Thursday, March 30, 2006
Fultz'N It
In case anyone is wondering what Fultz'N It! means, there is a story. Isn't there always a story? When John was teaching in Waldron and a kid's horn would break, John would do a temporary fix on it using JBWeld. The guy that worked on and repaired most of the band instruments in that area started calling any repair with JBWeld "Fultz'N it." So, it was said, so it shall be done.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Snap, Crackle, Pop...........NOT Rice Krispies!!!!!!!!
The insanity reality show that is our lives has just finished another episode. It is about 2AM CST and I am in the popason chair in our family room (den). John, Moriah, and Luke are asleep on the sleeper sofa. We put Luke in his bed around 10pm. He was long since asleep. Moriah was asleep on the couch and I told John to wake her up when he came to bed. Remember! We still don't have heat!
I was in bed trying to get comfortable. I hear the jingle of the butterfly bead curtains on Moriah's bedroom door as she goes to her room. John comes to get in bed.
We had just settled down when Moriah walks in our bedroom. I said to her, "Hey Baby! What's wrong?" Before this finished coming out of my mouth John says, "I smell something burning!" Moriah replies with a bit of fear in her voice, "It's my light switch!" (Which coincidentally is next to the furnace!!)
John and I both jump out of bed. Moriah starts to panic. I asked her what the light switch was doing. She told me that it was cracking and popping. John told me to grab Luke out of his bed. I was prepared to run for the door. Moriah, Luke, and I were standing in the hallway waiting for the word to go.
John was in Moriah's room. He says, "Tamara, put Luke down on our bed and Moriah, you stay with Luke." He told me to come in Moriah's room. The wall around Moriah's light switch was hot. The switch would not move up or down. There was a touch of black on the side. John takes the light switch cover off and the whole inside of the switch was burned. It had been on fire. We were trying to figure out what to do when the light in the room started flickering. It hadn't been on.
Okay, I'm panicking now! John has me go out to the breaker box to turn off the breaker for Moriah's room. I go out and start flipping switches. John yells to tell me that I had flipped the breaker. I go back in the house; had just started to calm a bit; the light starts to flicker AGAIN!!!!! Now, this is a bit unsettling.
So, we figure out that was not the breaker for her room (geniuses, eh?). So, John being the intelligent man that he is (I'm not kidding about that), gives me the cell phone, he gets the home phone, calls the cell phone and now we can communicate so I will know exactly which breaker is the right one. Everything is hunky dorry now, right? I'm going down that breaker box flipping switches like a mad woman. "No, No, No, that's not it, not that one...." The phone goes dead. I'm thinking was it the cell phone or the house phone. It was the house phone! I had flipped the breaker for the house phone. I turned it back on and tried to call John back. Our house phone is plugged in an outlet in the kitchen; Moriah's room is on the other end of the house. John comes to the laundry room door (where the breaker box is) and tells me "You're not going to believe this but the switch in her room and the phone are on the same breaker." At this point, I'm irrational but I have now reached John on the house phone. Actually, I think maybe he called me back. However, I do know that we are standing about 12 inches apart talking to each other on the phone and it was not at all humorous at the time. So, I flipped the breaker to the phone/light switch on the other end of the hallway.
Okay, so no doubt, Moriah will not re-enter her room..........probably EVER!!!!!!!!! I am now agreeing with her that we need to move back to Atlanta. She's saying "I never liked this house anyway!" Luke is smiling (as always, oh to be a baby again!). We start to prepare for our little "camping" adventure in the den. I packed a suitcase with a change of clothes for each of us and plenty of clean undies and placed it by the door along with the kids' Easter clothes, the car keys, my wallet, the camera, and this computer (well, when I get through with this). I figure if I'm going to be left with only the clothes on my back...............I don't want to only wear sweats. We now have an escape plan (just in case).
John says "Will you fix Luke a bottle?" I go to the refrigerator, open the door, and the light isn't on. I close the door, push the water dispenser button on the freezer door, and nothing happens. I walk back into the family room, look at John, and say "Guess what! The refrigerator is on the same breaker with the phone and Moriah's room." OH PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!!! Will this ever stop? I doubt that our neighbor's have any electricity because I just bet their house is on the same breaker with Moriah's room.........and the phone!!!!!
