Random stuff, sandwiches, tomatoes, and witness protection

Look at this cute little face and little fluffs of hair.  Makayla recently had her hearing checked and she had no hearing at all in her left ear.  She has another appointment this week to figure out what to do next.  At almost 22 months old, she has a vocabulary of only about five or six words.  "NO!" is the one we hear 99% of the time.  She has also had repeated ear infections, sinus infections, and even adenoid infections since birth, and although her tubes have helped some, she's obviously having issues.  Makayla understands almost anything you say to her, she just can't say anything back. 

And here is a

Makayla sandwich.  

Do you think they can squeeze some words out of her?

I picked Amy's car up from the repair shop while Amy was at work tonight.

Hailey: "What was wrong with Mommy's car?"

Me: "It needed a new fuel pump."

Hailey: "Oh, because of the tomato!"

Me: "Tomato? What tomato?"

Hailey: "You know!  The one with the thunder and lightening."

Me: "Oh! You mean the tornado."

Hailey: "Ya, that's what I said.  The tomato!"

Is there anything more beautiful than a young woman?

So why does cute Megan hate getting her picture taken?  I can only assume it's because she's entered the witness protection program and neglected to tell me.

She's going down

Amy, down another 10 lbs.

I'm not getting better, I'm getting older....

Yesterday was one of those rare days Amy had off and we were not watching the grandkids.  Stan spent the day working at the bottomless pit of work we call the duplex, and I dug into bunches of projects at home, including replacing things ruined by hail such as:

the mailbox,

birdbath,

and rain gauge,

and some of the worst hail-damaged plants around the yard.

Bonus: plants at this time of the year are half-price.

I felt good about all the work I had accomplished in the morning, and decided to continue to use my grandchild-free time by painting our large main bathroom a bluish- green color called "rainwashed".  Megan's friends came over to watch a movie, and when they left at 11, I fell into bed, tired but happy about the amount of work I gotten done that day.

This morning when I got up, I hurt.  Walking up the stairs was painful.  Putting deodorant on was difficult.  Getting the spoon from my bowl of Lucky Charms to my mouth was excruciating. And, joy of joys, Amy had to work all day today and we got to wrestle two little busy bodies through Sacrament meeting.  I used to deal with 6 kids all alone at church, while Stan sat happy and relaxed up with the bishopric.  Now dealing with my share of two little kids is almost more than I can handle. Then we had to get through lunch, afternoon, and supper time.

Finally I could look at the clock and say, "Oh, look at the time!"  That's my favorite thing to say to Stan these days.

It's his cue to help put little people into pjs

(Hailey's sad because mean Grandma won't let her go outside and ride her bike)

and take them to their home and put them to bed.

Today I'm really feeling my age.

Imagine how much I'm looking forward painting the bathroom ceiling tomorrow. 

Megan's Excellent Adventure

Now that Megan is a really cool senior,

she and her friends decided it was time to have a "Senior Adventure".

Using the cabin in Red Lodge as homebase, she and three of her friends planned  four days of fun.

The first day they went hiking and only got a little lost

but it's okay, it only took a few thousand miles on somebody's car

 to find their way back.

Megan promised me she wouldn't do anything crazy,

foolish,

or dangerous.

Hey, has anyone seen Megan?

On day two they went whitewater rafting

and only got a little wet.

The next day they went horseback riding. 

Have you heard of the horse whisperer?

Megan is the horse kisser

but the horse let her on anyway.

Isn't this the cutest bunch of Montana cowgirls you've ever seen?

Of course, they built a fire in the woods at the cabin.

You haven't been to the cabin if you don't come home smelling like smoke

and full of s'mores.

Isn't it great to spend time with friends?

All those funny moments.....

whispered secrets,

 all that getting on each other's nerves....

Okay, maybe it's time to come home.

The AfterMath

Just between you and me, a post with the word "math" in the title

is bound to be full of REALLY bad news.

So let's do the math:

Cost to return Megan's Honda Accord to it's pre-hailstorm, pristine condition:

$7493.10

The adjuster told me it was the worst car damage he'd seen to that point.

There were 26 seperate breaks on the windshield and too many dents to count.

Value of the car, as determined by Geico:

$3165

WHAT!?!? The car is only 13 years old!! 

It has just 171,232 miles on it!!! That's less than any of our other cars!

We assumed we got a screamin' deal when we bought the car a year ago and it is in fact worth ten times what we paid for it, making its actual value around $30,000!

So here are the options:

1. Take the $3165- $1000 deductible, leaving $2165 to replace our $30,000 car.

2. Take the $3165- $1000 deductible and buy it back from Geico for $525, leaving us $1640 to replace the windshield, but leave the dents.

3. Do number 2, but also add $1000 out of our anemic bank account to fix the liability-only insured truck windshield, too.

Option 3 wins.

See, I told you the math would get ugly!

.

I Knew I Had To Worry About Snow And Cold, But.....

Our mailbox started yesterday closed.  It's not going to be closing again in my lifetime.

My least favorite job--cleaning the rain gutters, which are completely filled with debris.

The raked-up leaves and twigs in the front yard

Oh look! Someone was kind enough to aerate my lawn for me!

Vinyl fences do not appreciate hard falling objects.

Neither do solar lights.

That's good garden soil coating the sidewalk.

As of yesterday morning my beleaguered bleeding heart was still covered with blossoms. 

Once again, it's been traumatized. 

Stan's beloved catalpa tree is looking more than a little pathetic.

Destroyed birdhouse number one.

Destroyed birdhouse number 2.

This little house had wrens in it a couple of weeks ago.  Fortunately they had moved on. 

All that noise and denting of the tin roof would have been annoying.

That dark spot on the birdbath is a new drain hole.

The only thing I'm really sad about is the devastation to the garden.  Even if the plants survive, they will have lost valuable growing time.  I don't think I'll pick a single ripe tomato this year.

Somewhere in this mess are peas, herbs, beets, and beans.

Looks like the squash got squashed.

Some pictures of yesterday's tornado.

And we have ANOTHER tornado watch at this very moment...