190 - A night out with the girls

Normally neither Mike nor I would have plans on a Tuesd... okay, any night. Tonight I went to a doTerra team meeting and made a friend. We're in similar (but different) situations and she's fun, we had a good time on the way to and from the meeting, which is good because it was 45 mins each way. She lives about 20 mins from here and we have come up with a plan to make some sales that I think might work out well for the both of us. We hope so anyway.

Mike finally got to attend an S&R meeting, which he's still attending as I type this. So go figure, each of us had something to do on the same night. Having friends helps, and feeling like part of the community helps. We know some of our neighbors now... and there is a farm down the road that I might try to visit, maybe intern with. I'm really excited about that because not only does the food look amazing, but I could learn something.

Anyway, I came home to four animals very happy to see me. AND Bo wanted to go out when I got home so I don't think he pee'd in the basement, I think he actually waited - and that's MAJOR progress. We can't trust him in the house without us there to supervise him, not yet, but he's getting there. House training him has been a semi-successful endeavor, once a day we were having setbacks but I think we're all learning to communicate. Walter has been an A student in that respect. I showed him the litter box and he has used it from the start. His worst offense is attacking the curtains... ah kittens, Gracie did the same thing. And speaking of Gracie, she has mostly made her peace with Walter, she can walk by him without hissing, but Bo is a slightly bigger challenge because he has a tendency to bark or whimper or chase... but that too is getting better, just not as quickly. Bootsie is just Bootsie... wants to come inside, is happy for food and attention from us and Bo.

And after the first couple of days, I was right - my allergies have gone away. The first two or three days were a little rough and I started to have doubts, but yeah... gone. I'm not stuffy, I'm not sneezing... he's laying down right next to me (Walter is laying on my shoulder). I have somehow adapted to having Bo around, sometimes up in my face because he likes to give hugs and thinks he's a lapdog despite the fact that he's about five times the size of my lap already. He's finally starting to put on a bit of weight... you can still see his rib cage sometimes, he's almost shaped like a greyhound. We noticed today that when he's just standing there, they don't show anymore. We're making progress. And Mike said he scented something this morning, stopped, lifted one leg up and had his tail pointed straight out, that made Mike happy because he was hoping for a hunting buddy.

Here's the cutsie pic for the day

Got an email from my closer so the house deal is still on and moving forward. Until the paperwork is signed I'm going to be skeptical now. But also hopeful.

189 - The Whole Fandamily

Bo and Walter are getting along, even if Bo is a little rambunctious with him sometimes. He noses him around and grooms him with that little teeth chattering thing dogs do. We have to tell him to back off, but he is trying to be gentle. Walter doesn't mind it for a little while, then I think he freezes up until he sees his chance and he runs away.

Gracie is... still behind the bed. Perturbed, but less so. Last night when everyone was sleeping, she came out to snuggle with me for a little while. She and Bo had a confrontation the first day he was here, she swatted him across the nose. To her credit, she did warn him several times. She gave him the crazy eyes, she growled, she hissed, and he tried to make contact anyway... so she gave him contact.

Walter has come out of his shell and is decidedly in kitten mode. Sweet when he's ready to fall asleep, like a bat out of hell when he's in play mode. He has very sharp teeth... I was hand feeding him a piece of meat the other day - will never be doing that again. I put oregano oil on it and my finger is fine, but it was a lesson learned. Walter is a carnivore and still has a starvation-avoidance mindset. For the most part he's good about not biting your fingers or destroying anything, but when he's playing he does forget sometimes. He had some seed ticks behind his ear and we didn't realize it until they fell off and we found all these little round bubbles that have blood in them when you pop them. And they move... somehow... So I washed all the sheets and we put diatomaceous earth on the floor and everywhere else. I didn't know those things existed, but now I do and they need to die... or else they turn into ticks, and we dealt with that at grandma's so it's not happening here...

