Twas The Night Before Christmas….

And the mom screwed up the Christmas presents….. 

Santa can't sneak by ME!

I thought I’d be smart this year, since the kids claimed to have discovered their presents before Christmas last year, and I had everything sent to work, then we loaded them into Mrs. P’s van, went to church, sent Jeremy and Tim out in the snow to take the presents out of her van and put them in the back of the white truck (Gabe’s dad’s). I even hurriedly pointed to it, since it was freezing and snowing and I was trying to keep from busting my arse in my boots…no, not the warm winter ones, the 3 inch high heeled ones….

A bit later, Gabe’s dad came back in and said “There is nothing in the back of my truck, are you sure you put them in the RIGHT truck?”. Panic! Ran out to look for the truck I’d pointed out, it was gone. Luckily, I know what pretty much everyone drives and was pretty sure we’d put them in Jim’s truck, rather than some total stranger who’d shown up for the Christmas Eve service. I tried calling Jim from church but they weren’t home yet, Jeremy said we should just go home and go get them after the kids went to sleep. So, we loaded up, went home, called Jim, he’d found them, but there seemed to be one missing. I called Mrs P to see if we’d left one in her van, and we had. 

So, completely exhausted, Jeremy and I dragged our butts off the couch at 1 am, after the kids had fallen asleep in the living room floor (trying to catch Santa in action) and headed out. It had snowed 18 additional inches during that time though and was still coming down hard, the roads hadn’t been plowed. What to do? The kids can’t not have Christmas just because Mom is a blonde! 

So we putted along, in 4wd the whole way, unsure if we could even make it up the hill to Jim’s house, let alone up the hill to Mrs P’s house also. We did though, it went off without a hitch and we pulled back up my driveway at about 2 am. Unfortunately, at that point, we couldn’t make it back up and had to carry everything up. 

By the time we got up here, got settled in, got everything wrapped and under the tree (with the kids still sleeping in the floor), it was after 4 am.  At about 5:15, Gabe came screaming up to say that Santa had come and could we open presents? I pulled him into bed with me and managed to milk an extra hour or so before we had to go face the music. The absolute ecstatic excitement of the kids was well worth the trip though. Next year I’ll have to come up with a better plan!

 

Santa can't get by ME either, and if he does, my guard dog (puppy) will surely wake up!

 

What?? How'd THAT happen?

 

The stockings were hung from the....wall....with care....

Rockband for the wii! Drums included!

 

2 Nintendo DS's!

 

Is it? Is it? It is! It is ALMOST a full smile! He's been wanting a PSP for YEARS!

Santa brought Jeremy a new watch!

 

That didn't take long...

 

Clean up the mess? What mess? I have a DS and that is all that I care about!

Another Kid Funny….

While we were at the airport on Sunday, Clayton and Elizabeth were running around, creating chaos as usual. Clayton has “heelies”, which for those of you who aren’t already aware, are tennis shoes with a wheel built in the bottom. This means he can move faster, plow more people over and just be more annoying in general and the airport makes a great “heely park”. After they got tired of running around, they went to check out the arcade and were looking for quarters that might have been left behind. Jeremy and I are sitting upstairs from the arcade (the Boise airport is small and not a very busy place) and Elizabeth comes running back up to say that we need to come help them with something. After some questioning, she spills the story. They found a quarter underneath one of the games. They tried to use their CELL PHONE to reach under and knock it out. They got the cell phone stuck. I was pretty puzzled at the sheer stupidity of it….nearly losing a cell phone to get a quarter?  Luckily, the machine wasn’t that big so we were able to tip it back long enough for one of the kids to grab the phone. The quarter stayed were it was, out of principle.

One of those days…..

Don’t worry, at this point, I’m just laughing about it….I’ve given up. Or maybe it is lack of oxygen…who knows.

Got a propane delivery arranged finally. Had to be home so they could pressure test the system. They delivered a day early, I wasn’t home. I called, proceeded to throw a hissy fit, got them them to agree to send someone up on Thursday (original day of delivery, my day off) to hook it back up. Didn’t pass pressure test. Told me to call someone to come find the leak. Finally find a company that will come all the way up there, takes all of a half hour to find out that there is a gas line that comes up behind the refrigerator and the cap is just loose enough that it leaks. Whew! Easy fix. Gets fixed, repairman hits the road, call gas company, hoping they can come back up, retest and hook propane up. Nope. Next week sometime. Reminds me of this little funny that I found last year and had set as my work wallpaper for a long time.

