Mom the Builder, Can She Rig it? Yes she can

So I think I have a little OCD and germ phobia. I only say a little since it rears its head in the strangest ways.** One such example is the fact that I hate the plastic turn handles that come with your standard, run of the mill faucet. There is nothing so disgusting as the idea of turning on the water to wash my hands after I have goobied them with raw hamburger meat or poultry.

To solve this problem, I decide to install a new kitchen faucet. I have never done this before, but the box said it was easy to install. This part was true for the most part. What the box failed to mention was the degree of difficulty one might have removing the old faucet.

My first attempt was made with no success. I even had to call around to borrow the tools the instruction sheet suggested. Unfortunately, none of those tools were right for the job. Thank heavens for a little think called the internet and google. I typed a vague sentence about removing faucets and the tools one might need. Up pops the solution: a basin wrench. What, pray tell, is a basin wrench? The basin wrench is a specialized tool meant to help one in the awkward positions one must contort to in order to work under the sink.

Today I tried again with only a few glitches. First, it is important to remove all appropriate nuts before you try removing other nuts. Then, when you strip that other nut of all plastic parts on could use to grip onto with your handy dandy basin wrench, be grateful that the old faucet had copper pipes which are relatively easy to bust in two.

(Not an excellent picture. This is what the old faucet looked like after being ranked from its place.)

After a lot of back and forth glancing at the directions and the faucet, I finally got
it was done in only an hour and a half. I already have felt the satisfaction of my installation when I made our hamburgers for dinner and could use my uncontaminated arm to turn on the sink and wash away all the bad germs.



*Notice in several of the pictures how filthy my sink is and how that didn't bother me as much as the handles of the sink.

Airfare, Hidden Fees, and Headaches

After the finagling I had to go through the other day, I realized why travel agents exist. Too bad with the invention of the internet, their jobs have hung in peril. I spent several hours popping back and forth between the 7 tabs I had open on my computer finding the various flight options that would make our trip to CA in a few weeks monetarily feasible. It's such a game. One day fares could be in the upper $300 for round trips and then the next day drop to $180s only to drop and rise again in some unchartable fashion. I feel like I am playing the stock market when I hunt for tickets.

Finally, after hours of searching and planning, I found a discombobulated set of flights that brought our round trip total for the kids and I to $140. This is not including all the lame taxes and security fees and mandatory airport beautifying fees. This means we fly out of Austin (an hour away from our house, but cuts over $100 off each ticket and over 2 hours of travel time) and land in LAX. Those who have flown into there can make their own assessment on the joys or ills of that choice. Then Fernando and I eventually part ways and I fly out of Burbank to Austin.

Yes, the price made this all worth while. In fact, I was so determined to get the price that I called the airlines and made them honor what I was potentially going to purchase. Here is the short run down of that drama.

Like I said, I spent hours figuring out various flights and then it came down to committing to the options I picked. I always have this fear that I am going to accidentally hit the wrong button and end up messing up the whole vacation. I double and triple check everything and still feel queasy when I hit the purchase button. I filled in all of our info and clicked purchase when an error page showed up. I guess I took too long checking things out. No problem. I had the info down cold so I just quickly started again. This time however, the price of each ticket magically went up $20 which changes everything. Now $20's isn't that bad by itself, but times 3 and plus more taxes and possible lay overs. . .it is a big deal.

I tried over and over again. The fare would show up as the $69's on the first page, but when I would try to purchase it, boom tack on $20. I was beyond passive acceptance at this point. I called SWA and explained in my nicest edgy voice what happened. The lady tried to make excuses for why it was happening, but I really didn't care. I wanted my $69 tickets and they were going to give it to me. And they did. Yep, some how, this desperate airline was willing to give up there extra money to make me happy. It was well worth the 20 minutes of holding.

California, here we come!

