Recall on... everything!

I received an email this afternoon from Parenting Magazine with news that a massive recall has been issued on ALL roman shades and roll-up window shades. Basically any window treatment that has a cord poses a potentially serious threat. Parenting lays it out for us - by the numbers:

"...millions of kids have grown up safely in homes with these kinds of shades (WCSC reports that roughly five million Roman shades and three million roll-up blinds are sold each year)..."

That's a lot of shades. Moreover, that's a lot of naked windows tonight! Really, how many parents threw privacy to the wind and took down their blinds as soon as they heard about the recall? At first I thought it was all a bit extreme -- but as I sit here at the computer, the only visible window has a loose cord (aka noose) at Josie's current level. So yes, I will agree that these blinds could potentially cause harm, and I will probably tighten this particular loose cord in our house.

But on the lighter side of things, let's examine other household items that might be the next recall:

Door Knobs

Imagine a 7 year old running through the doorway and clipping his head on one of these. You could poke your eye out!

Ovens
These things can get pretty hot...

Stairs

Treacherous!!!

Toilets

What? People are asked all the time if they've fallen in! It could happen.

In other words - be careful around the house!

Handy Man Extraordinaire!

My dad is one of the handiest men I know. Like your typical daddy's girl, I'm quite proud of him. He can figure out how to fix things, how to make things, etc. It's a fine gift he has.

But this post is about someone else.

Dad-to-be and my husband Shelby is giving my dad a run for his money. Of course, my dad has a 20 year head start on Shelby, but if you were to compare them both before age 30, I'd venture to say Shelby would have the lead. After years of working on the farm (mostly by himself), he's self-taught and very resourceful. He has become particularly handy since we moved into our house last September. Recessed lights? No problem. Dishwasher installation? Child's play!

It's been really inspiring to watch his confidence grow with each successful project. He once said he wasn't good at woodworking, but based on his latest completion, I'd say he's got a handle on wood. He's even planning to build a bookshelf for Josie.

Workbench by Shelby
(photo also by Shelby)

We'll see how he measures up in 20 years, when Josie finds her own handy man...

Home Sweet Home

Where are you going on summer vacation? This year, my time away from work will be spent on maternity leave. Hardly a vacation, I've heard. But if I were living a different life, where would I go to get away?

No where. I love being at home.

It's not about the cost of vacation, I promise. Even if things were too tight for a 2 week excursion to Paris, we could at least swing a long weekend in Gatlinburg. No matter our financial situation, I'll pass on Paris and Gatlinburg.

It's not about the endless list of things to do around the house. We have successfully finished Phase 1 of our home makeover, so there's really not a ton to do. Phase 2 hasn't exactly been planned, so we're all set.

My idea of a good time is a staycation: a vacation at home. Spending a week at home with my husband, doing anything we want without a plan or schedule, exploring our hometown - who could want more? There will be time to see Niagra Falls and swim in the Mediterranean. When the travel bug bites, I guess.

Couch potato

As my pregnancy continues to progress (32 weeks now!), I spend more and more time on the couch. Fortunately, we found the best deal on an exceptional sectional from craigslist, the source of 95% of our furniture. (The other 5% was either a gift/discard from family or something we bought used - consignment, yard sale, etc. We proudly claim that we haven't purchased a single, new item from a furniture store. So thrifty, so nifty!)

During all this time on the couch, I have watched a considerable amount of television. Some of the shows I currently watch are featured to the right. A few sitcoms here and there, the occasional reality show - but I have most recently become nearly obsessed with the crime drama. I find that I schedule my evening around the Law & Order/CSI/Without a Trace/Cold Case programming. It doesn't help that some form of Law & Order is on most hours of the evening - I've started DVRing random epidsodes from 1997 and 2003 while I'm out of the room to make dinner or put laundry away.

I've been trying to put my finger on the reason behind my recent tv habits. I think I like the fact that the same show is available so often throughout the day, with very few repeats. Seems comfortable, in my generally uncomfortable [physical] state. I also seem to have somewhat of an addictive personality: Kristen and I watched many more episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" than your average college sophomore... On a subconscious level, it's also kind of nice to watch shows that are somewhat self-contained. In a few short weeks, I won't have time for nearly as much tv, so I don't want to get roped in to a continuing story that would require a weekly dedication postpardum. Makes sense, right? Or maybe my pregnancy cravings come in the form of crime dramas instead of strange food combinations...

Getting ready

TGIF!!

My parents are coming to visit next weekend, so I have exactly one week to get everything ready for our guests.  Shelby is busy with the last minute home improvements, and I am putting the finishing touches on the guest bedroom and bathroom to make their stay oh-so-very comfortable.  I'm also planning our social agenda:   not only is next Saturday is my mom's birthday, but we always like to show them something new around Kentucky each time they visit.

