Waiting for the great pumpkin

Last weekend, we got together with Helloheather and Cetan (as well as their spawn) to head to the local pumpkin patch. Today, we went back since the weather was so nice. Last weekend, it was really cold and windy, so letting Lauren stay outside to see the petting zoo and play in this little area they have set aside just didn't seem like proper parenting. Today brought sunny skies and a temperature in the high 50's, so we headed back to do the things we didn't do last week. Lauren had a blast. She would walk up to each pen, wave, and say "Hi <insert applicable animal name here>". There were pigs, goats, cows, llamas, ducks, chickens, and bunnies. Lauren was especially cute with the bunnies as she tried to pet them and feed them straw from around the pen. They also had this little John Deere Tractor carts you could peddle. Lauren wasn't tall enough to peddle, so I pushed her around as she steered. Since this is us, you know we don't have any pictures of the day so you will all have to imagine it. Nope ... no pictures at all for me to upload later on. Why are you looking at me like that? Stop staring at me! Fine! So we took pictures ... so what if Debbie took 100 pictures today alone. Is that so wrong? Geez, you people are so judgmental!

A Modest Proposal

I'm not sure if this is a universal thing among women or not, but my wife likes to take my old underwear and convert them into dust rags. As a general rule, I have no problem with this. If it weren't for her, I would probably continue to wear those bad boys until all that was left was an elastic band. So, she makes sure to get rid of underwear that has seen better days (even though I think they have a few good decades left). Plus, it saves us money since we don't have to buy rags and I certainly can help maintain a steady supply. What I do have a problem with is what happens next. So, here is my request for all ladies out there who follow the same path as my wife:
Could you please cut the underwear into a rag shape.?
It took me 7 years, but Debbie finally decided to comply with my request and I am grateful. I know the underwear has been washed repeatedly and there is nothing unsanitary about using it to dust. I would just prefer that when dusting, it does not look like you are using a piece of cloth that in the not too distant past was cuddling my crotch and protecting my pants from my ass. Ladies, if you do this, your husband will appreciate it too if you follow my advice.

Thank you.

Disturbed

This past weekend, I felt a great disturbance in the force. I could not put my finger on what exactly had happened, but I knew something distressing had occurred. Today, I found out what it was.

My brother has out-geeked me.

I never thought this was even a possibility. He never took interest in anything geeky at all. He was a jock! Star Trek and playing with computers were way off his radar. He actually dated in high school (is there anything more non-geeky than having a girlfriend?). So I was quite shocked when I found out that not only did my little brother out-geek me, but he vaulted past me to a place I am not willing to go. He participated in a Civil War re-enactment. I don't know what possessed him to do this. I figured someone had to kidnap him, dress him in a civil war uniform, and beat him into submission. But that was not the case. Not only did he go of his own volition, not only did he participate as "Brigadier General Armstrong of the Confederate Army" (God that hurts to even type ... well ... actually copy and paste from his email), but HE ENJOYED IT!!!! What kind of sicko has he become.
Normally, this kind of action would require retribution where I try to out-geek him, but there is a problem. According to the Geek Hierarchy All that is left is to become a Furry[Wikipedia]. I just can't take that leap. I must now hang my head in shame and admit to my brother being a bigger geek than I am. Man ... Thanksgiving is gonna suck now.

Coping

We have just passed our first weekend without Lizzy. Some tears were shed, but we got through it. There were a few things we did that were fun and took our minds off the loss. Things like my niece's birthday party in Lombard and going to a pumpkin patch with Heather, Rob, and Nathan. But at the end of the day, the house now seems depressing. Where once, coming home was a joyful reunion, now it is darkness and silence. There's no need to make sure a light is on, no need to have the radio playing. Each time I walk in the door, I am reminded of what is missing. There are times where I still walk into the kitchen and expect to see her sleeping in the corner on her little bed underneath her favorite blanket. Occasionally, Lauren will ask "Where's Lizzy?" still and it hurts. We simply explain that she's gone to heaven. I am so glad we brought Lauren to say good bye. Even if she doesn't understand what she did or why, it helped me and I think Debbie a bit. Life goes on though and this next week will be just as hard.
Thanks to all of you for the kind words and prayers. They have uplifted and comforted us during this time and we are very blessed to have such caring friends.

Loss

There's no easy way to write a post like this, so the best thing to do is just get it out.

Lizzy passed away this afternoon rather suddenly.

I worked from home all day and Lizzy seemed fine. She was sleeping on her bed by the patio door, covered as always. Then, sometime this afternoon, she let out a little howl, similar to the one she voices when she dreams of chasing rabbits. I thought nothing of it and continued to work. It wasn't until I was getting ready to leave to pick up Lauren for a flu shot that I noticed something was off. Lizzy's eyes were open, but they weren't moving. Her eyes always move, following me as I walk around. As I neared her, I knew instinctively what had happened and what that howl was. I still took her to the vet's to make sure and they confirmed my fears. Debbie was driving home at the time, meaning all I could do was leave a note to meet me at the Vetinary Hospital. The doctor surmised that it was probably a stroke due to the effects of Addison's. He stated that she most likely passed very quickly with little to no pain.
The hardest part about this is that Lizzy seemed to be doing so well. She seemed to be back to normal and the medicine was doing its job. Every sign we had was that things were getting better and we had our old Lizzy back. I can only imagine how tough the next few days will be, particularly with Lauren. Even though we brought her to the vet's and let her say good bye, tonight she still asked "Where's Lizzy?" That was a tough one to handle and I don't think this is getting any easier.

