I Can't Believe It

My new washer has a glass lid. As we looked at them, the lower end modles had regular solid lids. I told Mike that I did not plan to stand there and watch the clothes wash so I did not care whether I had a glass lid or not. Mike installed the washer for me last night after he got home from work (as he was laughing at me - the other washer was not leaking THAT bad, so I had towels on the floor to channel the water to the floor drain and was continuing to do that mountain of laundry). He started the first load after he hooked it up, while I was hanging clothes on the line. He came outside to tell me that there would be a line in front of the washer for a little while. Silly me, I thought he meant some water line or something that he could not hook up right then, but NO........ he meant a line of critters watching the washer work through the glass lid. When I came in, the boys were in front of the washer and there was cat fur on the lid. Not only were the boys watching, but Pete had set Fiona on the lid to see too. As I was reading up on it, in the laundry room, the noise it was making changed, and both Mike and I looked inside to see what it was doing. Back to the manual, another new noise, we both look. OK, OK, we watched the clothes wash for a while. But as soon as the novilty wears off, I refuse to do that any more!!!

Steve Wants To Join The Circus

Yep, you read that right. Saturday one of the smaller circuses came to town. We were down at the Big Top at 9 AM, when as advertised, we saw the elephant pull up the big poles for the Big Top. Then home for a while. At 5:30 we went out to watch the circus. I knew the boys had never been to a circus before and I don't remember ever going to one either. Mike says he has been to several, but it was going to be a fun, family activity. I really liked the trained tiger show. Steve liked the trained dogs. Pete said he just liked the whole thing. It was a great evening.

Things Finally Worked Out

For the first time in a long time, things worked out this week. For the last couple of weeks things have been breaking- the computer printer picks and chooses what things on a page it wants to print - not good when trying to run a MapQuest!! The washing machine started making bad, loud noises (although still worked) and the better dryer Mike put in our laundry room in place of ours would not work consistanly for me - imagine the frustration of laundry day when the dryer may start 3 times for me (in a 7 hour period), but when I would complain to Mike, it always started for him -even if I would call him down right after I could not start it. FINALLY, FINALLY he figured out the switch that senses the door being closed was broken and he ordered a new one for me, showing me a trick to run it in the mean time. So today there is a mountain of laundry (it really piles up when the dryer is broken) but more about that in a minute. We took a van load of stuff to Good Will last night from our garage sale / home consolidation and decided to do some needed shopping while we were out. Off to Home Depot for things needed for the apartment house (looks like apartment #2 will be rented before the end of Septemter) and we began washer window shopping. I had my mind set on a front loader to save water, soap, etc , Mike was going to build me a step for the washer/dryer so we did not spend extra money buying pedistals. HMMM, sales going on: 10% off Energy Star, plus a $50 mail in rebate. Shopping may get a little more serious. The sales man came over, "No, I don't need help, I'm looking at the front loaders" I say as I am checking out the LG's (mom and sister both have the LG front loaders and are very pleased with them) "Are you sure?" salesman asks. Seems the new top loaders have the same water and energy effeciency, same tub agitaion, same great warrenties - and the tubs are bigger. HMMMM, new twist. OK, show them to me and tell me the differences and we decide on the top loader. Seems just like the front loaders, LG and Maytag are the best brands. Maytag is built 100% in the USA - big selling point for me, and remember from earlier posts, all my new kitchen appliances are Maytag and I have been having great luck with them. OHHH, here is a clearance Maytag, big tub, commercial motor, just not going to keep the display anymore because in this economy, they are displaying the cheaper, lower end modles. On sale from the company $100 off, On clearance 20% off, Energy Star 10% off, Mail in rebate $50 off. Soon they will be paying me to take this thing!! For the price of the low end modle we got a great machine. We load it up in the back of the van and head home. No hurry to unload, the other one still works, I have a bunch of laundry and a bunch of regular (not the HE laundry soap) so will get all this done using the old machine. Half way through today's laundry, the washer started leaking from the bottom, good thing there is a floor drain in the laundry room. Luckily, the washer is ready to unload and hook up, we didn't have to emergency shop for it, we got a great deal too boot. Things are looking up.

By the way, I also got a new, wirless printer last night, I don't even have to go in the office to hook up the USB cable when I want to print something I am working on in the living room. Too cool!

A Muddy Mess!

