Vacuum Sucks

We have a Dyson vacuum.  Pretty good little vacuum.  Optimized for pet hair.  It sucks...which is a good thing in a vacuum.  However, since cleaning our carpets last weekend, I have been trying to vacuum at least every other day.  I know, probably should do that anyway...we are just trying to get out of the habit of letting things go until...well, disaster.  

Gypsy, our beloved Goddess of Fur Spreading (or is that Doggess), sees the vacuum and splits...well, all the animals do that.  They head outside for the duration.  I am unsure why.  It's not like I chase them with the vacuum, never done that. >:-)  OK, well, once or five times.  (You say it's cruel until you try it, then it's fun.)  Well, I think Gypsy's revenge is to come back inside find the clean floor and roll on it and try to shed AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE on that clean floor.  

That has irritated me.  Which might be why we used to let vacuuming go for a week or two at a time.  That and the fact that we don't exactly spend a lot of time on the floor.  Unless I am playing with the dogs.  But, other than that, we don't spend a lot of time on the floor.  Now, however, with the threat of impending Chloe, we have both been trying to get into the habit of being more INTO the vacuuming up of pet hair.  

Which brings me back to the Dyson.  I fear for it's continued wellness.  With the amount of use it's gotten lately, well, we might wear it out soon!  So far, it's been a trooper.  It sucks and doesn't try to shoot out dust everywhere, all-in-all, it is an awesome vacuum.  Of course, maybe if we are vacuuming more often it will be doing less work in the long run...I hope.  

Today, we get to play host to our Newest Niece!!  Leah!  I can't wait to see how we handle a little one around the house.  Leah, however, isn't a normal baby...she is AWESOME.  I don't think I have actually heard the kid cry!  Weird, huh?  Well, we'll be spending a few hours babysitting and we'll see how the whole not crying thing holds up.  Wish us luck.

We also, plan to clean more on the house this weekend, but I am fairly certain that our visit with the niece will be the highlight!

     

Where's the Rain?

It is supposed to rain this afternoon, but all I see are those big fluffy cumulus clouds that don't look like the plan on dropping anything. I DID NOT get a job today. I am really sure of it now...no one called asking why I wasn't there and I double-checked, triple-checked, quadruple-checked, and...well, you get the picture.

I have been busy cleaning. I have done several loads of clothes, a load of dishes, mowed the lawn, set up my garden watering system (trust me, it's cool), repacked the bedroom closet that I had to unpack to get at the water heater, folded numerous clothes, checked the mail, dropped off a tool I borrowed, and took the garbage out. It still needs help, but the house is looking better.

I need a haircut, so will go in and get that in while. But, I still have things to do. The wind continues to blust, but overall it is a nice day out. Well, back to folding cloths.

Oh, YEAH! Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Mist It By That Much...

So, I did not work today. It sucks. So, I worked around the house. I did some laundry and dishes, as usual, and then I also finshed shampooing the front room...looks nice now. I did run to town for a few items, and then took Cora lunch.

I came out of the store and the overcast had cleared some and then I noticed the hills to the south. The clouds were pouring over Ahtanum Ridge. It was cool, but the photos don't do it justice. This photo is from the truck as I head into the mist at the gap.

When I left Cora's place of work I spotted some box cars and took a few pictures. This one is interesting, but I am unsure of the implied meaning, as is often the case with this kind of art.

When I finally got home, I found Toby in my chair. He is stretching here, but looks like he is giving me a lazy smile.

So, the day ends and I am still awaiting a teacher to fall ill...come on you teachers! Get sick or take the day off!

Days Lost, Dirt Found

I have had the past two days off. I have not been enjoying it as much as one might expect. I have been cleaning and doing chores and errands. Yesterday, I got some groceries and did some cleaning.

Today, I took Cora to work. Then I gassed up her car. After that I got it washed and then did more running around. I ended up at Best Buy to purchase one of those damned digtal converters. No fear of them being out, there was a gigantic pile of them. I think some one is making an inordinate amout of money from this switch to digital programming...but, no one asked me, and I did not enjoy economics.

