Well, I thought I'd blog a bit as I sit at the orthodontist waiting for Quinn... to get his braces off! He's getting a lot of perks from this moving thing, and one of them was his orthodontist deciding his teeth would be fine if his braces came off early.
It's snowing here again today. I don't think I've seen it snow this much here as long as I've been alive! I've definitely learned more about how to drive in it, since with this kind of winter, staying home every day it snows isn't really an option. Even the kids have been going to school in it.
Lucy has a vet appt today. I cut her back from 2 prednisone each day to 1, partly because she was running out and I wanted to see how she'd cope without it, and partly because she can't hold her pee until I wake up so I was hoping that we'd be able to back off the steroids a bit. So we'll see what happens at the vet. She's not doing well at all, though. She actually seemed a bit scared when I tried to pet her today, like I might hurt her.
Jeff found a house, and I am tempted to not say a word until the inspections come through. I really hope this one works. Not only because I don't want to be homeless sleeping at my neighbor's house for any longer than I already will be, but because it will be an awesome house. I'm over my anti-ranch sentiments and just decided to be happy that it's a huge house on a quarter acre lot for the pooches, has a lot of privacy, and feeds to one of the best high schools in the entire Houston metro area. I had originally put this high school at the top of my list, but quickly determined that we couldn't afford any of the neighborhoods that fed to it. Somehow this house popped up at just the right time, though, and is very nice AND in a comfortable price range. Quinn's been working really hard at school again, and his high school now has talked about switching him to some accelerated classes. He is in that mode where he doesn't want to be doing a bunch of AP classes again and working his butt off... but in regular classes he finishes his homework during class and a lot of it is review. I guess what I'm saying is I hope that the regular classes at this new high school, which is academically recognized for being above average, wil be the right fit so that he is challenged, but doesn't have to do AP where they like to give the kids 3 and 4 hours of homework each night.
Alright, signing off now to see Quinn's purdy new teeth!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Fun Times at the Urgent Care
I am sure everyone has noticed that if a kid is going to get hurt, it will happen on either a major holiday or a weekend. My mom used to joke on holiday mornings that nobody should get hurt, because I was a holiday injury kid. My brother happens to be a weekend evening injury kid. I should say a weekend evening finger injury kid. It's always a finger with him. If he'd let me, I'd post a picture of his hands with all the crookend fingers. He killed his 5th tonight. He tripped over Cosmo and fell knuckle first into a wall.
He ended up having a bad sprain, and is now wearing a splint. While we waited for him to go in, though, we saw a lady OD in the parking lot about 10 feet away from us. She was rolling around on the sidewalk screaming, and then passed out. Urgent Care couldn't deal with her so they sent security out on the sidewalk with her and called 911. I don't have a ton of sympathy for someone who ODs but I figured they could have done slightly more than they did. The lady who brought her there had bags of stuff and said that was what the OD person had been carrying around! The other crazy thing we saw was a guy who had his ear bit off by a dog. He was holding a towel to his head and brought his ear with him in a bag.
Quinn can't get hurt during the day when the respectable suburban urgent care clinics are open. Nooooooooo, we have to go to downtown Vancouver at 10pm. At least it was an entertaining 2 hour wait for us.
He ended up having a bad sprain, and is now wearing a splint. While we waited for him to go in, though, we saw a lady OD in the parking lot about 10 feet away from us. She was rolling around on the sidewalk screaming, and then passed out. Urgent Care couldn't deal with her so they sent security out on the sidewalk with her and called 911. I don't have a ton of sympathy for someone who ODs but I figured they could have done slightly more than they did. The lady who brought her there had bags of stuff and said that was what the OD person had been carrying around! The other crazy thing we saw was a guy who had his ear bit off by a dog. He was holding a towel to his head and brought his ear with him in a bag.
Quinn can't get hurt during the day when the respectable suburban urgent care clinics are open. Nooooooooo, we have to go to downtown Vancouver at 10pm. At least it was an entertaining 2 hour wait for us.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
I really need to suck it up
I haven't been this much of a baby in a really long time. I think I am overly stressed by my move (which entails packing as well as lots of legalities in terms of my brother's guardianship) and my slightly crippled dog who is currently growling at the dog food bag. So I had a bit of a meltdown today. I also have a sty in my eye, which happens when I get too stressed.
Jeff picked another house. It's actually a pretty cool house, now that our realtor calmed me down and talked me through the floor plan. Jeff tried to calm me down, but this was beyond his abilities... I needed a professional calmer-downer. It's a one story ranch, which is the one and only thing I absolutely did not want. In fact, I had crossed it off the list to see, but Jeff accidentally grabbed my before list instead of my revised list, ended up seeing it and fell in love.
