Back from the Dr's.

The doctor says it looks like G's foot is on the mend and was pleased with the progress. We are to continue with the motrin to help with the remaining inflammation and benedryl if it continues to itch. He can play/walk on it if he wants but if he is resting, like watching TV, he should elevate his foot. We go back on Friday for one more check.

She said probably what happened was because he reacts so badly to a normal bug bite that the area swelled so the body was unable to carry away an normal skin bacteria that may have gotten into the wound when he was bit so it festered and get so infected. I was worried that there was something that I didn't do to the bite intially but she assured me it wasn't the case. It was just a matter of a number of things adding up. From now on though I'm to give him oral benedryl whenever he gets a bug bite and to ice/elevate to keep any swelling down.

I was able to give his foot a good soak , put a touch of perioxide on it, some Neosporin, and a band-aid and he was able to go out and play. He was thrilled.

I'm glad to hear such great news but honestly it still looks ghastly to me!!

We are off to the dr's

G's foot looks a lot better today, it's still really red though, but almost no swelling left and I was able to put a shoe on him as long as I didn't lace it. Here is what it looks like:



I'm still a little nervous about what the dr might say. I'm hoping I can let him be on his foot some. Keepign him still has been really hard.

It's going to be super hot and super humid today so I think I will try to go to my MIL's house this afternoon when it's supposed to be the hottest. We have A/C but with this heat it just can't keep up.

Cellulitis was the diganosis

Man, I hate being thrown for a loop and that has happened again without a lot of time to recover from each. We took G to the dr's yesterday and I knew that his foot was not good, and that it needed to be looked at, I was really thrown for a loop when I found out just how bad it really was. He was offically diagnosed with cellulitis and the dr was very close to just sending us to the hospital for an overnight stay and IV antibiotics. We had two dr's look at it and they decided to go with a more conservative approach. He got a big shot, some antibiotics, and he is to be off his foot for the weekend and we go back first thing Monday morning to have it rechecked. She out lined(and intialed, put the time down) the wound and we were instructed that if an of the redness moved at all we were to go to the ER, immediately.

We were able to get the antibiotics on the way home and we plopped him down on the couch with some crayons and a movie and kept it elevated most of the day. No easy feat when you have a very active 6 year old. We also gave him some liquid benedryl to help with the itching and help slow him down. We kept a super close eye on him all day and most of the night. Steph was home most of the day and she helped distract G with a few games of war and colored with him. In the evening we once again sat on the deck, played cards, chatted and she even took a turn going in and checking on it while he was sleeping. We set the alarm and got up in the middle of the night to give him his antiboitic to make sure the levels are staying constant.

The line from the wound hasn't moved, it receeded a little, the swelling has gone down, it's much less red, but the center of it still looks icky. We go back first thing tomorrow morning and I'm really glad we are going to have it re-checked.

Here are some pictures(they aren't overly gross):

This is yesterday, around Noon, about an hour after the antibiotic shot:



Here it is first thing this morning:



It is still more red than I would like, but I guess it is an improvement over yesterday.

Another trip to the dr's...

G is a mosquito magnet. He used to get them alot, where as D hardly ever gets them. A couple of summers ago I noticed that G was having a not so great reaction to them. He got one on his face and his poor face swelled up, not horribly bad, but enough. I think it might of been the combination of his body's reaction and itching them with not always the cleanest of hands. After that we tried to keep him covered with bug repellent but last summer he got one on the top of his foot. Again it swelled up, looked weepy for a couple of days, he couldn't wear shoes, but it went down.

He had a very restless night last night. I heard him thrashing about a bit in his bed. This morning he comes in and wakes us up telling me his foot really, really, really itches. I take a look and sure enough it's a bug bite, on the top of his foot. Not only is the top of his foot swollen but it's swollen all the way to his toes and now well past the ankle. Now he normally reacts badly, but this is the worse I've seen it. Since it's a Saturday morning and I don't want to risk letting it go and having it turn badly in the middle of hte night or on a Sunday when our only option is the ER, we gave a dr's office a call. It was funny, she said they have had several calls in the last week with these kinds of reactions. We leave in a few mintues.

In a way I'm kind of relieved for this kind of distraction. It will take my mind off of my grief(well, kind of) and we had planned to go to a Pet-a-Palooza at a local park. We decided to go to this about 2wks ago with the idea of looking to get another dog(or cat) and it was a fun, cheap, thing for the kids to do. After Thursday though the idea of looking at anything little, cute or furry is not high on my list of things to do.

The dinner last night went Ok. I felt really off so I'm not sure if I made that good of an impression. I was also the only person there not in the printing field so a lot fo the conversation went way over my head. I ended up wearing a pair of jean capri's, a lightwieght green sleeveless top, and I pulled my hair back. I don't think I looked my best but I did make the effort with a touch of make up and all.

The food was excellent, beef tenderloin, with lots of spots that were rare like I like it, and home made apple and cherry pie w/ice cream for dessert. Hey Suz, I got served your Aisan Cole Slaw!! It was slightly different in that she made her own dressing out of vinegar and soy sauce and used different nuts but it was basically the same, and yummy!!

It was nice to put names with faces and they said it was nice to finally meet Dh's famous wife. The one co-worker said Dh always talks about me and has nice things to say. They also had 3 goregous beagles that were just loving as could they could be. One named Spot, took a liking to me and slept at my feet most of the night. When the conversation moved to printing, I was able to give the dog a pat or two. He had the softest ears.
I came home, and went straight to bed. I was really exhuasted. I didn't sleep soundly but at least I slept some.

