Who Shot the Mama? But Did Not Shoot the Deputy...

(I know they aren't the lyrics, but it's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the picture. Thanks, Bob Marley!) There's one member of our little clan whom I have (so far) failed to really mention.  This one member REALLY, REALLY loves the new casa and makes us believe that our selection and purchase of number nine was essentially for her and no one else.  I have never in my life seen a happier dog.  Yup, I speak of the one and only, Mama (or Stella for those who aren't familiar with her moniker).  The back yard is Mom's little mecca of all things deemed most important to a pup.  Since the yard is fenced in, she has freedom from the leash that once restricted her. (And P.S. anyone reading whom has a pup that loves to play and would benefit from a fenced in yard, Mama is taking applications for friends to come over and play.)  However, this new found freedom also means new found exhaustion and fatigue.  You see, Mama runs and runs and runs AND runs until she has run herself what some would view as dead.  See what I mean? 

Then, she gets up and runs some more.  Last week when the heat was hovering around 90 degrees, Mom was still running; honestly we all weren't quite sure how.  When we got back to my Dad's after a long day working, Mama passed out.  When it was time for bed, she slllooooowwwwlllyyy raised her exhausted body from her dog bed and limped - as if she were a dog 10x her age - to bed.  At first we thought that she had hurt a foot or buster a pad, but when we realized it was from achy muscles we chuckled.  This dog had literally run herself out; and for those of you whom have met her, know that she is high energy...so yea, that's how much she runs.  


Before we bought this house, I would constantly hear Ed say things like: "I want my own lawn to mow" and "I want my own garage to put my tools in" and "I need my own throne".  Well, the lawn hadn't been mowed in almost a month; it was a mini-jungle.  Seriously, it was taller than Mama stood.  My amazingly-awesome-kick-ass Dad bequeathed his Honda mower to us to use for an indefinite amount of time (read he's so excited to have it out of his garage, I thought he was going to throw a party. Who likes beer?)  This mower has been sitting idle for 13 YEARS, plus, I remember using it to cut the lawn when I was a youngin'.  So, it's old.  Ed (because he's AWESOME) fixed this sucker up, got it running like a sewing machine and wah-la!  Ed got his wish...a lawn to mow and a mower to mow it with.  Awww, a happy ending.  It even fit in the back of the GTI.  What up, hatchbacks?!    

We got tile!!  More specifically, bathroom floor tile and you know what?  It's gorgeous.  Want to know what else?  Ed picked it out.  Want to know one more thing?  We negotiated the price down to the cheaper tile price we didn't want.  What?  We're on a beer budget and have champagne taste.  This tile is marble.  This tile is light colored with gray veining.  This tile melts my heart.  This tile will rock your socks, guaranteed. 

The plumbers finished their work - ha ha ha ha!! - or so we thought.  Yea, well, in addition to the thirty breaks and countless broken couplings they found, they also found the furnace will not hold pressure.  Wah-wah.  Buzz kill.  So, we are faced with quite a few thousand to replace the furnace.  I personally think heat and hot water are overrated, but others (everyone except Katie) seems to disagree.  The mold guys - remember them?  They're the guys in the tyvek suites with capes. No?  Well, they came and saved the day with the mold-mobile and mold signal in the sky and a 20 yard dumpster.  I want to kiss these men.  Seriously, they offered for us to use their dumpster for $85.  Yep, let's slash that $600+ quote from numerous dumpster dropper-offers  and use the superhero mold guys dumpster for $85.  Score.  House 17, Kel & Ed 1.  We still have time to catch up, people.  Have a little faith.  We'll have a beer. 

Ok, well, I think I've covered this very busy week - one of which was full of craptastic surprises, superhero's in tyvek, and wore out puppy dogs.  We will be victorious eventually, it's just going to take (a lot of) time.  I'm ready to go back to Hawaii.  Now.  Please.  Is a second honeymoon before a first anniversary out of the question?  What's that?  I hear you whispering furnace in my ear.  Ya, thanks.  And here I thought we were mates.  That amazing swim with an endangered green sea turtle on the Big Island is still fresh in my mind.  I'll visit that for now I guess.  That water was so clear and so warm...