almost done with the work week. one day and a half to go...holding my breath til off-time, so much to do!
replaced the 'bago battery with a new one and tried to fire her up. no dice. turns over, no catch. dammit!
went and bought new plugs last night, doesn't hurt to replace em all and might as well...i looked at em yesterday and they were rusty...that means too old.
we'll replace those maybe tonight...need a longer socket. its always something...

mucho sewing to do...need to make prizes for NACCCs at the end of May, really gotta get cracking on that. finish up a commissioned hat for repeat customer in maryland. and need to update the etsy shop like woah. haven't done ANYTHING with it in way too long, just been too busy.
hopefully will get a chance to get in the garden some this weekend as well. if beds don't get built soon, all my seedlings are gonna die. they need real ground space, now!
crap!
busy bee, always.

a month or two ago our neighbor approached Andrew while he was out doing yardwork. he asked what my plan was for the truck camper shell that i have beside our shed (it was from the first toyota). he told Andrew that the shell was reflecting too much light and killing his bushes. he said that the bushes were 90 years old and he didn't want them to die.
i'm not one to ignore a problem or act out of spite, and made a couple craigslist posts to try and rid myself of the shell, but buyer after buyer no showed or fell through and i honestly forgot about it.

this weekend i noticed that he'd put up a barrier to remedy the situation. haha. ah i feel sort of rude not putting top priority on moving/getting rid of the truck topper, but at the same time its honestly sort of hilarious, seeing as how our garage is also a light color, to assume that the truck topper is doing anything harmful. and honestly its our property, so whatever. i'll relist it and try to get rid of it before David hates me forever n ever.
the rest of the weekend was all winnebago and dogs.

pulled the wheel off the bago after we gave it a bath. andrew did the exterior and i detailed the interior.
andrew was pleasantly suprised to fine a little anti-seize left on the lugnuts...always a good sign.

took the wheel and washed it (because the rv had been sliding so much in our muddy backyard, it really looked like we'd taken it offroading.) and noticed that the valve stem was actually leaking. easy fix! took it to three shops before we found one that stocked that size of valve stem, but only a $15 fix! tight!
wheel is back on the 'bago and we just need to resolve a dead battery, then we'll start moving it about! breaking 'er in for the warmer weather...
had a really bad weekend with MrEgon, too many seizures. he's back at the vet today for more labwork, trying to really figure out whats up. it was sort of an nightmare, and i'm realizing now how very little sleep i got the past several days...falling asleep at work. three seizures sunday and five yesterday...to me coming home and finding dottie sitting at the top of the stairs by the closed door, while egon was on the other side unresponsive and seizing was the absolute worst. we'd gone out for dinner and left them for 45 minutes or so...he was locked upstairs away from the other dogs so he wouldn't hurt himself if he did have an episode.
hopefully a meds change will help stop the seizure, i guess phenobarbitol doesn't work for all dogs. i pick him up at five and await results tomorrow.
i'm wiped out and sick from allergies, feeling like butt. i might call in tomorrow for a personal day, if my trainee can relieve me that is. i need a breather more than ever.

man. i am feeling so burned out on my job. don't get me wrong, i like it, but i never really get time off (unless i call in sick/emergency) and when i do get time off, i have MAJOR catch up to play when i get back. i had a vaca last year in florida, but it was the most stressful vacation i've ever taken - full of tense moments and constant dramz. i didnt even feel like i was on vacation until the LAST day of it...wading in the keys a few hours before we had to get on a plane.
i took off tuesday anticipating egon having another seizure since they've been super clockwork, like every two weeks. well, he didnt have one. that was awesome, and it meant i wasn't gonna have to go to the vet.
i spent the day busting my ass to paint a wall in my workshop space, and i put some legs on a new wall unit i built. i wasnt finished busting it until 7 something at night, i worked hard all day, and i was stoked on and proud of the job i'd done. both projects were first time tries, and they came out great.

going back to work was a real kick in the nuts. even though i'd just had a three day weekend, i'd filled it to the maximum with work. laundry, cleaning house, taking care of dogs, organizing and STILL unpacking. we've been in the house for more than a year and its still shamefully boring inside. no paint, no color, nothing on the walls, nothing nothing nothing. it makes me super depressed!

i randomly scored a half day yesterday and i was so stoked on it. working with folks who don't ever want to work is real tough...try staying motivated when everyone you work with wants to put out the minimum. it stinks, man.
took the day to try and chill out on life and haterdom a little. most of my "emergency" days off have been filled with stress, like emergency vet visits, or being actually physically real sick. this bonus half day was a golden kiss from the heavens.
i took time to walk the dogs around for a while.