Bo is settling in. He has bursts of energy and loves to play with his stuffed duck, then he wants to go outside for a little bit and run around, go to the bathroom, run around some more. He's good about coming back to the front door to be let in. Sometimes he hops up on the couch and snuggles with us, other times he prefers the floor. We're finding a rhythm. He chooses to listen to us sometimes... other times, not so much. And he is so skinny... you can see his rib cage. But he eats, loves cat food oddly, which is cool because I stocked up on cat food on sale at WM the other day, but we do need to get him some dog food he'll eat. My allergies aren't too bad today. Yesterday was a trial but he's not in my face all the time now so I think that helps. Or my theory was right... being around one dog for an extended period of time makes the sneezing stop.

We also have... an outdoor cat. I wasn't feeding him but he won't leave, he hangs out by the front door or under the stairs that lead up to the deck, and he is Bo's outdoor buddy so I put water out for him. I figured he could find food, but water might be harder for him. He doesn't look malnourished so he must be a mouser or killing birds or rabbits. Tonight we put Bo on the balcony with a bone and Bootsie was licking all over the tinfoil we set it on so I gave him a piece of meat because it felt cruel not to. He snarfed it up. I decided that we always have pan scraps and things we scrape off our plates... it doesn't cost us anything and it was going in the trash anyway. He is fighting to survive and I can understand that and I guess we're a safe harbor. So we have Bootsie, typical black with white boots. He is sweet and docile, lets Bo push him around and doesn't mind a bit. Guess when it gets cold he'll end up in the basement at night. Maybe he'll keep the mouse population under control and hopefully run other cats off... because seriously, no more cats. Anymore will end up at a pound somewhere.

As for us, we're happy to see each other. It's been about a month and it was lonely here without the hubs. We had Mexican tonight, I cooked carnitas and rice and now we're watching a movie. Typical Saturday, only now our family has grown... which isn't such a bad thing. The contract has been signed and the buyers put earnest and option money down so I feel like that's going to happen. And Mike has applied for a few jobs, we're also trying to see if the oil rig job will pan out. Concrete doesn't appear to be working out and Jason might be closing up shop.

Walter is a little love bug. Loves to be up high and kneads like there is no tomorrow.

So tiny.

And photogenic.

Big goofy Bo.

Friends.

The bone from the pork butt, I cooked it for about an hour and let it cool then we let him play with it in the basement. Initially he was on the back deck, but when Bootsie made his move, Bo pushed it down the stairs. Figured the basement was the easiest place.

Trying to share a bowl of food. Poor Walter didn't stand a chance.

Bo sleeping in his typical curled up fashion.

Bootsie

188 - Things I Did Today

She's back. Oh the things you see when you're sitting on the toilet.

There wasn't really any caulk around the tub. I cleaned a lot of mildew from the tile and finally got around to caulking this morning.

But I couldn't exactly get this part to work. We'll come back to that. And yes, it looks grimy... I sprayed hydrogen peroxide on it, I attacked it with Soft Scrub and I let a bleach gel soak into it. Yes, all at different times. This is apparently as good as it gets.

Mike told me about the foam sealant he bought. It's a one-time use can. So I caulked around the gap between the concrete block and the door frame. Mike will have to shim the door to get rid of the gap at the top. So basically I think he tricked me into foaming around the doors in the basement. Mm-hmm.

Foamed around the gap between the garage door and the concrete block too. Was getting the hang of it so it looks like I know what I'm doing. The picture you don't see is when it squirted out and looks messy... that's on the other side of the entry door...

The space in the middle where stuff used to be.

The basement door lock I changed out and re-keyed a couple of weeks ago.

The space near the washer and dryer that I also cleared out.

The famed dehumidifier. Still ticking.

So once this sets up I have to cut the excess foam away and caulk and I'm done. For now.

187 - Progress

The dehumidifier is pretty great. When I first put it in the basement, the humidity was a whopping 83%. In the first three hours it pulled 65 pints of water from the air. Ever since I connected the hose so that it will run continuously and not fill the bucket (which shuts it off and lets the humidity creep back up) I can tell a definite improvement in both the feel and smell of the air in the basement. The humidity is now around 51-52%.