Anyway, please pray for our safety. Moriah is a little scared to even go in her room. I'm a little scared to go to sleep. John (Mr. PANIC USA) is relatively calm; asleep; and snoring right now which is scary in itself. Luke is just being Luke which is probably the only normalcy that is keeping us from cracking!!! I guess we will be spending some quality time with our landlord tomorrow, or today................when daylight comes! Day-O! Day-O! Daylight comes and me want go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was in bed trying to get comfortable. I hear the jingle of the butterfly bead curtains on Moriah's bedroom door as she goes to her room. John comes to get in bed.
We had just settled down when Moriah walks in our bedroom. I said to her, "Hey Baby! What's wrong?" Before this finished coming out of my mouth John says, "I smell something burning!" Moriah replies with a bit of fear in her voice, "It's my light switch!" (Which coincidentally is next to the furnace!!)
John and I both jump out of bed. Moriah starts to panic. I asked her what the light switch was doing. She told me that it was cracking and popping. John told me to grab Luke out of his bed. I was prepared to run for the door. Moriah, Luke, and I were standing in the hallway waiting for the word to go.
John was in Moriah's room. He says, "Tamara, put Luke down on our bed and Moriah, you stay with Luke." He told me to come in Moriah's room. The wall around Moriah's light switch was hot. The switch would not move up or down. There was a touch of black on the side. John takes the light switch cover off and the whole inside of the switch was burned. It had been on fire. We were trying to figure out what to do when the light in the room started flickering. It hadn't been on.
Okay, I'm panicking now! John has me go out to the breaker box to turn off the breaker for Moriah's room. I go out and start flipping switches. John yells to tell me that I had flipped the breaker. I go back in the house; had just started to calm a bit; the light starts to flicker AGAIN!!!!! Now, this is a bit unsettling.
So, we figure out that was not the breaker for her room (geniuses, eh?). So, John being the intelligent man that he is (I'm not kidding about that), gives me the cell phone, he gets the home phone, calls the cell phone and now we can communicate so I will know exactly which breaker is the right one. Everything is hunky dorry now, right? I'm going down that breaker box flipping switches like a mad woman. "No, No, No, that's not it, not that one...." The phone goes dead. I'm thinking was it the cell phone or the house phone. It was the house phone! I had flipped the breaker for the house phone. I turned it back on and tried to call John back. Our house phone is plugged in an outlet in the kitchen; Moriah's room is on the other end of the house. John comes to the laundry room door (where the breaker box is) and tells me "You're not going to believe this but the switch in her room and the phone are on the same breaker." At this point, I'm irrational but I have now reached John on the house phone. Actually, I think maybe he called me back. However, I do know that we are standing about 12 inches apart talking to each other on the phone and it was not at all humorous at the time. So, I flipped the breaker to the phone/light switch on the other end of the hallway.
Okay, so no doubt, Moriah will not re-enter her room..........probably EVER!!!!!!!!! I am now agreeing with her that we need to move back to Atlanta. She's saying "I never liked this house anyway!" Luke is smiling (as always, oh to be a baby again!). We start to prepare for our little "camping" adventure in the den. I packed a suitcase with a change of clothes for each of us and plenty of clean undies and placed it by the door along with the kids' Easter clothes, the car keys, my wallet, the camera, and this computer (well, when I get through with this). I figure if I'm going to be left with only the clothes on my back...............I don't want to only wear sweats. We now have an escape plan (just in case).
John says "Will you fix Luke a bottle?" I go to the refrigerator, open the door, and the light isn't on. I close the door, push the water dispenser button on the freezer door, and nothing happens. I walk back into the family room, look at John, and say "Guess what! The refrigerator is on the same breaker with the phone and Moriah's room." OH PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!!! Will this ever stop? I doubt that our neighbor's have any electricity because I just bet their house is on the same breaker with Moriah's room.........and the phone!!!!!
