Sugar Cube Castle

During spring break Ali had an extra credit project she could do, make a castle out of sugar cubes. This was because her class is reading the book, Castle in the Attic. It was quite an ordeal. The description of how to do it was to use a dab of glue to hold the cubes together. But after trying it, we found the glue melted the sugar, and thus, didn't hold very well.

We found a website that dealt with making things out of sugar cubes (you really can find anything on the interwebs) and said that in order to keep the sugar from melting to use an icing mixture of powdered sugar, an egg white and cream of tartar.

It was a long process... This is what we did initially to make sure it would work.
We had to make it with four separate rooms. That was sort of hard to do but we did our best. We decided not to put in a door or windows, just because it was too hard to make with the size of the cubes. So Alison decided we would make it solid and just paint the door and windows on. At the end of day two, this is where we stood:
and finally, we finished things off:
Then finally, she painted on the windows and door:
Not too bad considering we had no idea how to do it. The one thing that is goofy looking is that the towers had to be left open to make them "rooms". I just hope they don't collapse.

Body Shop

We took the Santa Fe in to the body shop tonight to get some work done. About a month ago I was helping Kris load up groceries and when I went to open the hatch, I noticed a blue streak in the paint next to the handle. I could see a crack in the paint where the streak was and closer examination there was a small dent next to the crack. The funny thing is that this is the exact same spot where we had a dent about a year and a half ago. I don't know where it is coming from, but I can't believe this is a coincidence. At any rate, It'll be in the shop for the next two days being fixed.

Flat Tire

I got a call from Kris at work today saying that she was driving the car to the Hallmark Store when she heard a funny noise under the car. It sounded like it was coming from the rear tire. She pulled over and saw a huge chunk of metal in the rear passenger side tire, so she just turned around and went home because she didn't want to be out and have the tire go flat on her. She went out to the garage about an hour later and it was totally flat, so I guess it was a good thing.

I stopped on my way home to get a can of "fix-a-flat" with the intent of using it to seal the puncture. When I got home I dug the metal out of the tire with a pliers. It was a key. How you could possibly have a key driven into a tire is beyond me. It would have to be sitting at just the right angle to be driven in like it was, and I would never have guessed that was possible. I don't think I would be able to replicate that by taking a hammer and driving it into the tire.

I filled the tire with the goo (which was a bright, neon green colored liquid) the way the directions indicated. I was supposed to put the hole at the bottom of the tire, and then drive around slowly for 3-4 miles. Well before I had even finished filling the tire, I saw a small puddle of green liquid pooling under the tire. Not a good sign. I took the car out and drove it anyway, but it was still leaking by the time I got back, and the wheel well was pretty wet with the liquid that was being centrifugally forced out as I drove.

So the next step was to go run to the auto supply store and get a rubber tire plug. I actually should have started with that. After about 15 minutes, I had the tire plugged and refilled to the proper pressure. As I said, I should have done that first, but who would have guessed that the hole would have been so big? I was thinking it would be something like a big staple, or a nail... not a key. Which, speaking of, was broken when I pulled it out. The tip had broken off. Actually, more than the tip, about 2/3 of the key was missing. I don't know if it was broken before sticking in my tire, or if it broke off IN the tire. If it did, the rest of it is rattling around on the inside someplace.

I needed to get the rear tires replaced anyway, so I guess this just makes me do it quicker. They are scheduled to be replaced on Saturday. Hopefully that will be the end of the bad luck we have had with this car.

Springtime

We finally had a semi-nice day on a weekend when I cold do some work outside. About two weeks ago it was 80, and I spent that time cleaning up the garage, putting away the snow shovels, dragging out the patio furniture, etc. So yesterday since it wasn't raining or 35 degrees, I started raking grass. It is the one thing that I need to do every year that I just hate. It took me about four hours to finish the front yard and the sides along the lot lines. Between that and vacuuming all the red seeds I ended up with two large trash bags full of stuff to take to the landfill to compost.

