Riley's cold

Since I couldn't work on the floors until Tom comes home, I called the Doctor to get Riley seen. We swing by Dairy Queen for a take out lunch. I figure Riley can't be that sick if he wants DQ. He orders the chicken strips and a small Blizzard. He is coughing a lot. I am glad we are going to the Doctor.





Vitals are good but they do hear fluid in his lungs. No fever, but building up to something bad. Riley stopped taking his cyclosporan two days ago. I thought it might help going off the immune suppressants a couple of days early. The doctor orders zithromax for five days and some codine cough suppressant to get through the nights with a good sleep. I am waiting now for a call back from OHSU to see if this is the course of action that they want us to take. Riley sounds worse by the minute as I wait to hear.





Riley and the doctor got a good chuckle when the doctor asked if I had put Riley in a bubble when he caught the disease initially . Riley said "Just about". I can't wait to rip up Riley's room now. Riley went through last year without missing a whole week of school. He blew off the small colds he got. This one is getting worse even with rest and fluids. It was the sanitary room he lived in. That crew of friends who came and remodeled Riley's room into a clean environment kept Riley well last year.





I am motivated more than ever now to get his new room carpet free.

Slow install

Riley was up all night coughing. I called the clinic. No cough suppressnat recommended. Benedryl is OK. They want the kids to cough it up. Riley didn't sleep well with all the coughing. He is now missing his fourth day of school and it is not even October yet. I may end up taking him in to see the doctor.

I took the manual in to Lowes to find the right nails and return the wrong ones. They didn't have the ones I wanted. Not only that but the employee jambed the one on display trying to show me how they did fit. He couldn't get it to work. I told him to use the needle nose pliers to get the jambed nails out. That worked best for Tom. I left Lowes feeling a little frustrated.

Stopped at Ace to return the claw I didn't like. Ours had a suction cup on it. This one just slid right off the bulb. Ace didn't have the nails either. Used to, but they didn't move enough to keep carrying in stock. Ended up back at Home Depot talking to the guy in the rental shop. The most knowledgable person I had found. He told me to remember our conversation from the day before about nails not fitting staple guns and visa versa. Lowes had sold me a staple gun and given me nails to go with it. He showed me the difference again and he was right. I bought a case of nine thousand staples from him.

I almost bought a used staple gun but it looked pretty beat up. He wanted $278 for it. I had paid $400. It would have taken me going home getting the gun and returning it to Lowes and then coming back to Home Depot to buy the used one. I opted just to keep the one I bought. We will eventually do the upstairs bedrooms and the basement, if we raise the floor in the basement which is what Tom wants to do anyway. Or I could just resell it on Craigslist.

It is a cool tool and now that we have the right staples for it, the floor is going in nicely. It is a slow and steady process. I wait on Tom's opinions which slows us down. but he likes to contemplate the project, make sure of every phase. I just wish he had waited for the bull nose so we could have started at that end first. I will love to see how he will resolve that meeting of the boards.

I am now on hold waiting to see what he wants for the doorway openings. He was contemplating doing tile entries which would mean going around those spots. Last night he wanted me to move furniture and toys. I told him I had already moved the furniture and toys once. They had been put back out again. He called the boys up for clean up and then banned them from the room until the floors are done. We will see how long this install takes, if the boys can hold out that long.

I would just rock and roll on it and get it done, but Tom has opinions and thoughts. I can only work as fast as his planning allows. It is pretty though.

I am also ripping out the carpet in Riley's room. We loaned out his air filter to our friend who needed it more. I want to get Riley's room less dusty and do what we did at the old house with solid surfaces and no carpeting.

Lots of projects while we dwell on what to do about Riley's cold and the amount of school he is missing.

Installing the floors

Tom told me he wanted to help. Well, he is doing most of it. I went off to Home Depot to see about buying that air compressor angle nail gun. I looked into renting it but for our time and usage it did make more sense just to purchase one. I figure I can sell it for 50% on Craigs list when we are done and make money.

After trying to rent one at home depot for $134 a week, I knew it would take more than a week to do this project on our time frame with Tom working. Home depot didn't have one in stock to buy. They had one on line but you know us, we are a right now kind of family. Besides the one comparable to the one I saw at Lowe's the other day was $578 on line at Home Depot, at Lowe's I can get one right now at $400.

I checked at two other used repair stores that I had hoped might have a used one, but one didn't carry that kind of item. The other store had just sold one a couple of days ago, but the price he said he sold it for was more than I probably would have paid for a used one. After scurrying around with Tom moving right ahead on the install without me, I finally bought the nail gun and nails and came home.

Tom had been installing the first row using our regular nail gun. I had told him the new gun wouldn't fit to do the first couple of rows, the way it is designed. You surface nail the first couple of rows untill you get far enough away from the wall. He had done only a few boards by the time I got back.

Tom spent an hour trying to figure the new toy out. It had to be assembled. He has never used one before. After assembly we find that the gun needs the male assembly for the air compressor. $400 and it doesn't come with its own attachment for the air hose. I run off to Ace only to find they don't have the size I need. Ace has failed me a couple of times recently. The store has shrunk and they don't have quite the inventory or coverage they used to.

I also needed a new claw as the claw I use to change out light bulbs was broken. That made me mad. I yelled at my children, Trevor having admitted he had been terrorizing Bucky with it, though he swore it was in working order when he stopped using it. Really?

Tom had some light bulbs in the ceiling out in his room. Once it got dark he wanted the bulbs changed. I sent the boys upstairs with the ladder. But the sight of the boys and the ladder was more stimulus than Tom could take in the demolition site, with the boxes open and the new flooring exposed. He sent them back down stairs with the ladder and said changing the bulbs right now was not as important as he thought.

I left him alone to dwell on how he wanted to install the flooring. I headed out to get the missing items, when Ace didn't have the coupler, I headed to Lowe's, where I had purchased the nail gun. It is dark, as it is after 8:00pm. I found the missing item and headed home. I also topped off my tank on the way as I was now on empty. I don't like doing these things after dark, but I was glad to get it done.

Tom installed the needed piece and plugged the air compressor up to the gun. We set up some practice pieces like the manual recommends. Bang bang goes the nail gun, but nothing comes out. No nails set. Tom looks again at the assembly. The nails are jammed in the front. After an hour of digging the nails out, with me reading the dismantling and trouble shooting part of the manual, we realize I had been given the wrong size nails for the gun.

I had asked them to give me everything I would need. What a pain. No coupling for the air hose, wrong size nails, it was too late to go back and exchange or return. I asked Tom if he wanted me to return the whole gun, but he thought it would be much easier than the air gun he had been using. Every few nails had to be hand set when using the straight nail gun. This should just shoot the nails right in at the right angle without as much work.

I will just have to come up with more wood flooring projects to justify the purchase. I had told Tom earlier, by the time we buy all the proper tools we could almost have hired someone. Not quite, everyone was bidding the project at over $3 a foot. The $500 trip to Lowe's is still worth it at this point. I will let you know how we feel in a couple of weeks after we have the floors in ourselves. I remind myself I am saving a couple of thousand of dollars doing it this way. Though at the moment it is all Tom doing it.

Tom's sweat is leaving little round spots of water on the paper vapor barrier. As we are forced to quit for the night due to the gun misfiring with the wrong nails, Tom comments that he is feeling old doing this project. All this crawling across the ground, bending and stooping, we are going to ache in the end.

I can tell once I get started I will have fun with it though, if Tom lets me. He wanted to set that first row himself to make sure it was straight. The key to a good install is those first few rows. We were supposed to wait and let the flooring get acclimated. At this rate the floors will have plenty of time to acclimate despite Tom trying to get started right away.

The delivery men forgot to leave the bull nose for the stairs, which crushed me because that is where I wanted to start. Tom ended up nailing at the opposite end of the room. It is going to be really tough getting a tight fit at the stairs as a result. I hate those tight perfect cuts. It is going to be hard and waist a lot of material getting such a visible area just perfect. The bull nose will be redelivered this week.

Today I canceled work. Riley is home again for the third day. His cough is deep. I called the clinic. They don't like to give cough suppressants as they like productive coughing. They said to take a shower or bath and breath in the steam. Benedryl is great to use. I like to keep the nose clear, prevent more bacterial growth. Tom is concerned but I pointed out Riley is still on antibiotics every weekend. But just on the off chance he takes a turn for the worse, I am staying home from a work opportunity today.

