drama and fights

9-30-13

I am shocked that I am not exhausted.

It was another jam packed weekend for us. It also was punctuated with a handful of more intense moments including quite the yelling match at the soccer field. Yeah, shit went down.

Friday night Moonshine went home. She is the little calico kitty that we were fostering. Nicole and Ally came over to Steve and were super tickled with the little fur ball. How could you not be? In many ways, she was always the pick of the litter. She was the one who at out of a bowl first, seemed the most boisterous and was the kitten in charge. Nicole is well versed in kitty care and her daughter was thrilled to have her own kitten. Ally was a little nervous but after a bit she could see that holding kittens is easy.

This left the little orange and white one with us overnight. She was not as thrilled with the placement of her sister, and was up from about 2 am on, yelling for someone to come to her. I finally got up after tossing and turning for 2 hours and brought her to bed with me where she pretty much promptly curled up and fell asleep next to me. I should have done that when she first cried out. LOL! Either way, we slept fine after that. I was still pretty beat, though.

Dax’s game was first, and Dax really is starting to feel the effects of not winning a game. I feel bad since really, the game was crazy close. It was only 1 to 0, and we outplayed the heck out of them. Still, I would like to have him taste victory.

The day was getting warm and we watched Bobby’s team really struggle. The other team was quite good, and we just ran out of juice. I blame a couple of things, including the heat. I also thought that having the team “warm up” for 45 minutes before the game was excessive. That being said, we would have lost anyway since they just had the upper hand.

Sadly, the assistant coach, Tom, didn’t feel that way.

Tom is an asshole. His twin boys are on the team (both amazing players) and he yells at them with such anger while they play. He is one of those coaches who yells at these kids as if losing would lose millions of dollars. It is truly awful. This game was tough because one of the boys had a recent surgery due to his bones growing too fast (I will admit I forget the exact ailment, but I know he was in a lot of pain). It was clear he was still limping to some degree. It was hot, the kid was frustrated, and here was his dad, bitching him out in front of everyone. It was awful.

Tom was already being a dick having snipped at Bobby once and then at the kids when we gave them cold wet rags at half time, as if this would somehow break them. He was just awful. He was yelling and essentially telling these kids they suck.

The game was over, we lost. It was at this point as the parents went out to do the tunnel the kids run through. I noted one of the twins sobbing in a chair on the sideline. I felt bad for him, thinking he was just being too hard on himself. Then my mom told me he was crying because his dad had just thrown him in the chair.

Yeah, that happened.

The kids were supposed to be saying good game to the other team. The kid went to go do this when his dad grabbed him roughly and tossed him into the chair again. I lost it.

I have had an out of body experience once before. I am sure it was just because I was relaxed. It was at the beach and I remember feeling like I was just watching myself sitting at the shore. It was really cool.

This one was way different.

I could see myself in front of me, storming up to Tom with a purpose. I heard myself yell, “No! There is no reason for you to be shoving your kid!” I was surprised at myself, really. At this point I rejoined the angry me and we went off.

Tom never really dealt with me. He looked shocked that I would question his actions. His wife, this just short of trailer trash whore got up in my face to defend her husband. I made it clear that there was no reason for this kind of violence against a child. She then told me what he had done.

He said Fuck.

Yep, that’s it. He dropped an F bomb so they dropped his ass. What the fuck???? He was frustrated and he said a curse word? And you threw him because of this? Tom’s actions made the whole team nervous and yet somehow he felt his kid was the bad guy???

She was an idiot. She tried to argue to the point that her kids should not use such language and that it is forbidden. I told her that I didn’t give a rat’s ass (I was shocked at my lack of cursing, actually. I wanted to drop my own F bombs but restrained myself) what this kid did. It was no excuse for Tom’s actions.

It felt like the conversation went on for 10 minutes, but I know it couldn’t be more than 30 seconds. Maybe longer, but either way, it was heated and I was livid. Ken came up and took the role of board member. He was awesome. He quietly told me to walk away. I wanted to argue, but I knew he was right. I was not making any headway and I was no longer a part of this.

I stood off a little ways while Ken spoke to her and Tom and others who saw the event. I was at a loss, and on the verge of tears. It occurred to me at this point that I had two board members (one being part of the executive board) on the field as the refs for this game. I went out to them and reported what happened. I was shaking and teary, but Scott said he would take care of it.

At this point I gathered my children and things and headed to the car. I needed to be away from all of this. I did talk to another set of parents as we were leaving who were feeling sad for the twins who were both crying by now. The mom said, “Oh, they are way too hard on themselves.” I then told her he wasn’t crying because they lost. He was crying because his dad had just thrown him into a chair. The parents looked shocked and I explained what had occurred. They asked what provoked this. I told them it was language based, to which they actually became sympathetic towards the PARENTS?!?!!?!? WTF????????????

I had to get off that field.

We waited for Ken at the car. Thank goodness there were like a half dozen board members there. No joke. They talked to Tom, who Ken said was rather sheepish about all of it and agreed he was over the top. It was discussed that there cannot be this kind of behavior on the field. They talked to the kid, too, and did point out that had the ref heard him drop that kind of language he would be given a red card. That is fine with me, too. However, the violence is something AYSO would not tolerate. Tom has been given an official warning and the next time this happens, he will be banned from the fields.

I take this as a win.

I did enjoy that all of the soccer folks I have spoken to agree with what I did. Sure, I might have been a little too heated, but that being said, I had to step in quickly. Word also got around. LOL! I went to Levy about later where I spoke to some of my soccer peeps and they were impressed with what I had done. Jim even thought Tom should have been tossed right then and there! I was glad I had backing. I know this will be discussed at the board meeting this week, which will certainly make things lively. This isn’t the first time he has been noted to be an asshole. When I told Jerry and Jim which guy, Jerry just nodded with the knowing of what an asshole this guy is.

I was pretty upset for a little while after, but thankfully I had house stuff to keep me occupied. Plus, Sarah came over to meet Riley! Yes, she has been named and her new mama is Miss Sarah, which is awesome. Sarah had not intended to take her, but was feeling good about it. It meant I would get to have a night of no screaming kitties. Of course, it did mean 4 of my cats felt the need to sleep on me. LOL!!

Sunday was more house stuff. We had done a Lowe’s run Saturday afternoon which got light fixtures for the bathrooms along with some other supplies. We also went back and obtained paint for the bathrooms and kitchen. The bathrooms have now been painted, the kitchen needs one more coat, and we started living room prep for painting. Ken even put in one light fixture, but it will need to come out since there was an issue with a wire.

Friday night we noted the gas smell again and called the gas company this time. It was determined there are 4 leaks under the house. 3 are apparently super easy to fix, and the 4^th will need our guy to come back out. The gas will be off until then, but this is just one of the things that needs to be done. Actually, because we had put plastic drop cloths over the kitchen, it helped us discover it. I happened to be out on the back porch that has the hole in it still. I smelled the gas and it meant we could get it taken care of. I am actually pretty glad since it could have been a bad thing.

Yesterday’s work was productive. Sarah then texted me at around 3 in the afternoon to tell me Riley seemed off. She had thrown up and looked sluggish. So I told her to come over. She brought Riley and you could tell she was off. She had eaten fine the night before and even in the morning. She threw up though, and on the way over, she had a small bout of loose stool. It was clear she was dehydrated, so for piece of mind, we went to the emergency clinic.

