Mini-Vacation

Tuesday afternoon, after I got out of work, I headed over to Ariel's. I didn't want to get Aiden and bring him home since we'd be stuck inside due to the shelter-in-place. It ended up getting lifted right after I left home, but I had already decided to hang out with my sister for the afternoon, so I stuck with my plans.

I ate the lunch I had already packed for the day, then Ariel gave me a change of clothes so I could help her in the yard. She's in the middle of being taken over by sticker burrs. I know this is going to sound strange, but clover burrs are my favorite weed to pull. If you get the whole thing in your hand you can pull it out by the root. Since it's such a large plant, it clears out a lot of space all at once. It's very satisfying.

It was nice to get a little sun on such a nice day. A news chopper kept flying overhead. Still not sure what that was about since it was before the hotel collapsed. Maybe documenting the effects of the drought? Eh, not sure.

I picked Aiden up and got home before Travis, so we hung out in the yard for a bit before I started dinner. As soon as Aiden was in bed, I was out helping Travis lay the pipe for the drainage system. We got about half of it done.

Wednesday, I ended up leaving an hour after I got to work because the electricity was out on part of the island - the part of the island where Aiden's daycare is located. They called and said I had to come pick him up. Since we had the whole day ahead of us, I didn't want to run straight home. Travis had some drainage pipe leftovers in his truck that he was planning to return after work, so I headed over to his work to pick that up.

There is a really nice playground over by his boss' house, so Aiden and I ran by there.

Of course, 30 minutes after we got there, Aiden dropped a deuce in his diaper. I was stuck 20 miles from home, with no diaper bag and a poopy diaper. My solution was pretty horrible. Please promise not to call CPS on me. I keep a bag of wipes in my car at all times, so I wiped his butt and threw the poop in the trash, then put the same diaper back on him.

I am so mortified about that, but I didn't know what else to do! I've thought about keeping an emergency diaper in the car, but I don't know what the Texas heat would do to a diaper. Anybody know? Gah.

After I "cleaned" Aiden up, we headed to Home Depot. I made the return and picked up some more pea gravel for the drainage system. When we got home, I cleaned Aiden up for real, we ate lunch and then I laid him down for a nap.

Then I did something I haven't done in years. I laid out. In the sun. In a bikini. With a book and a glass of sweet tea. It was amazing. I haven't been in a bikini since I was pregnant! I was probably out there for about 45 minutes when I couldn't take the heat anymore. I moved into a chair in the shade of our Live Oak tree and continued my break. It was so strange to not be stressing about getting something done around the house. I guess I figured since I would normally be at work not getting stuff done at home, I wasn't losing chore time.

When Aiden got up from his nap, we each ate an Easter egg. Aiden loves those things. And honestly, I think this is the first year I have enjoyed them. I wanted to keep the free-day-fun going, so I popped Aiden in his stroller and we walked down to McDonald's. We each ate some ice cream, then I let him play with the kids in the Play Area.

When we got back, I set up the sprinkler to help cool Aiden off. He didn't quite grasp the concept of playing in the water spray. He just kept walking up to it, then getting mad because the water was getting in his face. After about 10 minutes of trying, I shut the thing off and handed Aiden the hose. He loves to water the plants, but I don't let him do it very much because it seems like a waste of water. Because he also likes to spray the grass and the tree and the house and the sidewalk... I figured the hose wasn't any worse than the sprinkler and he enjoys it more.


When Travis announced he was on his way home, I picked everything up and led Aiden into the backyard again. While he played with his trucks, I started dinner. When Travis got home, he grilled turkey burgers on his new grill and then we sat outside to eat the meal. We had corn on the cob (still left from Frohberg's farm!), burgers, Ranch-style beans and watermelon (from the Easter fruit basket Ariel and Robert gave us).

It was the perfect summer meal. Hopefully soon we will be enjoying it on our new patio!

Otomata

I came across something really cool last week called Otomata. It's a program that makes music when you click on the individual cells. I could play it for hours.

Apocalypse Now

I feel like there is mass chaos in my world right now. Here's a quick run down:

• 
  
  We are in the middle of a drought, which means there are burn bans.



• 
  
  Multiple power outages at the power plants in Texas City resulted in a shelter-in-place. That means there is so much pollution in the air that you are asked to stay in your house with the windows and doors closed, air off.



• 
  
  The main line of fresh water to the island has a leak. That has resulted in a water shortage for the island. No watering your yard, no washing your car and several of the labs at work had to close down due to low water pressure.



• 
  
  Yesterday, there was a water leak in the AC system at work. There was nothing but hot, humid air blowing through the buildings across campus. UTMB let us go home early because the condensation was building up on everything, resulting in a fall risk. It is much cooler today, but it's still a little humid.



• 
  
  Also yesterday, when I left work early, there was a collapse at a hotel they are currently taking down (with plans to rebuild). Hopefully the worker that was caught underneath the debris gets well.



• 
  
  There have been electrical outages across the island for the past day. Today, Aiden's daycare does not have electricity, so I have to take off from work and go get him. Travis has been struggling at work since they have limitations when the power is out.