My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephews were up yesterday and left a few geocaches...I finally locted my misplace GPS, so I will go out and find them. I began the first of doubtless many carpet shampooings in the living room. You can SURE tell we have pets...dirty pets.

Well, that is just a short update, I have been busy reding Stephenie Meyer's The Host whenever I am not doing chores...I am nearly done, but am definitely having trouble staying way from it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cora and I just got up from a sumptuous dinner that she cooked! Lemon and Garlic Chicken! I threw in a bit of sauted zuchini, we made a salad, and then followed it with a glass of wine...how better to spend Valentine's Day evening?

Today we worked on the house. I removed a table from the ex-computer room and worked on gutting the room a little, but was largely unsuccessful. We decided to move some of the plants. We bought two small 13w florescent lights to allow us more flexibility in placement of said plants. My Banana is still in the window, but I moved the African Violet that Grandma gave me. It is not in the dining room and is under one of the lamps. The Philedendron remains, but it is hardy, so I see no difficulty from it.

We went to town for a few items and returned to clean. Now we are sitting enjoying the wine and watching Star Wars on tv. I seriously can't recall a better February 14.

Playing Hookey...Hockey?

With the temperture not even out of the single digits, it did not take much convincing for me to stay home. I did take Cora to work and then went on to the tire store to have the snow tires put on. It did not take long. I had the camera, so on the drive home I snapped a few shots of our winter scenery. That is Mount Adams in the back ground of the picture at the top and this one below.

Below you see the mighty Yakima River...see that stuff floating in it? That's ice...it goes with my whole hockey/hookey theme.

Not quite ready for skating...

Below you see an apple orchard with our snow covered hills in the background...I have heard that others from flatter parts of the country call these mountains...nah, they're just hills.

And here are the sprinklers of a settling pond going full tilt at 0.0 F...see the trash can size blocks of ice surrounding them?

I came back home and did some laundry, dishes, and some minor cleanup. All in the of staying warm. I hope the rest of you have no problems doing the same.

Another Day, Another Frustration

So, I know I don't write alot about the adoption. But this is really beginning to annoy. Our adoption agency sometimes seems to be feeding us bull. Direct answers are often avoided. They just don't seem to want to say, "We have nothing for you." I don't want a specific date in which we will get our dossier, but some vague notion to expect it would be nice. They told us, verbally, that we should see dossiers inside a month...that was July. I have been calling them three and four times a week. Maybe they will get the picture? Nah, I didn't think so. I won't go into the guts of the matter, but I just need to express my frustration. Cora and I both are feeling it this weekend. In a word, "Annoyed."

Today, I think we are going to work on house work. Originally we had intended to help Grandma obtain her laptop, but she said lst night that she thought she would just wait for it. Maybe I can convince Cora to visit the pet store...usully when we visit, I can convince her to buy something...it isn't hard. AND it was her idea to get the 16 gallon bowfront.

Yesterday, I had feared our little clown goby (think "little, yellow, different) had died, but about 830pm he flitted out into the middle of the tank from some crevasse. As of now, I hve no idea where he is...the first clown goby we had (Yes, little, yellow, different) was a bit gregarious. He was owner of his domain, even though he was about an inch long. Maybe we an get a cleaner shrimp? Or a six-liine wrasse. What do you think Cora?

Also yesterday, I subbed at the HS. I subbed Biology. Easy. They were taking a test. My eighth graders are now ninth graders and seem to enjoy seeing me in the hall. They call out to me. Seems I have followed last year's 10th graders, too.

Hmmm, looking for the house cleaning faeries...or maybe they are gnomes...still have not located them. I've heard kids can do chores...hmmm...

Notable Notary Nemeses

I'm not noted for patience, Cora nevertheless notified me that I needed a notary. "NO!" I said. "Not now! You're not nice, and I never needed a nasty, nerdy notary before."

