Friday, June 22, 2007

Karate

We took Caleb to his first Karate class last night. There is a Kempo studio near our house that other homeschoolers in our support group have recommended. He's been asking to take lessons for months, so last night he went and loved it. He got his Gi and on Saturday they will give him his white belt. Brent is contemplating taking classes with him, which I think would be a fun bonding experience for both of them. Luckily he will get a 40% discount on lessons because this stuff is not cheap.

Now I need to find some art lessons for Emma and we'll be set.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Tuesday

Work was slow today, which was nice because it was also Brent's day off this week. Tomorrow should be hectic as Wednesdays usually are.

We have a plumber coming to fix the kitchen sink tomorrow morning. Some part of something is broken off and it leaks. Brent tried for an hour to disconnect whatever it was he was trying to disconnect but because it's broken off he couldn't get it. We called the plumber who replaced our hot water tank a couple of weeks ago and he's coming tomorrow morning at 7:30. SEVEN-THIRTY! Who in the heck shows up to fix a sink at seven freaking thirty in the morning?!!! I tried to persuade Brent to take tomorrow off so he can handle the repair stuff, but no such luck. Oh well. I'm always up by 7:30, I just hate having people in my house and having people in my house at such an early hour is even more undesirable.

I think I told you all our freezer died, right? Our deep freeze in the garage that was my parents' freezer. It's probably 25 years old or so. Anyway it died. I like to stock up on stuff when there is a good sale, and we like to buy large quantities of meat from local farmers so I really, really, REALLY miss having the freezer. My FIL called Brent today. Brent had called him on Sunday to wish him a happy Father's Day but he was at a car show so he called him back today. Brent asked him if he knew where we could get rid of the freezer, and his dad told him that he would haul it out to his house. He lives in a small town and the city picks up anything they put out for trash. We're limited to three bags a week and if we get rid of the freezer here we have to pay a guy $75 to have the freon drained and then pay a $25 fee to the city to have it hauled away. If my FIL takes it, his city will haul it away for free, so yay. Then came the clincher. He said "...and then I'll take you and buy you a new freezer." Ummm...come again? "I'll buy you a new one. Any kind you want, upright, chest, whatever, as big as you want." *insert image of me with my jaw on the floor here*

Okay, the reason this is so flabbergasting is because Brent and I have been married almost 18 years and this man has never bought us anything in that time. NOTHING. He sends money at Christmas, and I'm extremely thankful for that, but that's always been it.

When we were first married and living in an empty apartment in Maine, sleeping on the floor and recycling aluminum cans for grocery money, he didn't give us a cent. The whole reason Brent went into the Navy is because his dad refused to help him out with money for college, yet wouldn't forego using him as a deduction on his taxes so that Brent could get financial aid. The man has a LOT of money, but it's always been for him. He has three cars (one of them is a sweet little classic Corvette and the other is a 70s model Stingray), one truck, a Harley, a home here and one in Florida, and more gold jewelry than Disco Stu.

We never really expected financial help from him, but it would have been nice when we were wondering where our next meal was coming from.

None of that stuff really matters anymore anyway. We made it. When my parents found out how we were living they sent us money and bought us some furniture, but we made it through those times on our own and I'm proud of us for that. I'm also very thankful for my FILs generosity and I kind of feel like a jerk for thinking there have to be strings attached somewhere. I am actually afraid to take him up on this offer for fear of what it will mean, but Brent wants the freezer and so he is going freezer shopping with his dad on Monday.

In other news, Brent took Caleb out today and bought him his first BB gun. Squirrels and birds beware.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

20 Years Ago!

I got flowers today. A dozen white roses (my favorite).

It is the 20th anniversary of our first date.

Is it weird that we still celebrate that day after 20 years?

I don't think it is. I love him more with each passing year.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Money, money, money!

Would you believe that our sink backed up on Friday and we had to call Roto Rooter to come and...well...Roto Rooter our pipes? It's to the point now that it is just freaking funny. But everything is paid off (my last paycheck was about $200 more than I expected it to be. yay) so good for us. And thanks to God for coming through for me even when my faith isn't what it should be.

I was sitting here typing on Friday. The washing machine was running a load of clothes. The double sink in the kitchen was backed up. I made a big mistake by putting cooked rice down the garbage disposal I guess. Anyway, I had plunged the thing until my hands were fixed into claw-shaped nubs. I gave up and decided to wait for Brent to get home from work and let him try to snake the drain.

So...I'm sitting here typing and all of a sudden I hear Sarah in the kitchen going "OH NO! OH MY GOSH! MOM, HELP!" So I run out there to see both sinks overflowing rapidly and water pouring out at record speed onto the floor. Sarah was standing in front of the sink, attempting to hold the water back with her hands, which completely cracked me up. I literally could not stop laughing.

She was like the little Dutch boy and the dam. hahasmiley

I heard the washing machine spinning on the spin cycle and ran over and lifted the lid up to hopefully make it stop. That worked. Apparently the washer and the sinks are on the same line. Good to know! The girls and I used every available dry towel we had, plus a roll of paper towels to soak up the mess on the floor. Brent got home about 30 minutes later, took the pipes apart, and tried to snake it, but it didn't help so Roto Rooter it was.

It took the Roto Rooter guy about 10 minutes to get the thing cleared, but he said he had to go 30 feet out to get the clog, which he attributed to tree roots. Nothing we could have done to fix it, in other words. So I paid him his $120 (not a bad take for 10 minutes work, eh?) and he went on his merry way and everything is peachy. So far nothing else has broken, but I'm not counting my chickens or my ducks or however that saying is supposed to go.

Sarah turns 16 in 11 days. I don't feel old enough to have a 16 year old child. She is such an awesome, smart, friendly, kind, funny person. I feel lucky to have her in my life and to count her among my friends. Even if she wasn't my child I would still want to know her.