...starting next Wednesday! In 10 days, our house will have real walls, and be ready for paint and some plaster.
The world might be ending... because I think I might actually have a real house soon.
And, where are the pictures? Well, I took some of the insulation, but there is not a lens wide enough in my possession that can take a picture of any room in my house. Maybe it's because our ceilings are high... I don't know. But it's frustrating.
Anyway, Ryan is finishing our shower pans tomorrow. Woo-hoo! The list goes like this: shower pans, drywall, cement board, tile, paint, plaster (in the great room and front room), ceiling stuff in great room, wood flooring, cabinets, countertops, electrical switches...and then move in? Outside finishes...stucco and siding! Those are somewhere in there, too.
Welcome!
Welcome to my little ol' blog. I'll be upfront about it: I don't blog very often any more. If you found your way here because you read my book "Trailer Life," have a gander! But it's easier to keep up with me on Instagram or on my Facebook page. I have this long, drawn out theory on why I'm a terrible blogger, but that is a story for another day. Enjoy the ramblings of my life from the last 8 years or so.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tons of FUN
First off, I am getting really, really bad at keeping up with my blog.
In that same vein, I want to record the following:
Will got a detention last month for flicking beans on the ceiling of the cafeteria with his spork. Did I say that already on here somewhere? I can't remember. But I want to remember this. He also has a problem with shoe tieing (is that a word?). He can tie shoes, he just chooses not to. Laces get ruined, shoes fall off... but on the plus side he surprised my friend Sierra with a bouquet of flower weeds after she and I finished running last Friday. He had a huge smile on his face, and all I could think was that we are in big trouble when he actually likes girls.
Don't be at all impressed with that reference to running. I stink at it. I don't even know if I like it anymore, and I'm having a heck of a time finding the time. The time changed, and the weather is getting warmer, so I may be able to do it third thing in the morning. You know, first get the kids off to school by 6:45 while the sun is still not visible and the coyotes are howling (they made me drive them to the bus stop this morning in fear of coyotes), and second is to throw some cocoa puffs at the other two and turn on a cartoon so I can run for thirty minutes. When the house gets done (and as my kids grow a little older and more self-sufficient), I'll have room to move inside. Then I may zumba and pilate and do parts of P90X my way to my thinner and more in shape self.
On that note, we celebrated last night at Pizza Hut and Home Depot. And instead of eating my share of a large pan pizza with sausage, bacon, and red onion, I ordered a small thin n' crispy veggie pizza. And it was tasty! And I didn't feel so gross and greasy.
Why the celebration? Because we have our house insulated! We passed the mechanical inspection, which means all that thinking and planning and hard work on Ryan's part is finally over. Right now he is in the showers putting in the shower pans. Mastic, morter, drain, and rubber membrane! After that is another inspection for the insulation and shower pans, and then our not so typical door framing/jambs need to be done. We got a drywall estimate yesterday, and they are ready to come up. After drywall... the house is practically done. And no, we are not moving in. We have a super duper nice (especially appreciated by me) washer and dryer hooked up out there, and that's a pain to have to move around for construction purposes. Imagine a bed and furniture in the way... Plus, the kitchen won't be done until last, so what's the point? The whole thing should be finished soon. And when I say "soon," know that we passed the 5 1/2 year point of living in a trailer, and we are coming up on the four year point of having pulled a permit. Some houses are thrown up in three months. I'm just hoping the finish work in complete in three months.
Where are the pictures? On my camera, where some day I will make the time to upload and format them for blogging. I planted 105 new trees this morning, am behind on the laundry, and am skipping playgroup today because I'm doing this little bit of record keeping, and I have a 4-H activity to prepare that I'm not ready for. I'll probably throw together a music thing with the bells and rhythm instruments I have, because I have that in a box, and because I'm lazy. The kids will love it, and if we play "corners" I'll be golden.
Other kid stuff:
Jessie got her ears pierced on Friday. She didn't even flinch: she did so great! She loves her earrings. They are little white daisies with pink centers.
The K teacher talked to Ed informally last week after school. She asked him if he was going to be the smart one in her class. He said "Yes." Without making eye contact. He has a problem with that. She asked him if he could count to 5. In my mind I was like, what the heck? Five? That's a little low, don't ya think? Ed counted to five for her. She asked him if he could count higher, like to 20. He did. After she left, I asked Ed why he didn't tell her he could count to 100. He said he didn't want to. I told him he should have told her, and he said he wanted to study first. He came home, got his binder, and studied his 100 chart. No joke- it was so weird. Ed, studying.
