So uh, it’s Summer!
We started baseball in April. All four man cubs participated. I coached all three teams. That...duuuuuuuude, I don't know how many times I asked myself what I was thinking. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong. But there were a handful of moments I was ready to strangle some parents (of the opposing teams), and occasionally my own chil-rens. I'm sure none of y'all are surprised at that. I would like to make a simple statement, and then I will step down offa my soap box and leave the mind to wander: If you don't know the rules of baseball (or softball), you should NOT coach, and you should sit in the stands with your mouth sewn shut. *steps offa soap box*
Baseball ended in June. We were all quite happy for it to be over. I have three man cubs who enjoyed it. Nolan HATED it if he was not in the catcher's gear. I mean...I was a catcher so, I understand. Isaac played third base and pitcher. Ethan went wherever I told him and played in the dirt. He did enjoy pitching, however. And David...that boy slept through a third of his practices. Three year old chil-rens don't play specific baseball positions. Like herding squirrels, just for the record.
Paul's grandparents and little brother visited us in May. It was a great visit. A cousin and his new wife was able to visit for a few days around the same time as well. We enjoyed ourselves very much!
The last three weeks of baseball, I began working at our local coffee shop. It has been a great experience overall. My boss and her family are great people. Everyone I work with is helpful. Quite frankly, who wouldn't like working in a coffee shop if you're as much of a coffee junkie as myself? Happy to say that I've picked up on everything rather quickly. The plan is to be on the opening shift come mid August, so when the man cubs start their regular school lessons after Labor Day, we'll have our routine established. For the record, YES, they will continue to be homeschooled. That ain't changin' (even if it kills me)!
Our Independence Day festivities began early and ended early. I worked one of the early morning shifts while Paul and the man cubs cleaned up around the house and got some meat smokin'. By the time I got home, all I had to do was prepare to stuff my face. Stuff my face, I did! Brisket. YUM!
We had ourselves some moonshine cocktails courtesy of our friend in Maryland at Pathfinder Farm. And we had a fireworks fight. heheh Before all y'all start getting up in arms, allow me to state that it was my husband who started it. And we were all simply throwing the little popper things at each other. The boys enjoyed it a little too much. They took up arms against their dad and protected themselves with a large boiling pot lid. Captain America is a hero in our house, y'all! Paul took some heavy fire at the end. Not sure who won the war in this case.
Last Sunday, was our yearly "Employee Appreciation Day." We went out on the Delaware River (Floatin' down the Delaware/Chewin' on her underwear/Couldn't get another pair). After a three to four hour float trip becoming a six hour float trip, we ate out at The Eerie. Veal Jagerschnitzle is fantastic! I loves mushrooms! I didn't make it home until ten. I was literally gone all day. But it was great. I am so glad that my boss and coworkers convinced me to ask the inlaws to watch the man cubs and go on the trip. I desperately miss Current River. I snorkeled half of the trip. Found a golf ball, a bunch of fresh water mussels, some snails, and neat rocks. I didn't find any free clothes, money, lighters, full beer cans, or pocket knives. Those were the novelties we found on Current River when we were kids. It felt great to be back in a river. Pools are boring!
This week, I am nursing a couple sunburned spots. I cannot describe the way I burned. It's as if the curvature of my spine didn't get enough sun and it was left paler than everything else on my back. Real weird. No pictures. I am not that flexible.
There is a section at my bra band that I rubbed today and suddenly felt the popping of liquid filled blisters. Real fun. Isaac has been peeling the skin offa the mid section of my back throughout the day. I hear y'all wincing. As bad as it sounds, it doesn't hurt much. It's one section of my back that hasn't gotten nearly as much sun. Eh...I burn once and then tan the rest of the summer. I ain't worried about it. "Don't you make sunscreen:" Yes, I make sunscreen. Do I use it? No. I made it for my man cubs. Not for me. No. I'm gonna live, and live well. And enjoy all of my freckles.
