Ah, Summer!

We are enjoying the summer weather (80s in the day, cooling down to a reasonable 60ish at night.  Gotta love Spokane summers) -- at least those of us who don't sleep upstairs.  One power bill convinced us maybe we COULD live without having the AC blasting 24/7.  But there is a resulting need to cool down with a popsicle and/or a lukewarm shower at 2 am...

The Grill Father (aka Pooh Bear) is cooking up a nightly feast for us on his new bbq.  We've had dry-rub roast on the rotisserie, all kinds of chicken dishes, burgers and dogs, steak and even a veg every now and then, all lovingly prepared by our Boy On Grill.

Our evenings almost always include a spirited game of UNO.  This game never gets old.  I had a small cut on my finger a couple of weeks ago, which has led to the introduction of the "Bloody 5" card in the deck.  No clear UNO champ has emerged as yet, but I seem to be at the bottom of the leader board...

Of course we are avidly watching the Olympics.  Even the equestrian events (4 am) and Team Handball (3 am)  This has put a bit of a damper on getting Cara & Tony caught up on Dexter, as the wall to wall Olympic coverage takes up most of the available TV time.  We are partway through Season 3 (the "Freebo"/Jimmy Smits season, NOT Trinity as I thought, that's Season 4)  We are all dying to get to S4, so will have to do some serious marathons once the Olympics is over.

Speaking of marathons...my "training program" for the Color Run 5K is going nowhere.  I'm guessing my weekly water aerobics class isn't going to be adequate cross-training for running is it?  Meg, please let me push the stroller.  Hads, Carsie and I will park at the first bakery we come across (as long as it's not that hiddy vegan one we mistakenly stumbled into our last Portland trip), and you guys can meet us after.  Kay?

What else?  Pia is out at camp this week, then heads to Central for a journalism workshop next week so we haven't seen much of her (miss ya, P!)  The rest of us have been trying to spruce up the yard, which sorely needed pruning, mowing, weeding, etc.  Katie has acquired a new nickname:  "Rainbird".  Who knew this gal was a sprinkler savant?  She's dialing in our sprinkler system and trying to get us all onboard with her "once a week deep watering" program.  We remain skeptical but have promised to hold off on the criticism for a few more weeks.

Cara & Tony have 2 cars in pieces in the garage.  The Volvo and the Freelander are good for a string of expletives about every hour.

I'm keeping busy knitting, filling Vintage Knits orders and loving life with my four battling Bickersons.

My Kind of Fence

I can totally get behind a knitted lace fence.  And I like the garden too.  You can see more photos of Anne Eunson's amazing fence here

Farewell, Mayor of the City Dump

Sad news.  Our Beloved JP Patches, Mayor of the City Dump, passed away.  Patches Pals everywhere are hoping for one last "look in the dryer" message on their ICU2 TV Sets...

Seriously, JP is absolutely woven through my childhood memories.  The JP Patches Show was the longest running children's show in America, and we watched it before and after school every day. 

JP, Gertrude, Tikey Turkey, Ketchikan the Animal Man, Professor Weiner Von Brown, Grandpa Tick-Tock....

Thanks, Japes.  You will be missed.

Done!

The old house is clean and empty.  The yard/moving sale is finished (and we only wanted to kill one or two customers who were super irritating.  Seriously, do you think we'd sell you 80 dvds for 20 bucks?  No, get the hell off our lawn)  The new house is organized and tidy.

The boxes are broken down and on Craigslist for you to purchase for YOUR move.  We're done.

Team Plack!

Just can't stop smiling.  Cara and Pia arrived yesterday.  Team Plack is now complete.

My dream come true at last :-)  All the kids in the same zip code!

Another Pair of Knitting Shoes

Danskos!  I may have spring for these.  Love them even more than the Fair Isle Keds Meg got me for Xmas (with gritted teeth I'm pretty sure)

Wise Words

Alex was over helping with our move (and by helping, I mean he was farting around.  His brother Liam was a fine worker though)  He had some astute advice for Team Plack:

Let his wise advice guide all of you...

The Big Day

It's finally Moving Day.  And it's raining.  Of course it's raining.

Wish us luck!  By this time tomorrow, all of our worldly goods (that we are not taking to the dump or selling on CL or at our garage sale next weekend) will be piled up here in our new abode.

The Shrine

Of course, the TV is the first thing we got set up :-)  I especially love the little statue of Spike, the Gonzaga mascot.

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the cable and internet guys.  Ellsworth is a real pal for sharing his wireless connection with us, but dang it's slow.  We are going to name our home network in his honor though, with our thanks for him being the only house in the neighborhood with unsecured wireless.

Cannot wait to recommence our Dexter marathon!  We are getting Pooh caught up, and Season Three is just around the corner: Trinity, BEST SERIAL KILLER EVER.

Team L-A-K

Pooh Bear gives a hearty salute after we packed up the last box of Vintage Knits inventory!  Of course, it all has to be toted up a flight of stairs to the moving van on Saturday.  Pray that our helpers show up...

Tony and I are considering hiring ourselves out as Lavs & Son Moving after this week (if I survive).  We have been working hard all week, moving boxes of stuff, toting furniture, carrying tons of trash, etc.  Today he and I moved a couch, love seat (well chair and a half) and ottoman out of the house and down to the lucky Craigslist buyer who purchased it.  We immediately headed to Costco and purchased a new recliner (just like yours Susna!) to replace Old Blue.