What a week!

Lets see, we were short staffed at work all week, so that makes it just crazy to begin with…then Tuesday, I got hit with several calls in a row that were just difficult, a single dad wanting to commit suicide, 3 that weren’t even our patients that had nearly deathly high blood pressures and a woman whose husband of 20 some odd years had walked out on her that morning unexpectedly and she couldn’t cope. At about 4pm, I suddenly started having stabbing pains under my rib cage on the right side, at first i could kind of stretch out and it would almost go away, but an hour later, I was having difficulty talking through a call and Julie asked if I was ok…I said I didn’t know, explained what was happening and when I got off the next call, Talitha was standing there.

I explained it to her, she dragged me back to Dr Nielsen, who said it was likely my gallbladder. He gave me a prescription for painkillers and ordered an ultrasound for the next morning and i headed back to my desk. I was trying to finish out the day, with only 15 minutes to go but I simply could not talk through my calls, so Julie went and got Talitha again, who told me she was taking me home, there was no way I was driving, and to log off the phones and get ready.

So…I did. Logged off, got my stuff and went back to wait for Talitha to finish up a few things and just as we went to leave, it hit me so hard. I was doubled over, on the floor, could not take a breath, could not talk, could barely move. It didn’t go away like it usually does. For about 10 minutes it was like that. Talitha was getting a little scared and said we just needed to go to the ER instead. So, we went, but after that last really bad one, it seemed to be getting better. Well, no one wants to be the one sitting in the ER, making a big fuss over absolutely nothing….

They ran a whole bunch of tests, put an IV in, got me up for an ultrasound and basically the long and short of it is, they are almost certain that I actually passed a gallstone, which is fairly rare apparently, and there are no more in there.

So, I’m extremely relieved that I don’t have to have surgery, besides a little bit of weakness and fatigue, I am fine now. I wouldn’t have expected something like that to take a toll, but I’m just not quite back to normal yet. I did go into work at 10 am the next day, because I knew there was no one else to help out.

Thursday was my day off, and I got the kids registered for school, all three of them in for a Dr appt for the first time in a year and a half (they haven’t been sick or anything!), all three are healthy as can be. Then I surprised them with a trip to Roaring Springs, the water park. We had fun, got sun baked, unfortunately I was feeling pretty tired, but we still went on everything in there, some of it more than once and had a total blast!

Friday, the nurses at work came up and asked if I wanted to come with them for a drink after work and I agreed, with the intention of getting a quick one and then heading home. I’d only had a few hours of sleep the night before and was pretty tired. We headed over to the Ram restaurant for a couple of beers and I let them talk me into going on over to the Buffalo Club. Gabe was with his dad and I figured at 12 and 13, Clayton and Elizabeth should be ok at home for a bit, heck I was babysitting at that age.

We had a lot of fun, did some dancing and just made outright fools of ourselves. Apparently the tradition is, they always say it is Rosie’s birthday (unbenownst to her, she tries to watch them every time to keep them from doing it, but they get sneaky and do it anyway) and she got cake and a Happy Birthday at the Ram, and then at the Buffalo Club, a song and called up to the stage to do a shot.  Terrie and I faked our way through the “Cotton Eyed Joe” out on the dance floor alone. I had not actually been out to dance and stuff since before the kids were born! Definately not something I’d want to do all the time but the girls are a great group and we had a lot of fun. It is nice to spend time with other people who don’t mind being dorks!

WARNING: Though innocent in nature, the photos below may not be suitable for those with sensitive natures!

The Second Boat Story….

Here it is! I finally have a moment to write it out, but I know it has been a few weeks, so hopefully I don’t miss any of the important details!

The Saturday we took the boat out was an absolutely beautiful day! It was in the 90’s, our first really hot day of the year. I’d taken the boat in that week to have a few things looked at and it was running great.  We got to the boat launch, put it in the water, Marie and her kids showed up, so we took off through the canyon and zipped out into open water. After a while, we decided to go ahead and put the tube in the water and get the kids on it, and they had a lot of fun with it!

