Heeeeeere I yam....

I have no dang clue what's going on with this darn format tonight, but I've tried fixing it 4 times now, and it's not working. I'm giving up...sorry the post is all jacked up!

Why helllllloooooo my fine boggy friends! I'm here, and still alive. Barely. But alive just the same!

The living room is coming along at a snail's pace, but it's a pace none the less.

Drywall is up and sanded.

After the hired help was done with that and left, I was left with my own mess to clean up!!!

Yesterday afternoon I rented a floor sander and it took me for a ride around the living room while sanding the floors at the same time!!

Last night I stained the floor and got that ready to be varnished.

And today I woke up and varnished (WITH A FRIGGIN' PAINTBRUSH!!) the entire living room. T.H.R.E.E. T.I.M.E.S!!! The times I say! My arm feels like it's going shrivel off my body into a goopy mess!! But they are done, and they look fabulous if I don't say so myself!!

While pulling our self out of the rubble, and cleaning the mess, I hit the jackpot while dusting!

Vodka anyone?

No? How about some Jager?

Or Pucker?

That stuff not getting it for you? How about some Rum then?

Wine? Funny thing is...we don't even drink wine. Haven't a clue why we even have this!

Not of the alcohol sort? I've got something that'll tickle your fancy for that too!!

I mean, what are we around here? A bunch of alcoholics or something?!? I wouldn't go that far...but if this dang living room doesn't get finished pronto I'm breaking into the liquor cabinet!!

Thru all that....my sweet Jacob turned 9 on Saturday. I say this all. the. time. But it's so true...I can't believe he's that old!! I mean, he's 9 for goodness sakes! He's been begging us to replace the MP3 player he lost, and we kept telling him no. But we decided to get him one anyway. Under the condition that it's not to go to his mom's house!!

But I didn't want him to know what was in the box, and we have a standing joke around here that we always tell the kids we forgot it was their birthday, and in turn forgot to buy them a gift.

So I wrapped an empty box, put it in another box, and wrapped that box!! The look on Jacob's face when he got to the last box and it was empty was priceless!! He really thought we forgot! Mr. Goose Poop and I totally played it off! And Jacob took it like a champ! He said that was ok, we could get it later!!

Oh, oh, oh...what'd I get??

Another box? Ha ha mom...

Wait a second here! This box is empty....

Then we gave him his real present. But that, too, had a wrapped box, inside a wrapped box, inside a wrapped box. Finally he made it to the middle and pulled out his MP3 player! He was so excited!!

OK...surely there's gotta be something good in this box, right?

Yup...another box!

Another one? C'mon mom!! This is getting old. I'm 9 now, I don't think this stuff is funny anymore.

But it is kinda funny. Just don't tell my friends at school I think this is funny, alright?

Oh, oh, oh what is it? What is it?

My very own MP3 player?!? Why, you're the best mom and dad a kid could ever ask for!!

Thanks mom and dad!!

It's been a l-o-o-o-o-ong couple weeks. This living room project feels like the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it because...this is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it not knowing was it was, and they continue it because...this is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends....

And while I've been keeping busy in the living room, the kids have had to fend for themselves!! Case in point...Tyler knows he's not supposed to play a Game Boy unless he asks first...so he thought he'd hide behind the trash and last night's dinner!! Never would have found him if it weren't for the pizza box singing the Mario Bro's theme song!!

I'm off to...to...dust...or paint...or something productive. Maybe I'll just work on liquor control tonight!!

(Are you still singing this is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it, because this is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends...)

It's getting there...

SEE?!?

I'm so friggin' excited I can hardly stand myself!! I'm like the ever annoying, nagging customer! Thank goodness he's a friend of ours, or I guaran-damn-tee you he'da quit a long time ago!! Whenareyougunnabedone?? Huh? Huh? Whenareyougunnabedone?!? Huh? Huh?

And now we just decided to refinish the floors. We decided that our living room will never again be totally empty like it is now, so I'm getting smart this time and renting a floor sander (because all the other floors that I've refinished in this house I've sanded with a palm sander!! Dummy!) and re-finishing them before we put the living room back together.

Ahhh....shoot me now, just shoot and get it over with!

It's a hot mess around here!!

