There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Pool...

There's a HOLE in the BOTTOM of the POOL!! There's a Hole, there's a hole... There's a Hoooooole in the Bottooooom of the Pool!

Yeah and it apparently is a bad one. Ryan went out to scoop some leaves from the cover so we can take it off this coming weekend and discovered that not only is there barely 6 inches of water in the shallow end, but there are large air and water bubbles UNDER the vinyl liner. Yeah. That bad. Soooo, who to call, what will need done? I have no idea. Apparently the hole we patched last summer is NOT the culprit because the waterline is below where that one was. We didn't peel back the cover from the deep end because we still have about several loads of leaves to remove before we can do that. Ugh!

In other news....

I took the girls over to visit their friend who lives lakeside about 20 miles from us. After we dropped them off, I took Ryan fishing at the lake. He spent about 2 hours bait casting in the strong wind but finally managed to catch a large mouth bass!!! He was thrilled!

Mark was detained at work waiting for a machine to come in for a patient. When it didn't arrive he had to make other arrangements for their care which threw him way late. Oh joy. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.

THE LONGEST DANG DAY I'VE EVER HAD, SERIOUSLY!

Our family adores the long days with late afternoons that come with Daylight Saving Time, so to celebrate the first of the longer days we decided to take the big dogs for a walk at one of the local parks/walking trails. Lots of other things had to happen first but the things that happened after we got home are what helped make this day seem to go on forever.

First, Mark took Ryan to church. Then, the rest of us went to Academy so Mark could buy softballs for his company's softball team to use for the games(each team has to provide a brand-new-in-the-box game ball at each game). I got the girls' bathing suits also. We got Ryan from church and headed home for a quick lunch.

Then, I took Mark and myself to the health club to work out. He had a longer session planned so I dropped him off and drove across town to the pet store(national chain) to buy some collars and leashes for our labs, Buddy and Buttercup and a new water bottle for the guinea pig boys. After vowing not to pay $17 each for the leashes, I had to drive all the way back across town to Walmart where they are $3.97 each. I also got fixin's for baked bean dip as per Sarah's request. So, I go back to the club to do my workout. I still finished way before Mark so I ran back home to get the kids, dogs, and a sandwich for Mark since he'd not eaten lunch in order to run on the treadmill. We had no problems loading up the dogs and everyone was excited to be headed outside to the sunshine. Sarah informed me that Ruby had tried to eat my daffodils and spilled water from the vase all over my new mineral makeup samples(in their zippy bags). Sarah dried them in a kitchen towel and they were fine. We picked Mark up and had a lovely walk with the dogs, they even got to splash in some pretty big puddles! Everyone had a great time, even the ones who usually grumble about being away from the house for too long.

So, we get home and everyone showers to get the wet dog smell off of them and I started dinner. By this time I realized that I had really aggravated the bursitis in my right hip. Badly. I could barely stand on it. I got some help with the rest of dinner and we settled in to relax for the evening. Mark started another load of laundry and Ryan loaded and started the dishwasher. The girls enjoyed the last of the sun in the backyard with the dogs. I stayed on the couch with a rice pack on my hip(this is likely going to require something major to fix, like a shot of cortisone or other drastic measure, it is BAD-and I don't complain lightly).

When Mark went to put the laundry in the dryer he made a terrible discovery. WAAAAA!! My makeup samples had been WASHED(still in the dish towel Sarah used to dry them off). They were sopping wet and there is no hope for them. Nobody's fault, just one of those things, we didn't tell Sarah what had happened, I didn't want her to feel bad about it. Not ten minutes later she comes in from the kitchen and asks why there are soap suds coming from under the dishwasher. Not good. We go investigate and the whole dishwasher is filled with suds. Just like in the movies! Finally, it was revealed that "someone" had put a cup in the dishwasher than had shower gel in it, over an inch of shower gel to be exact. This same someone is the loader who will put a sauce pan in which chili(Wolf Brand, no beans) was cooked, straight into the dishwasher without so much as a spritz of water. And plates with 1/2 cup of ketchup on them. He has been warned. Again. Of course, he had no way of knowing there was soap in the cup. It was put there by the other maker of messes. The snaggletoothed one. So, we got that cleaned up and so far we've had no other disasters. Unless you count some fat falling on Ryan's foot as he threw away the remains of a ham I cooked late last week. It grossed him out good. Oh, and the fact that the weather people are total maroons. Yesterday, I swear I read on weather.com that our forecast was calling for 10-20% chances of rain until Thursday. So, I checked tonight to see what the low was going to be, so we could decide if Puppy-girl was going in the bathroom or the garage, and it is calling for an 80%, yes EIGHTY PERCENT, chance of thunderstorms(not just rain) starting around midnight and going strong through late tomorrow afternoon. Yippeee!!! At least it won't be bad(isn't supposed to be bad) when I go get our milk later in the week.

I'm going to bed. G'night!!!!

Weeeeeeeee!!!

It is SNOWING at my house!! I'd take more pictures but my batteries are dead. Drat. I'm staying in. We are supposed to get this til 4pm! It is REALLY coming down too.


(as you can tell, Puppy-girl is hating this)

(very early in)

(sort of snowy moss)

In other news...


(she finally let me take her picture, isn't she cute?)
****edited to let yall know that we found out how to upload the kids' videos to youtube.***** Here are a few of them...
(gypsy playing with a tickle ball)

(puppies first snow)


Our Suburban left the kids and I stranded again. It is in the shop now getting a new fuel pump. Sigh. I had to take Mark to work this morning, in the snow, so he can bring it home tonight.

Not much else to post about today. I'm doing a chowder again tonight but with ham instead of chicken. Can't wait to taste it!