I still need to do the back yard, but I have no idea when I'll be able to get it done. The ground is still like a sponge. We need to have a few warm, sunny days in a row to get things dried out to the point where I can rake without totally ripping out the grass. Maybe I can start on the grass right up close to the house, just so it doesn't take so long.

I'll have to go and get some fertilizer this week to put on the front lawn and some seed to see if I can thicken it up a little bit. Plus, I am thinking I might try to regrade the grass in the front this year. As it is now, the sidewalk is underwater in sections when we get a good rain (or when the snow melts) because the ground is slightly higher than the sidewalk. It drives me insane when I have to cut the grass. But that is going to take some time and I am not sure if I will have it this summer once it gets nice with helping take care of Bob and his house. But as it is, at least I am underway with things for 2011.

DUH!

Friday night we were doing all sorts of running result, we were running late getting home and getting the girls dinner. When we finally got home I was trying to help bring some things into the house. I ran back out to the car as Kris yelled to me she had everything. I had just opened the driver's side door so I figured I would just poke my head into the car to make sure. I thought I had the door open more that it actually was so that when I turned back to the car I slammed my eye into the upper corner of the door. That had me seeing stars.

I had visions of when I was playing rugby and split my eye open and was bleeding all over. Luckily, I had my hand up immediately and was applying pressure. There was very little blood. At least it wasn't gushing. There was a huge lump on my eyebrow, and after a while I took a look at it in the mirror. There was a nice gash above my eye. The good thing is that it was in my eyebrow so the scar that will most likely result won't be noticeable. I was joking with Alison that at least it made me look like a tough guy. She said no, it makes you look dumb. And to be honest, I felt really dumb walking into a car door.

Getting Messy

Things are starting to get messy with taking care of Kris's dad. We have had some issues with her brother and after talking it over we decided we don't feel comfortable with him taking care of her dad, so we asked him to leave. We'll end up having to work his care into our schedule as much as we can, stopping in every few hours to check on him. We have some help from Kris's aunt and uncle, but it will still take quite a bit of work to do. But on top of it, I am worried about the reaction from Kris's brother and his girlfriend, and I think it is warranted. I think things are bound to get worse before they get better. It is shaping up to be a long summer.

Scourge of the Red Seeds

It is that time of the year... the time that I HATE every spring. It is the time for the little red seeds (actually I think they are the outer coatings of the buds) to start falling. In the course of a day and a half my driveway and patio are covered with them. That means they get tracked into the house every time someone walks outside. I seem to remember last year collecting about ½-¾ of a large yard trash bag full of them and it weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 pounds. OK, I'm guessing on the weight, but the fact remains that I hate it.

Now when I am done cleaning up all the buds, it will be time for the seeds to start dropping, clogging up the gutters. I often wonder why I don't simply just cut those trees down.

What a Shock!

Saturday afternoon doing all of our running around I had to go fill up Kris's car since we were getting close to empty. WOW! I hadn't really been paying attention to the price of gas so it was a little shocking pulling in and seeing it was $3.99 a gallon. I think that is the most I have EVER paid for gas, including a couple of years ago when the price was so high. So filling up her tank ended up costing $66.50. Thanks for that Barry. It's hard for the economy to recover when my extra money is now going to go for paying to fill up my cars with fuel.

Meeting With The Lawyer

The meeting with the lawyer went about as expected. What we did find out is that Kris's mom didn't do everything she was supposed to do when her dad had his accident five years ago. She was supposed to transfer title of all their joint assets into her name only in the event that she passed away first. That way in the event that we needed to move Bob into a long term care facility we wouldn't have to sell everything he owns. Well, she never did that for their house or for their car. So now we are trying to figure out how to make sure that his house is safe from a nursing home in the event that is what will need to happen.

The one good thing is that it is pretty much uncontestable, so we don't have to worry about anyone challenging it in court, which was actually a thought that we had. So now we have to get her dad and brother to sign papers saying they won't contest the will and we will begin the probate process.