It does feed to a terrific high school, is pretty well updated, is in great shape, and even has a huge dog run (more like a whole fenced in yard for the dogs seperate from the rest of the back yard) in the back which will come in handy when we need to seperate Lucky and his precious testicles from my respectable fixed dogs. It is an 11,000 square foot lot, which is awesome. There is a laundry closet (arg) instead of a laundry room. However, it has several living spaces, including a living room and a seperate giant den. So it's really a good house, and once Barbrena did her realtor thing I stopped crying. Hey, I am in sales and understand that purchasing can be emotional, and I am not too proud to let my realtor do her job and see me through a crisis, because I really wanted the big 2 story house that they couldn't get in to see, that had gorgeous french doors leading out of the kitchen to the covered patio. I am ok, though.
That is, I WAS ok, until I found out that if they accept our offer (which is pretty darned good so I don't see why they woudn't) they are unable to close until 2-3 weeks after my house in Washington closes. Que blubbering. I am being a baby. My neighbor is wonderful and said she would take us in for 2 weeks so Quinn can go to school, and she is even willing to let Marcy stay with us. My Aunty Gail is taking Cosmo for 2 weeks. So I really just have to find a place to board Lily and Buuuuuud, and of course Lucy is still up in the air growling at her dog food bag (actually, I moved the dog food bag out into the garage she she would stop fussing over it). I will have to sit here and watch icky people move into my house, though. I am very unhappy about this. Plus I will essentially be HOMELESS for 2 weeks. 3 weeks, really, but I won't count travel time.
Jeff picked another house. It's actually a pretty cool house, now that our realtor calmed me down and talked me through the floor plan. Jeff tried to calm me down, but this was beyond his abilities... I needed a professional calmer-downer. It's a one story ranch, which is the one and only thing I absolutely did not want. In fact, I had crossed it off the list to see, but Jeff accidentally grabbed my before list instead of my revised list, ended up seeing it and fell in love.
It does feed to a terrific high school, is pretty well updated, is in great shape, and even has a huge dog run (more like a whole fenced in yard for the dogs seperate from the rest of the back yard) in the back which will come in handy when we need to seperate Lucky and his precious testicles from my respectable fixed dogs. It is an 11,000 square foot lot, which is awesome. There is a laundry closet (arg) instead of a laundry room. However, it has several living spaces, including a living room and a seperate giant den. So it's really a good house, and once Barbrena did her realtor thing I stopped crying. Hey, I am in sales and understand that purchasing can be emotional, and I am not too proud to let my realtor do her job and see me through a crisis, because I really wanted the big 2 story house that they couldn't get in to see, that had gorgeous french doors leading out of the kitchen to the covered patio. I am ok, though.
That is, I WAS ok, until I found out that if they accept our offer (which is pretty darned good so I don't see why they woudn't) they are unable to close until 2-3 weeks after my house in Washington closes. Que blubbering. I am being a baby. My neighbor is wonderful and said she would take us in for 2 weeks so Quinn can go to school, and she is even willing to let Marcy stay with us. My Aunty Gail is taking Cosmo for 2 weeks. So I really just have to find a place to board Lily and Buuuuuud, and of course Lucy is still up in the air growling at her dog food bag (actually, I moved the dog food bag out into the garage she she would stop fussing over it). I will have to sit here and watch icky people move into my house, though. I am very unhappy about this. Plus I will essentially be HOMELESS for 2 weeks. 3 weeks, really, but I won't count travel time.
Vacation Pics
Finally some pictures from our vacation. Quinn, Jeff and I went to Forks and La Push, WA over my birthday weekend and had so much fun. Quinn even said he had a really good time, which was unbelievable! I am still waiting for Jeff to post his pictures from the digital camera (hint, hint... in the middle of failed inspections and starting over with house hunting, you really need to find time to get on that, haha).
I am not too terribly sad to be leaving La Center, though I have some good friends and good memories and there are definitely things I will miss. However, my sadness is lessened by my new goal, which is to live inexpensively in Houston so that I can save up enough money to buy some land on the outskirts of Forks and build a little cabin there to retreat to. There are very few pristine areas of the pacific northwest left, so please don't spread this around. This area of Washington is absolute heaven. I imagine that is because there are no jobs there, so people aren't moving in at the rapid rate that they are moving into our other cities and ruining them. Plus the cities are very po-dunk logging towns so I imagine that actually living in them would wear on many of us after a while.
Not to make this a rant, though. Just check out the absolutely gorgeous pictures. I realize I haven't seen much of the world, but if I were going to die tomorrow I could happily do it while wrapped up in a blanket on this beautiful beach, below.
2nd beach, La Push, WA
Another view
The river running in front of our cabin
I am not too terribly sad to be leaving La Center, though I have some good friends and good memories and there are definitely things I will miss. However, my sadness is lessened by my new goal, which is to live inexpensively in Houston so that I can save up enough money to buy some land on the outskirts of Forks and build a little cabin there to retreat to. There are very few pristine areas of the pacific northwest left, so please don't spread this around. This area of Washington is absolute heaven. I imagine that is because there are no jobs there, so people aren't moving in at the rapid rate that they are moving into our other cities and ruining them. Plus the cities are very po-dunk logging towns so I imagine that actually living in them would wear on many of us after a while.
