{bullet-points}

okay, i did not intend to give up blogging, but, things got a tad bit busier than they have been in a while, so here are snippets from the last several weeks....

*carpet saga continues. we ended up having to rip up our carpet to get to the pad. we lived on one side of the room for several days with blowers, chemicals, etc trying to take care of the havoc that lovely little spill from the sippy cup had caused. long story short. (aren't all of mine? ha!) after working, working and working on it some more....the milk odor is pretty much gone, but, apparently a chemical i used will likely eat through the pad/carpet eventually. so, that area will likely be removed, resewn and restretched. now, we are awaiting a call back from a carpet guy(s) to do all of the above. the problem with that is......matching it up with our remnants. the saddest thing is, the carpet is still in excellent (for the most part) shape. so, the thought of replacing it makes me ill. very, very ill. so, we will likely have to purchase a much larger area rug. which may lead to other purchases based on colors and such. long story, do not want to go there......but, any alternative will be less expensive than replacing it all. on a good note, (i am looking for that silver lining) when we removed the carpet in over half the room to get to the spot....i was a little afraid of what we would find. it was perfectly clean. i am certain that is due to my frequent obsession with shampooing the carpet - but, obviously well-worth the effort. on an aside, that steam cleaner is truly one of the best investments i have ever made. now, if only i had purchased an equally superior non-spill sippy cup. i am soooooooooooooo ready to get that carpet in place!!!! i almost can't help but laugh, all of this over that "spilled milk!" likely the most expensive cup of milk in the history of the world. leave it to us!

* boys are healthy! a definite praise! we did have to have noah's little finger x-rayed last night before bb practice. i knew i was being overly-cautious, but, you know....it's hard not to sometimes. but, it looks fine. the injury is at the growth plate, but, hopefully it will resolve by next week.

* i have been a frenzy-craze in purging this house. like i have time for that? however, in spinning my wheels over the last several weeks in attempts to locate things....like important paperwork, items of clothing, shoes(?), etc..... something had to be done. so, in the middle of my massive tax preparation for our accountant, I dove in. it is sickening the amount of "stuff" we accumulate. i am definitely a purger by nature, maybe even to the extreme. i have countless bags to go into the trash. the back of my vehicle is FILLED to the brim of things to be delivered to friends. eventually it will be finished. the boys may be graduating, but, at least we may truly have an "empty nest" in every sense of the word!

* which leads to........taxes are totally completed! refund on the way!

* i completely stole my best friend's idea to make her kitchen a little more "girly." living with 3 boys, i need to "girli-fy" as much as i can. so, i have THE cutest little chandilier hanging......above my sink!!!! makes doing those never-ending dishes much more fun! love it! i may need two or three of those cute things in my laundry. maybe it would get completed faster!

* many computer issues over the last week and a half. so, i broke down an ordered a new one......will be here tomorrow. it is a mac!!!! and, it will allow me to edit in the living room WITH my family in the evenings instead of being stuck in here to my desk. that alone was what made the investment a tad less painful.

* i am now officially living at the baseball fields as both boys are playing. i am truly nuts! thankfully, i have friends who are WONDERFUL so, because i can't be in two places at once, i do have alot of offers for help. it should be an interesting spring and summer! and, since i am pretty much camping out there.......why am i worrying about this carpet?

hopefully my next post will not be 2 weeks from now!

added: i can't believe i forgot this! but, "I" lost my wedding ring (remember: evan hiding it in a star-wars jedi fighter?).....let's just say, during my purging session Sunday night/early am hours - it vanished. i discovered it being off my finger around 1 am. i had to go back through every single garbage bag i had collected since about 9 pm. every step i had taken in the house. back through every trash bag. and then, i knew the fate.........either the dishwasher. probably as i was distracted my the pretty crystals in the new light or the washing machine. i was hoping for the later. i finally gave up and went to bed at 4 am. got scott up at 6:15 am. he dismantled the washing machine. nada. he ran several rinse cycles through. nada. i was ringless once again. he was about to close up the bottom of the washer when he saw a piece of lint in the back of a tube he had disconnected. flashlight requested for noah to get who was by now his assistant in this surgical procedure. i had long given up and was getting ready. scott in his saddest voice came to me and asked me if i was okay? of course i wasn't. and then he slipped the ring back on my finger. it was caught in that drain pipe! thank.you.GOD! and, scott. and noah. poor noah almost ran to tell me, but, because he had found my ring the last time, scott informed him he wanted to be my hero this time! and, in my defense.......my original wedding ring is in a ziplock bag in pieces. it was a BEAUTIFUL ring that scott had worked forever for when he was 19. needless to say, it kept falling apart despite the expense of it. when it became senseless to keep repairing it, i tearfully ziplocked it up and purchased the one i wear. nothing fancy at all, but the design reminds me of my original. scott has wanted to get me a new one for years, but, i have refused. well, he almost got his wish. when it was lost the first time, not so long ago, evan decided to play with it and then forgot where he had left it. we tore this house up. and weeks later, noah found it. this time, i knew it was needing to be re-sized, but, because of the design, i am afraid to disturb the baguettes because that is what started the demise of my first ring. so, it kept slipping off. well, it slipped off one too many times. not certain what to do at this point, but, i guess i have no choice but to take it for sizing.