Things I've learned

That I'm sure are pretty obvious to everyone.

There is a reason most people don't begin practicing a martial art when nearly 40. I actually did take a modified karate as my PE requirements at the junior college I attended so some of the things are familiar on an intellectual/muscular level. If that weren't the case I don't think I'd be able to do Tae Kwon Do at all. As it is, I'm sure the kids will shoot past me in terms of ability very quickly. Particularly, since they often practice during the week and I don't.

Something else I've learned, is that I really am a cat person. I enjoy playing with Hank a lot and he's a great dog, my in-laws threatened to kidnap him if they hadn't been traveling by plane, it's just that dogs sound so moist all the time. Well, that and the fact that I've never had a 30 pound cat (much less one that thought I should be it's pillow all day, every day). Honestly, I question both the intelligence and taste of any being who is so devoted to me. I'm not that devoted to me. Prehaps there-in lies the attraction of dogs?

#SadPandaNow

I took my in-laws to the airport yesterday so they could go home. We had a very nice visit that included a two day trip to Branson where the kids and I had never been. The truth is, I am a very spoiled daughter-in-law. Besides Branson, where the kids and I toured the cave and all of us went to the Butterfly Palace and to see the New Shanghai Circus, Father-in-law and Son built two raised garden beds to fit around the cement slab downstairs and Mother-in-law took care of cooking while they were here (heaven!). Now real life returns and I have to go back to being the responsible adult, which is why I'm a #SadPandaNow

Happy Leap-day to All

And to all a goodnight, since I'm so very late in posting this.

Events fully deserving of a "Hey Nonny-nonny"

The sink and dishwasher are working again and dishes were washed last night.

The Hey Nonny-nonny (because "Huzzah" isn't celebratory enough) comes from the fact that a plumber wasn't used. I called one yesterday but upon getting his voice-mail decided to call my dad, who's about 900 miles away, just to see what his thoughts were. After a couple times of "uhm.. it would have helped if you gave me that information earlier" since I didn't know what symptoms were important and what wasn't, we came to the conclusion that it was a simple clog between the disposal and trap and something Son and I could handle.

While I was getting the safety inspection for the car the Kidlets cleared out the cupboard, and washed everything off when it was time for it to go back in, and got a flashlight and drain-pan ready so everything was set when I got home. When I was ready to get started (which took a little longer than getting the stuff ready) I called dad and with him on the phone Son and I took off the, fortunately just finger tightened, affected pipes and sure enough there was a big clog and everything worked great after that.

So, my dad's a genius, my kids are awesome helpers and I didn't have to pay for a plumber. I like this outcome a whole lot better than what I was expecting.

What I feared has come upon me

Actually, I'm pretty happy with having managed to go two-and-a-half years before running into a maintenance problem I couldn't handle (or wait for my parents to visit and dad to handle). Plumbing and electricity are far beyond my abilities though and this is a plumbing issue. For some reason the main sink has begun to drain into the dishwasher, making both of them unusable.

Having poked around to the best of my ability, and crying a little, I've come to the conclusion that crying and calling for help are pretty much all I can do. So, I quit crying, put in an e-mail to the church administrator ( who's a wonder at getting the best work at the best price) and will call her tomorrow, and made some rum "fortified" spiced chocolate to drink while watching the cartoon "Dai-Gata Defenders" and working on various knitting and crochet projects. Hopefully we'll be able to get everything running again soon, since it's hard to feed kids when you can't wash dishes, and I can't say I'm thrilled at needing to pay for the help but at least it's available and I can.

Yay! I survived

This was my first full Tae Kwon Do class as I missed half of last week's class doing the paperwork to enroll the five of us. Being a full length class isn't why I'm so thrilled though. I mean really, my physical fitness may be nearly non existent but I'm quite confidant of my ability to do a full class with our regular teacher. The thing is he wasn't there. Apparently, I found out afterwards, he'd hurt his back at work and wasn't able to make it. Instead, the dojo's Master was there and when he had us start class with running I knew things were going to be rough. And they were. He got a lot of teaching packed into an hour class though and I have to admit that while I might prefer a more relaxed pace I certainly wouldn't have the same feeling of accomplishment that I now get to enjoy.

Shh! Don't tell anyone I only bought this bottle a week ago

And look how far gone it is. Oh, you thought I drank all that? The truth is that I'm not the least interested in drinking vodka. It is the cheapest and easiest method of extracting essential oils though and the space in the bottle represents pumello, clementine, and coffee extractions that are processing as I write. If I had my absolute preference, I'd have a distilation unit. Since I don't know how to make one, or have a safe place to use it, this will have to do.