It occured to me last night that it might be time to think about closing the pool for the summer. I'll be working during the week and we'd have the weekends but we only have one weekend until Peyton and I go to TN and by the time we get back the weather will be winding down to fall. It will take A LONG time to drain so I figured I'd better start today. I learned a cool trick that drains it even slower than just pulling the plug but I get to direct the water and not flood one area of the backyard all at once. I learned how to use the water hose to siphon it out. So far its been draining a little over an hour and you can hardly notice a change. But I figure that's exactly how we filled it so it'll eventually work! Except that I plan to use a few days to drain it so that we don't flood the backyard. It holds a little less than 4,500 gallons.
... update ... another cool thing about draining the pool this way- it doesnt flood the backyard anyway! It drains out so slowly that the water is pretty much soaked up instead of pooling! I do have to move the hose around a little but its not nearly as bad as I expected. Just very slow! It took 2 whole days to fill the pool and I would expect that it will take that long or longer to drain.
I know you were all riveted by this.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
2 Things
Earlier I got so caught up in the time machine metaphor that I forgot to mention 2 things. First of all, as an update to a previous post... I am NOT an Aldi shopper. Its a little sad, I was hoping to save $3 a month on groceries but the $3 is not worth the change in taste. Call us spoiled, call us picky, call us Walmart shoppers.
The second thing was Peytons super cute thing today. Today Peyton and I were cleaning the house and he picked up a 'wipee' and tried to clean Atlas' mouth! It was so cute! Atlas didn't appreciate it much. He was laying down and just raised his head and kind of looked at Peyton like 'what do you think you're doing?'. I laughed. Its still Atlas' turn to tolerate Peyton. He lets him sit on his back to watch TV and, of course, he is always blocking whatever walkway Peyton wants to use so Peyton just puts one leg over and then the other. The only time Atlas even seems bothered is when Peyton gets too close to his ears and even then he just looks around for me to rescue him.
OK now that I've unloaded my brain I can fold the laundry and go to bed. :)
The second thing was Peytons super cute thing today. Today Peyton and I were cleaning the house and he picked up a 'wipee' and tried to clean Atlas' mouth! It was so cute! Atlas didn't appreciate it much. He was laying down and just raised his head and kind of looked at Peyton like 'what do you think you're doing?'. I laughed. Its still Atlas' turn to tolerate Peyton. He lets him sit on his back to watch TV and, of course, he is always blocking whatever walkway Peyton wants to use so Peyton just puts one leg over and then the other. The only time Atlas even seems bothered is when Peyton gets too close to his ears and even then he just looks around for me to rescue him.
OK now that I've unloaded my brain I can fold the laundry and go to bed. :)
The Land Line aka The Time Machine
Its 2:12pm on August 8, 2009 and I feel like it might as well be August 8, 1999. Ok maybe not. I really can't remember much about that date. I was probably about to start school again; I might have cleaned my room like I did today. Who knows! But right now I'm sitting in my pseudo-cleaned house listening to veggie tales and feeling nostalgic about at time when I didn't have a 2 1/2 x 4 inch appendage notifying me about the last email I received, a text about the latest weather changes or a week-old voicemail. My cell phone died a tragic death last night- if I plugged it in right now it would try in vain to sputter back to life. It kind of has seizures when it's plugged in.
So I unplugged the fax machine (so I can receive calls on the land line) and have now entered a cell-phone-free time warp. Its been kind of nice! When Peyton and I were sitting having our snack I did glance to the side of my plate to see if I might have missed a call or text while I was vacuuming. Instead I saw the tablecloth. But that was okay. I'd have to open the door and go outside if I want to know what the weather is like. I'd have to come to the computer (which I did) to see if I had an email. And its very strange not to know who is on the other end of the phone when I answer. (the land line is a fax/emergency line that does not have caller ID) The most disorienting thing about no cell phone is leaving the house. I actually decided not to go to the train museum (peyton didnt know I was planning on it or we would have had to go anyway) because I didnt want to drive to south OKC without a cell phone. Plus no one else knew I was planning on going. We could have been lost forever down there!
Do you realize that I had to go back 10 yrs to find a time when I didnt have a cell phone? Actually I used mom's giant black phone when I drove and I got my very own phone in 2003 so 10 yrs isnt quite right but its close. But to find a time when cell phones actually weren't around, I'd have to go back more than 15 yrs (1994)! When did dad get his car phone? Maybe it wasnt quite that long ago but it was close!
Well I guess the bottom line here is: call me on the house phone until further notice. We haven't decided whether we'll replace my phone or get a new plan/phones altogether. The house phone number is (405) 513-5109 and is not connected to the fax anymore but also doesn't have voicemail- I don't think.
So I unplugged the fax machine (so I can receive calls on the land line) and have now entered a cell-phone-free time warp. Its been kind of nice! When Peyton and I were sitting having our snack I did glance to the side of my plate to see if I might have missed a call or text while I was vacuuming. Instead I saw the tablecloth. But that was okay. I'd have to open the door and go outside if I want to know what the weather is like. I'd have to come to the computer (which I did) to see if I had an email. And its very strange not to know who is on the other end of the phone when I answer. (the land line is a fax/emergency line that does not have caller ID) The most disorienting thing about no cell phone is leaving the house. I actually decided not to go to the train museum (peyton didnt know I was planning on it or we would have had to go anyway) because I didnt want to drive to south OKC without a cell phone. Plus no one else knew I was planning on going. We could have been lost forever down there!
