Summer has officially started.

Well Friday was fun. I had to get up and cook refried beans for Matts party. No biggie, at least it wasnt 7 dozen homemade tortillas! I got there and his party went really well. It was a Mexican Feista. The kids really liked the pinata.


We did have a few errands to run and so I went and got BRett from school. I had to pay his lunch bill before I could get his report card. 27.00. This kid takes a lunch EVERY DAY! come to find out, he will get in line and get parts of a hot lunch too. The ladies told me this. Said they are always telling him that his momma was gona tan his hide. Oh yea. PLUS, he gets snacks. I was LIVID! I told him that until he 'paid' me back he wouldnt get any snacks at home. It was water and meals. I dont let them drink Soda's and eat alot of junk, but I do buy them raman noodles, and vienna sausages and such. Plus I give them kooliade and juice things. I told him that I would 'deduct' the price of what I would have bought until he paid me back. He could have what ever I made for the family and that was it.

I am trying to learn the coupon game. Its taking me a little while, but I have to do something. Deisel at 4.67 a gallon is eating into every budget I have. Food, lights, etc.
I did manage to buy a few things at walgreens and got to use a 10 dollars off a 30 dollar purchase. I was so proud! :)
Then I had to go to the lumber yard. I HATE having to go to the lumber yard. I end up with some idiot that thinks a girl cant buy nails with out a note from her husband.

I needed material for stairs. ours broke again. My only problem is I cant make a stringer (that 2x10 that is cut like stair steps and you lay the boards on.) BUT you can buy them. So I got 3. The guy I got told me I only needed 2 for 36 inch steps. I wanted 3. we need the extra support. Actually I wanted one, just for the pattern and then to buy a 2x10 tht was 8 foot long. cause stringers are 11.98 each. I could buy a 2x10 tht was 12 feet long for 19.89. but I didnt need 12 feet, just 8 or even a 10 would work. Unfortunatly they didnt have but the 12. and I couldnt find one that wasnt bowed. So I broke down and bought the 3 stringers.

Then I went to get the lumber for steps. I knew I had 5 steps. 36 inches per step. its a no brainer. Three 12 foot boards. And I needed a 2x4 for the handrails. I found a 16 foot 2x4. This would be perfect. I could buy two 12 foots, but thats wasted board and almost twice the money.

Of course all the 19 men that walked by and smiled at me, or talked to the kids didnt stop to help me, a woman just a little over 5ft, with 2 elemetary school kids and an infant, get these boards onto the cart thing. Apparently they wanted to see if I would ask for help. Not a chance.

I went and got my dry wall screws and went to check out.

"are you sure you dont need anything else?"
"pretty sure, its all I can think of"
"what are you makin?"
Matt says "steps"
He just looked at him like he was rude. heck, it aint the kids fault the man is dumb as a box of rocks.
"ahhhh. are you sure you have enough boards?"
"yes, pretty sure. 5 steps, 3 feet each, 3 one by six boards at 12 foot. That means each board will make exactly 4 boards and I need 2 for each step so thats 10. plus a little left over. "
"wont work"
"and why not?"
"lumber is not true."
"its not true on width, length its a little longer"
"what ever you say"
Smile...
"whats the 2 by for ? "
"handrails"
"as in plural?"
"yep. only two."
"you sure its long enough?"
"fairly certain"
"How you gona attach it to the porch?"
"excuse me?"
"how are you going to make the steps stay against the porch or house?"
"tonail it in there?"
"do what?"
Okay, I knew I wasnt dealin with a rocket surgeon to start with, but a lumberyard person that dont know what toenailin is needs to go back to flippin burgers.
"you need a hanger."
"a what?"
"let me go get you one."
so he brings back a metal bracket. and an instruction sheet. It nailes to the existing structure and you set the stringer in it to hold the steps close. With my rambunctious kids it might not be bad.
"cute idea! I didnt know they made these. I had heard about the celing joist things, but not these"
"what do you mean 'heard abotu the ceiling joist things?'"
a guy standing behind me in line said "those havent been around all that long. Used to we had to actually CUT the rafters to fit, not lay them in something. And had to attach stairs with out a thingymabob"
I love it when someone knows what I am talkin about!
I asked how much those were. He told me 87 cents. I took 2. not a big deal.

