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January 31, 2008

Official

Posted by me at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)

Putting a little too much into it

The wind is still howling.

Bubba is still yowling.

But we officially own a house.

---

I've been planning to get Jamie a bedroom set since her second birthday. That didn't happen because we just didn't have room to add it to my dad's house. When we moved back to Spring, I looked and I looked and I found what I wanted at IKEA. Since her room was so big, and we planned to have the girls share for at least a few years, I had decided to get two sets using different pieces from the same line. The only reason I didn't take it home was that it wouldn't fit in my van while the seats were in, and since I had the kids with me, taking them out would have been a wee problematic. For some reason, you had to arrange delivery in person, and I figured if I was going to have stuff delivered I'd combine the charges and get the game room furniture at the same time, only I hadn't picked that out yet. And then before I got around to it, we found out we might be moving, and hell if I wanted to pay to move and store even more furniture. Then the apartment was too small, plus we've known we had a few more moves coming.

But now. Now, we're ready.

Of course, now, IKEA still makes the same line but in different stains. I can't get the pieces I want in matching colors, unless I go with white, which just ain't gonna happen. Also, the girls are now required to room together for the forseeable future, and the room is a bit smaller, so some of my requirements have changed.

There is some other furniture I like that meets the new requirements just fine. Pottery Barn Kids has some stuff I really like, at least until I choke over the price. I remember a set from Pier1 Kids that was nifty, but they have apparently gone out of business, and the kids stuff doesn't appear to have moved to the regular store. I wasn't impressed with the quality of most of the stuff at Rooms to Go Kids, from what I remember.

I've put way too much time, effort and angst into this the last three years, and I have nothing to show for it. You would think with all the options in this world, it wouldn't be so damn hard to find what I want.

Posted by me at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

Everything that is right (and wrong!) with IKEA

Posted by me at 6:39 PM | Comments (0)

We need more soap

The girls are in the tub. I'm sitting close by, listening to them play (and fight). Jamie asks Katie where her thinking cap is. I whisper the first thing that comes to mind, so quietly that I know she didn't hear. And then I hear Jamie say,

"Up my butt?"

And I know she must be mine.

Posted by me at 6:34 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2008

Everything old is new again

Posted by me at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

Cracking

I think the stress is starting to get to me, even though I don't actually think about all we have going on right now all the time.

Listening to Bubba yowl all day and half the night is driving me insane. I know that it's no picnic for him to be locked in that bathroom, but it's better than being dead, right? Except that he's getting so annoying I'm going to choke him to get him to shut up anyway.

Sunday afternoon, both kids finally took much needed naps. In fact, they SO needed naps that we decided not to wake them up, but I think Rex finally woke Katie up around 6. Naturally, that bit us in the ass when she came out of her room at 9:45 that night with a big smile on her face. Trying to avoid a repeat, when she zonked out this afternoon, I made sure to have her up around 5. I've had to wake her plenty in the past, and she usually wakes up pretty quickly and happily. Not so much today. It took me about 15 minutes to convince her to keep her eyes open, but soon after that she started an hour long crying jag that she wasn't giving up for anything, including dinner. I actually kept myself together much better than usual (read, with Jamie), but goddamn, I really wanted to scream.

And then Jamie. Ahh, Jamie. Remember that Gary Larson cartoon with the kid trying to get into the School for the Gifted? Can you picture a kid trying to put a square peg into a round hole? Over and over, for an hour? That was my evening. Jamie and I had played Uno, and I asked her to put the cards away. I had already stacked them in two even piles, so she really just needed to slide them into the box, but for some reason she just couldn't figure out how to get them in. She just kept doing the same thing over and over. And I held my patience very well, even after she started crying. She needs to learn to figure things out, though. And she needs to learn that just because something is hard, that doesn't mean someone is going to come and do it for her. She hates to work at things that are difficult for her, but she needs to learn to do it anyway.