Clinics suck. Look, I know that there are some doctors at these places that mean well, but I was appalled at this place. I am now looking on Yelp and it looks like my experience wasn’t unusual. Sigh. The lady at the front was lovely, but the doctor was an idiot. It was clear this kitten needed fluids. She had good vitals, weighed fine and just was lethargic. The doctor wanted to fun this mini diagnostic, which was x-rays and blood work and an FIV test, etc. When they gave us the estimates, it was almost $400. No. Just no. So I held my ground and told her to treat the kitten for the dehydration and we would take her to our real vet in the morning. I am telling you, she just kept pushing for more tests. She wanted to do IV fluids, which would have been another $200. I told her to just give her subcutaneous fluids to get her stable. She looked annoyed that I was suggesting this. She was chipper, but clearly stopped talking to me and was talking directly to Sarah, trying to make Sarah think she was on death’s door. I pointed out that she would feel better with some fluids. We were there for almost 2 hours before they finally got her some fluids. They did the blood work, which showed she was anemic, but really, all of the things she had issues with would all be corrected with some fucking fluids!!

When we were finally able to get her out of there, you could tell she was so much better. She was perky and playful and had gone back to giving me her kitten kisses. Poor Sarah was a wreck, sure that she had broken this kitten. In reality, she probably just got a little dehydrated from it being hot and is better now. I ended up taking her home with us and she napped a bit and then played some more. She ate some formula and even peed fine. This morning, I gave her some wet food before I went to work and she dug right in. Ken will give her formula around now, which means she will be well hydrated.

This vet was clearly taking advantage of a worried kitty mom and was giving her an estimated cost of $1200 to get the kitten better. Turned out that it took a $40 dose of fluids. Fucking bitch.

I was going to let Riley watch Breaking Bad with me, but she needed to run, so I let her go back in her cage and she played. She also curled up in the blanket (the flimsy blanket was something the vet let us take, so I felt we should use it) I put in there and she slept well. YAY!

Breaking Bad was good. I was so glad that Jesse (Spoilers, peeps!!) didn’t die. That was really all I cared. It was fairly calm as far as episodes go, but after digesting it overnight, I feel it was a solid ending. I am glad that I was able to watch it live and not see any spoilers. I will miss having this show to watch, but it means I have time to read or watch something else. LOL!

I have been typing this for what looks like 3 hours. I suppose I should work. 

Cloud 9

9-27-13

I am so happy!!!

Look, I knew that I would be happier in this school district. I knew from the first day of school that I would enjoy the school. After last night, I am pretty sure I died and went to school heaven.

Mr. Chin is very soft spoken and gentle. He has 11 years of teaching experience and I can understand why Bobby really likes him. He originally wanted to do scientific studies in Alaska, but ended up falling in love with teaching. He is quite sweet and I know he will be able to really inspire Bobby to do his best. It was a great presentation. He listed the things they would be doing and I feel much better about the homework. They are not looking for perfection. They are looking for kids to try! YAY!

Mrs. Senechal is adorable. I can see how Dax would gravitate towards her. She is even less interested in homework than I am! She even talked about how worksheets and the tedious paperwork isn’t teaching kids. Ken actually had to ask me if I needed a tissue because I almost starting crying with joy.

In Bobby’s class, I think we know like half the parents. LOL! Moms from last year’s soccer team, parents from the soccer board, parents we met from PTA. It was like I had been there since Kinder. I honestly feel like I won the lottery right now.

I did spend both presentations feverishly writing notes on what I need to do at home for the kids. When I get focus on things I get a little silly. I think I looked like the crazy mom, whereas Ken said I looked like one of the parents who really cares.

We got home by about 8:30 where I got to talk to the boys for a bit before bed. I am kicking myself since I meant to show them how Mr. Chin taught the class the song and hand thing for Hot Cross Buns, which made me smile and I know they will love that I learned it!

My happy meter is in overload. As if the wonderful night at the school wasn’t enough, I saw Steve get some tremendous progress! His kitchen window is in. The stove has been pushed in all nice with its new backing. Ken did a lot of the new lighting for in there. The bathrooms are now textured and ready for paint! The family room is all paneled. Seriously, Steve always felt like home to me and with each passing day it is getting even better!

And now the cherry on top! Halloween kitty is going to her new home tonight. I will miss her, but she will have a wonderful family to enjoy her. And now Orangy has a potential new kitty mommy! Sarah saw her pic on Facebook and gravitated towards her. She is going to come meet her either tonight or tomorrow. I am pretty sure she will fall deeply in love and they will be a match made in heaven. I am so very pleased at how well this has worked out!!!

Did I mention I am feeling groovy????

I feel ready for this weekend. Two early games tomorrow which does kill the morning, but I will be able to work on getting the living room prepped for primer. I also need to clean up the kitchen so we can put down the protective plastic for painting in there. I also can start the primer coats in the bathrooms. I would like to get them painted before the tile guys get there so that we don’t have to stress about getting paint on the tile. Those windows will go in next week. I need to pick colors. I was considering wallpaper from Spoonflower, but I think I will just go with paint so that I can always change the theme when I feel like it. Plus, the boys seem so very dead set against pirate, so I may need to evolve that somewhat. Although, we did all discuss how cool it would have been with a pirate themed bathroom to make the tub look like a big wooden pirate ship.

So yes, I have gobs of work ahead of me this weekend, but Steve is looking closer and closer to being move in ready. I don’t know how well I am going to sleep that first night there. I may be too giddy!!

Stupid animals

9-26-13

Back to School night!

It makes for a long night tonight, what with the second session not starting until 7, but hopefully the boys can at least be fed and it means I don’t have to worry about that aspect. I think I will end up needing to take the boys to my folks since practice was canceled after all. We mentioned to the coach about Back to School night. All of Torrance is doing it this evening, including the coach whose son attends our school! LOL! Oh well. It is cancelled now. We have to be at the school at 6, so we shall see what the plan is as it unfolds.

My hair is multicolored. The roots and top have faded so they are a grayish lavender whereas the back part is still the kick ass purple. I am holding off on a coloring until closer to the reunion on the 5^th. I would like to have my hair look good for that.

Dax decided to cut his hair. As much as I love his shaggy look, I think the short spiky like hair is better on him. Besides, he is an athlete and he sweats like crazy. Long hair and sweat are not friends. He looks great. Yay Flowbee! When he posed for his after cut pic, man, that kid is muscles!

Lycos fell yesterday. I got home and heard her “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” bark and went outside to find her in front of the garage. She wasn’t tangled in anything that I could tell. She just happened to be close to a piece of wood that prevented her from getting up. She of course pissed and shit herself. I have no idea how long she was there for. She was pretty stiff when I helped her up. She came inside after a little bit and fell again. She was on the kitchen floor and pretty much stayed there for an hour. She got up and then proceeded to pee in the house. Sigh. I know that it is an inevitable truth, and it isn’t something I like to think about, but the conversation needs to be active. Lycos is not going to be around forever and I don’t want her getting to a point where she is too far gone. I don’t want to say the words, we should have done this a while ago. I also don’t want to worry about doing it too soon. I really wish we didn’t have to make a decision. Not saying I want her to die, but I wish it was something where it was more clear cut.

Yeah, and don’t even get me started on Ittles.

Damn animals. 

Progress galore!

9-25-13

I really wish that kids in school would be given a class on effective communication concerning voicemail.

The boss is driving me nuts. I don’t mind a request for a report. That is very reasonable. But to decide to have me do the report, which takes  some time, and then every time I give it to him is when he decides he wants something else tweaked on it is just unprofessional. I do the report. He says it’s perfect. 10 minutes later he asks for me to change it. He has now done this 6 times. I may have to hit him.