We had to meet Karen and the kids at the boat launch, so we dropped Marie and the kids at a dock and Jeremy and I went and got them and took them out too.

I finally got Karen on the tube and was doing my best to dump her off into the icy cold water, when the boat started dying. At first it was just frustrating, get all the way up to full speed and it would just stall….so we headed in to let it cool down for a while and make some hot dogs.  Let me stop for a moment and add the fact that someone (me) forgot to bring a grill rack for the camp stove, so Marie cut open soda cans and put the hot dogs in that to cook!

We ate, swam for a while, a few people got pushed off the dock (myself included) and I finally decided to take a couple of the kids back out. The boat seemed to be running fine and then it died and I couldn’t get it restarted. Finally after about 10 minutes, I got it going again and we headed back towards the dock, but it died again just short of the dock. Another 10 minutes and I finally got it going again. 

We decided at this point that rather than risk taking some of them back to the boat launch and not making it back for the others, we should just try to get everyone and everything back in one trip. At least if we break down, we are still all together!  We stuffed 16 people in my 6 person boat, along with coolers and supplies, and Jeremy in the tube behind the boat.  It looked a little something like this…

So off we went…..and it was all I could do to keep the boat going. We came around into what should be the “no wake zone” except the bouys weren’t out yet, and every time I tried to slow to the required 5mph, the boat would start to sputter and die, so I finally decided just to leave it and just get in. We came around the corner into the general area where the boat launch is and there was an Army Corp of Engineers boat right there. They waved us down and asked me to kill the engine, I explained that we were having trouble and I might not be able to get it restarted but they said that was ok, so I shut it down.   Marie asked me if I thought I was gonna get in trouble and my response was pretty much “it is just the Army Corp of Engineers, they build dams, not write tickets!”. Uh yeah….turns out they DO write tickets. However, I explained the situation, why we were way over capacity and going so fast, got a lecture about it, the kids got coupons for ice cream since they were all in life jackets (though Jeremy wasn’t too thrilled to be asked his age when they were handing out ice cream coupons to those under 13), and the guys took them on board their boat and escorted us back to the dock. 

Thanks guys!

So…the boat is back in the shop….hopefully it is something simple.  Until the next adventure, I wish you ‘Fair Winds and Following Seas!’

The H.M.S. Dream Maker

She’s a runner! We showed up at TriState Marine this morning at 9:30 and a very nice mechanic named Kasey dropped everything to come take a look at it…tested a couple of things, put new spark plugs in, tweaked a few things and actually got it to sputter and start, but he thought the ignition module was bad….which sounded weird to me but what do i know? It was an easy fix and less than an hour and a half after we got there, we were pulling away, boat running like new!

I keep going out there and starting it to make sure it will still start and it starts first time! It is so awesome!

I finally got around to putting the lettering on it….for those of you who don’t know, HMS stands for Her Majesty’s Ship, which is actually a British thing….but it works for me too Dream Maker has a dual meaning…it had been a dream of mine for a long time to own a boat….and it is also the name of a very dear friend’s business. So…HMS Dream Maker it is! 

I can’t wait to take it out on Saturday. We have a big day planned, Jeremy will be here (woohoo!) and Karen and Marie and all the kids are coming down and it will take a few trips to get everyone there, but we’ll pick a dock somewhere and get everyone settled in and make some food and then take a few at a time out for a ride on the boat and just hang out. It is supposed to be really hot this weekend, so it will be perfect!

 

P.S. Yes, that is a humongous tie down that you see in the picture, if you’ve seen my driveway, you understand why it is there. I live in fear that the boat will slide off the trailer IN the driveway and it would take a crane to put it back on…so that is just a little extra security . 

 

Just another day in paradise!

My week so far has been taken up by trying to get the boat running.  Here is the condensed version.

