A Moment Of Reflection

It's really another Moment Of Showing Off The Pool again, but it's my journal and I'll do what I want. Sometimes I do think that it's odd I spent most of my life in one of the richest areas in the country and barely kept my head above water despite mine and David's salaries. Now I move to the midwest, I'm making probably close to half what I made on LI and my house is triple the size, I have a swimming pool, air conditioning, etc... who would've ever guessed? I finally got to swim yesterday - the sun came out and after spending most of the morning cleaning the pool when I got home in the afternoon it was perfect for a dip. We're having a little bit of an issue with the new float - it's so big you can see it float by from the french doors. Charger Barger who's eyesight isn't very good anymore, goes berserk everytime it bobs by - he thinks we're under attack and acts accordingly. I've taken him outside and shown it to him to no avail - I was alerted to danger several times yesterday and Pearl just about falls off the couch everytime he sits up and suddenly howls. David is going to pick up Jackson today in Mcconnellsburg, meeting Janet at the halfway point. He's making a great progress with the room as you can see, I'm sure it'll be ready to paint by this weekend. I said if Jackson doens't want it, maybe we will! Of course that would leave the entire upper floor empty, the cats could each have thier own room though.

When It Rains, It Pours

We finally paid the pool guy yesterday, I saw him coming up the road as I was leaving for work and called David to intercept and not let him get away. No, I'm not eager to get rid of our money but I hate having a bill hanging over my head - I'd rather just pay it and get it over with. Since we have the pool up and running, floats and all it's decided  to rain for the rest of the summer - I haven't been swimming in 3 days or so and the closest I've been is running filter and testing the water. It did clear up for awhile yesterday which is how I took such nice pictures (I love Tunnelton!) but the clouds moved in and we were back to rain before I pulled in the driveway. David is still toiling away on the room downstairs, he's determined to get it finished this week so the tile is down and sealed and has the entire thing sheet rocked. He still hasn't tackled the bolts in the ceiling which just tires me out thinking about it. He's picking Jackson up on Thursday and then it's 4rth of July - they always have a big display down by the river so maybe we'll go to that.

And The Beat Goes On

Sunday and Monday are one in the same this week - I worked most of yesterday - I had 2 calls and one admission. The first call went very smoothly - I was in and out, after that the crap hit the fan. The next job the patient's equipment had malfunctioned resulting in a change in gears and numerous phone calls to the company. The next call I had trouble finding the address (keep in mind it's pouring rain the entire time) and finding the address proved nothing - it was a shortened visit by the ambulance. David is working nonstop on the room downstairs, he wants to get it done as he has a roof repair on Wednesday and then has to pick Jackson up on Thursday. He got the tile grouted, the rest of the tile out of the bathroom, and then started to pull the cheap painted bright blue panelling off the wall. This would be when he discovered that fact that it was ALL glued to the walls which also explains the buckling. So he's going to have to sheet rock over it. The bolts in the ceiling are going to be the worst, David is sure they go along the floor of all the bedrooms upstairs and the only way to get them out is to pull up all the carpet and pull them from the floor - our luck they probably go across the hall too. I suggested we do what they do on the Home And Garden Channel and do something Fun and Whimsical, maybe an Indoor Bird Sanctuary or a Fantasy Cloud Ceiling. David said he doesn't think so. The other thing David did was saw the old pool table apart and get rid of it. We had started thinking about refurbishing it but the cost would've been double what a new one would cost - and we don't play pool anyhow.

