Crazy old guy

So it seems that the man we bought our house from is a crazy old guy that no body has a nice word to say about.

When the guys were over at the house last night cleaning out the metal shed in the back yard, some lady came over and told them they were not allowed to be doing that. Danny was very polite and told her that he had bought the house and that he was allowed to be doing that. And she was adamant that no, he was not, that the contents of that shed, and the shed itself belonged to the State of Mississippi. Do what?! So the North Mississippi Regional Center (adult home for mentally ill folk) used to rent the house from the old guy that owned it and apparently the shed is theirs. Well, that is news to us. And news to them that someone had bought the house. We had bought a new shed based on the size of the shed that was already there; new shed for stuff that needs to stay clean (bikes, strollers, tents etc) and old shed for dirty stuff (lawn mower, shovels, potting soil, pots etc). Not to mention the guys had loaded all of the gear onto the rented trailer that needed to be returned today and now couldnt be used for anything else that night. So they left the trailer at the house and the folks from the NMS regional center collect the rubbish from the shed today and are collecting the shed tomorrow. Where the heck does that leave us? Something that was ours is no longer ours. Craziness. So we got our realtor on the case, told him how much we wanted the old owner to give us for the shed, given that he did not disclose the fact that it was not ours. I doubt he is going to give us a single penny, miserly old man, but fingers crossed.

Much worse than that, Danny tried to kill himself. He runs around at twenty miles an hour because he is trying to make everything perfect - I think because he worries that he was the one that wanted to move and he doesnt want to give me anything to complain about. Dont get me wrong, I havent complained about anything yet and dont intend to because WE are moving, but I think its what troubles him. I am just fine moving into a gutted house because I know its temporary, but he is going on a field trip for three weeks and I think he feels a little guilty that Im going to be living in a construction site on my own with a wee-baby. Anyway, back to the story of how he almost killed himself because he was trying to go to fast. He was going to hook up the washer and drier but decided he was going to test the drier plug before he attached it to the drier to check it was the right size. But the three wires were all touching when he pushed the plug into the wall. There was a huge explosion and he apparently stood there in shock for a few minutes. Thankfully he is fine, but he of course, wont listen to me about slowing things down, so perhaps you could call him and let him know that we would like to keep him around a little longer and perhaps he could slow down the pace a little.

Purchased

Today we spent $4800 on windows. Windows just for three bedrooms. 5 windows. And despite that sounding like a huge amount of money, we got tons of money off. They were 15% off this week and we had a 10% off coupon. What a good time of year to move house. Our appliances, which arrived today, were also 15% off last week. We are now the proud owners of a very nice fridge, dishwasher and a very red washer and drier. I have yet to see any of them.

Tip of the day: if you need to buy some things from Lowe's go to the postoffice and get a change of address packet, there is a 10% off coupon inside.

There really isnt much that my wonderful husband says that is just plain stupid, but he seems to think that there are simply less mosquitos in the city. I know that he thinks that moving to the city is going to improve life to the max, but no mosquitos, especially when there is a storm drain in our back yard, seriously!

Today he has rented a U-haul, bought a bunch of beer and is picking up hamburgers from Larry's and some friends are helping him move a ton of big stuff. Spare beds, sofas, book shelves... our house looks like a bomb has explode and left nothing behind! So that I dont feel totally useless, sitting here while they empty out the shed at the new house which was left FULL of 10 years of someone else's crap, I am going to clean the kitchen, unpack the dishwasher and iron some shirts. What a fun night ahead!

HOW MUCH!

Do you have any idea how much windows cost!?!?

I do. Since we drove all the way to Batesville today to go buy some at Lowe's, where they are currently 15% off. Didn't have correct sizes and numbers, essential when forking out this much money, so we picked the windows out and have to go back tomorrow with dimensions and credit cards.

Approximately $475 per window.

Yes, we are buying 11 windows, and that doesn't even cover the entire house, but it's all we are willing to do right now! Dont want to get ahead of ourselves on the renovations.

