I am as peeved by another person as I was pleased in my last post.  Seriously.  I have repeatedly had kids running across the street way too close to my vehicle for comfort through the summers here.  Today I again posted to the facebook group for our community highlighting a little girl in a black outfit running across from one house to another without looking and cited "near" a certain address.  Well be damned if the person at that address didn't flip out because I used their house number.

If you buy at house with a nice rounded off number, expect it to be more likely to get selected for a round-about reference.  Also, maybe work to understand the difference between "at" and "near".  Finally, if you lose your crap at someone who is trying to make sure you're keeping your kid safe you're a moron.

In the course of the replies not only did I have this person lose their crap at me while telling me I should have knocked on the person's door I had another person reply "if you don't like kids, move".  I can only imagine the "welcoming response" I would have gotten knocking on a strangers door given the warm replies.  Sheesh.  I truly loathe people.  I pray for your children that they stay safe and alive long enough to learn to do better, despite your lack of parenting.

My persistence paid off tonight.  The new neighbors across the street moved in and I dropped a card in their mailbox, as I have done with all of the neighbors that moved in since I did (which is quite a few).  As I headed out to a church meeting the gentleman there caught me and we talked for a few minutes.  Yay!

A good measure of the weekend is the correlation between how tired and productive I feel.  We're going to call this weekend an extreme success.  Friday night I headed out a little early to get Avery and we headed to the church spaghetti dinner.  We didn't get to meet the new pastor since she bounced early, but we at least got to eat.  From there we headed south to Target (which I already provided commentary on) and Hobby Lobby.

Saturday we were up and off to Starbucks and Little Gym as is our Saturday routine.  With the earlier Little Gym class we are able to get a little more done before nap time, so we headed south again, back to Washington to hit Home Depot and Big Lots, and we squeezed in a visit to Chic-fil-A.  I came home with a new toy for my pressure washer, which was the motivation I needed to get outside and tending to the deck, which I started while Avery napped Saturday and finished today (Sunday) after church.  The toy is an attachment to the pressure washer that spins, so it works nicely on the deck surface, siding, and things of that sort.  I still can't get the soap dispensers to work on the pressure washer, but the water alone is productive for what really irritates me on the deck - the green mold.  I also headed out front to clean off the garage door and a few of the freebies I've scored from the neighborhood (like the wagon*).

I will need to take some of the cleaner I bought to the deck surface in a few weeks w/ a broom to get a bit more grime up, but it looks 100x better already.  I hate that this is going to be a yearly battle.  The houses around here all have green mold growing on the siding. I only had a few spots that struggled in Johnstown and that was on the dark side of the house under the pine trees and that was limited to around the bedroom windows and that was something I only needed to tend to a few times over the years.  Here even the sun beating on the deck and banisters doesn't keep the growth at bay.

After Avery's nap we all went to the water safety day family swim at Goldfish Swim School.  A free hour of family swimming, a woman making balloon animals, and a free kona ice - it was a good time and shockingly -- poorly attended.  There were less people there than at the pay family swims we have attended.

I also picked up my two tomato plants this morning after church and made quick order of getting them 'planted' in my 5 gallon containers.  I repotted the two african violets gifted to me when I was pregnant with Avery too.

I'm proud to report that after I finished the deck today I headed upstairs, and despite Avery not wanting to nap she eventually gave in -- and allowed me to do the same.  I napped!  I needed it big time.  I'm a bit sore and worn out from everything this weekend.

*The wagon was listed on the facebook group for the community a few weeks back as a "come and get this, it's at the curb" thing.  It is a $100 item on Amazon.  Score.  We used said wagon today to walk up to pick up a Little Tykes basketball stand that someone else listed in a similar manner.  Avery has quite the collection of gently used free items set up out back.

Damnit Target.  If you just put a ton of stuff on clearance you should have to hang a warning sign at the front door.   My cart was a happening place tonight.  It doesn't help that Avery now takes what I show/hand her and throws it behind her into the buggy.  I'm glad she likes shopping, but this is going to be expensive.

Work.  Some things are changing there.  I think one of the changes will reduce the stressful situations that have been in place.  I think one of the changes will create a bit more stress.  Both changes have left me feeling a bit sad but optimistic.  It's also given me a bit of a headache.  As I pulled out the excedrin I realized it's been a while since I've gone through a thumper.  It has prb been two months?  That doesn't seem like long for most people, but I was pleasantly surprised by my realization.

I have a hummingbird!  I put up a sugar-water feeder (homemade syrup so no dye in it) about two weeks ago with high hopes and low expectations.  Tonight while we were outside playing on the slide and swing it swooped in, spotted us, and took off.  I'm glad I at least caught a glimpse.  The feeder is under the deck, so it isn't like I'll be able to sit and watch them come in.  I'll have to research if deck level would be 'too high' to hang it.

So.  much.  poop.

Saffy remains solid, thank goodness... especially since while I was gone tonight she went in the hall upstairs.  I can deal w/ that, but the fact that she peed there too kills me.  This is the first pee on the carpet here and it bums me out, we were doing so well.

Danika continues to poop in here way more often than I want to admit.  Half the time she goes outside walks downstairs, pees, comes back up... and poops in the house within minutes or she poops on the deck as she heads back towards the stairs again.  I don't know if the movement (since she is zonked out a great deal of the time anymore) shakes thing loose or if she simply doesn't feel it coming until it's too late.

They're getting older.  I forgive them.  But I could do without all of this.

I am happy to report that Saffy is feeling better.  I've been a bit jealous of these two the past two days.  The weather has been quite lovely and while I'm stuck at my desk they're out lounging in the sun on the deck for part of the day.

Well, crap.  Saffy once again is quite runny - to the point that she went inside twice today, once when I was off to church and once when I ran out for food.  Fortunately, she went on the floor in the hall rather than carpet.  I've cleaned it, but there is still this lingering smell, not of poo but rather, as daycares would call it with a baby, a viral scent.

Hopefully this passes quickly.  It feels like it wasn't too long ago that we went through this previously, but when I look back that was September.  I guess that's good.  While I remain concerned, I'd be moreso concerned if the occurrences were closer together.  Hopefully this round will not require medicine intervening.

I've seen so many folks lately commenting about their pets passing or going through some pretty scary illnesses.  My girls aren't getting younger, that's for sure.  I am not looking forward to those things and it is on my mind.

I rarely have crazy dreams that I ponder throughout the day, but here's one for you - right before I woke this morning...

I was holding Avery, I know there was other family members in front of where I was standing, as I looked towards the horizon, but I cannot say with certainty who.  I don't know if it was sunrise or sunset but the sun was low.

When the color of the sun began to change my first thought was it was part of that sunrise/sunset.  Then, the sun began to shift away and move closer, undulating in size, and even becoming egg-shaped.  Somehow, I saw and knew it to be a sign of the end times.  My brain processed this all very quickly in the dream and I wasn't freaking out.  But I did hit my knees, clutching Avery close in an embrace, and I was praising God.

At that point I saw large robot-like things coming forward towards me, they looked a bit like mechs with crosses on the breast plate.  The one moved its arm in a motion telling me to move off to the side and it was clear they were moving on past/beyond me.