two weeks worth...

I think it's been about two weeks since I've been able to update.  I've only been able to spend a few moments at a time online, so writing out all that has happened since my last one has been hard to even think about doing.  Because this is going to be pretty long, I'll leave out the photos.  I'll try and make a photo entry sometime this week and add all the photos, but for now, photo free.

Nick came home on the 16th.  It was really weird compared to his last homecoming, which was 5000 people on a ship with thier families meeting them on the pier.  Here, it was 20 people with their families meeting them at a hanger. Very anti-climatic.  No bands, no screaming throngs of people, no media, nothing.  But it was nice in the fact that it only took one hour to get there, collect Nick and get his bags loaded in the car.  I think for his last homecoming, we were on the pier for hours.  I took Zuri with me to pick him up, but left Aaron at school.  I wanted Nick's coming home to be a surprise to him.  Zuri was a little hesitant and tried to hide from him, she's seen him on webcam and heard his voice, but the connection that 'this is daddy' wasn't being made.  We went and picked Aaron up from school and all he could do was giggle and say 'That's my daddy,' over and over again.  He was super excited to see Nick and wouldn't leave him alone the rest of the night.

Wednesday through Friday was spent at home, hanging out and working on unpacking.  Also, we had to pack for the weekend that Nick and I planned to spend alone without kids.

Friday, we went up to San Antonio after Aaron got out of school.  Nick's parents took us out to dinner for Mexican food and Nick shared stories from the past 6 months.  After dinner, Nick and I went downtown to stay the weekend without the kids.

Saturday Morning, we went to San Marcus to the outlets for shopping.  We bought some things for the kids, some things for me and Nick some sunglasses.  I really love the outlets because I was getting normally expensive things for very cheap.  Nick even bought me a bracelet that was 70% off retail as a gift, it's flowers and pink and I have a thing for pink and flowers.  That night, we went out for sushi at a sushi bar downtown called Sushi Zushi.  They'd won 'best of the best' 6 years in a row, so we were expecting it to be awesome, but it wasn't even good.  We went home pretty disappointed in our food, our service and the atmosphere.  the only thing that the restaurant had going for it was they wore cool shirts with funky sayings on them.

Sunday, we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas.  I'm terrified of heights, so roller coasters get my blood going.  I actually did really well on the coasters, better than usual (no threatening to vomit or calling for my mommy) but the drop ride (Slingshot) caused me to threaten Nick with bodily harm if we ever did it again.  Not cool.  They had different themed areas through out the park and one was 'The Boardwalk' where they had the older rides like the ferris wheel.  We rode one ride called 'Frisbee' and both of us nearly threw up.  Not good considering we were in a giant circle, spinning around; the vomit would have landed on us, or the poor kids sitting across from us.

After we got back from the park, we went to Mi Tierra, the best Mexican food I've ever had and I've had a LOT of Mexican food.  It's world famous and according to our waiter, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, Carlos Santana and George Lopez have all eaten there.  They also have awesome margaritas.  I had a large strawberry, a 'swirl' and a prickly pear, all of which were insanely good.  I think it's hard to decide which was the best part, the atmosphere, the waitstaff, the roaming mariachi bands, the food or the drinks.  It was all great and we plan on going back.

Monday, we went and picked the kids up and came back home.  We spent the rest of the week chilling at home, doing some shopping and just enjoying being a family again.

I also made a new friend this past week.  Aaron's schoolmate's mom and I got to talking outside of the school on Thursday.  I was wearing my gym clothes and said something about going to work out and next thing I knew, we were at the gym together, laughing at each other.  She got a little dizzy and we spent about an hour or so in the bathroom talking about ourselves and our families.  We made plans and got together again on Friday at the gym.  We did my first class together, Body Pump and even though I tipped over and broke a nail, it was still a lot of fun.  We left the class extremely sore but working out plans for the next week on what we'd do together.

Friday night it was back to San Antonio.  We went out to Mexican for dinner again with Nick's parents.  I told you, we eat a lot of Mexican food down here.