Oh and Travis blew out a tire yesterday, so he's going to need at least one new tire. We'll probably get two though.

My mom said they have been dealing with nearly constant severe storms and tornadoes in Illinois. We've decided to meet on the coast in the case of an apocalypse. I'm getting the boat.

Still working on my green thumb

I'm going to bore you with some photos of our yard. It's just that I am SO excited to finally be doing some work outside. I LOVE gardening, but there hasn't been much to do without putting some money into the gardens. Since our plan was to just improve the interior of the house and sell it in three years, gardening was not an option (aside from weeding the existing flower bed).

I thrive in the sun, so I am currently in gardening heaven.

Hostas are a common plan up north and I really wanted to bring that in to our yard. It reminds me of home. We plan on planting Bluebonnets between each hosta. The tree around which these are planted is a pecan tree. The funny part is that the pecan tree is the Texas state tree. Bluebonnets are the Texas state flower. Travis said he wants to hang a confederate flag from the lowest tree branch and then he'll start parking his truck over there.

The canna lily I bought Travis for our anniversary last year is growing back strong.

To replace our four-year-old grill, Travis bought this monster:

That puppy weighs in at almost 150 lbs and is 6 feet wide. We pretty much designed the new patio wall around this thing. The left side is a gas grill, the middle is a charcoal grill and the box on the right is a smoker box. I plan on buying a brisket on my next trip to the grocery store. This is the grill he used to smoke the pork loin we had on Easter.

Travis bought the pavers we are using for the patio on Friday, but was only able to bring home half because of the weight limit on his truck. He went back Saturday and got the other half. Too bad we don't have a fork lift at home because it would have been a lot easier to unload those buggers.

That layout at the front of the picture is how we plan to place the stones. I am getting really excited about this new patio, but I don't know when we'll find time to do it. We need to do it over the weekend so we have several days in a row with the sand compactor. We're going to do this right, dang it!

Here's that killer trench I mentioned...

I've been watering our Sago palms when I water the rest of the plants in the yard. They have not grown at all since we put them in the ground. If anything, they've slowly been wearing away. I was ecstatic to see these alien fingers growing out of the center.

Except now all I think is ALIEN FINGERS when I walk by.

And a few shots of our yard critters... I've noticed a lot of them since I've been spending so much time outside.

Geico should pay me for this shot:

Those lizards are ALL OVER our yard. They particularly like to hang out around the three hose hook-ups and the compost pile. But they've been known to pop up just about anywhere.

Not pictured: The black catepillars that ate my ivy and the toad that shows up periodically next to my potted plants by the garage.

Easter in Photos

The Friday before Easter, we set up the supplies for dying Easter eggs outside on Aiden's picnic table. We couldn't figure out what to dye the eggs in, so we settled for our whiskey glasses. HA. Next year I'm using Dixie cups. Not only are they NOT glass, but they seem a little bit more family friendly than booze tumblers.

Travis had Saturday AND Sunday off this weekend, which was amazing. It's been a while since we've had Daddy around that much. We took advantage of those daylight hours together and got a lot of things done around the house. Travis put together his new grill/smoker that he used to cook a pork loin for Easter. He bought all the materials to finish laying out the drainage in the yard and for building the patio. He also got some fun stuff for the yard work. The mulch makes the potted plants look fantastic and he got new hoses to replace the ones that have been hit by the lawnmower a few times.

I spent a good part of the day cleaning the house in preparation for our guests on Easter. Travis even made it inside to dust while I baked homemade mini espresso cheesecakes. That was my first time to ever make real cheesecake (as opposed to that no-bake boxed kind).

Saturday, we met the Ramby's at their church for an egg hunt. After the boys filled their quota of eggs, and a tour of the church, we headed over to a restaurant on the bay for dinner. The kids were a bit rowdy - the boys were being boys and Skylar is teething - but the food was great. I'd like to go back again sometime, but I don't know if we'll ever be able to find the restaurant again!

Skylar sat up at the table with us.

Ariel, Robert and the Ramby's came over for Easter in the afternoon. Totally unplanned, all the guys wore teal polo shirts. Every time they stood together I started laughing again.

We had appetizers while the last of the food was cooking. The problem with appetizers is I'm not hungry by the time the main course comes around. Part of that could be because I always put out way too many options to snack on.

After the meal, we headed outside for another Easter egg hunt. With the boys still being so young, that mostly consists of a bunch of eggs strewn around the yard. And since Smarties don't fit in Easter eggs (darn it), there were also rolled candies thrown out there too.

The onlookers

After the Ramby's headed off to another Easter celebration, we sat in the backyard, wishing the patio would just finish itself.

I gave Aiden a few bites of candy and that kid was off like a rabbit on speed. He kept running back and forth down the sidewalk and then started throwing all his toys into the dirt pile that is currently taking up a portion of our yard. (Travis spent last week digging a trench for the drainage system that will divert rain water away from our backyard and patio. This week we will put the pipes down and fill up the trench that is threatening to eat my son alive.)

