Back to the Pitch

Well, another week behind us, and now the weekend is here. That means on the road and some soccer tomorrow. Going to head to USD for a scrimmage tomorrow, so more drive time than field time, but it will be nice to be out and about tomorrow. Then return home for more spring cleaning work. It's city wide cleanup this week, so that means trips to the dump are free! So, I'm going to venture there with the "new" pickup to see how we do hauling items. I'm thinking that I'm looking forward to the next couple of weekends already where I'll be home with no plans on the weekend which will be really nice. This spring, I've scaled back the number of soccer games that I'm doing, so that's kind of nice but I do miss it a bit, and am missing the checks of course.

Olivia got quite a bit of attention at day care at the end of the week. She's about the only one who never got sick. There was some stuff going around, but finally Olivia didn't have it! So, Olivia still ended up with a staff infection, but that didn't keep her out of daycare, nor does she complain about it. So, that's been nice to have a happier Olivia, not one that is sick. Olivia does have a new trick as well. She is into climbing now. She can pull herself up on the couch, but doesn't understand the distance=pain factor of falling off, so we keep a pretty close eye on her. A handful of days ago, she ran over the arm rest and off the side of the couch. I reached and caught her by her foot as her nose was a couple inches from the carpet. Fortunately, it didn't hurt her, and she thought it was a game at first, but I quickly had a little chat with her about not doing that again. Man, that child needs to get past the dare devil stage!

Finally Got My Pickup

I've been telling Heather for a long time that I want a pickup. I've been selling her on the practicality of having one of these, and how many things we could do. Well, we decided to replace the Pontiac, and what did I do?? Got a car. Well, the practicality of having something that when we need to go a distance gets milage won out. So, we have the car, and the trailblazer, which means that my pickup is out, right? Wrong!! It's here!!

Ok, it's not exactly mine, but I like to think it is. And, it's not exactly a dream truck, and it's not exactly "new", and it's not exactly extended cab, and Olivia can't exactly ride in it. It happens to be grandpa's 1989 Ford F150, single cab, 4x2 pickup. It does have factory air and it has power windows and locks, and the red interior matches the outside. Plus, it's got the box and can help us do a lot of work around the place.

Currently, I've got several projects going on. I'm trying to beat the dandilions in the yard. I hate those things. I killed them all last year, but they came back. So, we've got some weed and feed on them, and I've got the liquid death for them if they don't go easily. Of course, what really makes me mad is that my yard appears to be the only one within 10 blocks that grows them. What's that all about? It's angering me for sure. Otherwise, I'm working on getting some fences put up to fence in the back yard, re-landscape a couple spots in the back yard, and haul all the debris out, and get some bad spots filled in with black dirt. I really despise landscaping! Ohh, and big THANK YOU to grandpa for loaning me his pickup!

Fixin' up the place....

As we have gotten into summer like weather, we've found that Olivia wants to spend almost all waking time either outside, or looking outside. So, to accomplish this, she will get up on a little stool in front of the picture window. She will look out and say "woof" to all the dogs that are being walked outside, or she will wave at all the cars that drive by. It's pretty fun to watch. We've also taken her outside to the back yard a handful of times. She is ok, but likes to run into the driveway, and then make a break for the street. She obviously far to young to know better or to teach that it's very dangerous, so I've come up with an alternative solution that I'm going to be working on this week. Fences. Today, I installed part of a fence in the back yard between our current wood fence and the garage. Step 1, checked off the list. I also installed the first of a chain link fence between the garage and the house. We'll see how this goes coming up, but I have a few more items to get first, before that will be fixed off. Anyhow, I'm looking for chain link in something shorter than 50 feet because I only need about 15 feet of chain link. So, if you have any lying around you need to part with, please let me know! All I'm trying to accomplish is fence in the back yard. Digging out each post by hand is for the birds, and an awful lot to ask to keep one little girl confined to the back yard. But if she's not confined, she will be finding trouble in someone else's yard for sure!

A Common Theme

I do feel like I've got a common theme going here. At home again today with a sick Olivia. This time mystery has returned. We have a fever, but nothing else and her blood work came back totally normal. Sometimes it's nice to know it's nothing serious, but other times you just like to know. I'll be home again today, and hopefully we can get this licked and back to daycare tomorrow.

This weekend we're heading out to Minnesota for Easter and to be with Heather's family. It will be nice to see them all again as it's been Christmas since seeing some of them. We'll be out there several days, so we're looking forward to it.

Olivia is in the middle of a nap. She came to me this morning wanting to cuddle, which isn't normal, she's usually a go-getter, but was asleep within minutes of climbing onto my lap. Well, she's resting comfortably, so I will let that continue. Soon, that hungry feeling is going to wake her up though. She decided she'd rather sleep than eat breakfast, and that just isn't the Olivia we know!