Do you realize that I had to go back 10 yrs to find a time when I didnt have a cell phone? Actually I used mom's giant black phone when I drove and I got my very own phone in 2003 so 10 yrs isnt quite right but its close. But to find a time when cell phones actually weren't around, I'd have to go back more than 15 yrs (1994)! When did dad get his car phone? Maybe it wasnt quite that long ago but it was close!
Well I guess the bottom line here is: call me on the house phone until further notice. We haven't decided whether we'll replace my phone or get a new plan/phones altogether. The house phone number is (405) 513-5109 and is not connected to the fax anymore but also doesn't have voicemail- I don't think.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Peyton's History Lesson
Peyton had his first history lesson today. He thought the VCR was very interesting! (the only one that works is in our bedroom and he's never used it) For some reason he thinks tapes should go in upside down. Oh well! Oh and he thought the actual tape part was pretty weird. He kept pulling it out like it was sticky. He successfully uses the DVD player all the time, he's just a little hard on the disks so I thought I'd see if he was interested in using the VCR. He has no idea that you can watch tapes on TV. It isnt hooked up to the TV.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Peyton Speaks!
I just had to tell you about the cutest thing Peyton is doing today. I noticed him doing it once or twice during the day but he really got the hang of it tonight when we were going through his train book. Every night we 'read' his train book (that is shaped like a train) and identify all the different things. He points to the tunnel, and the tracks and the light, and the baby, etc... Well tonight I asked him where the 'whatever' was and he would hold out his hands and say 'i dun nuh'! I have no idea where he picked it up but it was really really cute!! He keeps saying clear little phrases out of no where. Sometimes its a one time thing but I accidentally reinforced this one so I'm thinking it might stick. I laughed at him and tickled him when he did it so he did it for most of the book. On his birthday he said 'i love you' back to brandon. Both of us heard him or we wouldnt have believed he said it. He hasnt said it again even though brandon has tried (and tried and tried) to get him to say it again! He said something else today too but I cant remember what it was now. He does say 'oh no!' a lot too (again with the hands out in front of him). But other than that we're still trying to translate. I usually can figure out what he's saying but no one else can understand his language. He has lots of single words but phrases are new this week. He's getting there though!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Garden Update
As promised, here is the latest update on the Sweet Baby watermelon. I think it will only get to be about 5 lbs. So very cute!
The other day a bad thunderstorm rolled through and got our house. Peyton and I were at Walmart and Brandon was at work so luckily our cars weren't at home to get the damage and the house seems to be damage free but the garden was kind of shredded. It was sad... I'm still picking up fallen peppers! But it only took a day or two to turn the plants around. Everything except the corn is doing great again. Here is the hail that accumulated on the deck. Its probably 1/2 melted here.
You can't see it very well but the plants were very droopy from the hail.
Poor corn! You can see the damage here. It was literally shredded.
This is what I collected the next day, though. I always pick the tomatoes a day or two before they're really ready b/c the bugs get to them before I can if I don't.
This is the last couple of days' findings. The red peppers on the right are drying to be crushed later. I just ate the very first tomato to be ready. It was delish!
The other day a bad thunderstorm rolled through and got our house. Peyton and I were at Walmart and Brandon was at work so luckily our cars weren't at home to get the damage and the house seems to be damage free but the garden was kind of shredded. It was sad... I'm still picking up fallen peppers! But it only took a day or two to turn the plants around. Everything except the corn is doing great again. Here is the hail that accumulated on the deck. Its probably 1/2 melted here.
You can't see it very well but the plants were very droopy from the hail.
Poor corn! You can see the damage here. It was literally shredded.
This is what I collected the next day, though. I always pick the tomatoes a day or two before they're really ready b/c the bugs get to them before I can if I don't.
This is the last couple of days' findings. The red peppers on the right are drying to be crushed later. I just ate the very first tomato to be ready. It was delish!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Garden Update
Time for a garden update. I dont know why the pictures are so small. Maybe its just my computer. Certain sites are showing up tiny today.
This is my wilty garden. I dont know if everything will survive the heat. The bell peppers really might not. They are all squishy now. The tomatoes would except the bugs keep getting the ripe ones. The hot peppers are flourishing!
Watermelon just keeps on growing! Only one so far but lots of vine so we'll see.
Two days' bounty. The hot peppers just keep coming! The heat is turning them ripe a little quicker than I'd like. The jalapenos are on the small side when they are ready to come out but thats okay. The quantity makes up for it!
This is my wilty garden. I dont know if everything will survive the heat. The bell peppers really might not. They are all squishy now. The tomatoes would except the bugs keep getting the ripe ones. The hot peppers are flourishing!
Watermelon just keeps on growing! Only one so far but lots of vine so we'll see.
Two days' bounty. The hot peppers just keep coming! The heat is turning them ripe a little quicker than I'd like. The jalapenos are on the small side when they are ready to come out but thats okay. The quantity makes up for it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
