Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Stink....Round Three!

Okay, so the animal control guy came...and asked to see my proof of rabies vaccination for the dogs...which I couldn't find. They are current on their shots, but I couldn't find the paperwork.

So, the animal control officer came to my door, told me that he was going to go get the skunk, and could he have a plastic bag. Are you kidding? The city sends your to collect a dead skunk, and don't give you a plastic bag? What if I hadn't had one? What would he have done with it? Let it rest in his lap all the way to the office? I found that really funny!

So, anyway, he went to collect the skunk, and came back. He said that it was pretty 'ripe.' I really can't imagine a much worse job than having to collect dead skunks. Ugh. Gross. Anyway, I couldn't find the paperwork, but I did find the tags for the dogs, so the officer didn't give me the $200 citation. I do, however, have to call the vet tomorrow morning to get the exact date of vaccination, and call that in to animal control. My instructions from the officer was to quarantine the dogs until the skunk could be tested. If the skunk tests negative, we're all good. If it tests positive, we have to quarantine our dogs for 45-90 days. That really sucks, because we are due to leave for the beach next Friday! My mom was going to keep the dogs, but she won't be able to, because she has dogs, and we won't be able to board them, since they're supposed to be quarantined! We should know by Monday if the skunk was rabid or not.

This is a huge pain in my ass.

Stink....Round two

We thought the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk was bad....

Last night, about 9:45 or so, we were sitting in our living room watching TV, thinking about going to bed soon, when this horrendous smell wafted into the room...it was skunk. One of our cats, Winny, was up on the couch with us, so we thought, it must be him...we sniffed and sniffed...not Winny, then we sniffed the other two cats...it wasn't the cats. The smell was getting stronger.

I walked into the sunroom, and the stink was even stronger. So, I walked out on the back porch where our dogs have been ostracized. The smell was eye-watering. Oh My God. It was HORRIBLE!!!!

So we started looking around our stinky backyard, and Juan said he thought he found where the skunk was coming under the back fence. The only thing we can figure is that it was coming in the back yard to drink the dog's water.

So by this time, the stink has permeated through the entire house...and we went to bed smelling skunk. UGH!! So my mission today was to call trappers to get prices to get our little stinky friend away from our house.

Well this morning, there were some men needing in our backyard to work on the utility pole that's in the corner of our yard. I was talking to them, telling them about the skunk, when one of the men walks over near a big bush in the back yard and says "I found him!" "Is he alive?" I ask foolishly...
"Naw, the dogs killed him....UGH! God that stinks!" he yells.

He asked me what I was going to do with it, and I told him that I would probably throw him over the back fence (we have an open lot behind us). He had a big 15-ft pole to work on the utilities, and used the pole to pick up the skunk and throw it over the fence. YEA!! I was really happy that I didn't have to deal with it. I thought the man was going to throw up, though, after he pitched the skunk, he was making such a fuss. It was pretty funny.

So, then I realized that the skunk could have been rabid, and needed to be tested. I called our vet, and she told me to take the skunk to the Health Department. I called the HD, and they told me that you had to get the vet to take the head off and submit it, that I couldn't do it. They advised me to call Animal Control. So, after talking to about 7 different people, I finally got a service request number and animal control is supposedly on their way to collect the stinky and test it.

Now, I just have to bathe the dogs, to get the stink off. But, at least we know our stinky friend won't be coming back. I'm a little shocked that the dogs killed the skunk. I didn't really think they had something like that in them. Not sure how I feel about it, though.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Ugh! Stink!

Last night, after Paul went to bed, Juan asked me to let the dogs in to feed them. When I let them in the back door, this odor followed them... At first it didn't register, but then it hit me. Like a brick wall. SKUNK!! Then Pete, our black lab mix, shook...and something wet hit me...and then I realized that they hadn't just been near where a skunk had sprayed, but had actually been sprayed!!! The dogs were in the house MAYBE a total of 30 seconds, but that smell permeated through the entire house. Mmmm...nothing like ode de skunk...just what I always wanted my house to smell like!

So Juan and I went outside to make sure that the dogs hadn't killed the skunk, and that it had actually left the yard. We did some searching with the flashlight, and didn't see anything, and really, when we found where it happened, we didn't need the light. There's a nice 10-ft radius or so of skunk stink in our backyard....lovely.

Needless to say, the dogs did not sleep inside last night, which made for a long night of barking and dog beatings, since they're not used to sleeping outside. I also just couldn't find the energy to get out of bed this morning and walk, although it would have been nice since it was a little cooler. Anyway, long story short, our dogs stink, and I'm not sure how to get the stink off of them...great!!!

