One of of my favorite all time Get Fuzzy comics is below:
Inspired when I found this again, I had a discussion with C:
D: Who would win in a fight between Optimus Prime and General Grievious?
C: (brow furrowed, looking at me with a deep thought expression after thinking a bit): Nobody Dad…
Overheard whispered this morning from oldest bro to youngest:
C: (with a tone of authoritarian confidence)
“And you know what J? You can never say damn. Never ever ever say damn. Damn is like the baddest word ever. Trust me.”
J: (with a tone of respectful awe and fear)
“Yeah, you can go to jail FOREVER. Thanks”
We have lived in our house for 6.5 years. The time is VERY easy to calculate, as C was only 5 weeks old when we moved in.
For the past couple of weeks, B has been stripping out the caulk and grout in our master bathroom shower stall, as it has started to “unstick” and icky stuff was started to grow/accumulate under the caulk in places. B was removing the grout in the floor tiles because the floor had a crack in the grout (not the tile, just a minor crack) as the house has settled.
Therefore, since we couldn’t use our shower, we have been using the boys’ shower. Immediately after I took my first shower in that bathroom, I told B, “We need a new shower head for that shower, as the current one is awful!” B agreed and told me to get one. He promptly installed it (thanks!), and I have been content using the boys’ bathroom.
However, yesterday afternoon I went into our bathroom to dry my hair after getting a shower in the boys’ bathroom and found a wet/damp spot on the wall above our jacuzzi tub. (Which this is a shared wall between our bathroom and the boys’ bathroom.)
I called B and he came home early from work to assess the problem. (I was thinking that the pipe in the wall got shifted when B changed out the shower head, resulting in the leak.) However, B determined that the boys’ shower seemed fine and then spent this morning gently removing sheet rock in our bathroom above the jacuzzi while attempting to determine the problem. It took him a little longer than usual as J followed EVERY STEP and EVERY different tool that B used with just under a MILLION questions and comments.
Here is where B cut out the sheet rock. My basket, that is now hanging lopsided out of B’s way, was a Southern Living at Home purchase (page 30/31 of 84 pages in the online catalog). It holds hand towels and bath salts, etc. I got the basket from my lovely friend Jill who is a consultant.
This is another view of the hole in the wall… As you can see, the hole in the wall isn’t that big, although I will have to make it larger to attach the new piece of sheet rock to studs on either side of the wall stud that is viewable in this picture.
As it turns out, the joint in the wall that makes the water switch from coming out the bathtub faucet (in the boys’ bathroom) to coming out the shower head had a leak. It has probably been faulty since we moved in, but we never knew it since we have only used the boys’ shower maybe 10x in the 6.5 years we have been here. (A lesson for new home buyers - check all water outlets when you purchase a house!) Our bathroom and the boys’ bathroom share this wall. Our jacuzzi and B’s bathroom counter on one side of the wall and on the other side is the boys’ bathroom.
After B determined the problem, we called a plumber that my parents have used before and really liked. The plumber was really nice and did a good job soldering the joint together. No leak anymore.
Now, I just need to do the sheet rock repair after the residual water dries out over the next couple of days. (Our current issue is keeping Tara the cat out of the open hole… we don’t want to have to call animal control to fish her out!)
As B pointed out… “You’ve been wanting to paint this bathroom. Now you can!” (I have been wanting to paint the bathroom the same sage green color as our bedroom, but haven’t had the time, nor the desire to paint the 11 foot walls… No time like the present I guess.
Also, FYI - the TV written on the board in the wall means “tub valve.” The plumber told us that. I was surprised when I saw the writing, and thought, “watching television in the jacuzzi sounds pretty good to me…” No such luck, though. I’ll have to stick to reading my novels.
I am happy you enjoyed the weekend. I did too. Glad I could surprise you, that is very hard to do 
You were a great muse this weekend - I love you always and forever!
This is a personal note for B…
I thank our Heavenly Father for allowing you, B to grace my life for the past 29 years, and especially for the past 14 years. Thank you, my love, for daily blessing me with your love, compassion, kindness, tenderness, faithfulness, and tons of smiles and laughter. I am a happier and better person for having you and your influence in my life.
I have immensely enjoyed this weekend with you. Thank you for my spa day yesterday. I enjoyed all the pampering. I have never felt more relaxed and lovely than after having my nails and hair done and you surprising me with the new outfits and accessories. This must be what it is like having a personal shopper!
I must admit that you did indeed pleasantly surprise me with the overnight respite from our busy lives. It was fun to experience “bed and breakfast” accommodations within a short drive from home. I am impressed with your ability to keep a secret, in planning this excursion several weeks ago. I’m certainly not able to keep secrets! You did a great job in both the planning (thanks Judi for keeping the boys!) and execution of such a wonderful treat. (Yes, you may do this again!)
Dinner was delicious. The ambiance - being in the little alcove with an intimate table, the walk to and from the restaurant holding your hand/arm, the looks from other pedestrians at our “dressed up” attire… So many lovely memories. Plus, I don’t remember ever having such a mouth watering, tender filet mignon with herb butter. Awesome White Russians to drink. The steamed asparagus was cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes creamed with potato skins were awesome as well. Plus the chocolates for dessert were yummy, too. (and the after dinner peppermints were a treat in and of themselves…).
I loved being able to go back to the bed and breakfast and sit on the loveseat with you. Spending the hour-plus sitting with you was a wonderfully, contented time of talking and laughing. I very much needed the remembrance of how much fun I have just talking with you, un-interrupted, peacefully, intellectually. It was also a time of refection of how and why I fell in love with you. You complete me and make me happy.
I believe this has been our best anniversary to date. Life with you keeps getting better and more exciting. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I love you very much!
Last night C lost his third tooth. It was the first tooth lost on the top row of teeth (in looking at him, front left). Now he and J REALLY look like twins… as J is missing that same tooth. For C’s efforts in losing the tooth, he received two Bakugan balls, one black and purple and one green. The tooth fairy brought C a gold $1 Sacagawea coin.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, C was out of school for Veteran’s break. In wanting to make it a really special day for him, as he is in school ALL THE TIME it seems I wanted a special memory day. C, J and I went to the Children’s Museum and had a blast. For lunch I got the boys Happy Meals from McDonald’s and then instead of rest time we went to the movie theater and saw “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.” It was a much better movie than I had anticipated - kind of like a “Homeward Bound” movie with a less attractive dog. C munched on M&Ms and J chose popcorn. I’m surprised that J didn’t have a massive tummy ache as he ate SO MUCH popcorn!
After the movie, the boys were exhausted! At one point during the movie, J attempted to curl up in the theater chair and sleep, but he couldn’t get comfortable. He got in my lap and wanted to curl up, but when he tried that, he complained he couldn’t see the movie screen. The boys did get to sleep fairly early Monday night, after playing a little video games in bed. Usually we have “Game Night” only on Friday evenings. However, since there was no school on Tuesday, I let the boys enjoy a special night.
Tuesday came bright and early and the boys and I first got haircuts and then went to the Shot Nurse and received flu shots. The boys did great! (Wednesday they both had a low grade fevers, but no other mentionable side effects. I on the other hand had a high fever and was wiped out for the day. Thanks mom for taking care of J so I could sleep!! Goodness I have never felt THAT BAD from a flu shot. This shot had BETTER WORK!!!)
After the flu shots, we went for a drive in the country with my mom to see the beautiful fall leaves. I can’t remember a year where we have had such beautiful leaves! Very rare for this part of the country. Usually the leaves change color for a week at most and then fall off. I then dropped off C and my mom at her house and C spent the day with my mom, that is until I had to pick up C for a doctor’s checkup (where C did NOT like having his finger pricked. Although it is the first time in a LONG time that C let me hold him, to comfort him. This felt nice for me. I miss holding the little stinker.)
Not much else is going on here. B and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary this evening, although the actual anniversary date is tomorrow. I asked B where we were going and he won’t tell me. All I know so far is that B has made an appointment for me this afternoon for a manicure and pedicure and hair styling. Sweet! I know that B wants me to dress up for a nice outing this evening, but the suspense is killing me!
Well, I am off to load the dishwasher so I don’t mess up my nails later. Then I am going to sew on my cross stitch that I have been working on for the past few weeks. It is a pattern based on Isaiah 9:6. It will look great when I am finished with it and have it framed and hanging on the wall over my nativity set during Christmas.