And the training wheels are off...

Bug took her first steps today...it was so exciting, for both of us. It started with about five steps, which grew to nine steps. Later in the evening she walked three quarters of the way accross the livingroom. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Of dirt and weeds...and yucky tummies...

I started to do the gardening today, I picked up a bunch of bulbs that get planted in the fall. Picked up a 40 count of tulips and a 40 count of Daffodils. I did the big area of the front garden, dug it all up with a pitch fork to turn the earth and loosen the weeds and other plants that were growing in there. So far it looks good, now I have to get the other side of the garden box turned and weeded.

I tried to get it done while Bug was napping today, but she only took a 20-30 minute nap. She's not feeling so good today, she has diarrhea, the poor kid. No fever though and she's been eating somewhat and drinking so I'm not too worried about her getting dehydrated. It doesn't seem like a virus or anything like that, more like maybe what she had for dinner last night didn't agree with her digestive tract. She's been pretty active today, about half her normal activity level actually. But that could be due to her not sleeping very well last night. She woke up at around 3:30 this morning and fell back to sleep around 5, then she was up again around 7:30 and back down by 8 and back up again at 9. Poor kid is going through so much right now. When I was playing with her she laid on her back and started laughing, when she opened her mouth real wide I saw the teeth that are coming in. It looks like her upper and lower right pre-molars, which seems odd to me considering her canines haven't come in yet.

Even though Bug's a little under the weather today we had fun. I took her outside with me while I was doing the turning in the garden. She sat happily in her stroller and talked to me while I worked, it was like she was supervising the work as I did it.

Earlier today when I was trying to change the cover on the couch Bug thought it would be fun to try to climb the cushion. I couldn't help but laugh, she had the biggest grin on her face while she was climbing Mt Couch. It's so good to see her playing and having fun. I can't get enough of her smile or her laugh.

I called Strider and asked him to pick up some Pedialyte on his way home, that way we can make sure that she doesn't get dehydrated. If she still has the diarrhea tomorrow I'll call her doctor and try to get her in for an appointment.

Tired....

I'm just so tired right now, but sleep is not on the agenda for about another hour or so.

It all started at around 215am this morning, Remy had another seizure, just like the first one four months ago it was a grand maul. After it was over and he was back to his normal goofy self I stayed up for a little bit just to make sure he'd be okay.

Strider snored most of the way through the night and Bug woke up crying several times. I was so tired by the time 10am rolled around that I didn't want to get out of bed, but I had to. I had to get Bug up and fed.

The morning was went rather well, until I talked to my mother in law. Can I just say that I'm not going to be talking to her for a very long time?

Anyway, after Bug had a good 1 hour 45 min nap I fed her lunch then we went shopping for the groceries. After that was done we got home and I tried to get her down for a 2nd nap, but that didn't happen.

Strider has duty tomorrow so I don't get sleep in, talk about major suckage. Tomorrow's going to be a very busy day for me and Bug. I have to steam clean the master bedroom carpet because when Remy had the seizure he peed on the carpet. I also have to finish the grocery shopping tomorrow and try to get the spray on sealant so I can finish at least one more dining room chair. That reminds me, I also need to do the dishes.

Have I mentioned yet that I'm tired?

Ah well, it's time to give Bug her bath then it's off to bed for all of us. Hopefully she'll sleep through the night so I can get a good night's sleep....providing the spray and breath right strips I got for Strider actually work and he doesn't snore.

The finishing of furniture

I started finishing the dining room chairs today. I got one done, I know, not all that big of a deal, but to me it is. In the midst of finishing the chair I played with Bug, did the laundry and tried to keep the animals from getting thier fur in the stain.

Here's what the chair looked like before I finished it.



















And here's the finished chair.



















I really like how you can see the grain of the wood after the staining. It just looks so good. You can't really see it in the picture, but it looks great.

One down, five more chairs to go. I need to get out to the home store and pick up some more rags and spray acrylic for the waterfroof coating. Once I'm done with the chairs I'll be refinishing the dining room table. Gonna have to pick up new table legs though, the ones that are on their are not just nasty, they're also plastic. My mom gave me the table, she had gotten it after she got married to my ex-father. The wood itself seems to be in good condition on the table top, but I won't know for certain until I strip all the years of varnish and polish off it. I'm hoping it turns out good like the coffee table that I refinished a year and a half ago.

