Just Our Luck

I was going to write last night (for Misfit Monday) that we arrived back at work surprised to find the building still standing and all misfits relatively healthy.  However, we had household adventures last night that prevented me from writing.

We had a small (but powerful) storm last night and it managed to knock over one of the trees in our front yard (onto our neighbor's car) and blow over a majority of our backyard fence.  Fun! 

In other good luck news, Cub got scratched by a friend at school yesterday.  I guess he's been on the other side (the assailiant one) a few to many times.  If you ask Cub what happened - he says a "frog did it".  To which my dork husband responded, "did he call the tadpolice?".  

Here is Cub today playing outside at the park.  

Discoveries

Today we discovered a few things.

1.  Tarantulas like our house - well at least one does.  Buttin played tarantula golf and flicked it into the green belt.  I made plans to get an exterminator out - ASAP.

2. Our park is gone (they're actually putting in new equipment), but Cub had fun playing in the big dirt pit.  Yes, this is Cub using caution tape as a swing - I'm a good mom.

3.  There are lots of bounce house places around our house.  We've never been to one (they're air conditioned playgrounds with bouncy things), but we did today and Cub LOVED it.  I think it's going to be a new tradition. 

Adjusting To The Heat (again)

I went for my long run this morning (normally it's Saturday) because Cub and Buttin were still recovering yesterday morning.  I only went 12 miles, but it was a really difficult 12 miles.  It was warm and humid and I looked like a drowned rat when I got home.  I think it's that time of year again when my body has to adjust to the heat and humidity.  It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was running in long sleeves and now a tank-top and shorts are too much.  Hopefully, I will be acclimatized by June. 

This afternoon we had Hannah come over to play with Cub while we went to the plant store and bought plants.  This was the first time in our lives we have ever purchased and planted green stuff for the ground.  It was hot (ever more so this afternoon), but we accomplished something and our yard looks a little better for it.  

Here's Cub on the swing this morning.

Stolen!

This morning I went out to my car (parked in my driveway)  to find a messy-mess in my front seat and no purse!  

My purse had been stolen and the perpetrator (perp or unsub, for short) left a big mess (which is saying a lot because my car isn't super clean).  

I did leave my car unlocked which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I thought it would be OK in my driveway.  

The perp decided to dump all of the stuff inside my purse onto my front seat. They even went so far as to pull out all my credit cards, drivers license and check book and leave it in my car.  The only things they took were my crappy, old Banana Republic outlet purse and the wallet (with maybe $14 in crumpled up one dollar bills) I've had for over ten years.  I guess it's time to get a new purse and wallet - and maybe start bringing them inside with me every night and also maybe start locking my car doors. 

As retribution Cub decided to steal a basketball from our neighbors yard - here he is not looking guilty. 

Best. Neighbors. Ever.

We've lived in our house now for one month.

We just received our first "Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions" violations.  We broke two rules on the same day and they were kind enough to take a picture for us.

1.   Trash can/receptacle in public view on non-trash day.

2.   Unsightly articles left in view (Cub's wagon and rocket ship). 

Honestly, I'm surprised it took us a month to get our first (and second) violation.  Thankfully, we were not fined this time.

Cub was super happy this afternoon. Here he is being cute wearing what I like to call "daycare chic" (it's a mish-mash of the random clothes I put in his basket).

Homeownership Adventure #1

Tonight I managed to cut the electricity . . .  to the entire house . . . while it was dark. . . Cub was asleep  . .  and Buttin was away.  I was trying to plug in the dryer and obviously, I didn't do it correctly. 

Buttin drove up to a pitch-black house, with me stranding at the side of the house shining my iPhone flashlight into the breaker box.  Buttin was able to restore electricity by resetting the ultra-mega-master breaker. Oh well, lesson learned no more electrical work for me. 

Here's a picture of Cub today playing in our backyard.  Well, it's not really our backyard but it's the greenbelt about five steps away from our backyard and Cub loves exploring (and collecting acorns).

Nuts & Bubblegum Toothpaste

First things first - HAPPY 20-MONTH BIRTHDAY CASH!  It's been a great month my little sugar man. I promise to write a better letter next month. 

I think when Cub turns two, I have to stop counting by months.  

OK onto the promised topics.

Nuts.

