the week from hell

Somehow, my husband leaves town for a week and my world starts to fall apart.  Hmm.  

Ryan was sent to Seattle for a week for training for a new saw his company was purchasing and he would be responsible for programming.  I usually don't mind him being gone, and was not worried at all about having a week without him. 

I quickly began to wish he was home asap. 

Let's see... 

Before Ryan left, I got a phone call from my mom that her Uncle George (far left) had passed away suddenly at home.  He is my grandma's brother, and he lives just a couple miles from us.  I remember spending many holidays and events at he and Aunt Pat's house when I was a child.  My favorite memories there are fishing off the dock or pontoon, their pet squirrel "TreeLake" and their two dogs Max and Maggie.  For the past 4 years or so we've spent 4th of July at their house on the lake.  I'm so thankful for these annual memories!

Because Uncle George passed away, mom had to get a quick flight into MI from DC.  I usually pick her up, so no big deal... Amelia and I set off to Lansing to pick her up, even killing an hour in the Salvation Army.  We get to the airport and I decided to go in since Amelia had been in the car for awhile already.  We were just hanging out, running around and waiting for my mom.

Here's Amelia... having a blast...

Until I realized we were at the wrong airport.

My FB status:

So we went to the Lansing Airport to pick my mom up today..... She flew into Detroit. #theuniversehatesme

Luckily my sister in law lives not far from the Detroit airport and our truck was there from Ryan leaving for Seattle.  (we usually park at her house and then have her drop us off at the airport).  So, she picked my mom up and my mom drove the truck home. 

And then... the dogs.  OhHhhh the dogs.  

My FB status:
The dogs took off again. My day can't possibly get worse can it? Their new escape plan is breaking the wood privacy fence to get out. As you can see, we have already patched it twice. I seriously hope they get hit by a car and die. But with my luck they'd just be seriously injured. In this case, I'm calling someone with a gun to shoot them. I'm over it.

And well, then I ended up with an Instragram hater. 

FB status:
I love people that don't get me. Susan check your mail.... Two dogs will be coming Fed Ex to ya! They had the audacity to come back home at 1:30am barking, after I was cozy in bed. #mydogsaredouches

Next FB Status:Not only did they come home sopping muddy with swamp water at 1:30am, but they also tore up the garbage I had sat outside the front door to take out in the morning. Hope you enjoyed diapers for dinner because if you're not home at dinner time you don't eat. House rule. @susanguckel keep an eye out in the mail for 'em. Ill send the garbage with them. They may get hungry on the trip. #mydogsaredouches

And then on Tuesday... remember how my mom drove Ryan's truck home?  Well she parked it at the very end of the driveway--- where I'm not used to having it parked.  And so I did a very Nicole-Thing to do....

My week keeps getting better and better! Backed into Ryan's truck in my own driveway. If I don't shoot myself I'm sure he is going to. #theuniversehatesme#thisweeksucks

Later that day:
Who has a voodoo doll of me? I'm taking bets on whether or not this turns into something serious this week. Ughhhh

. 

And even later that day:
The dogs escaped again. Busted more boards. And killed our neighbors 6 chickens and 2 turkeys. What. The. Hell. I don't know what to do.

Wednesday:
Is this hand, foot, mouth!?!?  I wish I were making this up. I'm ready to crawl in a hole and hide until Ryan comes home Saturday. ughhhhhhhh.

Thursday:
This would be the icing on my hell-week cake. Lice in the classroom. Gahhhhhhh!!!!

Kitty Litter

Aubri and Addi are here today, and let me just say- I'm not sure I'm cut out for 5 kids. I love that they're close in age and play well together but OMG the mess. The chaos. The noise. The MESS. I'm literally following kids around cleaning up mess. It's everywhere.

And the trouble. Addi and Hudson went to the basement to play after lunch. Aubri and Porter followed to call them up for rest time. Not long after I hear laughter and screaming and "OH MY GOD!"-ing. I go downstairs and Porter and Aubri are wide eyed and yelling "THEY PEED AND POOPED IN THE KITTY LITTER!"