Just Playing

Sometimes I think about the time that my kids will be older and whether or not they will want to be around each other and create things together like they do now. I hope that they don't waste the time that they have together. I think one of my biggest regrets is not taking advantage of my siblings living with me. I spent more time fighting with them then loving them and learning from them. Now they are all over the US and I may be get to see them once a year with the hefty price of airfare for 4 (soon to be 5 when Talia hits the 2 year mark) and the price of luggage (are you kidding me) to get there.

Couch Cushions or Card Board Box, We'll Take Whatever You Have

When I was younger, my sisters and I would always come up with some weird way to keep us occupied. TV wasn't an option so our minds were overflowing with the need to create and imagine. Some of our best ideas involved houses made out of couch cushions and magical trap doors from broken chair railing. Now that I am older, I often am reminded of our silly games and pretendings while watching my kids play.

This is what I found the other day:





Talia was as amused as I was to find Mia and Tiago stuffed into this cardboard box mewing like kittens.

Sophisticated Taste

It's funny what kids deem edible. For example, during most infants' oral phase, they'll shove any random object into their mouth to taste test. (funny how some things that really are food like pureed green beans aren't apart of the willing tasting) Talia has tried many various things that make me cringe and grateful for an immune system.

Yesterday, I had a hankering for some pumpkin dip. Actually I have been wanting to make this dip since I bought some Tostitos that were made with a hint of lime. I had to get two bags since they only cost $2 for super size bag that even came with 20% more then normal. I know, I am a sucker for gimmicks.

On Sunday, I had sort of a manic moment with food making. I decided to bust out the dip and make some enchiladas. Then I decided I would freeze the enchiladas and make mass amounts of meatballs (some for dinner and some to freeze). I finally decided to stop cooking when the dip had long enough to sit and blend their favors together. Talia was the first willing taste tester. She is assimilating things with her limited vocabulary. When she wants food, she will say in a questioning tone, "Banana?" and "ma" which means more. Tiago and Mia were suckered into trying some since they couldn't have any chips without trying the dip. One taste and they were sold.








Sadly, the dip was too irresistible for the rest of the toppings to make their way into our mouths. I guess that will have to be for the other bag.


Monterey Pumpkin Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

15 oz. canned pumpkin

2 oz. chopped canned green
chilies

½ t. garlic salt

½ t. cumin

sour cream

chopped tomato

chopped green onion

diced red onion

tortilla chips



Blend cream cheese, pumpkin, green chilies, garlic salt, and cumin. Spread into 9x13 in. pan. Top with sour cream, tomato, green onion, and red onion. Serve with chips.

Black Hole

When we lived back east, I would often take trips into DC to see different museums, events, etc. Sadly, I never could figure out how to make it out of DC. The little blue sign declaring "Welcome to DC" seemed more like the Twilight Zone then a beacon to the Nations Capital.

The hole has followed me to Texas and is sucking in various items. Library books, movies, and now my id card. I happened to be heading to the hospital to return Fernando's id that had found its way out of said black hole. I foolishly decided to take out my id card and put it onto the seat next to me to make for easy access at the security gate. This card is a magical ticket to get onto any military base and buy food at the phenomenal commissary. I turn to get the card when we arrive and the card is gone.

The police officer allowed me to check for my card next to the booth. Nowhere. Really. . .nowhere to be found. Luckily, the officer finally let me on with my drivers license and insurance card. I think I am going to start electronically tagging my stuff to track their locations in the black hole of my life.

To Be or Not To Be

As luck would have it, our unfortunate ER visit and subsequent trip cancellation turned out for the best. I was able to attend a Stake leadership training and happened to be the only one able to represent our ward primary. When I headed to my car, I was greeted by a torrential rainstorm. It did happen to be a bit of an indecent run to the car. I felt like that girl in the Spiderman movies who always happens to be in white clothing during a rain storm. Good thing there were few witnesses. Visibility was about 5 feet if that. The roads were starting to flood. It was probably the only positive of Talia's croup situation. I am so glad we were caught in that weather while driving around looking for vans and that we got to enjoy the rain from the comforts of our own home.