673 days..

This is the last of the flooring updates.. I promise.

Today, I pulled up the toilet, put in the last of the floor, whilst cutting around the toilet flange, trimmed out the room and put the toilet back.

All by myself.

Gosh.. I rock! And I can't wait to take on the next project!

Diagnosis

I took my mom to neurologist #2 today. He was nothing like Dr. Ass. This man was kind, caring, thoughtful. He listened. He was patient. He had a sense of humor. When all was said and done, diagnosis: Alzheimer's. Raise your hand if you're surprised.

Peter (the finest Chiropractic Neurologist in the world!) asked me why I was seeking a diagnosis. Why a label mattered. I didn't have an answer for him then. I think I do now.

I needed to have a name for this thing that was stealing my mother from me. I needed to know the name of the enemy. Now I know. Now I know what to research. Now I know what the future holds.

I can not control this - but at least now I KNOW what it is I can not control. I know what expectations to have. Knowledge is power. I will continue to follow all of Peter's recommendations - Goodness knows he has more constructive and helpful knowledge and advice than all these other dr's combined.

New topic!

I found the perfect beverage for my 50th birthday celebration.

Small painted Chinese men with body odor - but no kissing

It's still hot. and yes.. this is a margarita. I think I shall drink many.

I came home from work today and my mother said there had been a small Chinese man "all painted up" napping on our couch this afternoon. I asked for details. The conversation went like this..

Mom: He had body odor.
Me: He did?
Mom: Did he kiss? I don't know. Not ME!

I'm so glad to hear that small painted Chinese men with body odor had not been kissing on my mother today. What would the neighbors think??

Chocolate

It's Hot Hot Hot.

I went for a walk in the sweltering heat today with a co-worker. We were talking Goats (yay goats!). She said she recently saw something on TV where they were making milk chocolate out of ..

You guessed it!

Goat's milk!

What an awesomely great idea!! Now that's a product that truly has me excited. Goat's milk chocolate. oh my oh my. My enthusiasm is hard to contain.

I also realized that knitting and summer are not a good match. I think I've resolved to wait to get back to my knitting until fall. Sorry Angela.

Teenage Boys & Floors. Final Installment

I'm going to get this out of the way right now. Teenage boys are stupid.

That's all I have to say at the moment on THAT topic.

Now.. Here is a photo of the finished floor in the laundry room.

...and here is a photo of the finished family room, with furniture and the new area rug. It seems so grown-up! I like it very much.. except for the sofa. It's my mother's sofa. I really don't like it at all.

and now.. I think I'm done talking about boys and floors.

Bring on the goats and the goat cheese and the organic regulations and the knitting ..

I'm ready for a change.

As Gomer Pyle would say.. "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

Peter and I chatted on the phone last night until about 10:30. At which time he proclaimed exhaustion after a very demanding week and that he needed to go to sleep. We arranged to Skype this morning (as we tend to do on Saturdays and Sundays).

I woke and turned on my computer and .. no Peter. I thought since he was SO tired last night that he must be sleeping in. I didn't phone him as I didn't want to wake him if he was sleeping.

At about 9:00 a.m he phoned and said he couldn't get his computer on line and that we'd have to be happy with the old fashioned method of just talking on the phone. That didn't seem so bad so I stretched out on my bed and we started talking. Jill was in my room and she let out a squeal. I looked toward the door of my bedroom and saw a person. Quickly I thought, "that's too tall to be my mom." Then I thought, "Kyle shouldn't be home yet." And then I thought, "oh my gosh, a burgler!" And then I realized it was PETER!

He had gotten in the car about 3:00 a.m. to drive down to finish the floors. He had known ALL WEEK that he was going to do this but wanted to surprise me. I loved the surprise but it was bitter sweet as he had to leave tonight.

Not only that, but we STILL didn't get the floors completely done. Mostly though.. just trim work and some grouting.

Deer Me!

The coolest thing happened this morning.