Buttin and I love our tree-house-ish home.  And Cub LOVES playing with all the acorns on the deck.  I never gave it much thought as to how all those nuts made it onto our deck/lawn, but Buttin and I learned last night.  We were settling in for some much needed rest . . . PLOP.  . .  . PLOP . . . acorns (or some kind of nut/seed) falling on our roof.  Thankfully, the sound never actually woke us up, but we heard quite a few before falling to sleep. 

Bubblegum Toothpaste.

My advice to anyone moving (because we're never moving again) is to pack an travel/overnight bag for your first night in your new house.  Buttin and I were unable to locate (or had not yet moved) our regular toothpaste last night (or this morning), so we had to use Cub's bubblegum toothpaste.  Yum.

It was only 37 out this afternoon in Austin, Texas but of course Cub wanted to be outside.  He helped me bring in his puzzle piece mat, well a couple pieces anyways and then he got distracted by an acorn.

Last Night In House

Tonight is our last night in our rent-a-house. 

All of our beds and large furniture are being moved tomorrow so we will be sleeping in the new house tomorrow night.  I'm not sure about the intereweb situation at the new house so tomorrow's blog post might not happen.

Today we took Cub to his first kid concert - Yo Gabba Gabba Live!  He did really well and was mesmerized by all the activity on the stage and all the other kiddos. Here he is dancing (kind of).

Buttin bought Cub a little light - it was certainly Cub's favorite part of the show. 

Not THAT Mom

I really like Cub's preschool.

I especially love his current classroom, but most children move up to the next classroom by around age 19 months (Cub is almost 20 months, faint).  They've had some space issues in the older classrooms, so I hadn't really given much thought to Cub's moving up (especially because like I said, I love, love, love his current teachers) because a couple of his buddies (they all started school together when they were around 3 months old) were also still in the classroom.

Anyone guess where this story is going?

I found out today that Cub's two buddies have moved up into the next classroom - which means they've actually been transitioning for the last few weeks (they don't just have them in one classroom one day and a different classroom the next day). 

So, when I learned this factoid - my first thought was - Why hasn't MY CHILD moved up to the next classroom?  My second thought was - Oh geez really, Stephanie?

Cash is technically older than the other boys (one by two days and the other by a couple of weeks), but I know the other boys have hit certain milestones before Cub (they walked earlier and started eating solid foods earlier) and I don't think the other boys have biting issues (ahem, Cubbie).  I'm honestly not sure why Cub hasn't moved up yet and I kind of hate myself for wanting to know.

I know all children develop at different rates and that Cub is super smart (at least when it comes to pushing rockets into fire hydrants).  I've never once had a concern about the timing of his development and I find benchmarking-type parents to be irksome.  However, I just can't help wondering.  Then, I hate myself for wondering because Cub is happy and healthy and loves his teachers and I really shouldn't (and don't want to) rush Cub's toddler-hood.  I don't want to be that mom.

Side note: I'm quite sure my friend Liz will have a field day with this post.  She'll probably say this is all my fault because I ate too much Splenda while pregnant and because I don't do enough physics problems with Cub. She'll also throw in some grievances for good measure. 

Here's the non-physics doing, Splenda fueled toddler on the swing today.

Now a little something that made me smile.  Our new house has only had one other owner and they actually built the house.  We just took up the flooring (we're going to put down tile in the entire downstairs) and found a little drawing that the parents and children had done when they were building the house:

I took a picture and sent it to our agent (who in turn sent it to the sellers' agent who in turn sent it to the sellers) because I thought it was something they might like to see (I have no idea if they even remembered doing it way back in 1999).  I got an email back (from our agent) saying that the sellers LOVED it and were very touched that we took the time to send them the photo.  It made me feel good.

Just To Recap

This week, we've had:

• One stomach bug
• Two flat tires
• One (legitimately) missing diamond
• Two mornings where someone (and therefore everyone) was awake before 4:45 AM; and
• One nasty little cut to the forehead

I'm hoping that all crappy stuff has happened because tomorrow is going to be SO AWESOME - it's house closing day!  

Proving the adage that you should get right back on the horse (or rocket), Cub was full-speed (seems even faster) ahead on his rocket today.