My bedroom red is AWESOME. There is only one coat so far but I love it. I am quite pleased with my color choices. I know they are not what most people would pick, but I don’t give a fuck. It’s my house, dammit. My dad asked me if I was Mexican. Apparently they paint their homes bright colors like I do. It may explain the Mexican food love I have. LOL!

Ken has up most of the panels in the family room. He won’t be at Steve much today since he has a class, but I would say they have made tremendous progress. The windows showed up yesterday. The one for my kitchen is HUGE! It looks like a giant fish tank. Holy fuck, I am excited. I figure it is at least 3 cat piles big.

It looks as though Halloween will be going to her new home on Friday. Yay! Both the kittens are doing quite well. They are eating formula like champs and even consuming wet food. They are learning how to clean themselves, which I am quite thrilled about. I think I may need to go to Bobby’s practice on Thursday and bring them so that I can show off Orangy. Perhaps that will get her adopted as well. It’s too bad we have so many cats since I think that Lucy and Breezer would like their very own kitten. Lucy in particular is quite fond of her mini-me. We would need to call her Ethel.

I am happy that my calendar is not full this weekend. Games are both in the morning, which means by noon I am done soccering for the day. I want to take over Lego and storage bins to Steve.

Dax reads too fast. Mrs. Senechal told me yesterday that he was adding syllables to the end of words when he would read out loud. I sat with Dax and really paid attention to his reading. I could see what she was saying. It was almost as if he was saying “um” in-between each word. When I had him slow down, only reading the word when my finger was on it, he was fine. He said I was going too slow, which I agree, but we have to slow it all down before we can speed up again. Luckily this is just something to practice. Mrs. Senechal mentioned that whatever it is, she could recommend a speech therapist. I think it is just a matter of practice. He gets too wound up when doing things and does them too fast. When he takes his time, he does things much better. I understand all too well. This means he and I will need to really work on this.

I am looking forward to Back to School night tomorrow if only so I can talk to Mr. Chin about the homework. Bobby has this one assignment that I just don’t understand. It looks like we are doing it right, but his lack of instructions is quite frustrating. I appreciate that teachers want their students to pay attention and to be able to relay information to the parents on how to do things, but the only way you know if this works is if you also let the parents in on it so they know the student is relaying the right info.

No soccer practice tonight, which is awesome. I think we will do homework at Eydie. There isn’t as much room in some ways, but it will mean I can do some light housework. I also think I need to get the boys to help out with some things.

I just finished the book by the girl that Roman Polanski raped. I have to say, she is an incredibly bright woman and I am glad she told her side of what took place. It certainly changed my mind on some things that took place. I had always assumed her mother was an idiot for letting her 13 year old daughter go off with some 43 year old man. When you start to understand the dynamic and what was going on, it isn’t as bad as that. Her mom wasn’t evil, and sure, she may have been a bit naive, but that is no reason that she should be punished further after what happened to her daughter. I still feel that no justice was served. The judge in the case was a horrid person and it is a shame that the legal system makes it so that this girl felt not prosecuting to the full extent of the law was a better option for privacy concerns.

I am hoping to get enough money for the boys’ fundraiser this week to make it so they both get a soccer ball as one of their prizes. It is an exercise fundraiser. Essentially people are paying the boys $5 to run for 25 minutes. LOL! I have donations totaling about $25 each I think at this point. I think we need to get them to $50 if I remember correctly. I am debating still on if I want to go down there to watch. We will see.

Why is work in the way today. LOL! 

sniffles

9-24-13

I have a blue room!

My folks painted the guest room yesterday. The trim still needs to be done, but the colors we picked look fab. I am quite happy. Ken put up quite a bit of paneling in the family room. He worked on the harder section first, and he said most of the rest is simple, which is awesome. I am quite pleased with how that looks so far, too.

I spent a lot of time with the kittens yesterday. I fed them and while I did, Breezer and Lucy thought that they would help out. They came on the bed with us and they each chose a kitten. Lucy chose her mini me and Breezer took on Halloween. They were shockingly gentle with them even though I think they thought they were just toys. The kittens enjoyed attacking the girls and it looked like all 4 of the kitties had a good time. It certainly was fun to watch. The kittens have discovered air boxing and pouncing and it is all kinds of awesome.

Mr. Dax seemed out of sorts in the afternoon which made for a long homework session. I think he was tired. We all seem to be suffering from the house fatigue along with a touch of allergies. Dax gets sniffly and it is harder for him to sleep. Hopefully he gets a better rest tonight.

Bobby turned in his poster and he said that his was the most decorated. He also said that 5 people already said they were voting for him. I guess the poster was a hit, which is awesome. I am excited for him! Getting involved in the school will help him in the long run. I am glad he isn’t feeling too shy about it.

I should have done some housework last night but my sinuses were giving me a headache last night so while the boys were at practice I made dinner and ended up reading some of my book. It is by the girl that Roman Polanski raped. Fascinating stuff.

Soccer practice tonight for Dax’s team. I am hoping to get them more trained on positions. I really wish we had more than half a field to work with.

tragedy

9-23-13

Sadness hung over all of the success of the weekend.

I got home on Friday with the intent to change for painting along with feeding and also packing up the kittens to go over to Steve. I knew we would be there late and I thought that since Stephanie was bringing Sabrina that the kitties would have lots of audience while us grownups worked.

The black and white kitten was always tiny. He seemed frail right out of the gate. I worried about him every day, but he seemed stronger than what I would discover. His tiny body looked like he was sleeping but I knew. He was the first one to greet me at the cage door each time and when he didn’t move I fell to the floor in a heap of sobs.

No one else was home, which made it all the worse. I gathered the other two and held them as the tears flowed. I could hardly catch my breath. I managed to feed the other two making it hard to determine if they were getting wet from formula or tears.

I was unable to stop crying for about 25 minutes when I finally just fell into shock. I could hardly function. I sat on the bed with the remaining kittens and held them. The rest of the household sensed my sad and all of them came to me. In fact, for the first time, no one hissed at the little ones. It was a collective cat hug that was subtle, but it meant the world to me.

I was able to get myself together to head over to Steve since I had to still go get my kids. I took the kittens with me in their carrier, unable to consider the idea of leaving them anywhere at that point. I now dreaded the inevitable conversation in which I had to inform the boys that one of them had died.

Dax came out first. I am sure I looked strange, what with it being overcast and cold and I was wearing my sunglasses anyway, rocking with a black cat carrier close to my chest. Dax was tickled to see the kittens, but sensed my mood. I told him quietly that I had bad news and that the little black and white kitten had passed away. He was shocked, and for a moment I saw the flash of tears across his eyes. He instead used shock to keep himself in check. He asked how and I explained that the kitten was just weak. He worried that the other two had killed him. I explained that this was not the case and that he actually just looked like he was sleeping.

Bobby came out and I also started by saying I had bad news. Dax interrupted me and said, “No, Bobby. It is horrible news.” Bobby was sad, but he instantly asked me if I was ok. He quickly held my hand and walked home that way. He was very sweet, and both of them asked questions, all of which were reasonable and hard to answer when I was holding back the next wave of tears.

Ken got to Steve only just after we arrived after school. I went to help him bring in some wood from the truck and I was somber and weepy. He was confused. He had known about the death since I had texted him. Although I wonder what I actually texted him since I could not see the screen when I was frantically trying to communicate with him.

