Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A Lost Opportunity

When the kids and I came home from a trip to the library, we were approached by a man coming from our next door neighbor's house. He and his wife were there delivering Meals on Wheels, and they had discovered that our neighbor had passed away.

Our neighbor's name was Homer, and he was in his mid-nineties. He had just moved in about a month ago, his children had bought the house and had fixed it up for him. He was slow, but was still able to get around. He had a small dog named Toby. We would talk to him in the front yard or over the fence, but it seemed like we were always so busy. He made comments about us stopping by so Rosie could play with Toby, or suggested that we should see how his kids had fixed the house up. I'm sorry now that we never did so, we fully intended to "at some point." Last week when he found out where Bob worked, he told me how he had built airplanes as well. He started working at Boeing in 1941 and retired in the late seventies. I thought, "we really need to make sure we visit with him, he must have a lot of good stories." We were busy this weekend, so we put it off til later. Now it is too late.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Monday, April 14, 2008

The day is mine!

I declared war on the grapevine running along our North fence. As the foe had been aggravating and recalcitrant for years, I expected a long and exhausting battle. I was surprised when the enemy proved to be weak and yielding, and I vanquished it in short order. I am triumphant!

Geniuses

Roger says to Pauly "I'm a genius. Geniuses wear socks on their feet, but not shoes. They walk with socks on their feet inside and outside, but not feet or shoes or socks, just socks." ??

I feel like an idiot

I've been going around saying that we'll be gone Mother's Day weekend for the Proclaimers' gig. Well, we won't. Mother's Day is the next Sunday. OK, I didn't just say this once but over and over. Why on earth isn't Mother's Day on the first Sunday of May like it is supposed to be? Now I feel like a dimwit.

I'm glad we'll be home for Mother's Day, though.

One of the Great Mysteries of the Universe

Why does a three year old who changes his clothes multiple times a day, and feels he has to strip down completely to use the bathroom, suddenly find getting undressed "too difficult" when he is asked to do so to get ready for bed?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

My fluffy white baby is gone!




It is a bit bittersweet, as Fenja is a lot more like a dog than a fluffy white teddy bear. It was hard for me to get a good picture, but the coloration that was at the edges of her ears and the tip of her tail has spread. She now has a red/fawn "saddle" along her entire back, and the same color covers the entire topside of her tail (which you can't tell in the pics as her tail curls), the backs of her hind legs, and is spreading along her ears and head as well. This hair is much coarser than her super-soft white fluff, and it is darker than it looks in the pictures. I know it was inevitable, but I miss the fluff.

Her eye tacking stitches have been taken out, and we'll see the vet on Monday to get a better idea of whether or not she'll need any additional procedure.

Public Service Announcement: Quiet

When all of your previously loud and cantankerous children are quiet, it may be because they've got the peanut butter and are all eating it out of the jar with their bare hands.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

We Found the Perfect House

That is, we found the perfect piece of land. It is exactly what we want. 7 acres. Wooded, with a stocked pond and a small stream. Out on a side road, not on a main road. A nice shed/workshop with electricity, a corral with a stable. A wooden swing set, plenty of "front lawn" and an aboveground pool. Between the two towns we'd like it to be, in the parish boundaries that we'd like it to be. A house half again as big as our current one. And, just barely, probably, hopefully, affordable for us.

Obviously, there must be some major problem. That would be the home. It is a berm home, so it is surrounded by dirt on three sides. This isn't the problem, it could have been a plus. However, the center wall down the hallway in the home is visibly warped. We suspect, though we are not certain, that it is a load bearing wall, and that this indicates some serious structural problems with the home. : (

Monday, April 07, 2008

The Proclaimers

Bob and I are going to see The Proclaimers the first weekend in May! We have to drive quite a ways, but I hope it will be worth it.