Have you ever met THAT kid… You know, the one you take an instant dislike to just from the ugly look on their mug and the defiant stance that carries them through life. The smile may be sweet as sugar but you see the bile welling up in their eyes. They are that devil on your kid’s shoulder. Today I met THAT kid. At our local mall there is this climbing thing… There is no name for it other than thing. They claim its for 3 yrs and up (adults can play too!) Bull shit. There are places a person over 4ft 6in could NOT fit. Of course these junctions are in the most vital area of the climber - the middle. So Mira shoots up to the top of that thing like a rocket launched into space. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and I’m getting impatient. I try hollering to catch her attention, whistling, singing… She looks at me and runs higher. I’m getting nervous and starting to breakout in a panicky sweat. 5 years ago I had to climb up after a boy I nannied - I got STUCK! My boobs just would not flatten enough for me to squeeze through. I am claustrophobic so during this incident I started hyperventalating, crying and generally spazzing. I hand Tessa off to my friend and jump into the contraption. I climb as high as I can without having to struggle. I start calling Mira when THAT kid says, “No Mira don’t climb down it’s a trick! Don’t listen to your mommy!” I could feel the blood rushing in my body as I stared this freckled face miniature jackass in the face. Mira approaches little Satan to hear what she has to say and I grab Mira by the seat of her pants, dragging her down the climber. Finally I am on solid ground and I have to fold kicking screaming Mira, origami style into the umbrella stroller. All the while freckle faced spawn of Satan is screaming “leave my friend alone! No no noooooooooo!” With Tessa balanced on my hip, I’m one handing the stroller and winging it around like a rollercoaster ride. I see the daemon go up and complain to her mother. I walk over and say “It’s wrong of you to tell someone to disobey their mother, I’m sure YOUR mother has taught you better” and throw a scathing glance towards Satan’s mom who at this point doesn’t know what to do… ahh yes THAT kid.

My hangy-ball-thingy is under assault. Vomit keeps courting it’s delicate pink facade. My dog… Dozer… The massive white one.. Oh my god.. Ugh I might puke trying to type this… errp guh BLAH! He when into the trash and fished out a shitty diaper. This is gross enough but he then settled down to dine on the poo poo platter.. Oh God, heaving heaving… gahhhh! I went to the kitchen to grab a handful of chocolate chips and found his face smeared like a kid after a fudge pop. The smell was toe curling and I think several of my nose hairs dropped out and ran to safer ground. Missing were 3 or 4 baby wipes which I’m sure he’ll hoark up later in a delightful encore of this poopy production. EHHH heeughhhh bleck blah gag!

This little ole blog held a competition a few weeks back (prior to my online Houdini act). I made a list of tasks we were trying to accomplish (read here) before the day of my kid’s birthday party. The winner of our game guessed 12 out of the 21 listed. And what was our most awesomest prize package offering?? A trip to Tahiti? Nope. $25,000 dollars? No, who do you think I am Vanna White? What do bloggers crave the most? Why do they reveal their deepest darkest secrets? Why do they blog? - Attention! It’s all about validation, therefore what is the best prize you can give a blogger? A LINK! Not just any old sidebar link. A dedicated post link that says MICHELLE ROCKS! You should skadaddle over to her blog and leave a happy comment of congrats or encouragement. Let her know ya found her from here so she knows her prize is quite valuable indeed!

Some of you may have noticed that scrawny sick puppy in my side bar - that is Maxx. Maxx came to us through freecycle. He had been dumped on this woman by her daughter. The woman already has 2 small older dogs and a medium sized outside dog. She posted him on Freecycle and I replied. Why did I respond? There was no posted picture, the brief description gave no indication of anything that was happening with this pup - there were no red flags. As I skimmed through the offers, this on just got my attention. As I clicked to open the full message I was thinking “I need another dog like I need another hole in my head” Reading through the description my gut started screaming “GO GET THE DOG GO GO GO” I emailed the lady and we made arrangements for us to meet Maxx that day. When I first saw Maxx my heart fell into my shoes. He was obviously grossly underweight. He had sore where his knee was rubbing through his skin. He was covered in dandruff and there was no sheen to his coat. He was impossible to pet. When you tried you’d run your hand along his back your hand dipped and rose over every single rib. I was afraid that I was bruising him!

These pictures were taken the first day we had Maxx. On Maxx’s second day with us we took him to the vet. We had to be squeezed in on an emergency basis on a Saturday no less (can’t you hear the money falling from our pockets?). The poor guy was weighed. He was 26 lbs and a normal Doberman pup his age weighs at LEAST 40 lbs. They stuck stuff up his butt, needles in his legs, squeezed and poked and pried at every corner. It was the doggie equivalent of an alien abduction. Maxx was diagnosed with severe malnourished, hook worms, and vitamin/mineral deficiences. He’ll need to be monitored by the vet as we try to bring him up to a normal weight and we now have to get our other 2 dogs tested and possibly treated for hookworm. Anyways, this all adds up and the whole thing snuck out and blind sided us. If you could donate a dollar or two Maxx and I would be very grateful. The button will remain active in my side bar until I reach the amount that covers Maxx’s vet bills. If there is any excess money we will use it to buy supplies for a local dog rescue. Thanks everyone and remember to click on the donation button in the side bar.