Running & Cleaning

This morning it was back to marathon training.  I ran 14.4 miles and I did my half marathon split was almost a PR (2:24 vs. a 2:23 back in 2009).  It was  a very nice run - I think my body enjoyed the couple weeks off from a long run. 

This afternoon we had Hannah come over to hang out with Cub while Buttin and I threw stuff away in preparation for our move.  We started in the closets.  I found some real gems - including a bag full of scrunchies.  YUP, SCRUNCHIES!  I don't think I've worn a scrunchy since junior high, but I was keeping a bag of them in case they every come back in style (I guess).  I also found a piece of clothing (a skirt, I think) that was still in it's dry cleaning wrapper.  Here's the receipt. 

 Yup - 2004!  I haven't worn this skirt since 2004!  Guess it's time to donate the skirt.

Cub seems to have a little bit of a cold, but he and Hannah still had a great time.  

Here is Cub this evening (with Cartman in the background). 

Pet Integration

Also known as: complete failure.  

So the dog (Riggs) and cats (mostly Scratch) becoming one big happy family isn't going very well.   I contacted Riggs foster family to see if they had any suggestions (apparently they had cats too).  

Riggs was OK with his foster family cats, but I guess none of them were as aggressive as Scratch.  His foster mother recommended a squirt bottle or a quick tap on the butt with a kitchen towel.  Today we tried the squirt bottle and it seemed to annoy him enough to take his attention away from Scratch under the bed.  I wasn't in the house when all this was going on, but Buttin said it sounded like something from the exorcist was under our bed.  

In other pet news Buttin and I have been discussing the new house and how we're going to organize our four-legged children.  The entire upstairs is carpet and Cartman is notorious for peeing (everywhere).  We've decided to invest is a couple dog diapers - one of them is the PeeKeeper.  I'm actually pretty excited to try it out - I'm sure Cartman is considerable less excited. 

Here's Cub from today - giving me a funny, double-chin look. 

The House

It looks like the house will be ours!

The option period ended last night and we came to an agreement (with the sellers) on some money for repairs.  Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!

It seems like everyday Cub learns a new game.

Here he is playing a new favorite - Throw stuff in the trashcan even though mama says no.

Then make a cute face so that mama goes into the trashcan to retrieve the golf balls.

Inspection Completion

Actually, the inspection was completed (but that just doesn't sound as good).

I met with our inspector, Roy, this morning as he was finishing the inspection.  He walked with me around the entire house and pointed out all the things that weren't quite right.  It was actually very interesting.  Bottom line - nothing catastrophic, but we may ask the sellers to make a few fixes.  

Cub had a particularly cute and happy afternoon.  We spent the entire afternoon outside while the cold front was blowing into Austin.  Here are a few pictures:

Reunited!

Riggs is back home!

As you can see, both of the dogs are super excited.

Lots going on today, so I'll write the short story:

• We met with Riggs' trainers and they taught a bunch of commands.  Riggs knows sit, down, heal, place and here quite well.  According to the trainers, Riggs will test us in the coming weeks (he's already been doing it some this afternoon).  The trainers will visit our house next Tuesday at to evaluate our progress.
• I went to the doctor today. I've been having some joint soreness almost daily the last month or so.  The doctor doesn't think it's arthritis, but he took some blood just to run the tests.  He thinks I just have (wait for it) "joint soreness".  The therapy for "joint soreness" is ibuprofen, cookie dough and weekly massages.  
• We are officially "under contract" for the house we want to buy and the inspection is schedule for Thursday.  We're still being cautiously excited. 

Here is Cub playing with Riggs this afternoon, they are getting reaquainted: 

Sunday This And That

A few updates:

• Cub woke up early again today (yesterday - marathon day - he woke up at 4:30 AM) - 5:15 AM.  He must be teething and/or have a little cold because he is kind of a grump. 
• Adding to the grumpoticousness - only a 45 minute nap!
• Buttin and I went to see Paranormal Activity 3 (2.5 cookies) this afternoon and when Hannah (babysitter) walked in the door - Cub started crying.  He was pretty dramatic when we left but he was fine after about three seconds.
• I'm sore and my armpits hurt like the dickens - for some reason all my chub-rub consolidated in my armpit area (sexy, I know). 
• One small teeny-tiny thing -WE PUT IN AN OFFER ON A HOUSE!  We are so excited but are reserving full-jump-up-and-down excitement for when they accept and everything goes well. 

