Tieing up some loose ends

Ok I admit it...it has been a week or so since I've written. The snow and a head cold coupled with sales conference have sucked up the oxygen in my life lately. So today I thought I would give you an update on some past posts and tie up some loose ends.
The science fair project came to an end with my son Peyton and I creatively decorating the big tri-fold poster board thingy that everyone has to use. My son had taken pictures of the different houses sitting in my tub getting wet and we taped them to the board and added a border. Done. Complete. Finished. Not so fast...he got an A and is now on his way to the city-wide competition?!? I'll keep you posted.
Regarding the lay-z-boy...for those of you following me on facebook, you know that we spent an entire weekend searching for the replacement. We went to four furniture stores and sat in every recliner they had available. But the recliners had to meet very stringent requirements. The foot rest had to come up part way and stop so that my husband can sit with knees slightly bent to support a popcorn bowl for movie night. The back had to lay all the way down for Sunday afternoon naps. the arm rests had to be at the right height for elbows supporting a newspaper and the seat needed to be wide enough to comfortably fit a wider girth.
Add to that the "lap board" he built with cup holder and mouse so that he can sit in his chair and play Farmville on his laptop.
We found the perfect chair and it was the lay-z-boy store...hidden in a far corner with a dim bulb overhead (think the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree) was the chair. And lo and behold it was the same chair...but worse fabric. My opportunity to finally be rid of the brown corduroy chair has just gone south. The opportunity to instill some sense of grace and style into or living room...gone forever.
It arrives in less than 2 weeks.

The death of my arch nemesis

My husband and I have been married for almost 15 years. During that time, we have had 2 children, 5 dogs, 2 cats, multiple fish and hamsters, several parties, lots of family events with other smallish children and never once did anything bad happen to the Lay-Z-Boy...aka my arch nemesis. No juice stains. No bodily fluids that would have rendered the chair unusable. No puppy chewing or cat clawing. Not even the hamster would cooperate. When it got loose, it found its way into my chair, followed a few seconds later by one of the cats which resulted in patching and sewing and placing the chair close to a wall so that the injuries can't be seen.

So short of a house fire, I had given up hope that the chair would go and had resigned myself to looking for a coffin that would accomodate both my husband and his chair (with the footrest extended of course)

And then it happened. He sat down in it Saturday and there was a terrible noise. Like the sound you would hear from one of those animal planet shows where a cheetah has captured some 4-legged creature. I realized the sound was coming from him. The bottom of the chair had lost/broken a spring. The impossible had happened.

I thought we should rush out, that minute to find a replacement...before he had time to try to fix it himself. But then another impossible event happened...we were hit with a snow and ice storm that (in the south) rendered us helpless and homebound. The roads were bad enough that even I wouldn't tempt fate to go chair shopping.

So as we bicker back and forth about fixing or buying new, I realize my time is running out. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So we are heading out tonight, taking our chances that what has melted won't refreeze to buy a chair.

My mom has said she will send a sympathy card!

Now maybe something in paisley would be nice.

Red Alert! Two Black Hairs Spotted

With an 11 year old girl and a 13 year old boy, we are on Puberty alert at our house. My daughter has come home with the horror story of so and so starting her period, which then requires a reassuring discussion that it is a naturally occuring thing and that she will not die from it.

My son however called me into the bathroom the other day to say he is growing hair. Upon close examination, there were indeed two darker hairs in the nether regions.

My husband, who kept procrastinating about having the talk, forced my hand. There are thousands of books, articles and experts who outline the correct way this topic is to be discussed (without leaving long-lasting emotional scars that will be revealed on Oprah 10 years from now)

So my son and I go walking along a greenway we have by our house. Luckily for us,it is close enough to spring that Mallard ducks (who mate for life) have already begun "hooking up." So praise God. Doesn't He always provide exactly what we need at exactly the right time?

So we have our talk. I think I raised more questions than answered. But I feel we have at least started down the path. And now my husband can do the rest!

Science Fair Nightmare Part Deux

So we have our houses built...now to test the effects of water on them. In my tub? Sticks, rocks and dirt? UGH. So we place a big rubbermaid tub in the bathtub. and put the houses down in there...one at a time and turn the shower on.

The sticks lasted the required 10 minutes. The cob houses fell apart right away. So with the reins firmly planted in my son's hands, I go downstairs to start dinner. 30 minutes later, I call everyone down. My son, who got caught up reading, had the shower raining on the rock houses this entire time.

I can't wait to see my water bill. I actually dreamed of confronting the science teacher with a plumbing bill for unclogging my drain and awoke mad.

I made my sone pinky swear that I will have "editorial" input for next year's fair topic.

I'll post photos of this mess later.