Moving Right Along

David got the tile put down yesterday - he had to put up the gate to prevent Pearl The Helper Dog from running all over it. It looks really nice and now he has to tackle the walls and ceiling. And the bathroom. And it needs a door. And it needs to be grouted still. Other than that he's almost done! He's trying to get it finished so we can put everything back in the room, right now we had to move all the computer stuff into the foyer and the rest down into Jackson's room. David finally blew up my latest float - he had to use his compressor which had been on a job. I got it for my birthday and it's huge. I did try it out yesterday and it's so comfortable I could sleep out there! Pearl has been a special pest lately, her name should've been - Leave The Cat Alone, No Pearl, Come Pearl, COME HERE NOW PEARL(this is followed by dire threats), See I Told You To Leave The Cat Alone and of course, CUT IT OUT STOP IT. And she's tireless, from the moment her tiny eyes open in the morning to the second she passes out at night she's just motion all day. She is staying in her bed at night though (more or less) and we've gotten her to understand that it's ok to come up in the morning. She's constant with the vacuum and trying to sweep anything turns into a fight to the death with the broom. AND to add to the mix we're still battling it with Charger and the food, I'm at the end of my rope. The more I try to prevent him from eating Pearl's food the more determined he is to eat it and I've tried everything.I even tried giving him some wet food in his bowl but all that did was make it worse because he ate his and then her's!  I feel bad for yelling at him and it does no good anyhow, he'll sit in the doorway all day waiting for me to leave and then hoover it down as fast as possible. If he was younger or more active it wouldn't be an issue but believe me, he's gotten so big he's having trouble getting up - except for making to the bowl of course.

Can I Retire Now?

The pool has become the focus of our existance once again - you never realize how much work they are until you own one and am no longer an invited guest. We still haven't gotten a bill from the pool guy yet so David will call him on Monday. Not that we need another bill, but we have to pay it anyhow and we'd both rather get it over with and go on with our lives. Mick also cleared up the mystery of why this house has such a huge pool (it's 16 x 32 x 10 feet on the end) - this house was owed by Mr. Davis who owned a pool company. Mick said he did all the pools for the rich people in this area and ours was probably the showcase pool (it used to also have a slide that we removed because of it's poor condition and the diving board we found out in the woods - ruined of course). This week at work has been awful - the big problem is communication. I tend to get called with things that are NOT my concern and things I need to know are not passed on. I've been trying to control my temper but I think when I was called 4 times before 9 am about a problem that was not mine I did lose it a bit. I didn't yell or anything, but I was not nice about it. Yesterday just sucked from one end to the other, I took another GPS shortcut which wasn't as bad as it could've been but was a bit rough going at times. David and  I went out to dinner last night, we went to the chinese place because we wanted to go to Wal-Mart (right next door) - David said after dinner he is all chinesed out and we need to give it a break. He's currently working on what we've been calling the computer room, he ripped up the carpet and tiled in there, next the walls come down (cheap paneling painted blue that buckled) and then the ceiling gets tackled. That is going to be a job - they had an overhead hoyer system and all the large bolts are hanging out so we'll have to pull up the carpet upstairs to remove them. AND they go all the way across and into the bathroom. David stopped construction on the former hot tub room for now, he's not sure what he's going to do with it and we don't use it for now, so it will just stay in transistion until we have a plan. David has learned over the years it's better to stop and step back then to do it and then rip it out six times. WEEK OF JUNE 26TH - National Boating Safety Week, National Certified Nursing Assistants Week, National Lightening Awareness Week and for the more daring - June 26th is also National Sodomy Day - but it's only one day so you'll have to act fast.....

Hello From West Virginia

We've been busy around the place the past few days - always so much to do. As much as I've always wanted my own pool I've come to the conclusion it's better to have FRIEND with a pool -all the benefits and none of the hassle. We have to get a solar cover for it soon I suppose. David was home the other day, his recent jobs are outside and it was raining on and off yesterday so inbetween rainstorms he was down on the lower acres brushhogging it with Pearl in attendance. I think we're truly leaning towards selling them in the near future, David just wants to stop at the modular home place and see if it would be more finacially wise to build one and then sell the property. Pearl continues to grow and Charger continues to steal her food, he's driving me crazy with that I'm afraid. His weight has ballooned and with the decreased activity it's really starting to affect him. I get him outside as often as I can but with the summer heat that won't be possible soon. The cats are fine however, Mr. Lee continues trucking along, still delighting in jumping the puppy and harassing Claw. Vincent goes out first thing in the morning and reappears around dinner time, he's quite used to his day schedule now.