1,300 sq ft is probably a little much for one dehumidifier, so if we had two it would probably get a little lower, but I think 40% is about where you want to stop pulling the moisture out anyway, so I'm pretty satisfied with its performance. I think organizing the basement has also helped the air flow. I emptied and consolidated at least ten boxes last week, probably more. This may be the first week that the trash guys have no boxes to pick up. Anyway, I feel like we can have things in the basement and they are safe from mildew now. I found a sealant you can spray on the inside of a basement to help with moisture so we are considering that. You apply it with a pressure washer, and we have one of those, but right now it's a matter of getting things we absolutely need and nothing more.

And the plumbers stopped by yesterday. We had a leak and they determined it was the bidet. So it was my fault. I was sitting on the couch kicking myself that my great idea to hopefully save money in the long run, and reduce what ended up in the septic tank, was going to end up costing us more money. And then they surprised me. I asked how much I owed and they said nothing, that they might have loosened the connector when they changed out the pipe. I doubt that's true, but I appreciate it.

So the yard is completely mowed, the humidity seems to be under control, and there are no more leaks in the basement. If nothing else, that is at least an improvement. Other than that I cleared a little of the clutter out of our junk room and cleaned a little. Not a very exciting day and no pictures. :(

186 - Nit Pic'ing

Same old, same old, so here are some pics.

That's why they call them the Smokies.

Geese flying in a straight line.

Like little ants marching into the trees

Magnolia tree

What I did today.

 

A storm was moving in just as I finished mowing the back yard. I was almost finished when I saw lightning striking in the distance and I could hear thunder. Just wanted to finish up before it started raining but was also at the point that if I'd had any more to do I was going to pack it in because the temperature dropped, the wind picked up and with the booming and striking I figured I'd better get indoors.

So I did.

I put the lawnmower away, came upstairs and was literally stepping into the shower - hadn't closed the curtain yet - when I heard an extremely loud crack and saw a orange-yellow flash through the bathroom window... in the back yard where I had been only 3-5 mins before.

So I *think* this is where it struck. That limb has looked like that since we've been here and I can't tell if it's charred or just darker from the rain, but that's kind of the area I thought it hit and I don't see anything else. I just know it scared me when it happened and then again when I thought about how close I was to being out there. So I learned my lesson. Don't get so focused on finishing something that you ignore what's going on around you. Which is funny really... dad and I just had that conversation a couple of days ago.

But I'm alive and kicking and around to enjoy this sunset. As crappy as my luck is, I guess I still had some in reserve.

The garden. I now think what I thought was pepper cress might be... ARUGULA!!! It went from plump round leaves to a more spinachy look but I tasted it and it was peppery like arugula. So I'm pretty much drooling. And I have another potential lavender plant that popped up.

This is kind of cool. It's a sort of double reflection of a tree and clouds and another tree in a window. Looks like it's encased in a big cocoon.

So that's it. I'm worn out. I've finally started losing weight, and I can't prove it but it started happening when I added the lemon essential oil to my water and started drinking four of five glasses of that. I haven't yet cut the soda out and none of my other habits have changed (I was already drinking 4-5 glasses of plain water). Yes I'm mowing the lawn but I've been doing that for three or four weeks now and still couldn't get under a certain number. Now I've lost four pounds, about a pound a day. My theory is two-fold... lemon is a detoxifier, so it goes into the fat cells and pulls the gunk out, which helps you lose weight. Lemon also puts your body into an alkaline state, which means yeast can't live there. And since I've thought Mike and I both have issues with systemic yeast, it seems likely this is true. In any case, four pounds down and a lot more to go but at least I'm seeing progress and that is motivating. I guess I'll know when Mike gets home and he starts drinking it.