So we are off to the dr's and lets hope it's nothing more serious than a bad reaction but I would rather be safe, with an office visit for $40, then an ER visit later that may cost thousands!

The house is really empty though this morning and I started to cry when I made the grocery list and realized I didn't need cat food, or litter. Ty and Gwen(our other two kitties) have been gone awhile(Ty a couple of years, Gwen since the fall) and while I missed them I find myself missing them more as I miss Meepers too.

Dh's work party!!

Is tonight, they moved it early in the week from Thrusday to tonight. I so don't want to go considering what I went through yesterday. I didn't sleep well last night, we lost power for awhile and the sudden loss of the cooling breeze from the fan at 3amish woke up me and I never really went back to sleep so I'm dead tired to begin with. I also, no matter how hard I tried, couldn't stop myself from crying over Meepers several times today, so now my eyes are red from lack of sleep and crying, and are puffy, and my nose is beet red, like rudolph. I tried finding something to wear and nothing fits, things are either too big, or too small and frankly I feel old, fat and dumpy in just about anything I put on. It's like a million degrees out, humid which means my hair is just going to lay there and do nothing which won't help the situation. The boys are already whining about not wanting to go to Grandma's house but they perked up when I mentione she has A/C.

I just have to keep reminding myself that it is *very* important to DH and it's a free meal, one I didn't have to cook in this kind of heat/humidity. Still the thought of having to make conversation when my heart is breaking sounds impossible right about now.

The worse moment by far was this morning. I was half awake and walking to the kitchen to start coffee for DH and I swore I saw Meepers out of the corner of my eye. I even started to bend down to give him his morning pet/scratch/cuddle and then I realized it wasn't him and that their would be no more morning pats.

The kids have been asking since last night when we are getting another kitty. I don't how to explain to them that there is no way I can even ponder that. After Gwen died last fall I said no more kitties, I was just starting to soften after seeing the puppies at my SIL's wedding reception, but now, man, I don't know. This is horrible, maybe if we do get another one I won't get so attatched. See Meepers wasn't just a cat to me, he was so special, there can never be another that could take his place......

Meepers is gone.....

Dh came home, took a good look at Meepers tummy, looked really closely at the wound that he had licked open today and just gave me a look. I knew what he was thinking. I tried talking with DH about it, telling I'd do a better job covering it and in a couple of days it would look better etc. but I knew it wasn't the truth. Oh sure, that spot might get better, but over all the underlaying cause wouldn't. There would be more lumps, or the ones he had would get more painful for him so I let DH take him to the vets. I told him there was no way I could go with him, I know thats horrible, but I couldn't, I just couldn't. Steph offered to stay here with me if I wanted or to go with DH. Even though I desperately wanted someone here with me, I asked if she would mind going with DH, so she did. I'm glad he had a friend there with him. I'm left here to try to explain things to the kids. They didn't quite understand so much with Ty and not really with Gwen, but they really know now and have a billion questions that are hard to answer.

When DH gets home I'm going to wallow. I've been really brave this afternoon in front of the kids. I didn't cry in front of them and have tried to hold it together. When DH gets home, I'm taking a cold shower(cause it's still hotter than heck and humid as heck here in Michigan) and then I'm going to bed for a really long, hard cry.

We are now a cat free house. I don't think I can ever have another pet again. This is just too hard.....

My heart is aching!!

My kitty Meepers, even with recently peeing on the living room floor, is my baby. No two ways about it. He is the adorable ball of orange and white fluff that just loves nothing more than to cuddle or to lick your forehead. He has been my baby for nearly 17 years when DH brought him home a few months after my mom passed away. He was my *saving* grace when I grieved for her. Up until that point I was still really numb from the loss of my mom and I was just going through the motions. Even though we already had two kitties, there was something really special about him and I was instantly in love with him.

Meepers has not been great for I'd say at least 6mths. I've noticed he doesn't wander as much as he used to. He pretty much was sleeping in one spot, about 2 feet from the food bowl, and I noticed a bag of food that would have normally lasted 10 days has been lasting longer and longer. When we started shuffling things around for Steph to move in he started sleeping under the boys beds and I saw less and less of him.

A few months ago I noticed on his tummy a hard cyst like thing near one of his nipples. It wasn't much bigger than a pea really and it didn't seem to bug him for me to touch it. I've kept an eye on it and noticed it getting bigger and bigger but again, he seemed pretty Ok, and as long as he wasn't in pain I just let it go. After all he is getting up there in age...

Today my allergies are killing me, I've had a headache for 3 days and I put a movie in for the kids, and laid on my bed where it was darker, with the ice pack. Suddenly I hear G yell that there is blood all over the kitchen. I go in and there is a lot of blood on the kitchen floor and all over Meepers feet. It was obviously coming from the cat. I lifted him, his tummy was covered in blood. I was struck dumb for a minute, unsure what to do. I wrapped him in a towel, went on the porch with my phone and called my DH at work. He's stuck there, not much help he could be from 38 miles away. He suggested I call his sister and yes her dolt of a husband. I don't like the guy but he does want to be a vet tech, has worked for several vets so I put in a call to my SIL, who in turn calls him and my MIL to come over.