Saturday, we went to Sea World.  Nick, his parents, the kids and I.  Aaron was disappointed because he wasn't big enough to ride any rides, but he did have fun at the kids net area and loved sliding down the slides after climbing to the top.  We made sure to see the 'Shamu' show, which didn't go over very well with Zuri because we sat in the splash zone and that water is FREEZING.  I believe she now has an unnatural aversion to killer whale tails.

Sunday we had a BBQ at the in-laws where Nick grilled some of the most perfect ribs ever consumed.  They were just awesome.  Nick's aunts, uncle, cousin, grandparents and some family friends all came out.  Nick's birthday recently passed so his High School best friend brought him a present; a painting of Yankee's Stadium.  It's pretty big so we're still trying to find a place to hang it.

Today, I met up at the gym again with my friend.  We did the body flow class, a combination of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates.  Since the body pump on Friday, we have both been so sore walking was an issue, so the body flow really stretched us out and loosened up our muscles.

And to end it all on a high note:

I haven't been to the gym in nearly a month.  With Nick back, we've been eating a lot of junk food and I was really worried about weighing myself because I figured I'd gained all the weight I've lost and then some.  Nope.  I maintained my weight loss. Didn't gain anything in a month.  That has me really encouraged and happy.  Now that I have a gym buddy, I feel like I can lose even more.

The Toilet (da-da dum [scary music here])

About two months ago, my bathroom toilet got clogged.  I tried the plunger, reaching in there, the hot water method and draino.  Since none of that worked, it became clear that Aaron had thrown something in there.  Of course, it could have been Zuri, but since Aaron has always had a fascination with the toilet and putting things in it, I'll blame him.  Three weeks ago, I asked my FIL to come down and take the toilet apart to get what ever was in there out.  After five minutes in the bathroom, he comes down and tells me the valve is broken and we need the water shut off so change it.  I call the apartment complex and since our water is connected to the whole building, they have to shut it off and do the work, but won't fix the toilet because it's probably a toy meaning 'Not our issue'.  I went to Andrea's the next weekend, still with a broken toilet.  She's remodeled her house and knows how to install toilets, so when I told her of my issue, she volunteered to help me after we get the valve replaced.

The first thing we do Monday morning after returning Sunday is put in a work order for the toilet.  The hot maintenance guy comes and turns off the water, fixing the valve in a few minutes.  After he leaves, Andrea and I go to Home Depot and buy what we need to fix the toilet.  New wax rings and bolts because the ones on it are so rusted, they might break when we go to take them off.

Last night was the first chance we had to take down the toilet.  We set it up all nice and neat.  Towels to catch any water that leaks, a wet vac to suck the water out of the toilet, new bolts and new wax ring.  It looked like it'd be an easy task, maybe 30 minutes worth of work.  Of course, someone hates us and instead it took over 3 hours.

First, the bolts just spun.  There was only enough room for one to work in the bathroom, so Andrea was squished in the corner with wrenches, ratchets and screw drivers, trying to get the nuts off.  She was eventually victorious, and threw the hardware across the room in celebration.  Of course, some jackass decided that caulking the toilet to the floor was a good idea.  So we spent about 15 minutes cutting the toilet free of the floor.  Once it was free, we pulled it up and away from the hole.  We expected a bit of water/poo to come at our feet, but nothing came out.  At least we knew the clog was in the toilet and not in the pipes.  Unfortunately, the clog wasn't where we could see it and just pull it out.  Andrea got a coat hanger and pushed it up in the hole, trying to see if anything popped out.  Nothing.  She asked me if I had anything more flexible.  I brought her the dryer brush.  She snaked it into the toilet, but when she went to pull it out, it was caught.  A few jerks and it came free, sending a spray of poop in the air.  Andrea shrieked "Is that GRANOLA???"  which had me nearly peeing my pants.  Since the brush wasn't working we were a little discouraged.  For some reason, and I'm not sure why, we maneuvered the toilet into the shower stall.  And turned the water on.  Oh, and did I mention, the window is open and while we're doing this, asses in the air, people are walking by, looking in my window.