Anyway, please pray for our safety. Moriah is a little scared to even go in her room. I'm a little scared to go to sleep. John (Mr. PANIC USA) is relatively calm; asleep; and snoring right now which is scary in itself. Luke is just being Luke which is probably the only normalcy that is keeping us from cracking!!! I guess we will be spending some quality time with our landlord tomorrow, or today................when daylight comes! Day-O! Day-O! Daylight comes and me want go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Flame Thrower
Well, well, well! Here we are in the early stages of Spring. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and it's freakin' cold outside. But, aren't we lucky? It isn't just cold outside but it is cold inside as well.
A few weeks ago when we had the "Tornado Drill," our electricity went off. When the power came back on, our central heat/air was making a strange noise so I turned it off. Luke and I were in the hallway and I wasn't really excited about dealing with the belching furnace and dodging funnel clouds all at the same time.
This was fine for a few days until the global cooling took effect and we enter the "near" ice age. John went to turn the heat on and it never came on. We noticed that it hadn't come on but we are relatively slow at times (not to mention that I sit next to a space heater a lot of the time anyway) and didn't really become concerned until it went from cold to freakin' cold.
John wanted to call our landlord but I insisted that the house be in a somewhat clean state before we called anyone to come to our house. So, today our landlord sent a heating and air guy from Dierks to see what the problem was with the unit.
It turns out that the unit had been struck by lightning during "the drill." He got that fixed and turned the heat on and John started taking down the curtains and blankets that we had put up to block off the rooms that we didn't need heat. John says the guy tells him to wait a minute. Apparently, when the heat kicked on a 6 inch flame shot out of the furnace and there were actual burn marks on the wall inside where the unit was sitting where this had happened before. He told John it was amazing that the house had not burned to the ground before now. Thank God it got struck by lightning.
There are a few problems we are now facing. #1-It is still freakin' cold outside. It is so close to warm weather that our landlord will more than likely not want to replace the furnace right now (which I can't say that I would blame him). We DO have the one space heater. We went to WalMart to get another one; but they are a small store and only received one shipment of heaters and they are long gone.
#2-The nice heating and air guy tells John all of this with Moriah present. Now, Moriah is a little reluctant to go to bed because she thinks that the house is going to catch on fire. She wants to know if all furnaces have fire in them. But, my favorite is the statement she made this evening........."I don't like the furance in this house. We need to move back to Atlanta, Texas!" As if a furnace in Atlanta would not catch on fire. Oh well, the last part is still a good idea!!!!
So, I am sitting here in the family room, everyone else is gone to bed, and my nose is frozen because the one heater is in the hallway outside our bedrooms. BUT, how thankful I am for that ONE HEATER and how thankful I am that lightning struck our house. I know that sounds very strange but if it hadn't we could be without a home tonight. Or, to look at it from a different angle, the furnace sits right in the hallway next to all 3 of our bedrooms. Thank you God for your hedge of protection!
A few weeks ago when we had the "Tornado Drill," our electricity went off. When the power came back on, our central heat/air was making a strange noise so I turned it off. Luke and I were in the hallway and I wasn't really excited about dealing with the belching furnace and dodging funnel clouds all at the same time.
This was fine for a few days until the global cooling took effect and we enter the "near" ice age. John went to turn the heat on and it never came on. We noticed that it hadn't come on but we are relatively slow at times (not to mention that I sit next to a space heater a lot of the time anyway) and didn't really become concerned until it went from cold to freakin' cold.
John wanted to call our landlord but I insisted that the house be in a somewhat clean state before we called anyone to come to our house. So, today our landlord sent a heating and air guy from Dierks to see what the problem was with the unit.
It turns out that the unit had been struck by lightning during "the drill." He got that fixed and turned the heat on and John started taking down the curtains and blankets that we had put up to block off the rooms that we didn't need heat. John says the guy tells him to wait a minute. Apparently, when the heat kicked on a 6 inch flame shot out of the furnace and there were actual burn marks on the wall inside where the unit was sitting where this had happened before. He told John it was amazing that the house had not burned to the ground before now. Thank God it got struck by lightning.