Folks. I kid you not. My kid pooped in the kitty litter. And my niece peed in it. What. The. Hell. Rest time is a necessity today. The bigs are on the couch reading their own chapter books. The middles are upstairs probably conspiring how to get out of rest time and Amelia is wandering the playroom looking for small choking hazards.

 Me? I need a margarita.

Living with "naughties": aka "Only at the Barczaks' House"

Hudson and Cooper... oh these two keep us on our toes.  It used to be Porter.. but he's kind of outgrown most of that naughtiness.

Let's start with Hudson.  In the past 2 weeks:

• He clogged the bathroom sink with random junk
• He got a shish-kebob skewer jammed in the toilet 
• He scooped powdered formula into his humidifier... which upon cleaning I found a marble, a matchbox car, a pencil shaving, a shell and a rubber Automoblox tire in it. 
• Drove my grandma's car into a telephone pole.  Oh yes.  Only at the Barczaks' house....
  
  Last Monday my grandma came over to watch the boys while Amelia and I had lunch with Jane.  She brought Aubri with her.  While I was gone, she let the kids wash her car.  I told her to go ahead and park it in the front yard under the tree so it was in the shade.  When I got home, we chatted out front for a bit and then my grandma and I took Amelia inside.  Not long after we hear Aubri and Porter screaming.  We both run to the front door and as I make my way outside I see my grandmas car rolling towards our driveway from the neighbors yard!!!
  
  I run to the car as it rolls to a stop and it crosses my mind that if he has the car on and hits the gas I might be chasing a moving car driven by a 4 year old.  I hop in and put the car in park... turns out he somehow got it into neutral and it rolled down our driveway, turned toward our neighbors yard and bounced off their telephone pole!
  
  After we realized everyone was okay, nothing was seriously damaged in the fiasco, my grandma and I start busting up laughing.  Then Hudson says to us in this pitiful little voice "And I even went potty in my paaaaants!"   We start laughing even harder, which makes Hudson burst into tears- the "ugly cry"... scrunched up face, lip sticking out, mortified.  I check his pants and sure enough... he shit his pants!
  
  What a day.  What a day.  

And Cooper.  He's the King of Naughty.  Lately:

• We've been losing pacifiers left and right.  Finally found the culprit:  Cooper is EATING them.  Like, swallowing them (at least I watched him swallow one).  
• He climbs the 3.5' baby gate.  The gate stays in place... he shimmies up and over. 
• He randomly brings us dirty diapers from the garbage.  Luckily if we're around he won't eat them, he just brings them to us.  But he has been known to tear them up. 
• He escaped from the mudroom while we were swimming at my grandmas.  We came home to a living room full of the bedding for the rats (he tore apart the entire bag!), a shredded shopping bag that had baby clothes in it, and shredded diapers.  Oh... and he got into a basket and pulled out a package of NEW pacifiers, ripped open the package and ate the nipple off both pacifiers.  What is wrong with him?!?!

Nail Polish Homicide

I swear.  Three and Four are such shitty ages in my book.  I can handle the tantrumy 2's, but what is it about 3 and 4 that make my kids go haywire and get into stuff?!?!   Just as Porter has outgrown (in the past year) his 3 year streak of mutilating my makeup, tearing up my landscaping and basically wreaking havoc anytime he's left to his own devices for half an hour.... Hudson chimes in.

Naptime. My quite time.  I don't "require" them to sleep but I do demand they give me an hour of peace while they read books or listen to their radio.  Porter is pretty good at this and 99% of the time Hudson falls asleep and naps for a good 2-3 hours.

Today, I let Hudson sleep in my bed.  This has become our ritual on days we are home together- we nap in my room.  Well I had things I wanted to get done so I tucked him into bed and went downstairs.

20 minutes later Porter calls to me "Mom.... Hudson has your nail polish and its all over the walls and your bed!"

