Itchy Goomba

I've got the itchy goombas (a phrase I learned from my husband, thank you very much). Bugs are eating me alive, and I'm about to scratch my left ankle off!! The weather here has been somewhat nice the past week. It's actually been nice enough to play out side in the mornings and evenings. However, since it's not 100+ degrees out, all the bugs have decided to come out and play as well. James always says "everyone deserves a warm meal" and I am supplying far too many bugs with their warm meals. One night earlier this week we went to the little neighborhood playground. Within minutes of being out our front door, I noticed two bright red bug bites, just above my left ankle. Super super super early the next morning my ankle was itching so badly that I could not sleep. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom to put as much hydrocortisone cream as possible on my poor ankle, with the hopes that it would bring me instant relief and allow me to fall asleep the second my head hit the pillow. Neither happened. The itching somewhat subsided and I eventually fell back asleep.

The next day, I was still itchy. Just ask James. I complained to him at least 84 times.

Early this morning, I woke up super super super early and was super itchy, once again. I was ready to remove parts of my ankle using nothing but a kitchen spoon, it was so horrible. When I got up for the day I decided that I didn't want to run. So I went for a run anyway. It was a bad idea. It was windy out, and I seemed to be running uphill the whole time, right into the wind. With the jogging stroller. This only made my ankle itch worse! When Zack and I got home we ate breakfast and I considered putting mittens on my hands to prevent myself from scratching my ankle off. Instead, I decided to make a paste out of oatmeal and coat these two little bugs bites (that have seemingly derailed my whole entire week) with it. So, I ground up oatmeal, added some water, and plastered it onto my ankle. All was good for a few minutes. Then Zack noticed that there was something fun on my leg that he needed to poke. A few pokes and he was satisfied. That's when I heard the beagle start his sniffing. He was sniffing me out, and trying to lick this oatmeal right straight off the bug bite! I shake my leg at him (multiple times), and keep telling him no. He finally gives up on cleaning my oatmeal plaster. At this point, Zack has noticed that there is a huge plastic cup with this lovely oatmeal plaster in it (I may have made entirely too much....just maybe). He keeps signing "more" and pointing to it. So, I do what every good, fun, mama would do. I toss him in his high chair, give him the cup, and let him go to town, painting with oatmeal. He was delighted. He played and played and played with oatmeal, until he was covered with it (as was his high chair, and one wall....and the floor, and even some toys). Watching him somewhat took my mind off of the itch on my ankle. I gave him a nice oatmeal bath and then put him down for his nap. I think this oatmeal bath was super soothing, cause he took a fairly long nap.
While Zack was napping I was once again covering my ankle in hydrocortisone cream (and band aids to I wouldn't be able to scratch my leg off), and had decided that once he woke up we would be going to Target and buying as many varieties of itch cream as possible. James advised me against buying all the cream possible. He reminded me that I sometimes tend to go overboard. Zack is once again napping, and I have slathered Gold Bond (haha, yay for old people anti itch stuff!!) all over my ankle. It seems as though the combination of half a tube of hydrocortisone cream, 2 cups of oatmeal, and some Gold Bond has finally done the trick. Ahhh, the sweet relief!
Sorry Zack, this might mean no more oatmeal parties for you!!

Exciting News in Our Life

There's something exciting going on in our life. It seems like it's all we can talk about. Some big changes are about to happen.

You see, the house next to us has been sitting empty for over a year. We had some super nice neighbors, and one day, they were no longer our neighbors. And ever since that day, we've been "super nice neighbor"-less. A couple of weeks ago Zack and I were out and about. When we came home there was a truck parked out front, and the garage door was open! I hardly knew what to do with myself. I immediately called James, and informed him of the situation. The play house was being taken down! And, people were inside, cleaning!! A couple of days ago, we noticed a building permit of some sort taped to the electrical box.

Just the other day James said that the day a "FOR SALE" sign goes up in front of the house it will be all we can talk about. I'm telling ya, we lead an exciting life! We need to get out more. However, a cutie pie little boy who goes to bed at 6:30 every night doesn't allow for much of a social life. But, really, that's quite alright with us. We love that little guy, and all the excitement that comes with being his parents. Speaking of that little guy, today I heard myself tell him, "Zack, we don't color on the dog." Some days the things that come out of my mouth just amaze me. But, Zack thought Walt might look good if he was a purple dog, and I needed to explain that crayons and beagles don't go together.

And, by a quick show of hands, who assumed that a blog titled "Exciting News in Our Life" had something to do with a baby? Come on, friends! If there was something as exciting as a baby I would share that news in a more personal way, such as through a text message, or maybe even a g-chat. And, clearly we've got our hands full with our little man who attempts to color the dog. For now, the possibility of new neighbors is enough excitement for us.

Why I Am Not a Painter

I just realized another reason why oil painting will never be my new hobby.