There are a few problems we are now facing. #1-It is still freakin' cold outside. It is so close to warm weather that our landlord will more than likely not want to replace the furnace right now (which I can't say that I would blame him). We DO have the one space heater. We went to WalMart to get another one; but they are a small store and only received one shipment of heaters and they are long gone.
#2-The nice heating and air guy tells John all of this with Moriah present. Now, Moriah is a little reluctant to go to bed because she thinks that the house is going to catch on fire. She wants to know if all furnaces have fire in them. But, my favorite is the statement she made this evening........."I don't like the furance in this house. We need to move back to Atlanta, Texas!" As if a furnace in Atlanta would not catch on fire. Oh well, the last part is still a good idea!!!!
So, I am sitting here in the family room, everyone else is gone to bed, and my nose is frozen because the one heater is in the hallway outside our bedrooms. BUT, how thankful I am for that ONE HEATER and how thankful I am that lightning struck our house. I know that sounds very strange but if it hadn't we could be without a home tonight. Or, to look at it from a different angle, the furnace sits right in the hallway next to all 3 of our bedrooms. Thank you God for your hedge of protection!
Saturday, March 18, 2006
A Fultz Family Doctor Visit.
Yesterday, Moriah, Luke, and I made the pilgrimage to Dr. Cheshier in Ft. Smith. It was Moriah's check up for 9 years and Luke's for 9 months. It was, of course, eventful.
Luke was first. I got him undressed to be weighed. This is always exciting...to see how long he is and how much weight he has gained. I carried him to the scale, put him on the pad, and he proceeded to "pee-pee".................all over the place! He sat there and grinned up at us as he soaked everything around him. He was 21 lbs by the way. I guess that includes a quart of peepee.
Dr. Cheshier came in. Moriah was first. He didn't say much except, of course, about her weight. Which was not as bad as what I thought. He said she was 20 lbs. over weight. He tickled her and talked to her about school and all of the Moriah stuff. Then, he started to examine Luke. I asked him if it would be okay if Moriah went out and sat with her Nanna while he was examining Luke. I was wanting to talk to him about Moriah. He said they were going to do some lab work on Moriah so he needed her to stay.
Moriah thought it would be fun to watch as Luke was poked and prodded on. Luke didn't have any immunizations at 9 months so I figured this was going to be Easy Street. Moriah did really well and enjoyed Luke's portion of the visit until it came time for Dr. Cheshier to examine Luke's little boy parts. When that diaper came off, Moriah screamed and ran to the corner and buried her face. Dr. Cheshier rolled his eyes back in his head. And, much to my amazement and relief, Luke didn't laugh during the examination. Luke enjoys having his diaper changed and laughs the "Beavis and Butthead" laugh when you touch him in his "special" place.
Then, the nurses came in to do the lab work on Moriah. I don't know what I was expecting for lab work on a 9 year old, but I am certain it was not as traumatic as it turned out to be. I took Luke out to my mother in the waiting room. It was my job to hold Moriah's hand while they tortured her. She looked up at me and said, "Why are you letting them hurt me?" One nurse was taking the blood sample, one was hold her arm, and I was holding her hand and rubbing her face as her legs were flailing about. She screamed and cried and begged them to stop. Don't you know....just my luck...they didn't get a vein the first time. We had to take a break and try again. They tried again, this time it was successful (????? Define successful??????) She cried, screamed, gnashed teeth. All the time looking at me and asking why I was letting them do this to her. I tried to reassure her by telling her it would be okay and it was almost over and they were almost finished. In the meantime, she was screaming "IT IS NOT OKAY, IT IS NOT ALMOST OVER, IT IS OVER NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS IT, IT IS FINISHED, THIS IS THE END!!!!!!!!!!" Yes, I am a bad mother. I had to look away because I thought that statement was funny. Then, the nurse drew the last drop of blood that she needed. Moriah took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "WELL, That was exciting!" One of the nurses said, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard it expressed quite that way."
