Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Life BDVR - Before DVR

Tonight Addi once again taped a random kid show and threw off a recording we had set on our DVR.  With work and kids and life, we rarely watch shows when they are actually on, and instead catch up on weekends.  DVR is far and away our favorite appliance.

Once I got the recording situation back on track, I thought back to when we got our first TIVO. Jay was working on 2nd shift and was totally out of the loop on anything TV related.  I would try to record shows for him when I remembered on our VCR, but let's be honest - I can barely work a Crock Pot - so getting a VCR to tape when I actually wanted it to was kind of impossible. So for a Christmas present Jay got me TIVO and worked to get it all set up one day while I was at work.  He was excited to have a "guy" day, using power tools and hooking up electronics, and I was thrilled that my tough hubby could do that sort of thing.

Jay called me to tell me that in order to use the TIVO, we had to pay DirecTV an extra $5 a month, then found out that to record two shows at one time we would have to pay another $5.  OK, no big deal - $10 is cheap, even monthly.  Then he had to run to Best Buy to get a new cord he hadn't planned on - and another $40 was spent. 

An hour later he called me from Sam's club.  I asked why he was there and he said, "Oh, I just got a flat tire so I'm here getting it replaced. It's $150 to get one like my others."  Ok, fine. Another hour went by, and I got another call.  While they were changing the tire, his truck battery died and had to be replaced.  Just like that - another $75.

If you are keeping tabs, we are now at $475 if you include the initial cost of the TIVO itself.

That evening I got home and Jay asked me to help him finish up the install.  He had to drill a larger hole in the floor to fit the second cord through, so I stood in the basement with him while he made that adjustment.  He kept drilling and wasn't making any headway so he told me to run upstairs and look down through the hole and see if I could spot the problem.  When I got upstairs, it was easy to see where the issue was.

His drill was caught on our burber carpet and as it spun, it was unraveling our living room carpet.  I started screaming, he stopped drilling, and we were left with a nice 8"x3" row of bare carpet. Very pretty.

At the end of that day, our TIVO was up and running, we enjoyed a cold beverage, and we had moved the TV stand over the new hole in the carpet.  We thought about replacing the carpet but we figured $475 was more than enough to spend in one day.  I congratulated Jay on his day filled with masculine things - drilling, running wire, and drinking beer - and when I went to bed, Jay was happily hitting the "thumbs up" button on the remote, which according to the instructions let Tivo know what shows he liked. 

The next day I found out that although I thought Jay was quite the masculine man, Tivo thought he was gay.  We had 35 hours of Lifetime television ready for us to watch, all from one night of him "liking" things.  We turned off that feature on the TIVO, he made us dinner, and we lived happily ever after.




Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Jay's "Crafts"

I craft... Jay spends entire days making delicious food.

Salsa, anyone?

Getting my craft on (and it was Jay approved!)

My poor husband deals with my crafting ADD about as well as I could expect him to. He grumbles when he trips over random materials, he makes fun of some of my projects, but mostly he just rolls his eyes.  I think if I had ONE craft I was really into he would be more supportive but I change up what I'm working on almost every week.

Case in point: Saturday I crocheted half of a scarf, then got bored, and last night I made four rubber band bracelets, then got tired. Tonight, who knows!

Well, remember the wreath I was so proud of a few years ago, that Jay decided looked like toilet paper?  Well, I had some left over materials so one night while Jay watched football across the street, I got out my coffee filters and paint and by the end of the evening my kitchen looked like this.

I believe the Sea Monkeys enjoyed looking at these
After they all dried, I checked in with my doctor Google and found how to make flowers.  Then I got to work and spent the next few weeks making these.
 

A few weeks later I completed the project.  And if I do say so myself, it turned out WAY better than I thought.  Jay even gave me a huge compliment: "Wow! That looks so much better than the one that looks like a giant tampon!"

My fall wreath, which now hangs in my entry way
I also threw this wreath together - I bought the materials two years ago during my "wreath" faze and got bored. 
A wreath that I need to hang in a disco, or in Barbie's Dreamhouse
Two wreaths, several hours, and one 2nd degree burn. Not bad for someone with crafting ADD.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Looking for the Pot of Gold

Last week we had quite a long day of rain, but at the end, this.
 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

My Headache Goes On

While my dad is in North Dakota, Sugar is back at our house.  And today I was essentially slapped in the face with an awful truth... We are not pet people.

Today, I walked her, then "Sugar-proofed" the house (closing all the bedroom doors, closing the pantry, blocking the pantry, locking up all the trash), then left for the day.  When we got home, we saw that Sugar peed and pooped in the playroom but no structural damage, so we called it good.  I cleaned up the pee, threw the poop in the toilet, and we went to dinner, taking Sugar with us.

After we got home I started getting the kids ready for bed. I cleaned up a fresh pile of cat puke, then  heard Jay yelling for help. I ran downstairs in time to see the overflowing toilet, thanks to Sugar's monster poop clogging it up. 

After the second pet mess of the night was cleaned up, I finally acknowledged the ridiculously annoying meowing cat.  I knew he was out of food so I told the girls I was running to the store.  Addi said, "Wait mommy! Last weekend Sam and I mixed a bunch of cat food in with toys to make a house! You can give that to Bandit!"  Mentally sighing, I went to the basement to find the food. Instead, I found something even more exciting!

Water, pouring through the ceiling, from the toilet, all over the girls toys.

My sea monkeys are so my favorite pet.

Last weekend

Sugar was still here just in time for a thunderstorm, we slept in... Shopped for rubber bands... Went to cousin Mara's hockey game, and watched movies. 



Nothing exciting but it was fun!!

Monday, October 14, 2013

I have a headache

My dad is in North Dakota and is visiting friends for a week, and he called me one day during work. After we hung up I thought, "Is this really my life?"

Dad: Hey, so I gave my deep freeze away to the neighbors. I don't need all that space and never eat the meat in it anyway.

Me: (knowing from past experience that the meat all tastes like cigarettes from his chain smoking) Yeah, that makes sense.  That was nice of you to give it to them. I'm sure they can use it.

Dad: Yup. Well, anyway, I just got 200 lbs of deer meat here in ND, so can you ask Jay to go out and buy me a new deep freeze to put it all in? Thanks! Bye!

Me: [thud, thud, thud, as I pound my head into the desk]

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

My Twin

This year it really became clear to me how hard it would be if I was an only child. Even though my brothers aren't nearby, it's nice to have someone else who knows what I'm going through when I am dealing with parent health issues.

Because of this, I'm so thankful we have two kids versus just one. Not only do the girls have someone to grow up with and lean on, but it's helpful to Jay and I too. We always tell people that two kids is easier than one because they entertain each other, but it goes deeper than that. Basically, because it gives Jay and I two different people to take care of us in our old age. 

Now, on the surface I would say Samantha will be the child most likely to be our caregiver, should we need one. She's sweet, cuddly, and says sweet things that just melt your heart. For example, she and I were walking down the street, both wearing pink shirts. She said, "Look mommy, we are twins!"  I said, "Oh, yeah, we are! We are both wearing pink!" and she said, "Oh, no, I meant we are twins because we are both beautiful."

Seriously, how can you not eat that up???

Now, Addi definitely has her own charms. She's caring when she wants to be, she's bound to make us laugh, and she should have taught us plenty by then. She doesn't have that empathy that Sam exudes, but she does have one great thing going for her.  There's a darn good chance she can pick me up and carry me around in my old age.  I need to remember that when she makes me mad.

Two kids who can take care of us, make us laugh, and compliment us? We are lucky, lucky, lucky.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...