Everybody In The Pool!

The pool is finally up and running - so far. And of course we haven't gotten the final bill for it which I'm sure will dampen my enthusiasm (temporarily at least!). David fired up the pump yesterday and got it running when I noticed the water running out of the side of the pool heater. David thinks maybe he didn't get all of the water out during the winter and cracked a pipe. After a brief investigation where he realized it was no easy fix he bypassed the heater and refitting the tubing to go directly to the pump system and it worked. Since we only used the heater for a total of 9 hours last year we're not overly upset - the pool temp yesterday was 76 degrees - perfect for swimming and why, yes I did!, thank you for asking!

The Boy Is Gone

David is currently working on the pump system for the pool, the liner is in and the water is up but of course now it's a leak in the tubing - does it EVER end?? Yesterday I had to take Jackson to McConnellsburg to meet Janet halfway - she and Diane are taking him for a week, then he'll be with his grandparents on LI for a week. I started my day about 3 - 3 am that is. I woke up completely panicked and hysterical, the reason being a patient of mine had recieved a new pump for his infusion and I hadn't thought much of it at the time - I did remember I had wondered about it, but not much else. But at 3 am that charming screaming mi-mi voice had me convinced my patient had recieved the WRONG infusion (the reason for the new pump) and by 4 am my patient was dead, I'd lost my job along with my house since I'd been sued and no one would hire me since I was now facing criminal charges. And of course who can hear the voice of reason at that hour? When I saw the patient later to unhook him I remembered the reason for the pump was a mandatory maintenance issue and realized I HAD checked the medication before I hooked him - I always do. It did make for a long morning and I was still pretty stressed when I got home at 11:30 am to a Ready To Go Now Jackson. We only had to make one return trip  for my cell phone and Jackson drove almost 120 miles of the trip! He did better than he thinks he did - I was so tired and stressed out, not to mention this was our first highway trip for him so I was good I think for about 90 miles then I started stressing and Jackson was getting tired so he got nagged for about 30. We switched at the Cumberland Gap - he was ready to give up the wheel and that's where the highway gets a little more congested and you have to change roads. We got to McConnellsburg about 5 minutes after Janet did so it worked out well travelwise - Jackson just hopped out of my car and into his Aunt's. I got back home around 7 pm and was greeted by the starving masses since David decided to work late. How much fun was that.

Just Add Water

After weeks of waiting they finally came on Monday. At noon.  David stayed home and was getting as much done as possible - not only to save time, but also to try and save a little money. They had to relevel the shallow end and then announced they would be back on Tuesday to put the liner in so David had to take another day off. After seeing them put in the liner he and Jackson announced they could've done it but in retrospect, I think it would have still been dicey. First off at the moment we have two vacuums attached to the sides while the pool fills to hold the liner tight to the side to prevent wrinkles and the more important part - if they accidently ripped it we would've been out a liner and they ARE very expensive. We're filling it with the hose which will take longer but the truck with water you could get was over $600 so we are making due with the hose. Jackson is going to be taking off for a vacation next week which he's getting pretty excited about - he's been making plans for that and also plotting where he's going to be gettting a job for the rest of the summer. Pearl is still getting teeth and looks just like a tiny shark at the moment with two sets of teeth going.

Ready, Set - well, we ARE ready....

David decided last night to remove the pool liner - he's trying to get as much done before the pool guy comes to hopefully save a little money and time. He and Jackson got the liner out last night and bailed the last of the water - if the pool guy doesn't come today I might have to kill him. In other news- number one son Adam called last night and in the course of conversation casually mentioned he had signed up FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS.  Then he got upset because I got upset but I did point out to him that although he apparently knew all about this, springing this information on someone at 11pm at night with no warning was probably not the best way to present it. He has somewhere along the line decided he would like to retire from the navy and is also presently working on getting married since Reiko is not a US citizen there is paperwork and so forth. He will be in Japan for another year I think and then can be shipped anywhere, he is hoping for California I think.

