the look says it all

The gym is closed next week. Don't worry Beach still has practice but I have one whole week off from work. Since Friday, I have been working in the yard mostly on weed detail. 

It's been great to get so much done and not be worried about watching the clock... but that came to a screeching halt late this afternoon when I smashed my little finger between my shove and a fence post. Perhaps screeching is an overstatement, right after it happened I was afraid of what my finger looked like under my glove so I finished what I was doing before checking it out.  AND I really did think it would just stop hurting if I ignored it.  Needless to say, it didn't stop, in fact, it got worse. 

It burns and throbs and the only thing that makes it feel even slightly better is this high tech double ice pack, ice water bath. 

BC's has never been great at taking photos but this one really nailed the moment of acceptance. "Well fuck it". There's no workman's comp but there are cold PBR's in the fridge. 

cabinet of curiosities

weekending

the unknown soldier

Long before we moved here, when this house wasn't our home, it was theirs; a family with at least 6  boys.  First, living in a small house.  One that stood for decades in the shadow cast behind the "new" house.  The new house, built block by block, by the men of the family.

Rumor says it took them 7 years. While the house was rising the boys played as boys do. Mud, blood, smears of grass, rain, and sun, leaving behind a sort of sent in the air.  

And every once in awhile you find one of the men they left behind. They turn up in the dirt, often missing limbs & twisted faces with worn out expression. Fallen, long forgotten soldiers from wars made out of dust. 

   

a bird in the hand... well, actually that's illegal

Let me back up late last night right before we were called over to help the kids with their spontaneous indoor swimming pool. Agent Q was off on a secret mission in the backfield when she spotted the cat playing with a baby robin.

 

She rescued it and brought inside with the cat hot on her heels. BC and I both agreed she should "let it go", "keep it". Wait, what did BC say, she should keep it?!?! 

Okay, he just means for the night then release it "tomorrow", "later this week"

....why is this happening? 

BC says she should keep it, at least for a little while to give it a better chance.

I looked it up it's illegal to keep a wild bird.  But really what I was supposed to be looking up was what the best thing to do is and how to care for a baby robin. Turns out the internet agrees with BC; trying to put a baby bird back is usually not successful.

wet floors

Late last night we got a phone call from the kids that the neighbors on the other side of their duplex flooded both of their basements. We headed over to help figure out the situation and to deliver a shop vac for clean up.   

C Boy worried (& pissed) about his neighbor who was not responding to phone calls and door knocks called in a wealth-fair check with the local police. They showed up the same time we did. 

Between dealing with the strange but friendly neighbor lady who forgot to turn off her tub water and then left the house (wtf?!) and all that water it was a little crazy. But because the lady turned out to be "okay" the police wrapped up their visit by telling me that I had a good boy. He is a good boy. 

Poor Lexi was very upset. Her whole basement (which is both bedrooms!) had to be upturned. Several new pieces of clothing her grandmother had just gotten for her look to be ruined. FYI bathwater filtering through a basement wall let's just say it's not drinking water anymore. Not to mention all the added work of the clean-up, mopping, drying, more mopping, more drying, laundry, etc.

And what about the baby? 

All she cared about was that Aunt Beach was there to play with.

  

and then there were three

I noted at the beginning of the week that Runtasourus wasn't eating with the others. Predictably, a few days later Runtasourus turned up dead, RIP. This is why you don't play with or name your food ;) But don't worry the Collective that is Steve doesn't seem to mind. Simple Minded birds don't stress about the small stuff like life & death. 

night of her life, Cinders Concert

One the coaches at the gym, Montana Smith is a rock star. Well actually, all of the coaches at our gym are rock stars but Montana is in a band called CINDERS. (They are on FB too)

You've probably seen him before but I don't think I have introduced him. He is the guy in charge of saving Beach's life on bars. Well, at least that is his job according to me.

 Montana & Dan at Beach's 12th Birthday Party 1980's Dance Party

Montana and Beach at Lady Luck 2016

Last night he and his band hosted a release party last for their first CD which you can and should purchase. The show was a little late for my blood but a few of the other gym moms loaded up first their kitchens to feed the girls & then their cars to drive them.

It was Beach's first concert. 

My first real experience waiting up for her (much later than a Ute's Meet).

Beach says it was the best night!

She loved the music, the friends, & the rib dinner she got before the show. 

Thanks for taking such good care of her, T! 

Thank you, CINDERS for the wonderful music!

And thanks again, Montana for that great save on bars the other day....