Danny is a little distressed that the delivery time on the windows is 28 days, so we will be moving into the house before they have finished (or for that matter, started) our bedrooms, but I knew they would take that long, so I had already prepared myself for living in a construction site. Do they make hot pink hard hats? Or do they just sell those at Adult Stores?!

Great summer pasta for dinner tonight...

Shave a small zucchini/courgette with a vegetable peeler, toss with hot cooked pasta, a diced fresh tomato, some diced fresh mozzarella, olive oil, lemon juice and a splash of balsamic and some freshly picked basil. Yummy! Henry even preferred it to his spaghetti.

Weekend antics

I hadn't realised what a fun packed Saturday we had until a friend asked us that night what we had done...

Henry and I went to the farmers market around 830am, not early enough for peaches, nectarines or organic blueberries but everyone was still there to visit with, including the chicks the egg people brought, though Henry still isn't sure about the chirping little balls of feathers.

We then went to breakfast at the bakery with Papa where we devoured a brioche, a bagel and a biscuit together.

We then went to story time where the crowd was a little younger than usual, mostly 2-3 year olds I think. Henry had a good time playing with the blocks, singing Old MacDonald and generally crawling around looking at the other kids.

We popped to our new house briefly where they were jacking up the floor to sort out the differential settling. Its funny, I hadn't really noticed that the floor wasn't flat until I walked in to the house Saturday and it was noticeably level for the first time!

Then Papa and Henry went to Home Depot where they discovered that the shed that we bought at the beginning of the week was now 10% off, so in true money saver mode, Danny got 10% back on the shed that we had already bought! Funny enough, the lady called him again and found that she could get him another $33 off if he wanted to come back in! At this point, I came home, had lunch, read a magazine, did a little tidying up and generally had some peace and quiet. Thank you Papa!!!

Then Henry took a nap.

Then we went to the pool all together and met up with Sophia and her Daddy.

Then we bought some shampoo at Kroger and had dinner with Yavuz and Kevser; trashy Mexican, delicious! The salsa was a little too spicy for Henry who about had a fit when he tasted it, but devoured his spaghetti that we had brought him.

Then we went to visit the 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy that Yavuz and Kevser recently got, though Henry wasn't exactly impressed.

Then he went to bed! Phew. What a fun packed day.

Sunday was a little lower key, probably a necessity! We walked the dogs, met up with Papa at the lake where he was doing a photo-shoot, tried to play in the water but Henry did not like the waves at all, probably means we will be playing in the pool rather than the sea in Puerto Rico. Played at the house, napped (both of us!) then went to get ice cream at Sonic after dinner. Henry is now sleeping soundly and I have lots of laundry to do and lunches to get ready for work tomorrow. It never ends... but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Letters from our readers...

"Consider this a formal complaint. When you started your blog you were peeved no-one seemed to read it. Now we are all hooked you have put three entries on since April - this is simply not good enough. We would like more long term commitment. We are growing old, we can only look forward to living vicariously (look it up!) and therefore you should take your responsibilities seriously. Don't make excuses about work, child, moving house, exercising, cleaning, laundry, gardening, shopping, socialising, spending time with husband or other inconsequential activities - prioritise!"


Well reader, I apologise, and to anyone else that may feel this way. I had no intention of leaving you bored at home, alone, I have just allowed life to take over... So here is what we have been up to lately...

1. We bought a house! Yes, we are moving down town! Danny wanted a newer house where nothing would go wrong. We bought a 1960s gem that needs everything replacing, he just found black mould and Im sure the paint is full of lead. On the upside, we get to totally re-model and get everything the way we want it, we will be living 5 minutes walk from the children's park, the skate park (because you just know Henry will be a dare devil when he is older), the public library and all of the schools. We are a 20 minute stroll from the square and all the fun stuff that comes along with that.