Ken was confused. He didn’t understand my sadness. I have to admit, when he responded to my text, I was hopeful that he was dropping everything in his class and was rushing to my side. Instead, he didn’t even get why I was still so upset.

It is hard to explain to some people why you might get sad about things. I have been known to cry at the drop of a hat, though, so in some ways it seems like it would be pretty obvious why I cried at the death of this little critter who was in my care for less than a week. I cry at the death of fictional characters, yet this is a little kitty that I held and fed and rocked to sleep on occasion. Although I never named him or thought of him as my own, he was a part of me. I feel as though I failed him. It wasn’t even that he died. It was that I wasn’t there with him when it happened.

That cloud has hung over me all weekend.

Although the darkness gripped me, the rest of the weekend was productive. Stephanie and I primered the master bedroom. It was nice to have such a good distraction. It is amazing how much quality time one can have when you are working on a project. LOL! It was also nice to watch our kids running around. At one point, I did see the cute little blond girl running after the boys with a giant semi automatic nerf gun. Of course, the boys were armed too with their cutlass and blaster. You know, a pretty reasonable arsenal of weaponry.

Saturday was game day, and the only one in which we had such a large gap between the two game times. Bobby’s game was a lot of fun to watch. Dax’s was frustrating. We were doing better the second half, but despite the numerous chances, we just couldn’t get the ball in the net. Dax got hurt early in the first quarter. I used every bit of restraint when it came to running out to him. You have to wait for the head ref to “invite” you out. I yelled out to John and was in a full sprint when he just glanced at me. I was out next to Dax, who had apparently taken a cleat to the knee. I ended up carrying him off. He was ok, and when he went in second quarter he was fired up pissed. He had a tremendous game. He was also just happy that his new bestie from class was on the other team. I was pretty excited for that, too. It is really cool how many kids they now know when they are out on the fields.

Yesterday was even more work. We did have a slight detour when poor Chris’ motorcycle broke down. Luckily we happened to have Frank Kenny’s truck so we could pick him and the bike up. I felt bad that he was on his way to a wedding and missed it. Such a shame.

We bought paint. We bought drywall. We went to Steve where we installed the fridge. My folks were doing the primer coat in the guest room. They will start painting for reals today since we picked up the colors for both the master and guest rooms. Ken doesn’t have class today so he will be able to go work on the panels in the family room. It will be a busy Steve day.

We worked hard there and tore ourselves away at almost 4 since I still needed to help Bobby with his campaign poster along with dinner. Plus, Ken was heading over to Costco.

Bobby came home Thursday and handed me this sheet of paper and said, “Hey mom, this is something I am kind of interested in.” Turned out, this was one of those things that the students were only given the paper if they asked. It is for the room rep election. Student Counsel! My kid wants to be a part of it! So cool. We made a poster and made sure to add all of the different characters kids in his class might like. We thought this would be fun. We also included a quote from  Adventure Time in which Jake says, “Dude, suckin at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.” Love it.

Back to School night is this week, but other than that it should be just a week full of practice and Steve. I am hoping to go shopping this coming weekend as I still need a dress for the reunion. Gotta wait for a paycheck to do that.

Now to just get through a day of work. 

Second Wind

9-20-13

There will be painting!

After the boys are picked up, painting will commence. Primer has been purchased and rooms are ready to get that initial coat. Stephanie is coming over to help and hopefully we can get some real progress done today. If we can get the primer all done before next week, my folks can spend the 3 days they plan on painting doing the colors instead of just primer. YAY! Ken is going to work on the panels while Stephanie and I paint. We might just get to see some real progress in a few short days!

I got a lot done yesterday. It wasn’t at Steve. It was at Edie. I have been keeping up with laundry and basic chores. I also took 40 minutes to sit down and watch the last episode of Breaking Bad that I have recorded. This makes me caught up! There are only 2 new episodes left, and I am scared. The episode I watched last night left me in a crumpled heap. I was sobbing and screaming at the tv. I was so upset!! I read a review online and I think the one description really does sum up how you feel after watching it which is comparing it to having a hangover. It just leaves you so woozy and out of sorts.

It is amazing how much some tasks getting done has helped me. I feel less stressed this morning. I think I even slept pretty well. It might also be that this afternoon I get to really do a project and that makes me excited. It does mean the day will be long at work since I will be counting down until I get to Steve, but I will take it as a good thing.

Tomorrow is game day. It is a long crazy one, what with Bobby playing at 9 and Dax at 1:30. It leaves very little room for doing other things in between. I figure I will get them some grub after Bobby’s game, then we will go to Dax’s field to wait for his game. The plans for after the game are open for now. I know Sunday will be spent getting things done at Steve, but Saturday may be back at Edie.

I am becoming more and more aware of just how old Lycos has become. She seems more stiff than ever and has mostly lost control of her bowels. It isn’t unusual to always find Cos Nuggets around the house. It takes her about 15 minutes to get up in the morning. She still eats, and boy did she light up when she discovered the kittens, but I can tell how tired she is getting. She isn’t in puppy lake territory yet, but there is the sad reality that if she makes it to Christmas it will most likely be her last. Of course, I assumed last Christmas was to be her last and she has surprised us. She has always been a fighter, but I just wonder how much more the ol’ girl has.

Ittles has been upgraded to bathroom. She has the run of the bathroom to allow her to walk around more. She is on a new diet that Doc Steinam said could take quite a while to show any improvement. I think she has put on some weight, but this isn’t based on anything other than she feels heavier. Of course, this could just be in comparison with the little ones.

Halloween, the calico looking kitten, is probably ready for her new home. She eats wet food well and is super active. I am going to talk to Jerry and Nicole to see when they are ready since getting her settled at her new place would be good and it would allow the little black and white one to not have to compete. He seems feisty, but he is the runt so it always makes me nervous. I can’t bottle feed him anymore since he chews through the nipples, which means he must be ready for something more substantial. He seems to eat the other food, but I always worry. All three of them are very affectionate, which is adorable. Dax played with them for a half an hour yesterday and I think all 4 of them were in heaven. I am going to bring them to Steve today and put them in the Pack N Play (truly, one of the best secondary uses for one of those things!) and let the kids play. Sabrina should be excited!

My boss seems to have had some kind of stroke these last couple weeks. He doesn’t seem to understand how reports and other work related stuff works. It turns out over the past couple years one of the people here has been doing essentially the same report I do. In addition to that, she is doing it the hard way. Sigh. Yeah, so things are changing because the boss seemed surprised at how quickly I can do things. Seriously, I had some serious job security realizations happen this week as I watched my boss look all impressed at things I could do.

If only I could convince him to pay me more. 

A light

9-19-13

Arg! I be outta rum on this day!

I didn’t come in yesterday. Probably a good thing for multiple reasons. My stomach was pretty upset in the morning. That being said, I was able to get so much done. I worked on laundry like a crazy woman. I also cleaned the shit out of the boys’ room. I did the kitchen and living room as well. I also was able to change out the kittens from their smaller cage into the larger cage. I spent some quality time with them as well, producing gobs of purrs. All of this work on the house allowed me to de-stress quite a bit.

I ended up opting to ride my bike over to Steve when it was time. I thought the bit of exercise would be good and since Ken was going over there in the van I figured there was no need for 2 cars. It was so nice to get out like that!

We picked up some primer for Steve. The master bedroom and guest room are almost ready for their first coat. It may even happen as soon as today? The kitchen also needs a coat. We also made arrangements for Lowe’s to come out and measure for carpet. We picked the colors and everything. That part will be done in about 3 weeks, which I love since it means that we have a deadline. That tends to light a fire! YAY!