Yesterday we put the pup out on her chain to let her play in her pool and just chill while she spent some time outside. I looked out the window, and she was chewing on the side of her pool. Steve went out and tipped the water out of it and moved it out of her reach and came back in. After a while we walked out to get Sadie and she was a MUDDY MESS!!! She had apparently rolled in the muddy water where her pool was dumped and had a glorious time. The mud was in her ears, her white legs were black, her back was matted with dried mud. Time for a bath, so we filled her pool back up, got out the puppy shampoo and tried to hold her wiggling, playing self still for a quick bath. No go, at this age she is a bundle of muscle and energy and no control. I had to send Pete in to get Mike to help me hold her while the boys washed. She had bounced in and out of the pool a couple of times (did I mention what a muddy mess she was?) and the water was black. The first thing Mike said when he came out was - why are we giving her a bath in dirty water? Well, it WAS clean when we started.

Updates

Let's see....where did I leave off? My coat closet has been almost completed - One piece of upper trim still needed and the office walls still need to be sanded and painted then that is done!!! I put together my organazational pieces (4 of them) and Mike hung my closet bar. Pete has the first coats hanging up in there. I'm so happy!!!

Yesterday was Mike and my 1st year anniversery. We spent the day in Chicago and the boys spent the day with Mike's parents so we could have a day to ourselves. We took the train in - it doesn't save anytime, but we don't have to drive or try to park there.

Steve has some complications with his surgery incision again. We go see his specialist later this week - his family Dr. did not want to do much with it, she would rather we go to him. I totally understand that. It does not help to keep a mother from worrying. I wish I hadn't pushed for him to have that last surgery, I thought it would only do good things for him and his self esteem, but it seems to be one thing going wrong after another.

Well, my coat closet is almost done. We are down to just the mudding and sanding. It will be ready to paint soon, and then put up the door and trim - sorry, Honey, but we are going to put that up right away!! I bought cubicles to put on the back and side walls to organize, so Mike doesn't have to make anything. (That way he can start on my clothes closet sooner!! See how I worked that our for both of our benifits?) I will be hanging coats up before next weekend!

We measured our Baby Girl (Sadie) this morning. Last night the boys let her in right after Mike got home from work, and she jumped up to see him (she loves her daddy so!) and her front feet were on my shoulder blade!! Standing (with 4 on the floor) she is 23 inches from floor to shoulder and 37 inches long from nose to rump. She just turned 5 months old!!

One More Week!!

One more week, one more week, one more week-- until the boys go back to school!!! Yesterday we performed the new school time ritual here, before school even started. It was school pictures, pick up class schedules, receive and fill out all that yearly paperwork, find lockers and try the combination, put money into lunch accounts, and pay the yearly book fees. WWWHHHEEWWWW. But it's done now and this week we should get a call from the bus driver telling us what time the boys will be picked up this year. They are in the same school again - both in Middle School (remember when we were young and it was Junior High?), so they will be going at the same time for the first time in a couple of years. They had a short summer vacation here- just over 2 months, but it's what kept me sane my first summer home with the children, all day, every day.... One more week, just one more week!!

As a follow up to our dinner with the Chinese last week, Mike received a call from one of the Americans working with the Chinese on the contract to partner the two companies. Our dinner last week was on Tuesday and they told Mike that on Thursday while the negotiations were going on, this gentleman looked up from his paper work to see one of the Chinese gentlemen eating one of the ears of corn. I can just imagine - everyone working hard to agree on the terms of this partnership, they are supposed to leave the next day, so things are stressful to finish up. Looking up to clear up whatever point is on the table, and how funny to see someone just eating (cold mind you) corn on the cob!! The guy was laughing his butt off when he called Mike.

My coat closet has been started. Today we went to the home improvement store (good thing Mike got some gift cards and cash for his birthday last week!). We got home, had dinner, cleared out the corner of the office we are working in, and then Mike took down the half wall and framed up the outer wall to the closet. We talked about design and function since this is going to be a deep closet, I get a shelving unit in the back for boots, mittens, hats, and my craft stuff and he will have a shelving unit on the side for his boxes of paperwork that were stored in that corner on a plastic shelf. I will still have lots of room for our coats ( yeah, get them out of the bedrooms - Mike and I have no room in our closet as it is, that's why I am getting a new closet up there later this month!) He had originally designed a coat closet to be off the kitchen, but I claimed that space as a pantry over a year ago. Yeah, time to work on our house!!!

