The Demolition Begins

My favorite older sister is in town, and is graciously assisting me in tearing up my floor. By assisting, of course I mean she and Mr. Sister are tearing up the floor while I nurse the baby for eight hours or so. Anyway, here's what happened.
First, there was carpet.


And then there was none. Notice, if you will, the strange resemblance this tile bears to those 'Learn-to-Dance' mats they used to sell.


The dancing tile was laid down over particle board sheets over an even older layer of linoleum. The whole thing was screwed, I repeat, SCREWED to the wood floor. There were also a few random patches of what appear to be upholstery tacks nailed into the floor for no apparent reason.
While Mr. Sister crowbar'ed the carpet tacks out of the floor, we ripped up strips of particle board and linoleum.


Then we went through and removed screws. Thousands and thousands of screws. Many jokes were made, and one screwdriver was broken.


Then we swept it clean and hopefully I'll finish ironing off the last of linoleum glue. We got a ton accomplished today, and I'm so frikkin' giddy about the whole thing. I can see my floor, and it's bee-utiful.

Not sick, but still can't catch a break.

Well, thanks to everyone's prayers and massive doses of echinacea & yerba root, I have not come down with the stomach-eating infection. The oldest is fully recovered, although the younger two are still experiencing some random lingering bowel ejections. It's been really cold the past few days, so we picked everybody up and moved to the inlaws until it warms up. And I thought taking care of kids with a stomach virus at MY house was bad.
The good news is, the MIL recently replaced wall-to-wall carpet with hardwood floors, so I don't have to worry about clean up too much; just wipe and go.
Anyway, it looks like we'll be here till Monday.
Stay warm, people.

The bi-directional output stomach virus hits

Today started pretty good.
A nice cool walk in the drizzly gray, some hot coffee waiting at home. We had breakfast, did laundry, had lunch, did laundry...And then it hit. About one O'clock, the body fluids and semi-solids started flying, every five minutes a new eruption, and it didn't let up until SEVEN.
All three girls, totally miserable. Every blanket and pair of pajamas we own, in the washpile. The couch, the carpet, EVERYTHING is soaked.
The good news is, the dryer has been running non-stop, so we have a very comfortable level of warmth and humidity going. I may be puking my guts out tomorrow, but by god, my pores look FABULOUS.

They are now burrowed under the covers in my bed, totally exhausted and hopefully sleeping. I sigh loudly every now and then, to remind Mr. Legs how much I've suffered. He brought canned soup home so I wouldn't have to cook, and Dr. Pepper without being asked. He's a good guy.

Never Google "Wood Stripper"

Well, I finally started. While Mr. Legs was passed out in a Nyquil-induced coma, I ripped up the carpet in the dining room. Swiper Decided to vomit all over it this morning and the shampooer just wasn't cutting it.

There was (is) quite a bit of raggedy linoleum around the perimeter of the room, but the wood is smooth, tight grained, and a warm red color. Here's what corner #1 looked like right after I pried the wooden tack strips up:


I used a damp rag and the iron to loosen up the linoleum goo, then scraped it off with a spackle knife. Here's what I have now:


There's quite a bit of water damage all over the floor, but there aren't any huge gaps or loose boards. It's still a nice solid floor, which is what I hoped would be. Cleaning will take awhile, but it's nice to feel connected to this house, instead of furious at it. Finally, a NICE surprise.

Big Shopping

Waking up on shopping day is like waking up the day of a marathon; filled with fear, self-doubt, and a strong urge to chicken out.
It's not pretty on a good day, herding four kids through Sam's club, then Walmart, then HEB. Today it took me an hour to find an alternate route because some jackass decided they would close EVERY SINGLE ON RAMP to the 10 west.

The first stop must always be the bathroom. Try manuvering a cart full of children through one of those stupid little mazes that are so popular now without running into the blue-hairs that enjoy lurking around every corner and you'll understand what I mean. Potty everyone, make sure all toilets are flushed, all hands are washed, then inch your way back out the latrinarynth. Now you're ready to go.
Bypass the candy aisle. Pick up the baby. Dodge young couples who somehow manage to block the entire aisle while picking out a 40lb jar of cheezy poofs. Compare price per ounce of diced potatos vs. diced potatos w/ chile pepper. Watch out for the 3 foot asian granny who can't see over her cart but refuses to go less than 80 miles an hour. Grab a bag of craisins. Pull a kid out of the path of a fork lift. complain loudly that bread prices have gone up a dollar.

But at the end of the day, when the kids are recuperating in front of a movie, and the toilet paper has been stacked into a perfect geometrical pyramid under the bathroom sink, I am filled with joy and satisfaction, like a squirrel who knows exactly where her nuts are.

I shopped REALLY WELL today. I finally left behind the expensive packages of individually canned vegetables($6) and went for the economy sized restaraunt vats($2). I bought 15 dozen eggs instead of planning to buy another four dozen next week. My box of powdered milk is chilling in the fridge, ready at a moment's notice. Truly, my cupboards overfloweth.

Thanks for teaching me, Mom.

It is so frikkin' cold.

It's cold. I lit some cinammon incense, but it's not 'warming to the soul' like it said on the package. Looks like it should be nice and warm today, around 70, then drop to the 30s at night. I think I'll start some slowcooker soup.

Mr. Legs went out and plotted my garden for me; 8' x 8' is a little small, so if everything dies it's not going to be a huge deal. This is what it looks like from the walkway:


From the porch:


We still have to dig it up, add the dividers and fill it full of dirt; We're going to try "Gardening by the Square Foot".
I already picked a few seeds from http://www.cooksgarden.com/, some colored carrots, some tiny little tomatos and some extra-strength dil; the rest I'll buy at Calloway's. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of fresh veggies this summer. Somebody brought a fruit & veggie tray to the Christmas party and my kids set up camp around it, eating everythimg on it in about twours. Nobody understood why they were eating the veggies when there were dishes of fudge & cookies and candies all around. heh heh heh. /superior, smug self righteousness.

An auspicious end to the NOO year

I finally found a home for that little white dog; After about a week of waiting for his owners to contact the pound, I put an add up on Craigslist for him. I listed everything that was wrong with him and said that instead of a 'rehoming fee', I would prefer to meet with the new owner at the vets, and make sure that he (the dog) got his first round of shots.
I was totally inundated with people offering to buy the dog, or take the dog to the vet next week, or people who were going to give the dog to their granny and SHE would take it to the vet. Oy.
So when a rescue group contacted me and offered to take him I jumped on it. I usually hate rescue-people because they're snotty and uptight and controlling. This lady, however, was very nice. She picked him up on Saturday, no fuss. I checked out the group's websight first, and it looks like he's in good hands.

So that was good, but I think Bender misses him, so we took him to the dog park today. What a cool place! Pure, doggie chaos. I'll take the camera next week and get pictures. There were probably about forty dogs there, of all sizes, running around and sniffing and pooping and just being dogs and everybody had a good time. The baby got her cookie stolen twice, which she was okay with, because she got to pull some ears.
Somebody brought their Irish Wolfhound, and that was just incredible. He looked like something out of the Henson Workshop. Mr. Legs went and talked to his owner and he's been giving me meaningful looks ever since.

Bender didn't choose to mingle much; he prefered to wander around and sniff the other dogs, which was fine with me. There was a bunch of Labs and Retrievers, and a German Shepherd/St. Bernard mix. Bender doesn't seem so big now. He did find a little Boston Trrier that followed him around, jumping up and down, trying to sniff his tail.

All in all, a good day. Bender is currently stretched out on the carpet snoozing, and I'm doing the dishes with my newly repaired, non-leaking faucet. Hurray, me.