2. We accepted an offer on our house! 18 days was what it took. Unfortunately the inspection has apparently come back with a list of small things to fix so we just need to think about how much we want this sale to go through and how much we are willing to pay for it.

3. We got new jobs! In the fall we start working for an International private consultancy firm called Cardno Entrix, doing pretty much what we do now, just a much more stressful job for much more moola. Nothing for nothing eh.

As if that's not enough, Henry is every growing, of course! He is crawling at lightening speed and has decided he needs to eat his dinner with a fork (that he yields) and drink from a regular glass (only). Our beautifully behaved wee-bern has turned into a naughty little devil, almost over night. It took us three nights in a row (apparently at the end of the day we are tired and less quick to notice) to realise that we were getting played at dinner time. He would have a fit until I picked him up and let him finish his dinner sitting on my lap. As soon as we realised that it was the third night in a row that I was covered in food because he was sitting on my lap, we ceased allowing him to sit on my lap and so dinner time now results in screaming and an all out tantrum within 5 minutes. After 5 more minutes he stops crying because he realises we arent going to do anything about it. Poor little man, yeah right. He knows exactly what he is doing. He is sort of self-weaning, which is probably good because I wouldnt have the heart to forcefully wean him Im sure. Some days he does not nurse at all, sometimes once or twice. We enjoy going to the City pool most of our days together. Henry thinks he can swim un-aided, which means you have to constantly have your wits about you, and putting his head under water is no problem at all. In fact he sits on the edge of the pool and dives in so that I have to catch him as he goes under. I have had to work several weeks of full time lately and that has not been nice since we havent got to spend much time together, but I told my boss that I couldnt do it anymore.

So we are currently in-undated with re-modelling decisions. Constantly packing more boxes up and thus living in a shell, basically. We have bought some of our appliances, which while fun ordering exactly what you want, was not nice when you look at the total bill! Trying to get through each day making progress but stopping to enjoy play time with our little man and squeezing some sleep in there somewhere. I look forward to coming to some agreements on the inspection findings and closing August 1st. Please please please buy our house crazy lady from Tuscaloosa.

Oh, and I know what living vicariously means. Im not 5 mum! And thanks for the 'complaint' it really made me laugh today!

Dinner time!

I have had various complaints about the lack of posting and I do apologise, we are ever busy in this household, of course!

We spent the Memorial Day weekend 'blitzing' our house, getting it ready to sell. Yes, we are moving! We are hoping to close on Bramlett Boulevard on Thursday... this crazy show is moving down town baby! We will be minutes walking distance from the childrens park, the skate park and the library and a 20 minute walk to the square. Fantastic! Then this past weekend we went to Maryland to visit friends who are due at the end of July. Lots of fun!

This is a demonstration video on how to get your chilluns to eat greens! Henry had refused to eat most everything over the weekend, kinda embarrassing when you are dining with soon to be parents who are probably thinking, 'well, what a naughty child, and she lets him just eat yoghurt at every meal time'. So I made dinner last night cautious that he might not even touch the Spinach Pea Pasta, but here is the evidence that, last night at least, he stinkin' loved it! (recipe to follow!)

Henry loves his pasta! from Danny Klimetz on Vimeo.

Spinach Pea Pasta

(dont tell the kids whats in it - you could alternatively call it Monster Snot Pasta)

Boil the contents of a small bag of frozen spinach and half a bag of frozen peas for 4 - 6 minutes. In a food processor, blend with Olive Oil, a heafty serving of Pesto (4 heaped tablespoons probably), a box of cream cheese (8oz) and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook wholewheat pasta for 2 minutes less than package directions (I also saved the water I boiled the spinach and peas in and cooked the pasta in that - no reason, just saving water really). Drain pasta, storing pasta water. Return pasta to pot with half of spinach mix and several large splashes of pasta water and cook down the water until its a thick pasta sauce (minute or two).

Watch your child enjoy greens! Then enjoy the left over sauce as a dip for crackers for lunch the next day!