I had been promising Melissa I would trim the hedges all weekend long. “Ok, TODAY I’m going to trim the hedges *mumble*inalittlebit*mumble*,” I said on Friday, Saturday and then again on Sunday. Something always conveniently seemed more pertinent at time.

But on Sunday, I finally decided it just needed to be done.

As I changed into work clothes and acquired the hedge-shears from the backporch, I had an idea: Why not bring Frank outside with us? He has been getting progressively more belligerent about dashing outside if we aren’t careful to blockade the lower two feet of the doorway when we come in or go out. His acrobatic antics have gotten humourously complex as well — the other day when I had the kitchen-guy (Steve) over, he came in the house toting a large toolbox. Frank dashed around me, jumped up on the couch, over the toolbox, and then ran between Steve’s legs!

I’m not really sure WHY Frank wants to get outside so much, but it kind of makes me think its an instinctual thing. He’s been getting a vicious case of cabin fever lately. I can appreciate that, having worked in a windowless office for 2 years. Usually when he runs outside he either prowls around the front porch, or crawls around to hide underneath the overgrown hedges that sit just beyond the porch.

The hedgetrimming went well. In fact, I found it quite fun. I think it appeals to my meticulous Virgo nature. I had NEVER trimmed hedges before, but I kind of had a rough idea of how it works. Shears aren’t exactly high-tech electronics after all. By the time I was satisfied with the first hedge’s appearance, my technique was pretty solid. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to wear workgloves; A fact which became quite evident as I took a drink of water from the oversized Taco Bell cup. Blisters seem to have a slightly different sensitivity to…well..pretty much anything.

The second hedge didn’t go quite as well. Mostly because the hedge itself looked like crap. It was definitely the “ugly one” of the twin hedges. I was able to get it trimmed down, but I’ll have to go back and work it over some more once it heals up a bit.

Frank really enjoyed his time outside. Everytime a loud car or bike would drive by, he’d immediately run back indoors. He prowled all over the front and side yard. He chased little white butterflies and moths, which was really funny to watch. He would dash at them and then make a flying leap to attack them with his front paws. At one point he actually had a moth pinned to the ground by its wings! Since then, we’ve become a little more relaxed about letting him run around outside. I guess he’s old enough that he knows where his house is and is aware that “it’s bad to move in front of things that are big, loud or move fast.” During this whole experience, I was very aware of the obvious parallel that I will re-visit once again in about 10 or 12 years: The process of starting to relax the death-grip on your child, and allowing them to slowly gain independence. I think I did pretty well with this. I know Frank appreciates it. I’m not too sure about the Moths though.

On an unrelated note, I was the featured blogger for this past issue of the Richmond News Review! If you act quickly, you could be the next winner of the iPod Nano!

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, Humor, This New House
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The kitchen is nearly done.

After about 2 weeks of using dirty dishes, eating off of paper plates, and washing cups in the bathroom sink, we now have a functioning sink, dishwasher, and garbage disposal — and LOTS of counterspace! yay!These pics of the stove and refrigerator are both digitally altered. The stove and fridge won’t be moved into place until after we paint, which I think we may do tomorrow.

Tonight was a minor victory because I was able to load up our DISHWASHER (!!) with all the dirty dishes in the house and let IT do the washing. I can hear it humming 2 rooms over right now. We ran into a couple small SNAFU’s: The countertops came in yesterday, and they were installing them in the morning, while I was at work. Melissa was here and was sitting on the couch reading a book. Apparently “the guy” that cut the countertops made a slight mistake on the measurement for part of the L, and forgot to put the laminate on one of the standalone base cabinets! When Hank (the countertop installer) came out to tell Melissa, the exchange went something like this:

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Categories: This New House
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We woke up at 7:30am. Melissa was awake before I was, and was already bathing by the time I rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. For some reason, I feel more comfortable sitting down (even if it’s just #1) when I first wake up. I think it’s because my legs aren’t used to all that activity just yet.

When Melissa finished bathing, I assumed her spot while she got dressed. She started blow-drying her hair as I stood up to get out of the tub, and a blast of hot air from the hair-dryer hit me in the face. I immediately flashed back to my childhood: My mom drying her hair in the bathroom, me brushing my teeth or getting ready for school, and I always liked feeling the hot-air from the blow-dryer, especially in the cold mornings. I think I just like being warm.

Still groggy, I barely remember pulling on yesterday’s pants, unearthing a shirt and boxers from the freshly folded laundry, leaving a note for the contractors, and grabbing my cellphone from the wall-charger. I made a peanut-butter sandwich on wheat bread because I wasn’t entirely sure I would get to eat anything else today until after work. Satisfied that we had everything ready, we were ready to go.
“Can you drive?” she asked me. I responded, half-mumbling, that it would probably be better to drive separately, since I only had 1 hour of comp-time and a 1 hour lunch. She said ok, and we started our respective cars and drove across town.

I parked in my building parking lot, which was catty-corner from the Wayne County Health Clinic. She advanced to the next block and parked in their lot. I quickly walked over, thinking that I didn’t want her to think I was chickening out. She had asked me before we left if I was sure I wanted to go, and I said yes. We met inside the clinic and she checked in. I looked around at the reading material. Finding nothing worthwhile, I resigned to sitting down on one of the chairs and gazing at the almighty color television.

We didn’t have to wait too long, one of the nurses brought us back to a checkup room. She proceeded to ask Melissa a bunch of questions about her history — generally about genetic diseases, health-risks, and other such questions pertinent to our genetics. There were a few questions I got to answer in the same line of questioning. Melissa signed off on a consent form for the blood-work as well as the pelvic exam, and we were escorted over to the testing-center, right down the hall, where she was to provide a urine sample.

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Categories: This New House, Writing Pieces, Ziggy aka Sullivan
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