The final straw for the day is probably the wind. Or maybe that's what put me on edge from the beginning. It finally warmed up around here, but the wind has been crazy. Today, the house lost probably a dozen shingles and something like six panels of the fence blew down. The wind caught the door of my van and smashed it into the mirror of the van next to me so hard it flattened a piece of the trim. Trash and leaves and crap flying around, and it's impossible to keep your hair out of your face. And then there's the sound, the constant whine and the rattle of windows. Today was an extreme day, but the wind blows a lot here. It's actually on my list of things to hate about Dallas.

Posted by me at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2008

Practically an antique

Posted by me at 3:32 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2008

Almost

The best part of being pregnant is that it gives Rex and I an excuse to get french fries after the kids go to bed. Actually, the BEST part is not having to clean the litter box for nearly a year, but Rex gets a lot more enjoyment out of the fries.

It almost makes up for getting winded every time I get up off the couch.

Posted by me at 8:40 PM | Comments (2)

Daddy's "red button"

Posted by me at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

On the up side, they have yet to master a single babyproofing device

I really don't get toddlers.

At 18 months, Katie was desperate to "do it herself." She wanted to dress herself, feed herself and do everything her big sister did. By herself. Of course, she wasn't nearly as capable as she needed to be, so after getting frustrated trying, she would eventually give in and let us help.

Now she's going on three, and she swears she can't. Can't put her own pants on (I've seen you do it!) Will not eat rather than feed herself. Implies that without a hand to hold, she'll never make it down the stairs. Naturally, these are things she's been doing for quite some time, particularly the stairs and the food.

Ironically, she's still more independent that Jamie. We had nachos for dinner tonight, and Jamie actually held up two chips cheesed together with one hand and told me she couldn't get them apart. She looked offended when I told her to use her other hand.

Jamie actually went through some of this too, at least the original "I do it" part. She's never really gotten past the regression into wanting someone else to do it for her. I'm hoping that in Katie's case, this is a growing pain, much like I'm hoping that her going to school happily the first few times and then turning into a puddle of goo the last few times is just a transition state.

Honestly, I'm just not sure I can handle having to button their pants for them when they get to high school.

Posted by me at 3:22 PM | Comments (0)

Second home

Posted by me at 3:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2008

Another action packed day.

When I woke up at 6:30 this morning, I was bummed because I barely had enough time to fall back asleep before the girls would be up. When I woke up at 7:30 and there wasn't a kid in sight, I was stunned. Both kids slept in, almost an extra hour, on the same day. And neither was sick enough to keep home!

Rex and I did the walk-through with the builder for our house today. A final walk-through and closing and we're homeowners again! It went well. There were a few minor problems on the inspection, and then some cosmetic repairs, but nothing that should cause any problems. This has been almost too easy.

In what seems to be a neverending saga involving Bubba and his pee, I made another trip to the vet today. I had fully intended to take him to another vet to get a urine sample, and my intent was hurried along when I found one of the vets I used to work for practicing in town and another bloody pee spot. Three hours of solid yowling later and I have a diagnosis of a nasty UTI but no crystals. A pill a day for two weeks, and then we see what happens. Poor Bubba has been locked in a bathroom for the last few days, and it looks like he'll be there a while longer. When I asked the doc how cruel that was, she said "Better than the alternative!" which is, of course, his demise. I had to agree. Rex may have a different opinion when he sees the bill.

Posted by me at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

Gnarly

Posted by me at 8:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

Don't

I just learned a valuable lesson about leaving the dirty water in the carpet cleaner.

Posted by me at 4:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

Mission: Unaccomplished

I've already technically failed my attempt at Project 365. I had a day last week that I forgot to take a picture. This would be easier if I just had to take 365 pictures instead of taking pictures over 365 days. I've found a bunch of things that I want to photograph, but I often hit a couple of them in a single (often child-free!) day. Then there are days like today, when it's so cold and unpleasant outside that I have to try to find an indoor subject, and frankly, there isn't much inspiration in here. Or worse, the kids are in bed, it's dark, and I realize I have two hours before midnight to find something snap-worthy.