Ok, I am out of N words. She really did set me to finding a notary. It REALLY was not fun. Actually my search began yesterday. I finlly found notary that answered the phone. However, after Ihad told her the situation, she said, "Could you speak slower and enunciate?" So, I did. and finally, I was sure she had understood me, but I asked her to repeat what I had told her. She said, "What was your name? Tim?" Finally, she got it right. Then she told me, "I'll try to be on time..." That did not bolster my confidence in her.

This morning, I was thinking of telling her not to come, but though, maybe I should give her a chance and see if she still plns on coming. I called. She said, "What?" (none too clearly, either) I asked if this was the right place, said her name twice. Finally, she said, yes. I told her who I was, reminded her I had spoken to her yesterday, and asked was she still coming this afternoon? She said, "you need speak slower and enunciate." I thought, jeezwomanIthoughtIwasspeakingslowly!! I repeated what I had first said, including my name twice, ONE-WORD-AT-A-TIME. She said, What was your name? JIM!!! This made my decision complete. I said, "The appointment is cancelled." There was no guaranteeing she could find the place, anyway.

I spent an hour or so hunting down a notary. Each time, I hit a dead end. I finally did find a notary. She has also adopted and offered to do it for free. Unfortunately, she could not do it today. I called the psychologist and asked if we could do it tomorrow. He is leaving town tomorrow. So, he doesn't have an opening to sign our reports until next Friday. Isn't that about par for the course? So, yeah, not necessarilly fond of Notaries. Well, not any more than I like Psychologists.

I cleaned house today. My sister is planning to visit on Saturday. I was instructed to make the house ready for kids. I did. It looks good. Now, I am ready to see my neice and nephews!

I went for a walk and noticed the wind was blowing and it did not feel one little bit like summer...it felt like FALL. I should have known, the Hop Farmers have begun harvesting. Monday, the 25th, I saw the first truck full of hops and since then I have been getting little whiffs of hop. hhh, even though I hate autumn, I do like the smells that accompany it. Soon, we will be getting the smells of harvesting grapes, too. When I was growing up you could also get the scent of peppermint being harvested...not so much here, 30 miles away.

Here is a picture of me and Aunt Karen. She is Cora's crazy aunt...we still love her though. This picture was tken back in July. Because I had visited the airshow, her picture did not have priority...here it is now.

Little House Meets Mrs. Clean!

Yesterday, I spent the day fixing the piece of equipment that broke on Friday. I had to go to town, get some angle iron, some wood, and a couple eye bolts. Then I came back and had to drill holes in the angle iron and wood. I probably ruined one or two bits before I thought to pour water on it to keep it cool. I even spot welded the eye bolts so the nut would not come off. Then I put the contraption together, adding a 2X4 to the back side to prevent what happened last Friday. Over-all, I think my repair was a nice piece of handy work. What was nice is hardly anyone was there and I could putter around the shop without interruption.

I finished it and then took it over and put it back on the piece of equipment. I then sat on the tractor for the remainder of the day. It, with a 100 degree blast furnace searing down on me, combined with the dust I stirred up, was not the most ideal type of work to do yesterday.

When I got home, I found a clean house. It was not those fabled house cleaning elves that had finally shown up, even though I have left honey and acorns out for them, instead, my sister-in-law had come up to help Cora clean house. I believe she is the only one of the family that got the clean gene. The two of them worked hard to deep clean the house yesterday, and it looks wonderful! I cannot stress too much that they did a fabulous job. Cora and I have attempted to clean before, but it had never looked this good! Emily, you are the best! Thank you!


And now for the off the wall picture of the day:

this is of Cora in the C-119 at Castle AFB Museum. Note B-36 in background.

Weekend and Anniversary

So, here are a few pictures from yesterday. These are of THE BOY and Gypsy, too. And here is what remains of our wares on Sunday…the leftovers go to St. Vinny’s or who ever will take them. I have to head out to work in a few. Hope everyone had a god weekend. I DID.

Cora attempted to drum up business via Craig'sList...I don't think it worked...