Then, we left the doctor's office and went to eat pizza. All is well in the Fultz house once again!
btw, the blood work was to test for thyroid disease.
Luke was first. I got him undressed to be weighed. This is always exciting...to see how long he is and how much weight he has gained. I carried him to the scale, put him on the pad, and he proceeded to "pee-pee".................all over the place! He sat there and grinned up at us as he soaked everything around him. He was 21 lbs by the way. I guess that includes a quart of peepee.
Dr. Cheshier came in. Moriah was first. He didn't say much except, of course, about her weight. Which was not as bad as what I thought. He said she was 20 lbs. over weight. He tickled her and talked to her about school and all of the Moriah stuff. Then, he started to examine Luke. I asked him if it would be okay if Moriah went out and sat with her Nanna while he was examining Luke. I was wanting to talk to him about Moriah. He said they were going to do some lab work on Moriah so he needed her to stay.
Moriah thought it would be fun to watch as Luke was poked and prodded on. Luke didn't have any immunizations at 9 months so I figured this was going to be Easy Street. Moriah did really well and enjoyed Luke's portion of the visit until it came time for Dr. Cheshier to examine Luke's little boy parts. When that diaper came off, Moriah screamed and ran to the corner and buried her face. Dr. Cheshier rolled his eyes back in his head. And, much to my amazement and relief, Luke didn't laugh during the examination. Luke enjoys having his diaper changed and laughs the "Beavis and Butthead" laugh when you touch him in his "special" place.
Then, the nurses came in to do the lab work on Moriah. I don't know what I was expecting for lab work on a 9 year old, but I am certain it was not as traumatic as it turned out to be. I took Luke out to my mother in the waiting room. It was my job to hold Moriah's hand while they tortured her. She looked up at me and said, "Why are you letting them hurt me?" One nurse was taking the blood sample, one was hold her arm, and I was holding her hand and rubbing her face as her legs were flailing about. She screamed and cried and begged them to stop. Don't you know....just my luck...they didn't get a vein the first time. We had to take a break and try again. They tried again, this time it was successful (????? Define successful??????) She cried, screamed, gnashed teeth. All the time looking at me and asking why I was letting them do this to her. I tried to reassure her by telling her it would be okay and it was almost over and they were almost finished. In the meantime, she was screaming "IT IS NOT OKAY, IT IS NOT ALMOST OVER, IT IS OVER NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS IT, IT IS FINISHED, THIS IS THE END!!!!!!!!!!" Yes, I am a bad mother. I had to look away because I thought that statement was funny. Then, the nurse drew the last drop of blood that she needed. Moriah took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "WELL, That was exciting!" One of the nurses said, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard it expressed quite that way."
Then, we left the doctor's office and went to eat pizza. All is well in the Fultz house once again!
btw, the blood work was to test for thyroid disease.
Monday, March 13, 2006
I see green people?
Friday evening, Moriah handed me an invitation to a birthday party for one of her classmates and another child. She asked if she could go to the party. I told her that she could go but we -would have to go to Wal-Mart and get Tajuana a present. I didn't know the other child that was on the invitation. I asked Moriah, "Who is Devant'a? Is this a boy or girl? Do we need to get them a present too?" She told me that she didn't know Devant'a but it was a boy and she thought he was Tajuana's cousin.
John knows a few more of the elementary kids. He asked Moriah, "Is this Devant'a Green?" Moriah answered, (**Now pay close attention**) "No, he is black like Tajuana."
John knows a few more of the elementary kids. He asked Moriah, "Is this Devant'a Green?" Moriah answered, (**Now pay close attention**) "No, he is black like Tajuana."
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Fire Ants
I just received an email from a friend of mine in Waldron (AR) regarding how to treat your yard for fire ants. This got me to thinking. I never remember seeing fire ants in Waldron the whole time I lived there. I only recall hearing about these creatures invading my hometown after John, Moriah, and I moved to Atlanta, TX.