Here is Cub today playing one of his new favorite games - Daddy's Truck.  It's a fun game to play in the morning when it's cool outside, but Cub doesn't let us turn the A/C on so in the afternoon the game is not so much fun.

Houses

On Friday, Buttin and I went snooping around in houses (to potentially purchase one).  

It was a much more successful trip than our first excursion.  We expanded our search area by about 5 - 10 miles and were able to find some really nice houses in our budget.  It's making me very excited.

In other house news, ours is still warm.  The a/c works, but cannot keep up with how hot it is outside.  Currently (at 6:45 PM), it is 83 in the main area of our home.  Thankfully, the classy window unit in our bedroom and the portable a/c we bought for Cub's room keep those two rooms closer to 72.  The a/c people are supposed to be out tomorrow.

To escape the heat, we actually went outside - to the splash pad.

Graby decided to flirt.

Here, he thinking - Hey ladies, my mom is a dork but I'll be available in about 17 years.

Speaking of Graby - he's decided to eat solids now, but just a limited selection.  I sure hope he can thrive on milk, cheese and vanilla cupcake Goldfish.

Operation: New A/C

Operation: Make Landlord Purchase New A/C Unit has begun.

The past couple of weeks has been MISERABLE in Texas.  What I wouldn't give for a little rain and a high of 95.  

Our little rent-a-shack (we've lived here for seven years) A/C unit is operating on it's last spark plug (not sure if an A/C unit has a spark plug).  In the evening (like right now) the temperature inside the house is a balmy 80 degrees.  Maybe (big maybe) by 4:45 AM (Cub's new rise-and-shine time) it'll be 75 degrees.   The A/C repair people came out a couple of nights ago and flushed the unit, but said because the unit is SO old (I mean so old, our landlords could not legally SELL this house with the current A/C unit), it was all they could do.

It's so warm, I couldn't bear to put Cub in his pjs tonight (get it - bear . . . Cub, I'm a dork), so he's sleeping in a no-sleeve romper.

 

Luckily, we're in the rental housing industry so we contacted our attorney.  Our poorly functioning unit is (of course) not as bad as a non-functioning unit, but we still have some recourse - especially considering that our A/C has not stopped running ofr the past two weeks (never, ever once turned off).  Would you like to see our electric bill?  

So, I wrote a letter (per our attorney's instructions) and planned to send it today via email and certified mail, but Buttin had a better idea.  He thought we should try the get more with honey approach (my letter was perfectly pleasant, but most people immediately get defensive when they get something  via certified mail).  Instead, Buttin sent off a nice email detailing the situation and explaining (yet again) that we have a small child whose health and well-being concerns us (I say, if you have a kid, use him/her as a weapon in these situations) in these warm conditions and so on and so forth. 

Our landlord's response, while quick, wasn't super satisfying.  They're going to send the A/C people back out to check on the duct work and insulation (of which, we have none) and then we'll move forward.  If this does not happen in a timely manner (like, immediately), then we will send a certified letter and take that fun wherever it leads. 

Graby was really, really grumpy today (maybe he's hot).  Here's about as happy as he ever got:

Here's what he looked like most of the day:

The Search Begins (Maybe)

Buttin and I have lived in our little rental house for almost seven years. The front porch is a pile of bricks and our back deck is splinter heaven, but we love the location and our neighbors (who we really have only met since Graby was born).

Every May/June for the past three years we've debated our two options -- renew our lease or buy a house. We're still not 100% sure this year is THE year, but we have seriously started looking at houses and we're doing all the loan application stuff (it's actually pretty difficult for small business owners to get home loans).

As an infant, it was OK that Cub didn't have his own room but he's entering toddlerhood. I think having a space of his own will become increasingly important (for all of us - especially if Gigi keeps buying toys at the current pace). I would also LOVE another half (or full) bathroom (and perhaps a smell-proof rubber room for Cartman).

One thing is for sure - when we do leave this house, I'll cry. As an adult, I've never lived anywhere for as long and Buttin and I have experienced so much of our lives together in this house.

Alright, now for the moment MorMor and Gigi have been waiting for (they probably didn't even read the post) - today's picture of Cub: