From this year's Chick-fil-A calendar, Great Works of Cow Literature:

20,000 Bales Under the Sea
After constructing a top-secret submarine from scrap barn wood, the eccentric Captain Nemoo assembles a team of bovine adventurers to hunt for the Lost City of Chicklantis. Outwitting the notorious cooktopus, Nemoo and his crew finally find the Lost City, where the streets are made of hay and there's a chicken in every pot.

This afternoon, I had my third round of gum surgery.

Several years ago, my gums started receding quite drastically in several areas. I've had two previous surgeries where the dentist harvested tissue from the roof of my mouth to repair the damage. This time, we got on it early enough he was able to cut and peel back a large flap of the surrounding skin, then pull it up higher to cover the exposed dentin. I forgot to bring my camera so I didn't get any photos during the procedure, but he did let me look in a mirror after he cut the flap and it was just hanging there. I'm fascinated by medical procedures so I thought it was all very cool. I'm not allowed to do any physical activity for the next couple days, not even walking the dog, so Lord Oscar will be going to my in-laws' all day tomorrow while I wander around the house jacked up on Vicodin.

I know I'm not speaking very clearly because my face is still swollen, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. I called my mother this morning to tell her about my gum surgery. She thought I said BUM surgery. ((face palm)) Imagine her confusion when I started talking about the doctor having to work around the teeth in the area.

Forget the printing press, the microprocessor and the light bulb. Pudding cups are, by far, the greatest invention of mankind.

Today, I start using the antibiotic mouth rinse.

I have to use it twice daily for three weeks. I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything for at least 30 minutes after using it, not even water, even though I'm told it tastes like a**. Apparently, rinsing with water will only increase the bitter taste. Oh, joy. Guess I'll go brush, drink a large glass of water then give it a whirl.

EDIT: That wasn't so bad. The way the lady at the pharmacy went on about it, I expected it to taste like stinky feet that had been in the litter box or something. All it really tasted like was diluted mouthwash with a tiny bit of a medicine-y aftertaste. I waited over an hour then had a chocolate pudding cup. It did taste a little bitter, but nothing horrible. Let's hope it doesn't get worse over time.

Tried to not take any Vicodin today, but the throbbing pain is getting to be a little too much for me. I surrender!

Maybe tomorrow I can survive a whole day without meds.

Even though she only just got back from her business trip to Italy earlier this week, my sister is off again. This time, she and my BIL are headed to San Francisco for a week to celebrate their anniversary, which is Thursday. Here is where they're currently at:

Happy Fourth Anniversary, you two!

My stitches popped and started unraveling while we were at the pet store earlier this evening. We were shopping for a tank for our new goldfish and working on Oscar's training, too. While I was standing there looking at filters, it felt like a spring broke loose inside my mouth. I had Mr Moo take a look and he confirmed it was my stitches coming loose. By the time we got home, there was a fairly long piece of thread hanging from around my tooth. I clipped it and even more came loose. Ugh. Since it's only been three days since surgery, I figured I better play it safe than sorry so I had the doctor paged. He said this isn't uncommon and, as long as the gum tissue isn't pulling away from the teeth, I should be fine. I have to continue to keeping the area as still and protected as possible. And, if it continues to unravel or starts to look like the tissue is in jeopardy, I have to call him again and he'll open up the office to see me.

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Mister Oscar is not feeling well today. He's got a terrible case of the poo-poos and he's had accidents on the carpet twice already. We've been taking him outside at least once every hour and it still wasn't enough. He goes every single time we let him out. His poor little bum must feel like it's on fire. If he's still unwell come morning, we'll be substituting his regular food with some plain white rice and chicken meat to see if we can get his tummy to settle. If there's no improvement by Tuesday, we'll be going to see the doctor.

