When husbands are right

It really really sucks. 

Vader was opposed to us getting the pool. He didn't want to do any work, although he wound up doing a lot of it, but didn't complain when he was getting sand and moving sand and doing the physical labor. It is now all up to me. We've had the pool full since Thursday. By the time I get the chemistry right it will be September and we will take it down. I check the chlorine and the pH every day. At first the chlorine was too high (naturally, since our well water is chlorinated) and the pH was too high. I added pH decreaser (acid) and think I finally got that in line. Then the chlorine was virtually non existent so I added some chlorine but it still wasn't enough and the pool analysis I checked online said I had to shock it so I did and now after 2 days the chlorine is still too high. Here's the thing though, I have two different test kits--one is the aqua chem 6 way test strips and the other is the aqua chem OTO chlorine test with the drops and the vials. They both give me different readings. 

This is a 3 foot vinyl pool. I really shouldn't have to worry about all of the chemicals. I think I'm going to stop using the  test strips and just wait for the chlorine to go down. It would help if we could get some damn sun instead of rain. At least there's no real desire to go in it right now with all this rain. Once the chlorine is safe I'm going to stop obsessing and trying to get it perfect. We have a month and a couple of weeks of potential swimming right? As long as the chlorine and the pH are okay, I really don't care about everything else. 

We had friends for dinner last night so I did all of my cleaning yesterday. I am now relaxing on the couch while SkyWalker plays Elmo downstairs on his computer. The Princess is taking an early nap. SkyWalker is coughing today  and sounds a little congested, but is not covered in snot like he usually is when he gets a cold so I'm not sure what's going on with him. His train buddy from last week has a cold so I thought we'd be getting it too. Maybe they do have it and it's just mild. The Princess is getting her molars so that could be why she's a little snotty and cranky and tired. 

Isaac is limping again. Bad. We had a playdate on Friday and the dogs were in the bedroom and Isaac jumped up on our tub to see out the window. I can only imagine that's what happened. I really hope he has not done permanent damage to his leg. We paid a lot of money for that surgery and if he's screwed it up... ack. I wish we could just keep the dogs out with us and not worry. For the most part we can but they get so excited and want to play with everyone and lick everyone and if anyone is skittish around them (as a couple of people were which is why they were in the bedroom) then it just gets me nervous. One of the kids actually wound up opening my bedroom door on Friday (the one who is the most afraid of them) and let the dogs out and they wound up being outside with us and were "okay". Most of the kids/parents that come for the big kid playdates are actually pretty good with them. They're much better outside when Isaac has his crazy ball and I can throw a stick for Haze. But inside they just get annoying trying to sit on everybody and kiss everyone and when they try to kiss a toddler they can knock him right over. I keep waiting for them to calm down as they get older. It's my fault for being so antisocial for so long and probably for working as well... they used to be alone for 8 hours every day. Now there's people and they get so excited. What I should do is try to tire them out before people come over, but I can't throw the ball for Isaac because of his leg and because he's an idiot who just wants to eat the ball and not give it back. And I can't tell him to play by himself while I throw it for Haze. He'll play with the crazy ball by himself if we're all out there and if I throw a stick for Haze, but if I throw balls he has to be involved. I still want Vader to hang some kind of rope so Isaac can play tug of war, which is what he really likes to do. 

So dinner last night was great. The Princess's little jobber friend came over, with his Mom and Dad, for pizza and wings. The Princess played with her friend when she wasn't clinging to me regretting not napping very well. We had a great time and as I was getting the Princess ready for bed I heard Vader say to SkyWalker "Wasn't that fun?". I think the funniest part of the whole evening was at 7 pm when both babies said "Enough's enough, we need to sleep!". The Princess started rubbing her eyes and yawning. The little jobber walked to his Mommy and fussed and all but said "It's bedtime woman!" 

SkyWalker was a complete goofball throughout all of dinner trying to hide under the table and being shy because there was someone new. He'd never met the Dad before and he told me earlier he was nervous. He didn't say nervous. He said "I don't want his Dad coming." But then after dinner as we played in the living room the Dad broke his shell with a measuring tape and the next thing I knew SkyWalker was giggling and being silly asking him to measure every body part imaginable and being a total goofball but in a good way this time. It was so nice to see... SkyWalker is so shy but I'm glad that he can be reached. In less than 3 months he will be in preschool without Mommy and it will be a bit of sink or swim for him I guess. He's going to have to talk to his teacher and talk to other kids and not be so shy. 

I cannot believe the Princess is still napping. She never naps this early. The dogs are napping. SkyWalker is still downstairs. There is an eerie quiet except for the occasional sound of Elmo or Oscar the Grouch that finds its way up the stairs. 

I was going to lament my dying iPod but I can hear the Princess stirring. I'd better get the laundry in the dryer before it's too late.

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crashing

I took an imitrex about 15 minutes ago and it's hitting me now. It's a preventive measure. I have a headache but not a migraine yet and I'm hoping to avoid it. But the imitrex just beats the crap out of me anyway. I should leave all the typos in here instead of fixing them because it would illustrate the serious lack of mental functioning I have right now. 

Random things in my head:

Our power went out Friday night around 11 and didn't come back on until 1 pm Saturday. And then went  back off Saturday night. That sucked. 

The pool collapsed. That sucked too, but it wasn't looking so good, hence the imminent collapsing, so at least we got a chance to fix it. We have to wait to start filling it up again because our water is all dark and cloudy now. We took too much out of the well at once and the F86 filter system couldn't keep up. 

