Happy Halloween!

Cheeta's first holiday:

This was setting up for the ward Halloween party tonight - well done us to have it inside as it's raining for the first time in 3 years right now - but my favorite moment of the party was when the lights went out and all the kids flocked to me because I glowed in the dark.
(I sure wasn't going to fit into my usual hippie costume this year.)

This is me and Happy Halloween everybody!

The Floor

(I don't know why I struggle with home improvement posts so much. There are at least three I should have done already but they all present such mental roadblocks. I have no idea why.)
I promised a post about the new floors and then Cheeta decided I needed to sleep a lot more than I had been.
(I can blame this kid for so much - even before he's born!)
And I forgot all about September.
And half of October too.
So here we are.
The story goes like this; when Tarzan and I bought this house (12!! years ago) it was through a program called Teacher-Next-Door where the government would pay for half the cost of the house if the teacher (also available for police officers & fire fighters) would live in the low-income area where they work. We applied, and were accepted. We were offered this house and were granted a small construction loan to fix it. (Fill in bullet holes, clean out the drug paraphernalia, add in toilets and cabinets and things.)
Interestingly - to me - we were allowed to add in carpet and vinyl tile but not hardwood floors.
So we had carpet, fully intending to change it out at a later date.
12 years later, we still had carpet.
The same carpet.
And despite cleaning and shampooing multiple times over the years it just wasn't looking good: 

So this spring - when we found out about Cheeta - we got it together, visited the local home improvement store, picked a color and set an installation date. First we had to pack up nearly everything in the house, because the installers would help us move furniture but personal stuff was on us:

One never knows how much stuff one has until one has to pack it up:

12 years of stuff.
We threw out, donated, sold, gifted and reorganized a lot of it but it took a good part of the summer. Then we had to wait 24 hours for the floor to acclimate:

The guys came on time - I felt bad, there were only two of them, but it was still a mild summer at that point which helped - and got right to work:

I think they did a good job:

Tools of the trade:

Tarzan helped:

He was very intent on knowing what went where and why:

Tongue and groove baby:

It was a fairly quick process, all told, about 12 hours, but the kicker has been putting all the stuff back. Thank goodness for ATL and her love of organizing!
We still aren't complete and we need some rugs, and probably a table for the living room still, but it's getting there.
It's a lot lighter in the house than it used to be:

This is me (us) with some new flooring.

Over/Re-View

I know, how much more excited can we get about my birthday?
But a lot of things occurred post birthday post, so a summation is required I think.
First, how did this happen?:

It has my name on it. I understand they can program it to say anything they want, but how do they do it so it only shows up on my computer?
Next, Tarzan bought me a lovely present:

So I can make pesto with all the lovely basil in the front yard without having to scrape extra bits off the ceiling. (Our current food processor is a tad ancient and doesn't lock closed anymore, so ingredients can take a walk during rotation if they like.)
And then another present last night:

For my feet which do not like shoes or socks and so often get dry and cracked and he has found the only lotion in the world that does not cause him to break out in hives to touch it, so we are both happy when he rubs my feet. Then, a friend from high school sent me this:

Tarzan ALSO took me out for dinner. We had hoped to find the only restaurant in the universe that served dim sum after 4pm, but it wasn't to be. The food was "a feast for the eyes" as my mother-in-law likes to tell us is a big deal in Chinese cuisine: 

And it also tasted really good:

Tarzan tried valiantly for a few minutes and then decided he was too hungry to manage the chopsticks and asked for a fork:

One day we will make it to a dim sum establishment.
While it is still serving the dim sum.
And of course there was the ego stroking that is Facebook's reminding people it was my birthday. Even if some of those people only chat or leave a message once a year, it still makes a person feel special.

This is me and all in all, it was a very lovely birthday. Thanks peeps.

Ode To An Incredible Woman

Rocketgirl,
You've had a birthday,
Shout HOORAY!
We - and I - want to sing to you today,
One year older and wiser too,
Haaaa-ppy Birthday!!!!
To. You!!

As per usual this time of year, I am happy to discuss the amazing-ness of my very first sister-in-law. We've discussed her beauty, musical, brains, humor and mothering skills in the past (and she is still way talented in all those departments) but this year she has been my practical go-to person when it comes to pregnancy and birthing. What to do first, where to go for what, what's true on the internet and what's not, what to do with children after the 'squeeee' factor wears off, all the good stuff.
She's my guru.
And I love her.

This is me wishing her a very Happy Birthday!

Plus Eight

Well, I take it all back.
Last year I said time goes faster the older one gets.
It's all about perspective.
This birthday has taken forever to come and it's not because we haven't been busy. In fact, we've been VERY busy in The Jungle this year.
Very busy with miracles and then the usual stuff. Not as busy with the blog - which has been handy in the past for helping me keep track of what went on which year.
Hopefully I'll keep it all current. A summation of my last year.

• Tarzan is doing well as bishop. He has settled into the role a little more and does not put on his suit everytime someone calls. (I won't tell you what I caught him wearing Monday night when the phone rang. You'll never get the image out of your brain and it's not what we should imagine our bishops wearing when we call them.) 
• I'm in the Primary and it goes as usual. Teachers sometimes do or do not show up, kids do or do not be reverent. We carry on.
• I have been blogging at this here site for seven years! One would think I'd get better at it over time.
• We saw a few movies this year. Most notably, Ender's Game and Les Miserables.
• Tarzan and I visited his family for the annual Thanksgiving parties. And they were good.
• I got a haircut I really like. I must remember to go back and get them to update it again.
• Tarzan and I celebrated 13 years of marriage and figured after this long, we probably weren't going to have children before the millennium...
• And oh yeah - I'm PREGNANT!! which is so weird and out of the park for any birthday wish I have ever wished that 8 months in I am still having a time processing the fact.
• ATL got a full time job - which she loves and which loves her - and moved out to her own apartment, her own car, her own life, just in time for the baby to move in.
• And apparently I dropped out of blogging too. I haven't finished half of ATL's Admiration posts. All this sleeping takes up a lot of time.
• Previous to growing a human, we upped our garden growing ambitions this year and though I haven't posted about it yet, it has been good. The basil continues to grow well, we got a bumper crop of sage this year, I'm really anxious to see if the winter chills the blueberries enough because the bushes got BIG this summer.
• We welcomed Ted to the family.
• Plus the usual church, work, family stuff.

And this will be my last birthday with just Tarzan and I. In a little over 4 weeks we start a new adventure. Next year's post should be a doozy!

This is me on the edge.

A Portrait of Perfection

One of my most memorable high school experiences was a humanities class. The teacher was quite zany and interesting. I particularly enjoyed viewing the famous portraits she introduced us to.  One of them, Flaming June, was a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton. The flowing waves of the fabric and innocence of the sleeper caught my attention.

Recently we had hardwood floors installed in our house which required us to move everything we owned around the installation. I tried to do as much as possible to spare Jane, but there was a lot of work and Jane worked like a Trojan. She eventually got tired and took a nap which gave me the opportunity to snap this priceless photo. My own personalized version of Flaming June without all the Romantic period imagery that I've never had time for. This image is much more pragmatic and much more beautiful. Jane always works so hard and makes my life much easier and enjoyable because of her dedicated service. When I first met her I was initially attracted to her by her confidence and the many good things I watched her do. I knew I wanted to marry her the first time I saw her, it just took me a few years to figure out how to make that happen. Now our home is heaven on earth because of her and rapidly growing too! How I adore this woman. 

Happy Birthday Jane!

(in 10 days)