Every year around Feb/March-ish Mr. Goose Poop and I pick a project around the house that we want to get done. You see, my house is all plaster, and that shit sucks!! We want it all gone. All of it. 2 years ago we tore apart our dining room. Took all the plaster and lath board walls out. Cut a whole in one of the walls. Replaced the flooring. The whole nine yards. Then last year it was the upstairs bathroom. Not one thing was left while ripping that apart. Ok, well, we didn't get a new toilet, but it did come out while demo-ing. We got rid of the plaster and lath walls & ceiling, the old cast iron tub was introduced to the sledge hammer, the vanity was thrown out the window (literally!) into the dumpster below. We even tore out the sub floor to the point of seeing the kitchen ceiling from the bathroom floor. Then re-made the bathroom back to normal again. Put new drywall up, got a new tub & surround, vanity and sink, medicine cabinet, flooring, towel bars, trim, and what-have you.

Well, this year we decided to do the living room. Our ceiling was plaster and lath too, and was crumbling away, so we decided to do away with that also. Plus we wanted to put lights up in the ceiling anyway. So Friday night, after the kids left, we started the demo...

Tearing off the paneling that was over the plaster! It was real classy!

Plaster is off...now to take down all the lath boards...

On to the next wall...

Our neighbor heard all the commotion going on at our house and came over to see what was going on. We told him what we were doing. He said it looked like *fun* and asked if he could help! Fun?!? What's the matter with him? At any rate, we handed him a crow bar and a hammer and told him to go to town!

Walls are done, now it's time to drop the ceiling. Look at all the broken plaster on my poor, poor floor.

Time for the lath to come off the ceiling...Let me tell ya something here...my poor arms we on F.I.R.E after taking all this down!

Look at the electrical Mr. Goose Poop had to figure out and re-run! Augh...it was awful!!

Living room is cleared out and ready to have new electrical run. I was cutting and putting insulation up as Mr. Goose Poop was hanging the can lights and re-wiring.

Any time Dad's working, the kids have to nearly be right on top of him!

Here they all are playing on the ladder. Ok...not playing...what kind of mom do you think I am letting my kids *play* on a ladder?? They wouldn't stay off the dang ladder, so I had them all climb up and took a picture of them.

So here we are with out a living room at the moment. After the dining room and the bathroom, we got smart and realized we are no professionals at hanging and mudding drywall. So a friend of ours who owns his own home improvement business is here hanging and mudding drywall this week.

Say a prayer that this ends just as quickly as it began!!

Please ignore!!

I think I just learned something new about blogging, and I want to try it. Just ignore me here....

If you click *here* does it take you to my letter to Santa??

If you so blatantly decided to ignore my request to ignore this post, and are still reading...well, I'm still alive! Still doing well. Mr. Goose Poop is laid off right now, so we've been getting a whole bunch of crap-o-la done around the house. He is a construction worker, so he's usually laid off from about December-ish until around May-ish. So this is usually when we work on the house.

Over the past few years we've gutted the dining room down to the studs, and re-built it back up, including half of the kitchen. We've ripped out the upstairs bathroom, down to the kitchen ceiling and built 'er back up. And lots of other smaller projects. Seems like my house is always under construction this time of year. Last week while I was nursing my father-in-law back to health, Mr. Goose Poop built in a dishwasher for me. New cabinet, new countertop, new dishwasher! Love it! But that's a whole 'nother story in itself!! (Nothing ever goes smoothly in our house like it's supposed to. Or so Mr. Goose Poop thinks anyway, but that's for a different day!!)

We emptied most of the stuff out of our living room today. The only thing remaining is our couches, a table, and our tv is still hung up on the wall. But come Thursday night, it's all headed downstairs. Because Friday morning we are going to start tearing down the living room walls and ceiling, to insulate and drywall. So after we empty the living room today and call our friend to be here to help hang drywall on Monday morning, Mr. Goose Poop gets a call...

Wait for it...wait for it...yup...he goes back to work on Thursday morning! WHAT!?!?

I mean, yea, I'm so happy he's going back to work. Not only because a normal paycheck sounds nice, but we're about to kill each other over here! But, seriously?!? Right now? Why can't the call have come in like a week? My living room is about to be down to studs, and my husband is going back to work! Oye!!

Plus I'm right in the middle of my cookie sale for Girl Scouts and I want to friggin' scream! I have 1500 boxes of cookies I need to pick up next Monday, sort, and deliver to parents. We have 2 Cookie Booths coming up. Ahh...I can't even think about it right now.

I could go on and on. Can't we all?!? Don't we all have so much going on all the time?! I want to be 16 again. Can I please? Please oh please? With a cherry on top?

I'm off to go...go, do something. I'm not sure yet what it is, but I'm sure there's something that needs my attention!!

Oh yea, can you comment and let me know if that link takes you to my Santa Letter Post?? Mmmmkaythanks!

My trip down M-21

M-21 (locals know it as Fulton St.) has always held a special spot in my heart.