So the next day, I told him I would give him some jellybeans if when he saw her, he would tell her he could count to 100's, and then count to 100 by tens. So he did. After he got done, she asked him if he knew his ABC's, and in the very truest of Ed fashion, he stood in the middle of the office, in front of parents, the secretary, and the teacher, and sang out in a loud, clear voice his ABC's. He even embellished at the end with some fancy notes. It was awesome. He is so excited to go to school! Now, if we can just make it through the Kindergarten physical with the shots...
I found out Kacy is competitive: Last night she told me that a girl (B) in her class has the most AR points, like 8. When Kacy found out, she took more tests and now B has 9 and Kacy has 12. Kacy needs to be at the top of the class.
Will? He just needs to not get into trouble.
And Ed? If he stays on campus and doesn't go chase the cows or kiss the girls, we will be doing GREAT.
Did I mention we have insulation? And a great prospect for drywall? Ya, baby... I might actually, for reals have a real life house soon.
Which is great, because the hot water heater in the RV is trying to quit on me. That would be... just terrible. A solar water heater bag was a thought... but I don't want to go there.
In that same vein, I want to record the following:
Will got a detention last month for flicking beans on the ceiling of the cafeteria with his spork. Did I say that already on here somewhere? I can't remember. But I want to remember this. He also has a problem with shoe tieing (is that a word?). He can tie shoes, he just chooses not to. Laces get ruined, shoes fall off... but on the plus side he surprised my friend Sierra with a bouquet of flower weeds after she and I finished running last Friday. He had a huge smile on his face, and all I could think was that we are in big trouble when he actually likes girls.
Don't be at all impressed with that reference to running. I stink at it. I don't even know if I like it anymore, and I'm having a heck of a time finding the time. The time changed, and the weather is getting warmer, so I may be able to do it third thing in the morning. You know, first get the kids off to school by 6:45 while the sun is still not visible and the coyotes are howling (they made me drive them to the bus stop this morning in fear of coyotes), and second is to throw some cocoa puffs at the other two and turn on a cartoon so I can run for thirty minutes. When the house gets done (and as my kids grow a little older and more self-sufficient), I'll have room to move inside. Then I may zumba and pilate and do parts of P90X my way to my thinner and more in shape self.
On that note, we celebrated last night at Pizza Hut and Home Depot. And instead of eating my share of a large pan pizza with sausage, bacon, and red onion, I ordered a small thin n' crispy veggie pizza. And it was tasty! And I didn't feel so gross and greasy.
Why the celebration? Because we have our house insulated! We passed the mechanical inspection, which means all that thinking and planning and hard work on Ryan's part is finally over. Right now he is in the showers putting in the shower pans. Mastic, morter, drain, and rubber membrane! After that is another inspection for the insulation and shower pans, and then our not so typical door framing/jambs need to be done. We got a drywall estimate yesterday, and they are ready to come up. After drywall... the house is practically done. And no, we are not moving in. We have a super duper nice (especially appreciated by me) washer and dryer hooked up out there, and that's a pain to have to move around for construction purposes. Imagine a bed and furniture in the way... Plus, the kitchen won't be done until last, so what's the point? The whole thing should be finished soon. And when I say "soon," know that we passed the 5 1/2 year point of living in a trailer, and we are coming up on the four year point of having pulled a permit. Some houses are thrown up in three months. I'm just hoping the finish work in complete in three months.
Where are the pictures? On my camera, where some day I will make the time to upload and format them for blogging. I planted 105 new trees this morning, am behind on the laundry, and am skipping playgroup today because I'm doing this little bit of record keeping, and I have a 4-H activity to prepare that I'm not ready for. I'll probably throw together a music thing with the bells and rhythm instruments I have, because I have that in a box, and because I'm lazy. The kids will love it, and if we play "corners" I'll be golden.
Other kid stuff:
Jessie got her ears pierced on Friday. She didn't even flinch: she did so great! She loves her earrings. They are little white daisies with pink centers.
The K teacher talked to Ed informally last week after school. She asked him if he was going to be the smart one in her class. He said "Yes." Without making eye contact. He has a problem with that. She asked him if he could count to 5. In my mind I was like, what the heck? Five? That's a little low, don't ya think? Ed counted to five for her. She asked him if he could count higher, like to 20. He did. After she left, I asked Ed why he didn't tell her he could count to 100. He said he didn't want to. I told him he should have told her, and he said he wanted to study first. He came home, got his binder, and studied his 100 chart. No joke- it was so weird. Ed, studying.
So the next day, I told him I would give him some jellybeans if when he saw her, he would tell her he could count to 100's, and then count to 100 by tens. So he did. After he got done, she asked him if he knew his ABC's, and in the very truest of Ed fashion, he stood in the middle of the office, in front of parents, the secretary, and the teacher, and sang out in a loud, clear voice his ABC's. He even embellished at the end with some fancy notes. It was awesome. He is so excited to go to school! Now, if we can just make it through the Kindergarten physical with the shots...