I was driving down my very suburban street (very suburban) and two deer darted out in front of me! They dashed across the road, leaping even - into the vegetable garden of a house nearby. It was so amazing. I stopped the car and tried to take a photo - but all I had was my cell phone camera. There was a rat-a-tat-tat on my car window and there stood this lady with a huge professional looking camera and a gleam in her eye asking if I had seen the deer. It seems when she had gotten up and opened her curtains the deer were grazing in her front yard. She and her little fluff-ball of a dog had gone in hot pursuit.

She and I decided to collaborate to get better photos. Nothing like wildlife to bring strangers together!

Since she had the better camera, I kept her little dog (who didn't seem to care for me overly much) and she snuck around to get a better photo from the other side. Unfortunately her movements scared the poor dears and they came bolting out of the garden in the direction they had come. Which just happened to be the exact spot I was standing.

I stood frozen.. staring down the snout of a very scared deer (and I think the little dog peed herself). Fortunately the deer veered and I was spared. I fumbled with my cell phone camera and managed to get this photo as they swung to the right. I wish it were better - but it's still better than anything the lady with the big camera got. hahaha. That says something for my silly little LG Env!

Look too - none of the deers hooves are on the ground. It's in mid-air. Isn't it just the coolest thing??

Chevre

Did you know that goat cheese is also called Chevre. It's true. It is.

I went looking and found some very yummy looking recipes.

This tasty morsel is Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast with Olive Oil & Lemon Mashed Potatoes.

I think. I'm apparently quite hungry (I ran/walked again today) because I could almost eat the photo of this.

I shall file away the recipe and try it out in the near future. It probably wouldn't hurt to practice cooking with a product that should be in abundance. I might have to go make it now. I'm so hungry.

I also found a recipe for Lamb and Olive Balls. I'm not THAT hungry..

But the best part?

I found what appears to be a very easy recipe for making goat cheese. THIS I gotta try!

Sunday - 9:00 pm

We're done. Or at least as done as we can get for now. We never made it into the laundry or powder rooms. We haven't finished replacing all the trim. Tools are everywhere. Peter is getting ready to leave. He won't be getting home until about 3:00 a.m. That's just too late! Melancholy is setting in.

My blog is up-to-date. I'm in need of a shower. My mother's birthday is officially over (she's had three this week!).

I think.. the lesson I've learned here is that from now on I shall hire this work to be done or I maybe I shall take it on if I'm not under such a time constraint. I don't like being rushed with these things. I want to take my time and enjoy the process. I learned a lot though. Which is good because Phase 2 of the flooring project is hardwood through the rest of the downstairs and up the stairs.

I hope Peter will be recovered from this in time to help with that! bwaa haaahaaaa.

Sunday - 6:00 pm

We're getting SO close. I would be excited if I wasn't so exhausted and worried. Peter still has to drive home tonight. He won't leave until it's done. But he has patients tomorrow morning. AAAHH..

worry worry worry worry.

Sunday - Five o'clock

We moved in the first of the furniture. A bed for the princess. She seems MUCH happier now that she has a soft place to put her delicate little bones.

We've been besieged by lookie-lou's this afternoon. Neighbor #1 came over, then Neighbor #2. Then Neighbor #2 came back with his wife. I kept wanting to scream.. "get outta here!! We're running out of time!!" But I didn't. I smiled and was awfully pleasant. I like these neighbors and didn't want them to hide from me when they see me on the street in the future.

Sunday - two o'clock

Why does nothing go smoothly? My table saw is broken so we again tried to take advantage of neighbor #2. Only to find that neighbor #2 had gone off with neighbor #1 to Lowes (aka the local pub). Then Peter discovered that my stove wasn't wired properly (remember? I did that myself a few months ago..) So Peter had to go to Lowes to buy the proper pigtail or something (hmm.. I wonder if he met neighbors #1 & #2??)

Anyway - not much actual floor progress in the last two hours. I'm not getting worried. much.

Sunday noon

We've moved into the kitchen! The problem is the fridge barely fit under the cabinet with linoleum under it.. with the laminate it would NEVER have fit so the cabinet had to be trimmed down. For the record.. I trimmed the cabinet. Peter was just posing for the photo. I did NOT just sit around looking pretty while he did all the work.

