It started innocently enough-a small puddle of water on the floor. Did something spill? Wipe it up. The puddle came back. Uh-ho. Squeeze in tracking down water into the schedule. I notice that the sound of the water in the pipes is awful loud. Have I mentioned that my plumbing skills are limited to plunging and theoretical knowledge? Now its 2 weeks later and I we are moving shelves (I'm directing and Aaron is moving) and I notice that the carpet in the office is wet. This can't be good. I look at the pipes again (no flashlight) still not seeing anything. Finally call my brother and with a flashlight he sees a break in the pipe in back corner. If I had a flashlight I could have seen it too. Brian fixes the pipe, and snakes the drains. Bathroom working and draining but the kitchen isn't draining still. Leaves me the snake. Aaron and I start to work. 2 weeks and entirely dismantling the underneath of the kitchen pipes and restoring, hijacking Chris and Anthony for additional hands (thanks again guys! I owe you dinner as soon as my dishes are clean again) we freed two clogs in the bottom right hand pipe of the lower end.
Ran more Drano and have since run 4 loads of dishes without a snag...hey only 5 more to go!
Also found a new problem in the mix...small incoming leak at the washer/nut combo...called Mike and heading for a fix on Friday.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Having Fun Juggalo Style
Tryn and Aarons friend Auzzy came over one day and did face paint for them- they are all fans of the band Insane Clown Posse (ICP). ICP fans are Juggalos and Juggalettes.... make up and posing with sharp objects insued.
Wicked Clowns... ;)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Updated Christmas Post and Here's Valentines
Valentines Day was sweet, Aaron got Tryn roses and candy. Tryn got Aaron candy. I got them both necklaces.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thoughts on Frost
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
I have always liked Robert Frost, many of his poems strike a chord in me, I scrapbooked “Acquainted with the Night” in my high school album.
As I’ve gotten older I like this one more and more, the importance of doing what you think is right, of making your own decisions, and of not just taking the easy way cannot be stressed enough. Here’s to taking the road less traveled.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
I have always liked Robert Frost, many of his poems strike a chord in me, I scrapbooked “Acquainted with the Night” in my high school album.
As I’ve gotten older I like this one more and more, the importance of doing what you think is right, of making your own decisions, and of not just taking the easy way cannot be stressed enough. Here’s to taking the road less traveled.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Alex and Molly
On January 27th my daughters brother Alex was officially adopted into the family that he has been staying with since December 2004. This follows the adoption of Molly 2 years ago. Please don't misunderstand me - this is a wonderful thing not only for Alex and Molly and for their families. So what am I trying to say? Have you ever been happy and furious at the same time? Well, maybe furious is the wrong word. I'm really not sure how to express this second emotion. Its an emotion that comes up allot whenever I really think about this situation.
My part in this situation is both peripheral and very involved. My daughter Tryn has 2 brothers and a sister from her fathers second marriage. Zeke, Alex and Eowyn. A few months after Eowyn was born in 2004 the situation dictated that they all went to live with different relatives of their moms. Their mom and dad separated and in 2007 Eowyn was adopted by the Graham family and became Molly Elizabeth Eowyn Graham. A few days ago Alex was adopted by the Hadfields. I understand this - I'm not arguing it. I'm even thrilled for Alex. What stuns me, what amazes me is their father. I talk to their mom occasionally and she tells me how she talks to Zeke and Alex on the phone. I'm not sure how much contact she has with Molly. And of course she has contact with her oldest daughter Shannon from her first marriage.
But Mark, our ex...if he almost never calls our daughter who he lived with for the longest of all the children (10 years) what hope is that he has made any attempt to keep contact with the other kids? That attitude makes me angry and sad and furious and frustrated. I don't want him interfering with their lives but to let the kids drop out of his life? If someone tried to take Tryn from me - it would be war. If health requirements meant she needed to live somewhere else for awhile, I would be writing and calling all the time. I imagine that very soon Zeke will be joining his new family (just a guess) and I wonder how Mark will react to that. Every time he has gotten notice he has called or written me and raged about how he is going to fight it...but never does.
