It's both eventful and not around here. My son turned 9, we refinanced our house, I had an esophageal motility study, and we repaired a water leak in our wall. So it is time once again for a photo dump update!

 

 

I made Jake some funfetti Mario cupcakes. I used applesauce instead of eggs and that was delicious. They were so moist. Jake got a fish tank, the Target exclusive Pikachu pop, a couple of video games, a Crash Bandicoot figure and some money to outfit his tank with fish and decor. We also took him to Cracker Barrel because that's what he asked for. Who am I to turn down cornbread.

 

 

While refinancing our house, we had to have a series of inspections. The appraisal went fine. The house is now worth considerably more than what we paid, which was very pleasing. But the termite guy found a water leak while checking under my jetted bathtub. Turns out the flood leak we had fixed wasn't fixed at all and has been squirting into the wall a little at a time for 5 months. Black. Mold. Everywhere. I went Chip Gaines with a hammer and jigsaw, cut the bad drywall out and had the plumber come fix his mess. He repaired the leak at no cost but we were left with a hole in our bedroom wall. Several applications of mold killer and a week later, we fixed the hole ourselves.

 

 

 

 

I covered it with an access panel door I painted to match the wall. This way if the pipe ever leaks again, we don't have to demo anything. And behind my cubes, you don't even notice it. I took the tape off after a couple of hours, once the glue dried.

 

 

I also jumped on the book cart wagon. Had to add my GG magnets!

 

 

This is the cross stitch I just finished. It is full of errors because i can't count, apparently. But it still looks like a horse. It's for my friend who does horse portraits. Took about 100 hours of work and has 20 different colors. Some of the shades are so close to one another it gave me a headache.

 

 

And here's Lakshmi! Almost 4 years old! We are getting him a new terrarium soon because he has gotten so big.

 

They are still working on my stomach issues. I had an esophageal motility study, which is where I snort lidocaine gel then have a strand of sensors run down my nose and into my throat. It's as fun as it sounds. I gagged and heaved and choked until we got the thing in place. Then I had to hold still, not speak or burp, and slowly swallow 10 tablespoons of water. One every 30 seconds until all 10 were down. And if I burped or spoke I had to reset the 30 seconds. Half a minute seems like an hour when there's something shoved up your sinus. It's to see how my throat muscles are working, if they even are. Because I can hardly eat. Everything just sits in my throat. Now I just wait. If you have ever or do ever have one of these studies, you have my sympathy. 

 

That's about all. Don't forget about the book swap! I haven't checked the answers yet, but I'm pleased with how many people are saying they signed up. Keep them coming!