Introspection on this rainy day!

 

I’m feeling splendid, even though the rain is BEATING DOWN on my house right now, preventing me from venturing out to Costco. (Maybe I should be thanking the rain! Costco is not that much fun. But neither is being out of lunchbox snacks and salad greens.) I’m feeling pretty marvelous because it seems like a lot of things in my little world are coming together. I think this calls for a bulleted list!

• I may have found a church home for us where they’ll welcome Pablo with open arms. We tried a place on Sunday and the kids loved it. Pablo had one tiny issue, but the teacher there seemed positive that he could succeed and really enjoy being there with some precautions put into place. I’m optimistic that things may actually work out where this is concerned. I always crave more order and structure for my children, particularly for Pablo, and I think Sunday school would benefit all of them tremendously. Also, I think the whole, “We are all God’s children, and everyone is special and wonderful” atmosphere of, y’know, CHURCH, will be a good thing. Pablo’s had to deal with so much unkindness from people due to his disability, which SUCKS ASS. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this might be a really good thing.
• I’ve gotten back in touch with a friend of mine on Facebook who was a huge, major part of my life for many years. We “survived” small town life together, moved up to Denver together, and leaned on each other for years before going off and living our lives. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him for TEN YEARS until last week, and now we’ve been spending lots of time catching up. It makes me sad that we were absent from each other’s lives for so long, but I’m thrilled to be catching up now, and each time we have a little chat on Facebook, it brightens my whole day. There’s absolutely nothing like old friends, who have seen you at your best and worst, and who  knew you when you were going through puberty! Love. It.
• My husband and I are moving forward with major improvements to our house! It’s gorgeous as it is, but we’re really trying to make it our own. On the horizon: building a custom bed for the kids, additional built-in storage in the basement for our plethora of toys and games, and…::drumroll:: extending our DECK and putting a roof on it so we can spend more time enjoying our amazing backyard! I’m so grateful to have married that crazy enginerd, who meticulously designs things, agonizing over every minute detail that no one else would even notice. It’s going to be cool.
• Pablo is doing fantastic! We started a fish oil regimen a few weeks ago, and I really think it’s benefiting him. He’s all but stopped hitting himself, and the vocal tics have dropped off completely. We’ve had a few minor issues, but we’re starting to realize (duh) that Pablo is growing and maturing, and wants more than anything to just be a regular kid. It seems like whenever we have a huge blowup or tantrum, it’s because the kids around him are doing something he wants to do. Like line up and walk into school without having his aide grab him by the hand. Little things. He’s really blossoming, and we’re really enjoying him. Those weeks of hell always seem to result in big breakthroughs for him!
• Although I haven’t addressed it here or anywhere online, Kayley has been dealing with a huge healthl issue which has really affected her. I’ve been worried to death about her. A few days ago, we finally figured out the problem, and we’re on our way to a solution. She is positive and happy and optimistic that it’s all going to work out fine. She has been such a big, brave girl and I am just SO proud of her right now. Things aren’t 100% rosy, but where this area is concerned, it’s all good. 

And, it’s JUNE! How can it be June? It’s 55 degrees outside. I packed up all the winter clothes last week! We’re ready for summer weather, pretty please. The kids are graduating from kindergarten on the 18th and we’d like to eventually visit the beautiful pool in our neighborhood. So, get your act together, Mother Nature!

I really do love the handmade gifts too.

It’s not that I don’t adore the cute little gifts my kindergarteners made for me for Mother’s Day, complete with their little precious handprints. Those are the things I’ll cherish for years to come, really. But if I’m being honest here, my FAVORITE Mother’s Day gift is the one from my husband. First, he watched the kids and cleaned the house while I took a delicious two hour nap. And when I woke up, he handed me this box:

Which had this inside:

I love it! My first Tiffany. Awwwww. Unfortunately, I had to send it with him today so he can take it back and have another link added to the chain, so it won’t look ridiculous on my man-neck. Booooo. But still, I LOVE IT.

Let’s hear it for MONDAY! Woooo, hoooo.

Yeah. Monday. All right! ::musters up enthusiasm::

The weekend was okay. My sister and I had a lot of fun, and I actually watched THREE MOVIES. Look at me go! I’ve already watched more movies in the 2 months we’ve lived here than in all of last year. We saw Pineapple Express, The Love Guru, and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. Pineapple Express was hysterical – we laughed so hard, both of us nearly peed. Sexay! It’s fun being old. The other two movies sucked, in my opinion. Thumbs down, dude. Thumbs down. I don’t recommend either. But I highly recommend Pineapple Express! It was hysterical! I always love seeing Rosie Perez in another role besides that of Click the Camera on Diego.

Yesterday, we had family over for most of the day, and a family friend came into town late in the afternoon. We all went to dinner last night at the pseudo In-N-Out (also known as Old School Burgers) and it was downright delightful, even if I didn’t get to eat my burger with a nice, toasty bun. The weather’s been gorgeous here, and I’m getting really excited about springtime. It’s all brand new to us in a way, because we bought the house in December, so we have no idea what’s going to pop up out of the ground. I know there’s a ton of stuff planted, but it’s all DEAD now, so it’s hard to tell what it is. I just know it’s going to be gorgeous, though. I’m thrilled to have such a beautifully landscaped yard now. We did lots of work on our old yard, but we really lacked the time and money required to plant everything I wanted to. And here, it’s all done.

Our pond is looking spectacular, too! The water is so clear, I can see all the way through to the bottom now. I’m about ready to go buy some twenty-five cent feeder goldfish to throw in there and see if they’ll live. K’s dad is not going to have his pond anymore, so he’s passing along some of his pond accoutrements. Hopefully we’ll get his nice big fish, too!