I'm going to keep trying to take a picture a day, though. It's just too early in the year to be giving up!

Posted by me at 10:23 PM | Comments (2)

Road to nowhere

Posted by me at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2008

Wine would be better

I'm running out of patience. And energy. Motivation. Did I mention patience? I'm not quite 32 weeks yet. That's a lot of complaining time left. I hope my family can learn to ignore me.

It snowed today. Well, not really snowed so much as I saw a few dozen flakes. Jamie's teacher pointed them out, too, so I wasn't just hallucinating. Have I mentioned that I'm not really into cold?

We set up the bathroom to confine Bubba a day or so ago. Then yesterday, he spent the entire day sleeping in my presence, so I didn't have the heart to lock him up. He stayed with me most of last night, too, as per usual. I didn't find another pee spot until this afternoon, although it was dry by then. And then I found a wet spot this evening. Enough is enough. He'll be sleeping alone tonight.

Katie talked this morning. All morning. It wasn't that she was whiney or complaining or even demanding, although there was some of that, too. Mostly it was just that she was never, ever quiet. And she was less independent than I've come to expect, so she never even just wandered off and talked to herself. It's amazing how tiring all that listening and answering can be.

This post has degenerated far enough to whine. Goodnight!

Posted by me at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

It took me a while to get this

Posted by me at 9:29 AM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

I'm ready to start moving stuff NOW

I've spent the last couple hours deleting junk and spam out of a clients email. Two years worth of junk and spam. Yeesh.

I met with the home inspector today. There were no major issues, and not all that many minor ones. We're good to go in the financing department. We still have a walk through with the builder to discuss the inspection report and look for cosmetic problems, a final walk through to make sure they fixed the stuff, and we have to pick homeowner's insurance, but other than that, I think we're set.

Posted by me at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

15 days til closing!

Posted by me at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

Bzz!

I've been working on another campaign for BzzAgent. This one was actually sort of fun, and gave me a good comparison for those photobooks I do every year through MyPublisher. For the campaign, I was given a coupon for a free 6x8 Photo Book from CVS/pharmacy.

First off, the photobooks I usually have to be uploaded to the company, printed, and then shipped to me. The Photo Book from CVS was ready minutes after I finished the layout. The pages print out of the photo station, I handed them to the guy behind the counter, and he very carefully put the whole thing together in minutes, while I watched. At $12.99, the price is comparable to what I paid the other company for the book + shipping, but the CVS book is a hardcover and the ones I've order were softcovers (hardcovers were available, but for quite a bit more!)

Working on the book at the photo station was slightly less comfortable than sitting on my bed working on my laptop, but if you already have your pictures chosen, you won't be there long. The station was simple to use, while still allowing for editing, cropping, and text addition. Layout was easy to modify, and there were lots of choices.

I think my biggest problem with the whole experience was that the store I was at didn't have the 6x8 books in stock, since I went right after the holidays. I ended up choosing a 4x6 instead, which would make a cute little brag book to give to the girls' grandmothers.

I would totally make another of these books, especially as a last minute gift, or if we were going to be visiting family or friends and wanted to have some pictures to pass around. Easy, inexpensive and fast...it's a good mix!

I have a bunch of coupons for 50% off a 6x8 book...comment with your email address if you're interested!

Posted by me at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

Stereotype

Posted by me at 9:31 AM | Comments (1)

January 14, 2008

Aren't we all

"Katie, you're so good when you do what I want."

