Toilet Woes

MY TOILET IS PISSING ME OFF!

Looks like it should work perfectly!

My guest bathroom toilet had a leak through the flapper.  Not a big leak, not enough to be heard when you are in the kitchen cooking or in the living room watching television, but just enough to inhibit a good nights sleep in the middle of the night when the building is really quiet.....and only until you were arm deep in cold water sealing the flapper.

In my many trips into the tank I realized that the toilet arm screw was broke in half so about a year ago I made a trip to Home Depot and for just under $20 purchased the items to fix the leak and replace the arm.

And ever since then, when you flush the toilet you have to hold the handle down! WTF? This isn't rocket science, it is plumbing.  For a while I gave up using the toilet (opting to walk back to the master bath) but eventually I find myself in bathroom swearing at the toilet. I finally consulted the internet for some guidance and here is what I came up with:

The middle part of the flapper should be removed, or it should be intact,

The flapper chain is too short, or it is too long,

The toilet handle needs to be bent towards the front, or towards the back.

Maybe plumbing is rocket science after all! In the meantime I will be pausing an extra second
when I am in the bathroom to hold the handle down.

The Book Suppository

A good friend suggested we make some time to visit the Texas Book Depository during the whirlwind trip to the Yellow Ribbon Experience in Dallas this weekend so of course the minute I mention my intent to Nicolas he begins to call it the 'Book Suppository' (ya gotta love a kid with a sense of humor!)

The Sixth Floor Museum was AMAZING! and while I was initially concerned about taking the time for the 45 minute audio tour....in the end I truly appreciated Nicolas and Bart's patience in indulging me with museum time.

As I heard the gunshots ringing in my ears and saw the black and white photographs of Jackie attempting to crawl out the back of the convertible to summon help for her mortally wounded husband, I felt a deep reverence for the sacrifice the Kennedy's made for our country.  Later in the exhibit I saw the infamous photo that has given me so much strength in the last few years. In the photo Jackie is standing at the funeral draped in a black veil, with her two young children at her side.  She is standing firmly, shoulders squared, chin held high, she is the epitomy of grace admits a world of chaos, and someone I hope I can continue to emulate throughout my life.

Road Trippin'

I am a little disheveled today trying to get myself ready for a 48 road trip to Dallas (via Southwest Airlines).  

Nicolas is attending 'Solider Readiness' to prepare him for deployment and I can barely get myself ready to get on the plane.

I only need two extra outfits, pajamas, and make-up-but somehow I have more stuff than will fit in the carry-on!

Happy Birthday Lacie!

When I look at this photo I sometimes wonder if it isn't bewilderment I see in Lacie's eyes.  It is as if she is saying..."I waited nine months to for this? Really people, you have SO much to learn, well at least we have a lifetime to teach you!" And so she has, taught me, a world I did not know, a language I did not speak. Here is some of the Lacieisms I have learned:

-I can be bribed to do just about anything with bubblegum. "Please Mom, I will buy you bubblegum!"

-Two Garth Brooks concert tickets charged on a VISA takes over four years to pay for and cost roughly $2,000.

-You can wear fuchsia, goes with anything, and it makes a great 'go to' color for finger or toe nails.

-Little brothers do not stay little very long, in just a few years they get big enough to kick your butt, smart enough to outwit you and someone fun you'd like to take to the movies.

-And sometimes the beginning of the journey starts with a 6 pound 7 ounce unexpected bundle of joy delivered on a cold winter day in Twin Falls.  Here is to a lifetime of Happy Birthdays.

Quilting Woes!

Here is a look at the edge of the Trip Around the World quilt top I am hand stitching to get ready to put on my new Grace quilting  frame I received as a Christmas present.  I've added the pink boarded on the right of the photo to even up the raw edge of white diamonds.  It took several days to iron the seems flat but I believe the quilt is finally ready for assembly on the frame. 

 Unfortunately, "some assembly required" does not cover the extent to which I have been constructing this frame.  The assembly instructions are 25 pages long and so far I have ran short of the 8 mm washers and the remaining 16 mm washers will not fit, also I can't figure out why the connector bolt and cap nut on the brace assembly do not fit snugly as the pictures states. 

It may be some time before I get this quilt on the frame!