I have been saving all of my tips since I began working at the coffee shop (except for what I pay our sitter when Paul is traveling). The goal was to have enough to buy my suburban tires. I got about 3/4 of the way this week ($816). So between my tips and Paul's recent paycheck, we knocked out the total. We have a guy who owns a tire shop around the corner from where I work who is gonna hook us up with mounting the tires and everything else that needs done. My tires are BAD. We couldn't wait anymore.
Last night, Paul and I drove into New York to pick up a couch. $500 bucks for a large sectional. Worth the price, without a doubt. We puzzled that bad boy into the back of my FIL's truck (cuz I don't have my Tundra anymore WAH). We didn't unload it until this morning. THAT was fun...NOT. It was rough. We had to take a piece of railing off of our deck. The man cubs had to clean off the concrete pad next to the deck (it once had a hot tub sitting on it). And then Paul and I had to tag team three pieces of this couch off of the truck, across the yard, and then lift it onto the deck. Then one more lift to get it into the living room through the French doors. Why that way, you ask? Because after making it through the front door, not one piece of the couch would have fit through the door dividing our living room from the dining room. Even with the door off the hinges, it would not fit. Why not the garage door then? Same problem. We would get it in the garage door, and then it wouldn't have fit through the door entering the house from the garage. Real world problems, people. We got r dun though! My butt is currently parked on that bad boy.
I would like to say that our chicks are doing well. But that is not the case. We started with eight. Within the last few days, we lost four unexpectedly. It's a virus of some sort. It doesn't match the Avian Flu running rampant around here. I cannot peg any specific symptoms to any one thing that I've considered as the culprit for the sudden deaths. I have one in complete quarantine from the other three due to how she is behaving. She has survived much longer than I expected her to. She is improving from what I can tell. But I know we're not out of the woods yet. The other three chicks look great. I'm not seeing anything to be concerned about with them. But they're being kept in a separate kennel for now as well.
Big Tooth (I call him Brahma), our rooster has been sick. But it isn't anything related to the chicks. Between work and everything else happening around here, I neglected to clean out the chicken coop in a timely fashion. He has mites. And it's gotten bad enough that he isn't trying to run us off every time we get near "his" pen. That happened once before with our hens in Temecula. Things got busy, I neglected the coop, and then the hens had mites. Thankfully, it's a relatively quick fix. I'm simply kickin' myself in the butt for it, because I know better. There are some things you need to do yourself and not delegate to others. I hope after this that Big Tooth will be a bit less aggressive towards us. We've had to pick him up a lot lately to check him over and spray for the mites. He hasn't fought us once. I say, "us." I mean, "Isaac." I guess that punk really did hijack my rooster.
A bit ago, I listed two new soap scents. One of them is part of the "I Love You A Latte" product line. Peppermint Pine Coffee Scrub soap is officially listed on Etsy. It's made with goats milk soap base, coffee grounds, peppermint, mint, and vanilla essential oils. The other is part of "Man Cub Botanicals." The man cubs now have a kid safe bar soap for personal use. It's called "Bedtime Tingle." It's made with spearmint, ylang ylang, silver fir and lavender essential oils, in addition to ground oatmeal, crushed mint leaves and crushed lavender buds. Lovin' all the new stuff! There is a link under one of the tabs. Be sure to check it out!
Anyway yous guys, I gotta get to bed. We have to put some new parts on the suburban tomorrow. During the last few days of Paul's last two trips, I have ended up with an undrivable suburban. Simple fixes. But annoying ones. The most recent trip, a hose blew off of the transmission due to pressure building up behind a pin hole in the hose. It drained the transmission. No transmission fluid, no moving suburban. That was the day he came home this week. And the previous trip, a plastic piece holding a coolant hose at the firewall broke, and thus drained my radiator. No coolant, suburban overheats. No drive suburban. Soooooooo, work on the suburban must be done tomorrow!