Which makes me wonder..............did we, on one of our weekend visits, transport these little, nasty, more painful than smashing your toe in a car door creatures? I don't even remember seeing the pesticides that will take care of them in Waldron. I guess fire ants are gradually moving North. Maybe they will all go to Michigan and freeze to death.
When we lived in Texas, they were horrible in our yards. We treated our yards on a weekly basis. We could not even let Moriah out in the yard to play unless we were out there with her to make sure they had built no mounds around where she was playing.
I remember one time when the fire ants built a mound under our doghouse. They invaded Chloe's house and decided to move in. Chloe did not care for this. It was a few weeks later that we noticed she was not sleeping in her house. We didn't really think a whole lot about it (she is a strange dog, anyway) until one night when it came a gully-washer. Chloe did not get under the overhang of the house, or under a tree, or even scratch on the back door. She simply sat out in the rain (in front of her doghouse) and cried (BAHHHHWOOOOOOO! BAHHHHHWOOOOO!). If you know anything about Basset Hounds, you know exactly how that sounds. We finally got the house treated and took care of her pest problem. She still has trouble sleeping in that house even though it know sits on a brick patio with virtually no chance of infestation (except what was on her to begin with).
Which makes me wonder..............did we, on one of our weekend visits, transport these little, nasty, more painful than smashing your toe in a car door creatures? I don't even remember seeing the pesticides that will take care of them in Waldron. I guess fire ants are gradually moving North. Maybe they will all go to Michigan and freeze to death.
When we lived in Texas, they were horrible in our yards. We treated our yards on a weekly basis. We could not even let Moriah out in the yard to play unless we were out there with her to make sure they had built no mounds around where she was playing.
I remember one time when the fire ants built a mound under our doghouse. They invaded Chloe's house and decided to move in. Chloe did not care for this. It was a few weeks later that we noticed she was not sleeping in her house. We didn't really think a whole lot about it (she is a strange dog, anyway) until one night when it came a gully-washer. Chloe did not get under the overhang of the house, or under a tree, or even scratch on the back door. She simply sat out in the rain (in front of her doghouse) and cried (BAHHHHWOOOOOOO! BAHHHHHWOOOOO!). If you know anything about Basset Hounds, you know exactly how that sounds. We finally got the house treated and took care of her pest problem. She still has trouble sleeping in that house even though it know sits on a brick patio with virtually no chance of infestation (except what was on her to begin with).
Friday, March 10, 2006
Tornado Drill
Yesterday was a pretty hairy day as far as weather. There was a tornado spotted about 15 minutes from the school. Luke and I were at home in the hallway and John and Moriah were at school. The school postponed the benchmark until today because the kids spent the better part of the morning in the hallway with their little heads tucked between their knees.
Moriah was telling me this morning while she was getting ready for school about the experience. She told me about her daddy coming and rubbing her on the back of the head because he thought she was asleep. She told me about one of her friends that was crying. I asked why the little girl had cried. Moriah said, "b ecause their was a tornado in Lockesburg and she was afraid that it was coming to our school."
I asked her, "Were you scared, Moriah?"
She said, "Nah."
I said, "Really? How come?"
Moriah said, "It was just a tornado drill."
I asked, "Are you sure it was just a drill?"
She said (as if to say 'duh, Mom!'), "Yeah. No tornado came to our school, did it?"
A Penny Saved.....
Luke is learning to crawl and his big sister is keeping a watchful eye on him. I think not so much to take care of him as to make sure that he doesn't touch her stuff! He has begun to time himself on how long it takes to get from our family room to the kitchen. He is getting pretty fast.
Moriah screamed, "PENNY!" John and I both come running. Moriah is prying a penny out of Luke's hand which had been in his mouth. Luke begins to cry because he hates for anybody to take anything from him.
John picks up Luke and says, "Moriah, you did a good thing!" She said, "Yeah! I saved the penny!" Her daddy said, "You may have saved your little brother from choking." She replied, "Yeah, and....I have a penny now. How lucky am I?" I told her "you are very lucky and Luke is very lucky to have you for a big sister!"
She still thinks the good thing she did was saving the penny.
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