Fun at Uncle Johns

As we head into a week of drywall texturing, we did take a break and visit Mark's brother, John, and his family in Morgan Hill. Their sister Karen was out for a conference, so it was a nice time for 3 of the 8 kids to visit together.

Mark and John are "Irish twins", meaning they are less than a year apart.

They are very close, and enjoy shooting people together. Of COURSE we wouldn't let our girls watch it though.

Our own twins like to play computer games together too! I loved how this picture shows their big green eyes.

Weather permitting, we always go for a walk in "The Meadow". Aunt Karen was like the Pied Piper.

The whole gang.

The salamanders were out. Mae is always our critter-picker-upper.

She is very clinical and gentle in her examination of the little beastie.

Abigail, on the other hand, shies away from a buckeye with a suspicious looking tentacle.

So you see, even these "identical" twins can be quite different!

We walked a good five miles on our hike, with no complaints, and no requests for piggy back rides (of course, that may be fall-out from last week :-) ) . But we were all impressed with how the girls hung in there. All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Oh, was there a football game of some sort? No wonder the park wasn't very crowded!

To stitch or not to stitch

Quite the night last night. No pictures. You'll thank me later.

We were headed out to the trailer last night after a lovely dinner with my parents, Mark and I both carrying a girl on our backs piggy-back style. I recall as I stood up with Mae on my back that she was getting HEAV-VEE. Went out through my folks' back door, turned to close it, and just slowly toppled over backward. That's Mark's account, since he saw the whole thing. I just slowly, completely, lost consciousness. I woke up with Mae screaming in my ear, and Mark yelling in my face. I had no sense of where I was or what had happened. Mark was upset with me, and I didn't understand why. Mae was screaming, and I didn't know why.

Turns out, Mae was pinned under me as I was laying on my back. Mark scooted me out of the way, and tended to her. She had a cut on the back of her head, which we ultimately concluded was not serious enough to get stitches. It was about 1/8" deep, and after the initial copious head wound bleeding, did stop flowing. We decided to try Super Glue to close the wound. Note to all who try this--the idea is to close the SURFACE of the wound, not bond the interior of the wound back together. We messed that up a little. But I'm sure the wound will heal despite our best efforts.

After Mae was stabilized, Mark and my mom examined my head, which as it turned out, was much worse. The laceration was much deeper, and although I did not want to go to the ER, Mark and my mom were pretty insistent that it needed treatment. So off to the ER we went.

The closest medical facility to our home is 45 minutes away, so in addition to the known ER wait, you also have 1 1/2 hours on the road. We launched off on our medical mission at 8:30 p.m. We got back to the house at 2:10 a.m. We were exhausted! And the craziest thing was, we went for nothing! Actually, we gained a lot of peace of mind, but that's so abstract, isn't it? Initially, the ER doc proposed that we staple the wound. As we explored alternatives, especially those that did NOT include a return visit to the ER to remove foreign objects, we ultimately decided that the wound would heal just fine by itself, if I could just leave it alone.

Which meant walking around with a clump of bloody matted hair today.

Which I did. All day. I have personally redefined the "comb-over".

Tomorrow...a shower!

But really, the ER doc was more concerned with the loss of consciousness, especially without any sense of it coming on. She was concerned enough to order a CAT scan. Which in turn concerned me.

The CAT scan revealed nothing wrong. So WHAT could cause this event? As Mark and I started to piece together our impressions of what had gone down, we realized there was a very strong probability that Mae had choked me out. My 5-year-old took me down with a chokehold. The signs all fit. I found through a little research that a tight compression on the carotid and/or jugular can cause a person to pass out within seconds. Mae does play a previously funny game of not really holding on as she rides on my back. I never realized the potential repurcussions.

So parents be advised, those piggy back rides can be pretty hazardous!

But I won't give them up just yet.

Country girls

While we were out on our walk last weekend, I saw evidence that the girls have truly acclimated to the country life. Things beyond the puddle jumping. I saved these little tidbits for a separate post.

Abigail spotted this stump, which we had sheared of its dead limbs a few weeks ago. It has now been repurposed:


On previous walks, we've observed bones from a long-dead cow. The girls have decided to collect the bones in a pile, with a goal of reassembling them into a skeleton. The bones are kicked along...


to the collection point. Quite a project! Gotta envy that 5-year-old ambition!