Today will be day four of driving walking Miss Daisy, the dog next door. I started taking her out early last week, but had to stop for several days after my gum surgery. Even though I've only taken her three times so far, she's already showing signs of improvement. She's not pulling nearly as much and is staying focused better. I've started taking Oscar with us, which is helping loads. I take him for a quick spin around the block to burn off some of his frenetic energy, then pick her up on the second loop around. Even though he is still far from a completely balanced dog himself, he does know how to walk calmly on the leash, which serves as a great example to her. It's going to take time and a lot of practice, but we'll get there!

My sister sent me a postcard when she was in Italy for work a couple weeks ago.

I'm trying to not be jealous. It's not working.

Things at the Moo Zoo are starting to look up. Mister Oscar appears to be over his stomach troubles from the other day. Phew! I neglected to mention, at the time, Miss Josie wasn't feeling very well either. With her, at least, everything is contained within the litter box and all we really have to contend with is the smell, which, don't get me wrong, can be quite deadly on its own. She not only had the poo-poos; she had thrown up a few times, too. Fortunately, she seems to be on the mend now, too. That brings us to the fish. Mister Brutus, the betta, is doing great. He's gotten used to his new tank, isn't showing any signs of illness anymore and his shredded fins are starting to grow back. He's not a big fan of the diet I have him on, but he still needs to slim down a tiny bit. Boy fish aren't supposed to look pregnant. Our new goldfish, who we've decided to name Santino, has been hanging in there. He had been living in a tiny bowl since we brought him home from the wedding reception and was in dire need of a new home. I was doing daily water changes, which were necessary, but also very stressful on him. The only spare tanks I have are 15 gallons each, which are much too huge. So, we went out over the weekend and bought him a new house, which I set up on my desk next to Mister Brutus' tank.

It still needs a background and some decor, but it's much, much better than the bowl. He's got lots more room, a new neighbor and his very own little mini-filter to keep everything clean so I don't have to disturb him every day anymore. He seems much happier now.

Like Mister B, he won't hold still long enough for me to take a clear photo of him. I'll try again sometime when he's sleepy and not darting around like a crazy fish.

And, in today's news, I'm coming down with the hives.

I noticed a few spots early this morning. By the time I got out of the shower a few hours later, it was raging. I have no idea what is causing it. I haven't eaten anything strange, changed soap or detergent, or taken any new medication. There is a lot of stuff going on in my personal life that's causing me a lot of stress and worry, so we're chalking it up to that for now. I had an appointment to get my stitches out this afternoon. I showed the dentist, who suggested Benadryl, which I'm going to try. He also decided we should leave my stitches in for another week just to be safe. In the end, I came home itchy and still unable to brush my teeth. Sigh.

Today, in summary:

Happy Anniversary to my sister and BIL!

I was up much too early, after only about 90 minutes of broken sleep, this morning for a meeting with a masonry contractor at 0700. I was shattered, but the meeting went well. We hope to hire him to do the brick work on our back step, the small retaining wall out front and, eventually, the stone bases on the arbor posts.

I eventually crawled back to bed for a couple more hours, but it wasn't enough. Yawn!

Worked for a few hours this afternoon for one of my website clients.

Finally got to talk to my dad today. As you may recall, he had hip replacement surgery early last week. He doesn't have a phone in his room at the rehab center so it's not easy timing a call when he's out of bed and able to get to the public phone. Good news is his recovery is going well and, hopefully, he'll be able to go home soon.

My hives are still raging. The itching was starting to get unbearable by mid-afternoon so I took a Benadryl. Coupled with the fact I was running on almost no sleep already, it was only a matter of minutes before I fell asleep again. Napped with the dog that time though so it wasn't so bad.

When I got up for the third time today, I had to finish up the work I had started earlier, which I struggled to do because my brain was still full of Benadryl and not working quite right. I did get it done though and decided to be a zombie for the rest of the evening.

After folding a load of laundry, I laid on the bed with the kitty and watched this:

Lovely movie. I adore historical period pieces and this was no exception. Since so many movies focus on the latter half of her life when she was a widow, it was interesting to see her portrayed as a young woman. And, as per usual, the costumes were to die for. I watched it through once for the story, then again so I could pause it and look at the sets and costumes. I think I'll probably add this one to the collection.