Posted by me at 3:19 PM | Comments (0)

Mmmm

Posted by me at 3:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2008

Like hiring a hooker to hold me

I actually spent quite a while talking to a saleguy who came to our door today. He was one of those "I'm selling magazines as part of a program to get me out of a bad life situation" guys, that swear they work for a non-profit, but I'm just not convinced that it's a fleece. THen I felt bad about talking to him for so long with no intent to buy that I donated $10 to him. At the worst I paid $10 for some socialization, at best I made a small donation to help some guy dig his way out of a bad situation.

I need to get out more.

Posted by me at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

Texas Evergreen

Posted by me at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

Sittin' in the sheep seats

Posted by me at 7:47 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

The good kind of frazzled

So many things happening at once. Getting Katie's preschool stuff in order (doctor's visits and such), trying to get information from the vet about Bubba (I've pretty much just given up and am treating him myself and hoping for the best) and all the crap we have to get in order for the new house.

I think tonight I'll go to bed early.

Posted by me at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

We've traded hardwood for granite

Posted by me at 8:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2008

But at least I'm going to go nuts in a pretty house!

So much going on at once, all of it major, traumatizing, and yet most excellent.

Katie had a great day at school. Even Jamie's teacher noticed when the classes crossed paths. I never saw a tear or anything approaching sadness, and from what I gather she didn't shed one. She came home with a dry diaper and hadn't been changed once. She ate all of her lunch. She's excited about her name tags (for her backpack and the hangtag for my van.) She's ready to go back. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I had four hours in which I both got things done and had alone time, and didn't have to feel any guilt about neglecting my kids, aside from the holy-crap-my-baby-went-to-school. I somehow didn't manage to call the vets about Bubba's urine results, but he seems much better since the two days of pen injections. I really do need to call them tomorrow and figure out wtf is up.

Between Rex and I, we negotiated a price on the house and a rate with the lender (the builder's lender, otherwise all incentives were void, so we had each other over a barrel). Then we spent an hour or so signing contracts and paperwork and our lives away. We're set to close by the end of the month. In spite of the fact that I kind of want to throw up, I really want to start moving NOW NOW NOW. We'll be paying rent and mortgage at the same time for a while, which doesn't thrill me, but it sure does give us the time to make a leisurely move. I still can't believe I signed up to stay here. Just the wind in the last week has been enough to drive me insane, add in the cold and the lack of friends and family, and I'm probably one step from the funny farm.

Posted by me at 8:19 PM | Comments (1)

Holy monkey!

Posted by me at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

Backwards

Katie climbed out of the van and walked into school without a peep.

I cried the whole way home.

Posted by me at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2008

Ramble, ramble, WHEE!

So today was the first full day with the kids back. I didn't start losing it until dinner time, in spite of some kid and non-kid provocation.

There was a little extra whining, and some gratutious crying, but I sort of expected that. We all have to readjust to the rhythms of this life. I'm personally am making an effort to stop sweating the small stuff, nag less and enjoy more. After lunch, we went out to run some errands. I suppose I should mention that my dad has been working on potty training Katie while they were up in Maryland, with quite a bit of success. It seems to be either a feast or famine or type of thing, where she either successfully goes completely on her own without reminding or assistance, or she totally forgets. During lunch today, she made three or four trips to the bathroom to "try," although I think after the first try she was playing some weird sort of potty/food dawdling game. We had some errands to run, so right before we left, I had her try one more time, without results. Of course, while we were in a model home talking to the sales person, she not only wet herself, but she pooped, too. Did I mention that the panties she was wearing were a couple sizes too big? There were turds falling out of the legs of her pants as I stripped her before I let her back in the carseat. We ran back home before we continued with our errands (um, duh, she was naked) only to discover that the garage door opener was broken. Luckily, I can still open it by hand, but I can't say I'm thrilled by the whole thing.

Yesterday, we got a call from Katie's preschool saying that they have a Monday/Wednesday opening, starting tomorrow. I'm pretty sure she's going to do fine, but I'm not ready anymore! I had gotten used to the idea of her being around this spring, and frankly, it didn't bother me at all. She can't stop talking about getting to go to school, though, so I guess I'm going to have to grow up and be ok too. We ran by the school to do a little paperwork, and she got to meet her teachers and see her room. She of course turned back into shygirl. I still think she's going to be fine, though. Really. *sigh* Believe me yet?