I found out Kacy is competitive: Last night she told me that a girl (B) in her class has the most AR points, like 8. When Kacy found out, she took more tests and now B has 9 and Kacy has 12. Kacy needs to be at the top of the class.
Will? He just needs to not get into trouble.
And Ed? If he stays on campus and doesn't go chase the cows or kiss the girls, we will be doing GREAT.
Did I mention we have insulation? And a great prospect for drywall? Ya, baby... I might actually, for reals have a real life house soon.
Which is great, because the hot water heater in the RV is trying to quit on me. That would be... just terrible. A solar water heater bag was a thought... but I don't want to go there.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Blogging and Facebook and The House
I feel quite behind in blogging, and really, really behind in using my camera. It's sad. It's almost as if photography was only interesting until I felt like I accomplished something. Now that I feel half way competent, I lost interest. I've noticed that about myself: I like a challenge. Once I meet the challenge...I lose interest. And, I'm feeling totally uninspired and non-artistic. I'll have to work on that.
I quit Facebook for a month. A self imposed grounding, per se. It's a huge time sucker, and I decided to go with a little more anonymity. I kind of miss it- sometimes it's the only adult interaction I get. And sadly, I keep composing status updates in my head. You know, like "Ed just asked me...." or "Check out this rainbow..." kind of LAME. At the same time, it was a great way to keep up with the family and see what random things they are doing. I am happy to report that I haven't looked since Wednesday night.
The House: we had an inspection, and had to fix a few minor things. We had to look up some code, print it out, and now have to show the inspector who still is uncertain whether or not our plumbing vent system is legit that it is indeed to code. Pearl of Wisdom: you don't want to make an inspector mad, but you do need to sometimes guide them in knowing the building code if you do something that is rarely done.
That is all! Busy, busy... and enjoying it. I went to a school board conference for two days. It made my butt hurt- lots of sitting, and although very informative, it was also very boring. Saturday we went to the school's "Polar Bear Plunge" where we watched various community members jump into the freezing cold water. It was great! And unfortunately for me, the three younger kids want to do it next year. Kacy volunteered to coordinate our costumes and hand us our towels. Several thousand dollars were raised for swim scholarships.
We are now concentrating on getting the house done, raising the kids, and doing all the things that go along with this life we live.
I quit Facebook for a month. A self imposed grounding, per se. It's a huge time sucker, and I decided to go with a little more anonymity. I kind of miss it- sometimes it's the only adult interaction I get. And sadly, I keep composing status updates in my head. You know, like "Ed just asked me...." or "Check out this rainbow..." kind of LAME. At the same time, it was a great way to keep up with the family and see what random things they are doing. I am happy to report that I haven't looked since Wednesday night.
The House: we had an inspection, and had to fix a few minor things. We had to look up some code, print it out, and now have to show the inspector who still is uncertain whether or not our plumbing vent system is legit that it is indeed to code. Pearl of Wisdom: you don't want to make an inspector mad, but you do need to sometimes guide them in knowing the building code if you do something that is rarely done.
That is all! Busy, busy... and enjoying it. I went to a school board conference for two days. It made my butt hurt- lots of sitting, and although very informative, it was also very boring. Saturday we went to the school's "Polar Bear Plunge" where we watched various community members jump into the freezing cold water. It was great! And unfortunately for me, the three younger kids want to do it next year. Kacy volunteered to coordinate our costumes and hand us our towels. Several thousand dollars were raised for swim scholarships.
We are now concentrating on getting the house done, raising the kids, and doing all the things that go along with this life we live.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Happy Birthday, Jessie!
Happy Birthday to our Jessie!
She is now three years old, and wants to get her ears pierced. She says things like "They doose that." And, she's kind of sassy. She sticks out her hip when she talks to you, and she tells you exactly what she thinks. Her favorite gift of all was a tube of chapstick. "Now I have my own! Like dad doose, mom doose, and Kacy doose!" She offered to put some chapstick on her grandpa, and when he said okay, she said, "You can't have chapstick! You have no lips!" (Referring to his "mushmash."
Her favorite things are all things Dora, making dirt angels, juice, fruit snacks, hot dogs, and Sister Hinkey. (Sister Hinkey is her nursery teacher at church."
With some birthday money she got from my grandma, she bought two Dora books and a pink toy cell phone.
She LOVES her snowman footed jammies and wants to wear them all day, everyday.
Her best friends are her siblings. Her favorite color is pink. She wants to go to school. She loves her mom and dad. She is very talkative. She hates her hair done, and won't leave rubberbands or clippies in.
Happy Birthday Jessie!
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