did the usual tour of the neighborhood with the pups. tried to take my mind off work and home stress.
i love that my neighborhood is filled with cool stuff. i wouldn't live anywhere else.

old cars everywhere, rvs, even a nice airstream in a backyard.
i can really appreciate it...i like folks that prefer a vintage aesthetic.

it was a good afternoon. i started unpacking the bajillion boxes of cds i hadnt touched in a year, and put up my dvds and vhs. still need to make a bookcase sometime soon so i can put my books up in my space. i apparently have a lot of media.

maybe its a byproduct of being totally burned out on work, but i just feel totally wiped, frustrated with everything. i need a sabbatical.
i have a bunch of sewing to do and even though its making me excited, it feels like a massive weight of obligation. thats not the attitute i have toward sewing!!!

looking forward to a break. i need to go somewhere, get away, take some time to breathe. the constant work and stress has just been too real, and my optimism has been buried under all the "life" lately. not the way i want to live.

went into the weekend feelin real good. finally found someone that could cover my job, so i took a day off. miracle of all miracles, a day off!!!!!
saturday after work i swung by stu and julies to let their dogs play while they were out of town.

brisket is so huge and hilarious. he played with a tennis ball, which looks tiny in comparison to him, and just goofed around the yard forever.

banana is real hilarious, she acts like a stodgy old lady. she totters around the yard, sniffing stuff, looking offended if the other dogs mess with her or accidentally touch her. haha

and sandwich is awesome. she was so excited about a "stranger" coming to her house that she was making the craziest noise...like a high pitched squeal scream. once she was in the yard she was digging and running and being so wild. hi-larious.
after playing with those guys for a while, i headed home to relieve my own pups. they loved the weather, it was sunny and actually kind of hot. later in the afternoon i went over to nicole and lee's house to help make crafts for baby tucker's first birthday partay.

bif was being a big baby and kept whining, he wanted to craft too. haha.
tucker is having a robot party, so we made a couple styrofoam planets for lollipop stands and a big robot and all his parts for a "pin the part on the robot" kind of game.

if was fun, i haven't painted with craft paint and a brush in a long time, and it was nice to hang with those guys. i'm not trying to have a baby anytime soon, but i really like helping out my friends with their baby kids. its real rewarding.
came home late and was totally beat.
the next day andrew sic-ed the dogs on me before i could fully wake up. woke up to a stampede on my person, in bed. got up and started crackin on some home projects while andrew went off trailbuilding.

i picked up a bunch of huge storage cubbies for $5 each on craigslist, and got those where i wanted. i've always wanted a big wall unit for the craft room, one with a million cubbies. i wanted to unpack my cds and put my records and dvds/vhs all neatly away, so thought up a design for a shelving unit to accomodate those and more.
got the entire thing built, and was about the use the last board for the bottom shelf/base, and it was too short! i bought all the wood in 6 foot board sections, so cutting on my part was minimal. this last 6 foot board was about an inch short...from the shop!
it was too late at that point to return it, and i hadn't really eaten, so andrew got a fire going in the firepit and we grilled some hotdogs. sat outside and enjoyed the night...it was cool and starry and just perfect. my fav weather.

it was a really nice night, so good to sit out. stu, julie and dana came by and shared some snacks, an excellent evening all around.
the next day was all errands. went to a tractor supply show and oogled their chicks...one day i'll have hens. not ready for em yet, but maybe in a year or two.
in my cleaning rampage i'd pulled some furniture that needed to go...stuff that just didn't have a place. craigslisted it and sold it off, fueled my painting project the next day with that loot.
since all the furniture was off the wall in my craft room, i felt like it was perfect timing to paint the wall. leave it to me to make up something SUPER complicated for a day off project...rather than just paint it one color i decided to to three colors and a massive geometric pattern. painted the wall a minty light blue/green base color and let it dry well.

i measured out a grid of 12x12 squares and taped them off.

then i taped off alternating diagonal lines and a few rectangles...
painted the rectangles alternatingly yellow, then painted everything else this delicious green color.

that was the most masking tape i've used in my whole life, ever. it came out pretty well, i was overall very happy with it. the tape bled a little but nothing that can't be fixed or touched up.
i found some cool little legs at lowes and mounted them to the wall shelving...

let the paint really dry overnight, and now i can fill the shelving with media! yay!
so now back into the work week. big plans for this coming weekend, excited for a little roadtrip. just gotta get through the workdays.....weekend warrior style.