I will do my exchanges at the store and also pick up a new thermometer. All our thermometers are shot. Drives me crazy when I find three and none of them work right, dead or dieing batteries, or just cheap inaccurate. Telling me I had a temperature of 94.1. Just another item to add to my stress today.

I am off to exchange nails at Lowe's. I have to stop at Ace and take back the claw I bought from them. It doesn't have the suction cups on the arms that helps take out light bulbs. I liked the style we had that broke much better. I have to find a decent working thermometer.

I am not too worried about Riley. He wanted waffles for breakfast. Slathered on the whip cream and butter and maple syrup and ate the whole thing. A good appetite indicates a boy not overly sick. We just need to get rid of that chesty cough. He just needs a little more time than most children.

Our friend with the bone marrow transplant finally got his bounce. Numbers blew by Riley's this week. What has taken Riley over a year and a half to achieve, this young man did in two months. That is the difference with the medical therapeutic cure and the real deal. Even though you get closer to death and it is much scarier with the BMT, if you survive, the results are better, stronger, and more permanent. All or nothing with BMT. Way to go to our dear friends. They aren't quite totally out of the woods, but sooner than us.

Off to get that thermometer and the right size nails for the nail gun.

House keeping

I called yesterday to see if our window was in. I had expected them to call me. You would think they would want to get it done and finish being paid. It was in. I scheduled for first thing this morning. 8:30 am a knock on the door put Bucky into his excited barking.

The weather cooperated and didn't start pouring until after the install and the guy had left. Tom and I both commented on how wonderful the window looks. I love not looking through shards of glass. You could also feel the temperature variation between the single pain and the other double pained windows. More heat came into the house and more cold when the weather changed.

We wait now for the floors to arrive. Tom took the day off. He had an eye doctor appointment in the afternoon so this fit well into his schedule. He'll get them to put the stuff in the garage and out of the rain. He is as excited as I. He was wondering through the house starring at the oak floors in the living room. I asked him what he was looking at. "Nothing". He is just like me, dwelling on how we want to proceed. If we hire someone it will be over $3.50 a square foot more for a nailed floor, another $3500, double the cost.

Riley is upstairs sleeping. He opted for another day at home. He said he was tired. He is still coughing and the nose is still plugged. He is still on the immune suppressants for a few more days. Tom agreed with another day at home. We error on the side of caution. The change of weather has sapped my energy also. I think I am going to get some of those special light bulbs for the house to boost our energy levels.

I will schedule a blood draw for Riley this next week to test his levels. We don't see the doctor until the end of October.

The Athletic Director called with Trevor in his office this morning. Trevor is doing well in all his classes. He is struggling with the typing class though so he will have to do more practice at home to increase his abilities. He was two finger typing to start the class. The teacher is showing him how to really type. His first speed test was five words per minute. He is supposed to be 60 words per minute by the end of the year. His first goal is just to double his speed to ten words in the next three weeks. He is learning "Home" for his fingers.

I remember my first typing class. I failed it. I typed 35 words per minute by the end of the class. Poor Trevor has his work cut out for him. I'll find some typing games on line for him to practice, shooting aliens with words before they shoot you. There are some really fun games these days to increase your speed and aptitude.



The news was good enough that Trevor can play this week, for the first time this year. He is excited. We are all excited. The band is also marching in the game on Friday so Trevor has a big week. He tried on his band uniform last night. He thought it would be dorky but once on he really liked it. The under jacket is a tux. He looked stunning and good enough to invite to a dance.

He went to a school sponsored movie night last night. His homework was done before I allowed him to go. He said afterwards I was there too early, he had wanted to stay and chat with people, but it was a Monday night and 9:00pm by the time we got home. He said he may be invited to the first girls ask boys dance, the Tola. The woman in question is asking her parents if she can go. I told Trevor that we would want to meet everyone also. I talked to Tom about it. His first inclination is Trevor is a bit young, but this is high school now. We are still adjusting to that whole concept. Maybe we should make sure we are chaperones at the dance. It isn't until late October. Trevor said it might be a themed dance when I suggested he might need a tux. I still like the idea of a tux, like in the movie "Big". Somthing flamboyant, Trevor could carry it off. He has a style about him.

I stess and worry and get very proud at the thought that he has girls liking him and is popular at school. More parent lectures coming about safety and respect and proper behavior. I can see Trevor cringing already.


Bucky went to the vet yesterday for his rump rash. It was fleas. I almost canceled the appointment as the flea dip on Friday had helped. But Bucky needed his vaccinations and we needed to fill the flea prescription. With the battle with the mice I wanted to make sure Bucky had his rabies shot. I was told fleas were really bad all year long around here because the weather doesn't stay cold enough for very long. The fleas don't die off completely. The last two years they have been rampant. I filled two more prescriptions for the cats. The vet said she could do the cats without a visit. They are probably trying to get control of an epidemic like the bed bugs have become world wide.

The visit cost $230 including the prescriptions for three months of flea coverage for three pets. There are no free pets. Bucky crawled under the covers this morning as the cold temperatures chilled the house. I was glad to know he was flea free as he scooted into me for warmth.

Flooring guys just called fifteen minutes out. Got to go tell Tom. Heart palpitations, I just hope I like the color.

Under the carpet

With Riley sick I look at the carpets in our upstairs with more urge to rip and tear out. Riley's room has carpet. He has already said he wants it gone. I go up to the game room and bring down my tools; exacto knife, pry bar, hammer, screw driver and pliers.

The first spot I check is the back of Riley's closet. Out of sight I can't do any serious damage, but I can see what is under the carpet. At first it looks like hard wood in a walnut finish. I get excited and go to his door where I cut a seam and lift. I pull up the pad and using the screw driver and pliers remove the staples that had been holding the pad in place. I wouldn't want Riley to step on an exposed staple. I pull the carpet back further. The floor under the carpet is not hard wood nor is it laminate. It is like some decorated plywood. There are seams between panels, wide seams. I fear if I rip up the carpet I will expose some funky unfinished floor treatment. I will have to have Tom look at it. I wonder though if I could grout the wide seams between the panels . Hmm, I will dwell on this new different flooring.

Maybe I will go back in his closet and get a better look at what is in there. Rip out a bigger area of carpet. Riley is in the big bed asleep. Both my boys like crawling into Tom's and my bed when they are sick. They revert back to young children again.

TV night has become an issue as we don't have good seating in the game room so our bedroom has turned into the TV room in the evening. Four adults is too much for our king size bed. One of the boys has to sit on the floor with blankets at the foot of the bed. If they sit at the end of the bed they can't keep their heads down low enough not to block the TV from the rest of us.

A few weeks ago the bed on Tom's side collapsed. The long board split where the metal hook is inserted that hooks the long side board to the back board, when Tom climbed into bed to watch TV. Tom stacked some books to the right height and shoved them under the board to support that corner. It is on the far side where no one will see. But Tom has banned Trevor from sitting on his side of the bed, Trevor being the heaviest and most likely culprit to the breakage.

We are going to love having the Game room finished. I am now stressing the delivery of the wood. Now that it is wet and rainy, I am told it is a curb side delivery. I am hopeful I can convince them to back it into the garage, but this is a tricky driveway. They may refuse. If I can just catch a window of dry weather, I can get the stuff moved into the garage myself. I have to carry it up to the game room. I received an e-mail from the store telling me to give the product three days to acclimate in the space before installing. We want to do everything right. We are not moving again. This being our permanent residence, these floors will be with us for many years. No botching the job.

The ships

Just Friday a ship was grounded on an island nearby. It's GPS went out and it lost the channel. When the tide came in the ship was able to float off the sand bank and head back down the river for inspection of its hull. We had a break in the weather Sunday afternoon. Bringing briquettes and hot dogs and fixings for s'mores, we were joined by some of my dearest friends and their teen age children, to watch the ships pass on the river. Trevor had been wanting to do this outing since we moved back here.

I have to laugh as one of the mom's said that the BBQ probably wouldn't last too long as our children are too old to build sand castles in the sand or play in the water. There was Riley shoving huge piles of sand into a castle with my girlfriend's youngest teen age daughter, while Trevor with his life jacket, which is a pre requisite at this particular beach, was in the water riding the boat waves as they came in. These were the little boats. Everyone has to get out of the water when the big ships go by, as they suck up the water and spew it back dangerously. Trevor always whines when I yell "out of the water" for the big ships.

