Jett's Baby Pictures

This was harder than I thought it was going to be. I was fooled into thinking that since my sister Danielle has a good baby, it would be cake.

No cake.

I can see it from the baby's standpoint. You don't want someone moving you around and putting a hat on your head when you're trying to sleep.

I am so glad that the pictures turned out adorable....I may have been a bit anxious.

Just a few:

Post for making the moon bed here.

I found this bed at Goodwill for $5 and stained it. Best find ever.

I just love this face.

I did get some good grumpy faces. And that first one where he is smiling - oh, it just swells my heart.

This was the weekend before Joseph's birthday. It was a crazy weekend.

Saturday morning I woke up to maggots in my house. EVERYWHERE. I almost threw up. I blame Jacob. He had left the back door open and didn't close the screen so we had a ton of flies. Even laid-back Joseph commented on the excessive fly population.

Well, they laid eggs in my trash. Those eggs hatched and the maggots made a run for it.

It was probably the nastiest thing I have ever dealt with. And that includes when little Jett had a poop explosion during the photo shoot.

It took a few hours to round up and completely annihilate all of the grossness. Joseph had to leave; he tried to help as best he could, but he was already late to go to my Dad's house, where my Dad was going to help change his shocks (shout out to the best dad ever, saved us hundreds of dollars).

So I dealt with the maggots and sanitizing my house. Then I had a self defense class. Which was awesome but all three friends I had lined up to go with me bailed.

They do partnering in that class. One person holds you and the other breaks free. There is one where the other person sits on top of you and you have to flip them. I still haven't decided if a stranger I'm never going to see again was better than a friend/sister putting their elbow in my sternum and brushing against my lady parts.

I ended that class with a migraine. Which meant I couldn't hang out with Brian and Katelyn, who have since left to Chicago for summer pest control sales. Super lame. (We did hang out another time, but still. Quality time is quality time.)

The next day I went to take photos of Danielle's little baby and it took all day. Because of the aforementioned lack of cooperation from a newborn. I was still at her house when my friend texted me to ask if I was still picking up that futon.

CRAP. Totally forgot. Friend had posted on FB that a free futon was up for grabs, so I snagged it for my sister Shanna.

Because I am the best friggin sister ever.

I had to run home, drop off all the baby stuff, drive to Goodyear which is a good 45 minutes away, get lost because the address was wrong, swing by the guard gate (soooo glad there was a guard gate with a helpful guard), get proper directions, pick up the futon, and then go to my Mom's house where we celebrated Easter a week early by painting cookies with frosting and dying Easter eggs.

My hair was a mess because I hadn't had time to shower and it was fourth day dirty. My Mom was taking photos for FB.

It was a crazy weekend.

My Fur Children

I got suckered into getting a puppy. I almost feel bad for my old man dog Micah. And a little for Lilly the cat.

My poor little Marley has been missing since before Christmas. I really hope someone just stole her. She was a BEAUTIFUL cat. Everyone commented on her beauty. I would rather her be happy somewhere than eaten by a coyote.

I really miss this cat. She was our first baby.

So we were down to two little fur children. My plan was to let Micah live out the rest of his life and then see what happened. I really liked being able to give a homeless dog a home. I feel like I'm making a small difference in the world. 

Then my baby sister Breezy started texting me. I said no. My Mom started telling me how adorable and sweet this little girl is and how she needs a good home.

I am a sucker for little fur children.

I told Breezy I was worried about my old man dog and my cat. We could try out the little dog for a test period.

I'm pretty sure Breezy knew I would be hooked and never return the little dog. I believe in forever homes. Animals aren't trash you just get tired of and give away. I try really hard not to judge people - live your life how you want as long as you're not hurting anyone - but giving animals away (especially if they end up in a shelter) IS HURTING SOMEONE. Might not be a human but it's a little spirit with its own personality.

Rant over. Let me get back to introducing our little bear. Her name, Osa, means she-bear.

Here she is with her new brother Micah.

She looooooves the water.

We got her a collar with a rose on it and I just love it.

I got Micah a bunny because I think he felt a little left out since Osa got some new toys. Osa keeps stealing it the little stinker.

Don't let the picture fool you. He just tolerates her. She is a little too rambunctious for his liking. I think once she calms down and grows up a little they will be good friends. I am trying to make sure Micah still gets plenty of attention since I give a lot of attention to the little dog. She is now house trained (fingers crossed, no accidents inside in a few days) and is learning she is not allowed in the bedroom. She has a problem with nipping and I'm working on that. Once she has her shots I'm going to make sure she's introduced to other dogs and well socialized.

I take being a fur mother very seriously. So serious that I make sure I get Mother's Day presents.

I'm baaaaaack

My computer is back!

More importantly, Joseph is back. But since he took my laptop with him, my laptop is back as well.

Joseph went to a nerd wordpress conference where he mingled with other nerds web developers, marketing, IT people....

Starting a few weeks ago, I started asking him when his flight left on Friday. I was under the impression that it was a Friday to Sunday trip. After asking a few times, he finally checked his itinerary....it was a Thursday to (late Monday night) flight.

Not my picture. No clue as to the identity of this perturbed baby. But this it matches my inner feelings.

There was a time in my life when I was proud of my independence. I don't need anyone. I get stuff done on my own.

Now I am pretty sure I have codependency*. What do I do without my Love?