last week i sent a bunch of mail...packages to friends that i miss in other states. lots of seeds went out too, hope they produce for folks!

with daylight savings quickly approaching, i started the bt's on a new early morning walk regime. up at 6:30am, drink coffee and feed them breakfast until 7am, then walk/adventure/hike/swim for one hour. home by 8am to get ready for work.
the third day into it we were in the middle of a huge field in a nearby park, playing soccer, when i found this rabbit head

crazy...creepy...just the head, no fur tufts, no body...wonder if an owl got him and dropped the head as he flew to the woods?
lazy sunday morning with the dogs...egon has a new obsession with playing fetch..every night just as we think he's settling down, he grabs his orange ball and demands a game of fetch. if you sit on the couch too long in the morning, he also insists on a game while you're idle. heaven forbid if the ball go into a place he cannot reach...you will witness total dog pout meltdown.

what a funny guy.

later in the day went to check out a 1964 Dodge Travco locally...really excited to be able to see one in town. there is one about seven hours away that i really wish we could go check out, GARAGE KEPT and totally original. its also a little newer, a 70s model, so it has air conditioning.

it had tons of cool built in storage...and awesome bunkbeds with crankout windows on each level.
and get this....on this particular '64 it originally came with an INCINERATOR toilet...you'd "flush" and it would incinerate your waste. i can't even imagine the danger and smell. hahahaha.

the cockpit was super cool, very roomy as it had been through a couple renovations.

most everything was push or pull button...i hadn't been in a car that had a push button transmission in a really long time.

going to see this one made me internally freak out about getting the far away one...it seems like a dumb decision financially but OMG i think i could totally justify it. haha. i love the 'bago, but i really want a slanty-window travco one day.

it was a real treat to be able to go see this one in town, to get a feel for the interior and layout of its features. it also makes me really appreciate the 'bago, and all of its WORKING systems.

decided to make a new dog treat for the pups since they were out of homemade biscuits. whipped up a batch of treats that they seem to love. used some flax meal, flax seeds, kale, and peanut butter to make a good batch of grain/gluten free little squares. easy to make, and the pups are so stoked on them.
ran a quick errand to petsmart on sunday and i'd been meaning to pick up a leash splitter for a long time. the bostons run side by side in the backyard when they fight for sticks...same stick in each dogs mouth RUNNING as fast as they can...so i figured the potential for a splitter was there.

sure enough, they did great! they were a little awkward in the house standing still, but as soon as they started to move they were a-ok with it.

made our rounds through the neighborhood in the double lead like pros. even stopped in the park for a while to play frisbee! since it was about 70 or so outside, they were pretty toasty and panting right away. after ten minutes in the full sun, they were BEAT. dottie stopped several times on the ten block walk home to lay on the cool asphalt under a car or to roll in the grass of someones front yard. nerds!

got home and they were worn out. mission accomplished. they laid on the cool kitchen floor and snoozed for a long time.
the weekend was a little uneventful...went to one of my fav antique stores and they had been really picked through...crazy i've never seen em so empty. oh well.
having some troubles with my seedlings, need to do a little googling to see whats up. i think i may try to get started planting things outside this weekend...it looks like worm casings are all over and wildlife is poppin...our azaleas are blooming and daffodils are all going to see...sounds to me like its time to start the garden forreals.
gonna do some brainstorming this week, need to some up with some ideas for naccc projects as prizes and want to "quilt" some big bags with some really cool fabrics i just got. brain fluids are flowing...just need time to sit down with pencil and paper and plot some things out. stoked!

yuck. last weeks weather was sort of lame...awesome warm days but then insane rain!
BEFORE a full day of torrential downpour, the area where andrew had been digging out the stump was already full of water...

then after that aforementioned downpour day, aka saturday, it was just gnarly out in the backyard. standing water everywhere.

dottie took full advantage of the mud, and had a full on dirt adventure.

she was having so much fun! how could i stop her? hilarious.

she played around the mudpit, digging and digging like a maniac. its hard to hear, but she was panting and grunting and sucking in so much air that after a while she would fart in time with digging...i was DYING...

after a while i decided it was as good a time as any for boston baths...i went inside and started running the tub.

she had so much fun in the mud...being a total maniac. egon kept antagonizing her, knowing she'd chase him away from HER mudpit.
one very nasty bathtub later, they were clean again and very tired.
the rest of the weekends goal was to tire the dogs out and try to relax. i'd been feeling ill all week and had been sitting at the desk a lot (i usually stand at the desk for the work day). because you have to contort your body to sit and type (the desk is built to stand behind) i was feeling kind of broken. neck and back were super jacked up. i just wanted to chill out and stretch, work the knots out of my person.

