Thriller

T is going to be Buzz Lightyear this year for Halloween. We went all out and got him the costume from the Disney Store with light up wings, boots, gloves, the whole bit. He even has a Buzz gun that lights up and makes the really annoying electronic laser sounds. His pre-school Halloween parade was today and the whole class, and the 3-yr-old class all got to walk around the playground and outside for a bit before returning to the classrooms. While we were in the class the 'Child Of The Week' was identified as the kid who would get to lead the parade. By the time they got to the outside of the playground, my man Ty was leading the pack. Out in front shooting all comers with his laser. There were two other Buzzes in his class, both with other costumes. No light up wings, no gloves, no shiny spacesuit. The 3-yr-old class had two Buzz Lightyear's both with the same getup as our own little hero. There were two cowboys, two Minnie Mouses, an Ariel, a girl who kept asking her mom when she would get to put on the makeup, and my personal favorite, a kid in a Superman costume, full on fake muscles, the belt, the boots, the cape, and wearing a Batman mask, with the ears and everything. It was quite awesome. It seems that he couldn't make up his mind which DC superhero he wanted to be, so he decided that he would be both.

Little E is set to be Tinkerbell (yes we have a Disney theme this year) but she doesn't really feel like wearing the poofy costume. It's basically a swimsuit with ruffles and wings attached. She is not a fan. She likes the loud clompin shoes, and enjoys whacking me with her wand, but not a fan of the poof. She was bawling last night when we tried it on her. Hopefully tonight will be better when she's more awake and T's in his costume also. Here's hoping. Pictures to be posted in a couple days.

Last Dead Mouse

I've found mice poop on my desk for the past week. Until today. Today is the first day in five days that mouse poop hasn't been on my desk or in my keyboard drawer. Needless to say today was a little more exciting than the past four. Plus it's Friday.

There has been evidence of mice for the past two weeks, but last week I was geeking out in SF and didn't have the unabashed joy of finding little mouse pellets on my workspace. But there they were, little chocolate chips of joy left by small furry creatures. Yesterday the pest control company finally came after we called our union about the mess. He left approximately 12 traps in a 1200ish square foot area. I haven't checked the trap next to my desk yet, but I'm hoping that there's a furry little dead dude in there. (And I don't mean Robin Williams). Now for those of you who think this trapping and killing of mice in my workspace area is wrong. It's not. This is the most right thing that you can do. They're obviously lost and can't find their way back outside where they belong, so to keep them from being more miserable, we remove them from the building. Then they're free to never bother me again. Plus, poop is gross. In no way is it not gross. Having little pee spots next to your keyboard in the morning also isn't the best way to start off a day of work. Trust me on this one. It's not. Thank God for bleach. Of course, the smell of that is a bit pungent, but it's way better then poop pellets. Way better.

The pest control dude was supposed to come back here at 11 this a.m. and here we are at 15 after and still no sign of him. I shouldn't be surprised, after all it took 8 days of calling to get them here once.

I am going to invent a new type of mouse trap, like a little electrical dog fence, except for mice. It's going to detect something small, and poopy walking over it and when it does, it will let off a small 1.21 jigawatt shock, thereby knocking the little bugger off it's feet and probably a good 30-40 yards up and or backwards. I'm loving that visual. Little mouse comes pooping along and walks across the MouseZapper3000 and SQEEEEEEEEEKK!!!! across the room it goes, slamming into a wall and dropping neatly into a disposal unit. No muss, no fuss. The patent has been applied for.

A disclaimer, if you don't like reading about mouse destruction, don't read the above post. Thank you.

Crazy

Last week was pretty crazy. I spent most of my time in SF at a php training class totally geeking out whilst learning the basics and semi-intricate laws of MySQL and PHP. So who knew that I was such a nerd? Well, most of you did probably, but still to what extent? Well, now you know.

I was in this class with a 64 year old man who worked for Blue Cross in Texas, but lived in New Mexico, and has been a programmer for over 40 years. There was a third student who was in her early 30's who had been taking a 3 month intro to web design course, so she didn't really have the knowledge that our elderly friend did. Then there was me who was sorta in between with my 2 plus years of experience designing sites. But I got enough out of it to prepare a mini sales site. Sweet, huh? Yeah, feel jealous of my geektitude. So anyways...

This past weekend helped me get back in touch with my outdoorsy, Mexican heritage by doing a ton of yardwork towards placing a brand new carpet of beautiful grass in the backyard. (Special thanks to Greg and Tom for helping out Saturday.) My dad and I were able to lay the sprinklers down the side yard yesterday and hopefully will be able to finish that next weekend. Then perhaps the week after that, GRASS!!!!! The excitement is palpable. I can feel your joy through the internets.

For the next time, I want you to think of the weirdest thing anyone has ever said to you. Then we'll see if mine beats yours. Not that I'm competitive.

Back In Your Own Backyard

A quick update for my concerned readers out there, all the kids are fine at the homestead.

I spent a good portion of the weekend doing some Fall Cleaning in the garage. And I discovered that I've been accumulating a good amount of odd devices. I found out that I have 6 brand new light switches, a conduit box for a wall outlet, 7 outlets, literally hundreds of zip ties, about 5 tubes of different kinds of caulk, tons of hangers and hooks, a plethora of loose nails, and some of the old Pergo from when we put in our floor. I can now make a nice miniature dollhouse for Lizzie with a fully functional electronic system in it. But due to the bad luck I've had recently with electronics and the kids, this may not happen.

I used to wonder where my dad got all his random stuff, but I think that I'm starting to realize that I buy random cheap stuff from the hardware store just in case I'll need it someday. Which I'm actually hoping to do later today...at Harbor Freight. Some of my purchases come along with legitimate buys, this past weekend we spent some of the off cleaning time at OSH getting our new sprinkler system material. That was exciting. As is the upcoming weekend where I get to demolish the backyard, and dig long trenches into the ground. Which of course precedes the laying of new sod that we've been planning for almost 2 years now. After living with dirt and dead grass in the backyard for so long it will be spectacular to have greenery on the ground that isn't from a genus of weeds.

Pictures will be taken throughout the process and will be posted here so you can all be bored with the fun!