To me M-21 isn't just a long road stretching from the east side of Michigan to the west side. To me it has a beginning and an end. To me it starts at the intersection of Fuller and Fulton, carries on east about an hour and 45 minutes, and ends at North Kurby Rd in Corunna. I know, there's a much faster route, namely the highway. But I refuse to take it. I remember one year my dad taking the highway to Corunna because M-21 was just too dangerous. Boy o boy, was I mad. I've never taken it since! I brave the ice, snow and sleet. No matter the conditions, I A.L.W.A.Y.S. take M-21. Much to Mr. Goose Poop's dismay! (And my parent's, when I was younger, too!)

About a year ago, I added a special stop to my M-21 route. You see, Mr. Goose Poop's dad moved to St. John's about a year ago, and M-21 runs right, straight thru St. John's. He thinks I'm crazy to take M-21, but is there really any other way?!?

Sometimes I think to myself as I pass over Fulton St...My Corunna family and my father in law, literally live right off this road. Down this road a little, make one right turn and there's my father in law's house. Or, down this road a little further, make one left turn and there's my Aunt Mary's house. For some weird, odd reason, I find comfort in knowing that.

Now, thanks be to God, there's never been an emergency at the end of M-21. I've never had to rush the drive. Sure, I've been late to a party, or family gathering, but it wasn't an emergency. If I showed up late, it wasn't a big deal. Besides...no one's ever later than my Just John!! So never any worries. My Grandpa Smith passed away December 6th 2000. But, I wasn't able to go to the funeral, because I was 17 months pregnant (or did it just feel that way?) and my family didn't want me to go into labor on the way. So I didn't make the emotional trip. So, like I was saying...I've personally never had an emergency at the end of M-21. It's always been an enjoyable, relaxing, rockin' out trip for me.

But that all changed this weekend. Mr. Goose Poop's dad got sick on Friday. He came down with the flu, and wasn't doing well. We were supposed to go there on Saturday afternoon to help him get some fire wood. He called Saturday morning saying he just wasn't up to it, and we'd have to re-schedule. He didn't sound good, so I said a little prayer. Monday I was supposed to go with him to a meeting for the photography studio. He called Sunday night, canceling that also. He didn't sound good. At all. Mr. Goose Poop asked if he needed anything, and he just asked if maybe at some point tomorrow if someone could bring him something to drink. Mr. Goose Poop told him someone would. Hung up the phone, and told me we had to go there to be with him.

An hour later, I had kissed the Gooslings & Mr. Goose Poop good-bye, was changed into pajama's, had a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, a book, and a thermometer packed, and was at the pharmacy buying some supplies I thought I'd need when I got there. Benedryl and Gatorade for Sr. Goose Poop, and a 12 pack of Diet Coke and a Butterfinger for me!!

And I headed east on M-21. And I drove. And I drove. And I prayed. And I drove. And I prayed. And I prayed some more. I prayed for wisdom. I prayed for knowledge. I prayed that dad wouldn't fight me if I told him he was going to the hospital!!! I've never had such a frightening drive down M-21. Never noticed how many curves you have to slow down for. How many little towns you have to drive thru where the speed limit drops to 45, then 35, then down to the crawl of 25 for a couple miles. I didn't site see, like I usually do. Didn't admire what houses I'd loved since I was a kid. What one's had changed since my last trip. I wasn't paying any attention to anything at all. Accept where I need to turn.

I remember, on more than one occasion, looking around and thinking to myself, "Where the hell am I?!?" The drive seemed to take 4 hours.

But when the time came, I turned the truck right and arrived at his house. He was relieved to see me. I was mad he hadn't called earlier. The praying worked, and mommy instincts kicked in. He had a fever and hadn't eaten in a few days. I pumped him full of drugs, made him down a couple glasses of Gatorade, and sent him straight to bed. Not that he really had any other option besides bed. He wasn't able to get around much!

I nursed him back to health. Ok, well not full health, but enough so that I was able to leave him the next afternoon confident that he was fine to be by himself. I canceled his photo shoots for the next day, and told him under no circumstance is he to leave his house!!

And I drove home. And I prayed. I thanked God for the wisdom He had given me. For the knowledge He gave me to make the right decision. Thanked Him for getting me to dad not a moment later than I had. Thanked Him that dad is just an hour and 15 minutes down M-21, and not an airplane ride away. God is good. And prayer is a gift.

I don't know that I'll always think of M-21 quite the same anymore. But it'll always be the link that connects me to my family.

P90X Take 2

Day two of P90X...again...and my thighs and armpits are on fire!

Shit came up and we missed a few days, so we decided to just start all over again. What the hell were we thinking?