I waited for them on the porch, snuggled up with the him in the towel, and he licked my forehead and was purring. I was really afraid to look more closely by myself(I know I'm a coward). Tim got here and once we cleaned away some of the blood it wasn't so bad. I have to say, I may not like the guy, but he is good with animals and was very good with *me*. In his not-so-professional opinion, Meepers had licked one of the cysts open and cats have a lot of blood vessels on their tummies, hence the amount of blood(and honestly their wasn't a lot but he had moved it around a lot so it looked like more than there was, especially since his tummy and the floor are white). He told me to clean it and try to cover it if I could because Meepers will keep licking it if we don't. He said that fact that the cyst was so hard, and had a blood supply and had gotten so much larger in a short amount of time(it is now the size of a quarter), are all not good signs. He helped me while I got him bandaged as best I could and then he went home.

After he left I did a better inspection and realized the spot he licked open wasn't the spot I noticed a few months ago, but a new spot, and that the old spot, was now HUGE, and hard and it too looked liked he had licked it open at one point as well. I put him in the tub and rinsed his belly best I could and that's when I felt even more lumps, bumps, and all other kinds of oddity. My stomach sank.

I can't do this, I can't make this choice, I can't.......

This was in my e-mail inbox this morning:

Dear Sarah,

If we can hobble together enough equipment, can you play hockey with us tonight? I know you have figure skates but they would be Ok. Do you wanna? You don't even have to know how to play, just stand on the ice, take a place, while someone rests. It will be a blast!!!

Love,

your SIL

Yes, folks they are so short handed tonight for hockey that they will take anyone with skates. There are 5 guys on the ice at a time, they currently have 6 people saying they will play. It's going to be a long night.

and No, I'm not playing....

I don't know what to do with my cat!!

The cat once again left a present on the floor in the living room. I'm not sure what else to do. I've cleaned the previous spots, with the special enzymatic cleaner to remove the smell(and to me it doesn't smell like cat urine any more), but still he seems to come back to the same general area. Wednesday night the boys left their toy box in that area and the cat seemed to find the litter box with no problem. Yesterday though I cleaned the house and made the boys put the toys box back in their room, he went on the carpet. I'm at my wits end trying to figure this out and why he is suddenly going there. One night the door was closed, but since then there is no excuse. I even moved the box closer to the door so he doesn't have to go very far into the laundry room to use it. Plus the box has been in that room the whole time we've been here(9 yrs now) and we've always had "stuff" in the basement. There is nothing at the bottom of the stairs that would scare him. Steph is not up in the middle of the night, so I really don't see what the problem is.

I haven't told DH. He's going to be really mad and there is no way to keep it from him either. We are off to the grocery store tonight so we will buy some more cleaner and I will have to see if I can borrow my SIL carpet cleaner sometime soon. I saw where there was potential for problems with Steph moving in. This was one thing I *never* considered because we didn't do a thing to the laundry room!

Dh went to his boss the other day. He has asked for a raise and has asked where the bonuses he was promised are. They were supposed to be paid quarterly and here it is the start of the 3rd quarter and Dh has met the goals they asked and they have had a couple of record month but yet he hasn't seen a thing. DH said his boss seemed receptive to the idea and they have a meeting scheduled on Tuesday. I'm really nervous because not only do we really *need* the money but I can see it in Dh's eyes that if he doesn't get something, he will be looking for a new job and I'm not looking forward to having to do that whole thing again. I have everything crossed that it goes well on Tuesday.

DH also informed me last night that there is a company picnic on Thursday evening and he made it clear that I am to go with him. I've never met anyone from his office and he said his co-workers have been ribbing him alot that the doesn't really have a wife so he wants to me to go(and it was pretty clear barring illness of one of the children there was no discussion on this issue) UGH!! What to wear? I hate company things........

Ever have one of those days where you wake up just feeling bad? Not sick but I just feel really emotional today and all I want to do is hide out in the bedroom all day. I can't figure out why, things are actually pretty good(minus the bank problem during the week but we were able to cover it) so I'm not sure what is up with me either. Maybe it is too many late playing cards, losing every game, though I didn't lose as badly last night so I'm kind of grasping the concept of Hearts.

Steph is off to her Dad's house for the weekend so we won't see her again to late Sunday night. Even though she hasn't been a problem at all being here, I'm looking forward to the weekend alone.

I should add that Meepers can't get a bladder infection or a UTI. As a young cat he had FUS and had a blocked uretha. He had surgery to shorten and enlarge it(bascially a sex change) and is on a special food for it, and has been his whole life. It keeps the acid in the urine really high to prevent infection from setting in at all. He would aslo be going to the bathroom, a lot, and he hasn't increased how often he goes at all. He seems like he has just "forgotten" where the litter box is or is to lazy to walk down the stairs.

Tonight we are going to try to move the litter box upstairs, just during the night, since that seems to be when he is going on the carpet and hope that helps.

Warning: This is a rant!! just skip it if you want!!

I hate people!! Bitchy, narrow minded, close minded people, the people who only know or think they know one *tiny* portion of your life and chose to make assumptions based on that little *tiny* thing. Instead of being helpful or offering a real solution or idea, they chose to make a swipe or some other not so nice comment, better yet, how about if you can't say something nice or useful, how about keeping your fingers to yourself?