Oh, and I moved the freezer Saturday night, but here is the picture. Note: You can see the floor.

Also, today is my Mom and Dad's anniversary! Happy anniversary! Only 36 years, come on, you can do better than that! I am afraid the most up to date pictures of my ancient parents are these taken at the Father's Day get together at my sist'er's new house. Note, theyare the old people in the photo. The other ones are my favorite niece and my gleaming new nephew!

Baby, It's Hot! Baby!

I have SO much to post about, but I don't have the pictures. So, I will post about something completely different, instead.

Today's yardsale was a flop. We might have made 30 bucks...oh, well. It was HOT! 102. Just a while ago the temp lowered...99. At the end of it Cora and I came in and sat for a minute. I looked over at her and she was RED! Apparently she got a little more heat than necessary, I had her go take a short cool shower and get cooled down. She felt better after awhile.

I spent the hours waiting for customers by making a sarcophagus. I bought a box a few months back. I used plaster of paris to build up the likeness of a pharoah. I think the kids will like it when I finish it. I need to paint it. I have some gold paint and some crackle finish. I think you will like it when I get a few pics of the sarcophagus posted tonight (hopefully).

Other than that I work tomorrow and I will fix the float I broke on Friday. We have a LOT to do before we become parents...the house is still a mess. Even after the yardsale. I DID get the Freezer moved to the other room! I worked on that last night after the yardsale. I don't know why I felt such an urgency to get it done...but it is done. Now we need to sell some of Cora's blankets to make more room.

And For Afters? Artichokes!

Woke up this morning, feeling fine, there was something special in my hand…Cora brought me coffee in BED!!! I must have the best wife ever!! She had gotten up a few minutes before, which I was only mildly aware of. We went out to the living room and watched Mythbusters for a little while.

We then got dressed and began working on the yard sale stuff. Then I worked on the room…err, the ROOM…ummm, THE room. It is not great yet, and I was hoping for more.

We needed to go to town and did. First we went to the fabric stores…I found a perfect material that will make a great quilt square for Isabella…it says “Jim.” All over it…well, not my name, but its pattern looks like something I would use for curtains…and bed cover, and sheets, tables cloths, and shirts, and shorts, and boxers…that is, if I were more given to working with fabric. Fortunately, for me, Cora works with fabric quite well. I am going to have to go back and find some more of this fabric and have Cora start with making me shirts and shorts!! For the sake of the surprise, I will not reveal what exactly the pattern looks like, but it should fairly fly out at her when Kim looks at it!

When we got back, we realized the front room looked a little like a Hooverville, minus the hobos and tar paper (Kylee, a Hooverville was a shantytown, basically inhabited by homeless people during the depression). We then spent the following hour-and-a-half cleaning up, then Cora paid the bills and I laid tried to lay low and make dinner. Neither of us likes paying bills, but when Cora pays them we end the month with more of them paid than when I do it. There are things I am pretty good at and the there is bill paying. Cora has the touch, despite what she might think. I made dinner, like I said. We had hickory barbequed chicken breasts, peas, and for afters (I like the British term for desert) we had Artichokes!

Artichokes. I have had them a total of three times in my life. Each time they have been boiled and then dipped in buttery and lemony liquid goodness. The trick with artichokes is to use your teeth to scrape off the tender part. I don’t think the calories come from the artichoke, but the butter. It was yummy, though.

I have had watermelon more often...and Toby likes watermelons...don't believe me? Look at this!

I think I may have killed my palm tree. I repotted it, but neglected to shade it immediately…damn it. I DO have a new plant though. I planted some Banana seeds about the same time I built that potting bench. Well, even though it says they will sprout in one to six months, one sprouted in about three weeks! It is now about 2 inches tall and growing VERY fast. Oh, and those “Palms” I raised from seed? I finally figured out that they were all planted in a pot that had held calla lilies. Apparently calla lilies are a bulb plant…I did not realize that…guess what…they are back. Soon I should have a calla lily flower and I will take a picture of it! Here is a canned photo.