GAHHHH!.

I'm not kidding.  FOUR bottles of nail polish.  Dumped over my lamp (lightbulb) and dripping down the base, a puddle on the night stand, a puddle in two different spots on the wood floors, "HUDSON" written on the walls in bright pink, one of my favorite necklaces sitting in a puddle of nail polish, the new comforter I just got (albeit, at a garage sale) has dark burgundy blobs on it, my comfy comfy bamboo sheets have what look like dried blood spots on it.  UGHGHGH.

I kid you not, it looks like a murder scene.   Good Friday.  Hudson might be praying for a resurrection this Sunday as well.....

Drama in the 'hood

Someones dog has been barking nonstop for the past few days.  As in "bark bark bark (3seconds) bark bark bark bark (3 seconds) repeat repeat".  Today I drove around to track it down.  All the way across a swamp and one street over.  The dog was in a polebarn (never saw it, but heard it from their driveway).

I knocked on the door, in all my almost-9-month-pregnant-glory and said the following "Do you have a dog in your pole barn?  (yes) I'm not sure if you've noticed, but he has been barking nonstop all day, and we're trying to enjoy the beautiful weather with our windows open but can't enjoy the day because of the constant barking.  My kids are trying to nap and can't get to sleep because he has been barking so much."  (I didn't say this rudely, and yes... the last part was slightly exaggerated but COME ON!  The dog has been barking ALL DAY!"

The guy, who looked like a 90lb crackhead with overgrown facial hair, sunken eyes, a cigarette and a crackly, raspy, laryngitis-y voice, says "Yeah... he's a hound dog.  Bobo! Bobo!  Be quiet!" (mind you he whisper-yells this from uhm... about 6 car lengths away from the barn).  I thank him and drive off.

A few minutes ago, he shows up in my front yard, tells Porter to go get his parents.  Says there's a black and white dog in our backyard that his his.  Ryan goes outside and the guy, and his wife (both driving around) start yelling at him that we took his dog, and have it in his backyard and its a Blue Tick Coonhound.  Ryan says "No... that's a German Wirehaired Pointer and he's our dog."  The guy and his wife start saying "Well its odd that your wife comes over and bitches about our dog barking and now he's missing! Where's your wife?"  Ryan tells them... "She's pregnant... how the hell would she steal your dog?"   The wife screams "Well the LAW will bet gettin' involved in this!"  HAHAHAHHAHA!~

OH MY.  So they keep driving by.  PSYCHOS!

Ohhh Porter.... Mr. Independent

Yesterday Porter was dropped off after school by the parent of a little girl who rides his bus (who lives two stops before his).  I asked him why he wasn't on the bus, and why someone else dropped him off and he said "Miss Dawn had to roll her windows up in her car and it was raining so I got off at Trinity's stop at the blue house."  I thought it sounded weird, but I've met Dawn, and Ryan and his dad know her from her other job (waitress at a local lunch spot they go to) and I trust her completely- she's always been very protective and concerned with Porter's safety on the bus.   I kind of shrugged it off as maybe there was an emergency or something, and Dawn had asked a parent to run him down the road.  Odd, yes, but I assumed there was a reason.

This morning, as we drove to school, I asked a few more questions about the drop off... was he the last kid on the bus?  Did she drop anyone off after him?  Where was her car?  (oddly, he said her car was at the bus yard, which is right by our house... hmmm..) So, it started to sound kind of fishy/weird but again, he was safe and I just kind of shrugged it off.

Well, Miss Dawn just dropped him off and brought him up to the door to explain....

Turns out, some kids on the bus let her know today that he got off on the wrong stop.  And she said she was worried yesterday because he didn't get off at our stop and even spoke with her boss about it.  She apologized profusely for him getting off on the wrong stop.  I laughed and told her I just assumed there was an emergency.  He was on the bus today, and she had a long talk with him about NEVER EVER getting off on the wrong stop.

