Facelift

Ok, it's not a face lift yet. Here is a picture of the recent wrath of Ike:

Yup, that's pretty much half a tree on our front porch. Good times. And this happened during the 1 hour of torrential downpour last Sunday night. But we handled it well. I threw some stuff into a bag and packed up LG. We went out in search of a hotel to camp at. In the mean time, PB turned off the power and the gas and gathered up some other stuff to get us through the night. Of course, I had forgotten my cell phone at work, so we had to rely on a network approach to regroup (thank you Uncle B, for being a relay station). And LG and I had to go to 3 different hotels before we found one with power and a vacancy (good times in the pouring rain and wind). But LG was a real trouper. The only time he cried was after hotel # 2, when the wind was really whipping around and pelting us with rain. And by the time we got to hotel #3 he was right as rain again.

LG is officially pulling himself up to a stand and walking himself around objects now. It's fun to watch (until you realize that he's only 7 months old, and way to early for this). His crawl is a light speed, so there's no where he can't go (for instance, through the cat door). Again, cute, but a handful.

And now for something...

Totally different. If you're in a place where laughing out loud is appropriate (and you won't get the red screen of death for violating work place ethics) go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxkxG3DF4k

And laugh until you cry. I loves me some Richard Simmons, I'll admit. Who else gets away with wearing spangled short shorts and throwing butter (yes, I mean actual butter) at fat ladies? On national television?

And if you're in the mood for ... well , just plain odd, go here:

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/08/hawaii_chair.php

Enough links for one day. You can tell how motivated I am to work today, huh? Yup, I still hate my job. But I am doing something about it. I have begun to update the resume, and have a plan of action. Which will remain a secret from all (except LG and PB, who need to be in the know).

LG is in full crawl mode now. And the cats are none too happy. We have to get him over to visit some of the puppies soon so that he can get a little petting practice on someone a tad more patient than my cats. He's also started to pull himself up on things. He can get himself up on his knees now. Which isn't good for me. For instance, this morning. PB tends to take the Binki out of LG's mouth when he puts him to bed and "store" in on the top rail of the crib. And then he forgets it there the next morning when he wakes LG up. So, usually there is more than 1 Binki sitting on that top rail. Well, this morning LG pulled himself up to the top rail at around 4:am. And emitted a squeal of delight upon finding a plethora of Binkis to chomp on. Which woke me up. By the time I got in there (admittedly a tad slowly), he was sound asleep with a Binki in his mouth, and one in each paw. Most people would think this was sweet. I, however, know that now he will think that all of the world's treasures are just out of his reach, and he will be climbing up on everything he can see. Great.

Oh, and what the hell happened to summer, people? Was I really stuck up in that tiny room for my whole summer? Damn it. At least we got to play volleyball a few times. And I guess we went to a party or two. I'll stop complaining now.

Must go fake work. Must pretend to care.

Bahhhh...

Ok, I'll admitt that at times I am a sheep. For instance, all the kids at school have these "Taggies" blankets. And LG didn't. It was a trend I was more than willing to let pass by. Because he has beautiful home made blankets from his Grammie. Which he loves to death. As is shown in this picture:

How cool is that blanket? However, we lost this mini blanket at a fair last Saturday. And LG decided he wanted to "share" his girlfriend, M's taggie blanket. And so, I have purchased a small "Taggie". Which he finds fascinating to chew, rub and explore, but will not sleep with. So, Grammie is making him a replacement for his old snuggle blanket. And I will remember that my kid doesn't need what all the "cool" kids have to be happy.

(oh, and to make me feel even more idiotic. One of the Mom's at school was actually disappointed to hear that LG had a taggie. She thinks his blankets are wonderful, and has admired them since he started school....)

At the swimming hole...

LG got to go into a pool for the first time this past weekend. He really liked it, I think. He splashed and crawled around. And then all the little girls in the pool decided they had enough of the obnoxious boy and left him to himself in the water. He didn't seem to mind, though.

The Final Act

I will now attempt to take you through the living room remodel pictorially:It all started with re-doing the ceiling. Down came all the old drywall tape, to be re-mudded, retaped and the whole shebang sanded. For some reason, PB is opposed to textured ceilings.In went the new window. Ahh, the new window. What wondrous light it lets in. And now I have a much better view of the neighbor getting the paper in his bathrobe. Lucky me.

Up came the carpet and all of the old floors (please note the "s" on the end. floors). This is one of the old floor joists before it came out. That abyss below it is the basement...

Next came the new paint debacle (sp?). This was when we seemed to think camo might be our answer. The fun was non-stop for this one...

Then the drywall was repaired and the sub floor went in. Which is one small line that took forever, it seemed. And it was dusty. Everywhere. This is probably when I absolutely gave up on even trying to be downstairs. And LG and I got a stir crazy.
This is day 2 of putting in the new floor. To the left you can see all the boards sitting out, to be picked for their placement. PB did a great job of varying the colors and sizes. Though it took much longer than he expected, it was well worth it.

This is LG in the completely new, empty room. So much potential right there. He looks a tad lost, though.

Somehow, I managed to not get any pictures of painting in process. Oh, probably because (other than taking off the switch plates) this is the only part I participated in. Yup, I primed and painted. And LG watched. He was very good about the whole thing. Go LG.

This one is from this morning (PB has turned off the date stamp in the camera). Woo hoo. All done. Krappe re-loaded and messy as ever. I show you this one because the lamp in the middle was the basis for the color choice.

We will now all breathe a sigh of relief. And let football season begin.

(Cue curtain close).