Preparation Work on the New Addition Continues …

Preparation work on the new addition continues…. To provide enough working space on the addition, this three-post fence with screen & concrete attached was moved from the far corner behind the right side of the gate to to our backyard (picture 1).   And picture 2 shows the other view from the front.  The only work left is to erect to its upright position.  Rena and I probably need someone to help doing that.  We are thinking when the lawn people shows up, may be we can ask them.
After completion of the new addition outside panels, this fence will be moved back to it original position, may be with some minor adjustments to cover the bedroom windows from our neighbor’s upstairs window. Because it can only be moved in its upright position (not like this move with wood board as rollers and using cantilever beams as the pusher), then we really need some one to help.
Btw, this was done in several days uring heavy rain.

Glen Echo carousel

Jeremy’s suppose to be working all weekend on a presentation that’s coming up.  He’s been a little anxious about the amount of work that has to be done in the next two weeks or so.  (How come Sept/Oct seem to be the peak time for commitments both work and social?)  Vince was gone with a friend all day today.  Edda had a friend’s birthday party at 2:30 this afternoon and I told Jeremy that it was OK for him to skip it, but he was feeling unproductive as I was getting ready to leave – so he ended up going with us to the Glen Echo carousel.  

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Edda was really happy he came.  She did love getting on the carousel and getting off the carousel, but was a little nervous throughout the actual ride.   Jeremy also managed to get Edda stuck in a toddler bucket swing – which happened out of my sight, so he had to ask two strangers to help him un-wedge Edda out of it.  I think I’m glad I wasn’t there to witness it.

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Baseball at Camden Yards.

Baseball playoffs are next week? And the Orioles are out of contention?  No matter – we going going to out to the ballgame.

I got super cheap tickets to the Orioles/Blue Jay game last night (accessible seating!) and it was such a beautiful night.  Jeremy mentioned to me that he could see how enjoyable being at a baseball could be if one actually cared about baseball.  We brought Nat to show her the great American tradition – filled her with hot dogs, cotton candy and nachos.  Also attempted to get on the Jumbo Tron, but unfortunately since no one wore any appropriate team clothing, no one got on the Jumbo Tron. 

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The ball field is right next to the Maryland campus with the nursing school. So we got to actually see my actual school! Very exciting. I take all of my classes at the satellite campus a few miles from the house, so I didn’t know when I’d make it to Baltimore to see the actual building.

Fence Posts & Preserved Wet Land

There is a local law stating that the permanent structure shall be at least 5 feet away from your neighbor.  Since we are building an addition, by checking we find out that our fence (we asked fence people to build several years) is actually about 1 foot inward from our boundary.  After talking to our neighbor, we agreed to push out the existing fence to its proper place.

Therefore, in the picture, a piece of the fence (right at back of me with marks of old fence boards) has been already pushed out.  Since it has been raining heavily recently, the rest will be completed when weather cooperates.

In addition, we just didn’t know why suddenly the Washougal City decided to clear up the wet land preserved area right at our backyard as well as its adjacent parcels (the clear out area can be seen clearly in the picture in the back too).  So, I worked hard during the rain to make our backyard a bit nicer by putting a lot of 4×4 posts for a retention wall to house the future excavation dirt from the addition to level the ground.

See, even in the heavy rain pour, I was fairly well-equipped.

Traveling.

Jeremy’s in Minneapolis until tomorrow. The house is both quieter and more hectic in his absence. It’s quieter because I can usually get the kids to sleep by nine pm and then I have the rest of the evening to myself where I read or watch TV which usually doesn’t happen when Jeremy’s home. The rest of the evening meaning until 10 pm when I try and go to sleep. It’s more hectic because the division of labor is not there – there is no tag-teaming of chores. I have been having trouble sleeping for the past week, a little bit anxious about all the stuff that’s going on – nothing terrible, just a lot of work in a short period of time. Early waking for most of the week – up at 4 am. But last night, I had both trouble falling asleep and the early waking, so I’m operating on about 4 hours of sleep from last night. Tonight I have a new plan, at 10 pm, I’m going to go sleep with Edda and hopefully her peaceful, warm body will help me fall asleep.

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It’s been so beautiful here in DC. I just want to spend as much time as I can outside and just soak in the sun. I love fall weather here in my hometown!  Just a clarification – DC is not my hometown, Rockville is my hometown.

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On Tuesday night, Jeremy went to Edda’s back to school night. There are only a handful of kids in Edda’s class and I had the feeling that none of the other parents would show up and I couldn’t show up because I have class on Tuesday night. But Jeremy could cover that night – although it was the rare kind of night we needed three cars. So Jeremy rented a zip car for the first time from the metro station from the way home from work which worked out well. Logistics aside, Jeremy spent a whole hour with Maureen, Edda’s fantastic, energetic teacher. Edda is having a fantastic year – so happy to be in school – sleeping much less than previous years – and learning and enjoying new things all the time.  I often feel badly that I’m not pressing for more services for Edda like more inclusion time or more therapy (aka as advocating for your kid), but she’s so happy and we are doing so well without me stressed out with trying to squeeze more stuff into my stuffed life that I’m happy with the trade off.

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I kind of freaked Vince out with college talk yesterday – in my defense, he brought it up, not me.  It’s hard for me to strike a balance between “OMG – it’s so incredibly competitive and we have to start preparing now even though you are 11” and “just work hard and you’ll be fine where ever you end up”.  He’s a good, kind, conscientious kid.  I hope I don’t screw that up for him.  Because I know that it’s totally in my power to do that.

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Ruby is falling down our bare wooden stairs quite often now.  And then the other day, she slipped going up the stairs.  It’s really upsetting to see.  So we set up a crate downstairs with plans to crate her at night so she doesn’t follow us upstairs to bed.  It’s not working – imagine that!  – after years of sleeping upstairs with us, the downstairs bedroom is not desirable.  We need to figure out how to rig up the stair lift to accommodate a 60 pound dog.