Well, I kept myself busy. Since last weekend was Joseph's birthday I didn't get much non-fun stuff done. So this weekend was non-fun stuff overload.

• Returned Shanna's borrowed pan
• Frontyard weeds obliterated
• Found a baby swing for my Mom (tried to go to a community garage sale...it rained**...found one at Other Mother's)
• Costco run because I was out of popcorn which is a Major Problem
• Pet mess spray from the pet store ($3, marked down from $12, woooohooo)
• Bought an air pump to pump up Joseph's new basketball, purchased for his birthday because what kind of a present is a FLAT basketball you can't even use
• Library to pick up some books (this is only on the non-fun list because I do not enjoy picking up the books...I usually have J pick them up for me....because he is my minion sweetie)
• Gas station
• Post office to mail crocheted items to my sister and coworker, both in TX
• Best buy to buy a thumb drive
• Went to TJ Maxx where I bought a new dog bed (for the new dog baby) and some photo frames for a secret project
• Vacuumed my truck
• Housetrained the puppy (she is soooo smart, no accidents in the house since Saturday and today is Tuesday ohhhh yeah)
• Cleaned the house (like really, really cleaned...we're talking moved everything out to sweep and mop, sanitized the animal bowls, vacuumed, organized the tupperware drawer - things seem to be disappearing since Jacob has moved in - scrubbed the bird poop off the side of my freshly-painted house, scrubbed the tree sap that dripped on my sidewalk, swept my back porch which is really just a cement slab, put all of Joseph's tools in the shed where they belong instead of strewn all over the backyard, etc)

I need to catch up on some stuff. Now that I have my pictures back. 

*I am not co-dependent in the clinical definition, where someone is controlled/manipulated by someone else who has other psychological issues such as narcism. It's a NICE codependency. Where I want to be with him because I like him and he makes me laugh and he laughs at my stupid jokes. The dogs just don't get my jokes. The puppy pretends she does, but she's just trying to fit in because she's new.
**Side note about the rain. The last three times it has rained I am pretty sure it was my fault. It POURED BUCKETS during my sister's baby shower that was supposed to be outside. Then it rained when I got Joseph a car detailing for his birthday (we were able to pull J's car into the garage....but still). And then when I decided I'm going to go to a community garage sale....it rains enough that everyone went inside. What the heck weather gods. 

Wicking Garden Bed

Joseph has two raised garden beds. (Some blogs here and here).

He recently informed me that he wanted to move one. I don't know why, I just do as I'm told (well, that's not really true...but I don't mind helping my Love with his projects since he is so wonderful at helping me with mine).

Since he was moving it anyway, he informed me he wanted to turn it into a Wicking Garden Bed.

Basically, you water it from the bottom and it wicks up. Sounded kind of weird to me, but J assured me that it is superior to watering it the regular way.

The things my dirt nerd decides he's going to do. I love it.

Here's one of the online websites that shows you how to build it:
http://www.mvcc.vic.gov.au/for-residents/environment-programs/my-smart-garden/~/media/Files/ForResidents/Environment/My%20Smart%20Gardens/Wicking_Bed_Fact_Sheet_Feb%202012.ashx

 The pile of dirt there is where the garden box used to sit, next to the other garden box.

 The box's new home, next to the shed.

 We put down fabric-type stuff that's used to prevent weeds. It is to protect the pond liner.

 Then we put down the pond liner - this holds the water in the bottom so that it can wick up to the plants.

 Cutting the PVC pipe that will be used for the watering system.

 My man isn't wearing a shirt. There are perks to these projects.

 Had to cut a hole in the box for the PVC - this was before we put another fabric layer down - again, to protect the pond liner.

This is where we made a mistake and connected the PVC to the outside...and realized we didn't put it through the pond liner (and the two fabric liners). Since we were trying to retain water, it was kind of a problem. We had to cut apart the newly glued PVC, go buy a new part, and re-glue it.

 Here it is correctly running through the three liners. We glued it to the liner and used a hose clamp to secure it.

 The wood on the bottom is to keep the PVC elevated a little because the water holes are on the bottom. It would be a bad thing to have the holes clog with dirt.

 The first layer of rock.

 Here's the outside system. The overflow is supposed to be lower so that it indicates when you've filled it enough, but due to the size of the pipe, it was too high.

So we made an observation pipe.

 It has a screw to mark when the water is too high. J drilled holes in it, then covered it with cloth that will allow water through but block out the dirt. Very high tech.

 You can see where the hose goes to fill it with water.

 All done. Below the overflow pipe, you can un-screw the end of that pipe to drain it.

It's funny to look through the old blogs and see how much the yard has changed. We've owned the house almost five years now. J still has big plans, so even more changes will be made.

I told him I'm not doing any work outside once it gets hot. I have been lobbying for an above-ground pool, so that will be the extent of my backyard adventures.

The weekend always seems to fly by. Probably because it is chock full of activity. We went to Singh Farms and got a truckload of compost, which meant we had to shovel it out the back of my truck and wheelbarrow it into the backyard (it's usually 9 1/2 wheelbarrows full). We went to a BBQ with friends Saturday night and had a lot of fun. I also got a little spring cleaning crazy and super-cleaned my bathroom, then cleaned out the garage and under my kitchen sink. I also finished a few crochet projects for Danielle's baby photo shoot. I cannot wait until that little baby is here. Especially now that I'm ready for him.