Random Thoughts On A Thursday, vol. 9

Happy New Year, dear readers!  I thought I would kick off 2014 by bringing you up to date on some random happenings here at the Ha house.  In no particular order...

1.  The boy and I spent the better part of the last week in bed with a high fever.  Boy, was that ever fun.  It had been ten years since my last encounter with the plague and I had forgotten how miserable having a fever can make a person feel.  

Thankfully, the hubby was healthy as an ox and was able to spend his days and nights tending his ailing family.  He made sure we had plenty to drink, monitored our temperatures and kept us medicated.  He even fed us nutritious meals like "Turkey Chicken Spaghetti Vegetable Matzo Ball Soup," which was basically a combo of various soups I had canned previously with a little leftover spaghetti thrown in for good measure.  

He's a keeper.

© shoutingforha

2.  Brick has decided to claim the boy's bed as his own.  As soon as the boy wakes from his slumber, Brick hops on the bed for a full day's rest.  We tried to discourage this behavior to no avail.  These days, we declare victory if the bed is actually made before the dog sets up residence.

I'm beginning to think that the beast has been studying squatter's law in his spare time.  He seems to believe that if he can simply spend more time in the bed than the boy, the bed will be his.  

Thankfully, the boy doesn't seem to mind sharing his space with a ninety pound fur ball.  It's a good thing too.  It's becoming more common to find them sleeping side-by-side, both dreaming of the adventures that await them when morning comes.  

3.  I did a wonderfully bad thing.  I sent my niece, the one that loves scissors and has cut her own hair multiple times, a set of scrapbooking scissors for Christmas.  

I think this makes me both the best Aunt and the worst sister in history.  

© shoutingforha

4.  Right around the time we were putting the finishing touches on our kitchen renovation, we began to notice some gurgling in our pipes. It took our plumber five minutes to diagnose the problem and inform us that the main line from our septic tank was blocked.  Tree roots were the likely culprit.      

We were left with two options:  1) Dig up the septic tank and hook up to the newly installed sewer system via a grinder pump.  Price tag $15,000-17,000.  2) Have the tank pumped and repair the field lines.  Price tag $1700.  

Any guess as to which route we went?

The septic repair guys dug a massive trench from the tank to the outlying field lines, replaced the pipe, backfilled the whole thing with dirt and smoothed the ground.  The good news:  The pooper is as good as new.  The bad news:  My yard is a giant mud pit with four trillion bits of roots and rocks jutting from it's surface (note the lovely photo above).

Our intention is to remove all the debris and throw down some grass seed before Spring arrives.  Unfortunately, the weather isn't being particularly cooperative.  The forecast is calling for rain/snow six of the next ten days so it looks like the yard is going to remain muddy for the foreseeable future.  

5.  My twelve-year-old is officially the same height as my 5' 11" hubby.  The race is on to see if the child will pass his old man by the time he turns thirteen in mid-March.  My money is on the kid.   

In other news, I feel ridiculously short. 

That's all for now, dear readers.  Hope your new year is off to a great start!