Swim Lessons

We started up swim lessons again Monday for Alison. This time around she at least has a friend from her class at school with her so hopefully that will help with all the whining about actually doing it. The instructor was going to pass her out of level 4 last time, but just barely so we thought it would be best for her to redo it and get a little more experience. Monday's are tough though. We have always done them on Fridays and it worked out good because we'd get home, eat, and relax for the rest of the night. Now Ali has to eat when she gets home, then get her homework done before bedtime. Last night was a hassle because she had so much to do... Math, spelling, and work on her social studies report. Hopefully that won't be a regular thing.

Almost Over

Sunday was spent somewhat relaxing from the long week. Kris and I spent half the day going over the funeral things, writing thank you notes, putting money together to donate to the Community Outreach Health Clinic (which is where we requested memorials be donated). Who would have thought that just writing out thank you's would have taken so long? It was a good day to do it though, it was cold and rainy outside so we weren't going to be going anywhere. Now we have to start looking into what we are going to do with Kris's dad. He still isn't doing well with all this. Because of his memory issues he is constantly asking if Carole died and we have to tell him yes, so it is like hearing for the first time several times a day. We have a meeting with the lawyer to go over the will this week so we can find out our duties, and see if there is anything else we need to do before trying to figure out how to go forward with her dad. Stay tuned, I am sure this is just the beginning.

The Next Step

I went into work this morning to get a few things done since I was off almost the entire week. I don't like having people cover for me because then when I come back, I am completely lost. So I was able to get a few things done and got home in time to help Kris do the cleaning around the house.

Sarah had an overnight scheduled for girl scouts this weekend too. It was their reward for doing their multimedia project that they presented last weekend. They are going to be overnighting at some camp out in Elkhorn and doing some ceramic painting, or something like that. I think Ali is happy that she gets a night alone, and I am sure Sarah is happy having a night away from her parents to spend with her friends.

After Sarah left we went over to Kris's dad's. Her brother had taken him over to his house for dinner which allowed us to take some things that we were going to need to tie up all the loose ends from her mom's passing. We thought it best to do when he was gone since Kris had given her aunt a vase that was her mom's and her dad shot her the dirtiest look when she did it. So this way he wouldn't get agitated. While we were there too, Alison and I got together her dad's pills set up for the next week. As we were doing it, we came across a bunch of her mom's medicine, rescue inhalers and the like for her COPD, all unopened. Hopefully we can donate them to the Community Outreach Health Clinic. It was really sort of sad coming across all that stuff.

All Done

Carole's memorial service went pretty well. There were lots of family and friends who showed up at the funeral home to pay their respects. Sarah and Alison did a very good job with their readings. Sarah read the story of creation from Genesis, day three and Alison got to read the Gospel. Ali was nervous but I thought she did a very good job and I think that grandma would have been very proud of both of them.

I think we made a good decision by just having a service at the funeral home and not having a funeral mass at church. When her dad got there he was not handling things very well, but then once people starting arriving and talking to him, I think it helped keep his mind occupied. But both Kris and I don't think that he would have done very well with a big funeral in church or having a ceremony out at the cemetery.

Afterward we had a small buffet style lunch which got used up pretty fast. Thanks to Nino's Italian Bakery for providing some great food. We got a special dispensation from the priest who presided over the service so we could eat meat (someone remarked that during the lunch he should have stood up and said "April Fool"). We went back to Kris's dad's house afterward to just sit and visit with some family members and there was a little uncomfortableness associated with it. Ask Kris or me privately if you want details. I'll just say it was awkward.

All in all, I think Kris did a wonderful job putting things together for this and the service provided by the Schmidt & Bartelt Funeral Home was top notch. Thank you to all our friends and family who have provided their condolences and support in this difficult time. Let's just hope we don't have to do anything like this again anytime soon. The stress is just not good.