Late summer cleaning...

Today I not only vaccumed the livingroom carpet, I also attacked it with the steam cleaner. Bug hung out in the hallway with some toys while I did the work. She was in a supervisory possition you could say. The carpet looks really good now. Guess I didn't need to hire someone to do it after all.

I also tackled the carpet in Bug's room, it really needed it since our elder cat decided it was a good idea to pee on some of Strider's stuff that was in there.

With all the work I did today I still managed to be with Bug all day and even make dinner.

Maybe I'm pushing myself too hard, I mean, my back is constantly hurting. *sighs* Ah well, if I don't do it who will? Answer: No-one.

Self Image

Why are people so concerned with the way they look? My mom is doing this whole internet dating thing and she asked me to scan some pictures for her. They're old pictures, Glamour shots to be exact. They make her look like she's trying to be someone she's not. I just don't get it.

She said that honesty with someone when you're trying to start a relationship isn't always the best thing to do, I think she's wrong. She also seems to think that she needs to pretend to be someone she's not. She sometimes acts as though she's better then everyone else, like she's in some higher class then the rest of us. It just bugs me. Why can't she just be herself? I mean, sure, not everyone likes the way they look, but why does she have to try to be someone she's not?

Okay, so what, I've been tossing around the idea of breast augmentation for a while now. I'm an A cup, and all I want is a B cup, nothing too big, just one cup size. But I don't feel that I have to wear makeup and try to be someone I'm not to get the world to accept me. I want to do this for me, no one else, me. To give me a better sense of self, a way for me to maybe like my body and the way it looks. Then again, I'd also like to be able to gain about ten pounds and keep it on, but that's never going to happen unless I do reverse lipo suction. Okay so that's a bit far fetched, but hey, you can't blame a girl for trying, right?

I don't see the point in wearing makeup, even when I go out somewhere nice I usually don't wear it. Granted, I wore makeup for our wedding, but that was different, and I think I also wore it for the Navy Christmas Ball a few years back. I hate social functions where I don't know a single person except my hubby.

And that brings me to another point...what the hell is up with this vanity sizing thing?! I mean, come on, are the heavier set women really in that dire of need to feel smaller that clothing manufacturers had to change the size labeling of clothing? I used to wear a size 2-3, now I wear 00-0. Finding my size is really difficult, but the manufacturers of clothing don't really care. All they seem to care about is making those bigger women feel better about themselves because a size ten can now claim to be a size seven. It sickens me.

Ah well, enough ranting for now...

T.S. Ernesto

Well, the storm started in on us around 5am or so I think. By 6am the power went down for a little bit, but came back on after a few minutes. I had trouble sleeping because of the sound of the rain and wind.

After I got Angie up this morning and gave her breakfast I decided to go outside and see what was hitting the side of the house. A piece of the siding was pulled halfway down by the high winds. I called a guy about fixing it, he'll be here sometime this weekend of Monday, he said it would be about $50 to fix it providing it doesn't take more then an hour.

Braving the storm I had to go to the store, we needed formula, milk, bread and eggs. The formula for Bug being the most important. It was when I was getting ready to leave that I noticed a leak in the hall bathroom. The water is dripping in from the exhaust vent. I'm hoping it's not a leak in our roof. I'll ask the guy to take a look up in the attic when he comes over to do the siding repair.

Amazingly enough the store was empty. Considering there's a T.S. and it's payday I was rather happy to see it so empty. I got what we needed and high tailed it out of there. By the time I got home I was soaked to the skin from just going out in the rain for about three minutes total.

T.S. Ernesto seems to have subsided, it's just breezey outside now, so we have the windows open to air out the house. Providing it stays calm like this throughout the rest of the day I'll make another run out to the store to get the rest pf what we need for groceries and such. I also want to stop by BJ's and pick up Brother Bear 2 for Bug.

Speaking of Bug, she's been in such a happy mood today, she took a good nap and was all smiley and ready to play when she woke up. Now it's time for lunch.