What turns out had happened.... it was raining/storming and that particular stop has like 7 kids that get off, and sometimes they're pokey.  So she had made the comment "Everyone needs to get on this side of the bus and hurry off".  Porter took that as an "EVERYONE" as in... him as well!  He is the last kid to be dropped off (and the girl who gets off one stop before him wasn't on the bus... so he thought she needed to get to her car asap and let him off at Trinity's stop!!)  So, somehow his short little self scurried off the bus, and THANK GOODNESS there was a parent there that he must have asked to take him home.  I'm not sure what he'd have done if no other parents had been home!

It cracks me up because that is SO Porter... take it into his own hands and just be Mr. Independent.  Most kindergardeners would probably be freaked out at the thought of getting off at an unfamiliar stop, or something off schedule.  Porter?  Nope.  Ask him to get off at some random stop and he's a-okay with it.  He'll figure out how to get home!  HAHA!

Last night he had told me maybe he should ride his bike to school and back.  Uhm... no way.   And a few months ago I'd told Porter he needed to ride the bus on a Friday because Hudson and I were going to Ann Arbor for the day (and riding the bus give me an additional hour to get home in time to get him off the bus) and Porter tells me as he hops out of the van to go to school  "Okay, and if you're not home I'll just break in the house and wait for you."  Oh, Porter....

And today Porter picked out this outfit to wear.  He was so confident until he got to school... then he said "Now the girls are gonna look at me!" And he walked into school with his backpack on his chest.  Silly boy.

Pondering divorce....

Not for marital issues.  For educational issues.

Just got Ryan's statement for student loans.  $23,000.  Add that to my $55,000 in student loans and we're a whopping $80k in debt.  WTF WTF WTF.

He's been going to school while we are married and have 2 kids.... we get nada for student aid help.

So basically, we're both educated, married adults destined to be broke FOR-EV-ER.

I think we need to get divorced so that I can go to school for my Masters.  Because obviously the government only cares to help unmarried single mothers.  Eff that.

Trying to help, I guess?

"just found a dryer full of dry clothes.... and cups and cups of powder laundry detergent. Thanks, Porter. *sigh*"

Just for shits and googles. Err giggles.

I typed in "what if" in Google's search bar.

These are the recommendations I got:

What if...

What if...god was one of us
What if... I am a black woman
What if... god smoked cannabis

Let's try some more:

How do...

How do... you know if a guy likes you
How do... you know if you're pregnant
How do... you know if a girl likes you
How do... you get a passport
How do... you sleep
How do... you get pregnant

If I....

If I... were a boy
If I... promise to hold you all of my days would you
If I... were a boy beyonce

What should I...

What should I... do with my life
What should I... eat for dinner
What should I... get my boyfriend for valentine's day
What should I... be when I grow up
What should I... weight
What should I... major in
What should I... read next

How can...

How can... I keep from singing
How can... I get pregnant
How can... I make my hair grow faster
How can... you tell if a girl is a virgin
How can... she slap
How can... you tell if someone is lying

Interesting the things that people google!!

What the bleep bleepity bleep!!

Ok... tell me if I'm totally naive or what...

I decided for Ryan's upcoming birthday to surprise him with guitar lessons for both of us. He's always wanted to learn the guitar and I thought it'd be fun to take lessons together. So I found this guy on Craigslist that "advertised" "lessons" in our area. Here is his ad:

Hello.

My name is Michael, and I am offering guitar, and drum lessons. I have experience playing both for over 5 years. For drum lessons you need to have the drum set. I can't use my drumset in my townhouse.

I am sick of seeing people charge 20 dollars for lessons so I will charge $10. That will not change. I am currently giving lessons now, and have a couple of spots open. We can work out time slots for what works with you. Great with kids.

For guitar-
I can teach you chords, scales, songs, any many styles of music. I will most likely not have you read sheet music, unless you really want to learn that way.

For drums-
You will learn proper technique for playing. You will learn beats, fills, Reading sheet music, and much more.

