I lied!

This is the last post for the night.

Jeremy with a couple other eye docs in the last week or two:

O-H

One more post for the night...

...just to let you know that Lucy's first tooth started popping through this morning! Woohoo -- solid foods, here we come!

Lookie what I made!

So, last night I stayed up late watching last week's Grey's Anatomy while I finished the dress I've been knitting for Lucy. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The only thing I'm not sure about is the split in the neckline -- the edging doesn't lay as nicely as I would like it to. However, I re-did it at least three times and this is just as good as it is going to get. I'd like to try the pattern again sometime, so I'm already formulating ways to prevent that in the next go-round. It is supposed to be for next fall, so I'm not sure why I was in such a hurry to finish it. Well, actually, I know why. I will only let myself have two knitting projects going at once. So, I needed to finish this so I could move on to the next thing, which is a sweater for Ross.

A picture for Grandma & Grandpa M.

Lucy sporting her Easter present from Grandma & Grandpa!

Oh yeah...

...I forgot to mention that Lucy started crawling yesterday. Of course, I wasn't there and missed it (figures!). She's been scooting around a lot for a while now, but mostly pushing herself backwards or rolling or doing a weird inch-worm type thing. But she is now honestly crawling on her hands and knees.

And she is already looking for the next new thing to conquer...I caught her trying to pull herself up to standing on the coffee table this afternoon. She wasn't successful, but she is working on it!

I am SO burnt.

Ouch! I did the majority of the pool "spring cleaning" today, in the middle of the afternoon, in my bikini (the joys of having our own pool -- no need to worry about how good I look in my suit). I didn't put sunblock on because I HATE IT. It makes me feel like I'm wrapped in saran wrap. Ick. So, I rarely wear it. But I should have put it on today. My back was blissfully untouched by the sun this morning, so it didn't take long for me to get totally toasted. My shoulders are ok, but I've been running in a tank for almost two months now, so they already had a nice base tan.

Uh, I am so stupid sometimes!

Oh yeah

Hmmm...I don't think I ever posted anything about Easter. Well, it is too late for details now, but let's just say that it didn't go well (for the most part)

I thought I didn't have any pictures of the kids in their get-ups, but I totally forgot that I did get one picture of Lucy.

Looks like she had a good time, huh?

Update on my cat situation.

So, I took my cat to the vet today. Let me tell you, he did not like the visit. He has, what is terribly obvious at this point, a very very tender lower abdomen. It seems he does not have a UTI, but some other problem which isn't totally clear. He does have what the vet referred to as "pre-diabetes", which he believes is the overall source of the issues. Big surprise -- he weighed in at a whopping 21 lbs today. So, he's on a few meds which should take care of the immediate problem and on a new diet to get his weight down and his blood sugar under control. Poor kitty.

I also managed to get a second shampooing finished on my armchairs today. They actually look pretty good, though they do have a few faint stains (though I can't say with any certainty that those spots weren't left by the kids). The chairs are "dry clean only". Since we've gotten them, I've only ever used a special dry cleaning chemical to clean them, which is both expensive and extremely smelly. This time I decided to just use my carpet shampooer. You know what? They look better now than they have in a long time. Wish I had discovered this a long time ago! This process of cleaning the chairs left me even more aggravated with the cat, though, as I was reminded of all the holes he has put in them that I have previously had to stitch shut.

So....

...the incident that preceded yesterday's comment:

We drove home from Ohio yesterday, so it had been a long day. A very very long day.

I always like to leave the house clean, as I hate coming home to a dirty house. So, the night before we left I stayed up until almost midnight mopping the floors. When I walked into the house from the garage, I noticed that there were what looked like dirty water spots on the floor outside my utility room. I didn't think too much of it, as the cat likes to use his water dish as a bird bath. Plus, John had fixed a leak in my sprinkler system while I was gone, so I figured he could have tracked it in on his shoes. The next stop was Lucy's room. I immediately noticed that the changing pad cover looked like it had runny poop smeared all over it. Now, normally we would change the cover right away in that case. So, I go to my room. And there is a similar sort of mess on my white comforter (I should mention that the cat isn't allowed on my bed). And then I look in my living room and see it smeared on my upholstered chairs. Sigh...there is obviously something wrong with my cat.

So, I was up until almost midnight last night washing sheets and comforters and shampooing my chairs. I spent a good deal of time spot cleaning my hard surface floors and I absolutely must get my carpet shampooed this week. Luckily, the boys beds seem spotless after a thorough examination. That being said, I want to wash all that too, just to be sure.

After all this cleaning, I have come to believe that the cat has a UTI and that the marks are actually bloody urine (yuck!). So, the cat is locked in my utility room until his appointment at the veterinarian tomorrow.

Really, that was just too much. Jeremy is in Iraq, Hannah is in Ohio and there is cat excrement on everything in my house. Life just down right sucks right now.

I hate my life.

I absolutely freaking hate everything about my life right now.

Period.

I'm so stinking mad and frustrated right now that I can't even begin to articulate it all.

Five down

"Only" seven more months to go.

Scratch that...I'll think in terms of R&R, so two more to go.

Need to keep on keeping busy.

Stupid IPod

So, as I was packing up the IPod yesterday to take it to the Apple store in Raleigh, it started working again. I probably should have taken it anyway, but can't bear to part with it.

All this makes me wonder, though, just how bad would it be of me to use the kids Fisher Price DVD player to watch DVD's while I'm on the elliptical? Hmmmm...pretty sure that wasn't the use that Grandma & Grandpa had intended it for.

Ack!

My IPod is DEAD! I cannot workout without it. I was on the elliptical for 1 minute 20 seconds before I was bored tonight...not good!!!

Stupid piece of junk!

Update on Jeremy

I realized that I haven't been doing very well on keeping everyone updated on Jeremy. Sorry. Since he's one of the "audience", I usually write with that in my mind.

Everyone keeps asking how he is doing. Well, he is doing okay. The days are going by slowly and he misses his family. How's that for an answer?

And here is a recent picture from a trip he took last week to an outlying FOB. That is a stryker armored vehicle behind him. Jeremy is the one on the right, by the way (just in case any of you have forgotten that he's a tall white guy). He's looking pretty good, as far as I'm concerned!

Ugh...pollen!

We seem to have been hit with a pollen storm around here. I mean, absolutely ridiculous amounts of pollen. Check out this picture:

I took that this morning in my bedroom. That was after the 3rd dusting since Tuesday (and I dusted again after taking the photo).

And check out the pool:

Luckily it seems to get filtered out easily when the pump runs (which it only runs for a couple hours a day right now).

Seriously, I never remember having pollen like this in Ohio. Ever.

I've given up on spring cleaning and have added a note to my file for next year: "don't start until after the pollen hits".

It is supposed to rain on Monday -- hopefully that will wash away a good deal of this junk! But boy oh boy is my house disgusting right now!!!

Oh, Happy Spring!

Life is good when the boys can get out and burn off some steam in the yard!

Look at this!

I can keep a bow in Lucy's hair now...oh the possibilities are endless!

(And, yes, I love this shirt!)