Then he says
"you forgot something!"
"oh no, what ?"
"nails..." and gets this look of glee and disdain on his face.
"nope I didnt forget them. Dont want them. I will screw it together with these 2 and a half inch screws"
"wont ever work"
"why not?"
"you dont screw together things, you nail them"
"well I screw, you nail, I dont bust boards, and I can back a screw out."
"good luck wtih that."
I paid him and told him that I was going to get my truck. He said "it will be a while, the couple after this guy (the next one in line) have alot of stuff and need to get it loaded. You can park in the lot till we get to you."

Now I had my 7 boards on a cart. theirs were half on the forklift, half on the floor and some were still being brought up.

I just smiled, gathered up my brood and hauled butt across the parking lot to my truck. I threw in the kids and got back to the doors. I wasnt movin to the parkin lot to sit in 100 degree heat with the AC runnin and getting zero miles to the gallon.

I pulled up, he told me again I would have to wait, to drive on through. I told him that I would get it myself.
and I did.

I had forgotten that this truck is a short bed and I am used to a long bed. That 2 foot does make a differnce. But I got it all home and safe.




Saturday was of course BR's day off. And my sister in law called at 7:30 am. its very obvious that she dosnt have kids. She doesnt realize that you sleep when they sleep.
She wanted to take mine to the river. they asked to go, so BR told them okay.

I just stayed asleep. or tried to. But the phone call had woken up Bow. Around 10am BR got out there to start on the steps. He laid them out and then came in to tell me that he had decided to make them 40 inches. I told him I didnt have the wood for that.
"you have 36 foot of board. thats plenty."
"no, there is exactly 4 peices of steps in each board. that is 12 peices at 36 inches. you only need 10. you will have 1/2 of one left."

"right, so adding 4 inches to each step wont hurt."
"but the boards dont work for it"
"How do you mean?"
he started to get mad and tried to explain the math to me.

I tried to explain the fact that the only way to do that was for the last 1/2 step (cause each one was 2 boards) would have to be in 2 parts.

He got mad and went and had to take apart the frame to move it in. Usually by the time I am done trying to explain anything he is agervated at me. He says that I dont make any sense. Its not my fault he doesnt talk blonde. I KNEW what I had bought, had it down to the inch.

We did get to use the new saw he bought the other day though. it does angles really well.

Unfortunatly I wasnt able to use my little metal things, the dipstick had sold me the wrong one. so much for his expertese....

Oh and right about the time we were finishing up the kids showed back up. My sisterinlaw was going to go home and take a nap.

Gee, why didnt I think of that?

Sunday was just a normal day. nothing spectacular. I tried to stay inside all day. it was hot. We watched college baseball on TV and layed around. oh and I cleaned.

today my grandfather called at 8:21. he wanted help putting up some squash. No problem. I went over and we got quite a few quarts put up. I really enjoyed spending time with him too. I had missed that. he is really getting old.

We spent the rest of the day doing not alot of everything. Cleaning up, fighting between the kids. chasing Bow, fighting and some more chasin.

I did get informed there was an escaped rapist that got away from a community service squad. I called the family, told them it was a rumour and checked all the guns. Everything is ready to go. heck I even locked my truck. I never could find anything and eventually a sisterin law called around till she found out that noone in law enforecement knew a thing about it.

I am not sure why someone called the community store and told this lie. But at least I know I am in the loop if it ever does happen.

And it has happened. Last time I was working at the store. A semi regular coustomer had came in and there was a guy with him that just kinda caught my eye. I dont know why. Strangers come through all the time. we have the lake and river. Heck I bet I saw 50 people a day that I had never seen before and would never see again.

Well a few hours later the neighboring county cops came in and asked if I had seen anyone hitchhiking. I told them No, but there had been a guy in with a coustomer that I didnt know and he acted a little weird and I described his clothes and told them the customers name and where he lived in the river bottom. I really didnt think anything would come of it, but no sense in not telling them.

They went down there and come to find out it was him. They went in with guns drawn and everything. The old man had picked him up when he saw him down the river road with his truck broke down and taken him to the store with him and then taken him home till he could get his ride to come and get him.

I didnt know anything about it till a few weeks later when the old man came back out of the river bottom and was telling me about it!

But you just never know, so its always better to be safe than sorry!