And lastly, I spotted Abigail crouched down, studying something intently.


I followed her gaze, to find this:


A moderately fresh pile of cow poop, covered with yellow flies. I never see these flies on anything other than poop (thank goodness!).

After a time, Abigail asked me if the pile was getting smaller. Very perceptive, I thought.

Yes, Abigail. This is one of the few instances in life, where the bullshit actually decreases over time, but not by much!

After the rain

Last Saturday was the first real break after a series of five storms pounded CA, one after the other. Needless to say, we were all anxious to get outside and enjoy the day.

The family property totals 52 acres, so there is a lot of room to wander. There is a seasonal stream and waterfall to explore after a rain.


The girls wanted to follow the stream to its origin, which led us toward the back of the property.


From there, we caught views of the house that we don't often see.


Of course, the stream just petered out in a marshy area, with several attractive puddles. Mae dove right in.


Her rainboots made her fearless...


despite the fact that they had a few holes in them! Abigail had Crocs on, and was content to watch the action.


Mae had a fantastic time.


She was unstoppable.


Until suddenly she realized she was cold and wet and wanted to go home


So we headed back toward the site and beyond, to my folks' house, where we could run a nice, hot bath.


Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa's house!

The taping whirlwind

Amidst all the other strange weather we had this week, the taping whirlwind blew through. It consisted of four men, scaffolding, and a few simple tools. Four hours later, they were gone. Mark seems satisfied with their work, so...I am too!


These guys are a different crew from the guys who hung the rock, who are different from the ones who stocked. Every task is specialized.

The guy standing at the base of the scaffolding had the specialized task of pushing it around the room while the other guy stood on top.

I hope OSHA doesn't check my blog.

Za Dungeon

Yes, one of the features we have built into the house is a dank, dark dungeon. Great for disciplining the kids, AND storing wine!

The dungeon...a.k.a. "the crawlspace" is a stunted floor underneath the main floor, leaving just enough room to belly crawl around and check pipes and wires. Observe...

It used to be a dirt floor down there, but Mark has laid a 15 mil layer of plastic, and now we are working to seal it around the edges. Ultimately, it should be vapor-tight. Now here is Mark working diligently on...something. Actually, he is posing per my request, showing me how to caulk the plastic lining to the wall, which is my job for the day. This is the tiniest corner, but there are fewer ducts to deal with.

Now HERE he is going about his normal business...cutting stuff apart. Doesn't he look happy?

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And here he is posing for his ABSOLUTELY LAST PICTURE. Could his expression say that any more clearly? I just wanted to show the entrance into the crawlspace...is that too much to ask?????

Not the most inviting space in our new home...yes, it's a dungeon, but it's OUR dungeon!

REALLY ready to rock

It all happened last week as predicted:

- the heating guys finalized the system, and the house is now warm & snuggly
- the sheetrock was stocked

AND, I had to make some progress on my assignment to choose paint colors. But in order to choose paint colors, I must choose cabinets, and flooring, and countertop, and THAT is no easy task!

Here is the sheetrock, piled up around the house:

Here is me, striking an alluring pose in our two-person shower. Yes, we'll be close, but that's kinda the idea, right?

Here's the front porch we built. Eventually it will be replaced with the wrap-around country porch, but that is at least a year away. We had to get this up for the guys bringing in the sheetrock. It is STUR-DEE! Handrails were not a priority for the week, however.

And lastly, here is some progress on the kitchen. Mark and I agreed to do hardwood throughout the living room and kitchen. If we do hardwood on the floor, I like painted cabinets. After that, it's pretty much a free-for-all. The trim will be white, and...I know this will shock everyone...the appliances will be WHITE. No black or stainless. I know, nobody does white anymore, but I like it over black, and I couldn't imagine paying more money for stainless only to cover it with magnets and flyers, and lists, which is an essential part of my lifestyle. So...there it is.

The rock shown here is what we've chosen for the fireplace. I liked a lighter rock as well, but it didn't have the impact when I put it in my computer simulation.
No...really. That's what happens when nerds decorate.