which I turned into ice cream sandwiches  via the magic of a spoon, plastic wrap and the freezer!) and a spicy chipotle coleslaw.  Other contributions to the meal included deviled eggs, a beautiful pasta salad and a lemon pound cake (wish there were a way to hide such a cake under my bed before anyone else gets a glimpse). 

So, I'm back.  I'm refreshed.  What's new in your lives?  You can make stuff up, I don't get out much and I'll be impressed with anything you tell me.

Who knew?

I always thought gardening was for really old, grumpy people. (Yes, I read and loved The Secret Garden a million times as a little person, but still . . . ) As I am slowly becoming an old person, I'm starting to get it!  Unless you live on a farm, if you have a job and/or young kids, gardening is hard work. (Not to say that living on a farm is not work, but that's kind of what you do on a farm, right?)  Gardening is just another thing to do everyday and something to get done quickly and efficiently while tending to diapers, phone calls, sibling issues and the fact that your house is probably falling apart piece-by-piece like ours is.  Now that my kids are older, I'm getting it.  Who knew?  Gardening is fun, relaxing and challenging at the same time.

These days, no one is going to starve if I mess around with my tomatoes or wander aimlessly while I consider additional parts of the yard as garden space. It's been years since anyone has flooded the house or head-dived into a ceiling fan.  I can goof around with the dogs while I contemplate the value of eggplant and luxuriate in the absolute beauty of overalls (really, clothing does not get more comfy or more functional).  If all the boys are home, things might get loud in the house while I'm outside puttering, but, heck, they know more first aid than I do and they know my wrath . . . so I have time.  If nothing else, they have the sense to clean up their messes before I come wandering, blind from sunshine, back inside the house.

I spent the early evening picking, one-by-one, the dead heads off of my geraniums.  Who knew? I have been trying to have geraniums in front of our house for 13 years - finally, success!!!  I listened to my book, sniffed the dirt-ish geranium smell on my hands and wrestled a full roll of toilet paper from Cally's mouth without breaking a sweat.  Inside, the boys were studying.  Mike and Andy were working on football strategies for their upcoming spring league.  And I was alone playing in the dirt.  Who knew?

Whew!

So, we've been approved by the rescue people.  The only thing we have to do is send a final form and a picture of all of us with Cally.  The form is no problem.  The picture?  Weird, but okay.  The problem is getting everyone in one place and awake at the same time.  We sort of managed last night . . .

The dogs were a little wound up.

We finally got them contained - sort of.  Forget about the people in the picture looking in the right direction or sitting still.

And at last, a new family portrait. 

Twenty-One!!!!

Today marks 21 years that Mike and I have been married.  I'm such a goober, I was thinking as I pulled this picture up that I should get a new one - um . . .wedding pictures stay the same, right?  

Twenty-one years,four kids, and so so much growing up and, huh, we still like each other.  We have been so very fortunate over the years.  We're both grateful, but probably not as much as we should be.  But, we really are.  

In a bizillion years, if someone had told me when that picture was taken in 1990 that I would within the next three years have three little boys in diapers AND that just a few years later I'd be homeschooling them while pregnant with the fourth brother ... my monster hair bow (see picture) would have shot off of my head with such incredible force, well ... yeah, it would have shot off of my head with incredible force.  

My point being, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.  And also, stupid is as stupid does.  And, also, look how YOUNG we were!!!!!  

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. 

I know you . . .

I stopped by the police department yesterday just to see if there was anything to be done about our mean neighbor.  I was happy to meet with a police officer who has NOT yet been to our house.  As I started to explain the situation, he held up his hand and said "So you're 232 Oak Road!  I know all about you."  Gah!  I'd hoped to be a pillar of society by the time I was 45, not a roll-the-eyes-street-number.  (Really, I never wanted to be a pillar of society - society would have to be in pretty sad shape if I was one of the ones holding it up.)  

He went on to say we'd become famous on Christmas Day when our neighbor broke Andy's arrow AND sicced the cops on us before 10 am.  Basically, though, he told us to just live our lives, the police accept that mean neighbors are a part of life and as long as we're not breaking any laws, just let it roll off our backs.  By law, if she calls with something that sounds reasonable, they have to come.   I thanked him and told him that whoever is working on July 4 is welcome and we'll set him up with a plate of food.  He laughed and said he'd let the other officers know. Wish I had read the comments before my visit to the PD.  I like the idea of a fundraiser.  I'll keep you all posted.  