And that is best. The kids are best off where they are with the families they are with, but I wish he would have contacted them and just requested to be kept up on how his children are doing. Send them a birthday present and Christmas present. To me, even if the court says he isn't legally responsible for 2 of his four children anymore, that doesn't disregard a moral or emotional responsibility.
On emotional responsibility - explaining this to my daughter is so hard. She doesn't understand why her dad is "letting the kids go" and she feels like she is loosing her siblings. This is such a hard topic to explain to a 16 year old. Because the kids are so young it is hard for them to remember her and the oldest Zeke who might actually remember her is the farthest away. I want to try and arrange for her to see Molly and Alex this summer now that they will be in the same city - she has never even met Molly, but I have to get this okay ed with their new families first.
I wonder if I'm projecting emotions onto Mark - but another part says no - a responsible parent keeps some kind of contact. Even if Mark only sent birthday cards and Christmas cards its something to tell the child "I remember you".
I'm angry at Mark because it feels to me like he is ignoring his children. I don't understand this attitude. I'm happy that they have family that loves them, and is taking them in and welcoming them. Molly and Alex seem very happy with them and I am so grateful for that.
I remember Zeke, from the time he was born I saw him nearly every day until Mark and Liby moved to Albuquerque. I wonder how he is doing now, he was such a happy baby I imagine him as a friendly outgoing little boy now.
I remember Alex and how scared we were for him when he was born. I was at the hospital nearly every day visiting them. He was always so little, and was still a baby when they moved. The pictures I see now - its amazing, he has Libys hair and eyes and Marks face and build. He seems happy and that's all I can ask.
I never met Eowyn - I watch her grow in pictures. In the reports of her "screaming" I hear echos of Tryns temper. In the comments I see hints of an amazing and independent girl. I remember Tryn at that age, also fiercely independent. I know Molly is her own person, without a doubt. However without meeting her I see her in pictures and through her mothers eyes. I also see her through the prism of her two sisters Shannon and Tryn.
My part in this situation is both peripheral and very involved. My daughter Tryn has 2 brothers and a sister from her fathers second marriage. Zeke, Alex and Eowyn. A few months after Eowyn was born in 2004 the situation dictated that they all went to live with different relatives of their moms. Their mom and dad separated and in 2007 Eowyn was adopted by the Graham family and became Molly Elizabeth Eowyn Graham. A few days ago Alex was adopted by the Hadfields. I understand this - I'm not arguing it. I'm even thrilled for Alex. What stuns me, what amazes me is their father. I talk to their mom occasionally and she tells me how she talks to Zeke and Alex on the phone. I'm not sure how much contact she has with Molly. And of course she has contact with her oldest daughter Shannon from her first marriage.
But Mark, our ex...if he almost never calls our daughter who he lived with for the longest of all the children (10 years) what hope is that he has made any attempt to keep contact with the other kids? That attitude makes me angry and sad and furious and frustrated. I don't want him interfering with their lives but to let the kids drop out of his life? If someone tried to take Tryn from me - it would be war. If health requirements meant she needed to live somewhere else for awhile, I would be writing and calling all the time. I imagine that very soon Zeke will be joining his new family (just a guess) and I wonder how Mark will react to that. Every time he has gotten notice he has called or written me and raged about how he is going to fight it...but never does.
And that is best. The kids are best off where they are with the families they are with, but I wish he would have contacted them and just requested to be kept up on how his children are doing. Send them a birthday present and Christmas present. To me, even if the court says he isn't legally responsible for 2 of his four children anymore, that doesn't disregard a moral or emotional responsibility.
On emotional responsibility - explaining this to my daughter is so hard. She doesn't understand why her dad is "letting the kids go" and she feels like she is loosing her siblings. This is such a hard topic to explain to a 16 year old. Because the kids are so young it is hard for them to remember her and the oldest Zeke who might actually remember her is the farthest away. I want to try and arrange for her to see Molly and Alex this summer now that they will be in the same city - she has never even met Molly, but I have to get this okay ed with their new families first.
I wonder if I'm projecting emotions onto Mark - but another part says no - a responsible parent keeps some kind of contact. Even if Mark only sent birthday cards and Christmas cards its something to tell the child "I remember you".
