A Bit Of Excitement

We have a new Amish saw mill going in down the road from us. We have been watching them move in the equipment, and now the logs have begun to arrive. Today I decided we would burn off the fence rows as soon as the boys got off the bus, before things green up too much. The boys and I each had a rake and took up strategic spots. As I was burning, the wind was helping keep the flames going but there was just enough green grass to make plenty of smoke. There was an Amish buggy coming down the road, and a big truck of logs going up the road, all converging around my smoky fence row. The poor horse spooked and began shying away from everything, as the elderly lady who was driving tried to keep things steady. I watched helplessly as the horse started backing up and the buggy was heading backward into the ditch. The back wheels of the buggy were stopped by the fence posts behind it and the lady was able to make the horse pull the buggy out of the ditch. She turned around and went back the way she came, no one hurt, nothing broken on the buggy. Luckily, there is a stop sign close to our house, so the truck had stopped at the first signs of trouble and it let the buggy begin it's journey again before starting on it's way. Soon the buggy was coming back, very unsure of the fire now. The lady got out and was slowly walking it, trying to coax it by our yard ( if you ever want to feel like dirt, be the cause of an old lady having to lead a scared horse by your yard!) The horse would stop and she would talk to it and then get it moving again (those horses are big ya know). There was a pick up truck behind the buggy, and a young guy (20 somethingish) got out and asked if he could help her. With him on one side and her on the other they quickly managed and she got back into the buggy and was on the way. Next spring, I'm making sure Mike is here for the burning day!

______Not Included

I'm used to buying things that require batteries (not included) - which is why we have a drawer full of batteries in different shapes and sizes. I just received a Kindle e-reader for my birthday that did not have any books included (althought I downloaded lots of free ones from the website), my cell phone functioned, but I had to buy a case for it. Last night takes the cake though. We were hanging a tin ceiling in the apartment house, and since Mike had broken his chalk line earlier this year, he stopped and bought one. He came to the house, and asked me if I knew where his bottle of chalk was......HHUUUUHHH? How can you buy a chalk line, but the chalk is not included? That one makes no sense to me. So off I run to the hardware store for chalk while Mike begins his figuring on how to lay out these tiles. So, I picked the color I liked (red) and mumbled about it the rest of the night. By the way, we got about 3/4 of the ceiling up and it looks great.

Peaceful Protest

My dog is a willful girl. Unfortunately, she is big enough that her will sometimes makes our will difficult. Last night I told Steven to take Sadie down to bed with him (her dog crate is downstairs by the boys bedrooms). He got her excited to play with him by squeezing her favorite squeaky toy and she began to go down the steps. As she went, I put the doggy gate (or for clarification purposes, a baby gate) at the top of the stairs - she does sometimes turn around and run back up past the boys when she really does not want to go to bed. Now, these steps have 2 landings that each make a 90 degree turn, and soon she was back at the top landing, looking at me and the gate with those puppy dog eyes of hers. First she tried to "cutify" me into letting her come back up - No Way was she going down by Steven and get put into her crate! After several minutes of that I heard her plop down, so I went to look and of course she takes up the whole landing, laying sprawled out with her head facing down in order to keep an eye out for any pesky boys who intend her to go to bed! She just looked so pitiful. Steve came to get her, but she was refusing to budge. Fine, Steve, (said I) just leave her and go down to get your shower and get ready for bed. She will eventually come down to see what you are doing and then you can put her in her crate. 2 hours later, Mike and Pete came home from the rental house. Sadie was still keeping up her peaceful protest of bedtime on the landing. One thing about those solitary shows of will, they are lonely. As soon as Pete went down, she willingly followed and was ready for the security of her bed.

I'm a bad, bad blogger lately. We've been so busy finishing this apartment, and we seem to have something booked for every weekend...... the busy life of the modern family. I keep finding myself saying that I will be happy when things slow down and things get back to normal. But I have discovered something - I believe this IS our normal. I don't think Mike would be happy with a life of just going to work, and then relaxing at home with a project thrown in now and then. The kids are not even in a bunch of extra cirriculars, and we seem to have a lot of things for school thrown in this last month or so. 2 weeks ago it was band festival, tomorrow it is a fundraiser pancake breakfast and concert. Next year Steve has a chance to go to Washington DC with his class for the 8th grade trip -all my family and friends are now hearing "fundraiser" coming up for that. I'm thinking Chaperone!! I've never been to Washington DC.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday, for the first time since October we had a 70 degree day!!! With sunshine!! I turned off the furnace, added the screens back to the windows, opened the back door and we (me and the cats) just enjoyed!!! Mike had a dentist appointment in the "big city", so he ran errands while he was there for pieces and parts needed for the rental. Then we took the night off. The boys got their bike tires pumped up from sitting all winter, and took their first bike ride of the year - they've been itching to get out there. Spring begins soon!

He's Growing Up

My Darling Oldest has his first band festival this weekend. Luckily for him, it is being held at his school, so his first competition will at least be in familiar surroundings. So for today, Friday, the "Band Geeks" as they call themselves are dressing in their concert wear. I was able to talk him into wearing his really dark blue pants ( I have trouble deciding if these are blue or black, depending on the light) instead of the black, and he is wearing his short sleeve white dress shirt instead of the long sleeve he will need for tomorrow. This way I don't have to rush around getting his real concert clothes washed for tomorrow. He also has on a tie, and for the first time has tied it himself. He has tried to tie it before, but I have always ended up having to fix it. Today's tie looks good. He's lost 30 pounds in the last year, so he is looking really good. Tall and slim and dressed to the 9's. Maybe he'll be irresistable to the ladies today.......