I was fine through all of that. What got me was dinner. The two trips to the bathroom Katie made without making anything. The nagging and complaining and the wanting of other people's food before she's bothered to eat any of her own. It's the little things *fake smile*

Tomorrow, I have 4 hours to myself, with the exception of meeting the garage repair guy. Whatever shall I do with myself?

Posted by me at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

She looks so much taller in her new uniform

Posted by me at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2008

Caviar dreams

Posted by me at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Broken record

We put an offer on one of the new homes we've been keeping our eyes on for the last few months. The offer is still a little higher than what I really *want* to pay, and yet still low enough that I'm not sure they'll even bother to counter.

Even more frightening is the part where I'm not sure I want them to accept an offer for us. I'm still not ready to truly commit to Dallas, especially after having such a wonderful time with friends in Houston. Actually buying a house up here makes this move pretty much permanent. On the up side, it also means I don't have to worry about relocating or moving for a while, which would be nice, too. I'm so torn between wanting to be settled and wanting to be where I want to be.

It's been over a year, and I still haven't come up with the compromise that both of us can accept.

Posted by me at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2008

Blown away

The temperature this weekend has been awesome.

The wind, unfortunately, has made it difficult to enjoy.

Posted by me at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

Closest thing to a snowman I've seen in years

Posted by me at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2008

Looks like winter, feels like spring

Posted by me at 4:57 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2008

Kitty pee glows in black light

Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)

Biological nightmare

I've spent the last hour or so wanding around in the dark with a black light, squirting half a gallon of simple solution on glowing carpet stains. As much as I love Bubba, and as much as I abhor putting an animal down for a bad habit, Bubba is walking a fine, fine line.

I took the cats to the vet today. They haven't been in a while and were all due for rabies shots. Bubba, of course, was there to look for a medical explanation for his "issues." His bladder, naturally, was empty, so Sunday night I'll have the pleasure of collecting a urine sample to drop off for analysis.

The black light proved educational in other ways. The game room carpet is spotted like a dalmation, and I'm positive that Bubba isn't responsible for the majority of it. The bedroom carpet isn't much better. Let's hope CSI never has to investigate here. They'd have to take thousands of samples, 99% of which would be unrelated to us but still potentially foul.

Posted by me at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 3, 2008

Running away from home

Posted by me at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

Friends in humid places

I had totally planned to start posting a picture a day (or as close to it as I can get) starting on the 1st. Except, on the 1st, Rex and I went to Houston to see friends, and managed to go completely laptop free, except for the time we spent poking around in the Apple Store. Anyway, I'm not going to scrap the whole plan just because I missed the first two days.

Also, in an effort to get myself to start pulling out the camera more often again and to take and think about subjects other than holidays and kids, I'm going to attempt Project 365. I have managed to take pictures the last two days, although it was a near thing, getting them done on the right day. I'm not sure I'm going to post every picture of every day anywhere, but I suspect a lot of them will make it to this blog.

Our trip to Houston was wonderful. It was more time in the car than I prefer, but without kids in the car we could talk and read and not have to listen to Cars rolling in the back seat. We also ended up coming home many, many hours later than planned, because we were enjoying a fun dinner with friends that none of us wanted to end. Come to think of it, we stayed up later than planned on Tuesday, talking with another set of friends. I really miss friends. I mean, I miss those people specifically, but I also miss having people around to go out to dinner with, or stay in and have pizza with, just in general. One of the nice things about both of these couples is that we could have had our girls with us, and although we would have had to cut our time short, we would have had just as much fun.

It's rather sad that we've been in Dallas for over a year now, and haven't found anything close.

Posted by me at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)