Money is tight, more than tight, every day it's a tight rope walk. When an opportunity to make some extra money comes along, especially when it doesn't involve gas money and paying for childcare, and very little disruption to your day to day life, why not take it? Is this such a foreign concept to some people? Are other people in such great shape that they can turn their back on cold hard cash for a minor, temporary inconvenience? Well hooray for them.
Is helping someone out such a foreign concept? Does everyone else have a gazzillion friends and family nearby that they can turn too on a moments notice if something goes wrong? Well hooray for that! Not everyone is so lucky.
Were none of them ever young, looking to make a change in their life? Were none of them young and just looking for a place to "rest" for a couple of months before making a big change in their life, a good change, but something that is going to take a lot of work and effort? Well, hooray for them if they have never needed such a thing.

You would also think in this day and age of "anything" goes kind of relationships, I'm amazed that anyone even "blinks" that another person is in my house. She is in my basement, not my bedroom, but say she was, would that make a difference? That would make it a lifestyle choice and you can't say anything about that to anyone. And what difference does that make? It's my life, to do with as I see fit, not yours, and all the silly assumptions you are making are just making me MAD!! Sometimes I think I would have an easier time if I just said yes, we are "living" together and are making a lifestyle choice. Is that better?

I was asked about this, I met her, liked her and said YES, without reservation, I wasn't forced, I wasn't pushed in any way by my DH, I was asked, with the option of saying no, and I DIDN'T, and I didn't want to. This makes sense on lots of different levels, financial being just one of them, and even if it was the only one, it would still be Ok. Would it be the same reaction if I said Steve was moving in instead of a Steph? I really think having another guy in the house would be a lot more work for me.

She also have an ENTIRE floor to herself. It's not like she is on my couch or in my face all the time. We aren't sharing a bathroom, a fridge, a stove, or anything really. She is gone all day, we've spent a few hours, over a course of a few days(our choice if we want to socialize or not), and most weekends she's gone. I barely, if ever hear her when she comes or goes and if anything she has tried really hard not to be disruptive. She offered to help with the kids last week when I was sick, she's taken D on a couple of bike rides, reads stories to G, is good to the dog, and offered to take us all out to dinner one day next week. How is this bad? Really where is the downside?(minus the cat peeing on the floor).

Before coming to live here she had an apartment to herself, didn't have kids up at 7am bouncing on the floor above, she didn't have a dog wanting to follow her around all the time. She could take a shower whenever she wanted without having to take any one elses schedule into account, she didn't have kids giving her the third degree when ever she walked in the door, she didn't have kids in her face wanting to talk to her, to play with her. I think her socializing as much as she has in the last week has been good for all of us, to get used to each other.

Talking to another adult, is not such a bad thing. Playign cards and interacting with other people instead of vegging in front of the TV or closing myself off with my stitching or a book, isn't such a bad thing too. I think in the past two weeks I've learned a lot more about what DH does on a daily basis then I have in the decade or so he's been doing it. When they start talking shop I feel a heck of a lot more comfortable asking her to explain something than DH. And honsetly if we weren't out on the deck playing cards then I would be lost in my stitching or a book and DH would be at the computer. At least this way Dh and I are itneracting, yes, a third person(and sometimes a 4th person) is there, but it's a lot more talking than we would do on a normal night.

I also find it really interesting that everyone we know in real life, my MIL, Dh's siblings, our good friends,her family(even her dad), her friends, not one of them have seemed to have any kind of problem with this arrangement. Not a single raised eyebrow, not a single crossed look, so why do so many other people have a problem with this? She is a friend, not a border, not a disruption, a FRIEND, and except for the cat and other narrow minded people in cyberspace, everyone seems to get this.

Should I mention that DH and I are thinking about joining her one night on her vacation next month? She will have her Dad's cottage for the week and she wanted to know if we wanted to come up and spend some time. DH doesn't have a lot of vacation time and I'm not really up for leaving the kids for more than an overnight but it's close enough we could easily leave really early on a Saturday morning, spend the day, stay overnight and come back late Sunday evening. Does that make people heads spin? She also offered if I wanted to come by myself for a few days I could do that as well....What would people say about that? And why should I care?

There is also not option, she is here, to stay, until at least October, so the cat, and others need to get used to that. Last time I checked it was my name and Dh's on the mortgage, not Meepers, and not anyone elses.

I hate banks!! I'm taking my money and putting it in a shoebox

I don't like banks, I hate their logic and I find it completely unfair that everything seems to fall in their favor. DH deposited his paycheck along w/2 personal checks. We knew the personal checks would take awhile to clear but figured the payroll check would clear like normal. We figured wrong. All 3 checks together made the deposit "too large"(the banks phrase) and they held up the entire deposit. A check came through and instead of holding the check while the deposit was "pending" they bounced and returned our check. I'm so mad and no amount of talking to the bank will change a thing. It's policy and we are out the money for the bounced check fee and a returned check fee. It's just so frustrating!! I swear I think we would be better off just cashing checks, getting money orders and keeping the rest in a shoebox.

Other than that I'm feeling a bit tired and a bit sunburned today. Our friend Mary is home from her trip to Alaska(though she was disappointed that it rained everyday she was there) and she had us and the boys to her house and to the pool yesterday. I put 30SPF sunblock on all of us and was very good about reapplying it every couple of hours. Even with this the 3 of us are looking a bit pink, with me being the worse on just one arm, shoulder and my chest. We normally sit in the shade of an umbrella by the pool but it was a bit crowded yesterday and I ended up with just part of me in the sun. It wasn't for more than 10 minutes or so before we could shift so I too was in the shade. I had sunblock on so I wasn't too worried but I still got burned. It's very red, itchy and stingy today. Steph had some aloe lotion that helped somewhat but it's uncomfortable. The boys had a blast at the pool though. D will even now put his head underwater and it made we wish we had more money for swim lessons. I got in the pool with them and tried to teach him but he wanted to just play instead. Mary fed us a small lunch and a really yummy dinner with a HUGE fruit salad. We will be going back next Thursday as long as it doesn't' rain. I'm going to be sure to buy better sunblock before then.