Jim is working on the walls in the bathroom. It looks like it is coming along nicely. I heard Ken mention he has to call the tile guy to schedule it so that sounds like we are close to that as well. My folks are also getting new doors for all the rooms so they have panels instead of flat. In theory the windows should also be arriving shortly.

Apparently we have spent about $30K or so on renovations. We have about $15K more or so. Not too bad when you really think about it. Since the house cost $499 we really are paying $550 total, which is how much a house would have been move in ready. Plus we end up getting the house like we want. I am taking this as a win.

I see the light!!!!!

Down

9-17-13

It can’t be a good sign for the day when the entire network is down at work before 5 am.

The downed network sadly even keeps me off the net which would at least be a better way to waste time. Instead I am stuck with going through my old email folders to clean up. Bleah. I am hopeful it will be corrected quickly if only because twiddling my thumbs will not make me happy.

Jim started work on the bathroom yesterday. There are actually walls up now! Not all, but it is something, right? Hopefully Ken can prep our bedroom today so we can primer it.

I was at Steve yesterday and I looked around me, watching others work. I felt wrong. I wanted to pitch in. I thought I would try my hand at something. I thought I would try to replace the kitchen faucet. As I started in on it, both my dad and Ken told me it wasn’t an easy task. I was offended, but after only a little while I saw what they meant. I didn’t have the right tools and really, not enough time since I still needed to pick up the kids. I hate feeling like my hands are tied.

Yesterday had me at my boss’s desk for way too long. He wanted to know how to do this one report. He thought it was a 2 step process. He didn’t realize the complexities of said report. This is a report I do often and have down to a science. Part of me wondered if he did this little training session to show me that when he asks me to do a report it needs to be done since training him is more of a pain than just doing it. Of course, that would indicate I am giving him more credit than I am sure he deserves.

The kittens are doing well. They ate some moist kitten food, which seemed like a good sign. They still wanted some formula, which was more than reasonable. They also got to play in the kitten containment unit for a while. Lycos thinks the kittens are awesome. She clearly should have had her own kitten a long time ago. The kittens are totally intrigued by her, too. They walk up to her and try to climb on her. It is adorable.

We have soccer practice tonight. I am thinking that I will swing by home first and get their gear. I have to feed the kittens anyway, so I might as well just get everything needed for practice. This way we can just go straight from Steve.

I have no idea if I will be able to post this. 

Kittens and Soccer

9-16-13

Can we get something on the ballet about making 3 day weekends mandatory?

The season start had me in a tizzy Friday night. I was ready when you looked at all of the items I had in place for the two games, but I just felt off. I ended up taking one of my Xanax to calm down. I sat with Ken while he worked on the banner and watched a couple of Breaking Bad episodes. I finally crawled into bed to get some sleep. Poor Ken was up till midnight working on the banner. It looks awesome!

Saturday morning wasn’t as hectic as I had feared. Ken went to Levy early and I took the boys. Bobby and I went to Hull after dropping Dax off. I helped set up the field and filled out the game card for Coach Lou. I was surprised when I noted that my name is on the banner, too. I guess Team Mom gets to be cool! LOL!

The game was great! Lou did get a little worked up a couple times, but it was mostly ok. I had a hard time not coaching Bobby a couple times. I also toned down my cheering per Bobby’s request. I had told him earlier how much I love watching him play. He said I cheer too much. Oh well, I suppose that is better than not enough.

We ran over to Dax’s game after. I ended up being the AR on our sideline, which was fine. Jerry was center and John was the other linesman, so they both were great to work with. Actually, John was laughing since he said that most of the time linesman are supposed to be impartial but I was cheering like crazy. LOL! Jerry and I kept making jokes during, so it was a lot of fun.

Dax apparently can do a drop kick from one goal to the other. Holy fuck! The first kick he made actually had all the spectators, coaches and refs stop in shock. It was AWESOME! He did this several times more. My little athletic wonder is so amazing.

Bobby’s team won. Dax’s team scored a few times, but still lost. That being said, both were great games. This week’s games won’t be as hectic what with one at 9 and the other at 1:30.

When I arrived at Levy I was introduced to the kittens we would be fostering. Apparently this guy almost ran them over on his way to the field. He would foster them but he was already taking care of some. This isn’t our first time in the cat rodeo so I knew we would be fine. They are about 3 weeks old, and cuter than cute. During our errands after the game, they stayed in our bathtub. We now have them in one of our cages.

The guy who brought them gave us some formula and kitten food so I didn’t have to go out and get that, which was nice. They ate well and are very affectionate. I already have purrs a plenty. I also seem to have picked up my standing rock. You know the one where you hold some critter or little person and start swaying back and forth absentmindedly. Yeah, I do that.

The boys ended up playing with them in an IKEA bin which they couldn’t get out of easily. They also helped me when I bathed them by holding and petting the little kitten burritos I made to keep them warm. It was nice!

Saturday night I went out with Kam to Sgt. Peppers in Long Beach. It was a much needed night out. Her friend was playing that night. He was really nice, as was his piano partner. It was a very fun time, although my throat is paying for it all. Between soccer cheers, yelling over the noise in the bar, and the smoke coming in through the bar patio my throat is fried.

Sunday we were at Torrance El from 10 till 1. We had team photos, which meant two different time slots for the boys, and then after that we had the board picture. On the plus side, I got to hang out with Jerry and his lovely wife Nicole. They are awesome! At one point we all discussed making a “green” gardening service where instead of lawn mowers we should use goats.

Nicole and their daughter fell in love with the calico kitten that they have now dubbed Halloween. She will be going home with them in a few weeks once she is weaned off of the formula. Yay! There is a mom on Dax’s team who also seems interested. She was hovering near the kittens the whole time during Dax’s game. Clearly I need to bring kittens to the field in order to facilitate adoption! LOL!

Ken had to ref a game, which allowed the boys and I to straighten up our current living quarters. It was a sty and a half. I am looking forward to some normalcy.

We had a Lowe’s run after he got home. We picked up the green board and other wall materials for the bathrooms. Both are getting worked on starting today, which is very exciting. The material was super fucking heavy, and dropping a couple of the green boards on one’s foot isn’t recommended. Just sayin.

I am not going to Bobby’s practice tonight. Ken can take the boys and I can work on the house. There are domestic duties that need to be done.

I have to find something else to watch today in the gym. I caught up on all of my Breaking Bad that is on Netflix. There are some movies on there I have been meaning to watch so perhaps that will be the route I can take. I am hoping to be able to power through the last of the Tivo episodes this week. The last episode is on the 29^th.

I am sore and tired this morning. I feel happy, though, that I was able to have a yummy sandwich this morning for breakfast. I picked up some turkey and ham and had that. YUM! Lots of protein and less calories than I have been consuming. This is a good thing.

Hopefully after school today, we can get the bedroom ready for primer. I want to get things done and I am getting frustrated. I know it will happen, but I just hate feeling like my arms are tied.

Here’s to a good week!

PTA

9-13-13

I am a glutton for punishment.

My first concern when I went into the PTA meeting was that I had walked into clicksville. I noted all of the ladies there clearly were with their own people and I didn’t feel a ton of warmth from most of them. Thank goodness for Nicole. Nicole is the president of the PTA and is a super sweetheart. I met her the first day of school and I have been able to chit chat with her just about every day. She has a first grader, having joined the PTA when her kid was in Kinder. Of course, what makes it even funnier is that her husband is one of the Division Coordinators for AYSO. Ken knows him well. We didn’t know any of this until the first day of school. Our little neck of Torrance seems to be a small town in the making!