For those who want to check up

Have you been wondering what Lauren has been up to the past few months. Well, wait no longer. Two new albums are available for your perusal. I highly recommend downloading the videos from September. If you are unsure how to view them, I believe downloading WinAmp will allow you to see them. Enjoy!
August Pics
September Pics

Like, Oh My God!

It happened last night. I'm stuck between being surprised it took this long and shocked it happened so soon. Debbie witnessed this too and it was all we could do to not guffaw.

Lauren rolled her eyes at me.

I was refusing to continue with our dinner prayer until she folded her hands. I told her she had to fold her hands so I could finish. At this point, she rolled her eyes, then folded her hands in resignation.
This is just the first in many many eye rolls I will have directed at me. I know this. I guess it's a good thing she got the first one out at the rip old age of 23 months.

Change is scary

There has been a change made at work recently that frightens me. It seems so benign, but my entire aura here has been thrown off by this minor adjustment to our work environment. THEY CHANGED THE TOILET PAPER! I had gotten used to the sandpaper they used around here. It was nice to just bring home a few squares when I had some wood to smooth out. But now, they've changed to a generic Charmin like TP roll. It feels ... soft!!! How am I supposed to live with this? You can't smooth out wood with this stuff!
I guess I should be happy though. I mean, this is a sign of prosperity. When your company turns off half the lights and switches to the single ply 3M rough grit sandpaper, you should worry about your job security. When every light is turned on to its full fluorescent magnificence and the toilet paper is two-ply, you can feel safe.
Though, now I wonder if those layoffs were because the managers were tired of having scratchy asses.

You Get What You Asked For

Yesterday, I wrote about missing Lauren clinging to me crying. Last night, she decided to remind me what it was really like and cure my case of parental senility. When the babysitter arrived so Debbie and I could attend choir rehearsal, Lauren went into full melt down. She begged to be picked up and snuggled in my arms sobbing. She would not let us go, so we had to perform the old drop and dash to get out (unfortunately, this maneuver was rendered moot when I realized I left my cell phone on the kitchen table and had to run back into the house). So, at least for a few days, I can watch Lauren run to her friends and remember that getting a kiss on the cheek is infinitely better than screaming and crying. Just goes to show you: Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

She doesn't need me anymore

Dropping Lauren off used to be such a hassle. She would cry and sob and cling to me for dear life. The only way we could get her to release her death grip on my shoulder was to distract her with promises of going outside (which always felt a little wrong to say on days that were nasty).
The big problem now is ... I miss that. Now, she runs right inside to say hello to her friends. She'll give me a little smack on the cheek, but then she's gone. I thought it would be great when she wouldn't fuss so much when I dropped her off. Now, I wouldn't mind a little fussiness.
So, let that be a lesson to all you parents. Even when something seems unbearable and you can't wait for that phase to be over, you will miss it. Sometimes even remember it not being that bad. I think that's God's little mechanism for making parents think a second child would be a great idea.

Mission Accomplished

I am finally done. With the fantastic weather we had this weekend, I figured it was time to man up and finish. After 81 days, the deck is complete! Eighty-one days ago I began ripping up the old floor boards from our deck and today, I screwed the last one into place. I could not be more elated. The end result is exactly as I had hoped. It looks wonderful. The project was actually much cheaper than I thought too (which is always a good thing). It was about $700 in materials (lumber and screws) and another $400 in tools (most of that is my brand new 12" Hitachi compound Miter Saw with Laser Guide ). It will be nice having a free weekend again.
The one nice thing about this project was all the nifty tools I got to add to my repitoire. There was the aforementioned 12" Compound Miter Saw, the 18 V Cordless Drill (with accompanying flashlight), and a Deck Wrench tool (more on that later). Not that bad if you ask me.
After a long project like this, it's always important to reflect on your accomplishment and try to figure out what you have learned.
1. Drilling a pilot hole did wonders in helping me keep the screws straight.
2. My original estimate of 5 lbs of screws was so incredibly off as to be laughable. I ended up using ~20 lbs. I just wish I knew that earlier when I could have bought the 25 lb box of screws at the start.
3. Measure Twice. Cut Once! I did a little of the Cut Twice, Measure once variety. I don't recommend it.
4. Never turn down offers of help. My dad was invaluable in helping me pull all the old boards off and my friend Dave helped me make great progress as well.
5. It's much nicer to use your own equipment than to rent. Borrowing is okay as well, but renting kind of sucked. Mainly because after 2 days, I realized I would have owed a small fortune if I rented that miter saw for the entire time.
6. Even though it seemed like an odd purchase, the deck would not looked nearly as nice had I not purchased a Deck Wrench Tool. I was really able to get those boards straight with this sucker. It seemed like an extravagance at the time, but by the time I was finished, I knew it was a necessity.
7. Amazingly, with all the power tools floating around and wood getting cut, I am thankful I still have 10 fingers and 10 toes. The worst thing to happen to me was a pulled chest muscle. I'd say that's pretty good.
8. If a friend ever told me they were thinking of doing this themselves, I would stab them in the leg. This would force them to find a contractor to do it.
I'm sure there are more, but that's what comes to mind right now. For pictures of the fruits of my labor, go to my gallery.