Wowee, and Other Amazing Things

So, I know it's been a slow few months on this little blog. To make up for this, I give you... PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!

My last post never published. . .

so that's why this blog has been silent. Weird. I've never had that happen. We've been plugging along with life. I quit sugar about a week ago, and had a headache for 4 days!!! Wow. I was out of control. I've never been so out of control. I guess the stress was getting to me.

School is winding down. I'm glad. I'm ready for summer and sleeping in. Don't expect to see me anywhere before 10am.

Pictures later...

Well, we have had a ton of life happening around here lately. Most importantly today, our amazing cat Mr. Pickles, Mr. Sully Pickles, or Sully, was hit by a car. I was out watering the flowers, and was wondering where he had gone off to. I saw a car drive by very slowly, which was odd, so I went to look in the road and saw him lying there. I freaked out and ran inside where Trevor was laying on the couch trying not to throw up since he was home sick. I begged him to go out and get him. I'd already had to pick up our other cat from the road last year. The kids were getting home soon too. I begged and begged. Trevor wobbled out to the road and yelled "He's alive!". This part makes me bawl. He picked Sully up in a towel and brought him to me. I was bawling and wailing and bawling some more. He was in a terrible mess. Obviously he had at least one broken leg, and had been hit in the head as well. There was lots of blood and he bawled at me bawling at him. Meanwhile, Trevor somehow made it back inside and puked a bunch more in the toilet before laying back down on the couch.

I got Sully to lay down in a box covered in the towel and got Carter to sit with him while I figured out what to do. Trevor said I should shoot him. Yeah right, Trevor. No way. I told Trevor he had to shoot him. He said there was no way he was moving from the couch again, and I was on my own. So I waited five minutes, and Logan and Phoebe's bus got home. They were devastated. They cried and cried, and I cried some more. We decided not to wait for Sami, because we didn't want Sully to be in any more pain, and we were afraid the vet wouldn't be open if we waited too long, so Logan stayed home and watched the boys while Phoebe and I went to town with Sully. The vet said it looked really bad. Sully had a broken right front leg, and no feeling in the left front leg. He also had brain damage and his pupils were not dilated the same. I signed the euthanasia paper and then we bawled some more and told our Mr. Pickles how much we loved him and how he was going to not be in any more pain. We told him to say hi to Puppy and Roy, and that there would be a special boy waiting to play with him. Then we left him there. That's the part I regret. I wish we could have brought him home, but I know I wasn't strong enough for the next part on my own. If trevor wasn't sick, he would have been buried under the tree with the other cats. I can't let myself feel guilty though. It was everything I could do and handle on my own. I'm so over having any animal. To heck with the mice. I'm getting a rat zapper. Look it up. It looks amazing. I'm getting two. Amazon carries them. Animals hurt so so so much. Like I've said before, I don't regret having had them, but it hurts so bad to lose them. We still have two other cats that have adopted us. I've been trying to find them homes, and still hope to accomplish this. This is really important to me now, especially knowing that if these cats stay with us much longer, chances are it will be them I am taking to be euthanized next. Our next door neighbors have about ten cars that speed up and down our road all day long. Half the time they are drunk. They don't slow down for anything. It is very frustrating.

Progress

If you could picture me jumping up and down from excitement while writing this, that would be an accurate description of how I'm feeling right now. I am absolutely exhausted today, but man did I get a lot done. This past week was a test of endurance in every way, yet the Lord helped me through it all.

It's a long story, but I was able to print, cut and stretch seven canvases all while having Alysa's two oldest here on Tuesday evening and Wednesday  morning, all while running sami and logan to activity days, scouts, and also Trevor's parents stopped on their way through town. Thursday I ran to Twin Falls to get my tires rotated and get a few things for scouts that evening. A trip to Twin is not a quick thing. I left at 9 am and got back at 3pm. It was just enough time to do a load of dishes and then the first set of kids got off the bus along with three extra boys. I watched a friend's boys after school that day. They all helped me get ready for pack meeting that night that I was in charge of, all while the kids had piano lessons via Skype. Sami got home somewhere in the chaos, the boys got picked up, and it was off to the church to set up. The new cub scout manual requires a lot of larger projects, one being a carnival. We have been preparing for many months, and we were very blessed. The carnival went off without a hitch, and then it was home for dinner at 9 and help Logan finish his school project until midnight, due the next day.

I wish I could say that was the end, but we are just getting started. The next day I got the kids out the door to school, and then got myself and the other kids in the van and drove to Boise for the day. I drove as fast as I could past Boise to Payette where my Brother in law's sweet mother's funeral was being held. We went to the cemetery and the luncheon after at the church. After that, we headed back to Nampa for an hour or so. I was so very tired at this point. I mean, hardly able to hold my eyes open tired. We ate dinner and I headed out to a photo shoot. I was gone for a few hours. When I got back, it was time to feed Will and then get back in the car, and then drive back home. We got home at midnight.

The next day, it was over to our town house to work for the day. We worked all day and were able to put in two headers!!! We quit in the dark around nine, and then stopped for groceries and went to McDonald's for dinner, and got home just after ten. That brings me to today. I'm tired.

Now for the photos: the first is the before. Notice how awful the framing is. It's a terrible jumble in the left hand wall by the stairs. Also, notice the amazing 1x header across the opening into the dining room. We had to use a jack to jack the ceiling back up for the header in that room. It was bad. Anyway, we are really, really not wanting to work in the girls' room next week, but the time has come. There is no more putting it off.

I

Wannnnnnnna swiiiiiiiiiiiiing

From the chandelier!

From the chandelier!