I'm Winning... and Losing

I must admit, in the first several rounds of House vs. Us the House was winning handily. It was looking rather grim there for a while, but as of today I think I have finally taken the lead and am on my way to certain victory. Wa-Hoo!!! I got the very last of the boxes unpacked today, hauled the two sheets of drywall out to the shed (they'd been propped up in the living room for lack of a better place to keep them) and got most everything in that room dusted and cleaned the floors in there for the first time in I don't know how long. (I hadn't been able to GET to the floors for quite some time now.) The only thing that remains to be done at this point is to get both bathrooms cleaned and ours put back in order (remember our bedroom stuff had been shoved in there temporarily--I haven't recovered the bathroom yet), Katie's room cleaned up (it became the go-to place for all of the "what do I do with THIS?" stuff I came across while unpacking boxes), and the boys' closet sorted and put in order. Then I think I'm DONE! I'm hoping to accomplish all of that tomorrow. Time will tell!

One bit of excitement from around here is that James has the soda fountain sort of up and running! His full selection of syrups (Coca-Cola, Vanilla, Cherry, and Raspberry... I think that's right) will be arriving in a few days, but he bought the stuff to make some really terrific Strawberry Cream Sodas the other day! Wa-Hoo!!! The first several were a little weak (it takes a while for the tank to pressurize properly--and being fully chilled helps, too), but by yesterday everything was GREAT!

Step 1: Pour your syrup



Step 2: Add some fresh lime juice, if desired



Step 3: Grab the handle and give it a yank! But preferably a nice, quick little yank, since the carbonated water comes out really hard and fast. If I had taken this picture about half a second later, you would see what happens when you don't let go soon enough. ;-)



How fun is that?! My only real problem with the whole thing is how FAT we're all going to be! Ha! I mean, who has access to Sonic-like drinks at any time of the day or night and has the will power to refrain?! I've done pretty well so far... but what about when that raspberry syrup arrives???

Let's see... What else is going on around here. James took Sam to town with him today, so that left me with Katie and Joe. I adore my children... but they've been driving me crazy for the past week or two with their constant bickering about anything and everything. Seems they can't speak to each other at all unless they're being mean or ugly or nitpicky or whatever. Kate and Joe were at it again today and I kind of snapped. "Enough! I have had enough! You are not allowed to speak to each other again until I say so!!! If all you can do is argue and bicker, you will not speak to each other at all. For the rest of the day, you are an only child! And you, too!" (Not sure how that works, but...) "You have no brother; you have no sister. Don't go near each other's rooms, don't touch each other's stuff, and don't speak to each other. Just go be bored and lonely for the rest of the day!" It wasn't a premeditated plan, but it actually worked amazingly well. After two or three hours of no contact with one another, they were loosed from their only-childness and spent the rest of the evening playing together better than they have in weeks and weeks! They were tandum super heroes of some kind for most of the night...



The only other new of the day involves the vacuum cleaner. This is where the "Losing" part comes in. I hesitate to post about it because it also involves a confession. I've found, however, that public confessions sometimes work better than private ones and blogs come in very, very handy when one of them is in order. So here I go.

I think I broke the vacuum. I'm soooooo sorry, James!!! (No, I haven't told him yet--that's what this confession is all about. I'll update everybody tomorrow on his sweet, loving reaction to the news... thus the purpose of the public confession, of course.) I had it set out today and I tripped over the cord, as is customary when I walk past the vacuum (a little tradition of mine; one of those things that just always happens... you can count on it... it brings a sense of balance and security to my little world it's such a regular occurance), and it landed with a mighty crash flat on its back on the tile floor. This has happened numerous times before, of course, but this time when I plugged it in it wouldn't start up. The little light comes on, but when I flip the switch nothing happens. ~sigh~ My heart skipped a couple of beats when I discovered the unpleasant truth. I love that vacuum! It's and Oreck and has served us well through 6 and a half years (and numerous splats like this evening's) and it is sooooo nice and easy to use and sooooo much more effective than the several hunks-o-junk we had before investing in it. ~sniff~sniff~ It's entirely possible that it's simply lived out the fulness of it's days and died of natural causes. But the timing of its death invokes a healthy suspicion about that last little trip/wham occurance. I didn't mention it to James and surprisingly enough he never inquired as to why I was wallowing around under the table vacuuming the dining room rug one inch at a time with the little hand-held vac tonight after dinner. Now he knows. He'll be reading this within the hour. ~sigh~ I'm soooooooo sorry!!! My plan, Dear, is to call the Oreck store in town when they open at 10:00 sharp tomorrow morning (already looked it up) and ask how much they would charge us to take a look at the vac. I had counsel tonight from a good fiend of mine (not friend) that it would be cheaper to have it fixed than replaced. This is the same fiend, however, who upon learning of the Oreck's unfortunate demise and the possible cause of death (~trip~), said I should tell my husband, "The vacuum quit working, James! I didn't do anything any different than I always do, but it just won't work now!" True though the statement may be, it feels a wee bit deceptive to me. Can you imagine a minister of the gospel giving such advice??? SHAME ON YOU!!! (I know you're reading this!)

In other news, I got a phone call from Camp Director Dustin Hays this evening informing me that I failed to put the tuition prices on the camp applications. ?! How can that be possible?! But it's true. It's not THAT big of a deal because all of the applications were sent out with the Western Skies and with Camp fliers which DID have the tuition listed... but still! Would've been helpful to have it on the apps, you know?

A few minutes later I got a phone call from a friend (not fiend) asking me if it was necessary to send in a deposit with her Camp application this year, since it didn't specify so on the flier. ~sigh~ She failed to see the fine print at the bottom of the application where it DOES say to send $5 per camper along with your application... because I failed to put THAT information in the Western Skies and on the fliers! ~sigh~ What a loser I am. But then she informed me that Dustin is the one who told her to call and give me a hard time about it. I fully intended to call him and tell him what a slimeball he is, but I got caught up vacuuming the rug inch by inch and forgot about it. But it ended up better that way because after about an hour...

DUSTIN HAYS MADE A SPECIAL PHONE CALL SIMPLY TO APOLOGIZE TO ME!!!!! If that means nothing to you, it's because you are unfamiliar with the... unique relationship he and I have. This is almost as glorious as the day last year when he dropped a boulder on my son, forever indebting himself to me. Dustin Hays apologized to me! Felt bad for me and was compelled to have to make it right. Is that not the most wonderful thing you've ever heard??? I'm really glad he wasn't here to do it in person, because the version that played in my mind was probably far better. It involved poor, pitiful Brother Dustin being down on his knees, groveling a bit... even shedding a tear or two. HA! What a great night. I really think it was worth it to make the blunders on the fliers and applications for the joy of getting a real, live apology out of Dustin Hays. ~sigh~ God loves me. :-)

And that brings an end to our adventuresome day. I truly hope tomorrow is less exciting. And remember, James, most of the time I'm a really, really good wife and I break and lose things only a fraction as often as I used to. And keep in mind that I'm really and truly and deeply sorry about the vacuum. AND keep in mind that I didn't take Dus--I mean The Fiend's advice and deceive you into thinking I didn't slam the vac today... ;-)