Sunday

It's eleven on Sunday. It doesn't look like we've made much progress in the last 13 hours.. but really. we had to rip at least a third of what we had done out and then put it back. I should have taken pictures but I was in the corner sobbing. See, there was this one piece that had gotten damaged. In order to replace it a whole bunch had to come out. Anyway - we're back at it!

Saturday - 10:00 pm

We're making our way into the kitchen laundry area. It's a shame that we have to stop. We are making a lot of noise with the saw and the pounding.. There is a city ordinance against noise after 10:00. Oh well.. We can start again tomorrow!

Saturday - 9:30 p.m.

Uh - oh.. this can't be a good sign. Wine and potato chips. And wine in water glasses.. not even wine glasses. And not even particularly good wine... yikes!

Floor Progress - Saturday Nine pm

Still moving along. The family room is nearly done. whew.

Floor Progress - Saturday Eight p.m.

Sparky does NOT like the new floor. It is slippery. When she was a puppy - at about 6 weeks old - she could not stand on linoleum. Her little legs would slide out from under her and she would go "ker-plop" on her belly. I think she's having flashbacks.

Floor Progress - Saturday 7 o'clock

Progress! It seemed that nearly every board need some sort of custom cut. This section was whiz bang fast! yay.. It's so pretty.. I like it so very much!

Floor Progress - Saturday 6 o'clock

The floor kept shifting. The shims and the sheet rock they were against kept scootching. But look! sheeting is down.. flooring is more abundant! Things are looking up!

Floor Progress - Saturday Five o'clock

Exhaustion begins to take it's toll. Putting in a floor is hard work!

Floor Progress - Saturday Four o'clock

We finished this entire row. It was a tough one because we had to take into account the curve of the fireplace hearth. When I say 'we' I mean the royal we. Peter did the math. My job was to squeal with delight when he got it perfect the very first time.

Floor Progress - Saturday Three o'clock

Oh my gosh! Major progress! Peter is laying down the second row of sheeting. Jill is happily coloring on the floor. We decided we would let her express her inner artist by coloring on all the floors before we put down the flooring. She had a great time!

Floor Progress - Saturday Two

Look! An hour later and we have an entire row as well as the start of another row. I'm so excited!

Floor Progress - Saturday One pm

Between noon and one.. uh.. still not looking too good. There was A LOT of math. The room is 14 feet, 1 inch wide.. the boards are 12 and a half inches.. what time does the train get into Cleveland?

Then we remembered my table saw is broken. So we had to go visit neighbor number 1. Who has no table saw but is currently under home remodel so we had to check out the studs and the windows and the new space.

Then off to neighbor number two, who has a table saw - but really, really likes to chat. So by 1:00 we had managed to lay the first strip of under sheeting.

Floor Progress - Saturday Noon

Saturday noon. We spent the morning running to Lowes to get a cabinetry saw. Then we took time doing math. Then we had to go back to Lowes and get duct tape and jig saw blades. Then we had to stop at Jamba Juice for an engergizing smoothy, and then we had to go to the grocery for sausage and beer. Then we had to cook and eat the sausage.. sigh.. Noon doesn't look so promising. Sparky really liked the sausage leavings though...

Floor me baby!

I'm ready to be floored! The room is cleared. I hope to post a series of photos showing the progress. Peter should get here about midnight and we start bright and early in the morning. No sleep for him!!! bwaa haa haaa!
Please feel free to stop by with a pitcher of margaritas about 4:00.. we will probably need them!

My life is so sad... I'm excited beyond belief for a floor.. man.. that's a little depressing.

Today is NOT my mother's birthday

You know.. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

My mom thought today was her birthday. She waited all day for her son (my brother to call her). She waited for me to call from work to wish her a happy birthday. She waited for a cake. She anticipated going out to dinner. She showered and dressed and did her hair.

Jill called me at work about 5:45 to tell me how unhappy Grammy was that no one remembered her birthday and that she was expecting dinner out at the restaurant of her choice.

She was quite flummoxed to find out that her birthday isn't until Sunday. We went to dinner anyway and called my brother on the way. We had a fine celebration. The waitress didn't understand at all, why we said things like.. "you should have ice cream! after all, it's not your birthday!"

50 is not looking pretty.