Next stop the vet.  If anyone is looking for a vet in Central Florida, leave a note in the comment section - I LOVE our new vet.  Scout is old but incredibly healthy.  We have a new medicine that will alleviate the need for the cone-of-shame - I hope - otherwise we'll try a steroid shot. Cally was beyond well-behaved.  Things have calmed down quite a bit here.  Cally and Scout have worked out their territorial issues.  Cally has accepted that Scout's in charge AND she's noticed that this is easy to do since Scout sleeps so much.  

Scout commandeered Cally's sleeping pillow last night.  Cally simply sat there while I brushed my teeth and tried to rub out my wrinkles with magic lotion (I think it will work tonight, right?).  By then, Scout was far gone and Cally just flopped on top of her.  This morning?  I had to brush Cally not because she was shedding but because she was coated in Scout's hair.  Crazy.  Scout has come a long way with her personal space issues.

Andy and I are plowing through school clinging to the fact that Friday begins our Spring Break.  I don't know if I'm  more ready for a break or if he is.  I have a big stack of books to work through next week - yay for fiction!  Send positive math thoughts our way in the meantime.  Lots of them.  

Now to figure out our health insurance for the upcoming year . . . ugh.  Anyone have dental insurance that they love?

Maybe next year . . .

Every year, as the "spring forward" time change approaches I tell myself I will start getting to bed earlier and trying to reset my internal clock.  Every year I don't do this.  Every year, I find myself cursing on this Sunday night.  Oh well . . . at least I'm consistent.  Who knows, maybe next year I will really attempt to pre-adjust to the time change.  Probably not, but it could happen . . .

Fun weekend.  The weather has been spectacular.  Mike and the boys did scout stuff all day on Saturday.  That gave me a day to teach Cally about the electric fence.  Scout helped.  I'll say one thing for Cally, she's not stupid.  It's been going really well.  We have the little flags up around the perimeter of the fence for a week or so until Cally has learned the boundaries.  It's not really a Better Homes and Garden landscape look, but worth it in the long run.  

A local dog-lover asked me if Cally was part Bernese Mountain Dog.  I had to google the breed to learn that she has similar coloring, but is far too small and has way less hair.  However, reading about the Bernese dogs, I found a link to a site for Appenzell Mountain Dogs and without a doubt, this is what Cally is.  Crazy, we have basically adopted a Swiss Border Collie.  At least now we better know how to train her.  

I'm getting the feeling that our neighbor is not happy with our decision to adopt another dog - not that either dog is in her yard or is a nuisance in any way.  I think the flag border for the electric fence might have been the trigger.  Either way, we had two visits from the police today.  One in the morning on a code enforcement thing that was a non-thing, but, man, Mike was angry, angry, angry.  Mike is not an angry person.  Not a great way to kick off the day.  Late in the afternoon, there were 5-6 boys (10-12) playing down here.  Nothing unusual and they were following the neighborhood rules of staying away from the neighbor's house as much as possible.  Still, a police cruiser pulled up here around five with a complaint about bikes and debris cluttering the road.  The officer looked around - there were a bunch of bikes in my yard and nothing in the road.  @@'

I'm at a loss.  Clearly something about us makes this woman seethe with anger and hatred.  But, all joking aside, I'm tired of meeting the Winter Springs police one at a time.  What a huge waste of time, money and resources.  Mike has decided it's time to have a truly HUGE party . . . he figures if we're having the police here twice a day on a day where we're doing yard work and laundry, we might as well have some fun.  

I dunno.  I just want to be able to live my life without thinking someone is watching our every move - it's just creepy and sad and creepy.

Bleak House . . .

Anyone else ever read this? It's not my favorite Dickens' novel but, I like it.  Ian is currently reading it for one of his classes and that brought it to mind.

This week has been a struggle with allergies.  It sounds stupid, but honestly, I'm hanging my by fingernails here.  All I want to do is flop somewhere and close my eyes.  I'm not tired, but my eyes are burning, my ears and throat are itchy, I've developed a charming cough and there is the endless nose-blowing.  And, believe it or not, the ALLEGRA is helping a LOT.  It cannot last much longer.  Right????