I had mentioned in one of the cons that I was not good at mixing colors. I thought that if I mixed yellow and green I would somehow come up with blue. So, I kept mixing these two colors together, but I never came up with blue, just with a lighter green than I started with. For some reason, I was convinced I could make blue from these two colors. James even agreed with me that I could just mix yellow and green to get blue.

Maybe it was the fumes of the paint, mixed with the fumes of the paint thinner that made me forget that blue was a primary color, therefore, can't be created by mixing other colors together.

I guess I should have paid better attention in elementary school art.

This Is How We Fix Things

Last night our garbage disposal stopped working. So, James gets out his tools, and climbs under the sink, and is going to put a wrench in some little hole, that turns something to unjam the disposal.

He gets under the sink and can't seem to locate this small hole. So, I google "how to fix garbage disposal". The first website that comes up speaks of this turn crank hole deal, and even mentions a specific tool that you are supposed to use to crank it. James still can't find this hole, so he takes off the bottom of the disposal, revealing nothing but a bunch of wires. I ask him if he wants me to get the rubber mallet so he can just start whacking the thing. We often joke about how if something doesn't fit in a drawer the first time, just shove it in there harder. You can use this method with anything, really. If it doesn't work the first time, push/pull/shove/hit harder the second time. He says no. My logical husband knows that banging on things isn't the best way to fix them, it's generally a good way to break things. My personal favorite method to try and fix things is to turn them off, then turn them back on and hopefully they will work again. I'm super helpful when it comes to fixing things.

I do some more googling, this time including the specific name for our disposal. I come across a blog that describes the exact disposal, and the same problem. This person, however, called the manufacturer of the disposal. The manufacturer confirmed that their disposal did not have a magical hole that you can put the disposal tool into to turn it, and they suggested to this man that he uses the "broom stick method." This method involves putting a broom stick down the disposal, and banging on it. No joke.

So, James puts some metal tool down the disposal, and whacks on it with his rubber mallet. He then plugs the disposal back in, flips the switch, and it whirls to life.

Apparently, when it comes to garbage disposals that don't work, all you need to do is give it a few good whacks and you will be back in business.

Someone's Thirty!

And that someone is me!

This week I spent my last few days in my 20s, and welcomed in a whole new decade. A decade that begins with the number three. So far 30 feels absolutely no different than 29. I have done a few things that may make me seem "older", like buying a sensible wallet, and some skin firming lotion. But, I've needed a real wallet for quite a while now, and my arms look funky from holding a little boy all day long. I can't blame my need for a sensible wallet or skin firming lotion on being 30. But, I can hope that suddenly I will be super organized, and my skin will be as soft as Zack's. We can all dream, right?

I started celebrating my birthday last week. Alexis and I went and got pedicures, and then we went to dinner at Zona (yum!). She planned the whole thing. She told me that we should go do pedis and dinner. A few days later I told her that we should invite a few other girls for dinner. Aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnndddddd, that's about when I ruined my surprise dinner. Oops!! She had already sent out an Evite with lots of ladies on it. So, she told me she took care of it, and every once in a while she would tell me that someone couldn't come for whatever reason, but that another girl would be there. When she and I arrived at the restaurant there were significantly more ladies than I thought would be coming, including my sister! So, I was still surprised, despite my best efforts to ruin everything, despite the fact that I knew nothing of it. We had a fun girls dinner. Andrea made a cake (that they charged us $10 to eat there....what's that all about?!). My friends put 2 candles on the cake. I was unable to blow them out in one try. Pathetic, but hilarious.

The day before my birthday James and I were eating Oreos. In the time I eat 1 oreo, James can eat about 5. He's amazing. Since there were only a few Oreos left, he suggested we divide them up that way I would be able to eat more than 1. It ended up that I got 3, and he got 2. His logic behind this, "cause you're 30 and I'm only 20!" Hilarious!

On my actual birthday there wasn't too much excitement. I went for a birthday run in the morning, and then Zack and I went to the mall. He bought me whatever I wanted, which ended up being a skirt, a dress and a Cinnabon! YUM! James came home from work with flowers, a Dr. Pepper and Reeses! He's the best! And, Zack was in an amazingly good mood all day long. He's the best, too!

Tomorrow James and I are going to spend the day doing whatever we feel like doing. We plan to shop and eat! All with out the assistance of Mr. Grabby Hands!

I've been 30 for a few days now, and have yet to have a crisis over it. Really, I'm quite thankful. I am grateful God has given me another year here on Earth to spend with people I love. There's not much more I could ask for.

I Found a New Hobby

This hobby does not involve waiting for repair men to come and not fix my fridge. It also does not involve being snorted at by javelina on my morning run. I don't really enjoy either one of those.

And, actually, now that I think about it, what I'm about to tell you about isn't really a hobby, cause I don't envision myself doing (and enjoying) lots of it ever again.