Once upon a time I loved to exercise. I raced in triathlons. I ran 5 and 10 k's. I was a member of an award-winning dragon boat team for goodness sake! I even have a few first place medals (which I admit, for the most part are because I was the ONLY one in my age group and I won by default). I was fit. But then life happened. I'm not fit any longer. I hate it. I have a closet full of size 10 clothes that I can only dream about.

If I intend to carry out My Little Goat Shop dream (and I'm getting more serious about goats every day) then I shall need to be able to get up and down and chase the little critters around and be healthy enough to live my dream for years and years to come.

With that goal in mind, I worked out at lunch today. A workout that I would have scoffed at 3 years ago. 3 miles at a fast walk. A little bit of trotting. A small incline. I shouldn't even break a sweat at that. But I was huffing and puffing and sweating like someone dumped water on my head. It was NOT a pretty site.

The gym I go to has these new-fangled treadmills with TV's and and display screens and enough buttons to make it look like the instrument panel on an airplane. I started pushing the buttons to get the treadmill going. Instead, I managed to change channels on the TV and get some I-Pod/USB think flashing at me in a panic. After pushing every darn button on the panel without success, I figured out it had a touch screen. I'm not sure what all the buttons were for. I probably re-set the alarm system in the building or turned off the lights in the men's sauna..

The workout was hard and I'm going to do it again on Thursday. I'm feeling surprisingly fine tonight though.. If I could just get someone over here to help me up off the couch (and sob! up the stairs!) I don't think I can make it on my own.

What happens in Vegas

One of my best friends made me an offer today. Would I like to go to Vegas for a "Girls Weekend" to celebrate our 50th birthdays? Wow. There was a day when I would have jumped all over that! At first I did, too (habit I think). The first thing out of my mouth was "Sign me up!" And then reality set in. There is the airfare. The show prices (because I couldn't go to Vegas without seeing the Blue Man Group). Food and let's not forget the drinks. I really can't afford it. But then there is the whole "Peter/love of my life/guy I wanna grow old with" thing.

Back in my married days I used to sign up for races as far away as I could, just so I would have a reason to spend the night away from home. We (my girlfriends and I) used to go camping once a year. Just a bunch of women and their kids - because we always included the kids. We had a GREAT time. No stupid men. There was one woman that would never go because she didn't want to be apart from her husband for the weekend. They had been married for years and she didn't want to leave him for two days to hang with the girls. I just didn't get it.

I get it now. I really get it. And I like it.

On another topic. I think I've found Dr. Ass #2. My mother's cardiologist referred her to a neurologist (after our run-in with Dr. Ass #1). I called on Thursday and left a message. I had not heard back by 2:00 today so I called Sarah, the "appointment clerk" who said she must have called me or she would have a note about it because she doesn't throw the notes away unless she's followed up on them. hmm.. I wanted to ask her what we had talked about and how our conversation went but held my tongue. I did my best to put it behind me and explained why I was calling. She (Sarah - not the doctor) said "well that doesn't sound like a neurology issue, it sounds like she needs psychiatry."

That's when I let the crabby out. Why is this so darn difficult?? Why am I forced to just keep going around in circles???

Addictions

I picked clover this evening.

It's a very weird (so people tell me) therapy for me. When my father passed away (17 years ago yesterday) I went out into my backyard and pulled up the clover. I crawled around on my hands and knees for hours each day and methodically pulled clover. I would find the blossom or the leaves and trace them through the grass until I got to the root. Then I would pull the root out of the ground and trace back all the arms of the clover.

It wasn't long before I eliminated all the clover in my backyard. So I moved to the front yard.. and then eventually, as scary as it seems, to the neighbors yards. They would walk out their front doors and find me sitting cross legged in their yards quietly picking clover. They all thought I had gone off the deep end. Perhaps I had, for a while. I sometimes wonder what I would have done had my father passed away in December when there was no clover to be found.

It's a therapy that I continue to this day - although not to such extremes. It has a strong pull. there have been times I've been unable to resist it and pulled out a clover in a public park or friends house. But I'm generally able to stop at just one or two.

Tonight I allowed myself an hour to just sit and pick at it. It brings peace to my world.

Goats will probably love clover. I shall have to fence off a section of grass and clover for my weekly therapy sessions. It's a lot cheaper than a professional therapist.. although.. maybe.. by then there will be peace in my world on a daily basis and there will be no need for therapy.

oooooh.. the thought of that makes my knees go weak.

Women's work

Jill worked..
Mom worked.
I worked.

The carpet is up.

We found no worms.

It's so exciting! It was a fun way to spend the day.


This morning my mother woke me at 7:30 with the question.. "Are you going to sleep all day??"

She had had a rough night and informed me that she had taken a knife to the carpet while chasing worms. I expected to see the carpet shredded when I came down but I could not see where she had cut it. but I thought.. "why not??" and so I started ripping up the stupid thing.

She has decided there are no worms in the carpet. She asked me why she thought there might have been. What can you possibly say that doesn't make her feel bad?

How many days left?

I know! I know the answer! Look at the bottom.. I added a countdown widget!

Now I shall have to re-think the whole posting title convention I have.

But I like it.. I might have to add it to the top..

We'll see.

Have a great Thursday!

698:14:38

My day started off with my mother informing she had been having chest pains. I started to call 911 - but she poo-poo'd it and wanted me to drive her to the hospital. Then there was a discussion of which hospital and by the time we finished she wasn't sure she had even had pains and she confessed that the "machine on the counter" was telling her she was having a heart attack and the people on the wall were all sharing THEIR heart attack stories... I worked from home today just to keep an eye on her (thank goodness I have a job that allows me to do that!) She seems to be fine and the pains she had were most likely just a bad dream.

Then she started looking for worms in the floor again. I told her she imagined them. When she was napping I found one (in the kitchen.. and it was a small catepillar.)

The looney bin is thriving!

On a non-looney bin note.. I'm so excited! My floor is here. I want to tear into the carpet right now! I've already mentioned that I don't do the whole "sit and wait" thing very well. And I don't. I know the razor knife is just a few yards away and it would be SO easy to cut into this carpet. I'm dying to see what is lurking underneath the surface.

But I will wait for Peter to come down to help. Maybe...

698:21:11 - OMG!!

Oh my goodness!

Look what we found on the kitchen floor today! It's not a worm. It's a small catepillar.. but do you suppose THIS is what my mother has been seeing?

I'm freaking out just a little bit..

699:13:07 (less that 700!)

I'm home again. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I HATE saying goodbye.

I spent 5 days at Peters. On vacation. I took my two magazines. I took my knitting. I took my laptop. Did I have time for any of those things? Nope. I was busy roto-tilling, weeding, playing with kittens, working with the dog, adding nematodes to the potatoes, digging in the ditch, hiking (we hiked up to the Big 4 Ice Caves). The good news is I managed a few naps - some even on purpose.

I was visiting with Peter's mother one afternoon under the shade of an umbrella. While we visited she knitted. She doesn't care for knitting overly much. But she knits quickly, and without looking. I was very impressed. She told me the story of her knitting.

She was born in The Netherlands in 1925. Her family had heard a rumor of the coming hard times (Nazi occupation) and they stocked up on everything they could while they could. Which was a good thing because when the Germans came they took everything. Fortunately her mother had bought a lot of yarn and they were able to knit stockings and socks and clothes. She did a lot of knitting back then.

I asked her what she was going to do with the socks she was knitting, she said she would keep them and use them during the winter to keep her feet warm. Yesterday, the socks she knitted were waiting for me on Peter's doorstep.

I think I shall treasure these socks for a very long time.

703:10:57 - Peters

I learned a few things today.

• I learned you can make a meal (or two) out of hamburger buns, butter and jelly.
• I learned that designer rain boots are NOT meant for actual work.
• I learned that it doesn't matter if your boots leak if you're going to step into water that is 3" deeper than your boots are tall.
• I learned that water-filled boots suction to your feet making removal nearly impossible.
• I learned that you CAN have a drink in one hand and still pull weeds quite efficiently with the other.
• I learned that I have the power to make a dog poop on command.
• I learned that uninterrupted naps are really nice.