In addition to Nicole, Alissa was there. She lives a block away from the Halldale House. She recognized us since she has seen us around the neighborhood. I know her because her daughter was on Jim’s team last year and she was the one who scored the only goal all year at the end of the season. Jim was so proud of her he was practically crying. It was quite endearing. I have spoken to Alissa many times, and have been chatting with her at afterschool pickup. She was my other touch point in the group.

The meeting was super long. They said it would be a quick meeting, but I should know by now that “quick” is relative. It also was the first big board meeting for the year. Normally only board members would go to these monthly meetings with everyone else going only maybe 3 times a year and helping out in a lesser capacity. We were mostly just trying to see what needs to be done. There are multiple board positions open, but it sounds like they need a lot of help on many things that don’t need to be as prominent on the board. I like that for my first year.

It was an interesting night, and the clicky factor diminished quickly. It was clear that these were ladies who have been a part of this for some time and they seemed to know their shit, which I appreciate. They also opened up a lot more and I felt good about being there.

It also was becoming more clear just how many amazing activities they plan for the school. There is a carnival, a hoedown, a bike rodeo, etc. They really do a lot and I felt once again how much it was like being back at Madison as a student. It was a good feeling.

One of the events which gives back to the school is actually not on campus. There is a Pier to Pier walk sponsored by Sketchers in October. The money raised goes back to schools. They really want to push this for this year. I am so down with that. Ken and I have decided the boys and us will do the walk. I am going to see if my folks will walk, too. Anyone else want to walk with us?

I spoke to Nicole after the meeting and one of the things that needs help is the newsletter. I would essentially go over articles (probably even write some if needed) and get them put together. I can totally do that. It also is something I don’t have to be on campus for, which is important. I told her my hours and other commitments but that I want to be as active as humanly possible. She was thrilled. So for now that is what I will start to work towards. I am most likely going to help out in other capacities, but I am starting slow. No becoming Treasurer right out the gate this time.

The meeting went to 9, which was a bummer since the boys were there. They were super good, playing Minecraft in the corner while we had the meeting. Alissa told me that it is no problem having the kids there since there are often meetings with multiple kids there. I still felt bad since they had just ran super hard at practice and still had not eaten dinner. It was late for the Brenans.

I did manage to straighten up Steve’s kitchen. There was so much debris and random box parts in there from everything being done that I was sure it would get in the way of things getting done. The hopes for this afternoon is to finish putting in the dishwasher, putting up the metal behind the stove so that can go in, and maybe if we can, get the wall painted for the fridge. The kitchen needs to get done.

We have a huge Lowe’s run today. Ken is getting a lot of things today for the bathroom/windows. I may have Ken pick up the paint while he is there, which would save us a trip later.

Sadly, Steve is actually a bit on the back burner today since Ken needs to finish the banner for Dax’s team. It isn’t as crucial for game time as it is for picture day, which is Sunday. I would like it ready for tomorrow’s game, though. It will be a late night at the Brenan house.

After the games on Saturday, I think the boys and I will go to Steve where I can finish the shelf paper adventure (I did a couple yesterday. I figure if I keep plugging away when I have a few minutes I will be done in time to start stocking shelves soon). If I have the paint, I can probably start painting our bedroom.

I realize I need to go to Lowe’s to pick out ceiling color. Crud.

The one real bummer about getting home so late last night was that I couldn’t watch an episode of Breaking Bad. I have been averaging 2 a day. I watch one at workout time/lunch at my desk and then one while Ken is reading to the boys. I am almost caught up, but I do realize I am about to be out of ones on Netflix which means I will only get the one a night once that happens.

Do I really have to be at work? I need 48 hours in a day!!

Well that ends abruptly

9-12-13

A decision has been made!

I went through a million ideas for costumes this year. I researched ways to make them happen and checked into whether or not it would be feasible. As I jumped from one costume to the next the most obvious choice came to me. I am going to be Lady Rainicorn! YAY!

Hopefully my Ebay bid wins so I can get the dress for the costume. I also found the head so this should be a relatively easy costume to pull off.  I don’t anticipate anyone at work knowing who I am, but the children I will be spending time with on Halloween will, and will love it, which is all that matters.

Drywall and windows in the bathroom start on Monday. The refrigerator can go in as soon as we paint the wall behind it. My mom is working on painting the kitchen today. I am hoping to work on some more of the shelf paper this afternoon during the boys’ practice and before the PTA meeting.

Thankfully tomorrow after school we don’t have anything pending. This means I can work at Steve for a while. We can go there after school and work until we can’t work anymore. Saturday morning has us with back to back games in the morning, but the afternoon is clear for the boys and I. Sunday morning has us taking several pictures.

Based on how quickly the tile guys put in the kitchen I am guessing that once the walls are prepped for tile in the bathroom it should only take the day. It will be so nice to get those done. I think I will try to schedule the painting day for the 22^nd. I don’t see anything on the schedule so it should be a good day. Plus, it allows me to make sure everything is in order. That being said, I could probably do a coat in a room on afternoons. We shall see.

It has occurred to me that I also need to get a dress for the reunion. I have found some online that I like, but I don’t know that I want to spend that much on a dress. I may need to go shopping in stores. I see a couple at Torrid and Forever 21 that might work well.

I am distracted this morning.

AYSO

9-11-13

I remember.

My afternoon wasn’t as hectic as I had feared. Luckily we got the boys’ homework done pretty quickly and was ready for soccer on time. I am looking forward to the boys having a desk again.

Soccer practice was phenomenal. Practices have always felt a little like we were totally faking it. It seemed too chaotic and haphazard for anyone to take us seriously. Yesterday was different. The team has seemed like a pretty good group since day one, but they seemed even more so last night. We worked on some throw in practice, which they all had significantly improved on after a bit. Then we turned to a new drill.

I wanted to train the goalies. At this point I think that probably 90% of our team wants to be a goalie at some point. I had them each take a turn for a spell in goal as the rest of the team practiced passing that ended in a shot on goal. This drill ended up training 3 different skills all at once, and it went beautifully.

I never knew how to encourage a kid to be a goalie before. It is one thing to tell them to not fear the ball. It is another thing to show them how not to.

As we stood in the goalie box, it occurred to me to have them take ownership of their box. I told them it was their house. I told them that they were defending their house. The defenders were their guard dogs outside the box, but once they came across that line they could charge. I even had them each chant, “Get out of my house!” It was amazing! The aggression and the hustle that came from this was inspiring. These kids understood it. Plus, they had a lot of success with this technique. It also got the other team mates to understand that they need to get those shots in quickly and not to dink around in front of the goal since the keeper can come get that ball. Lessons all around!

The drill which was supposed to only be a short one before a scrimmage. It ended up being 40 minutes! It was that good! I loved it! I felt so inspired by these kids and how well they were working and how none of them complained. It was great! I can’t wait for the game!!!

It is nights like last night that explain to me why I am involved in AYSO. 

school rules!

9-10-13

It isn’t a good sign when the boss is already pissing me off and it isn’t even 5:30 in the morning.

Yesterday was as expected. It was chaos and crazy and not enough table space. The boys had some homework along with all of my paperwork so a lot was done on a small tv tray. We managed, and thankfully we could take turns. Dax really only had to read a book for homework, and Bobby had some small things like drawing a picture for a bunch of words, which was pretty fun.