Why can't I find beach stuff in July? Don't people go to the beach in July? All I wanted was a foldable beach blanket that I could carry easily. I guess I should look in February. Screw you NYS wacky retail stores. I wonder if they have this problem anywhere else. Can you get seasonal stuff in their proper season in states that don't have more than one season? Hmmmmm

i am definitely crashing now. methinks it's time for some sleepy-sleep before i fall asleep with the laptop on my lap and get discovered my vader when he gets home frm shoppping. won't that be funny?

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Success

I got the pool drained and moved to the garage (I had to use SkyWalker's wagon to help me move it. It wasn't too heavy but just unwieldly). I didn't clean the bathroom but if my MIL wants to pee she'll just have to do it at her own risk.

All in all yesterday was a very successful day.

We leave in just over an hour. My sister's wedding is on Friday. The 20th anniversary of my aunt's suicide. I wonder if anyone else will remember that? I think I'm more nervous than I was before my own wedding. I hate church shit. My children will probably do something inappropriate ("Why that man say god? He listen to Lamb of God too?"). I have to walk down the aisle by myself. I will probably fall. I am so glad I will never be in a wedding again (hear that single coworker?!)

I slept great last night and I think it was because Isaac was in the bathroom. He came in when I was taking a shower and fell asleep on the floor (just like old times) and just never got up. I didn't hear any scratching or shaking or any nonsense. It was great. His skin is in such horrible condition right now. I think he needs a spa treatment. We're giving him prednisone again because it's so bad. He's been doing bad for a while now, since he was cooped up in the crate after his surgery. He had been doing so well before that and didn't even need prednisone. 

I'd better start loading up the car and organizing the breakfast dishes. Maybe I'll get some vomiting in there too. Not in the breakfast dishes. That would be gross.

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Bedtime can't come fast enough

I have a million things on my to-do list today. I have already swept up Isaac's dead skin, so now I still need to do laundry. And then more laundry. And clean the pee off of the guest bathroom floor. And straighten up the kitchen. And pack. And drain the pool. 

The Princess is not cooperating. 

The past few days she has skipped her morning nap and taken a nice long 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. Glorious. Not today, the day I need to get a million and one things done. She slept a tiny bit in the car this morning and I wonder if that has thrown her off. She only napped for about 45 minutes after lunch. I can't drain the pool with her at my side. And I don't want to let her crawl around outside since it just stopped raining. Which also means that there's more water in the pool for me to drain. Gah! 

Vader came home last night and looked at the pool. He's going to get some sand and help me set it up. In the meantime I need to drain it so it doesn't become a malaria breeding ground and get it back in the garage so it doesn't blow away. I'm not sure how I'm going to get that done today. 

In the loose thread section, I have stopped nursing the Princess. I made it to July and am very happy about that. July 1 was our last day. It was a little sad but I'm enjoying her 8 am wake ups. :-) (As long as big brother doesn't wake her up earlier by slamming the stair gate on his way to snuggle in bed with me).

SkyWalker is demanding that he be allowed to do his e-mail now. Let me leave you with this gem from my son after releasing gas from some part of his body: "People burp, fart, cough and say happy birthday to your HAIR! HAHAHA"

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This birkett has been chucked

I bought a 3 foot pool when I was on Long Island. One of those blow up the ring and the water sets up the rest types. My MIL heard that you need a permit for it in my wacky town so I dutifully called and checked and sure enough you do. Since I am a law-abiding citizen I got the paperwork online and all the ridiculous stuff I needed (a plot plan?? for a 3 foot pool??) and the jedi and I headed out to town hall this morning. 

We did not get a permit. 

Why? Well, we need an alarm (roughly $40) in case I'm an idiot and let my kid go near the pool without me. We need a fence around it (so the dogs can jump on it and rip a hole in it?? No.) And then the permit fee is $35. So the $100 pool would wind up costing at least $75 more. Um, no. The fee is for the inspector to come out and make sure you did everything okay. No thank you. I was so enraged when I left that I had to call Vader. He agreed to just screw it.

We went to Target to get some stuff including a picnic blanket that folds up nicely with a little "handle" so you can carry it easier when you're also carrying children. Guess what? Nobody goes on picnics anymore. I'm 2 weeks late. All of the back to school stuff is out. I'm sorry, but didn't school just end last friggin' week??

We figured we'd check WalMart (nope, none there either) and I asked about the pool alarm just for the hell of it. They had none and were astonished that I would need one. They had never heard of needing a permit for one of those pools, let alone an alarm. So like I said, screw them.

We came home and got the Princess done for a nap and attempted to put up the pool. We got the ring blown up. That was about it. Apparently there's just no level ground in my back yard. But it's not really obvious until there's already too much water in the pool so that moving it is impossible. We drained it, moved it and tried again. No good. I need Vader to probably put some sand under the pool and even it out. Did I mention that Vader wants NOTHING to do with the pool? He helped me put the filter together last night because he found me crying when I couldn't understand the stupid instructions.

I cannot do the pool myself. Who am I going to call for help now? My 70 year old MIL? The only people who would help (and could help) are hundreds of miles away. 

I'm going to make dinner and get these children to bed early and then I'm going to watch a dumb movie by myself as Vader goes food shopping. Then I'll work on looking as sad and pitiful as I can and cry a little (shouldn't be difficult) so he feels sorry for me and agrees to help just put the pool up.

Oh and we went couch shopping yesterday, decided on what we want and did NOT buy it despite my saying that we were going out to PURCHASE our couch. Why? Because Vader thought maybe we should get 2 couches since the difference between the loveseat and the couch was only $30 but we had to go home and measure first. And we can't get two couches because we don't have enough room. Had we just done what we had agreed on initially we wouldn't have to find the time to go back. When we got home I got to put two crying children to bed (one of whom did not actually stay in bed until after 10 pm)  all by myself while Vader installed the grounding rod. Happy Birthday to me.

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