I have music theory, and piano experience. I'm currently in a band, and have played all over the state, and have done a national tour.


Please if your child wants lessons, and they are young make sure they really want lessons. I don't want to waste your time, or mine.

Please contact by email for questions.

Please email at astralfeedbackmb@hotmail.com

So I emailed him this:

Hi,

I am looking for someone to give guitar lessons to my husband and I. I'm wanting to surprise him for his birthday- he's always wanted to learn to play the guitar and I thought it'd be a surprise for me to learn with him. This is just a last minute idea I've had... neither of us have a guitar. Do you do semi-private lessons (two people) and if so, how much would it be? Do you have guitars we can use until we find out if this is something we want to further pursue, or should we buy guitars beforehand? When do you have times available? We are available Monday, Thursday or Friday evenings or the weekends.

Thanks,

Nicole

And I got back this....

I don't give guitar lessons. Only c%ck s%cking lessons. If you want me to give them to you that will be alright. You need a d$ck for me suck. Just want to let you know that i like d$ck in my butt.

Seriously... WHAT THE HELLL!!!! My jaw literally DROPPED when I read his email. I was like... uh... did I miss something?!?

What was the color of her dress?

OMG I just got this in an email and I can hardly believe my eyes. HOW do they do this??

What is our world coming to?

It seems like more and more of these insane news headlines keep appearing. I just have to shake my head and wonder what the hell these people were thinking. Or were they?

Ohio teen convicted of killing mom over a video game
Man dies after wife allegedly sets genitals on fire
Man accused of selling daughter for cash and beer
Couple accused of assault over Wii Christmas gift
Parents rescued after chasing son's teddy bear over cliff (and no... this wasn't a toddler accident... it was a 10 year old who was "throwing a tantrum" as he says so himself. What a brat)

Fish and Chips and Vinegar

Remember that song? Well, the tune has been playing through my head all weekend, except with the substitute words "Piss and Shit and Vinegar."

Yes, you heard me.

That's what my weekend has consisted of.

Last Thursday Ryan woke up to Porter standing by his side of the bed, pants off, next to a pile of diarrhea. Looked like a total accident. Porter was upset, yadda yadda yadda. We consoled him, cleaned it up and moved on.

Then, on Friday I think, I twice found pee on Porter's rug in his bedroom. A stripe of pee and then a little puddle. Two separate times. He confessed. I wondered if it was an accident and really didn't scold him too much.

Aubri and Addi stayed the night Friday and on Saturday morning I woke up to find Aubri and Porter awake in his room.

Aubri had just a shirt on. Porter had just a random pair of pj shorts and was scrubbing a pile of poop into his rug with a paper towel (told you he was a good problem solver).

What. The. Hell.

Aubri said that Porter peed on her pants (although we're still not clear on what really happened as her underwear were soaked like she peed her pants and Heather had told me the night before that she'd been peeing her pants lately.... BUT... she typically cries when she pees her pants- she gets upset about it). Porter said he pooped and was cleaning it up.

What a mess!!

So, I yelled at Porter for pooping and told him if I found him peeing or pooping on the floor again I'd make him wear diapers again and he'd have to sit in his poop and pee in his diaper like a baby does.

Not long after, he and Aubri went to go downstairs in the basement. I went to stop them as I have all my scrapbook stuff set up and when Porter has an audience he likes to get crazy. I walk downstairs to see Porter pulling his underwear up..... and streaks of pee all over the carpet. Ohhh he tried to pull those pants up fast as I flew down the stairs to crack his bare butt.

Fast forward to yesterday.... Porter got up from his nap, we all got ready for Donnie's birthday party and just before we were leaving I walked into Porter's room to find another streak and puddle of pee.

I went downstairs and turned Porter's tv show off and asked him if there was anything in his bedroom he needed to tell me about. He said no. I told him we needed to go up to his room and have a talk. He whined the whole way and as we entered his room I asked him "Is there anything you need to tell me about?" He immediately had that "oh..... yeah" look.