I feel like a celebrity at the school. It is amazing how many people already know who we are. Of course, a great deal of the talk was concerning soccer items. Lu, who is one of the people on the board, had some issues concerning a parent on his team. I had already fielded some of the parent complaints from the parent herself through Facebook, but ultimately it sounds like she is just stressed and concerned that her kids will be shunned for a couple of things. Lu seems to be doing ok and had it under control but they were letting us know being that Ken is the coordinator for U8 and I am apparently consumer relations.

On top of the soccer talk, we also were able to help on our first bit of PTA business. The president already knows us, which rocks. I am anxious to help the school as soon as I have some time. Soccer crazy for me in terms of the treasurer end should slow down soon, and the house will be settled soon enough which will allow me a chunk of time. This means I should be able to do some things. Yay!

Homework looks ok so far. Lots of reading books, which is cool. They also want us to read to them 20 minutes a day, which is something Ken already does. Dax still has not started his packets, but I feel ok that it shouldn’t be too bad. The school has indicated that they don’t want the kids to do homework and classwork that isn’t just busy work. Problem solving is the theme of the year along with responsibility. This means that the boys will have their work cut out for them.

Another busy afternoon ahead of us what with a soccer practice and a quick run over for some signatures along with the homework stuff, too. I am really anxious to be in Steve so things will be less chaotic. 

so very much to do!!

9-9-13

Happy birthday, Dad!!

Holy fuck I hurt. Even though using the kick ass jack hammer like tool is freaking awesome, it hurts the next couple days. Thank goodness our plumber had it, though. He heard me trying to break apart this one wall with a hammer and chisel and he took pity on me. LOL! No, he actually is really fantastic, but yes, he did lend me his tool which made it go much quicker. It was a good thing, too, since I had smashed my thumb twice with the hammer and was in gobs of pain.

Friday was a dream comes true. We walked into the school and it was the parents’ equivalent of Disneyland. I felt welcomed and I could actually tell this was a group of people that I would be happy to spend the next few years with.

We found their names on the class lists pretty easily. I have to admit, I really did expect to not see them. This all still feels surreal and I keep expecting someone to wake me up. We went and met their teachers. Both were lovely. Mr. Chin is Bobby’s teacher. Mrs. Senechal is Dax’s teacher.

We were able to hang up their backpacks and the boys could go play on the playground for a bit. This is the schedule. They can be dropped off at 8:30 each morning, play for 20 minutes, and then they can go to class. I love this. It is more time they can run around, which is wonderful. They now will get 20 minutes in the morning, a 15 minute recess, a 45 minute lunch, and ANOTHER 10 minute recess!! Seriously, I am dying from happy here!

Both boys were ok going into the classrooms. There was some iffy times in which they both looked teary, but they kept it together. I was very proud of them. Of course, today will be a different time since it is one in which no parent can walk them to the classroom, but we will manage.

We picked them up and they were super thrilled. They told me they both already have friends and it turns out we know the parents! Yay soccer! I was shocked at how many people in the school we know. It makes for an easier transition for everyone. One of the kids from our team last year is in Bobby’s class! It is all kinds of good.

I had homework. LOL! I had to fill out all their emergency cards. In addition to that, though, the teachers each had something for me to do that would give them some insight to my children. Mrs. Senechal had a questionnaire that I filled out that had me answering questions about Dax’s weaknesses and strengths. Mr. Chin wanted a letter telling all about Bobby along with other details about his schooling and what we hope for as a family with his class. I was now so excited I could hardly contain myself. Needless to say, it is all filled out and already in their folders this morning.

I thought Back to School night was this week, but I am seeing on the schedule it isn’t for a couple weeks. I emailed the school (yeah, I am super jazzed about that, too!!!) to make sure I know.

Steve had a lot of work done. The electrical is all done. The damage is there, though. Poor Steve has been cut and sliced. We have someone who will be repairing it, but it still looks freaky. The plumbing is pretty much done, too. There are only a couple more hours left of work with that.

The stove and microwave have been installed! YAY! My mom is doing the primer coat in the kitchen this morning. I spent a lot of time taping up the living room in order to paint. I am thinking of putting out the call for help on that. I figure a lot of people have offered to help, and painting isn’t too hard, just time consuming. So if I get everything set up to paint, I can just ask for people to come to a painting party! YAY!

Grammie saw Steve and she said she really liked it. It is very much her style of house. In fact, I could see her having lived in a place like this at some point. She told me they looked at houses near there back a long time ago.

Today looks busy, but I made it so because I was tired of stressing. I have a shit ton of paperwork to do. I am letting Ken take the boys to soccer tonight and I can work on all of my stuff.

I need more boxes, too. I am going to hopefully get the rest of Steve’s kitchen lined with the contact paper sometime this week.  If I can get this done, I am going to bring over some of the items in my kitchen I am not using. I already started planning out where everything is going to go. Holy crap there is so much more room now.

Soccer games start Saturday morning. I am excited! I have to run back and forth between fields, which will be hectic. I also am going to have to Ken take Dax to his game during the last half of Bobby’s game. This works ok. Bobby and I will be there before the game starts so it should be ok. Plus, games will be done by 11:30 or so, which gives me the rest of the day to work on things. Ken will be at the field all day.

Friday night we got to go to dinner with Stephanie’s family for Sabrina’s birthday. I love that we got to do something with Sabrina since her birthday party was going to be something quite girly. They had an adorable little tea party on Saturday. Yes, the boys would have probably dressed up to some degree, but who wants stinky little boys around when you can be a princess! LOL!

Ken starts classes today. He only has the one, but it does mean everything in our house is getting even more hectic. If we can keep on track this week, we will have windows going in and drywall will start getting repaired. I would also then like to get up the panels in the family room. With that nail gun it is so much easier! Then we can get carpet going.

I need to be home!

Hot Meth Dreams

9-5-13

I do not care for the heat.

Sleep eluded me for many reasons, one of which of course was heat related. The fans only seemed to circulate the warm air which didn’t do me much good. The other sleep issue was concerning the brain which would not shut down. I kept thinking about everything needing to be done today which caused me to not relax. When I would finally drift off, my Breaking Bad and a half episode watching before bed took its toll on me by making me into a drug dealer and having to watch my back lest I be shot by the Cartel. Yeah, it was one of those nights.

I started the tedious process of lining the kitchen drawers with contact paper. We had chosen one that is actually cork so it looks pretty cool. I was impressed with myself being that I tend to rush through projects, especially when left unsupervised. I managed to do two full drawers and they looked good! I had to do multiple strips because of the configuration in them, but my measuring and patience paid off. Now I just need to get some more cork paper.

If the electricians are granted 3 workers tomorrow they will finish everything up by the afternoon. If not, it is still slated to be done by Friday. The plumbers should be back today, also. I am excited since all of this does mean that Friday afternoon we can put in the appliances.

I am also hoping that Saturday morning and Sunday I can paint. Ken has to go to the team parent meeting on Saturday morning so I will just start painting on my own. I am pretty confident I can handle it. We have lunch plans with Grammie for around noon, but I bet I can get quite a bit accomplished. Plus, as my mom points out, the heat does make for quick paint drying.

I also think some of my stress is related to tomorrow. Although I am extremely excited that the last 6 months has finally paid off with my boys going to a good school, I get anxious that something will go wrong. I already expect tears. Bobby is excited, but Dax is clearly nervous. We will have them wear Minecraft shirts which will hopefully inspire conversation with their classmates. Seriously, start talking Minecraft and these boys are hard pressed to be upset about anything. I also recognize that these are teachers who have seen it all. They understand how to deal with a nervous kid. That doesn’t mean I don’t get that nagging tug on my heart strings as I walk away from my screaming kid. It is for the best and they will be more than fine, but it is still hard.