A few years back James and I went to the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. It comes two times a year, and it involves quite the gathering of random, hodge-podge artists. We always, always, look for beagle items when we go to the street fair. On this particular visit to the street fair we found an amazing poster, with a dog on it that looks somewhat like a beagle, and a caption that says "Walter's frustration mounted as he was made to wait over an hour in the examination room with no pants on." We, of course, purchased it, because what could be funnier than a beagle, named Walter, waiting in the doctor's office with no pants on? Not much that I can think of. This was when our dream of having a dog themed bathroom started. And here we are, probably 3 years later, still dreaming of having a dog themed bathroom, only now it's a dog themed children's bathroom, since we have ourselves a child.

We've casually looked for fun dog items for this bathroom and haven't come up with much. We did see some super super cute signs for the bathroom in the Land of Nod catalog. But, since my salary as a stay-at-home mom consists of 7 goldfish, an empty sippy cup, and some stale Cheerios, these signs were very much out of our budget. So, [insert new hobby here] I decide to make my own! Only instead of saying "Wash your Hands" our sign will say "Wipe Your Paws". Perfect for our dog theme bathroom!!

I head to the craft store and buy all the supplies I think I will need for this project. I snatch up 2 canvases and the necessary paint. I bought oil paint, cause it just seemed like the right thing to do when you are planning on painting on a canvas.

Before I started on my project, I decided to do a little research about oil paints, cause I have absolutely no idea how to paint with them. Sure, I've seen the guy on PBS, with big hair, paint some happy little trees, but that was about the extent of my knowledge about oil painting. Through my quick google search, I learned that oil paint takes forever to dry. And by forever, I mean up to 2 weeks!! And, if you want to "cure" or put some magical substance on your painting, you should wait 6 months. As I'm reading this I'm getting nervous about my decision to buy oil paint, and thought that maybe I should have purchased acrylic paint. But, I wanted to get my project started, so, rather than returning the oil pants and purchasing something that would dry much quicker, and most likely be easier to work with, I went with the oil paints. Completely logical.

In the end, here's what I came up with.

(Wow, I'm not good at formatting pics in Blogger....)

I'm pretty excited for how well the brush your teeth one came out. Not quite as excited about the wipe your paws. I need to do some touch ups on that one, but I have to wait another week or so for the paint to be dry enough for my touch ups to be effective.

In the end, I don't think oil painting is going to be my new hobby. Here's a list of the pros/cons that I've come up with.

PROS-

-It takes forever to dry, allowing you to scrape layers of paint off the canvas, giving a fun, white effect (I used this for the words)

CONS-

-It takes forever to dry. I'm not a patient person, and I just want to hang my new art work up!

-Stanky! My kitchen stunk while I was working on this project.

-Paint thinner, which is needed to clean the paint brushes, will make your kitchen smell like a gas station.

-I'm not good at mixing colors. Or maybe my green was just too vibrant. Mixing a teensie bit of green with lot of yellow=light green. And by teensie bit I mean a dot on the end of a q-tip.

-Drawing on your canvas beforehand with pencil was recommended on a lot of websites, so I did this. Only problem is, the lead smeared when it oil paint came in contact with it. Not pretty, especially when it mixes with yellow paint.

So, since oil painting won't be my new hobby, I'm gonna try out fabric painting! As part of our dog theme bathroom, we decided a grass shower curtain would be perfect. Of course, we've been unsuccessful in finding one. So, Karen the Friendly Runner, has decided I will just paint grass onto a white shower curtain. Genius, pure genius.

This Little Piggy Went to the Market

Last week I managed to get up earlier than normal, and went on a couple of quick runs around the neighborhood before James had to leave for work. I head out the door right as the sun begins to peak out from behind the mountains. It's the PERFECT time of day to be outside.

Last week I was just jogging along, I had been out for about 3 minutes, when suddenly I hear snorting and grunting coming from the bushes nearby. I jump close to 20 feet straight up into the air, look to my left, and see 5 or 6 javelina staring right at me. I wish I had been wearing my heart rate monitor so that I could see how high my heart rate suddenly went. YIKES.

I continued on my run, on high alert, paying close attention to any and every noise that I heard. I had made it to the other side of the neighborhood only having an encounter with 1 chihuahua, which didn't scare me at all. My eagle eyes spotted a coyote meandering down the middle of the street, about 100 feet ahead. I was focused very intently on him, making sure he was heading back to the desert, and not towards me. I may have been a little bit too focused on this coyote, as I was once again startled. This time I only jumped 10 feet into the air. As I was making my descent from 10 feet off the ground, I looked over to my left, and saw a man in his driveway. He was putting what appeared to be his briefcase in the car, and had shut the door, scaring me half to death.

The remainder of the run was with out any more scares, despite the fact that I saw 2 more coyotes, a lady on a bicycle, a man walking his dog and 4 butterflies.

I've always thought that snakes were all I had to worry about while running in the desert....apparently not. The pigs are out to get me.

This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none. This little piggy and his friends scared Karen half to death, and went laugh, snort, laugh, all the way home.