What’s Happenin’, Hotstuff?

What has been going on? Oh, a little of this, a little of that. Time for a check-in, don’t you think?

Today’s big happening is that I recaulked the shower in the master bath because it was starting to leak water onto the floor. I don’t know how the professionals make it look so seamless and perfect when they do it. Practice, obviously, because I’ve never done it and that’s why it looks terrible. However, all gaps have been filled and therefore when we take showers in the morning we will not step out from the shower into a puddle of water, so I consider it a success.

Tomorrow CootieBoy goes to camp with our church. It’s for five days just outside Asheville and is the last year he is eligible to go. Next year he’ll age out. He’s looking forward to it, and Denis and I are looking forward to a week of no kid-squabbling. That’s always awesome.

Speaking of awesome, Denis and I went to go see Beck in concert last week in Charlotte. It was a really fun show and we both enjoyed it a lot. We had fantastic seats very close to the stage although the pit in front of us meant that we were required to stand the entire show. Between Denis’s knee and my abdomen hurting (as it does when I stand longer than one hour at a time), we were a pair. But we were a pair enjoying the concert and marveling at the constant smell of weed all around us. *lol*

Ice the Dog is a character. He is a big scaredy-dog and, as I told someone on Facebook, he doesn’t so much walk as he cowers and scoots. Poor thing – he has NO confidence whatsoever. He has major separation anxiety that has resulted in him chewing things, going to the bathroom in CootieGirl’s room, and a constant need for affection. However, he seems to be trainable to a certain extent and so I’ll be taking him to obedience classes in August. I bought a used crate for when we are at work so that he can’t be destructive, and he got out of it twice. I eventually recorded him and the little escape artist was able to get himself out in under three minutes. *sigh*

Denis’s knee surgery recovery took a major turn for the positive when he started physical therapy last week. He is now mobile without having to use crutches or a cane, and while he still feels tweaks of pain every now and again, it is manageable. He leaves on Thursday for a weekend with his pals in NYC and with any luck he’ll have a great time (I’m sure he will).

On Thursday my parents arrive and will stay for a couple days before taking both kids with them to Virginia for a week. I can’t believe that three weeks after their return from my parents’, the kids go back to school. That’s just crazy. This summer has sped by.

The Summer of Landscaping is still afoot. We had a tree service come out in mid-June to cut down some trees and cut back some others we were keeping. It really opened up the space, but it also exposed other things in the yard that need to be removed. Tomorrow I have a landscaper coming to create a clean slate back there. He’s going to rip out the remaining ivy, some small dying shrubs, get rid of the Virginia creeper vines and small accidental trees that were exposed when the dead trees were cut out. Then I’ll schedule the tree stump grinder to come later in the week and get rid of the stumps. At that point we’ll have a complete blank slate ready to transform. Denis and I were thinking of pouring an extended patio, but then Denis remarked that he’d probably never use it if it wasn’t a screened in patio. So I’ve been working on getting quotes from various contractors for a very simple patio. We have a limited budget and can’t spend the moon on it, so we’re hoping we can find someone that will give us a reasonable quote. Especially since the 14×17 concrete patio is already there! My hope is that if we are able to do an enclosed patio that we’re able to get HOA permission for that by mid-August, with an eye on building by mid-September. Then I can bring the landscaper back in late September to do the yardwork – that timing would be PERFECT if it works out that way.

I think that’s about it for now. Pictures below!