Saturday I yanked it out of the garage. I say ‘yanked’ because it was wedged in there and I know I took out at least one couch and multiple boxes of crap on the way out! I cleaned a bunch of stuff out of it….who was the smarty pants that told the kids to throw the bags of mexican clothes into the boat?  I started waxing it. I tried to start it. Uh…no. Called around trying to find one of the many people who promised me they’d help me get it started…nothing. Got Lee on the phone, he said to bring it over to his house and he’d take a look. Changed the tire on the trailer that went flat when Karen and I wedged it in there last fall. Took off down the driveway, spare went flat halfway down.  Cussed. Backed up 21 foot boat in my uphill, curvy driveway, surprisingly successful the first time!  Back up the driveway, call Lee, call Les Schwab, new tire is $90, no used ones! Holy crap! Call salvage yards, get one in Nampa that has tons, but they close in an hour. Load up kids, drive frantically to town, nearly out of gas, stop to buy $20 in gas (barely moved the needle!), call salvage yard and beg them to stay open just a few more minutes, guy finally agrees. Get to Nampa to salvage yard, guy looks surprised when i roll trailer tire in…i DID tell him I needed a 14 inch, 7.75 inch wide trailer tire when I called. They don’t have THAT kind of tire! Sends me to used tire place further into Nampa.  Go to used tire place, roll my trailer tire in there….girl that is all of about 5′ tall and 100 pounds finds me a trailer tire that will fit and mounts and balances that sucker. I was impressed!

I feed kids, come home, change tire yet again.

Sunday, church, potluck sunday after church, we eat, I come home and take a nap.  Happy Mother’s Day!

Monday, I drag boat over to Lee’s, he looks at it, scratches his head….drinks an energy drink, smokes a cigarette (within inches of my boat motor which reeks of fuel!), scratches his head some more, backs Lisa’s van up, hooks up jumper cables…..boat is closer to starting but still won’t start. Another cigarette, more head scratching…tells me to take it home and charge the battery more and it should start.  I back the boat back around the corner and down their very long driveway and get back home, hook battery up to charger again.

I talk to Gene about boat and how to get it started….Gene speaks mechanic speak and confuses the hell out of me.  Gene advises me to take a spark plug out, reconnect it to the plug wire and touch it to the motor, while turning key. This sounds fine except for the fact that I do not have 18′ arms….the motor is at the back of the boat, the key is at the front. Gene tells me to do something to the solenoid to jump it so i can reach both…that idea scares the hell out of me because it involves sparks, so i decide to wait till the kids get home. Kids get home, clayton turns key while i touch spark plug to motor…no spark.  I come back in, do research, internet says to touch to UNPAINTED part of motor. I kid you not, my entire motor is painted blue..there is nothing that isn’t painted.

I give up and go to put basketball hoop together..yeah thanks Marie, that was a BRILLIANT idea.  Who’da thunk that in the 2 days from when we took it apart and i had to put it back together, that i’d forget how it went together? And did you know that thing is HEAVY?  This project involves a bit of cussing too.

Conversation with Gene later indicates that I should take the battery into town, to an auto parts store and have them test it.

Tuesday: I get up and reluctantly disconnect battery from boat (after trying to start the boat for the billionth time), lug it to the truck, leave for town. Go to Olive Garden and eat lots of salad and breadsticks and soup and chocolate pie with Marie…oh yeah, that makes everything better! She’s forgiven for the basketball hoop incident.  Oops..I don’t think I ever told her i was mad at her about that..oh well, no need to tell her now!

Take battery to Auto Zone and explain to the slovenly early 20’s wannabe mechanic behind the counter WHY i need to test it. Smile and nod my head as kid tells me long story about HIS boat experience. He expresses amazement that I only have ONE battery in my boat and tells me most boats have 2, a car battery to start it and a Marine Deep Cycle battery (what i have) to run the trolling motor. I nod my head and smile some more, all the while deciding that he is full of shit and has no clue what he is talking about, and is merely trying to impress me with his extensive knowledge of boats.  I decided to go to a different auto parts store and get a second opinion.

Go get Gabe, take battery into Schucks. Middle aged blonde woman who has smoked way too many cigarettes in her life tests my battery, tells Gabe that she knows she is scary looking cuz she is fat and ugly, tells me battery is fine…oddly enough, I believe her!

4 pm Tuesday, Gene tells me to stick a screwdriver in the plug wire and start it and see if there is a spark, but be careful because it COULD knock me on my ass….enough is enough, the boat is going to a repair shop tomorrow.  Becca don’t fool with ‘lectricity.

With any luck…the damn thing will be running by the weekend so we can enjoy the 90+ degree weather on Lucky Peak!