More July Craziness

I love this guy's shield - "STOP Don't Hurt Me!"



The three amigos reunited (and a little drunk...)


Our little family trucks along through the summer... Jimmy is sort-of-kind-of doing better in his swimming lessons - taught by me this year, although if he can learn to stop panicking when the water hits his face he can go to regular lessons next summer. He's learned to blow bubbles in the water, and doesn't get nearly as upset when it splashes his eyes. We're working on remembering two things; "Stay calm" and "Deal with it." Next up is the back-float, which we tried a few days ago and Jimmy definitely didn't like. Kirsi has a little pool floaty, and LOVES the water.
Kirsi's talking more and more. She says, 'bye, hi, daddy, mama, brother, kitty, out, up, okay, num-num (food), belly, tickle-tickle, cup....' I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting, plus several animal sounds. She's also turning into a climber - yes, Mom, I hear you saying, "Payback."
We took a trip out to Libby two weekends ago and went disc-golfing at the course there. Apart from Jim getting bored and me almost whacking an older gentleman with my driver (Leaped over it at the last second) we had a very nice time. We took the kids to the playground there after, and finally got home well after bedtime and VERY tired.
My life is currently a whirl of horses and SCA - Carole's last week, SCA last weekend, starting at Carole's again tomorrow, SCA the weekend after next, then Carole's again when I get back from that. Whew! At least I'm making enough money with the horses and the SCA merchanting to pay for my trips. It's worth it to get to see my SCAdian friends - Viva los tres amigos! And I'm getting some great pix!
Chris has been busy, and is finally getting used to working full days again. SO nice to actually have some work coming in again! He's gaming with the geeks (love you guys) again, so he's getting relax time too.
Still no word on the house or the job, but we've got our fingers crossed.

Helena Handbasket

After fighting very bravely for the last few weeks, Helen passed away last night. Poor Caesar doesn't seem to realize what's going on, and is woefully waiting for her to come home. Helen was without question the sweetest, most gentle ferret I've ever known. You'll notice how Kirsi manhandled and molested her constantly - Helen never bit her, no matter how rough the treatment. Which isn't to say she couldn't be vicious - Sophie got bitten many times, and deserved it. Go in peace, my Helen. You're slaughtering victims 800 times your size in ferret heaven now.

July update

Okay, I'm going to make this brief because I'm tired! Jim had his tooth pulled on Monday - he completely lost it midway through the lidocaine injection and we had to restrain him throughout the extraction and insertion of the spacer. I can't blame him. But he rallied as soon as we were out of the exam room and was happily munching a cheeseburger by the end of the day.
Kevin and Mark came up and we all went disc golfing. I forgot the camera, of course, but the kids were really good and we all had a great time. I did get some pictures of Kevin teaching Jimmy how to point the way to the beach while flexing manfully.
The guy we hoped would buy our house has disappeared - but his agent tells us that he does this occasionally, and will hopefully be back at some point. Encouraging murmurs from Medford, but no call from Metal Masters yet.
Little Kirsi has a staff infection, probably courtesy of the kids' mud monster games, but it's not one of the nasty strains and seems to be responding well to the cream we got for it.

Summer Fun

So we've had a pretty generous helping of both good and bad events since the last post. Let's start with the bad; My little ferret Helen had a major stroke a week ago - I thought for sure I'd lost her, but she's still alive and fighting like hell to stay that way. I have to give her food and water with a syringe, as she doesn't have the necessary coordination to eat or drink by herself. Her balance is way off, so she can't walk. But her fighting spirit is in there, and she's made great improvement since that first day. I won't hazard a guess whether she'll recover fully or not, but I have to let her try.
Other bad news is that Jim's going to have to get a tooth pulled next week. It started hurting on Wednesday and we got him in to the dentist the next day. Turns out he has an abscess - so he's on antibiotics to take out the infection and once that's taken care of they'll pull the tooth. Poor little guy is handling it wonderfully.
Other brief bad news - one of my SCA friends passed away suddenly last week, my favorite wolf-dog up at Carole's is losing the use of her back legs to arthritis - which of course had to happen on my watch - and.... oh all manner of horrible things. But we survive.
The other shoe is mostly composed of hopes, rather than solid facts, but it's cheering nonetheless. We had another bite on the house, and we both think that this guy might be the one! He showed so much enthusiasm over the house and property, asked lots of questions, and stayed hanging around in the field for about fifteen minutes after the showing was officially over. When I told him that the ferret cage was removable he said, "No, leave it! It will be perfect for my bird!" So we have a pretty good feeling on this one. Cross your fingers!
Just a few days after this showing, Auntie Carol sent us word from her friend at the company Chris is hoping to work for, letting us know that they're hiring in both departments and they're interested in Chris! So he re-sent his application and we're waiting for the bosses to contact him. Exciting times!
Hm, other stuff... Chris' uncle Jeff came up from the Seattle area with his three kids, and we really loved spending time with them. It was great to get to know everybody! Hopefully we can return the visit sometime soon. I finished a new painting I'm pretty proud of (the photo washes the colors out, unfortunately), the kids are getting along, and Kirsi's talking more. Jim gave us an envelope on which he had written, "I love Kirsi/ from: Jimmy/ to: hole family" The school board did shut down Evergreen, so if we're still here Jim will be going to Valley View for first grade. Guess that's about it.