We saw four big ships. Sunday is a great day for ship watching. I am guessing they are getting up to the boat yard for Monday morning loading and unloading. The first ship we saw was heading out to sea, loaded down with raw timbers stacked at least thirty feet high on the deck. The next ship was headed up river. They are spectacular in size. Their size and girth dwarf the channel.

The view of the river itself is incredibly soothing and seductive. We must be constantly vigilant of the teens in the water who can make reckless choices if not watched carefully. Trevor is fully clothed in his going to meeting attire, now covered in sand and mud from the river. I had told him to toss in a change of clothes, but neither boy really expected to have this much fun with their mother.

Its ironic that we are enjoying this lovely day at the beach with the boats and the weather cooperating, as Tom is at a memorial golf tournament for another family in town who had their father drown just last year at this same beach. The father had his boat drift away from shore and went in after it. The cold water and distance he swam wore him out. By the time he reached his boat he was too tired to pull himself into the boat. He drowned in front of family watching helpless on the beach. He didn't have a life jacket. His children are around the same age as mine.


Just down the beach is a big warning sign. Life jackets hang on hooks under the sign. I always bring two life jackets for the boys when ever we go. Trevor is such a fish and he will push the envelope. When I say ankles he hears knees. When I say knees that means full immersion by the end of the day. Life jackets solve a lot of fighting. Riley may get his toes wet, or sit in the shallows feeling the end of the breakers, but he has no interest in the full wet cold experience of really swimming in the river.

The boys and girls sit by the fire warming up. None of them had swim suits. I had told them to just go in their underwear, but being teens they are too old for that. The girls are wearing underwear a little too exposing under their clothes so they follow Trevor's example. Trevor sets the tone when he just jumps in the river fully clothed in his Sunday best. I sigh and am grateful for laundry machines. We toss another log onto the fire.

One of my friends has brought dessert and salads. She had also brought pork strips with sesame and mustard for Hor devourers. The bowls were empty by the end of the night. It didn't take long to clean them out of the food. We had juice and water for everyone. I was glad that no one brought pop. I like Trevor to see he can get by without pop. He is supposed to be pop free during football season. It is nice for him to see other families are also pop free.

We play Bocce on a hard pack area. It is a great game and can't wait to get my own set. I will have to put in a grass area in order to play it. I am contemplating fake grass for low maintenance. I swung by Lowes earlier today, while the boys were at meeting. I am glad to get them reconnected with bible study and a good group of teens.

I took advantage of a few hours with the boys at meeting to browse the hardware store. I want to look at angle nailers with the floors arriving on Tuesday. $399, I think we will rent the equipment at that price. While there at the store I check out retaining walls. There is a fire pit display. The price of the concrete bricks is only $2.28 a brick. I need 48 bricks for the size of fire pit I want. $118 including tax. I am in the Jeep. The store clerks, it takes two, load up the trunk, stacking the bricks 4 high and 4 wide. The car rides low in the back. I drive slowly and carefully home, where I maneuver the car into the garage backwards and open the back door in the garage to toss the bricks into the back yard as my window of freedom does not allow enough time to get the bricks set up where I really want them. I will tackle placing them on another day.

After unloading the bricks I race around looking for the picnic stuff. I can not find my wonderful skewers. I worry that they may not have made the move. I knew exactly where they were in the old house, with all the fishing gear in a PVC pipe. Now I have no idea. I will have to use short ones from the kitchen.

I am relieved when we get to the beach to find one of my girlfriends as a really cool set of skewers with double prongs for cooking two at once. She can handle feeding my Trevor. Riley loads up with double marshmallow sets for smores, when he uses them.


We ended the night looking for a set of lost keys. These had work and house and car keys
on the chain. The father is very frustrated and angry as the last known person to have them was his teen age daughter, who also went for a walk, creating a lot of area to cover. She could not remember where she had put them. I was sad to have to end a perfect day on a cranky note. My girlfriend whose husband it was, was keeping a low profile. She whispered to me that she would not have relinquished her keys to her daughter, ever. We had to give up looking after dark. My girlfriend drove her family home with her set of keys. It is hoped that an ad in the paper and perhaps going back today in daylight to look that the keys might make an appearance.

During the evening while we sit by the fire, Tom calls to tell me there is an auction at the golf tournament. He wants to know his budget. I cringe a little and give him a figure. It is a charity event. He tells me later few were bidding, but knowing Tom, he did his part to support the cause. He probably entertained the room well.

He bought me a diamond pendant and gold necklace, a delicate pretty thing, totally impractical and lovely. Now I will have to buy a dress to wear with it. He also said he bought a few other things. I admire the necklace and will find out later what else we now own. He said there wasn't a vacation home package to bid on. That is always my favorite for him to come home with.

His team during golf was comprised of three lovely hot women and himself. He was thrilled to be playing well and in such good company. The team came in three under for the tournament. He was quite proud of their score. I could tell he had a blast. Should I worry he bought me a diamond necklace. Nope. I know that boy had a great time.

It was a wonderful Sunday for all of us. Thank you God for this beautiful place and this beautiful day.

Riley woke up sick on Monday. Just a runny nose and a cough. But I didn't argue when he wanted to stay home and sleep. I gave him juice and benedril. No fever so far. He had felt it coming on over the weekend, the runny nose. Trevor had had a runny nose last week. He had skipped practice Wednesday to come home and go to bed early after school. He didn't miss school over it, but with Riley we error on the side of caution and let him rest. It has been a big weekend.

Hit and Giggles

Hit and giggles, that is what Tom calls the couple scrambles and dinners the club has. There is one tournament that is really call Hit and Giggles during the summer. Last night's them was various wines at strategic holes. Hor D' oeuvres were also provided at those holes. Dinner was a lovely buffet afterwards with pork and chicken to choose from and green beans and salad. I loved the vegetables since we don't do much vegetables at our house very often.

I arrived in one of my old golfing outfits. We were teamed up with a great fun group. It was my first experience at being the old couple in the group though. The women were beautiful blonds dressed in lovely new golf outfits with stunning summer tans. I felt quite dowdy in my goodwill skirt and collared shirt and pail skin. I had thought it would be colder so I even had my nylons on with control top. Tom loves me in nylons though so he didn't mind.

I played well, making great contact with the ball and keeping my head down and my eyes on the ball. Tom was pleased with my performance. One of the women plays in a Saturday group. My performance warranted an invitation to join them. I don't know though if I can play that well all the time. I really focused with Tom there watching. Of course I never really saw where my ball went once it left the Tee, but Tom said they were great hits. I even sunk a put or two early on before the wine began to influence my game.

I was careful to keep the plastic glass half full of wine. Tom would hit bumps and the wine would spill if the cup was overfull as Tom's was. His beautiful white golf shoes, the right one had a lovely pink tinge to the leather by the end of the night. I tried holding the cups out the window of the cart to keep them from spilling, but that was only partially successful. The key was really to keep drinking it before it spilled.

I ended up with a lovely stain of red wine on both my top and skirt. As soon as we were done with the round, I was in to the pro shop buying a new chic golf outfit. It is stunning if I do say so myself. What the pro had in stock was a lovely orange skirt and a black top in some new material they use in sports clothes today. Orange and black, Tom loved the outfit. He could find no flaws with my attire. I told the pro to charge it to Tom's account. I didn't even look at the tags to find out how much I had just spent. I trotted off to dinner to hang with my husband and the other hot women we were golfing with. No longer feeling quite as dowdy and old and dated.

I started drinking water and sobering up enough to drive us home, but Tom was not done with the night. He wanted to go bowling. He said call the boys and find out if they want to go bowling. Having been home all day, the boys jumped at the chance. We swung by and picked them up. Tom had hoped that others might join us from the club, but just the boys came.

I drove. The boys brought their father's new ball. Trevor says the finger holes are too spread apart for him so only Tom uses the new ball. We all played horribly. We had a great time, but the night bowling is very different and so are the crowds. The music choices I didn't care for as much as the other night. The place was packed with people. Riley said all the stimulus was distracting and it was. The swirling lights and every lane full, the place was having a good night. Tom wanted to go three games but I was done at two. Riley and I watched Trevor and Tom play one more. With just two people the game goes fast.

When we got home Tom was still ready for more. He and the boys went up to the torn up game room to watch a movie. I, on the other hand, had been ready for bed for a while. I slept like a rock exhausted by a full day of activities.

We are hoping to go to the local beach, to watch the ships come up the river with any luck, for a BBQ today but the rains have come again. I'll take an umbrella. I do love the beach rain or shine.