All of the soccer games have been scheduled which is nice that all of them are morning games. It does make for some stress getting between venues since Bobby is on one field whereas Dax is on another one, but I think we should be fine. It also means I can then go to the houses after the games and work and not feel like my day was shot. Ken still feels that we can be ready to move in to Steve about the end of September. Yay! We then can concentrate a little more on Halldale (which my mom has affectionately dubbed Eydie) since the renters would be ready for move in on Nov 1. Yay!

Clearly my office doesn’t quite understand that it is warm out since it is probably hotter at my desk than outside right now. It is 5:30 in the morning and it is 75 degrees in here. It is quite ridiculous that I need two fans running at all times and even that doesn’t help. I am really am ready for some rain or hell it can snow at this point. 

workers

9-4-13

YAY!

Electrical was done in all three of the bedrooms yesterday. The plumber plumbed. I am seeing some exciting things coming to Steve! My understanding is that the two sets of workers will be done by Friday, which means I can put in my appliances. YAY! It also means that when Grammie comes on Saturday she will see a very different house than the pictures she has looked at.

There is some patch work that needs to be done. I am hoping that we can start on some of that so I can get to painting the rooms. Our bedroom seems to have taken the worst hit, but I am hoping that it isn’t a huge deal to fix. So far I am believing in miracles so anything is possible, right?

We got our game schedules for soccer. I am quite pleased because all of the games start no later than 10:30 each Saturday. YAY! It looks like on most Saturdays I will go to Bobby’s field first and then head over to do Dax’s game directly after. Very doable. It will be a bit hectic, but I am ok with this, especially with the time of the games. I love that none of them are in the afternoon. There are two games that are at the exact same time with one of those games being when my folks are in China, but that is not a huge deal. It will suck to miss two of Dax’s games, but I suppose I missed some of Bobby’s games a couple years ago.

I have a post office run this afternoon. I am sending my old dance dresses up to my friend in Grass Valley. I also need to send back Dax’s sweatshirt to Amazon. We also have to take back Frank’s truck. It feels like I have to drive way too much when I should be working on things.

I don’t know if I should feel old or late. I now have two friends my age who are grandmothers. What is going on??? I have another friend, though, who is my age and just had a baby, so I suppose our generation sure does spread along a wide spectrum.

Big Day at Steve

9-3-13

One more weekend closer to Steve!

I feel like I worked every muscle in my body this weekend. From Thursday to last night I was doing things. I know we sat for a while, but I think that was taxing.

Thursday night was Bobby’s practice. Thankfully, Dax was more than welcome to practice along with them. This is a good thing since he was pretty upset with the idea of sitting on the sideline. He also was not interested in what my plan was, which was to walk the track around the field for the length of practice. Yay! I walked for 90 minutes. Each lap was a third of a lap. I did an ok pace. I ended up being joined by the coach’s daughter, a 16 year old who was not as fast as me. She was chatty, which was fine. It was also pretty interesting to hear the points of view from that world when I am now the age I am. She was pretty clueless in a lot of ways. Thankfully, she was also receptive to advice, so this gave her points. She seemed impressed with the amount of pop culture from her world I was familiar with. She did try to make it out like she knew more, indicating things like how she listened to oldies all the time. I mentioned Buddy Holly and she didn’t know who he was. Sigh.

Friday had me at the lab in the morning. I had to get some blood work done for my appointment today. After I was done there,  I went to Steve where I got to see the kitchen floor being put in. It is very pretty. I am quite pleased with it.

The rest of Friday and pretty much all of Saturday I felt like I was moving boxes and furniture. We had the yard sale which netted about $270. Not too bad in all, but not as great as I had hoped in terms of getting rid of stuff. I am always appalled at these yard sale people. They try to haggle on pricing for everything. I would have a candle stick holder for $.50 and they would offer a quarter. They would ask Ken for a price and then come to me to see if I would do something else. They were ruthless, and acted dumb. Sure, a lot of them didn’t speak a ton of English, but most of them pretended to speak less than they did in order to get us to give them a break. I wasn’t in it for money, mind you, but I also don’t care for people being such blatant assholes.

Dax sold his see saw airplane to Maria for $50. He had been on the fence about it, but I think he loved being able to sell it to her as opposed to someone else. He also liked the money, which he and Bobby split. Said money ended up going towards these Minecraft action figure guys they had been coveting for some time. I had planned on ordering them, but shockingly they happened to have two of them at Target. It was fate.

The rest of the stuff (except for strollers and the two beds) was loaded into the truck and taken over to Savers. I was quite pleased with them. We checked out their store and I love how they have everything organized for a thrift store. They actually have clothing organized by size!! Plus, the toys were well done. They have everything in these little grab bags. It was very smart. I was happy to donate a crap ton of stuff to them. They took EVERYTHING! This shocked me. Goodwill and Salvation Army are much more picky, so it was nice to be able to get rid of everything so easily.

We put up a bunch of panels in the living room. We also did some basic domestic chores which had been neglected for a while. It is moving along. Today a lot will be done at Steve which will hopefully jump start some of the more stagnant areas of this adventure. The electrician is coming today (finally!!). Ken is having him work on the kitchen first so that we can get that room done. Once the electrical is done in there, we can work towards putting in the appliances. The plumber comes today, too, so hopefully all of the good stuff will be done by week’s end. YAY!

I picked out my paint colors for the guest room and the hallway. I had three colors for the hall and I finally decided on one. I am going to hopefully paint the guest room as soon as the electrical work is done so we can get the carpet done. Scheduling carpet for both the family room and the guest room at the same time is the plan.

Ken ended up hiring the guys who did the tile in the kitchen to do the tile in our bathroom. Yes, Ken could have done the tile himself, but this will be done quicker. Totally worth the price.

I think with this whirlwind of activity this week on Steve, we will get to a better idea of how things are going with the actual move in. I would be tempted at this point to spend more time on Steve just to get it all done. Ken is going to be there today, so perhaps he will get started on the panels there. We shall see. I am getting so excited!

This week also brings the first day of school. Friday morning will be crazy I am sure. We are at the school from about 8 to maybe 10? I just made an appointment for more lab work on Friday morning, too. I figure I should get that done. I should have done it last week when I went, but I forgot about that one. Sigh. So much!

We spent a lot of time at PetCo, too. We had to find a cat food with no chicken in it. Dr. Steinam suggested we change foods for Ittles. He said specifically to avoid some of the key ingredients in the food we were using. Chicken is number one in just about all foods, except the ones for sensitive stomach, which made us happier since it means we may be on to something. I was surprised at how many foods that claim they were fish or beef yet they still had chicken parts. Luckily we found something and hopefully this will help her gut. She has to be on it for 16 weeks. She is not allowed to have any other food in that time. It does still mean some isolation for her. We have been able to bring her out up to this point, but now it needs to be more supervised. I just hope this works. Poor kitty.

We had to get a new ID tag for Luna since she seems to have lost hers. It was kind of exciting to get a new tag with our new address on it. YAY!

Another big item going on is our driveway at Halldale. It is going to be dug up and cemented nicely. Our neighbor is going to handle the cement and we just have to dig it up. I am excited to see how it will look.

Of course, with school starting and 3 nights a week of soccer practice, work on either house will be hard. I am hoping that we can get it all done soon!!!!