Holy Heat

We have a heater man now. Or should I say 3? We hired a local heat and air conditioning installation man and had our friend, Sy, join Dustin in getting the ducts in a row. Nuck. Dustin climbed in the attic to cut holes while Sy collected the shrapnel that fell from the ceiling on the main floor. The contractor made the plans, brought the bits and pieces, and put that together. We are still waiting for the unit to arrive later this week but we are so relived to have this ball rolling. It's been a looooong winter of wood fires (thankfully supplied for free from The Allen's and my dad) but the ash and dust that was created was alarming. We were wiping ALL of the surfaces in our house down 2-3 times a week. Plus, the amount of work that goes into making and maintaining a fire every day gets boring real fast. All of the hard work that these guys are putting in will make our home so much clearer and efficient in just 2 short weeks! Ta-da! Easy for me to say. I was in charge of mudding the baby room wall joints. It's true what they say about never doing a bad job well. Dustin has me in charge of mudding the rest of the house when it comes to each room.

Dustin's Truths

Dustin, turning to me after HOURS of searching the internet for creative ideas for making money, says,"I need a life. A life that is not based on rejection and lies."

Taj MahNerdle

They say the man's home is his castle. That's true. Until your rackity-frackin'- son-of-a-butt-scootin'-sniff-hound dog devastates every item in it.
On a lunch break last week, Dustin came home to meet with the 2nd of 3 heater guys, to bid our house for the installation job. On their way out, the door from Curtis' quarters was not closed as tightly as it normally is. Curtis, being keen in hearing, noted that the "click" didn't happen and that all hell was about to. He got in to the main part of our home (kitchen, living room, master bedroom, bathroom, and second bedroom) and continued to move EVERY ITEM WITH HIS TEETH to a new location. I am not exaggerating here. He managed to overturn our two humongous and heavy planters in our bedroom and then spread that soil to every corner of our bed (which he un-made and tore holes in the memory foam for which to pack the dirt in). Then there was the cat litter box. Oh. The cat litter box. I'll just say briefly that we didn't have to clean much of that up as he alternately ate it AND splattered it ON and UP our walls. He took the hefty mug that holds our toothbrushes down off of the high shelf it sits on and moved it to the couch where he then ate all of the toothpaste. We still haven't found the toothbrushes. The dental floss? Behind the toilet, of course.
We should have paused to take pictures to share here but, in the heat of this horrific moment, we didn't think about anything other than how long this was going to take to clean up and how badly a person can beat a dog before being sent to prison. (No animals were hurt during this event OR in the posting of it)
Anywhooo, after 4 and 1/2 hours of cleaning and one trip to the dry cleaner, our home is back in order and Curt has his own play pen. It has a 6 foot high cedar fence with a partial view of our neighbors' home and dog, Blue.

I've mentioned him before as we refer to him as Michael Landon. His tail and back fur is so dark black and flow-y like the actor's mane that it's near impossible to tell the difference. Except Blue barks like a maniac at anyone walking by, at cars parked across the street, or at leaves falling. I doubt that Michael Landon was that obsessed or discourteous to his fellow neighbors.

Back to the Nerdle den... it has a cement block border so he cannot dig himself out, it is graveled for ample rollin' and burying time, and it much roomier than the room he'd been cooped up during the day. Dustin still comes home at lunch to let him out to play but now he is all "aired out" and has less nervous and wriggly energy.

Now, when we get home to play, he is less "I'm going to maul you with licking and jumping" and more "fetch" and "tag" and "rest by the fire by 8pm". As my sister-in-law, Megan, had suggested when I was postponing a get together due to Hurricane Nerdle, "maybe he's trying to tell you something." Well, we got the memo, Curtis! I hope you like your new "digs". Snuffle. Get it?

Some Say Love, It Is a Sander

Dustin and I, the people of non-gifting, ESPECIALLY on nationally recognized holidays, have broken our own rules this Valentine's Day. Pretty sure that it's with the realization that we are in our waning days of JUST US FOREVER as I have become very sentimental, causing me to buy a montage picture frame and filling it with old pictures from our couple hood. With decorative papers, no less. While I was busy channeling Martha Stewart, Dustin, as usual, blows my gift OUT OF WATER with the simple purchase of a hand-held orbital sander. This guy totally gets me. Practical yet sentimental. Others may be put off by this unusual gift but, speaking as someone in the beginning stages of nesting, that sander is the acknowledgment that we are having a baby and that baby needs funky-made-functional furniture, STAT.