I discovered another con to Steph living here....I stay up too late. After dinner Steph usually comes upstairs and we all head outside to hang out. The boys play in the yard or with their friends, and the 3 of us have fallen into the habit of playing cards, Hearts, since it's easy for 3 people to play. Last night the weather was so nice and we were having such a good time that we hung out until well after midnight playing cards. Not only am I tired today but I also lost 3 games in a row!! Hearts is such a simple card game to grasp, but I can't seem to win. I lose badly and it's frustrating.

Thankfully our normal weekly BBQ got moved to tomorrow night because I didn't get to the grocery store yesterday(we went swimming instead) and Steph had something she had to do tonight for school. Since she will be gone all evening I'm looking forward to going to bed a bit earlier. Still I had a lot of fun playing and it's been really nice having someone else around. I know DH has really liked having someone he can talk shop with. She is going to visit her dad this weekend so it will be just us and that will be nice too. So far I have to say though it's going pretty well.

I night without the kids and it happened so fast I didn't' have time to worry!

DH called yesterday afternoon and said Steph wanted us to go out with her last night but I gave him a bunch of excuses, I was too tired, too sore etc. He said fine. When Steph came home though she was kind of insistent, she said I needed to get out, we would have fun, she'd but us a couple of rounds, and we should go. She was nice about it and she was right, I did *need* to get out. Still I worried about a baby sitter. She said if we couldn't find one then her and I would go since I had to miss the hockey party. It was super cool the way she stood up to DH, not that he would deny me a night out, but it helped me feel better about it with a voice to back me up. Before I knew it I had an outfit picked out, was in the shower and DH on the way to his moms house with the boys.

We went to a couple of clubs, had a few drinks(I nursed most of them and with each beer had a glass of water) but it was fun to be out after dark, some place loud, with music and dancing and just all around good fun. The night flew by and around Midnight Dh checked on the boys. His mom said they were sleeping and to just leave them, I wanted to say no, but I got over ruled, so they stayed. We came home, had some Taco Bell, played some cards and we went to bed somewhere around 3am. I'm only slightly jealous that Steph is still sleeping(it's nearly noon) and we were up at 7am to get the boys. I think DH missed them as much as I did.

I can't believe I did it, I left them overnight with someone other than myself. This is *huge* for me and it happened in the perfect way....Without a lot of thought, planning, and better yet with no time to fret and worry over it too much. I did leave D when he was two with my SIL and her kids(she was still married then) for a long weekend for our 10th wedding anniversary(I was pregnant with G at the time) but G, at nearly 7, had never been with someone overnight.

The best part is they had fun, they aren't scarred by it, sure they stayed up too late, ate popcorn at 10pm, didn't brush their teeth, slept on the floor, but they said it was fun, and they are Ok.

I'm really proud of myself and it was a much deserved break from a normal Friday night!

Ugh! Is it the weekend yet?

I feel bad again today. Not in the bathroom bad but I feel like I've been beat up and my stomach is still very iffy. I've spent the morning, slowly cause that is the only speed I have at the moment, cleaning the house and finally getting the dishes done from Wednesday night. I still have a lot to go and all I want to do is nap. I do have to say so far this is the one drawback of having Steph here, the need to keep my house really clean, or at least a lot cleaner than I would if it was just us, and I admit that is probably not as clean as some people's house. It's my *own* hang up and I honestly don't think she would care all that much if the house was messy but it bugs me for other's to see it less than it's best so instead of letting it go today, I made myself get it done . I guess in some ways you could look at it as a pro but today when I want to do is stretch out on the couch and take a nap(not possible with kids but I can dream) it seems like a con.

I felt bad for DH today. He has had a horrible week at work. They have been so busy and he has been running around doing like 10 different jobs and he was so tired this morning. He got up though, headed to work and then hit a horrible traffic jam. On a good day even though he's quite a distance from his office he can make it to work most mornings in 20 minutes, more or less. This morning the freeway was shut down, caused a big back up and the side roads were swelling with traffic. It took him nearly 1 hour 20 minutes and he was late to work. It's not a big deal, and I'm sure he wasn't the only one but he called at one point really frustrated with the pace of the traffic. That is a big downside to the job, the commute. On good days he doesn't notice it all that much, but like this morning it can be bad.

It's going to be a hot and steamy day and into the weekend. We've been lucky so far this year with really gorgeous weather so we are due for some normal Michigan summer weather. It's going to climb to 94 by the end of the weekend.

I did finish the dress for the hardanger angel. I just have to do the wings which I hopefully do today since they are so small. Now to just remember where I put the angel heads someone was kind enough to send me last year for her last year! I wish the scanner was hooked up because it's really pretty. I learned to do spiderweb roses, button hole bars, and it has a couple of pretty crystals that thankfully I had in my stash. I hope it will be easy to construct.....

Well, I made it thru the day!

I'm feeling slightly better now. I'm still not hungry or have eaten but I have kept down a couple of glasses of water. I was able to nap for a couple of hours and then took a nice long cool shower. I went to pick up the boys but my MIL insisted a stay for awhile. It was a good idea. It was nice to sit and have the boys watched over by someone else.