I'm angry at Mark because it feels to me like he is ignoring his children. I don't understand this attitude. I'm happy that they have family that loves them, and is taking them in and welcoming them. Molly and Alex seem very happy with them and I am so grateful for that.
I remember Zeke, from the time he was born I saw him nearly every day until Mark and Liby moved to Albuquerque. I wonder how he is doing now, he was such a happy baby I imagine him as a friendly outgoing little boy now.
I remember Alex and how scared we were for him when he was born. I was at the hospital nearly every day visiting them. He was always so little, and was still a baby when they moved. The pictures I see now - its amazing, he has Libys hair and eyes and Marks face and build. He seems happy and that's all I can ask.
I never met Eowyn - I watch her grow in pictures. In the reports of her "screaming" I hear echos of Tryns temper. In the comments I see hints of an amazing and independent girl. I remember Tryn at that age, also fiercely independent. I know Molly is her own person, without a doubt. However without meeting her I see her in pictures and through her mothers eyes. I also see her through the prism of her two sisters Shannon and Tryn.
Tryn
Zeke
Alex
Molly
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thoughts on "The Change"
Today is January 20, 2009 and in less than 1/2 hour from now the Inauguration ceremony for President Obama will begin. To be honest, I didn't vote for him, I disagree with most of his politics. But you know what? That doesn't matter now. What matters is that he is our President and we need to stand behind him as a nation, move forward and work together. I wish we had done much more of that when President Bush was in office. If we all stood together more, we would have less of a mess to deal with. What happened to the lessons from 9/11? United We Stand? Have we forgotten that key lesson?
Good luck President Obama.
Good luck President Obama.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas at home. Christmas traditions are interesting and when you add a new family member you learn to incorporate their traditions too. The tradition in our family has always been that you can wake up the parents as early as 6, we can stare at the tree and open our stocking then we have "breakfast" (cinnamon rolls and OJ/coffee) and Dad hands out all the presents. In Aaron's family the kids are allowed to open their stockings any time after they wake up - and for kids who can't sleep that may mean as soon as they see the lights in the house go out. Then they can go wake up Mom and Dad when they are ready -because they aren't allowed to open the rest of the presents.
So how did this blend? I finally fell asleep around 3:00, after getting stuff wrapped, not long after 3:30, Aaron scares the crap out of me because I had fallen asleep with the lap top and he didn't want me to knock it off on the floor.
So now I'm up and awake with an adrenaline rush. So I'm awake. Now, please remember - Aaron had told us about his family traditions, I just hadn't really realized how this would work. He opened his stocking at 3:30 am, the dividing line is opening presents so he didn't open the presents that were in the stocking. Since I was wide awake, he decided to go get cigarettes and energy drinks and see if Tryn wanted to wake up. We opened presents at 4am. I made cinnamon rolls and once the hide/seek clue to Aaron's new sword was off of the coffee pot, I made coffee.
Everyone was thrilled with their gifts. Bouncing off the walls :)
And after awhile - I went back to bed for a few hours. All in all the traditions blended pretty well.
Pictures are still in the Camera...adding those soon.
So how did this blend? I finally fell asleep around 3:00, after getting stuff wrapped, not long after 3:30, Aaron scares the crap out of me because I had fallen asleep with the lap top and he didn't want me to knock it off on the floor.
So now I'm up and awake with an adrenaline rush. So I'm awake. Now, please remember - Aaron had told us about his family traditions, I just hadn't really realized how this would work. He opened his stocking at 3:30 am, the dividing line is opening presents so he didn't open the presents that were in the stocking. Since I was wide awake, he decided to go get cigarettes and energy drinks and see if Tryn wanted to wake up. We opened presents at 4am. I made cinnamon rolls and once the hide/seek clue to Aaron's new sword was off of the coffee pot, I made coffee.
Everyone was thrilled with their gifts. Bouncing off the walls :)
And after awhile - I went back to bed for a few hours. All in all the traditions blended pretty well.
Pictures are still in the Camera...adding those soon.
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