I got the call on my flooring. It will be delivered Tuesday between 9 and noon. I am so excited.

Shaving

The other day Riley took his shaver and gave himself a shave. he was a little too eager and took the side burns all the way up past his ears. The longer hair hung down over the shaved skin. It needed fixing.





I have a friend who does Tom's hair. She is the only one Tom will tolerate. Using the leverage that Riley can go to his father's stylist, Riley agrees to have his hair cut and styled.





She does a great job blending in the overzealous high side burns, making the comment that hair grows back. Riley looks vastly improved and groomed by the time she is finished. He doesn't let her trim his heavy eye brows though. Perhaps next time. She gave us a great price. I had to tip Riley also for allowing the hair cut at all.





We head to Fred Meyer to buy groceries for Wednesday. Riley want to see if they have a book he wants so he goes with me. Italian night for the football team is Wednesday. I am entrees this time. I will be making spaghetti. I bought three quarts of sauce and enough noodles. Bring enough to feed 12 people, but the first 50 in line last time were football players. So I need enough to feed 12 football players, those portions are totally different from any other 12 people. I am hopeful with ten pounds of meat and three quarts of sauce and a whole lot of noodles there will be enough.

Riley uses his hair cut tip money to buy soda and chocolates. he doesn't find the book. I also pick up pre cooked ribs and a roasted chicken from the deli. I was hungry. Tom and I are going out again tonight for a golf and wine scramble at the club. I want to make sure the boys have something somewhat healthy to eat that they like.

Trevor was very sweet yesterday to let me off the hook. I had told him that we could go out to dinner and instead Tom and I go out. I gave Trevor a rain check and offered him money for off campus lunch next week. Bribery with food works wonders with Trev. He even sounded cheerful at the prospect of be stuck at home on a Friday night, with the thought of next week being able to have some pocket money for school instead.

Someone at the club was looking for a sitter for their children in our neighborhood. They could also use help on some home improvement projects. I offered Trevor's name, but said weekends only as he has school and football right now.

Trevor called the number and left a message asking for an interview to see if they like him and would like to have his help. He is a good worker, and he is great with children, incredibly patient and he plays with them. I don't know though if the clean up is accomplished. He has taken the child care cpr class.

I was driving Trevor to the pool to swim with friends. We have some of our best chats in the car as we are both captive audiences. He told me in the baby sitting class they also teach the sitters to have code words or phrases to use in case of trouble and they need to call home and have the sitter's parents come over. Like if the hiring parents come home drunk and try to drive the sitter home, or something happens and they just need their parents to come over. Trevor told me what his code word was going to be. He thought it unlikely that he would need to use it, but I told him when I was in high school my after school job was helping an elderly diabetic neighbor. I had to call 911 a couple of times when she overdosed on her insulin. I also had to call the police when I found another care giver the family had hired drunk and passed out in the house. I called my mother for advice on all those occasions. A code word for "help" would have been nice. The idea is to not alert or panic or anger anyone that there is a perceived problem. Stay calm and bring help.

I like the idea that this potential job would be walking distance. We will see if they feel comfortable with Trevor. I am not sure what I want to do about Riley. He needs to work also I just am not sure in what capacity. We'll see what happens.

Date night

Tom was upset with me the other night because I didn't keep my phone on me while I was at the club for girls night out. He called several times and I didn't pick up.

Friday was bridge day. I am subbing in at a table. I have my phone on me, in my lap just in case. Tom calls. I have a text conversation going with him regarding Bucky and his rash. Riley has a rash I think is ringworm. We are trying to decide who has to call the Doctor. I hate to be texting during the game. It distracts, but my table partners are understanding. Issues at home and minor crisis take precedent occasionally.

The end result of all the texting back and fourth is an invitation to join me at the club after bridge. Friday night at the club, everybody is up there. I am thinking date night, happy times are hear again.

I am sitting with some women after bridge when Tom walks in. He comes over and gives me a kiss, then wanders off to the deck where all the men are sitting. I excuse myself from my group and go join him. But it is all men in Tom's crowd so I go and sit with another group of women on the patio that I know, laughing with them that this is date night and the men are at one table and the women are at another table.

As the crowds change and grow, Tom and I eventually end up sitting together, having a delightful evening talking with friends. There are other couple that eventual rejoin each other having said hello to friends and shared their tales from the week.

The sad story this week in town is hearing about three boys caught smoking pot by the police. They have been grounded for the season from their sport. There will probably be other repercussions. This may effect their college prospects. When back at school one of the boys was sharing his tale of whoa with friends, he was offered an Oxycontin from a peer to make him feel better. This time he knew better than to say yes and accept. The discussion at lunch with the women revolves around the prevalence of drugs in the community. How do we keep our children safe.

I warned my boys when we moved back here that drugs would be available and offered. They needed to be strong and resist the temptation. There would be a lot of temptation. People get caught and their lives are changed for a long time.

I started watering down my glass of wine half way through the evening and ended with a diet Pepsi and a glass of water in order to drive Tom and myself home sober and safe. I planned and made choices to be safe.

I talked to the boys when I got home last night, again, about the drugs in the community. I can only hope that they make good choices when they are put in a situation where they must choose. I hope they walk away. It will be their choice to make. I wont be there to guide them or advise them.

For Trevor, I can make the argument of how much do you love your sport. Do you not love it enough to take the risk of getting caught and kicked off the team. You lose big making the wrong choices and there are no take backs anymore.

Riley is my cautious one, but eventually he will want to explore and discover the world. I pray that he will be safe and make good choices. I pray that I have raised my children to think, to use their minds to see the pitfalls and dangers of certain choices.

I have to say Trevor is working very hard and is on task at school. One of our friends at the club came up to us during the evening. He had subbed in at the boy's school and had Trevor in one of his classes. He wanted us to know that Trevor had been on task and helpful with the other students. People had turned to Trevor for help. He seemed well liked and popular. I glowed with pride. I always want to be a fly on the wall and see how my boys are without my presence. So far so good.

poor Bucky

Our dog has an owie on his rump and tail, just where they meet. I don't know if he was stung by a bee or bitten by a bug. It has turned into a rash. He has been gnawing on his rump for a couple of days. I didn't realize it might be serious. I finally got around to looking at his owie as he came crying to me. I thought it might be caused by fleas or ticks from the back yard.

There was a big matt of hair on his tail that I clipped away. I wondered if he had ripped his hair out because of the clump when I saw it. I try to watch for those matts as they can get big and nasty quickly. His hair is clipped short right now. Especially with the briers in the back yard.

I got out a big yellow pot, big enough to hold the dog. I put some flea dip and warm water in the pot and took it out to the deck. Bucky went in the water without complaint. I could tell it eased his pain. He liked the luke warm temperature. I poured water out of the pot onto the rest of him, careful not to get any in his sensitive ears.

When he climbed out of the pot he tried to get into the house to shake off the excess water. I stopped him at the door. We played a little game of chase on the deck. I could tell he felt better. I then trimmed back the hair around the red soar area. I could tell he had been gnawing at it, making it worse.

I found a cone the cats had used when they were supposed to not chew themselves. It fit the dog but wasn't strong enough to keep him from the area. I found some creams that I hoped might ease his pain. Every hour I rub the lotion on . He comes to tell me when it is time, moaning and whimpering and looking at me with his limpet black eyes. I get out a fresh cotton ball and apply the ointment. He rolls over on his back and relaxes, loving the feel of the ointment.

The healing will take time. But at least now, with the creams on it, he isn't chewing at the area. He loves when I put on the ointment. Hopefully he will heal quickly. The sound of his moaning and whimpering reminds me of when my children are sick and needy. I cuddle him and rub his chest while the soothing ointment goes to work.

If it was a tick or fleas I need to tackle the cats next. They wont get a bath. they wouldn't tolerate it. But I do have their flea meds around here somewhere. Another item on my "to do" list.

Tom called and said his friend with the truck could do a dump run today, early this afternoon. I dragged the carpet and pads out to the front yard. I dragged the pieces of hot tub I could lift from the back yard to the front. I want to make it as easy as I can for the men. I also want to fill up the truck so they don't load up anything I want to keep. Tom wants to get rid of the exercise equipment. I would like to set up a small gym. It will have to be in the basement as Tom wont allow it in the game room.