Loss...

(Sarah with Tom before his last car accident)

Tom asked to go out late last night so I let him. He ambled across the street and I ended up taking him to their door. His owner took him from my arms and held him on his back which caused him much respiratory distress. She is taking him this morning to be euthanized. In a way I'm relieved. He had started having trouble using the bathroom, it was painful for him. As I explained this to her, she said they'd NEVER had a litterbox inside for him and had always let him out for the night. She said she only agreed to have a cat if it was an outside cat with no litterbox in the house. How terribly sad for him(he used it just fine for us-amazing since he'd never encountered one before a few months ago). He lived for 16 years, basically outside, which is why he'd been hit by cars more than once, grabbed by a coyote, bitten by a snake and in more tom-fights than we could ever know. People who are not "cat people" should NOT HAVE THEM!!!! Rest in peace sweet Thomas cat. We love you!


(knocked out on the coffee table)

One other loss, a much happier one, is that Sarah has finally lost one of her top front teeth!! Now she has the cutest lisp! She's refusing to let me take a picture. Brat!!

Mark's Clan...

Today we went to Mark's mom and dad's house to visit with Mark's older sister, her daughter and 3 grandkids. Here's the gang...(click to enlarge each picture)


(Everyone except me)

It was a great visit, we can't remember the last time we've seen them either, but I'm thinking it was when Kadie was just over a year old. She'll be seven this summer. Mark's sister now lives in Tennessee, about an hour from my parents so we'll be able to visit them on our trips out there.


(Aidan patty cakes with grandma)


(both Mark and his sister are adopted but you couldn't tell it from this picture!)


(Ryan, Amy, Sarah, Kadie and Kole)


(Kole, Sarah and Kadie on the back porch)

Now What?????

Mark and I heard a sound at 5:40 this morning. His alarm had gone off earlier and he was deciding if he wanted to go to the club and run or not. We were sitting in bed when we heard something like THIS, three different times about 1-3 minutes apart. At first we thought it was a person screaming but it was in the woods. We definitely did NOT hear a coyote, it didn't have that rounded note sound to it like a howl and it wasn't yips, it was long drawn out screams. It might have been a bobcat we heard, I've read that they do also scream, and they've been seen less than a quarter of a mile from our house. It could also be a rabbit but I can't find a recording of one screaming to make a comparison. What we heard sounded most like the link I've put in. YIKES!!!! I did get up with a flashlight and check all of our kitties and piggies, then I took Puppy-girl out front for her potty break. Nobody was out and about yet, no lights were on in any of the houses near us. I don't think it was a person.

In other news...

5 of my transplanted daffodils bloomed late last night. I dug up about 40 bulbs to save them from destruction in the front bed(thinking a new water line was going to tear through our yard-it didn't). Daffodils are my favorite flower ever!!

We are supposed to go over to Mark's parents for lunch today. His sister, who lives in Tennessee(about an hour from MY parents-sigh), has flown to Dallas to see her oldest daughter. We haven't seen her in several years and haven't seen two of the kids ever. They are planning to drive here to Longview this morning with three small children to have lunch with my in-laws and to see other relatives. We are expecting HORRENDOUS weather today, severe thunderstorms, freezing rain/snow showers, hail, strong winds, etc., etc. The usual. Soooo, I am not holding my breath for them to show up. His sister is flying back to Tennessee on Wednesday so I don't know if they'll try to come here again on Tuesday if they don't come today.
****UPDATED**** They have rescheduled and WILL be here tomorrow!! Good for them!! It started raining really hard about 7:35. Looks like a nasty day in store for us, hope we keep power.

And last but not least, we have a chirper!! Female Guinea Pigs very rarely will make a chirping sound just like a bird. Nobody knows what it means, it doesn't appear to be an alarm call, it isn't their usual familiar noise at all, but it sure gets the attention of the others! All of them were dead still while she did it. Pretty neat huh?

One Word...and a meal...

This is a neat meme that I found over at Ruth's Place(new in my blogroll). I enjoyed trying to keep it to one word, not easy for me. Play along if you wish!!

1. Where is your cell phone? what?

2. Your significant other? driven

3. Your hair? dripping

4. Your mother? blessed

5. Your father? genius

6. Your favorite thing? life

7. Your dream last night? usual

8. Your favorite drink? tea

9. Your dream/goal? satisfaction

10. The room you’re in? dining

11. Your ex? dead

12. Your fear? time

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? unknown

14. Where were you last night? grilling

15. What you’re not? fake

16. Muffins? sometimes

17. One of your wish list items? health

18. Where you grew up? Texas

19. The last thing you did? dress

20. What are you wearing? jamas

21. Your TV? off

22. Your pet(s)? mammals

23. Your computer? necessary

24. Your life? pleasant

25. Your mood? good

26. Missing someone? yes

27 Your car? old

28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes

29. Favorite Store? none

30. Your summer? humid

31. Like someone? yes

32. Your favorite colour? all

33. When is the last time you laughed? today

And, for lunch...



I found these neat little bagel sandwich squares from Thomas'. 150 calories, 1 gram of fat, 4g fiber, 7g protein. Toasted, they make wonderful Dagwood sandwiches(well as Dagwood as I can get it anyway). Mine had chopped black olives and cherry tomatoes, dill pickles, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, sliced cheese and deli chicken with mayo and mustard. I was too hungry to chop any onions or green peppers but they would have made it that much better!! Amy had hers with the same thing minus the lettuce, cucumbers, and mayo/mustard. She subbed ranch salad dressing. Mark had his with just mustard, pickles and olives extra. Sarah hasn't eaten yet so I don't know how she'll do hers, if she has one at all.