found some more cool rides close by on dogwalks. now that its spring, the guys in the hood are bringing their winter projects out...making for good eye candy as i walk dogs.
sunday i finished up some sewing stuff. it was a kind of funky day...sometimes sunny, mostly cloudy, so i didn't really feel bad staying in for a few hours.

egon came downstairs when he smelled me baking pizza for breakfast. otherwise that guy was curled up in bed.
after i finished projects, i decided to take dottie on a long walk. she's definitely the most high energy out of the bunch, and egon was still in bed.

took her on an epic adventure, through the neighborhood and down to evergreen cemetery, and up to its top!

found some really beautiful moss, and dug a little chunk up to bring home for a terrarium. evergreen is a lovely place to walk...beautiful and macabre and noones ever there. there are all different varieties of daffodils growing wild, and i keep thinking about snagging a few of the bulbs. seems a little wrong, taking flowers from the cemetery, but if theyre really just roadside, then maybe not? i dunno, gotta think about that one.
came home from the walk and set to work in the garage. the recent warm weather has given me total spring fever, and all i want to do is ride.

got the V1 back together and ready to mount back on to the raven. i need to set the timing, then i'll be on my way! well, i need a spark plug boot...but after that...vrooooooom!
as it was getting into early evening, andrew asked if i wanted to go ride bikes. trying to squeeze the last drop out of the daylight, we went on a long adventure all around rocketts landing. wanted to check out the new docks they built for the condo owners to store boats!

rocketts landing is the huge new development, tall modern condos that aspire to be a community. resturants, etc in retail spaces below the condos. the hilarious thing is that for all the luxury they've built riverside, the local sewage treatment plant is directly across the river from rocketts...like within eyesight. theres a huge foaming waterfall where the "cleaned" water dumps back into the river. and the james river is tidal at that point, so its got that stinky brackish water mud. geez man, you sure do pay a lot of money for a condo on a pooopoo river right there. anyway, to add to the level of fancy, they put in new, nice docks for the condo owners to use. there are a couple boats moored there already, maybe more as weather gets nicer.
we came home from our ride after dark, a successful mission.
monday morning egon could not quite shake his tiredness.

he just sort of wandered room to room, following me as i did chores, and napped wherever he could.

idle was happy to oblige. at one point egon got up, idle followed him. he ended up walking around the house super slow, still half in the blanket. what a lazy dude.
i had a lot of chores but didnt really feel like doing any of them. i just frittered around, working on things bit by bit and going with the flow.

finally roasted the last marina di chiogga squash. saved the seeds to give to friends and to regrow more. i think i'll plant some down near gilles creek, see how they do.

i was slacking on some screenprinting and finally got crackin on it. was supposed to send some patches out, but i wanted to make a gold series and needed ink. my fav art supply stores hours were just not workin out. finally got down there and got ink!

got patches all screened, and sent off a bunch of care packets to friends in other states. stoked!
every time i sat down for a second in the middle of chores, mr. egon would jump up in my lap to be held. he was super needy and snuggly...

so funny. all he wanted was hugs and naps, what a sweetie.
the dogs were totally spent last night, i guess after three days out of their crate routine they're bushed.
i heard a funny noise coming from dottie and noticed her tongue was moving around out of her mouth.

she may have been asleep but her little tongue wasnt.
went to bed a little nervous. we can't seem to go two weeks without egon having a seizure...its really like looming clockwork. and since he'd been so sleepy all day long, i was kind of worried. had a nagging feeling. sure enough, at 630am he launched off into a full blown grand mal in andrews arms. it was short, he didn't pee the bed, and after he got himself together he was very clear minded right away. he was still off balance, but would look you in the eye and heed commands.
poor dude, he was so zonkered after it that he went out to potty, then came right back to bed. slept with andrew til breakfast time, then went back to bed by himself.

little dottie laid with him in the bed while we were up getting ready for work, keeping an eye on her big brother.

he got his meds with breakfast and is on a little bit of a higher dose, but i went ahead and took the tuesday off two weeks from now, sort of a sad premonition. he will need labwork before we increase his pheno dose again, so i figured its better safe than sorry. he seems to have them on such a tight schedule.
back into the working week for now. hopefully some fun stuff will happen this week. folks should at least get some mail and be stoked, if anything!