We still have to configure the game room. We have agreed on the direction of the flooring when it arrives, but we will still lay out some in a dry run first to see if that is really what we want to do. I pray I ordered enough. It should be plenty, but only if we do a good job. I am looking to borrow a flooring nailer if anyone has one. I have a nail gun, but the flooring nailer has the right angle for setting the nails perfectly at the right angle each time. I wonder if there is a tool you can put on the front of the regular nail gun that does the same thing, angles the front end for that perfect set.

Home Depot here I come.

Renter issues

Property manager called. Renter's mid month check bounced. We had already been paid by the property manager for September before she found the check had bounced. We had agreed to let the renter pay in two installments for September. Installment number two bounced.

The lawn has also not been mowed since the renters moved in. She had told me she was a gardener. The grass is very tall now. I had the lawn mower tuned up and in working order the week after I was down there to do the green bedroom floor. There are no excuses. We mowed the week before she moved in. I didn't even have to provide a lawn mower for her. There is also the push mower, but when you wait this long, well...

Rent is due October 1 and is late October 6. If the renter is not on time, the property manager wants to give eviction notice. She says she can have them out in 30 days from time of notice. When they went to check on the property she found the renter now has a dog. $500 security deposit for each pet. Now the renter has to come up with another $500 on top of the bounced $1000 on top of October rent. I told the property manager she could split the pet deposit over two months.

Steep learning curve on this rental business. Our litmus test was if they could come up with the deposit and first month's rent I felt they could afford the house. Should have followed my own rule. All the money up front or no keys.

I hold my breath waiting for next month now. To see if we will have to re list the house. I doubt the other interested party is still available but I do have her number. If the eviction happens I will call her and see. Such adventures. End of November, we'll see where we are with the rental. At least I have it all ready with the furnace newly cleaned and the lawn mower working. I might even raise the rent again. We are still under market for the size and location for a rental.

Potato peals

Tom is always giving me a hard time because I don't like to put the potato peals down the disposal. I will scoop up the peals and throw them away in the trash. I have plugged the sink on potato peals and I don't want to go through that hassle again.

When we do a dish we usually use eight to dozen potatoes. That is a lot of peals. I left Riley to peal the potatoes for the scalloped potatoes. I came home having picked up Trevor from school to a sink full of potato peals. I asked Riley to clean up the sink. I instructed him not to put the peals down the disposal. I was very clear. I said if you put the peals down the disposal it can plug and then you have to use the gross poopy plunger from the bathroom on the kitchen sink. I tried to be as graphic as I could, because he wanted to use the disposal. His father says to use the disposal for the peals. I told Riley if the sink plugs he will have to deal with it.

Well guess what? It plugged.

Riley went to get the gross poopy plunger from the bathroom. He plunged and plunged but the plugged sink would not give. I told him to go get his father. I went up to the game room and hung out there. I am only a mere woman. What did I know?

Tom came downstairs to give the sink a manly try. He ended up underneath the sink opening up the pee trap and pulling clumps of potato peals out of the line. I used the sink an hour later and it plugged again. Tom had to again pull the pee trap out and pull clumps of potato peals from the line.

I asked Riley what he thought he had learned from the experience. His comment was that Dad was usually right about things. I responded "Yes, but he can occasionally be wrong." What else had Riley learned? Not to put peals down the disposal. "AAH." I then told him a few other items that don't go down the disposal. He already knew about bones, but asparagus, celery, artichokes, anything with strands. The disposal is not unbreakable.

I was a little angry and frustrated by the whole experience in that I had been forcefully clear and detailed on why we don't put peals down the disposal. But because Daddy says to do it, my advise was not worth listening to. I am glad a small light bulb went on in Riley's head that even his father could be in error occasionally. I couldn't help gloat a little seeing Tom removing all those peals from the drain. Many a dinner prep have I had to stand my ground as I toss the peals from the sink into the garbage. Or scrape them into the trash from the counter. A few peals would be fine. But the volume of food that we prepare in this house would overwhelm any appliance.

I would rather toss large quantities into the trash than have to plunge the kitchen sink with the poopy plunger or take it apart to drain the line of crud. Next time maybe my advice might be considered.

The victory dance

Varsity Home game was Last Friday. Trev is in the Pep Band. Tom convinced Riley to go with us. I had started the day working for the district. After lunch I went to my subbing commitment at the club for Bridge. I love the intense cerebral concentration of Bridge, The subtle bidding's and the card counting. I can't understand why more people aren't interested in the game. It is right up there with Chess, well not quite, but it is definitely a brain teaser.

I was volunteering again at the game in the snack concessions. Riley hovered nearby, but they don't allow students to help. Probably afraid they will be bribable to give candy away to friends. I made Riley into my runner. He would take food to Trev in the pep band and listen to them play for a while. I was in the concessions away from the band so I couldn't hear them well. I went out to watch a couple of times. Riley said Trevor did well.

Trev told me another boy in the band complimented Trev on his consistent beat. The song I saw him play was new so he didn't know it as he did some of the other songs they had practiced. Trev said the Senior band members had requested that the new songs be played even though the Freshmen may not know them yet. Riley said Trev did really well. It made Riley a little wishful for being in band again, but its been two years. He didn't like the clarinet anyway as it gave him splinters in his lips from the reeds.

Riley could go back to the Chello. This state still has orchestra in the schools. But Riley has his plate full with his honors classes. Turns out only students in honors math can take Spanish as a Sophomore. Something about math skills and language skills facilitating each other he tell me. He is loving the classes. Sucking the knowledge up like a sponge.

At half time both boys show up to talk to me during the rush on the snack shack. I have to raise my voice and shoo them both away as they hover at the counter hopefully and block it from the paying customers. Trevor shortly has to go back to the band. Riley wonders off also. After the game Riley does help with clean up, carrying boxes of pop back to storage until the next home game.

Our team won the game. There was a planned fund raising carnival after the game. Trev wanted to go. Riley was tired. Trev had to take his instruments back and there was a victory lap that was run after every home game win. The kids take their shirts off and run yelling around the track. Trevor thought it was the best of fun. I cringe and was glad I was still cleaning up the concession stand at the time. I got to miss that visual.

Once we reconnect at the school band room, Trevor hands me his new band uniform through the window of the car. It is a classic, with piping and hat. He is not so thrilled about the hat. But he'll look so "Band member" when he wears it.

I drive around to the front of the school and walk in to see this carnival. I want to make sure if I am leaving Trevor, all will be safe. It is well supervised and Trev is thrilled. The loud music discourages me from going further than paying Trevor's entrance fee and giving him a few dollars for food. He is grateful for me bowing out. He does not want to be shadowed by his mother. Riley opts to go home with me.

The party ends at 11:30pm. Trevor calls for a pick up. I told him he could not walk home that late at night and he does not have a cell phone on him. There are enough cell phones on everyone these days that Trevor can always find some one, if not, a Teacher supervising will be sure to have a phone he can use. As I go to get him, he calls again. He and his new buddies are headed to a restaurant. The food was free at the carnival. Just the door fee was needed. Trev has the extra food money in his pocket just waiting to be spent.

I am faster in my car than they are on foot. I drive through the parking lot of the area they were headed to. It is lit by parking lot lamps and students stand in clusters under the lights by their cars. I notice that they have cars. These are older teens. I drive to the school and see that I am in time to catch Trev. I veto the restaurant idea. It will be close to midnight before we are home as it is and I am not driving down here twice and I am pretty sure he doesn't want me sitting with him at the restaurant. Besides the one they wanted to go to was already closed and they don't have enough for the real restaurant that is still open in the neighborhood.

The fact he didn't argue with me and that they hadn't left the school parking lot makes me think that other parents had vetoed the idea also and were on their way to pick up their children and bring them safely home.

The next day I spoke to Trev about curfews. His curfew was at the end of the school activity, 11:30pm last night. He was not old enough to go gallivanting about town. He did not have a cell phone or a car. Football has allowed him the opportunity to bond with older class men, but he was not old enough to do all the things that they could do.

I hope he is beginning to get the idea that he can do these activities as long as the grades are delivered. We all slept in the next morning. Trevor didn't wake until after 11:00am.

I worked on pulling tack strips and staples. The room is beginning to look ready for the floor delivery. I am to the point where I need to move the furniture that I worked around. I cut around those pieces with my exacto knife. Now I need to get to the carpet underneath. All the other areas are done, staples pulled. I can now move the furniture into the done areas.

Saturday, Tom called, after golf in the rain, wanting to go bowling with everyone. Trevor asked if he could invite his friend. Tom said invite everyone. We make a couple of calls and soon we have a group. I wonder if Tom will mind or if he likes the audience.