I think this was the first time Aiden has really had much candy. Occasionally I'll gave him a piece, but it's only one piece and those times are far and few between. He even spent a good five minutes telling us an animated story:

Aiden adores his Uncle Robert. Anything Robert does, Aiden wants to do. When he was at their house Friday morning (I had to work, but the daycare was closed), he wanted to share Robert's morning bowl of cereal. When Robert took his shirt off, Aiden wanted to take his shirt off. When Robert put on his shoes when it was time to leave for work, Aiden wanted to put his shoes back on.

And Sunday, when Robert sat in the hammock and ate a hard-boiled egg, Aiden joined him.

Pretty

The Hourglass from Ikepod on Vimeo.

We're turning into crazy pet owners

I have mentioned in the past about our cat Bella with her behavioral issues. Sadly, the random peeing and pooing around the house did not go away. Bella has done it for years, but it has been concentrated mostly on Callaway's possessions (in the water dish, on the ground around his food bowl, his beds, etc). A few months ago, one of the cats started pooing on the guest bed. I was appalled the first time I found it. I was irritated the second time I found it. And the third time? I closed the baby gate to that room (since there is no door on that room) and covered the bed with a tarp (just in case).

That's how we found out it was Sagira doing the duty. We had assumed Bella, since she is the one who defies the litter box every few months. We had just assumed she was escalating in her defiance. Sagira is the only cat that can fit between the bars in the baby gate. When poop showed up again the following day, we knew it had to be her. Weeks went by with me coming home from work, heading straight to the guest bedroom to clean the poop off the tarp.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I covered the gate with a piece of plywood. No cat was getting in that room if I had a say in it! The next day? Poop on our bed. Oh I was irate! When that became I daily occurance, I decided to call the vet for advice. She said the first thing I should do was open up that guest room again. It wasn't stopping the cat from defecating everywhere and it would most likely make it worse. She said cats need a quiet place they can wander off to be by themselves. Since our house is too small for all the humans and animals living within, our cats don't have that leisure. So the best we can do is leave every room available to the cats.

FINE. We gave it a try. It didn't help matters at all. Now, Sagira was pooping on our bed AND the guest bed. We have a tarp on the guest bed, so at least that one is covered. We are not so lucky with our bed. Thankfully we have two duvet covers, so we alternate between the two. One on our bed, one in the wash. I don't even put the duvet covers on the comforter anymore because I know I will be taking it off again the next day. And it's nice to know there are two layers of fabric between that poop and our comforter.

I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. I broke down, shaking one weekend day because I had to throw away Aiden's Toy Story couch that he loved because it was covered in cat piss and I spent the entire afternoon cleaning cat vomit stains out of the carpet and poop off the beds. I told Travis we HAD to get rid of a cat.

At this point, both Sagira and Bella were NOT using the litter box. We decided that Bella would have to go, since she was the one who started this mess. And she is questionable with guests in our home. I knew she wouldn't get adopted at a shelter because she is psycho and won't let anyone but us touch her. That meant she would get euthanized. I figured we might as well do it ourselves. Then we would get to be there to say goodbye.

I had to stop several times while I was writing an email to our vet about our problem because I was crying so hard. No way could I discuss it over the phone with all the sobbing I was doing. That night, I was lying in bed, thinking about the cats. I love them all! We've had them for years. No matter how much they drive me crazy, they are a part of our family. I didn't think I would be able to bring Bella in for the euthanasia, but I knew I HAD to be there. If I couldn't suck it up, then it didn't seem right.

Then I remembered the cats' doctor saying we could try putting her on Prozac. At the time, that was not even an option. The thought of giving our cat an antidepressant was just absurd. Besides, I didn't want to spent $50 a month to medicate our cat.

As I last resort, I decided to ditch my reservations and give it a try. Turns out, fluoxetine (Prozac) is on the list of $4 medications at Target! AND, each cat only needs a quarter of a pill per day, so that $4 will last me two months between the two cats!

I marched down to that pharmacy, signed the waiver saying I understood suicidal thoughts were a side effect of Prozac, told the pharmacist if my cat had suicidal thoughts I would be sure to notify the proper medical professional, and marched right back out.

The downfall here is that we have to shove a pill down two cats' throats everyday. We tried sticking it in various foods and treats, but they would never eat the pill. I tried pilling the cats freehand, but that resulted in a few puncture wounds on my finger. So, we resorted to a piller. We stick the quartered tablet in the end of the pet piller, Travis scruffs the cat and I stick the pill in the back of the mouth before pressing the plunger to release the pill.

It's horrible. But worth it. We were able to give the medication three days in a row without forgetting and the messes stopped. Unfortunately, we forgot on Day 4. Then again on Day 6. You see the pattern here. The messes started up again. But that's when we realized it was only Sagira now.

The doctor had said that we might only have to do this for a month, to get them out of the habit of inappropriate elimination. Turns out it only took a few days for Bella, but we might have to do it again later if she starts back up. We are going to try 30 consecutive days of medicating Sagira before testing the waters with her again. We are currently in Day 3 of pilling only Sagira.

I really hope this works!!!