Basement Floor

In February we had another home emergency. Our sunk pump over heated because there was frozen water in the line and it was trying to pump melting water away from the house. On a Sunday morning we woke to find the basement floor coated with a thin layer of water. We immediately called our plumber, the one who replaced our water line from the house. (The beginning of my blogging.) He was definitely working over time. We were one of numerous people who encountered the same problem that weekend.

Doug and I tried to remove the water ourselves from the basement. After about an hour and backaches with little suctioned water to show for the amount of work, we called the professionals. They dried out the basement and removed the old red carpet we had. Luckily the new bedroom carpet for the oldest did not have to be removed. They were able to salvage it because of the pad underneath.

Of course the sunk pump situation was not an easy fix. The plumber rigged up a temporary solution that dumped water in the backyard and created a river in both our yard and the neighbor's. The plumber came back with what was suppose to be the final strategy but it didn't work. We still had water pouring out into the backyard and not out the old route that went along the side of the house. Doug came up with a potential solution. The plumber liked it and it worked.

We then had to haggle with the insurance people for the appropriate coverage of the damage. Luckily the group we hired to dry out the basement were familiar with this type of damage and costs. They hounded the insurance people and helped us know what was fair and reasonable. Unfortunately fair and reasonable didn't cover the replacement of the basement flooring (because of its age and condition). As a result, since February, we had been living with the concrete slab as the floor. We had some remnant carpet pieces that we strategically placed on the floor for some level of comfort when we were down there. The concrete floor made the basement look so dark and gloomy.

In October we were able to buy and have our new flooring installed. I was amazed by how much brighter the room looks considering we have a darkish carpet. It is so nice to have a soft flooring. Our old carpet didn't even have a pad underneath so we were pretty use to hard flooring.

We used the flooring to divide the room. From the stairs down into the TV area we have a dark tan carpet and then the back half that leads to the oldest's bedroom we had industrial tiles put in (they remind me of school tiles). This is our multipurpose area. I use it for crafts, the little one uses it as a play and dance area, Doug uses it for part of his collection, and the boys have not found a specific use for that space.

What a chore it was moving our belongings completely out of the room so the flooring could be laid. It's become a great space. See what you think. We use the basement area for guest sleeping too.

T.P. Neighbors

Hey, in looking for some photos I came across some I took the night the neighbor's house got toilet papered. This is an annual tradition. Our neighbor is a high schoolteacher at one of the many schools in town. It seems that every year during their homecoming week students come by and toilet paper the house. I thought it was because he had daughters at the high school, but they have graduated. I guess he is the popular one.

The kids were hooting and hollering and the cul de sac was filled with cars. Amid their laughter we watched from our window and could see flashes of light going off. It was obvious that they were taking pictures of their handiwork, probably with their cell phones. I thought this was a great idea and took my camera out to get pictures, well I guess my picture taking scared them off. They all took off running for their cars and left. Oh, well.

Busy Times

We started school with a bang. I'd say that in the first two to three weeks of school we went to three open house, one I.E.P. meeting, and I had my own open house for parents. Then things settled down until conferences rolled around the 1st week of October. I was busy for several nights and we had the youngest one's school conference.

We had one weekend where the little girl had a ballet performance, the youngest boy had a evening zoo keeper's meeting and there was a party hosted by the man the he works for, and the oldest was going to his girlfriends. We ran and ran and ran that day.

The next weekend we visited the pumpkin patch and brought home all kinds of items to decorate the front yard. I love standing dried cornstalks up around our light post and tying them together with raffia. Then I place a hay bale at the foot of the light post and the kids help decorate the area with gourds and pumpkins. It really quite festive and I leave it up through Thanksgiving.

The following weekend the oldest went to his first homecoming. Dress clothes, corsage, dinner, and dance were on the agenda that night. Sunday night we had the parent and child Costa Rica meeting, discussing rules, expectations, recommended supplies, itinerary, etc. After two years of talk and preparations, can you believe that we are only two months away from this trip??!!

Good-bye To Summer

Now that we are well into fall, I have given up on the summer chronicles. We end our summer with a trip to FL to visit family and the Orlando tourist spots. We celebrated the twins' birthday. We always miss the birthday parties so it was fun to see the little one play and chase each other and fuss at the pouting big kids.

There was the challenge of putting together the playhouse kitchen. My brother-in-law couldn't get the electric screwdriver to screw the screws into the hard molded plastic. As we struggled by hand to get the screw into the playhouse my brother discovered that the screwdriver was set to rotate backwards not forwards. We USF grads had a good time teasing the brother-in-law that it was understandable that he was a bit backwards since he's an FSU grad.