Monday, August 28, 2006

Week 2

I'm proud to say that I've successfully walked 3 out of 4 days this week! It's week two of my walking routine, you know! It was very hard to get up this morning, but I did it!! I'm quite proud of myself!!

We took some friends to see the house this weekend...it's looking great! Most of the tile is in, and they've installed the stair rails and tile surround in the 2nd bathroom. The mirrors were also up in the bathrooms. Here are some pictures:


There is actually fill dirt in the front yard!!
This is an up-close shot of our tile downstairs.
The stair rake (the black railing) is finally installed!
Here's the tile surround in the 2nd bathroom. It's a little darker than I realized it would be, but that's okay! It will look different once there are lights and decorations up!

Friday, August 25, 2006

Kitty Litter Cake

This is from an email I got from a friend of mine...gross, but funny!

Want to be forever eliminated from the guest list? Just take this to yournext "pot luck" dinner!!!READ THE INGREDIENTS AND STUFF FIRST AND THEN LOOK AT THE PHOTO...TRUSTME...DON'T LOOK AT THE PHOTO FIRST, BUT LAST...This is for all you cooks out there looking for something a littledifferent.........WANT TO HAVE FUN AT A PARTY? PREPARE THIS RECIPE! COMPLETELY EDIBLE, BUTYOUR FRIENDS MAY NOT THINK SO!On a recent visit to our veterinarian to get shots for our cat I foundthis recipe on the waiting room bulletin board. After recovering fromhysterical laughter, I obtained a copy from the office staff so that mywife could make it, which she refused to do. I took it to work and gavethe recipe to a lady at work who loves cats. The pictures below show theresults of her work. It doesn't look very nice, but it's actually quitetasty, so I decided to pass it along.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

1 box spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 box of white cake mix1 package white sandwich cookies
1 large package vanilla instant pudding mix
A few drops green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls or equivalent
SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box
1 NEW cat-litter box liner
1 NEW pooper scooper

1) Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any sizepan. Prepare pudding and chill. Crumble cookies in small batches inblender or food processor. Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1cup of cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork or shake in a jar. Set aside.
2) When cakes are at room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl.Toss with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and enough pudding to makethe mixture moist but not soggy. Place liner in litter box and pour inmixture.
3) Unwrap 3 Tootsie Rolls and heat in a microwave until soft andpliable. Shape the blunt ends into slightly curved points. Repeat with three more rolls. Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture. Sprinkleremaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter greencrumbs lightly over top.
4) Heat 5 more Tootsie Rolls until almost melted. Scrape them on top ofthe cake and sprinkle with crumbs from the litter box. Heat theremaining Tootsie Roll until pliable and hang it over the edge of thebox. Place box on a sheet of newspaper and serve with scooper. Enjoy!



Wednesday, August 23, 2006

New Pictures of the House


Our house now has shutters, a driveway and a sidewalk!!

Our kitchen with the countertops installed.
There's a white plastic covering on them, but the countertops are creamy colored, too.
We're actually really happy with the wall color we chose.
This is one of the details in the dining room

Paul was already trying to break his head on the stairs. I think one of our first purchases for the new house will be gates for the top and bottom of the stairs!

I did it again!!

YEA!! I walked again this morning! Juan practically had to push me out of bed, but I got up, got dressed, and headed out the door! I'm proud of myself....now just to keep up that momentum!

Looks like we're going to be able to finally lock our interest rate for the new house. We're now within the 90-day lock period. Which is good, because that means we get all of our down payment back at closing. Supposedly, they're tiling today. I can't wait to see how that looks...that was one of the hardest decisions. It's really hard to visualize what it's going to look like when you only have one tile.

We met my sister at the car dealership today at lunch. She was turning in her Honda van because the lease was up on it, and then buying a Chevy Malibu Maxx. Paul LOVED the showroom! He thought the HHR was really neat. He played with the registers in the front seat and crawled all around in the back. Too cute.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

New Morning Routine

As prescribed by the Flylady, I have written out my morning routine. I generally get it all done, maybe not in the exact order that it is on the list, but for the most part, my routine is complete before I leave the house. Well, I've added another step, which I'm feeling really good about.

I was talking to Juan the other day about how I really didn't like how my body was changing. I've noticed that my upper arms seem like they've gotten flabbier, and in general, I'm just a little softer than I used to be. I think that part of this is due to Paul being able to walk around now. I don't carry him as much as I used to, and it's showing in my arms!

My weight hasn't changed much, if at all, despite my attempts at weight watchers. Anyway, I realized that other than walking once a week with friends, and running after Paul, I'm pretty sedatary nowadays.

