Day Two

This is the progress so far. How is it different than yesterday? Well, it has a ladder. It has rails around the "fort."And it has been moved. 6 Hours so far, and this is it.

We were bound and determined to have it set between the two oak trees we planted, but the ground was just not level there, and it wasn't going to work. So, now, it's been moved 90 degrees to the right, near the fence next to one of our neighbors. Probably better this way, anyway, so the boys don't stand on the fort and throw stuff out onto the street. Not that boys like to do that kind of thing ...

Today it has been rainy, and Eric had to work all day (yes, on a Saturday), so no work on the swing set. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will allow for us to finish it, or at least get close.

Day One

We bought a swing set for the boys on Wednesday. We knew it was not going to be easy putting it together, but let's not talk about the time it's actually going to take.

The first step - sorting all the parts and pieces - took an hour or so on its own. We also discovered we had the wrong instructions, and had to e-mail the company to get a .pdf of the correct instructions. And then we got started. And only had one major screw-up (two different pieces looked very similar, had almost the same measurements, and we used the wrong ones, and had to redo).

Then of course we had the minor injury - one of the sides had been put together, leaning against our fence, waiting for Eric to get the tool he needed to put the two sides together, and I was holding the other side up, when the side against the fence was blown over by the wind - right onto my head. OUCH! I'm okay, though, I think. Hopefully any brain cells permanently damaged were unnecessary and not doing anything important anyway. But that might explain my headache for the day.

3 hours into the project, and this is what we have so far:

Anyone want to come to south Texas to help put this thing together? No?

Guthrie doesn't quite understand why it's not all done, and why we can't work on it, RIGHT NOW! This pesky little thing called Eric's job is all. Jobs - what a bother.

Miscellaneous

The boys have decided 4:30 a.m. is a good wake up time. I do not agree, and am trying to figure out how to correct that. The obvious solution is keep Guthrie awake later, but then I have to do bedtime twice, or get Eric to take over for one of them. I don't like those ideas any more than I like seeing 4:30 in the morning.

Yesterday in the bath Guthrie told me he wants to be a professor when he grows up. I asked what he wants to teach, and he said, "Loud noises." Okay.

Turner is officially walking. He gets up and walks across the room sometimes, and sometimes he stumbles a few feet then falls on his butt. Try as I may to get a video of this, every time I pull out the video camera he refuses to walk. He also found a strawberry on the floor yesterday, that Guthrie had dropped, and thought it was the greatest thing ever. I think we're going to go broke just keeping the boys in strawberries.

Speaking of which, our strawberry plants are growing, but we have thieves. Oh, yes, the birds eat all the strawberries. I suppose we could get chicken wire or something to put over them, but it might be too late now. Now Guthrie wants to eat the bird to eat the strawberries that way.

My toe is better, I think.

I must remember I cannot eat most pizza. My body is apparently used to "real food," and pizza more than anything upsets my stomach. Beans, peppers, garlic - great - but pizza from a chain? No way. And I LOVE pizza. :(

Guthrie yesterday was talking about the dog we used to have, Lily, and "called" her on a pretend phone. She is happy with her new family, apparently, but misses us. He's a cutie.

My brain is not functioning well. Something about the 4:30 a.m., and the fact that Turner is not sleeping well even up until 4:30. I'd like to reboot. *sigh* More coffee appears to be in my future.

Oooowwww!!! Ouch! Pain!!!

I seem to have, to the best I can figure out, an ingrown toenail. A while back (can't remember how long - weeks, maybe a couple months) I injured my toe (somehow, I really do this all the time) and broke off part of the top layer of the nail. Didn't seem like a terribly big deal at the time. Now, however, OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS it hurts.

Started this morning, but wasn't too bad. Got steadily worse, and both boys managed to step, sit or otherwise bump it multiple times today. I've read home treatments (soak in warm water, then try to pull the nail back from the skin), and am trying them. Also just took some ibuprofen. But I just now, sitting at my desk, barely bumped the toe against a book sitting by my desk, and AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It was all I could do not to scream out like a baby. The pain is currently shooting all the way from my toe up to the middle of my thigh.