My hives are getting worse. :-( The spots on my arms have become giant islands of red instead of individual spots. It's itchy and hot. I've also got giant patches of spots on my legs now, too. Going to dose up like mad on Benadryl one more time and, if that doesn't help, I'll be off to the doctor's office.

EDIT: When I stripped to take my shower, I saw the hives have spread everywhere - my chest, back and legs now, too. I immediately called and spoke with my dentist about my condition. He said to stop the prescription mouth rinse, which is the only medication I'm still taking, and start dosing with liquid Benadryl stat. Since they don't make liquid for adults, the pharmacist at Walgreens said to take 2x the child dosage. Even though it's meant for kids, it will still make me sleepy as heck. So much for getting anything done this afternoon.

Today has been a blur of taking Benadryl, sleeping for 2-3 hours, getting up for a while, itching, and taking more Benadryl. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. And I expect the next 24 hours to be more of the same. On a happier note, the rash is dissipating. Most of the bumps are gone and the redness is greatly reduced. I just took another dose. I could tell it was time because the backs of my hands were starting to itch something fierce. I've now got about 30 minutes before I turn into a zombie. Guess I should get some work done before I go off in search of brains.

This morning, I was up much too early, once again, to meet with another contractor. This time it was for the concrete walkway and step. It was the same company we used way back in June to repair the sidewalk in front of our house. His price was reasonable and he could start right away so we went ahead and hired him. The crew will be here on Tuesday. This will be the first major piece of work being done by a contractor on our Great Landscaping Project of 2010. It's so exciting!

The dose of Benadryl I took right after I woke up started kicking in so I laid down again for a little bit as soon as concrete dude left. My hives are still not completely gone, but they are tremendously reduced. The itching still gets fierce and comes in waves, but it's greatly reduced, too. If the rash isn't completely cleared up by tomorrow, I will probably stop by the clinic. The Benadryl is still kicking my ass. My entire life right now is composed of sleep for two hours, wake for three hours, take another dose of medicine and repeat endlessly. I can't wait for this to be over.

The general contractor showed up at roughly 1100. We discussed several issues, signed the contract and wrote him a check so large it made my eye twitch. However, we officially have a general contractor now. Woot! He and his crew will probably start work on their portions of the project sometime around the 20th.

Since our meeting with the GC didn't take as long as we thought it would, we hopped in the truck and hightailed it over to one of the concrete/stone yards before they closed to look at bricks for the patio step. Amazingly, we found exactly what we were looking for right away. We loaded up the truck and headed home.

((insert more Benadryl and more napping here))

While I was asleep, Mr Moo continued to work on a few things outside. His primary mission for this weekend was to get one of the downspout drains moved around a corner and out of the way. In its original location, it would have ended up right in the middle of the brick trim on the new patio step, which would have been a nightmare to work around. So, around the corner and out of the way it went. Since I was asleep, I'm not sure what else he worked on, but I'm sure he got other stuff done, too.

Since then, we had dinner, watched a little of the brain rot, he took a nap of his own and I've been working on organizing the mountain of materials that has been forming for this project. I reviewed the final plant list (final tally: 411 new plants and trees), sent some emails and filed a bunch of stuff.

My hands are starting to itch something awful, which means it's getting close to medicine and nap time again. Joy.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 224

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Well, it looks like I'm going to survive my latest bout of the hives. It spread everywhere over the weekend. The welts on my arms got so large and numerous, it was like one giant red welt from my biceps on down. The rash spread to my chest, back and all over my legs. And I can't even begin to describe the itchiness to you. I continued dosing with Benadryl every four hours as instructed and slept a lot. Aside from reducing the itchiness, the medicine didn't seem to be doing much else, which was incredibly frustrating. Then, just when I was starting to think it was never going to get better, it started to clear up. Today, I'm still a little splotchy and red in spots, but inflammation is pretty much gone. The itchiness is almost gone, too. I still have bouts on the back of my hands and tops of my feet at times, but, for the most part, I am on the mend.