185 - New Family Member

Today we got a dog. More specifically Mike FINALLY got a dog. His name is Bo, and he found his way into the doggie foster care system when a breeder decided he wasn't gaining weight fast enough and decided to put him down. The vet tech saved him, which is really profound if you think about it. One moment can change a life.

So, meet Bo.

I can't wait to meet him, he looks like a happy dog and a great addition to the family. Not sure Gracie is going to agree, but hopefully they'll be pals someday.

Today I officially enrolled with doTerra. It's a scary step because there is no guarantee of success, but I'm also excited. I'd done my homework before I contacted them, but I got to smell and touch products I otherwise wouldn't have been able to experience. My favorite was lime EO. I put a drop into a glass of water and decided I have found my soda replacement. I have two 12-packs of Wild Cherry Pepsi and when they're gone, they're gone. I was writing a blog about the experience and decided to calculate the cost comparison and calorie savings... it was pretty eye opening. I don't think I've actually seen it laid out that way before and if I had it might have had more impact on whether or not I drank it. The money savings is one thing, but three cans a day for thirty days is 14,400 calories that I can cut out of my diet. Just wow.

I also put up my shelving unit. Somehow all the hardware for the shelving unit, dining room table, and sleigh bed were all packed away... somewhere... but we haven't found them yet. I decided that yes, that hardware that came with it was less unsightly, but basically it was screws and nuts, and I could find those at Walmart. So I did. And I erected the shelves, which looks much better than shelves sitting in a bunch on the floor. Makes me feel like we actually live here. I just ignore the fact that our actual master bedroom is a repository for unopened boxes... yep. We're allllllll moved in...

I buy red and green leaf lettuce and tear all the leaves up to put into my Salad Spinner to use for the week. Salad Spinner - one of the single greatest creations ever... spins the water off the leaves and lettuce lasts for at least a week, nice and crisp in the fridge. So I let the last few leaves stay attached to the root, and then I put them in a small bowl with a little water, just enough for the bottom to be immersed. And... they regrow. Someday I will have lettuce. For free. In the meantime, it's kind of nice to have greenery in the kitchen, and I like the way Mike arranged them on the window, so I keep adding to it. This is my substitute garden picture since I didn't remember to take a picture of the garden and it's now dark out.

Poor thing, she has no idea what's coming her way. So calm and relaxed...

Chandelier in the dining room. We both think it's neato. It's old school but classy.

184 - I'm Still Standing

I've been working on the new website. I did find out how to create a subscribe by email feature, so now people can sign up to any or all of the blogs that interest them... And I have been blogging my ass off so I can put the blogs on Pinterest and Tasty Kitchen to hopefully get some traffic to my site.

The doTerra rep is also going to come to the house tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to start selling soon.

Other than that, not much going on around here. It's been kinda rainy so I haven't gone outside much except to grab stuff out of the RV. I did crack a couple of eggs open, put the insides into a ziploc in the freezer for later, and blend the shells with some water because my tomato and pepper plants are a little yellow. So I stepped outside to do that... I'll take a pic of the garden tomorrow. The pepper cress and cilantro have started to grow. The rest... they are still underground somewhere. I know some take a while to germinate so I'll just wait and see what happens but... I WANT MY ARUGULA NOW!!! *cough*

As for TCA, the boys have been cooking up new ways to expand the business, and Mike and I discussed a couple more this afternoon. They want to start making concrete benches if there is some free time between jobs, and we hope to sell them through local hardware stores and advertise online through the website, Etsy and some barter sites on Facebook. We've also come up with smaller concrete items that they can create to sell in the same manner, but those items could be shipped out so that our reach extends beyond Alabama and Tennessee. Key words these days: Alternative revenue streams... find as many ways to make money as you possibly can... and boy are we trying.

So tomorrow... big day... Walmart for groceries, and then doTerra after lunch. Can I get a woohoo? As far as I know... that's it. I manage to keep busy and not go insane, so yea for me - because sometimes it is difficult to do!