What A Beautiful Day!

When I got home the other day I had to wait for David and Jackson to finish with the tractor - I thought Jackson had gotten it stuck but it turned out David  had and Jackson was helping him out. David got a motor the other day for the other tractor - the guy that sold him the Yazoo also sold him 2nd one for parts so David is of course fixing it to sell. Yesterday the weather was perfect so we were out all day. The dogs- particularly Pearl - have been mole hunting so I spend a great deal of time outdoors yelling STOP IT as they're both tearing up trails of yard to find the tiny creature. Pearl has been awful lately as she's getting all of her adult teeth so her mouth looks like a shark's - two sets of teeth at once. But of course she's miserable because it has to hurt, I'll be glad when she's done. I've got to work today which sucks, but I get paid for it which doesn't. David and I have been clearing the way for the pool guy too, David will be staying home tomorrow and I could be swimming by Wednesday. We do have a heater for it, but we've only used it once and without any great sucess. Aside from cost, I see no point in having a swimming pool if you're going to keep the water at bathtub temepetures, that's just stupid. And I was told it takes up to five days anyhow to heat the water properly - when I tried last summer (we were having people over and David thought they might not like my cold pool) I only let it run for a few hours. We are still staring at the hot tub daily not knowing what to do with the silly thing, hmm. And in case you're interested in celebrating - starting June 12th it is: National Men's Health Week, National Food Safety Week, National Headache Awareness Week AND National Action Week!! Happy Whatever you pick!

All's Quiet On The Western Front

And it is - there really isn't much going on. The pool guy came Friday afternoon to do a final look and see where the water, electric, etc are - they will be here on Monday to FINALLY put in the pool! David drained it a few days ago to help speed things along and to swamp out the last of the leaves -eww. He was busy sanding down the steps while Pearl was chasing the remainder of the frogs - she slid right by him and down into the swampy bottom of the pool. Being a dog-like indivdual she could of course swim out but boy did she did stink! She's been having a rough time, we bought her a bed to  call her own and she is NOT liking the whole deal. She does grudgingly use it, but usually sneaks into our bed around 4:30am.  Charger is fine but seems to be really slowing up lately, we've noticed it's taking him longer and longer to get up and go. Once he gets moving he's ok and we're still having food issues. It's a catch 22 - I'd like to him to do whatever he wants given his age but the weight he's gained is really making things more difficult for him. Jackson's done with school, the report card should be coming in the mail eventually. We had pizza last night and I let him drive, but Becky was here and I think she made him self concicous - he had me yelling more than once. My other activity is Norton, I hate them. It's not working properly (what else is new??)so after countless form letters I finally got a real response - the "solution" had 13 steps BEFORE you actually got to the fixing part, it was not guarenteed and no you can't call them. Let me clarify that - you CAN call them for $40 a a call. So I think when we get a chance, we'll take the computer to Best Buy and have them put something decent on instead of this stupid Norton - I have to say they're the worst company I've ever dealt with.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Skies Are Blue

This was the most spectacular rainbow - I couldn't photograph the whole thing thing though no matter where I stood. Next to it was a fainter rainbow, I tried to get a good picture of it but with the sun setting it was pretty hard. We are getting things done these days. David called the pool guy and pinned him down to a day, David is pumping the pool out beforehand to save time. If the pool guy isn't telling a story he'll be here at the end of the week or Monday - I know it's still too cool to swim but I am heartily tired of fighting the Frog Spa Wars - I've dumped about 6 gallons of chlorox in so far, it holds it for a few days and then back to the Swamp. So at least the greenie stuff will be gone. I wish I'd gotten a picture of when David started, he was having trouble getting it to start pumping so I jokingly told Jackson maybe he should pick up the end of the hose and siphon it. So playing around he picked up the end of the hose and sucked in, grinned at me, did it again - and WHOOSH - a whole mouthful of Green Frog Slime Water  ,EEWWW!!  I shaved Charger Barger again yesterday, his hair grows back so fast - I took a ton off, now David has to do his nails. Pearl had to go outside because she's a big Pest and has to be involved in everything. David was playing with her with the vacuum, she loves the noise it makes when he sucks up the side of her face - it is pretty funny. Jackson has his last day of school tomorrow and is busy making plans for the summer which he claims will be a hoot. He and my sister are in cahoots for his visit to PA and LI, then he's getting a job when he gets back, he's going to be practicing driving, he and some friends have each other's phone numbers and are making plans and there is Becky too - they've been going out for a year now. Impressive!