There was a guy at the bowling alley selling bowling balls and drilling the holes right there. Tom has been wanting his own ball for so long he is excited and asks me to buy him a ball. I leap at the idea. I needed his hands there to measure for the holes with the guy to show us how to measure. So rare that everything falls into place that I leap at the opportunity. We pick out a very cool looking glittery blue and black ball, 12 pounds. The whole thing including the custome holes cost $76 including tax.

The guy goes off to drill the holes while we eat burgers and start our game with house balls. I have picked up Trevor's friend and his brother. Everyone gets shoes and finds a ball. I do love the self sufficiency of this age. I keep a tight leash on the money so at least they check back in occasionally. They can't do much without money.

My girlfriend arrives with her child and a spare friend. The girls get set up on one lane and the boys on another. Tom is adamant that we play three games which I learn is equal to a set. I usually am good with two games. The children were definitely satisfied with two games. The girls lose interest in the middle of the second game and keep sneaking off to play in the arcade between their turns.

We are four women to five men and we are still slower with our rounds. The girls find a machine is broken in the arcade and win an incredible amount of toys before we begin to question them on how they are winning so much. They win a DS and multiple pairs of ear buds and toys. My friend finally goes up to the counter and asks, alerting the management to the problem. But by then the toy give away has virtually emptied the case. Her daughter is guilted into returning a couple of items, but the big expensive wins were the first they had earned. My friend hands over the rest of the unused tickets to the management and the machine is turned off.

Meanwhile we are still bowling. The girls are now subdued having realized that their winnings weren't quite legit and they shouldn't have taken advantage of the bowling alley. In the ride home afterwards I point out to the boys how the girls weren't thrilled with their winnings as they should have been. Trevor asks why because even he had noticed. I explain that it isn't as fun or nice to take advantage of a person or a business. It makes the winnings seem ill gotten gains.

The boys' father was of the opinion that it was all fair. The management should have been paying more attention to what was going on, showing interest in the broken machines spitting out all the toys to the children. It was a busy night though. They did eventually catch on and stop the run on the toy machine. I do figure that the machine has made a lot of money off people over the course of years not to return it now and then. Over all it was an exciting and fun night.

Tom got to practice with his new ball and show it off to an audience of appreciative teens. We had a delightful family night. After dropping the friends off, I went back to the bowling alley to get Tom. My car hadn't had enough seats for everyone. The lights had changed and moonlight bowling had started. Next time we are going to go later so we can do some moonlight bowling. It is so cool with glow in the dark lighting on the pins and big screens hanging down playing rock music videos, and spinning lights. We are definitely doing moonlight bowling next time.

Ordered the floors

I can't help but sweat over my selection. I went with a cherry stained maple, a reddish stain. According to the fine print these floors used to be called Yukon Spice and sold for over $13.Probably way back when the markets were hot. The flooring company SimpleFloors is selling them for $3.79 plus a 5% discount to me. We are also within the 50 mile radius by two miles so they will deliver to the house for $135. That took some pressure to get them to agree. The whole bill will be $3500 including an underlayment vapor barrier.

All we need now is to finish the prep work, and wait the two weeks for delivery. Rent a special nail gun once the floors arrive and go to work. I am just so concerned that the color is right. Tom asked for Cherry. He said it was his favorite. I like the color on furniture. I just hope I like it on the floors. It will be handsome according to the pictures on the web site. I just hope it matches everything.

A window guy came over to show me his window products. Very high end expensive Cadillac of windows. You can stand on the glass and it doesn't break. Tempting after our last catastrophe, but the cost was three times what I am getting our replacement for now. I had to pass on replacing the window with the bad seal. He said the more windows I do the better a deal he can give me. One window wasn't much of a deal. Eventually when we do the basement, perhaps I will have him back to bid again, but I don't need the best of the best, just a decent window will do. Kind of like shopping the floors.

I am getting solid maple 3/4 inch thick 3 1/2 inch wide planks. It took some shopping but it is what Tom wants and within our budget that I set for myself. Life is good. Stick to the budget and keep working it.

Football dinner

I picked up the cake for the football dinner. My assignment was to bring a dessert for 12 to the pot luck. Trevor had picked out the design several days ago. We had the store write the team mascot on the icing. Riley came with me. The line was long at the check out. I noticed there was no line at the pizza and ice cream station. I took the cake over there and asked for a vanilla cone for Riley and while they were at it could they ring up the cake. It cost me an extra dollar for the ice cream, but I didn't have to wait in any check out lines. Riley had no complaints either as he chomped away at the unsolicited treat.

We were a little early to the cafeteria at school. There were parents setting up for the dinner. Soon the big boys started trooping in to sit at the tables. The place was soon full. Extra tables and chairs had to be brought out.

Very few of the boys wanted to sit with their families. One parent near me was asking her son to sit with them but he wanted to sit with his team. I had already had this discussion with Trevor. I introduced myself and the mom. We had a nice conversation going during our dinner. She had brought an entree. Riley melted over it when he tried it. He went back for seconds on it and asked her for the recipe which I entered in my memo on my cell phone. I was thrilled to find Riley liked it and was polite about telling her how much he enjoyed it. I had already had to elbow him earlier when he told someone he didn't like a certain dessert they had brought.

Coach had the Seniors go first, then the Juniors, then the Sophomores, then the Freshmen, then the families. I wondered if there would be anything left for the families. The parents that had brought the food knew the crowd they were feeding. They had brought plenty, enough to feed a football team and their families. Even so I waited until the end of the line had shrunk before I went up. Many of the dishes were empty but there was still enough selection for a very pleasant dinner.

The boys had filled up their plates at the first dishes available. Further down the table were some casseroles and dishes that hadn't been served up as aggressively since by the time the football players got to them their plates were over full and couldn't take anymore food. This left an opportunity for the rest of the families to eat.

Trevor didn't join us until the end when coach told everyone to go home and get their homework done. It sounds like everyone gets their grades checked in a week and a half. Anyone not passing five out of six classes gets benched for the rest of the season. Trevor is taking no chances. He wants to go home so he can get his math done. The rest of his work seems to be getting done in class. Open house is next week, I will find out for sure from the teachers at that night.

Riley and Trevor have the same English teacher, different classes, which will be interesting for the teacher. The teacher is allowing Trevor an extra minute to get from swimming at the opposite end of the building to her class. Trevor says he is running to the class to make up time.

The computer class is more of a learning to type on the computer class. I have no complaints as Trevor is trying really hard to learn the keyboard. That class will help him in the future.

Open house will be a good night for all of us. Trevor is playing a rescheduled football game that night out of town. I am hopeful he makes it back in time to attend the open house with me. I'll do Riley's teachers first. Two games next week for Trevor and then hopefully he plays the next one.
He is excited about getting off probation, and so am I. I hope he can maintain this enthusiasm. I reminded him that the end of the year classes will count also towards next year, so he can't let up even when football season ends. These classes all count now, especially for getting into college as he pointed out to me. I think he gets it. He is really trying hard with no procrastination.
That was the main complaint from his previous teachers. They all said he could do the work, he just didn't. I reserve judgement to be wrong.

wood floors

Drove into the big city to look at flooring stores in person. I wanted to see the products first hand. Monday night, Tom had a co worker friend over for Monday night football. They hung out in the torn up room sitting on uncomfortable regular chairs for two hours watching football on the big TV. I was embarrassed by the condition of the room and that I didn't have a good comfortable chair for our guest. I set myself the task of finding the floors this week. There was also a sale going at one of the stores if I order the stuff this week.

I went to the first store and spent over an hour browsing the selections and asking questions. The sales clerk showed me a more in depth view of the web site on his computer so I could continue browsing once home. He also showed me the instructional sight where the installation guide is located. He gave me a few samples to take home.

While I was in the store I called my mom for advise. She wasn't free to come down and look with me so I asked her opinion over the phone. I took a picture of a couple of floor colors and sent them to Tom over the phone. He responded with "call me". I called and got his take on the products.

What I was finding is up to $2 I could get laminate, which Tom took off the table. He wants the real thing. Laminate looks lovely, but over time you can see the edges and know its laminate. I looked at engineered hardwood which is a veneer on plywood. Those prices ran $2.50 to $4. Tom wants something stiff and hard that doesn't flex underfoot because of the pool table and just the general feel of the floors. He doesn't want something light. He wants a medium to medium dark color. He would prefer solid hardwood, one solid piece, but they start at $4 and go up in price. I am hope with a sale we can get the price into the range we want of under $4, closer to $3. Its a struggle to find anything.

