Progress, plank by plank

I'm ready to have my house back.

We started our little home-improvement odyssey back in early October when we found out Lowe's was having a sale on Pergo. Even though Tim had never done any sort of floor installing, he emphatically insisted that he could do it and save us the $1,500it would cost us to have Larry, Curly, and Moe from Floors-R-Us put it in.

Fast forward to now, and I must say I am incredibly impressed. My guy can, indeed, lay flooring. It looks gorgeous. Unfortunately, in the process, Henry and I caught the flu and Tim got a nasty head and chest ailment, sans fever. Then we discovered we had a leak around the chimney in the living room that ended up requiring a couple days work by several laborers who, in essence, rebuilt the covering around the chimney.

Good news: no more mold and rotting boards. Bad news: major delays. One of the subfloor boards had to be cut out and replaced before the Pergo went down, and the sawdusty and smoky-from-a-hot-saw mess had us sleeping one 30-degree night with all the windows open. (Shout out to Steve, owner of various helpful tools and know-how and a handy pickup truck to haul crap to the dump.)

The latest development is that Tim's folks kindly came to visit, play with Henry, and rip up our disgusting kitchen linoleum. Bye bye ick floor, hello gorgeous wood-like finish! Except that millions of tiny yet deadly-sharp staples must be either yanked or pounded down before we progress further.

Will it ever get done?! It's getting close. The TV and couch are back in the living room, and I'm headed there once I get off work. Debating on whether I should get takeout on the way...

Boys

We bought H some Star Wars binoculars for his birthday. Last night, he went outside in the back yard and was out there for a long time. Tim stuck his head out to see what H was up to, and H had the binoculars focused on something and seemed very intent on what he was viewing. Although I wasn't there, Tim relayed the conversation to me:

T: Hey buddy, whatcha doing?
H: Using my binoculars.
T: What are you looking at?
H: I'm spying.
T: Who are you spying on?
H: The neighbors.
T: Well that's rude. Why are you doing that?
H: Central Command told me to.
T: (Long Pause)So...what do you see? What are they doing?

Bad bad blogger

I've been awful about blogging. Or not blogging. Whatever.

I promise I'll be better soon. When I'm completely over my cough. When my house is back together after major renovations. When I get exercise back in my schedule. When I finish reading the latest Diana Gabaldon novel.

Maybe when the holidays are over??

Seriously, give me another week to regroup. I'll be back with a vengeance.

Until then, you need to find a hobby. You might want to try that anyway, if you're missing my rants and blabs that much.

You could also pop over to my weight-loss blog for a scrumptious-yet-healthy fall crock-pot stew, courtesy Weight Watchers.

A case of: That's just messed up!

I kept hearing "Oh, what a shame, what a great guy" comments after police found former NFL quarterback Steve McNair shot dead in a downtown Nashville condo last summer.

But the more I read about the guy, the more I think it's just another case of overpaid sports figure getting too big for his UnderArmour. Not that I think he deserved to be murdered. Just that I'm not all that surprised things went south, given the life he'd been leading.

For example, I just read an article that pointed out McNair, a married father of four, had been dating his murderer, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. But wait, there's more. He had at least one other girlfriend, apparently. Leah Ignagni told police McNair had spent the night at her apartment two nights before he was murdered by his other girlfriend.

Investigators learned from McNair's private security guard (who knew about the on-the-side chickybabes) that McNair was tired of Kazemi calling and bothering him when he was with his family. On the day he was killed, Kazemi had allegedly hounded McNair with text messages, telling him she needed money and begging him to be with her. Reports say he told her he was transferring money to her and would leave the house when the kids fell asleep.

Gee. What a kind, considerate fella, any way you look at it. Right? I guess money can't buy you love...indefinitely.

Flu Blues Continues

We only THOUGHT Henry was better. Last night, no one got any sleep because H couldn't stop coughing. Miserable, it was. And this morning he woke up with a fever again.

A trip to the doc assured us that he doesn't have pneumonia, just the godawful crud. Liquids, rest (with the help of Benadryl, the medical world's sedative of choice for children), ice cream (Henry's drug of choice -- Chocolate brownie chunk), and multiple episodes of Bindi the Jungle Girl.

Tim still doesn't have symptoms. It will be a miracle if he gets out of this unscathed. Crossing fingers.

Swine, skunk, sea bass -- it all stinks

If what I have isn't the swine flu, I'd sure hate to experience the swine flu. Because whatever vile virus has attacked me has knocked me on my butt. From the way I'm aching, it knocked the rest of me around pretty soundly as well.

According to the doc I saw yesterday, I do not have H1N1. They did the test. Have you had the test? It's not one you want to take. They jam a giant Q-tip up each nostril, straight into the sinus cavity, and leave it up there for 10 seconds. Which then caused me to sneeze several times all over the nurse. How hygienic is THAT?

I also was treated like I had the Bubonic plague. They slapped a mask on me the second I walked through the door and ushered me straight into an exam room rather than having me linger in the waiting room with potential victims.

I've been achy, had a temp of 102.6 at one point yesterday, runny nose, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, itchy eyes...blahblahblah. This stuff always affects me differently than regular folks because of my asthma. I'm now on steroids and regular puffs of a rescue inhaler to keep from developing pneumonia.

UGh. I hate to be whiney. But I think it's inevitable.

Henry had it on Monday, and he's bouncy and back to school today. I'm glad he's feeling better. It's too tough to take care of the both of us. I'm crossing my fingers Tim won't be the next to fall. I don't want him to suffer...plus, he's up to his neck in Pergo and our house is a disaster. I'd like to remedy THAT as soon as possible!

Back to bed...

Vote early, vote often, spread the word!

Please help our wonderful UI Children's Hospital in Iowa City get a spiffy game room for patients and visitors to enjoy. These kiddos endure much more than they should ever have to; they deserve some fun!

Registering takes only a minute or so, and you can vote 10 times a day until the contest ends. The top three hospitals get the game room. Click here to go to the site.

Currently, we're FOURTH! UGH!!!