Pump It!

Even our water heater gets a nice house. We had this new water heater relocated outside and installed (twice, don't ask) earlier last summer. It wasn't a factor to insulate it then. Now, in the dead, cold grip of winter, that is a big factor.

Dustin built it a home so that we can enjoy warmer water more quickly and with a lower bill to boot. We knew it was important and we'll reap the benefits immediately but it is distracting to build inanimate objects a shelter when you have a dog that needs an apartment, too. Hey, while we're at it, let's build the pump house a house and then get that one a house. Seeing as we have all this EXTRA time, energy, and money. Anyone else need a bungalow, summer home, or studio space?

Sponges are SO Last Year.

Thanks to a honest conversation between D and myself, we came to realize that installing the dishwasher was something that we were rather intimidated by. Up to this point (barring the relocation of our water heater) we've done all of the home changes, maintenance, and repairs by ourselves and with the help of generous friends and family members. We are proud to do the work and happy to save money. We save money for time like these, when, worn to the nubs after long work days, neither of us can bring ourselves to wash yet another sink full of dishes much less install a dishwasher. Enter the wonderful, efficient, and conscious Sudden Service Shamrock Plumbing. They arrived promptly at 8 a.m., donned their paper booties, and got to work installing and plumbing the water to the dishwasher and our refrigerator. Dustin called me at work to confirm that we now have "rich people ice" that flows, like coins from a slot machine, from our fridge door
and that our dishwasher is whisper quiet.
I nearly wept with relief. We've come a long way from doing dishes in the tub, baby! Door water and machine washed dishes are the new black for '09.

Out of Town Guest Book 2009

January was a busy month, littered with the lovely house guests that are my family. The weekend directly after the New Year, my eldest sister and her bf paid us a visit where we all nestled in our cozy home. Two couples, a cat, and a dog and the hottest and most persistent wood stove ever! Just call us giddy! We did get out to several events (dinner out, elk rib roast at dad's, bumming around town, hiking, etc.) and had a nice time of it.
Just two weeks later, I had the honor of attending THE BEST 80'S PROM EVER, hosted by the same sister for her 35th birthday. I'll let the picture do the talking.

Later that week, my middle sister and mama came to town from Austin and Tacoma, respectively. We did a little of bit of outside the house stuff but mainly stayed rooted to the living room where we talked. And talked. And talked. Well into the night and picking up right where we left off in the morning. It was both of their first visits to our house so we filled them in on all of the changes so far and ideas for the future. Expand this wall here, put a closet there, our room, the baby's room, blah, blah... wha?
THAT'S RIGHT, PEOPLE. DUSTIN AND I ARE PREGNANT!!!
(That's our new band name).

There. It's out! We are at 17 weeks (second trimester, 4 month) and cookin' right along. Remember when we stayed up all night getting ready for the house appraisal back in November? That was Dustin's very excited and motivated response to my announcing that, yes, we are capable of having a kid!
We've been planning this lil' surprise for about 2 years now but made the final choice to start trying in October sometime back in July. We like to take our sweet time making decisions so we were amazed that we got our wish so quickly. Things are looking good in the womb (finally, a room that I have complete say on how it is built, paint color, lighting, ambiance)!

Who Let the Blogs Out? Who? Who? Who? Who?

With shame I have nothing to blog about.
I've just had that stupid play on words of the
most annoying song EVER in my head since I started this blog.
There. Now it's out of my head and in yours til the end of time.
You're welcome.
Now pay it forward.

Sponges. Discuss.

I've cleaned a lot of dishes in my day. Like, a LOT of dishes. I've washed them in sinks AND in bathtubs. I've washed them outside and by river sides. For reals-ies. Been there. Washed that. And the last time I had the priviledge of a dish washing machine was over five years ago. FIVE YEARS of hand washing grimy plates, deep vases, kitty nibble bowls, glued on rice pans, and other stuff. Now, I ask you, ladies of the sponge, which brand and/or style of sponge do you prefer and why? I ask because I am in a sponge rut. I've been using "Chore Boy" sponges for over three years now and get panicky when I am on my last one. Worse? The other day, I couldn't find them in the store! What if they stop making them? So, I open the floor to a discussion of sorts where I implore you to share with me your sponge preference and why it is so. Sponges. Discuss.