The grandparents did have a blast with the kids. D spent the morning with Grandma running some errands and G spent the time with grandpa puttering around the house. It was good for them to be there and they didn't watch a single bit of TV all day which I think was good for their brains.

We are now home and Steph offered to take the boys downstairs or for a a walk or something if I needed to rest but I don't think another nap will make me feel any better. I really just need to figure out what to eat and some caffeine I think.

Everyone else is fine so I don't think it was the food. We had hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken skewers but we cook over a big hot charcoal fire. The chicken was on metal skewers so they were cooked in the middle, plus they were chicken tenders so they weren't overly thick or anything. Whatever it was, was nasty and I'm glad it's over with. I don't think I will ever be able to drink or eat Grapefruit again in my life!!!

Now we just have to decide what to do about dinner. I'm not cooking, in fact everything is pretty much where I left it last night and there it will stay, probably until tomorrow.

Thank god for Grandma's!!

Last night was Wednesday night BBQ night. We had a BLAST. We ate, our friend Scott came over, Steph had a friend from work over and we laughed, talked, ate, played air hockey etc. I had a couple of drinks, and by a couple I mean 3, two beers and then a Ruby Red Grapefruit juice mixed with Ruby Red Absolut Vodka. I went to bed feeling pleasantly buzzed, not overly drunk, or bed spinning even, just happy.

About 5am I woke up, my head was pounding and then I started to feel sick. I'll spare most of the gory details but lets just say I spent about 4 hours in the bathroom in all sorts of distress. (WARNING TMI) at one point I was the toilet with a bucket too. Not at all pretty and not at all fun, especially since I had seemingly expelled most of what I ate but my body was still trying to dislodge something from say the region of my toes or something I might of ate in my youth. It finally stopped about an hour or so ago. I have kept down 1 motrin and just enough water to take it with. Woo Hoo!!

DH was checking on me before he went to work and I told him he had to call his mom or stay home and take care of the boys. I just could not do it from the bathroom so thankfully my MIL is an early riser and DH took the boys to her house on his way to work. I felt awful having to ask but I had no choice, there was no way I could function and take care of them. They were thrilled to go and DH says my MIL was fine with it so I could take as much time as I need. I'm going to try to nap and hopefully in another hour or so I can go get them.

The other down side to the day is our cat is still having litter box issues and went once again in the living room(thats 2X there, once in th e kitchen). I don't know what to do. The door in the basement is open, his box is in the same spot, clean, so I don't know what the problem is. I do know I can't keep cleaning all these spots on the carpet. I told DH we might have to bring the box upstairs at night since that is when he is doing it. I did not expect this to be a problem.

Who knew...


....that out of all of us adjusting to the new living arrangements that it was the cat that would have the most problems. I worried about the kids but they are having a blast and Steph invited them down to play her Nintendo last night after dinner. I worried that the dog would bark every time she moved or went outside but except for being really excited to see her and being overly affectionate she is doing well. I was worried that I would have a hard time being social but it was actually really nice to have another adult to talk to you. Meepers(the cat) though left another present, this time time in the middle of the living room carpet. The door is open to where his litter box is and has been all night so I'm confused. I cleaned it well and I have the enzyme cleaner to take up all the smell. We reintroduced Meepers to the box by taking him down the stairs, to the box itself and putting him in it. I'll do this a few times again today and hope that helps. I will have to call my SIL later today and see if she will let me borrow her carpet cleaner over the weekend. We've been meaning to do it for awhile and this gives me the perfect excuse.

I have to talk about how *gorgeous* the weather in Michigan has been lately. The days have been in the mid 80's, nights in the low 60's, lots of sunshine, very little humidity and just beautiful, very not typical July weather. It's been so nice to sit on the porch(which we all did to nearly midnight last night) and watch the world go by. I guess its going to come to an end this weekend with some hot/humid weather over the weekend but not as bad as it could be.

Last night Steph said we should pick a project to do each weekend so we can get stuff done(I t hink she wants to be useful) so we are going to try to install a new side door. We bought new doors a couple of years ago and they have been sitting in our garage ever since. A lodge brother was going to put them in for us but he passed away before he could get to it and we haven't had the money since to pay someone to do it(one place wanted almost 2X what we paid for the door just for the install). We figure we will have our friend Scott come over, look up how to do it online and give it a try. It should be fun and interesting!

I did stitch quite a bit yesterday. That is the thing I like about Hardanger is that it's more portable than some XS projects. As we all sat on the porch watching the boys play, I was able to finish up all the rest of the wrapped bars on the Angel. I just have about a billion eyelets to do before I can move on to the wings but it is progress.

A grump about my DH.

Yes, I love him, yes, i'm still happily married, yes, he's a great father, yes, he's a good man, but at times I just want to throttle him!! I hate the way he handles things, and at the moment the way he has handled one particular thing. I'm so mad at not only the handling but that I had to find out about it from someone else. We are now is such a pickle it's not even funny and it's made it uncomfortable and sticky for not just us but several other people as well. I don't know how it's going to get resolved and it just pisses me off to no end!!! This could of been avoided if he has just listened to me, at any point in this process, just one of my suggestions and it wouldn't be like this. Now I'm not only hurt but embarrassed as well and there is not a damn thing I can do about it!

I'm also really mad at a lodge brother who we trusted to handle something and he didn't. He completely dropped the ball on us and it's not fair that because he didn't hold up his end of the deal, we are left out to dry.