He confessed. WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!

I told him that if he was going to be a baby and pee on the floor then he'd have to wear diapers. I made him put on a diaper and take off his underwear... told him he couldn't wear his new Mickey Mouse underwear because babies don't wear underwear. Then we took away all of his underwear in his drawer and replaced it with his nighttime diapers (which are just regular size 4 diapers).

He was upset, and thus far no pee puddles. He's still going potty in the toilet, which I was worried we were just going to regress back into diaper mode again.

THEN.... when we got home from the Huff's, it was late as we'd stayed to have margaritas and watch some shows, I was quickly picking up the house before heading to bed. I took some toys into the toy room and stepped in something wet. PEE!

I asked Ryan if the dogs had been in the house and he said no. He went up stairs and I heard him talking to Porter and asking him why he would do that. Porter said he'd peed in the toy room before we left. GRRRR!!!

I have no idea what the hell to do. Has anyone else ever had this type of situation? Is he trying to get attention? Is he just being a punk? What is going on? I should mention.... Porter has been potty trained for 6 months and we've had maybe 2 accidents in that time. These are not accidents. There are no wet underwear, no wet pants. He's pulling his pants down and PEEING ON MY FLOOR!

Love and Logic

I received three Love and Logic books for Christmas. I've read one- Helicopters, Drill Sergeants and Consultants. I'm definitely falling into the Drill Sergeant category, despite all efforts to be a good "Consultant. (one who guides the child into making correct decisions, who guides them to be good problem solvers and to think for themselves)" I've began reading Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood and so far its a great book although I'm having a hard time figuring out how to apply it to Porter's issues.

See... Porter is a great problem solver. He's great at thinking for himself.

Want those cookies opened?
Go get the scissors and open them yourself!

Can't reach the scissors?
Drag a chair into the kitchen from the dining room.

Made a mess with the baking soda all over the kitchen floor?
Attempt to sweep it up with the broom before mom comes downstairs.

Mom didn't cut up my grapes for lunch?
Get out a knife and do it yourself.

I'm just not sure what to do with the kid anymore! Aside from attaching him to me with one of those child leashes, its ridiculous how much trouble he can get into when left alone for just a minute. Like today.... I was in the bathroom getting ready and Porter was in there with me. He said the hair dryer was too loud so he walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Signal #1. I thought... hmm... he must be getting into something. I turned off the hairdryer, literally seconds after he closed the door, and walked out of the bathroom and into his room to find him with the can of Hudson's formula (which had been on the table in the hall) dumped on his bedroom floor. GAHH! I blew a fuse for sure and out the door went all the Love and Logic. DAMN!

I'm wondering if I need to get the Love and Logic Magic: When Kids Leave You Speechless because he definitely leaves me speechless many times a week.

No more reselling clothes or toys as of Feb 10... says the Government.

Ironic that I just posted this TFT that I would find this article on Baby Cheapskate.

A snippet...

As of February 10th, you will no longer be able to place used children's clothes or toys into the "stream of commerce" unless you can prove that they've been tested for lead and pthalates. As I and others understand it, that means no selling items without such proof on ebay, Craigslist, yard sales, and church/organization consignment sales (See if your favorite sales are still scheduled). Of course, that means no buying kids' clothes and toys without certification from these sources either. This act could easily triple the amount that many families pay to clothe their kid until there are enough second-hand items manufactured after Feb. 10 to replenish the second-hand market (and even then it's likely that prices at thrift stores, etc. will be higher due to the added cost of testing them). It will absolutely eliminate the notion of recouping any of the cost of older items through reselling.

I am shocked... angry and shocked. So seriously our "go green", failing economy expects us- people who sell used items on Craigslist, at garage sales, on eBay and to consignment shops- to throw away our items because they "may" contain lead or phalates... and furthermore... expect us to buy 100% new toys and clothing because used items "may" contain lead or phalates? Seriously? What kind of effect is this goign to have on our enviornment and also on families (much like mine!) who rely on resale/used items to clothe their children and playrooms.

