Day 202 - July 25th

My last post for a short while - I fly to Miami in the morning and will be gone all week so won't have a way to upload or edit pictures. Plus I'm only bringing the iPhone, so not too much in the way of quality pictures while I'm gone. Although if I see a lot of sights I might buy a disposable camera.

Here is another undies shot of Peter. But where is he? What is he standing on? Why....it's the rarely seen FLOOR of the girls room! Where did it come from? How is it so amazingly visible? Is all the stuff just shoved out of the picture?

Nope - Jill has been HARD at work in the kids rooms these past few days and made astounding progress in the girls room on Friday. She put her mind to it and blam! It looks wonderful.

Day 201 - July 24th

Peas! Jill was watering the garden today and commented how many peas she has growing, so I snapped a picture :)

Day 200 - July 23rd

My 200th day in a row!! And to celebrate: BIG BOY UNDIES.

It's coming closer...we've bought diapers every month for 13-1/12 years. Soon...soon...no more!

Day 199 - July 22nd

WOW! 199th day!

My first night home in quite a while when I wasn't sick. I cut the boys hair - first Peter then Alexander. I don't think they've ever had it cut by anyone but Jill or I. We did it out in the yard this time - no cleanup of random hair everywhere! Thanks to Lydia for the pictures.

Tomorrow is my last day at Stromberg. Sad :(

Day 198 - July 21st

It's a bee! Actually there are quite a few around here. I took quite a few shots with the zoom lens and kind of liked this one the best.

Day 197 - July 20th

The Clematis in the still-not-finished fountain area is blooming! But something is eating it. But still, it's quite pretty and it grew rapidly.

Day 196 - July 19th

With my recent illness and work schedule, after I got home from work, we took a walk to the nearby playset as a family so we could spend some time together. I decided to try taking some pictures with the sun behind Sophia and using the flash as a fill. I think it turned out well.

Day 195 - July 18th

Peter on the swing with Maranda, enjoying a snack.

Day 194 - July 17th

Sophia's birthday! We had a nice dinner out with my brother, sister, brother-in-law, dad and step-mom. Sophia sure enjoyed it!! They also sang happy birthday to my dad, since his was only a couple days before. The little hat didn't quite fit him as well. :)

The day started out a little rough, though. That viral infection I have? I was shaving in the shower. Jill was getting ready and Sophia was in the room opening a birthday card. The sound of the razor became very loud to me and the act of shaving became strange feeling. I dropped the razor and sat down. I opened the shower door and fell on the floor. I passed out for a short while. They covered me with towels since I was still wet. It was very weird. Never had that happen before.

Day 193 - July 16th

Slightly blurry iPhone camera picture of my doctors office, taken after they swabbed me for strep throat. Which I don't have. Instead the pounding headaches, sore left ear, swollen throat, dizziness and muscle pain seem to be that dreaded disease - a virus. Take two Aleve, get plenty of rest and drink lots of water. It will pass.....sometime. Meanwhile, I'm missing work and being one more thing for Jill to take care of.

Day 192 - July 15th

If you've seen this blog or ever visited my projects page, it's no secret - I love to build and create things. It's one of the major reasons I went into Architecture for a degree. My mom's dad was a woodworker and a poet - I think I would have gotten along great with him, but he passed away when I was quite young. I would've loved to have seen him at work in his shop and been alongside him.

The major influence for this when I was young was my dad. Dad could build and fix most anything and still does wonderful projects on his home. I would like to think I got some of my skills from him! His house outside Sacramento is beautiful.

Happy 67th, Dad. May you have many, many more.

Day 191 - July 14th

A blurry iPhone picture. Didn't realize last night how blurry it was. But it's the only photo I took on the 14th. This is a coworkers motorcycle. I think it's gorgeous. He keeps it all shiny and clean and he has red and black matching leathers. I haven't ridden a motorcycle in several decades, but this one appeals to me. Don't worry, mom, I'm not getting one :)

Day 190 - July 13th

The playset is mostly done - done enough to allow play! It's proven pretty popular so far :)

Day 189 - July 12th

My dad, stepmom, sister, brother-in-law and brother came to visit! It was so nice to see Brian again - it's been a long, long time. In fact, he said the last time he was up here, our new home was a foundation. That was the summer of 2004!

The confusion in the focus of the people is because both my timer camera and Karl were taking pictures at the same time. So some people are looking at my camera, some at Karl! Oops!

I felt short with my family around me!

Day 188 - July 11th

I got the kids two new hula hoops - both heavy duty. They LOVE them. Sophia is doing really well here.

Day 187 - July 10th

Working on the playset. Carefully. It's not designed for my weight!

Day 186 - July 9th

Over lunch, I worked on the swing beam of the playset. As I finished, I decided to stick my business card in there. Why? Because I tendered my resignation from Stromberg today. I've accepted a position with a competitor, Ultimate Software. It was NOT easy for me. I do not change jobs lightly and I spent a few relatively sleepless nights. I will miss my coworkers at Stromberg and wish them nothing but well. I start the new job on Friday, 7/24.

Day 185 - July 8th

Today was 07-08-09! I find that fun. At my second job, we've gone TWELVE days without an accident. woot. Each time we approach 45 days, it suddenly seems to reset. And I am supposedly on the "safety committee".

Day 184 - July 7th

Building the deck to the playhouse portion of the play set.

Day 183 - July 6th

Roma's!

Day 182 - July 5th

The source of so much physical pain and agony. My right foot. Doesn't look like much, does it? Just a foot. Yet the simple act of putting on a shoe hurts. See how the pinky toe is curling under? That's one of the main sources of the problem. The left foot has it too, but the right one also has that giant wart/blister/whatever about 2 inches below the big toe on the bottom. Every day I work at the second job is pain. By the middle of my shift I'm limping noticeably and by the end I struggle to walk. My hips are starting to hurt because of the attempts to lesson the pressure on the foot.

I have a few leads on shoes. I'm hoping something comes of them. I plan on dedicating some time to once again research and attempt to get a pair of shoes that will save me. Even my sandals are now starting to hurt me a little and up until recently (as evidenced by the tan lines), they were the only footwear I could wear and not suffer.

Day 181 - July 4th

Our neighbors once again put on an impressive show! First a potluck then an amazing display of pyrotechnics. And for the first time in three years, I got to see it since I worked 8a-5p at the second job instead of closing! It was a lot of fun!

Day 180 - July 3rd

I began construction of the playset today! The instructions say 5-10 hours time. I assume that would mean by a team of people, on perfectly level ground and led by someone who is not perpetually exhausted. Unfortunately, those are not my parameters. While I welcomed the stabilizing influence of my family when I needed help, the bulk of the work had to necessarily be done by me. And I found out my chose area of building was anything but level, which I suspected.

Two days later I'm still struggling with it...

Day 179 - July 2nd

Happy Birthday, Alexander!

Day 178 - July 1st

Following up on yesterday...