I feel like a total wuss. I usually have a fairly high tolerance for pain, too - 3 unmedicated childbirths included - so being this crippled by a freakin' toenail is unsettling, to say the least. Add in the fact that Turner somehow injured my right nipple last night, and then he woke up at 5:15 in the morning, and I'm having a cranky day.

Any home remedies would be greatly appreciated, as would heavy painkillers.

We're, uh, home

yeah, so we got home late Thursday night. It's just taking me for-freakin'-ever to get caught back up and settled into being home again. How is it taking so long to recover from being gone? Laundry alone is a task I haven't gotten finished - I keep getting it all washed, but no chance to put it away, and by then there's more dirty! Aargh!!!

We had a good visit, overall. But we are of course glad to be home. Guthrie keeps saying we must go back to Missouri, so grandma won't be lonely, and I'm telling him that we will in a few months.

We've bought and had installed a new dishwasher. We also got and planted more trees - a peach, a plum, a magnolia and two oaks. And after I casually mentioned that I was thinking of starting a garden, or at least getting some hanging strawberry plants, Eric bought me a bunch of strawberry plants and committed me to the idea of having a garden. Our yard is slowly but surely turning into a food source.

The weather is beautiful - low 80s since we've been back - and as soon as we think it's relatively safe and free of spring-breakers, we're going out to the Island.

Guthrie had a great birthday - the celebration stretched out over 3 days. He loved his train ride to and from Kansas City, and I think he fell in love with the conductor. I'll try to post some pics later.

Samantha did very well at her math contest - 9th place in both of the tests. Her best friend got first place in one event, and qualified for state!!!

Guthrie woke up at about 5 this morning, and saw that he was all alone on the futon. He crawled over onto the other futon, where Eric, Turner and I were all asleep, and snuggled up to me saying, "I want to be with my family." How do you say no to that?

And for now, a picture we just got developed. I think it's from Thanksgiving, but I just love love love it.

Where Have I Been?

To answer the question -

Missouri. (aka Misery)

Things were too crazy, and the dates were still not set in stone, so I never got a chance to blog about it before we left. And now that I'm here, my mom's computer is very, um, cranky, and can be very slow, or just freeze up in the middle of something, so I hadn't really attempted to blog about being here. Well, that, and I've been running all over west-central Missouri visiting people, eating junk food, and amusing my small children and mother.

Here I am, though, sitting in 50 degree weather rather than the beautiful 80 degrees back in Texas. *sigh*

We are having a good time, in spite of the lack of fruit and veggies, overconsumption of high fructose corn syrup, and whatever illness Guthrie was struck with yesterday. (We decided to go to Ryan's, a nice "homestyle" buffet, where he might actually eat some fruit and veggies. We got up to the counter to order our drinks when his breakfast and previous night's dinner decided to emerge from his stomach. GROSS! And then, after his nap, whatever else might have been contained inside his tiny body exploded from the other end, overflowing his diaper and going up the front of his onesies - he was lying on his stomach - and all the way up to his chest. GROSSER!!)

Eric has/had business trips - Atlanta Wednesday-Saturday of last week, NYC Thursday to Saturday morning this week - and then his school's spring break, so I figured it would be a good chance to visit my family. It was perfect timing - Samantha's singing group had a performance this morning I got to see, tomorrow is the gifted program open house, and this weekend is her math contest, where I'll be able to attend the awards ceremony. Then Sunday we'll do cake and ice cream for Guthrie's birthday, and if all goes right, we're going to try on Monday to take him for a train ride to and from Kansas City as his birthday present (the kid is obsessed with trains) and to Fritz's train restaurant in Crown Center.

It is hard being away from home for this long, and I miss my husband - this is the longest we've been apart. I could cause a scandal by mentioning that I'm going out to dinner with a single man tonight, but Eric not only knows about it, I think he asked our friend if he'd do it.

Nothing terribly interesting to report just yet. Turner is on the verge of walking, bbut we're hoping he waits until Daddy gets back. Guthrie is getting used to the idea of turning 3 in a few days, and he's having a blast with his sister and his cousins and grandma. We're all getting enough TV and restaurant food to last us the rest of the year, and Guthrie has learned the words to the "Wonder Pets" theme song, while I keep catching myself singing the theme to the Backyardigans.

And tonight I'm eating kimchi. Yum!