The calendar is filling up, mainly due to the reason for their visit on this particular weekend:  3 baby showers!!  It is already apparent that our little girl will not want for much.  What a blessing to have 3 different people want to host showers for us!  I hope we play the "what's in the diaper" game.  So gross, but so funny!  Better get a laugh out of poopy diapers now, right?  More thoughts on showers later...

This will also be my parents last visit to KY before Josie arrives...  Crazy, but true!  I have a feeling we will spend some of the weekend getting things ready for June, like setting up the crib and planning for their next (super big) trip.  All very exciting, but exciting for the most part juts to see my mom & dad.  Hooray!!

My House Is Worth What?

We've been in our new house since the end of September and I love it more and more each day.  So when I read about a woman in Seattle who refused to sell her house to developers for $1 million, I asked myself how much I really love our house.  Would I consider selling for $1 million??

Edith Macefield simply did not want to move.  I know how she feels, even after only putting in 4 months of heart, soul, sweat, and money into making the house our home.  When we bought the house (a 4000 sq.ft. ranch), I said that we could potentially live in this house for the rest of our lives, after raising our children and our hips have given out.  After the runaround it took to actually buy the place, never moving again sounds like the perfect plan.  But if offered $1 million?  We could pay off our mortgage, buy the next house with cash, and still have money left over for a sizable renovation, not to mention our baby's (or maybe even babies') college tuition down the road.

Edith's stand against the destruction of her home and commercialization of her property seems like a noble venture.  For a woman of her age and experience, I would have probably taken the same stand.  What a tough cookie!  Escaped from a concentration camp, for crying out loud.  No wonder she put up a fight when someone threatened her nest.  I admire her.  But in my current stage of life, I'd sell our house for $1 million.  Ask me again at 80.

Year of the Rat Continues

Since my last post on the four mice killed on my watch, the Rat King has been fairly quiet during his year of reign. No droppings, no nibbles - only empty traps to leave me wondering if mice will eat peanut butter that has been out (on the traps as bait) for weeks.

Because I live by myself and only eat lunch in this house, I don't have to take out the trash very often. Today just happened to be the day when I decided to empty the trash; lo and behold, TWO FRESH MICE, dead on the traps behind the trash can. Rigamortis had yet to set in and there was no smell (it's amazing how such a little animal can produce such a big stench when rotting under your sink), so I knew the mini massacre had just happened hours, if not moments, before the discovery. Some points of interest:

1. Next time I will have invested in a pair of tongs or one of those long-reaching trash pinchers so I don't have to put my hands so close to their dead bodies (just in case they decide they're not done living and have to bite one last thing - a.k.a. my hand - before they really cross over).
2. I read that the Black Death/Bubonic Plague has reared its ugly head again - I furiously washed my hands before, during, and after the disposal, even though I was using two disposable bowls to scoop up the trap and victim (therefore, never actually touching the possible contamination site).
3. Peanut butter does not go bad as far as mice are concerned. Unless their eyes deceived them and their last meal was terribly stale.
4. I did not cry this time. Guess I'm toughening up.

Yesterday: Happy Year of the Rat

A lot of good things are going to happen in 2008: marriage, summer olympics, cheaper car rentals...

I'm surprised that 2008 promises bring so many wonderful things, considering it's the Year of the Rat, member of the disgusting and terrifying rodent family. No wonder my year started off by catching FOUR mice in the cottage in less than a week. Their leader Mr. Rat was calling them to do his evil deeds.

But the Chinese apparently don't think so poorly of rats. If they had seen the rat traps at the hardware store when I bought the useful mousetraps, they might join me in being scared of all things rodent. Without careful handling, mouse traps can bruise your fingers; rat traps will break them (human phalanges = rat spines). On the other hand, if you eat rat meat, you might consider a bigger trap a good thing - more meat to go around!

Preface

In exactly one month from today, I will have lived in Louisville, Kentucky for one year. As this anniversary approaches, it seems likely to me that someone has probably wondered, "What is Emily doing out there?" So to fill you in and to celebrate the life I have chosen to make in the Bluegrass State, I submit to you my blog, "Wealthy in the Commonwealth." Not the Commonwealth of Virginia, but another Commonwealth that has become my home, where I am richly blessed beyond man's measure. I have learned tremendous and invaluable lessons which I hope to share here, along with accounts of my continuing "education" and my own humble opinion of what everyone needs to know about Kentucky. As life goes on, my goal is to keep the blog updated to keep you updated on my new/"Old" Kentucky home. Life beyond Virginia actually exists - who knew!