I've slipped and I've been watching the news again.  Gah!  Talk about Bleak House.  The whole situation in Japan is terrifying.  It's such a tiny, tiny nation - how in the world do they evacuate people?  I cannot imagine being there right now.  As for national news, double gah!  Really, aren't most people in the middle of things?  Things cannot be as extreme as they're painted on any network.  And, please tell my why Charlie Sheen deserves air time?  Sympathy, prayers and maybe a good kick in the head - but is he really news?  Blech.

In other news . . . the friends who had to give up Cally, originally adopted her through a rescue group.  Our friends were split on telling the rescue group that Cally was now living with us, but they let the rescue group know what had transpired.  Fine.  The group asked our friends to ask us to fill out an application.  Like I said above, it's been all I can do this week to get the basics done.  Our old vet retired and I had a new vet lined up.  My plan, as the rescue group is sure to check our vet, was to take both dogs to the new vet (Scout for her check up and Cally for a meet and greet).  I have an appointment on Monday afternoon. 

My friend called this morning and I wasn't here.  I returned her call and she wasn't there.  Later, I got an email from her saying that the rescue group was anxious (read nagging) about us not filling out the application and that if we were as great as our friends had told them it should not be a problem.  Hello, rescue people, I've manged to stay off the evening news for nearly 19 years with my kids,  Scout will actually go sit in a corner if I tell her she's being rude. I'm good with a puppy.   Grrrr. . .  I filled out the stoopid application as a courtesy to our friend.  

These folks actually suggested to come and "retrieve" Cally from our home.  @@  Really?  I always teased Mike in the past about his avoidance of "rescue" groups the few times we've looked for pets.  I get his point now.  We don't have a groomer.  We don't have our vet on speed dial.  But, you know what? we take care of our animals at least as well as we take care of our kids.  (Somedays, I am WAY nicer to the pets, than I am to the kids but only because the pets have earned it..)  I hope the rescue group accepts our application - Cally IS part of our family now.  (Granted she is the most insane part of the family at the moment, but we all adore her.)  I hate the idea of a group of "rescue people" deciding if we're good enough . . .I'll be on pins and needles until we hear.  (And, I wonder what I would do if they decided to 'save' Cally from us . . . hummmmm....)

Okay, I will now herd the dogs into our bedroom.  Scout will assume her customary spot of sleeping under my side of the bed and Cally will sleep on her pillow at the corner foot of my side of the bed.  The only question that remains is "Do I want to take the Nyquil?"  I'm thinking no - maybe just a shower.  If I'm not back in two or so days, you'll know I chose the Nyquil!

PS - the garden is growing!!!!  I'll get pictures this weekend.

Wretched pollen!

Pollen is evil.  Always. This year it is exceptionally evil - zombie-vampire-legging evil even.  I have been fighting to function for the past several days.  Today was pretty much of a loss.  Andy was actually correcting my corrections to his math and Latin lessons - it was that bad.  And then, the angels sang.  

We were driving to the library and I noticed the marquee at Walgreens - "ALLEGRA - now available without a prescription."  I nearly caused Tim to wreck the car with my hoarse, congested shouts to turn around and go back to the drug store.  I had a prescription for Allegra forever but it got so expensive with our new insurance and the Claritin that works for Ian worked well-enough for me, it wasn't ALLEGRA, but it allowed me to function.  

I ran into the drug store, bought a bottle of water and the ALLEGRA (it does deserve to be capitalized) and opened the bottle and took it right there at the pharmacy counter. That was about four hours ago.  I feel close to human already.  I figure another couple of days and I'll be fully functional.  I'm so excited.  Mike and the kids are even more excited.  They get freaked out when all I want to do is flop on the couch and sleep while making disgusting noises.  Go figure.

Despite the allergies, we had a great weekend.  Tim had another track meet on Friday.  The car situation was a mess, so Mike was the only one to attend.  Lucky him.  It was pouring rain and cold.  But, Tim did well, he was very pleased.  They were both fuh-reezing when they got home.  June Cleaver that I am, I had hot gumbo waiting for the pair of them.  After that, we watched a couple of episodes of the first season of Third Rock from the Sun.  I love having the Wii with Netflix.  