Yesterday was a day of rest for us. Mike was such a trooper when we shopped Saturday for materials for the Roman Shades I am going to make, we decreed Sunday to be a "Do Nothing Day" Mike stayed in his jammies until noon, only a moderate amount of laundry was done, a movie had been rented Saturday night to watch on Sunday (Rated R, so the boys spent the afternoon in the basement, a treat in itself!) Even Sadie was being lazy. We needed it, and I think we earned it. This week now will bring more finishing details to the house - a closet or two is the next project on the agenda - one for my clothes, one for coats!!! Hallelujah, life is good!

Yesterday Mike and I had a bunch of errands to run. We have been so busy lately that we had to get some stuff done. We had a gift certificate from our wedding to the local meat market that will expire in a couple weeks, so we used that. We headed out for the nearest large town to go to the fabric store, we needed to pick out material for curtains for the living rooom now that we have it almost done. As we were heading out of town, we drove by my all time favorite restaurant, and out in the grass next to the parking lot was a helicopter. Now, I just assumed it had something to do with the antique show and old car show that we had driven by earlier. Mike said no, it was a private helicopter that someone had flown over to eat at the restaurant. I told him it was probably "Marine 1", we know that the President was in Chicago, and we are just a hop, skip, and a jump from there.....

We ended up having to hit another large town for the material we were looking for, but we did come to an agreement on the fabric. With such large windows, we had to order the fabric, and I started making my list of the parts we would need to make the Roman Shades and valances. Part of the things I picked up in the fabric store - my hubby was a trooper and did not complain as I walked around looking for the things I needed. Then we went to the hardware store to get the rest of my materials. It was the first time we ever went to the hardware store together for stuff I needed and nothing for him. I still need a few things, but I can pick them up up when I go up to get my special order fabric. I even got materials for the office shade. My mom is going to come over when the boys go back to school and things settle down to help me make the shades. Mike will have to put up the hooks and hang the blinds, since both me and my mom are afraid of heights, and the top of the windows are about 11 feet off the floor. I can not wait to get this house done - it is looking so great already!!

He Wants To Be A Cowboy

On Monday night, while we were working on the living room, I happened to look out the window. "Mike, there is a cow in our back yard". Off Mike goes to let Jacob know his cow is out, so I went outside to be the cow spotter in case it decied to wander off. Then I realized it was not a cow, it's a bull. Ok, I was being cautious anyway (hey, cows are BIG!) but I was even more cautious now. Mike came home alone and said Jacob would be here soon. He parked my Trail Blazer across the mouth of the drive to encourage him to stay here until he could be packed off to his ladies in the field next door. He just roamed around eating the fresh cut grass - we think that was why he visited us. When Jacob came to get the bull, he had a big stick for herding it, and 5 very small children to help ( I think they were aged about 8-4), both boys and girls. Jacob told them where to stand and then tried to make the bull go back through the fence the way he came. No go. OK, we will have to take him down the drive way and through the gate. Move the children alone the driveway to keep him from running the wrong way, and Mike moved the car. Where am I, you ask? Hey, I've seen the "Running of the Bulls in Pampalona" on TV, I'm behind the grill in easy reach of the garage door should I need to duck in there. Mike used the blazer like a modern day cowboy, chasing it up front and flashing the lights to make it want to leave the yard. The oldest boy (about 8 remember) holds open the gate to the field and in he finally went. Mike wished it had been one day later that this happened so we had some real entertainment for the Chinese deligation!!

The Third Time's A Charm

Shortly before our rally, the riding lawn mower broke. We did not have time to take care of it before we left and when we returned the repair place was closed due to their family vacation. We still needed to get as much lawn mowed as possible before our dinner party on Tuesday, so the boys push mowed. Steve came inside Monday afternoon, with his face red and splotchy, and if he wasn't so tough, I'm sure he would have been crying. Pete came in with him, all upset telling me that Steve had been stung by a bumble bee over his eyebrow (left eye). I gave him ice and kept an eye on him, since I was not sure he had ever been stung before, so was not sure if he would be allergic. Soon he was smiling and watching TV, so off he was sent again. By this time we had the rider fixed and Mike had gone to get it. So Steve got on the rider and off he went. Soon he was back in again, he had been mowing the back yard in a different area from the last time, a honey bee had stung him above the other eyebrow, in almost the same spot. More ice, more sympathy until again it was obvious he was fine. Off to mow some more, this time the side yard, the back yard would have to wait until late evening when the bees go to bed- he was out of eyebrows anyway.