Our Resolutions For Lent

A long time ago, someone told me that for Lent you don't just have to pick something to give up, but it is also a time when you can take something up. This year, that is what I am doing. And being the mom, I am doing it for everyone. We are getting healthy.... for the last few months, I have been cooking less, and putting smaller portions on everyone's plates. So far, no one seems to be going hungry. Now I am starting to work on putting healthier choices on those plates. Much less pasta will be eaten in this house - something that has been a staple in our diet for a long time. More fruits and veggies will be found in the fridge at all times. Smaller meat portions will continue, and many more healthy items will be on the plates. This will force me to plan much farther ahead on my menus, so that I can make sure we have plenty of veggies available, but not too many so I am throwing them away. I have begun planning what will be planted in our garden this year and resolve to keep it carefully tended all season. I can hear the grumbling already, but I am serious about it. I have neglected my diet too long. With my polycystic ovary, my blood sugar could be a problem, and too many family members in the last year have had health problems. Lent is the perfect motivation to begin NOW.

Who Woulda Thunk It?

Today, as I tried to fill the sink with hot, soapy water to clean the kitchen, I could not get hot water to save my soul. HHMMM, we have one of those tankless, on-demand type water heaters, and over a year ago my Darling Husband showed me how to re-start it since when it is really windy, the pilot will blow out. Up to the closet I go to check...yep I don't hear it blowing like usual, but darned if I can remember how he told me to start it up again. Oh well, he will be home soon. I will start dinner - I needed to cook noodles and chicken to bake a cassarole. HHHMMM, the burners aren't lighting very well. I did just clean the top of the stove, sometimes that igniter gets damp and it takes a minute. Yep, now it lit. Turn on the oven for pre-heating- that's not lighting right either, just clicking, not heating up. Time for a call to DH. He's on his way home so I tell him there's a problem with the gas - seems like we aren't getting enough gas, even on high, the flame is like low with the stove burners. Exasperated sigh on his end. Then I get a call from DH before he gets here. I know what your gas problem is, Honey, they are digging on the road next to ours to lay some fiber-optic cables and hit a gas line - I know why you can't get enough gas, it has something to do with it all rushing out of that big hole! OK, well I guess I can't cook dinner then. Yes you can, Baby, we have that kitchen in the basement and it has an electric cook top and the microwave. I find out the microwave is not convection cooking, like I thought it was, but we got out the big toaster oven to bake the cassarole. DH gets all puffed up for saving the dinner - the basement kitchen had not even crossed MY mind. What would you have done with out me?, DH asked. Well, we would have sacraficed and gone out to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Oh, darn, why didn't the electricity go out too?

That's Beast

Apparently the new slang for "cool" or "awesome" is "beast". Steve is making a clock in Tech Ed class - a mixture of wood shop and computer class. He made is own pattern, a Pac Man ghost. While we were at the home improvement store the other day he saw the spary paint they make to look like stone and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. He asked his teacher if he could use that to paint the clock and was told he could, he just had to paint it at home to use spray paint. So he told all his friends he was going to use that paint so it would look like a stone age clock. HMMMM, not sure how Pac Man and the stone age go together, but all of his friends are telling him that is going to look "Beast". So, home the clock comes last night, with the pronouncement that it must be painted last night, so he could put the numbers on it at school today. All Righty Then, of course we don't have that paint here at home, it is now too late to get it in town, they roll up the sidewalks here at 5 PM - which is about the time he tells me of this. We have dinner plans, so after that we run to the nearest home improvement store for the paint. When we return home, it's dark, so we can't use it outside. Protect the kitchen counters and wall and I teach the boy how to spray paint. I must admit the paint is kinda cool, I mean Beast.

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

So, after I posted this morning, I put more bitter stuff on Sadie's foot. I held on to her foot to turn it over to make sure she quit chewing and then went about my morning. I just got home from running errands and made myself a sandwich- licking my fingers at one point. UUUHHHH, that bitter was on my fingers still, and it is nasty!!! Drinking soda did not get rid of it. I had to eat a couple different fairly strong flavored things to help get rid of that taste. It is still there in the background - I get a small taste of it now and then, but it is tolerable. My poor, poor girl, if she tastes that more than a time or two.

My dog is neurotic. Leave it to us to get a dog who bites her nails. She appeared to be chewing on her foot, and knowing that she had gotten into some burrs the other day, I was afraid I had missed some between her toes, so I got down on the floor with her to check it out. EEWWWW, wet dog fur to go threw before I can get between those toes, but no burrs. So I began checking out her foot to see if there is a problem. No problems detected, but she was chewing on her toe nails. Off to the cupboard to get the bottle of bitter stuff we bought so she will keep the leash out of her mouth (says it is safe to spray on skin) and I sprayed her foot. That has stopped the chewing for now. Guess I need to take her for a nail trim (I'm always afraid I will hurt her if I try to do it).