Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

The dreaded big blue truck just pulled up and gave us our last oil fill. We haven't used the boiler since May (thank GOD for this nice, warm October). I ran out in my bare feet to tell the driver that the tank should be very full. For some reason, they have no method of figuring out how full the tank is...they just fill it until they see it coming up the fill pipe. That's why I wanted to tell him, so he wouldn't get sprayed. I'm nice that way. Besides, I didn't want him wasting an iota of fuel oil. Fuel oil all last winter = $100,521 (OK, I tend to exaggerate) Fuel oil for our last fill = $19 The feeling of being DONE heating this place = priceless

I'm trying to gradually wean myself off eBay...this is tougher than the switch from regular Coke to Coke Zero. I've just gotta keep taking deep, measured breaths. Gotta keep up the running regimen. Why would I need to stop using eBay you say? Because most folks selling things on eBay don't ship APO/FPO, meaning, they don't ship to overseas military addresses. The problem is not that it costs anything extra to send stuff APO/FPO, I think it's that the sender has to take time to fill out a customs form. It is kind of a pain in the butt...and I still can't figure out why we ever had to fill out customs forms when it is AMERICAN mail going from one AMERICAN point to another. Grrrrr. Don't get me started. I'll start ranting about the 2006 quest to get a double stroller sent to Japan. True, there are rare eBay sellers who will ship APO/FPO, but they're a little hard to weed out of the bunch. So, alas, I must start weaning myself of my drug of ch...

Dumptruck, by Josiah We're still working on the getting dressed thing...this is what happens when Josiah tries to get these PJs on...he ends up looking like a little member of Kiss! Mommy, by Josiah (I hope it's the camera angle that makes my hands look sooooooo long--hello freak show!) Mommy's Cutest Flower Shoes, by Josiah Tree, by Josiah

We're entering the last phases of the move. I spent part of the day spackling . OK, I guess it was actually about 22 minutes. We figured out pretty early on that the plaster walls in this place were impenetrable . I still managed to pound a couple of nails into the walls and hang pictures, but let me tell you, it was a lot of work. And knowing that we'd only be here for a year, I put most of our decorative stuff in the basement and we settled for pictures that didn't need to be hung. Long story short: there are approximately 20 areas that I had to spackle . A couple of the holes will require a second and possibly third spackling . Tomorrow's project will involve dragging all of the landlady's cans of paint up out of the dungeon and painting the spots. I don't know much else. I am in a state of...ennui or something. I was telling my dear mother-in-law last night that this confused time of nothingness reminds me of the days before our wedding. I am a ve...

...this from my son, who has been watching too much "Yo Gabba, Gabba!". I think that I blogged awhile ago and posted some video of this show. It is the latest and greatest show in our pseudo-home*. I am constantly being presented with nuggets of wisdom that Josiah learned on YGG. One of which has to do with the food segment that I described in my previous post. Hans and I have used this episode to great advantage in the Food Wars. If Josiah doesn't want to eat his beans (or any other member of the veggie family), we pull out our YGG and tell him that the beans want to join his other food at "the party in his tummy". Last night I was a little slow in getting around to eating my peas, which led Josiah to very seriously tell me "Mommy, your peas are crying! They want to go to the party in your tummy!" Seriously, these kids get funnier and funnier. They are such excellent comic relief that I think we're going to have to keep having them (or ado...

So...our very nice landlady very nicely had some nice men come over a couple of days ago and clean up the filthy koi pond. They made a great big mess, but they did create a very soothing little waterfall feature, so I guess the two cancel each other out. We are now able to listen to the calming tinkle of running water on a constant basis. Believe it or not, the koi (a she koi ) was still alive and thriving under all that scum and muck. Today we were heading out the door to have lunch at Chilis when we started smelling du odeour de skunk. No big deal. It's a regular occurence at our house. We have theorized that there is a family of skunks (in addition to the family of possums) that live underneath the house. When they spray, the scent is powerful. Besides which, as I have mentioned before, skunks just roam the streets of Newport. And have resided in our garage en masse . Luckily, Hans happened to peek out at the pond, and seeing that the pond is no longer covered by a thick ...

Josiah has decided that perhaps it is important to eat his green beans. He has somehow decided that all of the winning contestants of our favorite after-dinner show, Ninja Warrior , definitely eat their green beans. I guess he made this up himself after hearing us try to tempt him into eating his veggies by saying they would make him "big and strong". For those of you going "Huh, what the heck is Ninja Warrior ?" I will attempt to explain. It's a Japanese show that airs on our G4 channel. It's a reality show that pits endless waves of sometimes bizarre competitors against an obstacle course in four stages. Most everyone gets weeded out during the first stage. One has to have a great deal of upper-body strength to endure the rigors of even the first course, and it gets progressively harder. The final stage is a challenge to rope climb 50' in 30 seconds. It's pretty rare that anyone gets there. I think I've seen it done once. The best pa...