On a related note, when the Chinese were here Tuesday night, Robert, the interpretor (sp?) of the group, saw our riding lawn mower sitting by the garage. He asked one of the American delegation what it was and he showed Robert how to run it. Mike went outside with his guests in time to see Robert mowing a swath of the front yard and back to the garage again. Robert had a ball. Wonder if he wants to take over the boys mowing chores.....

Whhheewwww

We began to put the "finishes" on the house the week before the rally. So, we had one big, busy week, packed for the rally, gone 8 days, and spent this Sat, Sun, Mon and part of Tuesday in a mad dash. Of course, Tuesday was rather booked up anyway, Steve had ortho at 8 AM, so since I needed to go to Meijers, we got up early and Steve and I left the house early to hit Meijer first and then ran back home. Boys and Sadie were going to Grandma's, so by 2:30, had to leave again to run them over. On the way home, trip to K-Mart for enough matching glasses for our dinner party - thank you Mike for calling me to ask if we had enough so I was not embarassed by our hodge-podge of mismatched sets. Then, racking my brain for a place to pick up fresh gladiolas (sp?) for the table. AHHH, Kroger has nice flowers, yes they have glads, oh no, they are tight buds. HHHMMM, when my sister got married she used glads and my mom had to force them to open using a bucket of warm water the day before. I found the most open ones they had, re-cut the ends and into the vase of warm water. Not open as much as I would have liked, but they were pretty. We had a ton of food. So, here is the answer to the much asked question of what we decided to make as our "American" dinner. Steak on the grill (on sale at Meijer) and marinated baked chicken (thank you sis, for your marinade reciepe, I got several compliments from the American part of the deligation), and the last minute addition of Spaghetti with meat sauce. Mike's speciality is his sauce. I know, lots of food that did not seem to go together, but I guess in China they have several dishes and Mike wanted to try to honor them with that. The corn on the cob was the biggest hit, the President of the company, Mrs. Shu, loved it and took the left over corn back to the hotel with her. Mike is trying to find seeds for her to take back. Also we served salad, steamed veggies, and dinner rolls. We had an appitizer tray of assorted fruits and veggies out and the fresh cherries were the hit on that front. Mike also bought 2 cases of Chinese beer (special ordered for him from our local party store) and for a while I was afraid that would not be enough. They brought Mike 2 bottles of the rice alchol that he got so sick on in China because they drink so much of it, but they turned it down when he offered to toast with it. Mrs. Shu presented me with a beautiful Chinese fan. We had also brought Mackinaw Island fudge home with us from our rally, so we served slices of 5 different flavors of fudge for dessert. They had never had fudge before and really liked it. When they left, Mr. Li, the head of operations in China told us through the translator that our hospitality had been as sweet as our dessert and they enjoyed their time with us. Mike had taken them across the street to the rug weaving place, some of our Amish neighbors, (so I could clean up from dinner and get ready for dessert) and they bought several purses from Sarah, and her husband (I can never remember his name) showed everyone the new buggy they got just last week. All in all, our dinner party was a sucess. Now to rest........until tomorrow for Mike's birthday party.

I'm Back!!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth ( or even into Lake Michigan! ) Last week was our working vacation - alright, Mike worked, the rest of us were on vacation - to Mackinaw City. We spent Saturday and Sunday being tourists, and Mike had to work Monday - Thursday. On the last night, there was a rally dinner we went to as a family, and we sat with some people who Mike had worked on their coach a couple times during the week. The wife could not quit singing Mike's praises ( I would have been jealous had she not been in her late 60's!!! ) Anyway, as she was telling some other couple about Mike coming back to her coach a second time to help her out, she kept looking at the boys. She finally turned to me and told me that as often as she has seen Mike this week, she would know just by looking at the boys that they belong to him. HMMMM...maybe biology doesn't count for much - are we looking at the "Nature or Nurture" debate for the way the offspring look?

We came home on Friday night, and now we are working hard to finish up the inside of the house for the visit of Mike's Chinese co-workers. Mike is the procrastionator who just knows it will all come together in the end. I, on the other hand, am nervous that there is still so much that needs to be done. Wish us luck - I see long nights in our future!!