Sold!

Well, we found a buyer for our mobile home. He seems like a really nice guy. We are free and clear of the place. What a huge relief. He is a contractor and will be able to fix the place up for fairly cheap.

Fingers crossed

We got a call Tuesday. A nice sounding fellow wants to buy/lease the double wide. We are going to meet with him Saturday. He said he wants to put down money to hold it until it becomes available. Please oh Please!

Also, Kylee found a website that said to give the goldfish a 15 minute bath in mildly salty water ( 1 tsp per gallon ). It appears to have worked. The fish is doing much much better.

Worst day in awhile

Not the worst day ever but it is somewhere in the top 10% of worst days.

So, several bills came due about the same time and we are stretched thin. Thin enough we've cancelled our date night. I had a small misunderstanding with Kylee about it this morning but we cleared it up. Then I get to work and our entire organization is going through a really big re-organization. My job looks pretty stable but several friend's jobs will be shuffled to other divisions and I won't be seeing them as much anymore. Then our renters called and they are moving at the end of August. That's going to cost us big bucks. The carpet is trashed and it will need painting and probably more. We will most likely have to cover several payments until we can sell the place for a steep loss. And to top it all off, our 4 year old goldfish is just about dead. The poor thing is floating at the top. Rest in peace, Gibbles...

Greenhousing

So, its about time I put up a picture or two of the greenhouse. I had to remove most of the panels last fall because the wind was huffing and puffing and blowing the greenhouse down. So I put up 6 4x4 posts inside and put two 2x4 rails around it. I bought bolts that fit the rails the greenhouse came with. I slid them in and used Dad's suggestion to cut PVC pipe to make spacers.






Dad came over and helped hang the center two 2x4 rails and we re-hung the door on a 2x4 so it wouldn't blow away. Saturday, I glued in PVC and attached a bunch of micro-sprinklers to the undersides of the shelves. Hopefully, that will keep the plants watered while I'm at work. Today I dug the trench for the water supply line and started gluing that in. Luckily I was smart enough to think ahead 5 years ago when I originally did the backyard. I added an extra valve and piped it out to the backyard and left it in the ground. That has saved me hours and hours of work. I just had to dig up the pipe and glue onto it.

Disney Freezing World

Well, what do you say when your once-in-a-lifetime disney vacation becomes a battle to stay warm? Maybe I should start with the flight to Florida. Everything was going well until we started our decent into Orlando International Airport. Brenna wails and screams her little head off. Apparently, her ear infection had not cleared up like the pediatrician thought it would. One of the flight attendants came over and gave me a tongue lashing for flying with a ear infected child. We landed at about Midnight Orlando time. The temperature was a balmy 70 degrees. We took a taxi to the hotel and slept like babies. The next day was less warm but still very nice. We loaded up our six plus Don and Ruth and their 2 scooters into the 7 passenger mini-van rental and tried to check-in into the condo but check-in wasn't for another 5 hours. We drove to Patrick AFB and got 7 day disney tickets. Then we went to the beach and played on the sand and enjoyed a splendid sunset.

























We made it back to the condo and checked-in. It was a really spacious 3 room condo. After check-in, we unpacked and crashed. The next morning it was raining like crazy and wasn't warm anymore. We hung out at the condo then went to pick up Daron at the airport at 4:30 pm. So now we have 9 people in our 7 passenger van. That was crowded! After that the weather was downright cold! It was below freezing most mornings and never got over 60. We bought thermals and warm sweatshirts for everyone but it was still dang cold. We went to Animal Kingdom for our first day. I might have enjoyed it more if was warmer. But I left feeling like it wasn't enough Zoo nor was it enough amusement park. The shows were kinda fun.

Epcot was our 2nd day. It was cold and cloudy and cold. Now, I'm no stranger to cold but it wears you out fast. In Disney World you want all your energy to enjoy the park you are paying big bucks to attend. Here we are before the cold wore us all out.








Next was Disney's Hollywood Studios ( formerly MGM studios ). Here's Alyson and I waiting for the Monorail. I'm wearing a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, long sleeve thermal shirt, long sleeve sweater and the jacket I thought I wouldn't even need. The stores were all sold out of hats/gloves so I wrapped one of the kids hoodie-sweaters around my neck and over my head. It barely kept me warm. We had lots of fun riding the rollercoaster and the tower of terror. The lines were less than an hour and we had some good fun.



To Be Continued...

Treat yourself

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding: Two Points, 10 Servings

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces fat free cream cheese (room temperature)
• 8 ounces Cool Whip Free
• 8 ounces fat free sour cream
• 2 pouches 100 calorie packs Honey Maid Thin Crisps (crushed)
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup Splenda
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, Cool Whip, sour cream, lemon juice & splenda together.

2. Add pumpkin & pumpkin pie spice, mix until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into 10 dessert dishes (ramekins or muffin tins).

4. Top with small handfuls of crushed Honey Maid Thin Crisps.

5. Chill in fridge for a few hours, until set firm.

The swine flu, or did it?

Yeah... Here you go Linz, this post is for you :)
Friday - 10/30
Small cough develops, more of a throat tickle than anything. Almost like my asthma is acting up. I decide to go home early at 4pm. By 9pm my fever has started. At 10:30 I'm feeling really hot and our ancient ear-clicker thermometer doesn't think I have a fever. The headache sets in and the body aches start. I'm coughing regularly by now. I send Kylee to buy a new one but there isn't an ear clicker thermometer to be found for miles around. She picks up a 10 dollar under the tongue digital thermometer. It works great and tells me I'm at 102.5 degrees.
Saturday - 10/31
I read the symptoms for the swine flu and I have all the usual symptoms. I get a Dr. appt and he confirms my self-diagnosis and prescribes Tamiflu since I have asthma. Sorry Halloween, I'm going to have to pass. I stay home and Kylee takes the kids out Trick-or-Treating. By Friday night, I am way tired of the constant headache. It's bad enough to have the flu but the constant nagging head-ache is just no fair!
Sunday - Monday - 11/1 to 11/2
I feel the same... achy, headache, cough, fatigue, fever... I lay around all day taking numerous 2 hour naps. I hardly even feel like goofing around on the computer or watching TV.
Tuesday - 11/3
Hurray, my fever is down! I'll be right as rain in no time...
Wednesday - Monday 11/4 to 11/9
or so I thought. The headache doesn't go away, the fatigue is still debilitating and the cough is not going anywhere. Good thing I have lots of sick leave saved up.
Tuesday - 11/10
I think I'll go to work today. Maybe I can hide the cough and my headache is finally gone. After 2 hours of work, I'm so tired my boss sends me home.
Wednesday - 11/11
1/2 day at work. The cough is barely improving. A coworker complains to my boss that I shouldn't be at work.
Thursday - 11/12
I have the energy to get through a day of work but I'm spent when I get home. The cough marginally better.
Friday - 11/13
I put in a full day at work. I attempt a workout, I get about 1/4 of my workout in before I get dizzy and quit.
Saturday - Friday - 11/14 to 11/20
I go to work but have no energy for much more than that. I still cough up small amounts of junk regularly and I don't even bother attempting exercise. Each day is marginally better than the last. Boy this thing just won't give up.
Saturday - 11/21
I take the kids out shooting guns in a brave attempt at feeling all better but by the time I get home, I'm done for the day...
Sunday - 11/22
I think I might be making real improvement today.
Monday (today)
I finally, finally feel 99% better. I do about 1/2 my normal workout during lunch break. I barely cough all day long and I cook dinner while Kylee takes our son in for a double ear infection.