Not to make this a rant, though. Just check out the absolutely gorgeous pictures. I realize I haven't seen much of the world, but if I were going to die tomorrow I could happily do it while wrapped up in a blanket on this beautiful beach, below.
2nd beach, La Push, WA
Another view
The river running in front of our cabinSaturday, February 7, 2009
Doggy Bloggy...
Haven't done a dog blog in a while.
Current frustration is that I switched the kids to Nutro, which is apparently a much better quality food than what I had been feeding, but both Marcy and Cosmo are beefing up rapidly. The answer is obviously to feed less, but it is no small feat to get weight OFF a Corgi, as we all well know. I wish those recommended portions on the side of the bag could be trusted.
I won't annoy everyone with too much Lucy information because I know half my dear readers want to smack me upside the head for continuously letting vets talk me out of putting her to sleep. I have gone 2ce now with the best intentions of doing the right thing, and instead ended up with a purse full of steroids. I had a good talk with Lucy last night and told her to let me know when she is done. Her eyes are a little more dull today and I can tell it is a bad day for pain. She has some very good days, too, so I am waiting to see when her bad is too much. She is out of prednisone in 2 days. She has been on a 2 week cycle. I missed a pill yesterday and she was VERY down. Even on her good days she has to be in a seperate room, and grumbles a lot. She just always has kisses and tail wags for me, though, and she is so young. Anyway...
I've worked it out so nobody has to fly. I don't know where we will stay on the way to Texas with 4 dogs, haha! I really wanted to avoid flights, though, so we have Marcy and Cosmo in the Uhaul with me and Bud and Lily in the car. Lily in the car is such a horrible idea. She gets mad if you leave her in the car, and pees. Oh, and Bud pukes in the car. No travel plans yet for Lucy. If she makes it another 3 weeks Ican get her a flight... or better yet get Lily a flight. Lucy doesn't dare to cross Bud, so she could ride with him. Thankfully, every single one of my dogs has a crate. Amazing.
Current frustration is that I switched the kids to Nutro, which is apparently a much better quality food than what I had been feeding, but both Marcy and Cosmo are beefing up rapidly. The answer is obviously to feed less, but it is no small feat to get weight OFF a Corgi, as we all well know. I wish those recommended portions on the side of the bag could be trusted.
I won't annoy everyone with too much Lucy information because I know half my dear readers want to smack me upside the head for continuously letting vets talk me out of putting her to sleep. I have gone 2ce now with the best intentions of doing the right thing, and instead ended up with a purse full of steroids. I had a good talk with Lucy last night and told her to let me know when she is done. Her eyes are a little more dull today and I can tell it is a bad day for pain. She has some very good days, too, so I am waiting to see when her bad is too much. She is out of prednisone in 2 days. She has been on a 2 week cycle. I missed a pill yesterday and she was VERY down. Even on her good days she has to be in a seperate room, and grumbles a lot. She just always has kisses and tail wags for me, though, and she is so young. Anyway...
I've worked it out so nobody has to fly. I don't know where we will stay on the way to Texas with 4 dogs, haha! I really wanted to avoid flights, though, so we have Marcy and Cosmo in the Uhaul with me and Bud and Lily in the car. Lily in the car is such a horrible idea. She gets mad if you leave her in the car, and pees. Oh, and Bud pukes in the car. No travel plans yet for Lucy. If she makes it another 3 weeks Ican get her a flight... or better yet get Lily a flight. Lucy doesn't dare to cross Bud, so she could ride with him. Thankfully, every single one of my dogs has a crate. Amazing.
Since you've all been asking...
Links to the houses Jeff will be seeing tomorrow. He narrowed it down to these after preliminary neighborhood drive-by's today. Guys, one of these HAS to work. No pressure on Jeff or anything, but I leave Washington is 22 days. Fortunately I have some visiting to do along the way, so the trip can be extended to about a week giving extra time for closing if we need it. Also fortunate is that I've been informed of several couches I can sleep on if I get to Texas and am homeless for a week!
http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=7643084 http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=5297292 http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=9195740
http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=8568764
http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=7643084 http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=5297292 http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=9195740
http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=8568764
Friday, February 6, 2009
And the search begins again...
Remember the house we all thought was so cute? Yeah. Inspection came back with a bad foundation- needs 15 supports and has apparently had foundation work done in the past, and some of the doors upstairs are not even square and won't shut! The roof was a mess, which nobody could see from the ground. There were big gaps where the shingles did not meet the roofline, and rats were crawling into the attic. The clever inspector even got a picture of one of the rats in transit! Or it was dead, which is even more gross. The house had so many shoddy do-it-yourself repairs that it would need an entire new roof! There was also water damage, and a plethora of other issues. So, with my move in 22 days, Jeff is headed out with the realtor this weekend to find another house. Lesson learned... make sure all doors open and shut properly, and take a ladder to go on the roof :) Just kidding, Inspections are well worth it. Let's hope the next house is a winner.
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