We have a walkway! And a step! Wheee! Mr Moo was up at the butt crack of dawn this morning to finish up work on and install the wood forms for the fence posts.

He had to do this to preserve the space. Otherwise, the contractors would have filled the holes with gravel and/or concrete, which would have been a mess. The concrete dudes showed up right on time and got right to work. They built forms for the walkway and step, laid a thick layer of gravel in the walkway area and compacted it. The concrete truck showed up at noon and they got right to work wheelbarrowing concrete everywhere. With the use of some very high-tech tools (aka a 2x4), they quickly got everything filled in and smoothed out. There were some issues getting the curve in the front laid out correctly, but they got it worked out in the end. Here are some highlights:





Next came the fun part. After letting everything set up for a couple hours, in order to expose the aggregate embedded in the concrete mix, they sprayed the surface of the walkway with sugar water - literally, a bunch of granulated sugar in water. For whatever reason, this does something to the top layer of concrete, which allows it to be washed away with a hose. Not long after that, they were able to release some of the forms and we were in business!



We didn't expose the aggregate on the step because, eventually, that will be covered with pavers and bricks. It needs to be smooth in order for the mortar to adhere. The crew will be stopping by in the morning to remove the remaining forms and collect all of their materials.

I had an appointment with the dentist to get the rest of my stitches out today. The silly thing is the last of them came loose and I pulled them out myself two days ago. He wanted me to come in anyway just to make sure everything has healed properly and to follow up regarding my case of the hives. There was one small spot where the graft didn't take very well, but, otherwise, he was happy with how everything looked. He was also pleased to see my hives are pretty much gone. He told the nurse to note in my chart in big letters that I was not to be prescribed the mouth rinse ever again.

As soon as I got home from seeing the dentist, I packed up Josie and Oscar and headed to the vet's office. Poor Miss Josie has been battling an on again/off again case of diarrhea for a few weeks now and we wanted to get it checked out. Mister Oscar just came along for the ride and to practice his socialization skills. Fortunately, the doctor couldn't find anything immediately wrong with Josie. There were no parasites in her stool, her white blood cell count was normal, and nothing felt hard or strange in her belly. He thinks some of the bacteria levels in her gut might be off. Rather than start her on a strong medication right away, we decided to try adding FortiFlora, a probiotic, to her diet for a week to see if that helps. If not, we'll discuss getting her on a new antibiotic. As for Mr Oscar, he behaved very well. He sat by my side in the waiting room, stayed calm and greeted everyone in a friendly manner. In the exam room, he waited patiently while the doctor checked Josie out and he didn't try to pee on anything the whole time we were there. He's come a long way from the barking, snarling, spraying beast he was 10 months ago.

Hello there.

Oh, hi!

Welcome to my house of monkeys.

From our trip to the coast back in July. We did some hiking and a bit of geocaching on our last day before heading home in the afternoon. We even did a cache that required us to use laaaaaaaazers!





We had such beautiful weather on that trip. It's hard to believe summer is pretty much over now. It's supposed to start raining this weekend. Knowing the weather in Portland, we may not see the sun again until May.

The plan for today was to make a large dent in the list of things we still have to get done before the contractors start work on Monday. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas about that.

We had our fourth drop box delivered yesterday to get rid of the large pile of dirt that's been growing on the west side of our house. Each drop box will hold 10 yards of material so you can imagine how much dirt and concrete we've moved out of here over the past couple months. Mr Moo spent a couple hours last night moving dirt. This morning, one of his co-workers graciously came over to help with the rest. Within two hours, they had everything in the drop box. It was a good thing, too, because that's when the rain started. Instead of pouring concrete for the fence posts, installing electrical conduit, removing the remaining shrubs and digging the last of the drainage channels, the rest of the day was spent cleaning out the garage and watching the weather report, which just would not cooperate.

I had also planned to take a load of photos of how everything looks today, but, again, the weather just wouldn't allow it. We might catch a break in the rain in the morning so maybe tomorrow.