Summer Is Right Around The Corner

As of Monday Jackson will have 3 days left of school and then out for the summer. Our plans remain up in the air, one thing depends on another and in the meantime, nada is happening. We did Sam's Club yesterday - we needed to get more pet food and so forth. We are now feeding both Pearl and Charger the same thing in an attempt to get Charger to stop eating all of her food. I KNOW he does it to prove he is still an "Alpha" but he's turning into a "Cow-pha" since he's hogging everything down daily. I was letting him do it since he is old, but that turned out to be a bad decision as with his advancing age and stiff joints the extra weight has done him no favors. There have been bad decisions all around dog-wise, the other mistake we made was letting Pearl sleep with us. When we were housebreaking her we stuck her in our bed since she was too little to get down, thereby effectively preventing any midnight piddling. Now we are stuck with an ever expanding dog who insists on sleeping with us and will not even sleep at the foot of the bed at least because there are no pillows down there. We've tried pushing her down to the bottom only to wake up nose to nose with Pearl-ine. And the thing that pushes it over the top is it's getting to be summer and the last thing I need is a my own Personal Heating Unit in July. We're going to buy her a dog bed today - I can smell a battle brewing already.

It's Hot Enough To Fry An Egg

The Crack Weather team is at it again. For days they've been predicting falling temps and then changing it when they think we're not looking. I think they should be made to apologize for thier wrong predictions, I mean do they think we really won't notice? The temps have stayed steady in the 90's and the humidity is a killer.  I was out in PA yesterday with a little extra time on my hands so I explored the local graves - I'm getting a bit obsessed, aren't I? It's hard not to around here with all the old stuff and it's all pretty interesting. There was a new part, but if you looked in the back in amongst the trees  that was the really old part of the cemetery. I came across a big headstone and noticed a  crumbling set of stairs next to it. Of course me being me I had to go look. There was an equally crumbling old crypt constructed entirely out of bricks and the front part had fallen in. After several attempts at standing on things to peek in, I considered getting on top. Fortunately since I am now 45 I think before I do and had an image of having to call 911 to report I'd fallen in a crypt and worse, having to explain this one to the boss. Not to mention if I did collapse the crypt that might be technically a Tresspassing Issue and since my boss and I already had that discussion - in her opinion there is NO grey area no matter how many scenarios I can come up with -  it  would probably be a problem. So I chose to be a Ground Dweller and hold my camera in, take a picture and hope for the best. I think it came out pretty good. Today I have my half day and it's fairly dismal looking outside so there'll be no graveyard hopping today - the pictures just don't come out right. Pearl continues to grow, big surprise there and she's pretty good looking. We're now trying to get her to be gentle with the cats, with her ever increasing size she's rough with them and they are NOT appreciating her. And we will be keeping track of national weeks from now on. We are entering National Health Awareness Week, National Frozen Yougurt Week and my favorite - National Rip Current Awareness Week.

Getting To Summer

The weather has been awful lately -the 90's and so humid there's a constant haze. Just sitting in the yard requires an effort. We turned on the air a few days ago, leaving it off wouldn't save that much and it doesn't cool off here at night at all, sometimes I think it gets hotter. Jackson will have his last week of school next week, he's out the 7th and is looking foward to that. He drove to the mall yesterday to pick up a shirt he's been hounding me for all week. I've just been working, my patients go in cycles and I'm in the process of discharging a whole group at once, then by next week I'll be admitting the new guys. As you can see, not much is going on.