Today, I’m planning to get a lot of stuff done. It’s only 8:30, so I have the whole day ahead of me. My mom’s going to take the girls and have a picnic, so I can get stuff done here. I think I might grab her carpet shampooer while I’m over there. Paul’s aunt and cousin are coming out from Cali in about a week, and we want the house to look really nice. I love these “Oh shit! People are coming! Hurry!” moments we seem to have, because they really kick Paul in the ass when it comes to stuff around the house. I guarantee we’ll get stuff done this week that I’ve been nagging him about since day one. What do you want to bet by the end of the week, there will be hooks for backpacks and lunchboxes and kids’ coats, and curtain rods in place, and all the stuff on the walls that require a drill and a level for hanging.

Oh, and I’ve got the study nearly done, too! I painted one wall bright orange, and it came out so pretty! It’s so cheerful and bright – the kids really love it. We’ve got white shelves all over that wall and an area for the kids to do school work. It’s coming along nicely.

So I guess I need to get it in gear. See ya!

What? No dead bodies?

I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned that the former owner of this house spent thousands of dollars and probably hundreds of hours on what was once a gorgeous backyard pond. I keep saying we should drain it, fill it up with pea gravel, and let the kids drive their Tonka trucks around and dig with shovels. Screw ecosystems! I don’t want my kids to fall in and drown. But part of me loves the idea of having a beautiful water feature in the yard. I used to have a small pond in my backyard at K’s dad’s house, and I adored it. This is three times bigger, and ten times nicer than the pond I once had. It seems like a shame to just seal it all up.

According to the neighbors, the pond was an explosion of color in the summertime, with the surface completely covered in lily blooms. One guy said he used to sit on our deck, having a beer with Former Homeowner Guy, watching the huge koi fish swimming around. The pond had two waterfalls, multiple lights under water, plus lots of professional landscaping all around it. It’s even got a few boulders in place I can’t imagine were placed there by anything but a backhoe. It was BAD ASS.

Fast forward a few months, and now it SMELLS like ass. It was completely frozen over when we moved in, but the 3 or 4 days last week of 60 degree temps has thawed that sucker right out. Saturday, Paul and I decided to muck it out a little bit and figure out what we should do with it next. We started attacking it with a couple of rakes, just trying to snag some of the debris. We pulled out half a dozen tree branches, three large dead fish, and a HUGE pile of fallen, decaying leaves. It smelled SICK. It was probably the worst thing I’ve ever smelled in my life. Every time we’d stir up the bottom, the stench would rise up and grab our attention like a slap in the face. And with every pass I made with the rake, I seriously expected to snag a human jawbone or something. I could not imagine an odor like that coming from anything but a dead body. But, no. The only dead bodies were those of the unlucky fish.

Paul got one of the waterfalls going again – the other one is missing its pump, which I guess the Former Homeowner Guy took with him. And our neighbor gave us a big bottle of algicide which we dumped in the water. Hopefully after the waterfall runs for a couple of days, some of the horrid stench will subside. Paul and I also raked lots of leaves out of the flowerbeds and cut back lots of vegetation, but we still have a long way to go. It already looks a lot better! I’m really excited about spring and summer – it’s obvious that the previous owners enjoyed having a gorgeous yard, and we’re going to reap the benefits of all their hard work. There are so many shrubs, ornamental grasses, trees, and flowers everywhere, I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s not all brown and DEAD!

I took this picture from the deck – it shows Pauly hosing off one of the waterfalls.

NOW what? I’m still not 100% comfortable with the idea of having a body of water a few feet from my back door with small children around, but…maybe they’re old enough now? Maybe we can slowly add river rock to it until it’s like, a foot deep. Huh? Maybe? Any ideas?

New Wheels! New TV!

Guess what? I have a new vehicle! My Mommy Mobile is officially outta here. Well, not really. It’s just going to become Paul’s Mommy Mobile – er, minivan. He drives a whole lot more than I do, so he’s going to take my van, which works out well, because he really likes driving a van. He’s missing his van A LOT. Did I mention that he sold it at our garage sale? Yeah! Somebody bought a 97 Dodge Caravan with 200K miles on it and a blown transmission. Further proof that Paul The Hustler can sell ANYTHING. So while he’s driving around town, getting good gas mileage in the good old red minivan, I’ll be behind the wheel of my badass Chevy Tahoe. It’s so pretty! I haven’t driven the thing yet, but I sure do like it after sitting in the passenger seat for 20 hours while we drove it home from Los Angeles!

It’s still attached to the U-Haul trailer we brought our MASSIVE TV home in. Paul’s aunt was so gracious, she gave us a stellar deal on the vehicle and threw in the TV, just so we’d get it out of her house. It’s the most ginormous TV I’ve ever seen in real life. It’s a rear projection, older style TV, but it’s still HDMI according to Paul. As far as I know, that means Huge Damned Mofo Idnit? I don’t know much about TVs, really, except that this one cost us very little, is going to look fan-fucking-tastic in our theater room, and is TALLER THAN ME. Have you ever just walked up to a TV and it was taller than you? It’s weird. This TV is just HUGE. 72 inches and a mere 350 pounds. *cough, choke* Paul had to call a buddy to help him move it into our house. Honestly, I can’t wait to hook the thing up so I can watch Spongebob BIGGER THAN LIFE!

I’m not sure if I’m more excited about the TV or the car (should I call it a car? Or a truck? Or what?) but it was nice to leave town for a minute, even if we spent all of our time driving, sleeping, and eating beef jerky. We still got in a quick visit with some friends in LA, and ate at Manuel’s, so all in all, a great little weekend trip.

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