Saturday was gardening, lawn work, laundry, you know - fun weekend stuff. I'm so excited, there are signs of life in the garden and the tomatoes and peppers are sprouting wee flowers!  It's kind of fun figuring out how to do stuff with Cally and Scout by my side.  Scout is slowly accepting Cally.  She treats her like a stoopid sibling, but there is no more snarling or barking.  Cally is proving to be incredibly smart and hysterically funny.  She clearly knows that it's wise to listen to me - she comes when I call, she'll sit and lay down for me too.  Funny how it works when you're the one in charge of the food.  Parenting 101.  ;)  

Sunday, Andy and I went with Scout and Cally and some friends to our local dog park.  I never really considered a dog park before.  We have a big yard and Scout was always happy running around here.  She is so well-trained that when the electric fence shorted out months and months ago, I let it go.  Scout stays in the boundaries out of habit.  Mike and the boys reconnected the fence this weekend and we'll start training Cally with it tomorrow.  In the meantime, she needs to run and run and run.  And, dog parks are the perfect place for this.  Scout was not thrilled.  At all.  She sat and glared at me the whole time.  Scout's a snob. Cally, on the other hand, made friends with everyone and ran until we had to practically carry her to the car.  Nice morning.  

Sunday afternoon, the friends that asked us to take Cally came for dinner.  It gave their 12-year-old-daughter a chance to say goodbye and to see what Cally's new life is like.  It was a really nice afternoon.  It's rare that we just have one family for dinner - you've read enough here to know it's usually a free-for-all-for-forty-or-so.  I got a chance to actually set the table with real plates and silverware.  It was a little crowded with 11 of us around the table (five being over 6' tall - worked better when everyone was little), but we had an awesome time.  It was a little sad when our friends had to go home, but I think Cally is where she's supposed to be and I think our friends' daughter was amazingly mature about the whole thing.  I would not have been at that age.  Ask my mom.

I still have to take pictures of the rearranged furniture.  Maybe we can discuss paint colors too.  I'm liking the change of furniture - it feels airier, sort of, I think.  I'm at a loss for lighting though - the living room, while lightened up a bit still feels like a cave.  We'll talk about those and other exciting issues in another post.  

Still no sign of the Jenny, the missing pig.  We picked up a smaller, enclosed (Cally is a most enthusiastic lover of guinea pigs - too enthusiastic to be honest) crate for Esme, the remaining pig.  Esme seems happy - wish she could talk and tell us what happened.  I hate that I have a lingering shadow of doubt regarding  my mean neighbor and Jenny's disappearance, but I do.  It's just all too creepy to be real, though. Mike insists I'm insane and I hope he's right. Time to lay off of the Stephen King. 

Pigs, pollen, puppies

Sorry to be gone so long, stupid real life (I kid).  The pollen has been horrific here this past week.  Combine that with our general family freak-out of the missing guinea pig and you have a mess of a family.  To keep things interesting, Andy's godmother called asking if we could take a 6-month-old puppy that they had adopted from a rescue group and that was not a good match with their older dog.  (Here's a picture of 13-year-old Scout on the drive to go meet the puppy.  She's more excited than she looks.)

 

Now, we have no pig (and lots and lots of questions about her disappearance), six people staggering around in a pollen-filled haze and Cally, our new family member.  Cally is a border collie-beagle-mutt mix.  She's beautiful and so very sweet.  Scout is slowly taking charge and feeling okay about her being here.  The beagle-part of Cally showed up nearly instantly when we brought her home.  She will eat anything and everything.  If nothing else, she definitely cleaned up my kitchen floors!  The border collie as been showing too, as she herds my boys on bike rides and walks.  As long as everyone is in a line, she's okay.  Step out of line and you're going to hear from her.  

Tomorrow night my friend and her family are coming over so her 12-year-old daughter can see where Cally is and say goodbye.  My inner 12-year-old wants to just sob.  Cross your fingers that things go well.  

Other exciting news?  I put Mike and the boys to work and had them moving furniture all over the house.  It's nice to have a change - I  will try to get pictures.  I was hoping to stave off the need to paint, but, alas, I have a purse full of paint chips.  

What else?  March is the month Dan should hear from most of the schools he applied to as well as the NROTC.  I'm surprised at how on edge I am.  I'm not surprised at how on edge Danny is.  Imagine how well we're getting along these days?  

I'll post more over the weekend.  Hope all is well in your worlds.