The problem I was coming up against is when to exercise. It's so DAMN HOT here right now, that if I wait until after breakfast to walk with Paul, I'm disgusting when I get back and need another shower. That would be fine if I could shower with Paul locked in the bathroom with me, but it scares him, I don't have a door to the toilet closet, and I can't see him because of the shower curtain. So, that's out. After dinner is hard, because we usually need to get Paul bathed and then to bed. So, that leaves one other time: early in the morning, before I shower.

SO, Juan gets me up now in the mornings about 6:20 AM, and I'm out the door for at 30-minute walk by 6:30. Then when I get home, I shower, and go about my morning routine.

I've done it two mornings in a row now, and I actually enjoy the walks. It's still a little dark, but I get to see the sunrise, and it's some time to myself. I've also seen bats the past two mornings, flying and catching bugs around the streetlights.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this up. I told Juan that I would need him to encourage me (push me!) out of bed before too long. I hear that if you can do something for a month, then it becomes a habit....here's hopin'!

On a different note, I heard from the builder today that our closing date is set right now for November 6th. He said that he would keep pushing the house, and that if they finished sooner, that we might be able to close sooner. Hopefully, we can close before November 1st, because our lease here is up October 31st, and it would be nice to not have to pay more for extended months!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Epiphany

I've had an epiphany. I was watching Oprah Tuesday, and her show was about women who had trouble with self-hatred. She had 3 different women as guests, one was an anorexic who weighed 80 lbs, one an over-eater who had gained over 100 lbs, and a stay-at-home-mom who said that she felt like she didn't deserve all the nice things she had and felt like "trash."

I didn't really identify with any of the guests, but the talk that Oprah and Robin gave about negative self-talk and self-hatred struck home. Between that, and a book by the Flylady called Body Clutter that I've been reading, I've come to realize something.

I am a champion of negative self-talk. I look in the mirror, and instantly see things I don't like about myself. My skin isn't clear, my hair doesn't look like I would like it to, I'm overweight, my thighs are too big, my boobs sag....it goes on and on. And just so that I don't run out of things to beat myself up over, I turn to the side to get my profile, and to the back to look over my shoulder, and the list of complaints continues.

I've always said that I didn't like my appearance, but I didn't dislike it enough to do something about it. But I've also wondered, why couldn't I put more stock in the things that really mattered? Why did I hear negative things in my head, instead of things like, "I'm a good mom, I'm a good wife, I'm intelligent, I'm giving, I'm a good friend..." Why do I value those things so little when it comes to my self image?

So I had a little epiphany. And it's helped so far. I realized that this negative self talk was learned from my mom. She's an incredible example of how not to talk to yourself. If she cooks something (which is always delicious), as she puts it on the table, she says "I doubt this will be any good." If you give her a compliment, she often says "Oh, yeah, right, but thanks anyway." So I grew up with that. And learned that's the way to talk to yourself.

The problem with negative self talk is that it kills any love and self-worth that you have. It makes you always put yourself last in any relationship, and makes you believe that you don't deserve the nice things in your life. I have put off getting my hair done. I know that I felt so much better when I had cute hair, but I've told myself that we just can't afford it. Well, we can afford for me to have my hair cut, so that I feel better about myself. That's the truth. Before, I just didn't think I deserved it.

So, after all that, here's my epiphany: I realized that I would never, ever, talk to my son, or my husband, or even some stranger on the street, the way I talk to myself. I would never tell my husband "God, you look awful, you're so fat!" Never in a million years! I would never tell my son, even though he's only 1, "You're so stupid!" No! Not acceptable! In most cases, I wouldn't speak to my dog the way I speak to myself.

So, why is this ok? Well, it isn't! And it must stop! So, I'm training myself to speak kindly to myself. To remember that I am a role model for Paul, and that I don't want him to grow up thinking he's worthless. Because he isn't. No one is.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

We have cabinets!

Last Friday, Juan came home, we ate dinner quickly, threw Paul in the van and set out to go see the new house. We got about half-way there, and heard a juicy sound from the back seat. Looked back, and Paul had thrown up all over himself. The funny thing is, I had made the comment about a week ago that I hadn't had to wash his carseat cover in a while because he hadn't thrown up all over it lately. I spoke too soon. So, we turned the van around and headed home to clean up vomit. Lovely.

The next day, I was sick all day with problems from the other end. I think I ate some elderly Taco Soup we had in the fridge, and it did bad things to me. But, I sucked it up (literally) and we finally made it out to the house Saturday evening. And....WE HAVE CABINETS!!! Yea!! They're so pretty! The house is actually starting to look like a house now! Now that it's getting more complete, we're getting more and more anxious to have it done!


Our kitchen with the cabinets installed.