Refreshed by our meal of Costco Dog & Pop (seriously, the best lunch in America, am i right?), we finished the garage, then Katie met up with us after work and we moved over a lot more misc. stuff.

Tomorrow is cable & internet install day.  Team L-A hopes to get some time off at the county pool which is just down the road.  Of course, we will be standing in the pool with 10,000 screaming kids (and everyone will have one square foot of pool in which to stand), but it will be refreshing.  We hope.

The GANG

quick update.  I'm stealing wireless from our neighbor.  And I'd be a lot happier if he'd move his router a little closer to our house, bc this connection is spotty :-)

I'm immensely relieved to report that the move to the bigger house with a huge yard has resolved 99% of the dog trubs.  These three are a veritable Jurassic Park raptor pack.  Squirrel in the trees?  They form a perfect Vee formation and they're off.  Last night, all three hounds launched themselves into bed with Tony and held him captive between their furry bodies for three hours.  I think he may have abandoned the bed to them.

Also, we bought a sectional from Craigslist (yay for CL!) with recliners at either end.  It fits perfectly into the family room.  And I have infinity dibs on the recliner on the left end.  You have it in writing, my children.  Don't mess with Lavs' seat.

We've made at least one trip daily to Home Depot, Lowes, Shopko, Target and/or Costco for various supplies we must have for our new house.  Our bank accounts have taken a hit. But the new place is shaping up and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the last two members of Team Plack.  Cara and Pia should be heading out from the East Coast in the next few days.  Can't Wait!

Kiss the Cook!

BBQ...such a boy thing...

Tony and I have visited every store that sells bbqs, from Costco to Cabela's.  We've checked out little Weber grills, fancy outdoor kitchens and everything in between.

Today he pulled the trigger and purchased a nice gas grill.  Plus tools, rotisserie, a cover, and probably a side of beef.

The boy couldn't be happier.

The Movers

Pooh Bear and I have been appointed the official Movers for Team Plack...as Katie is working, Pia is at the Episcopal Convention in Indianapolis, and Cara is waiting for P so she doesn't have to drive across the country alone.

I'll leave it to you to figure out who's Stan and who's Ollie....

Beat The Heat!

by sitting in an air-conditioned movie theater, of course.

Since our (old) home has NO AC, we had to get out yesterday afternoon.  Our brains were in danger of cooking inside our overheated skulls.

We saw "Moonrise Kingdom".  Wacky to the extreme, but good.  Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand = great.  The kids = super great.  A smuggled-in cup of Ben and Jerry's lemonade sorbet = super duper great.

Whew!

103 degrees this afternoon.  Ugh.

I'd like to be cooling off a la this Victorian gent, but instead we are sitting at home sweltering.

And looking forward to moving boxes and furniture in next week's 100 degree heat.

The Battling Bickersons

The three stooges are not all that excited about forming a pack.  In fact, they are pretty much behaving like the school bullies and the nerdy wimp...guess who's who.

That said, some progress has been made (though not nearly enough for their nervous Nellie of a grammy.  I get anxious whenever they are in a room together.  Am I helping the situation?  Probably not)  We are  having some success with "Harmony", the homeopathic formula that's supposed to help their anxiety.  Maybe I should be spraying it in MY mouth 3-4 x day?  They CAN be in the same room together for extended periods.  Though one has to remain alert for the inevitable "Let's gang up on Lulu" moment.  They do great on their daily walks, not a growl or bark from any of them.  They are doing really well on practicing their commands.

As long as Grammy isn't the one trying to make them mind. Katie chastises me regularly, saying I'm not authoritative enough.  True, I'm not.  But I give myself a big pat on the back for even TRYING to work with dogs.  I'm scared of dogs.  All dogs.  (except Lulu, but she's evidently one in a million)  But I'll keep working on it, as sooner or later I'm going to be home alone with all three of them.

The tense time seems to be when we are taking off their leashes and letting them back in the house.  I'm not sure why, but this is almost always a fail.  Last night, Lucy and Walt really went at it, and Lulu ended up with a wound under one of her legs.  Walt ended up with a cut by his eye.  So it was tit for tat.  Lois stayed out of it, for some reason.

We are back to keeping them separated, have a new procedure for getting them back in the house after walks, and are trying to figure out how best to introduce them all to the new house.  Hopefully it won't involve sedatives (for Grammy if no one else)

This Is Great News

Our favorite washed-up, mullet wearing baseball player is coming back!

"Eastbound and Down" will be back for a 4th season!  Despite having aired the perfect series finale last year (spoiler: Kenny dies, then doesn't), HBO is going for another season.

This show is so wrong, yet so great.  It's worth paying for HBO (or Netflix) to watch, right after you catch up on "Game of Thrones".

In series news, Pooh and I are up to date on GoT, and we're now watching "Dexter" to catch him up on our favorite serial killer.  Next: "Breaking Bad", I'm a season and a half behind on Walter White's doings...

Nobody's Idea of A Good Time

The move to bigger digs is underway.  And NO ONE is loving the packing process, needless to say.

We are getting rid of a LOT of crap, which is always nice.  Still have plenty of stuff to move though.

Our big moving day is the 14th.  If you are in Spokane that day, you may wish to stay far away from the South Hill :-)

The good news is that our new place is much much bigger, 5 bedrooms, three living areas, THREE BATHROOMS! (we are currently struggling with 1 bathroom for all of us) and a big back yard for the dogs.

And need I mention that I am over the moon to have all my kids back in Spokane?  I am grinning ear to ear.  Even when I'm packing boxes.