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The Great Landscaping Project of 2010 continues. Highlights from today include:

getting the materials together for tomorrow's step build

Today, the sole focus of the Great Landscaping Project of 2010 was the masonry work on the patio step. It had to be completely finished today because the other contractors are scheduled to start work on the actual patio tomorrow. E got started first thing in the morning and ended up working until after it was dark. It was a very long day, but he did a great job. He started by cutting up several of the large patio pavers to face the step riser. He tinted the mortar with dye to match the pavers.



Next came the brick edging.

Things got a bit tricky with the corners because the ratio of the brick widths to the lengths wasn't an even number. However, E and I put our heads together and figured out exactly how he needed to cut the pieces to make it all fit.


After the bricks were set, E filled in the joints with mortar (using a large pastry bag, which looked very silly, but worked amazingly well) and set the final paver pieces on top.

Since it was well dark by the time E finished up (I ended up holding a construction light at the end so he could finish working), I wasn't able to get any photos of the finished step. I'll take some in the morning.

Yesterday, Mr Moo removed the forms from around the fence post footings.

These post brackets had to be set this early because the patio pavers will be laid around and in between them. While the forms proved very difficult to remove, the footings looked good.

I was able to get a photo of the finished step this morning. It still needs to be cleaned with an acid wash to remove the excess mortar, which will happen on Thursday.

When the workers arrived, they got right to work on our neighbor's retaining wall, which borders our property. In order to correct the grade of our property for drainage purposes, we need to excavate a bunch of dirt on that side of the house. Removing that much dirt would have undercut the wall and put it in danger of collapse so we decided to lower it and add another row of stones, which will be delivered on Saturday.



After finishing work on the wall, the contractors laid landscaping fabric and started moving gravel into the hole where the patio will eventually live.



Tomorrow is a day of rest because all of the contractors have other jobs they need to work.

The supervisor wants to know why no one is working today.

E stopped by today for a quick visit to finish up work on the patio step. When the plans for the concrete step base were drawn up, they didn't take into consideration the 2% slope of the patio. The plan was for the finished patio to clear the riser footing, but it didn't work out quite as we expected so the footing needed to be trimmed.



Once that was finished, E and his helper gave the step a thorough scrubbing in heavily diluted muriatic acid. I wasn't too keen on bathing my step in acid, but it was the only way to clean up the excess mortar. I've already told the other contractors I do not want anymore toxic chemicals used on anything. The step was all shiny pretty when they finished at least.



After schlepping around even more gravel for the patio area...

...the guys (R and G) got to work on tearing out the remaining shrubs and trees.





Some of the shrubs were on our neighbor's property. She wasn't happy with them and has agreed to let us landscape that part of her yard in order to make everything blend together. She's also offered to help pay for some of it. Since everyone was hating it, we actually clapped when the last of the juniper came out. I was sad to see my Christmas trees go though. I'll need to find a new place to hang my Christmas lights now.

Today's snapshots of the Great Landscaping Project of 2010 as seen from the Random MooCam.

Today was one of those days where, even though only two items were crossed off the to do list, the guys worked hard all day. They brought one more load of gravel for the seemingly bottomless patio pit and compacted it all in preparation for the slab installation, which starts tomorrow. They had a load of trouble with the rental compactor. It would run great for about a minute or two, then die every single time. We cleaned the spark plug, checked the gas mixture and tried a million other things to get it to run. Turns out, it had the wrong cap on the gas tank, which was too airtight. It was creating a vacuum in the tank and not allowing any fuel into the engine. Not exactly conducive for the engine to run well. All we actually needed to do was not screw it on so tight so a little air could get in. G only discovered all of this after he lugged the thing all the way back to the rental place. D'oh!



While G was gone, the driver from Mutual Materials showed up with the Glacier Slate architectural slabs for the patio. He had his own forklift on the truck and was able to drive it right up into the back yard to get the pallets right next to the patio area. Considering each of the slabs weighs 87 lbs (39.5 kg) each, this was a blessing.