And the worse part is this has been going on for MONTHS, MONTHS, and I wasn't told. Dh's excuse to that was "There was nothing you could do so why bother you with the details".

And he just lets things go. He is such a procrastinator and things just go and go and go until they are a big mess. If he had got on top of things sooner, I'm not sure if they would of been any different, but letting them go didn't help either.

I love him like crazy but sometimes I don't like him very much! And even when I confront him it will be the same thing "I'm sorry, It's my fault, I screwed up".

We survived the first weekend.

Well we have made it through the first weekend of Steph living here with only one minor mishap. She hung her hockey bag on the door to the laundry room, where there is also the litter box, and poor Meepers couldn't get to the box last night. He left a "present" in the kitchen so it was easily cleaned up but I felt bad for the poor guy. I'm not sure she even realized the litter box was in there since I have it tucked in the corner of the laundry room and I'm not sure she has even been in there.

I was worried about how much socializing we would all "have" to do or if she will feel compelled to mingle even if she didn't want to but we did Ok over the weekend. She spent all of Saturday at her old place cleaning and turning in her keys, getting the last of her mail, turning her cable box in etc so we didn't see her until hockey. Day. Sunday she spent it unpacking and getting organized. She did a nice job and got it all done in just a few hours and she says it's the perfect amount of space for just her.

Sunday night I offered her some of our chili for dinner but she wasn't hungry. After dinner DH and I were in the backyard enjoying the nice weather and she came out and we all hung out for awhile. After that the boys wanted to watch a movie and she watched it with us, and after that we all headed to our separate beds. She said this will be cool, when she wants company she can just come up and say Hi or if she wants to be alone she can stay downstairs.

So far the boys have really be respectful of her space and privacy because I talked to them about how they couldn't go downstairs unless she invited them. I worried though that G would wake up Saturday morning all excited and go bounding down the stairs but he didn't. I wish the dog would be the same way. She seems the most excited to see Steph here and I guess she has made a few nocturnal visits. I told her to close off the doors if she wanted too but she said she kind of liked it, once she realized what it was.

DH was also able to get all our computers on line this weekend so my computer is no longer everyone else's and I'm glad for that. He hooked up her computer as well as all here electronics. He felt very manly after doing that :D

The only downside to our weekend was I found out our good friends are having some serious marriage problems. They have been married as long as we have and it's a shame to see him so unhappy, and he is really unhappy. He joked if he could have the basement after Steph and I told him our house was always open and we'd make room for him now if he needed. He said no, he'd hang in awhile longer, but I knew in that moment that he really wants out. They don't have kids but I can see where ending any marriage can be hard. Knowing him though, he'll stick it out, which is sad too.

For the next week I'm just going to chill. I still need to get some more stuff organized in the boys room and my craft room but frankly I'm sick of looking at stuff. My stuff, her stuff, everyone else's stuff so it can wait until next week because I can shut the doors on both spaces and not see it!

I pulled out some hardanger yesterday. I needed something a little bit easier and lot more relaxing to work on and hardanger fits the bill for me. I am very close to completing an angel that I started last year and put away. I think I'm going to try to finish that as my ornament for July(never did finish one for June) and then focus on my FG to get try to finally get her done. Maybe by the end of July.....

Steph is all moved in!

I was not happy to discover that we not only had to get the house ready for her to move to but help with the actual moving process. I guess the phrase "real friends help you move" is true because she had some people lined up but then they all backed out at the last minute. She did offer us gas money, beer and pizza so it wasn't all bad. DH's brother and SIL came and helped to with a trailer and mini-van. My BIL is retired military so the have moving down to a science so they kind of came in, took over, and we just did their bidding so to speak. My poor SIL was frustrated that we had to make a second trip for a few more things because we just ran out of room. She's used to moves where you can't come back for stuff!! Still we got it all done by 9pm last night.

Our poor dog is so confused. She has walked around for days watching us moving stuff out and yesterday before Steph started moving in she just wandered the empty basement looking around. Then when we moved stuff in she was even more confused. It was cute this morning she kept walking to the top of the basement stairs and walking back to us and sitting like she was saying "hey, you know someone is down there right?" When Steph got up she went outside to drink some coffee and enjoy the gorgeous day we are having. When the dog saw her she got so excited and had to run out there and give her a good sniff.

I think it's going to be OK. We didn't seem to be too loud for her this morning and I couldn't hear her TV last night as we went to sleep. Now all is that is left is the final shuffling of stuff but it looks like she's going to be pretty comfortable down there. I had forgotten how much space was there down there once we got the desks out. She is also pretty happy that she will be saving so much money. I found out what her rent *was* and I was shocked, it was a lot, and then utilities on top of that. Then there is savings in gas alone.....

I'm tired today, the kids are tired today, and I'm looking forward to just chilling until it's time to head to hockey.

My other SIL did get married yesterday but with the move we didn't get over to the reception like we wanted to. I went with the boys for about an hour and then DH went over for a little while after that. She was cool with it but I wanted to make sure we made some kind of appearance.

His mom was here for the weekend and since her dog had recently had puppies she brought them all with her. They were some sort of little fluffy things, mutts, but oh so adorable. I really wanted to take one home but unfortunately they were all spoken for or I would have in a second.

Dh is taking the day off!!