I’m online, I’m online! And it’s in my home.. I’m sitting here grubby and sleep crusty cursing softly while I figure out the memory card reader.. BAM it’s working! Last night while I was crouched furtively over a library computer DH ran a new line to the computer, the rest of the house is still messed up but I’m BACK!

Pictures as promised:

In my girls bedroom I painted a My Little Pony mural on one wall

both ponies have metallic irises and metallic streaks in their hair. They are standing in a bed of flowers while butterfly dance overhead. The butterfly are actually 3-d glitter sticker things that just went so well I couldn’t resist. The walls are a soft blue color, these pictures aren’t exactly true to color since we had the curtains drawn.

Tessa sleeps in the bed directly below the mural, this has caused some friction so I may need to put a pony or two in the wall Mira is sleeping against.

here you can see both girls. The curtains are actually shower curtains that have butterflies all over them. I went with the vinyl shower curtains for the washability factor and the evenness of the light filtration. At the sunniest time of the day the room is still a calming blue hue. The beds were a bear of a project. We bought them as bare wood. Much priming and sanding ensued. 2 nights were spent purplifying them and 1 more night to clear coat. We put up new closet doors and a new fan that so happens to match perfectly. It has different color oval pastel blades and the holder that attach the blades to the main part of the fan are shaped like flowers and also softly colored. Butterflies hang from the pullchains - just a serendipitous find.

Here are pictures of both girls crashed out in their new beds. This was after Mira’s birthday party on Sunday - hence the crown on Mira’s head!

And just because I feel like it - here’s a picture of me and my mom. Sheesh do we look related or what?

My dear readers I am OUTRAGED. Cookie monster is going on a diet. No it’s not the chocolate chippy carb fest we grew up with. Details are still sketchy but the blue fuzzy monster has been spotted around town with fruits and veggies. Cookie Monster was my strong hold as a child. When faced with something brussel sprout like I would pretend I was cookie monster eating cookies.. Now how is one to avoid those awful moments when faced with a nasty buffet and a beaming hostess eagle eyeing every move? Normally I’d go to that happy monster place in my head, but these days all I can imagine is Cookie making out with a tomato or caressing a carrot - a rather disturbing thought. Instead I’ll have to gag down something unidentifiable and skidaddle off to the potted palm to retch in peace.

List update: I have emptied the girls bedroom to be of most furniture, worked on the mural today and am close to completion in that arena. We bought the paint for the livingroom (which will eventually be a dinning room) as well as special paint for the kitchen cabinets. DH also made a large purchase to screen in the porch (but we wont talk about that… it involved a downpour and the screen/storm door flying out of the box and getting damaged, much cursing ensued). Tonight we are going to sand bunkbeds and maybe even paint them if we can.. Oh yeah revving my engine! Anyone who hasnt put in a guess yet may do so in the post below. If you guess how many things i’ll finish on my to do list in the next 10 days i’ll devote a whole post about your sites awesomeness

ahhh the sharp sting of poking sticks, thank you for the volunteers! There is light… In my kitchen… It is not of the artificial kind… In my kitchen… The bat cave.. I can SEE! Folks… There is SUNLIGHT in my house!!! I am beyond excited. The only word to describe this feeling is SUPERCALAFRAGILISTICESPIALADOCHIOUS!
really, truly, madly deeply. A project completely finished.. DH oh DH the lovin you will get. The holes in my roof are fill with the appropriate parts - no birds crapping down the tubes onto my head. The light diffuser is in place so even midday sun is gentle and kind… I feel like doing backflips!!

I am about to fall over.. I may need someone to poke me with a stick and turn my on my side so I don’t perish.. DH ring-a-linged me on the cellophone whilst I was out shopping - yes shopping AGAIN! I got the cutest skirt, some pants, shorts 2 new shirts.. And oh wait so back to shock and awe.. Anyways he asks me to stop by Lowes and pick something up for him.. Nothing unusual right? He asks me to do this all the time and then it sits…. And sits… And sits.. I end up having to DUST what ever the thing-a-ma-do is and just am generally annoyed b/c nothings happened- ya know like the 2 boxed of tile in the TRUNK of the car that clang clang like the trolley every time I make a turn.. uh anyways… So I pick up these:

no not kitchen cabinets - though wouldn’t THAT be nice.. Skylights!! More specifically sun-tek sun tunnels.. Easy install.. I might have daylight in the dank depths of my kitchen by tomorrow (this is where the poke me with the stick comes in)! If the installation ACTUALLY happens and goes smoothly I may keel over from sheer excitement. So dear readers, sharpen those poking sticks and practice CPR cause I’m ready to black out - DH don’t fail me now!