We left the toilet in the shower for about 30 minutes, water running in it.  We were going to take a photo of one of us on it like we were using it, shower water running with shampoo in our hair, but since no one wants to see either of us naked, we'll leave that up to your imagination.

While the shower is running on the toilet, we discuss our options.  It's decided that we'll just buy another toilet.  Fuck it.  This one is obviously screwed up, can't be fixed and not worth the effort.  The only issue, how to get it down stairs.  We both discuss the mental image of us carrying the poopy toilet downstairs, one of us slipping and both of us ending up at the bottom of the stairs, covered in toilet water, having to call 911 because we've both broken our lets.  Not a great way to meet doctors.  Another option was to throw it out the second story window, letting it smash on the sidewalk, splattering the surrounding buildings with poo water.  This was a serious option until we realized it wouldn't fit through the window.  So we had to figure out something else.

Finally, it was decided that we'd get a toilet auger and go in there and try to push it out from the bottom (I know most people would have thought of this first, but since I'm sure it's a toy, probably a ball, we knew it wouldn't work just to go in and try to pull it out.)  Andrea bought an auger and went to work on it.  Going in from the top didn't give us anything, so we flipped the toilet over in the shower stall and went in from the bottom.  One pull delivered us a plastic bag that had treats in it from Aaron's end of the year party at school.  We celebrated and figured that was all.  We righted the toilet in the shower, filled the tank with water and flushed it.  The water was still moving slowly, but we figured it was because there was no seal to create a vacuum.  So we (for some reason) flipped the toilet BACK over, putting it upside down in the shower again and started spraying it with bathroom cleaner.  

Now that we had a clean toilet, we went to move it out of the shower.  Andrea got in behind and I went to the front.  We cleared the lip of the shower stall and went to set it down on the floor, still upside down.  As we were lowering it, we heard a bouncing sound.  A little yellow ball fell out of the bowl of the toilet and bounced clear.  Besides a few scratches from the auger, it looked new.  At that moment, we felt justified in removing the whole toilet.  The constant spinning of the toilet freed the ball, something the auger wouldn't have been able to get out.

Andrea set the new wax ring and the new bolts.  We both grabbed the toilet, put it gently back on the hole and Andrea started bolting it back down.  On the second bolt, she heard a 'pop' but kept tightening.  She said, 'It's done!', went to move the ratchet and the whole bolt assembly came out with it.  The thing that holds the bolts to the floor was broken.  Of course.

So now, I have a functioning toilet.  We did a leak check, it's fine.  Instead of lifting the whole toilet and trying to fix the bolt, Andrea just pushed it back into place, making it kinda hold the toilet, but kinda not hold the toilet.  So if you ever come to visit, don't shake the upstairs toilet.  You can use it, just don't push on it.  Or rock back and forth on it.  I don't know how well that'll hold, I'm just hoping it'll make it until we move out.

Neither of us have laughed so hard in a long time.  Andrea said that was the most fun she's ever had changing out a toilet.  It's the most fun I've had in the bathroom.  Though, now, I have to buy a new dryer brush.  I'm SO not using that one again.

Just a little housekeeping

Andrea and I have been so busy!  Separately, we get nothing done but a little laundry and a few dishes.  But together, we can move mountains.  Sometimes the thought comes to me, 'She didn't come here, all the way from Louisiana, to help me re-organize my house.'  But when I try to suggest something else, she says she's having fun, so we keep at it.  

We have hung shelves in the living room for decoration:

Shelves in the laundry room for function:

And worked on an art project for my living room because the wall looked so bare:

We even got the fireplace cleaned off, so that if I wanted to, I could enjoy a nice fire (which will never happen.):

It's really nice to have a super organized house.  I always get plans and ideas but never have the drive to carry them out.  The kids always distract me, or the project seems too big to tackle alone.  While Andrea is here, we get an idea and work on it and while we're trying to finish that end up doing 90 other things.

So, if you ever need to clean out your house, ever need to re-organize a closet, invite a good friend over to help you do it.  Having someone to laugh with can make even the most disgusting task (we're changing out a toilet later on tonight) seem like a lot of fun.