I leave the first place with my samples and drive clear across town to another place my mom thinks might have something for us. It is a large high end flooring store. The clerk shows me one item in my price and it is a veneer. He offers to check the board out to me but I pass as I don't want to have to return it later, do the long drive again just to return a sample. He has no small pieces.

I decide I should stop at Lumber liquidators while I am in town. I should have done it after the first store as they are only blocks away from each other. I have to drive all the way back across town, very inefficient use of time and gas. I spend another 45 minutes browsing as LL is busy. I also talk to some other customers and listen to the sales clerks give advise. LL is much more hands on as they cater to the DI Yer.

I found out that if we float a floor we can not refinish it later. A sander would just bounce all over the place and do more damage than good. You can't nail into fiber board, the nails wont hold. Luckily my sub floor is plywood, I park the knowledge away for future use. I had been wondering what keeps a floating floor together. With Laminate the pieces lock together with an edge that grabs so they don't come apart. With these products there is no edge so I was wondering what hold them together. You glue the edges, put a line of glue on the tongue before you shove the groove into place.

I have done glue. The early laminates were glued. It is messy and can leak through to the surface and mar the surface finish if you are not careful. Gluing is not my favorite. Nailing seems to be our best choice. I have done it. You rent a special angle nailer that sets the nail at just the right angle in the tongue just below the surface so it doesn't interfere with the groove part sliding into place. The nails are hidden from the surface until the final few rows. The nail gun is bulky and wont fit up next to a wall. You have to either hand set those last strings of boards or surface nail them.

I head home with my samples, getting out of town before rush hour is upon us. I call a friend while on the road. She just happens to be heading towards me on the freeway going home herself. We stop to meet so I can show her my selection and hear her news. Before we know it over an hour and a half has passed and we have to rush away having other obligations we both need to be at.

When Tom gets home from work he wants to see my samples. The end result of that conversation is he want to spend the extra money and get the solid floors. I am tending towards Maple over Oak. If I can catch that sale I can pull this off within budget. I am off to make some phone calls this morning to the first store.

Highland festival

The Highland festival was this last weekend. I took the boys to eat fair food and watch the dancers and see manly men throw big boulders.

The weather was hot. Too hot for us to hang out for long. We arrived during a gap in the activities as they were awarding prizes for the morning events and the afternoon events had not started yet.

One of my friends had entered her shortbread into the tasting competition. I had thought to wait around for the results but it was just too dang hot. We were going to the pool to swim instead. The boys enjoyed the day for a short while. While they had money for food. Once the money was eaten up they wanted to go. Trevor was enjoying most of the activities. He like to watch the marching bands with their drummers spinning their drum sticks while they played. He also enjoyed the He Man competitions, the parts we did catch.

Riley was just hot and bored, trying to find a cool spot in the shade. I borrowed an umbrella from my girlfriend. She had one in the trunk of her car. Riley confiscated it for my friend's daughter and himself so they could be shaded even while we walked around admiring the costumed people and the booths.

Riley found a used book sale booth and was able to pick up a book for a dollar. That kept him entertained long enough for us to get our fill of the fair before we decided to go take a nap in our air conditioned houses then meet later and head up to the club for a late afternoon swim.

My friend's daughter thought the festival with people in costume was weird. I found it delightful. I love going back in time and living history. Fairs have not changed much as they once were centuries ago. Men threw big boulders and javelines hundreds of years ago. People wandered through the fair grounds admiring the wares and eating fair food. The concept has not changed in a thousand years. The food is probably safer to eat and it doesn't take days of travel and camping out to get there. It was also nice to end the day in air conditioning and a hot bath.

Falling into my old world

Today I went for a refresher training for the reading specialists at the boy's old elementary. A friend called me to tell me about the training. She had put my name in for me so I could be in on training. The system had been adjusted a little so I had to pay close attention. Consistency is key for these standardized reading tests. The district has a dozen trained reading specialists that travel to every school three times a school year to test every student.

Afterwards, I swung by the district office to fill out my employment papers. I had been hopeful I might still be in the system, but my name had been purged. They will need a copy of my new drivers licence and my social security card. It is lovely to have taken care of those chores already, and know where to find those important documents. I think the DMV gave me my old number back on my license.

Did I tell you I found the titles to my cars and got my new plates. Still need to put them on the cars. The clerk at the title company put the stickers on the plates for me. Now I just need to unscrew the old plates and attach the new ones. I ought to do it while the weather is nice rather than wait for a rainy day. The Titles were in a box that I thought had make up. Instead once I passed the first layer of packing, I found the missing documents from my desk. Now all important items have been located and refiled.

I am now golfing and subbing in for bridge and now subbing in for the school district. It is as if the last five years was a blip in our lives. Now we are back home, back in the lives we had before, down to the job, the play time, and the friends. There is comfort in old habits.

I do miss my friends I left behind and being able to share with them my adventures. I know my boys miss the neighbor children they played with all the time. They loved the bang on the front door, knowing it was more than likely the person on the other side of the door was waiting for them. I like that feeling too when I know that one of my friends is knocking for me.

I am still trying to get down to Portland to look at a sale on hardwood floors, but am finding my calendar is getting booked up. I may have to miss nine holer's golf in order to catch the sale. Which could be a good idea as the blisters from wearing golf shoes that no longer fit my feet after five years are still healing.

Riley, last night said he wished he didn't have to go to school. I asked if it was because he didn't like school or he just wanted summer to continue. I held my breath waiting for the answer, worried there was something wrong. He said he just liked summer to continue, so I breathed again.

Trevor is loving school though he is exhausted by it. We are calling bed time still at 8:15 pm. This is for high school boys. They don't even argue. Trevor is asleep within 20 minutes. He tries to read for a while, but when I went to tell him lights out, he had already turned the reading light out and was asleep. Even Tom is asleep by 9:30 pm.

I am going to try to slip away for a quick weekend at the beach with the boys. Trevor doesn't have football on the weekends. A friend suggested a BBQ Winnie roast at the local beach. I am enamored by the ease of that idea. The boys wanted to watch the big boats go by on the river. We haven't done that since we have been back yet.

We were invited to a local block party. The street up the hill from us has an annual event. The Grand parents who have lived there most of their lives, get together and host a BBQ inviting their children who have grown and moved away back home with the grand children. It is a great way to reconnect for the grown children with their old friends, and for everyone to show off their grand children and children. The City Fire Marshall lives on the block so the fire truck came by for the little children to see and play.

The 90 degree temperature was a little melting, but a wading pool was set up in the yard for the children to splash. My boys went into the house to watch the football game with a couple of other adults where it was air conditioned.

I was proud of the boys as they behaved well and were social with everyone. They were the only teens that came. I had been hoping that other teens might come so the boys could meet more people their own age in the neighborhood. The food was delightful and varied so they didn't mind that they were the only teens. Provide good food and a big TV and my boys are quite content to enjoy themselves and be personable.

We also went up to the club pool this weekend to cool off in the heat. The weather was so warm and the pool looked so inviting that even I got in. The water was luke warm from the heat and murky from a day with lots of bodies in it. I was just grateful it was open since it is past Labor day and school has started. Weather dependant usually the pool is permanently closed by now once school starts. It felt lovely on such a hot afternoon. I didn't mind the number of children splashing around. We stuck around until closing around 7:00 pm, when the numbers dwindled and we had the pool virtually to ourselves for a good 45 minutes.

Carpets

Tom has a friend with a big dump truck or pick up who has agreed to do a dump run for us. We are getting everything out that we can to accommodate the one big dump. Tom took the saber saw to the broken hot tub and sawed it up like slices of cake. If only it had really sliced up that easily. The job took a couple of days. Nasty nests of black carpenter ants broke open under the saw blade. We now have big slabs of foam insulation and fiberglass in manageable weights and sizes, and the carpenter ants have to find a new home.

The other night I asked Tom if he wanted me to rip out the carpet in the game room even though we haven't decided on the flooring. I was hopeful to know if he wanted to include the carpet in the dump run. We have been discussing prices and options on replacement flooring. Tom wants something heavier and less flexible than laminate. He wouldn't mind a thick engineered floor, but non of the thin stuff. He tells me he really doesn't care that much but as we discuss I find he cares a lot about the selection. We would love to match the natural oak floors in the living room.

