The fish that clogged the toilet(her)

It was rather unfortunate that we spent our Saturday dealing with a clogged toilet. There was poop, there was plunging, there were three different plumbers and for ten hours there were no results. My poor bladder suffered dearly. The last plumber told us that the floor in the bathroom of this ever-so-wonderful haven of ours was rotting (which we already knew) and he was not willing to remove and replace the toilet because the floor may not be able to support it. The landlord said that he would look into replacing the floor sometime next week, and then we could replace the toilet. And in the meantime, he would give us a key to the Music Loft (the storefront that our home is behind) so that we could use the facilities there. Oh my word, that just wasn’t going to do. He did suggest to the plumber to hook up the scary toilet in basement… the one that the city told him to take out… luckily, the plumber wouldn’t do that either. Evening was approaching and Stephen decided to take matters into his own hands. He called up some guys (thanks Brandon and Paul) and they took the toiled off, pulled out a plastic toy fish (stored in there for safe keeping by our dear Nevan) and got the toilet hooked back up and now… we can use the potty.
As it turns out, like most things in this house, the toilet wasn’t installed correctly, and it had been leaking into the floor boards… thus the smell of urine that I have been battling for months now. Just one more thing to fix in this haven… (sigh)

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There’s no more denying it(her)

I feel old. 30 always seemed soooooooo far away, and now, all of the sudden… BAM! 30 will hit me in just one short year. Sigh. It really wouldn’t be so bad if turning 29 hadn’t come during the very season of life when my body has seemingly begun to fall apart...
When I wake up in the morning I have to stretch, otherwise, I won’t be getting very far. By the end of the night my back aches and my neck feels sore. My eyes are REALLY bad and I probably shouldn’t even drive at night cause I’m pretty sure that the stop lights aren’t supposed to have huge fuzz balls surrounding them. And oh, how I can’t stay up late anymore, or I’ll be paying for it for the following two afternoons.
I should work out. I’m too tired right now though, so I’ll go see what’s in the fridge. :)

A Different Kind of Mom(her)

It is a sweet sweet sound to hear the squeaky voice of a five year old praying before bed. Just as sweet is the chunky little face of a one year old smothering you in slobbery kisses. I love my job as a mom. Nurturing, however, is not typically a word that others use to describe me. I am not the mom who’s favorite pastime is cuddling up with Pooh’s big adventure and a story about the big red dog. Movies and blankets are for sick days in my home and sympathy is not something I usually have in reserve. I am the mom who has to schedule book time or it just wont happen. I have to really focus and make a great effort to talk in depth with my children about how so-in-so did this and that on the playground and how the Lego tower from yesterday was a castle where a mighty prince fought a fierce dragon, otherwise, my mind would be in a zillion other places. I am the mom who is never prepared and you’ll never see me toting place mats and utensils to the park. I am OK with a messy face and dirty jeans. My kids have to ask me to tuck them in most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m affectionate. I love hugs and kisses, I’m just not instinctively nurturing or patient. I am also not all that even keeled, scheduled or routine. I am however pretty creative, energetic, optimistic, adventurous and purposeful. And I do spend loads of quality time with my kidos too… Getting muddy in the woods, last minute out-of-town day trips, make-em-up-as-you-go games and living room dance parties are more my style...

Video quality is poor, but check out Trent, he’s got some great moves! And yes, the living room was rearranged from the time of the first viseo to the second. If you know me, I really enjoy change too. It's always an exciting day in the haven when we are rearanging a room. :)

My Jumper Cables(her)

Last Wednesday evening a friend from the neighborhood stopped by to see if we could give him a jump. We had no idea what all saying yes would entail… Apparently, if you turned his car off, it wouldn’t come back on. We had three knocks on our door that night before Stephen decided to just let him take the cables. We haven’t seen him or the cables since.
They are just jumper cables, but I had a difficult time letting them go. I think in In part because my dad gave them to me, you know, one of those “I care about you and want you to be safe” moments. And, admittedly in larger part because I often care way to much about having stuff.
I had given a pair of jumper cables away to another friend from the neighborhood about a month ago. That was easy, they were my spares. I had plenty and it was no big thing to give out of my abundance. This time however, it left me without, and the sad truth is that my initial reaction was not one of a cheerful giver.