When he was all done, he loaded his forklift back on the truck and off he went.

We have slabs! We have string line! Roll on tomorrow!

Today's snapshots from the Random MooCam.

Today was a very exciting day for the Great Landscaping Project of 2010. The patio has officially been started! Woot! The day started with a delivery of cottage stone from Home Depot.



We decided to add another row of stones to wall that runs along the back of our property in order to make grading the rest of the yard easier. If we hadn't decided to raise it, there would have been sudden drop off at the back, which would have looked terrible. We also ordered the extra stones needed to finish the rebuild of our neighbor's retaining wall. While Mr Moo and I worked on installing the new cottage stones, G and R, the contractor dudes, got to work on the patio. After setting a few more string lines and leveling out the gravel, the first slab was laid.



Once they got the first slab aligned, straight and level, it didn't take them too long to get several more installed.

The tricky part was the row of stones which needed to be custom cut to fit against the foundation and around the fence posts.





They did all of the cutting today. On Monday, they'll continue work on the far side of the patio, where they'll only need whole slabs.

Today's snapshots from the Random MooCam.

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Everyone was back to work on the Great Landscaping Project of 2010 bright and early this morning. R and G continued work on the patio.



Unfortunately, several of the slabs had cracked, shipped or broken during shipment so they weren't able to completely finish. We need "ocho mas" (eight more) to finish tomorrow. There were a couple slabs against the house which were cut poorly on Saturday and needed replacing. We were able to use some of the broken ones for that at least.



I was very pleasantly surprised when E, the masonry guy, showed up to start work on the stone wall out front.

He wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow, but he finished up another job early and wanted to get a jump start on the excavation. He'll bring the stone and start work on the actual wall in the morning.

Today's snapshots from the Random MooCam.

Another verse, same as the first. R and G showed up with eight new slabs this morning and finished work on the patio. E arrived with a truck full of stone and got right to work on the wall. He was thinking he'd have to leave to get gravel, but the other guys had some extra in their truck, which they let him have in exchange for buying lunch. Seemed fair to me.







We worked very closely with the designer on the plans regarding the patio. The ultimate goal was for the far edge of the patio to line up with the edge of the poured concrete sidewalk. Over the course of the entire patio, if each slab was off even just 1/8", the whole patio could end up almost 2" off course. When the last slab was laid, everyone was very happy to see it less than 1/4" off.

And, amazingly, it was short, not over, which was even better. Good job, guys!

Today's snapshots from the Random MooCam.

Today was a crazy yet productive day for the Great Landscaping Project of 2010. E returned to finish the stone wall out front. While he and his worker did that, T and J showed up with a mini-backhoe and a tractor to excavate the top layer of soil from the entire yard. We have some of the worst, hardest and most awful clay soil. When it dries out, it becomes like concrete. You can't get a shovel into and you certainly can't get plants to grow in it. Today, we had several inches of it removed and hauled away. Tomorrow, they will replace what was removed with a soil amendment, which will be tilled in at some point before the plants go in. I never thought I see a tractor in my yard, but there it was. T and J also brought along their two dogs, Missy and Charlie, who had a great time running around the yard with Lord Oscar, who needed the cheering up after seeing the last of his grass removed.









This is Charlie on the tractor:

And here is Missy enjoying the dirt:

I can't believe I didn't get a single photo of them with Oscar.

Today's snapshots from the Random MooCam.

Today was a short work day on the Great Landscaping Project of 2010. Everyone showed up early to finish prepping for the addition of the soil amendment. There were a few patches of grass which still needed to be removed and a little more grading to do. The dirt dude showed up at 0930. Within two hours, he had blown all 3 units (22.5 yards) of the soil amendment into place. It was impressive to watch. The amendment is made up of mushroom compost, sand and vermiculite - everything we need for our yucky clay soil. Once dirt dude finished up, everyone left for the day.





Oscar wasn't sure what to make of all the noise.