As I do my research I find that the only way to really match that flooring in our budget is to put in unfinished floors. The engineered floors have eased edges or beveling. They do that to hide any discrepancy between boards in thickness or seams. I like a smooth finish with no creases or seams to catch dirt The finished floors are several dollars a square foot more expensive than unfinished. But I am beginning to think to achieve the results I would like and have that traditional smooth finish I may need to go unfinished. We could do it and still stay in budget. It just might take a few days longer do to the staining or the three to five coats of polyurethane I would want to put on to seal it. Tom is dwelling on the idea as it is a little more work. He wants to chat with people who have done unfinished floors.

Tom did give me the green light to rip out the carpets up in the game room so I didn't hesitate to begin. We want to dump that carpet. Carpet hides all sorts of sins. This wasn't hiding anything as you could see the stains right on the surface. As I began removing the pad underneath I found huge areas of dark damaged sub floor. I think either the material had been left out in wet weather or the roof had leaked or some big water damage had occurred. Several of these water damage spots were under the carpet in various areas.

I am guessing the carpet was original to the house, 1989. Over twenty years and it had served its time. Either that or as I have always said carpet just never gets clean, ever. It just collects filth, especially in neglected corners.

The room is around a thousand square feet. We have already put some furniture in it. I move the furniture from one area as I rip out the carpet and pad then move the furniture back. I will need to take a couple of days to do this project. The staples will need to be pulled and the tack strips. I'll do that while the boys and Tom are at work as that is noisy work pulling the tack strips.

I had the boys help me for an hour today. That is all any of us could take with their whining whether the hour was up, could they get water, they had to go to the bathroom. It was also hot in that room as it is not connected to the air conditioning in the rest of the house. When the time was up I was amazed at the progress they had made despite the hyperbole. Still much more to attend to but we have made a great start.

I am going to paint that sub floor while we wait to decide on the finish floor. I want to seal it from further damage in the future and give it a clean look. It may be a while before we can decide what to put down instead, but we just want it clean regardless. I want to be able to still have guests come over and use that room and not have it look too unfinished.

I am grateful that Tom doesn't want to put carpet back in that room, nasty stuff carpeting.

Water Boy

Coach has assigned the task of water boy to Trevor. He has these green Gatorade bottles, six of them to a tray. He has to keep them filled and hand them around for the boys to stay hydrated on the sidelines. He catches the boys coming off the field and shoves a bottle into their hands. When the bottles are empty he fills them out of the three five gallon water jugs that sit on a table on the side line at the fifty yard marker.

I was impressed that Trevor stuck with it the whole game. He pushed water on everyone. He kept the bottles filled. He stayed focused on the game and his task. The coaches patted him on the back as he did his job, letting him know they noticed. He also got to go out to the huddle on the field during time outs to hand round the water. He liked that part as he hustled out.

We noticed one other boy in shorts on the team side line, perhaps another probationary Freshman.

I waved at Trevor to let him know I was there. He waved back. Riley was bored but we had met at a restaurant before the game and he had eaten, so I felt that he had received a treat for his time. He had still not figured out where to catch the after school bus, as a result he had to come to the game with me. The weather was beautiful. A friend and her daughter arrived to give support. Her daughter and Riley wandered off to get candy at a store nearby. I gave Riley $5 to spend.

Trevor's team won 33 to 14. We headed home.

Trevor needs a waterproof watch. He needs to know the time at all times. He regretted the big lunch off campus as his swim class is right after lunch. He made it back in time but the work out was hard on an over full stomach. Swimming is hard work. He said he was exhausted just by the dozen warm up laps. He will definitely get in shape with swim conditioning. He said his football coach wanted him in weight training but I think Trevor will do well with the swimming. There is more efficiency of time with swimming, less interruptions from changing machines. Trevor will get weight training eventually. He said there were a few other boys from football in the swim class.

So far no homework other than to get me to sign parent agreement forms. Two games down and two to go before probation is over.

Riley is reading Frankenstein for his first book in Honors English. He is not thrilled. He finds it depressing and the language difficult. I offered him a copy from the junior collection. We have a copy somewhere. I thought the boys might like to read it last year, but neither one was interested at the time. Riley doesn't like scary or Horror. He didn't even finish the Harry Potter series as it got too dark for his tastes. He likes happy endings for everyone.

To be at the brink of death changes a person. He doesn't like to dwell on the dark side. He has even become friendlier even through male puberty. Where Trevor will angrily answer me, Riley will respond with a hug. He avoids conflict. He likes a happy place. He has taken to heart our Grandma Yama's mantra "You only get one shot at this life. You can be happy or not. You choose." Yama lived way past two husbands and had some tough times. Very little ever got her down for long. The boys remember her fondly with happy memories.

Both boys are liking their first days of school. Riley says his Spanish teacher is full immersion. All instruction is done in Spanish with very little English. Both boys try to brag about who's teacher is the most fun and interesting. I love their engagement, and am grateful we got through the first week without too much incident. I told Riley to ask the bus drive where he will be parked after school, so he can finally ride the bus home.

Still waiting on the call back for how much the window will cost us. Once ordered, it will be two weeks before the window will arrive for installation as it has to be shipped. Because technology changes, the glass will be a slightly off color from the rest of the windows. It will be a better R factor and a stronger window, but kind of like matching paint colors from a different can on a patch job, the glass guy said it wont be exact. I would have to replace all the windows at the same time to get the glass all to match. Then a different window would probably get broken. I am not that fussy. You would really have to stare and look for it to see a difference.

The glass guy came recommended by a couple of Tom's construction friends. While talking to him he said the majority of his work used to be new construction, big jobs. In the last three years that pool has dried up entirely. Now he stays in business doing jobs like mine, broken windows. It is a scary realization how far our economy has tumbled. I wonder if we will ever see it robust again in our life time. I wonder what my boys will do to succeed.

Tom told Riley if he graduates early from High School, Tom will help pay for college and Riley wont have to get a job. Of course Tom is not talking private school and Riley will still need to try for scholarships. I just want the boys to succeed in High School and have fun. The post school years will come soon enough.

How the first day went

Riley and Trevor saw each other at lunch. Their lunches coincide. That should be nice for them both. Trevor had papers for me to sign, the rules of the classroom and expectations, also supply lists for each class. I will be picking up calculators for the boys.





Riley also had papers for me to sign, once I asked him. I told the boys to make me copies as the papers that need signatures have to be handed back in, also have the supply lists on them. I found it a little irritating that the teachers hadn't put the signature page on a separate form as the lists or had us sign the front page of the expectations part so we could keep the shopping lists.





Riley came in hot and sweaty after school. He had walked home as he couldn't remember what bus to ride after school. He hadn't called as he didn't know the house phone and thought I had changed my cell number. He drank a big glass of water and then a second glass. The hill we live on is steep. I was impressed with Riley walking home.





Trevor got out of practice and called me to be picked up. His football hoodie had come in so I called the mom that is getting the names put on them, she met me at the practice field where I gave her the money for the name printing and the sweatshirt.





Trevor has a football game after school on Thursdays. I told Riley if he goes to it today, I would treat him to some food. Trevor was excited Riley would stay to watch it, even if Trev doesn't play. I just count the weeks until he can play again. Trevor wore his jersey to school today for game day. He said that he and some other boys were going to go off campus to subway and bring lunch back. I told him I was not paying for off campus eating and I tried to discourage the idea. He will tell me all about it after school, if he made it off campus for lunch. I warned him if he was late to his afternoon classes there would be consequences.





I went golfing with my old girlfriends yesterday to distract me from first day of school. Played nine holes and shot a 70. I am not unhappy with the score. It gives me plenty of room to improve. I enjoyed meeting the new members of our nine holers group. It was such fun to have a social life again. I even subbed in for bridge a couple of days last week.





Tom told me to get either a real career job or don't get a job. He said a part time minimum wage job interfered with his plans too much. So I dwell on what I should do. My thought is to get the boys through high school. I might work for the school district as the hours are more to Tom's liking. He didn't like my working weekends, though I did enjoy being out of the house hanging with adults. The shuffling of Trevor to sports was a pain, but now that we are in high school, even that has resolved itself. Trevor rides the school bus and the games are during the week.





Now that we are back in our old town with our club, hanging with adults is easy. I just jump in the car and head to the club.





Tomorrow the reading specialists train. I used to work in that department. They go through each school three times a year and measure the progress of each student. Teachers can target students falling behind and get them help quickly. I will call and see if I can get on the list for training.

I am waiting on the glass man to come to give me an estimate on my windows.