Ridiculous, if you ask me.

Here's a newer article from Baby Cheapskate and another article that is very informative.

What can you do? (Thank you, This Crafty Mom for these links)

1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC 888-531-9070. Go here.
Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30, 2009.
mailto:Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov.

2) Email or snail mail your representatives. Go here.

3) Call your representatives. For their contact information just enter your zip code here.

4) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue. The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama. Go here.

5) Sign the petition here.

6) Spread the word! Write about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and encourage them to do the same.

Stranger than the dryer eating socks theory...

We have two plastic laundry baskets MIA. Cannot find them ANYWHERE around the house. What the hell....

This makes me nauseous (let's see if this video works)

I can barely stand to watch it. I've heard its being investigated. It appears to be some kind of insane dance/swinging routine with a 9 month old baby. I've watched it a few times, trying to see if somehow its a fake baby but no... it looks damn real to me and I can't see how they'd be able to edit the video to slip in a double. Each time I've watched it I just keep waiting for the baby to whack the tv or something. But at the end... he's all grins. WEIRD.

Watch more LiveLeak videos on AOL Video

Shredder

Porter is frustrating me. The kid keeps tearing up his books... as in peeling the covers off or ripping pages. This is a new behavior... he's never ever ripped books other than on accident. We've always had his thin paperback books out for him to access- even as a10/11 month old. And he's always treated his books nicely from the time he became interested in books/reading (around 11 months old).

Why now? Why at 2.5, when he's obviously old enough to understand you DON'T rip up your books, would he start destroying them?

Kids confuse me.

Skunked....

Wasn't there a blogger I was reading about not too long ago whose dog got sprayed with a skunk?

I think Zoey got sprayed. Every so often we get the smell of skunk around here... the joys of living near nature. Well, last night it was pretty strong and Ryan had just brought Zoey in from getting out of our dog kennel. I immediately told him to put her in the garage in case it WAS her (this blogger I read about... their house was reeking weeks after the dog graced the house for just seconds!).

Well, its morning and it STILL has not gone away. I just peeked my head into the garage and the garage smells pretty bad. I smelled out the back door to the driveway... not so bad smelling.

SHIT! I don't have time for this!

So what do we do with dog that may or may not have been sprayed with skunk?

*****************
UPDATE:

I found a dog groomer that de-skunks dogs. Hallelujah! Ryan has class tonight and I just don't have time to deal with a smelly dog, two kids and a house that needs to be cleaned. Not to mention the darn dog barks when she's tied up outside... and she keeps getting out of our fenced in dog area (which is how she got herself in this situation in the first place!). GRR! So, $35 (UGHGUHG!) later we'll HOPEFULLY have a more pleasant smelling dog. If not, they can keep her.

Weird friend dreams

The past few nights I've had really strange dreams about friends I've lost contact with.

One friend I spoke with the other night on the phone (in real life)- we lost contact about a year ago when I got pregnant and was working full time. This dream was pretty vivid and I remember a lot.

I dreamt that my house was broken into by her and some other girl (a friend of hers??) and that, the day before, I had told her on the phone that I was not going to be home and she was surprised I was there. They had baseball bats and I was scared to death. I promised them I didn't have any money- I didn't keep any cash on hand. They still proceeded to scour my house, while I sat back on the couch hoping they didn't get violent. I then found an envelope of cash that Ryan had stashed under the couch cushion and while it had several hundred dollars in it I told them there was $140 and gave them that, hoping they'd leave. Then I went into another room with my "friend" and while we were in there her "friend" found the envelope with the cash I kept back and was mad.

Weird dream.

Last night I had a dream that a used-to-be-great friend that we haven't spoke to in awhile called me out of the blue to tell me something (can't remember what) and that I was really happy she had called and I hoped we could mend things. This dream was more vague... but I just rememberd those pieces a minute ago while doing my hair.

Dreams are weird.

What strange dreams have you had lately?