Yesterday I told DH that I was just plain wiped out and that I really needed a hand getting the rest of the basement in order. I don't mean to sound like a wimp but I feel like I've done an *awful* lot in the last month. I've basically cleaned the entire first floor along with cleaning out every closet, I absorbed an entire floor of stuff into other areas of our house and re-did a bathroom. I'm tired, sore and DONE! I told him he was going to have to do the last of the packing and moving in the basement, or at least a good chunk of it. He just called a little while ago and he has put in to take tomorrow off. It's pretty slow at work right now and he has a few vacation days. It's not 100% but pretty darn close so I'm greatly relieved.

I'm feeling a bit better today. My toe is looking better and I can bend it now. I discovered yesterday if I taped it to the toe next to it, that it felt a lot better. I did keep it up and with ice on it yesterday so I'm sure that helped. I can at least get shoes on today!! My finger however is still pretty swollen, still weepy and I'm not sure what else to do for it other than cleaning it out, slathering on Neosporin and keeping it covered.

I was very happy that last nights BBQ got cancelled. Steph decided to spend her moms last night in town at home, just the two of them and she had some last minute stuff to do. We still grilled but it was nice and quiet and simple. Unfortunately the Milky Way cake was only so-so. I'm going to have to try a different version.

Today '"m boiling eggs and getting ready to make the 3 dozen deviled eggs for my SIL's wedding reception tomorrow and I'm so not looking forward to going. I had a chat with my niece(who's 20 and lives at with my SIL and her soon to be DH) and a chat with my SI. It seems their up coming wedding is really more a business decision instead of "I want to spend the rest of my life with you". He has "left" yet another job(I think it was job number 6 in the two years he's been in Michigan) and now wants to go back to school to be a Vet Tech. If they get married he can go on my SIL's health insurance and since she works at a local community college he can take a lot of basic courses for free. Later on she will have to get a second job to support this guy while he goes to school but for now this will work . I was speechless, and not sure what to say. Every time I felt uneasy about them getting married I tried to tell myself "well, they love each other" but to hear it put in such business terms felt wrong. She told me straight up if it wasn't for these reasons she would probably never get married again.

Don't get me wrong, marriages based on love don't last anymore either so I guess it's as good of a reason as any. Still to me marriage, or at least my marriage, was a sacred vow between DH and I, a vow I made in front of friends, family and God. This seems vastly different than that......Because of this I've decided the wedding sampler I completed for them will wait awhile, maybe as a Christmas gift but it doesn't seem right for the occasion. Instead my help with the set up, the 3 dozen deviled eggs, and a nice bottle of wine will have to do as a wedding gift.

Steph moves in tomorrow!

Small doesn't mean easy!!

I thought that the bathroom in the basement would but such a quick project since it's such a small space. I was wrong about that!! It took all weekend and then some to get it done. The walls were such a dark color and we decided to lighten them up so that required a coat of primer plus two coats of paint. With a small bathroom that meant a lot of bending and stooping and it was so small that really only one person could be in there at a time, mainly me, so it took a long time to finish. The floor was tricky too because of the tiles we had and the way the bathroom is laid out. It's kind of a square in the middle with the toilet and then goes off in both directions with the shower stall to one side and the sink to the other. We did ok but I'm not thrilled with the amount of cutting of tiles we had to do around the toilet. Still it's so much better than what it was!!! With the lighter wall color and lighter floor it seems much brighter and not so much of a cave like it did before. I hope Steph will like it!!!

I managed to cut my thumb along the way, right next to my nail, kind of like a hang nail almost. I was careful to clean it out and to bandage it but today it's swollen and oozing pus. I soaked it, put some antibiotic cream on it and have it wrapped but it's painful to bump, which I seem to manage to do on EVERYTHING!!

And I injured my foot. I dropped one of the vanity doors, wooden, on the base of my big toe. It t didn't hurt that bad at first but within a short of amount of time it was really swollen and sore. Today it's much less swollen but there is huge bruise and it's really quite painful to walk on. I didn't think it required a trip to the emergency room but I thought about having my dr. take a look. They are closed today for the holiday so I will have to wait until tomorrow and assess how it's doing then. For the most part I'm trying to stay sitting with my foot up and I hope to stitch some this afternoon.

We are on track for getting the last of what we need to do for the basement. We have two big pieces of furniture to move(maybe tonight) and we got DH's computer moved yesterday. It's not hooked up to the network yet so we are still sharing mine 4 ways but at least it's moved. Dh is trying to figure out how to hook it up, he'd like to go wireless but we can't really afford to. I hope by the weekend we have that done. We did get our Ikea desk on Friday and set up in the living room. It doesn't take up as much room as I feared and I guess it won't be so bad in there, for awhile.

All in all I'm tired and just ready for Steph to get here. This has turned out to be a lot more work that I thought it would be and I haven't gotten as much help from DH as I had hoped(it was his idea to paint but yet I spent the 3 days straight in the tiny bathroom doing it) but still it's been good for the house. I didn't realize how much I hated that bathroom and now with it spruced up it's really nice. We also talked about some other things we would like to do to the basement when Steph leaves and we are about 80% certain we will be moving our bedroom down there when she moves out.

Tonight is the BBQ and they are just going to have to put up with a dirty house. DH did some big things for me last night, and I got the bathroom cleaned this morning but I"m just to tired and too sore to mop my floors so they will have to stay that way. We are going to just do some brauts, beans and I made a "Milky Way" cake for desert. I found the recipe on line and you start by melting 170z worth of Milky Ways and it smelled awesome while it baked. I hope it tastes as good.

I'm off to prop up my foot!