We had a good time visiting the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Universal Studios. I'm thinking of using one of the pictures for our Christmas card. I've also declared this the Year of The Bulls and we may go with a Bull themed card. I've found what I think will be a super local spot for a photo.

Wrapping Up July

I did get the CD of family pictures finished before Doug left for our nephew's wedding. He was able to take a number of completed CD's with him. Summer school at the high school ended the same week that Doug left. I was in the last two weeks of teaching my online class. I was busily grading the latest papers before Doug left so that I would feel less stress managing the household. It not really the stress, it's my ability to care out a chunk of time to work in peace. I don't do well with little bursts of starts and finishes.

I managed to accomplish one goal, which was to paint the main rooms of the house. After much debate over paint color and multiple trips to the store getting samples, we went with a golden yellow color for the family room and dining/computer room. We painted the hallway a very light yellow that is almost white. The golden yellow goes well with my curtains and couch, yet I'm not sure this is THE color. I was hoping for a darker tone. So days I really like the color and other days I think I need to repaint. Oh well. I was afraid this would happen. I just love the colors I used in the kitchen. It is just what I envisioned. I just had this feeling that the main rooms wouldn't be as easy to decorate.

I had hoped to paint the little girl's room this summer too but I ran out of money (and energy). Maybe next spring. I still need to repaint our master bedroom, bathroom, and family bathroom. I'm debating between a Tiffany Blue and a tan/taupe color for our room. The main bathroom walls need a lot of prep work. I'm not sure what I'll do there. I'm trying to decided whether to cover the yuck with a faux finish or sand down the walls and have more options available. I've done the sanding before and it is such hard and time consuming work.

My second goal was to clean up a CD of research and pictures that I had gather prior to and during Spring Break and goal three was to continue researching my family history. I did make a bit more progress with goal three in August (more about that later). I only had three goals this summer and still didn't accomplish all I hoped for. Although, at the time I made my goals I didn't plan on the Hatch CD or teaching a summer class. ....Tomorrow is another day.

Fourth of July

We don't have a traditional Fourth of July activity or plan. Most of the time Doug will Bar-B-Que a meal and we'll go somewhere locally to see fireworks. A couple of times in the last few years we have gone to the local pool to celebrate. The pools celebrate their opening anniversary on the fourth with games and cake. Later in the evening we go to the local high school and sit in the field to watch fireworks.

Last year we were in WA and celebrated the holiday with family at the lake. This year we helped sell glow lights at the park attached to the local zoo. The boys are Jr. Zoo Keepers and if they stay in the program they'll have an opportunty to travel with members of the Jr. Zoo Keeper Organization to Costa Rica. (The oldest is going in December.) The boys earn a percentage of money for helping sell the glow necklaces and that is placed in their Costa Rica account at the zoo.

The park has an outdoor ampitheatre, lake/large pond, playground, pavilions and picnic areas. For the Fourth of July the park has a musical performance and a fireworks show. There were about six or eight groups of people helping sell glow necklaces for the zoo. The boys with dad headed to the far side of the lake to sell glow necklaces. That left my girl and me to sell on the other side of the lake near the playground and ampitheatre. It was quite hot and sales were slow during the daylight. As dusk arrived sales picked up a bit. It seems that the boys faired better than us, selling more than 100 necklaces while we girls sold close to 50.

Once the first of the fireworks began we headed back to the side entrance of the zoo. We stayed inside the gates of the zoo, enjoyed drinks that we had left in a cooler in the zoo classroom, and watched fireworks from the gazebo. We had a great view and the booming of the fireworks was muted, which made the youngest one happy since she can't stand the loud booming sound. It was a wonderful relaxing time.

Summer Project

I'm back..... I thought I'd fill you in from where I left off in June. When Doug returned from Washington, he brought back a lot of family photos that his father still had. Doug wanted me to scan them and put the images on a CD. Doug was returning for our nephew's wedding in July so he wanted to be able to return the pictures to his siblings at that time.

I got busy scanning those photos, some photos that Doug's dad had given us many years ago, and some photos that one of Doug's sisters loaned us. Approximately 300 photos later I'd say we have a pretty nice product of images that span six or seven generations. I have to thank my youngest boy for sharing his computer with me. I felt so "techo-savy" using two computers at the same time, one to view the images and the other for typing a document to identify the images.

Although it was time consuming and threw off a couple of my other summer project plans (kept me from blogging, too). I really enjoyed going through those photos. I find the clothing, the environment, the objects in the pictures fascinating. I feel like the photos provide a connection to those past lives that can't be compared to anything other than the memories we hold in our heart.

Here I am working. I did paint the living room, computer area, and hall this summer. One of those summer projects on my original list. Like the color?