Some Thoughts

I'm worrying way too much about how the remodel will turn out and I know we have plenty of cash to pay for it but once you get a certain amount of money in the bank it physically hurts to dip below that amount. I'm worrying that the kitchen remodel won't look as good as we're planning, and that the flooring we picked is all wrong, and blah blah blah...

We get to order the rest of the decking materials on Saturday, and we plan on starting the deck the following weekend. My mom and Scott's friend Ben are coming over to help and I think between the four of us we will probably be able to finish it in one weekend.

Scott has started painting the 'Stang. The colors are awesome and it's looking pretty good so far. I think one more color coat and then the clear coats are all he has left.

Today In Pictures

So the paint for the Mustang came in:I seriously didn't think it was this complicated...so many things to mix and about ten different coats...I'm glad Scott is doing it instead of me.

Buster got a haircut:
I loved the long hair, but it was getting to where we had to brush him every day to keep it from getting terribly matted. We got rid of the curtains that were over the windows in our living room, so it's much easier for him to watch outside, so there he is, perched in his usual spot.

We went to Home Depot today. If we made the first purchase on Scott's new Home Depot Card today, we got 10% off, so we went and ordered some stuff for the back door and the deck and got some tools:
Apparently spending $2,000 makes Scott very upset. He's going to pout for days...

We Rock

Our building permit got approved!

Wheeeeeeee!

Now, to wait until May 1 to order the decking...

So Slow...

Scott is still working on getting the car prepped to paint. He's pretty sure that he'll be ready for it this coming weekend. It seems like this stage has been going on for soooo looong, but Scott is back to full time now at work and we have so many other things going on, so really he's going along at a fast pace.

Our next phase in the renovation is the back door and the deck. We've gone to Home Depot and planned and prepared our order, and we were going to buy it soon but it turns out if we wait until May 1 there's an extra discount on the decking, and we need it since we're going with the nice stuff. So we're waiting until then, and in the meantime we're still waiting on our building permit...we put in the rest of our plans last week and we're impatient for it to be approved.

But, things are getting done. This past weekend Scott and I did yard work, organized and cleaned the spare room, which is the car parts room for now, and did some spring cleaning inside the house.

I know things will get going soon, but I'm just so impatient!

Luck?

For the most part I would not consider myself lucky. Everything I have has come from good decisions and smart planning at some point in my life. So I don't consider myself lucky, even though I have such an amazing life right now (knock on wood...). I have worked so hard to get where I am today.

But last night I was so so SO lucky.

Because there was a drunk kid going down our street at about midnight slashing everyone's tires on every car that wasn't in a garage for no apparent reason.

And he skipped ours.

(The cops caught him, don't worry)

LUCKY.

Also, the weather seems to have gotten its act together.

All Better!

So here's an update on Buster:

Scott took him to the regular vet Monday afternoon. They did blood tests, urine tests, poo tests, and poor Buster was poked, prodded and generally violated in every way possible (but it was for the best, no?).

All tests came back totally normal except his electrolytes, which were through the floor, and I guess that means he's severely dehydrated. So we're to continue the antibiotics and pain meds just in case, and give him as much chicken broth and Pedialite as we can get him to eat. So we were worried that he wouldn't like it, but as soon as we poured some broth he soaked it up. In order to get him to drink the Pedialite, we mixed it with canned dog food (instead of his usual dry food) until it was like dog food soup, and apparently he likes that, too. Lucky us!

So we've been watching him, and he seems to be back to his old self. We have no idea why he was dehydrated in the first place, so we're going to make it a habit of giving him chicken broth now and then. But he's prancing around and getting excited and just loving life again, and he hasn't acted like he's in pain at all anymore. AWESOME.

Also, it's snowing again. Apparently the weather didn't get my letter.

Oh No You Didn't

Dear Weather,

I am writing to voice some concerns I have regarding your recent behavior. You have been rather inconsistent lately and I worry that you might have lost sight of who you are and what your goals should be.

We spent some time in your lovely sunshine a few days ago, and then we had a little bit of rain, which is understandable given that we are in April. I was so excited to wash my winter coat and hang it up until next winter, and the next thing I know it's a bit too cold for my jacket again. I also must tell you that I put away my mittens as well, and my hands have been a bit cold.

All of this, my dear Weather, pales in comparison to the tantrum you threw last night. I don't know why you were so upset, but was this
really necessary? That was eight or nine inches of horrible nasty stuff, all over the state. I'm very disappointed in you, as you were headed strongly in the right direction, the direction that would lead you to meet your goals, namely, getting warm and acting your age.

You are lucky that my wonderful husband shoveled this nasty stuff away from my car so I could back out of the driveway this morning.

Otherwise, I may have felt a little less charitable. I'm not sure yet how to punish you for this; I will inform you as soon as I make a good decision.

Regards,

Anna Walker

P.S. Don't do it again. Don't even.

I'm Heartbroken

I'm heartbroken because poor Buster is sick.

We're not sure what's going on. He's just acting so strangely. He's fidgety, and restless, and is whining like he's in pain, and his stomach looks and feels swollen, and he's eating much faster than usual, and it's just sad because we can tell he's miserable. We went to the Animal ER in Sunset today and the vet thought it might be colitis, which is (I think) an infection in the bowels. So we have antibiotics and painkillers for him, but they will take some time to help, and in the meantime Scott and I are just looking on helpless to make him feel any better. We're supposed to feed him rice and chicken and give him the pills twice a day and of course he won't take them so we have to basically shove them down his throat and it hurts me just to think about it.

I'm worried there's something more serious going on because he's on the painkillers but he's still acting like he's in a lot of pain. He's breathing really fast like he's stressed and he's cowering and hiding from us which is absolutely bizarre, and I just want to make it better and I can't.

So we have to wait. Tomorrow I'm going to get an appointment set up with a regular, non-ER vet and see if they can do more tests.

My baby is hurting. I'm heartbroken.