Ants in the Pants

I don't have Ants in the Pants...but with the recent cooler weather, the ants and geckos have migrated to the inside of the house.

Yesterday, I dealt with an ant infestation in both of the downstairs bathrooms. The ants were coming up the pipes and out plumbing hole beneath the sink.  

Also I've killed a couple of geckos recently.

Guess I'm going to have to freeze them out of the house...so they look for some other warm place to stay!

Save the Date

Karl and Audrey are.... 

Saturday, October 5th, 2013

The Courtyard at St. James Place
1885 St. James Place
Houston, Texas 77056

http://www.courtyardonstjames.com/index.html

Broken Toe

Friday afternoon, Doug "smashed" hit foot into the door jamb in the bathroom.

 

Traumatic fractures (also called acute fractures) are caused by a direct blow or impact, such as seriously stubbing your toe. Traumatic fractures can be displaced or non-displaced. If the fracture is displaced, the bone is broken in such a way that it has changed in position (dislocated).

 

Signs and symptoms of a traumatic fracture include:

• You may hear a sound at the time of the break.
• “Pinpoint pain” (pain at the place of impact) at the time the fracture occurs and perhaps for a few hours later, but often the pain goes away after several hours.
• Crooked or abnormal appearance of the toe.
• Bruising and swelling the next day.
• It is not true that “if you can walk on it, it’s not broken.” Evaluation by a foot and ankle surgeon is always recommended.

Stress fractures are tiny, hairline breaks that are usually caused by repetitive stress. Stress fractures often afflict athletes who, for example, too rapidly increase their running mileage. They can also be caused by an abnormal foot structure, deformities, or osteoporosis. Improper footwear may also lead to stress fractures. Stress fractures should not be ignored. They require proper medical attention to heal correctly.
Symptoms of stress fractures include:

• Pain with or after normal activity
• Pain that goes away when resting and then returns when standing or during activity
• “Pinpoint pain” (pain at the site of the fracture) when touched
• Swelling, but no bruising

Treatment of Toe FracturesFractures of the toe bones are almost always traumatic fractures. Treatment for traumatic fractures depends on the break itself and may include these options:

• Rest. Sometimes rest is all that is needed to treat a traumatic fracture of the toe.
• Splinting. The toe may be fitted with a splint to keep it in a fixed position.
• Rigid or stiff-soled shoe. Wearing a stiff-soled shoe protects the toe and helps keep it properly positioned.
• “Buddy taping” the fractured toe to another toe is sometimes appropriate, but in other cases it may be harmful.
• Surgery. If the break is badly displaced or if the joint is affected, surgery may be necessary. Surgery often involves the use of fixation devices, such as pins.
  
  Day 1 after the injury
  

   

         Day 2 after the injury

        

The color and pain are about the same, luckily he can wear a shoe and his limping is not "too" bad!

Holiday Weekend

Late Friday morning, we started our drive south. We first stopped at Total Wine & More.  It is now our favorite place to get adult beverages. It is located at Hwy 75 & Park Lane. They have a very large selection of wine and a build your own beer 6 packs.  You can order online and pick up in the store.  Doug picked up a couple six packs of Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve beer to take to the kids.

We stopped in Huntsville to shop at Home Depot for Karl's birthday present and then went to Chili's Restaurant and shared a lunch meal.  We drove to Karl and Audrey's in Tomball, TX.  This was Doug's first visit to their house. We visited with Audrey until Karl got home from work...then they made us a fabulous meal of stuffed pork chops from Hebert's Meat Market. They also served some steamed broccoli and toasted garlic bread.  We enjoyed birthday cake for dessert!  Happy 29th birthday Karl.

We spent the day at Josh & Jills on Saturday.  Mostly playing with Andrew. Josh & Doug went out in the afternoon for parts needed for a kitchen light project and they stopped by Sam's Club and picked up some steaks for dinner.  Josh fired up his new grill and we enjoyed his steaks plus the sweet potato casserole and green beans made by Jill.  I think everyone is feeding us well, so we'll come visit more often. LOL!!!

Sunday morning, we packed up the truck with Andrew's things as he would be spending a few days with us while Josh interviewed for a job with Lakeway Chiropractic in Gun Barrel City.
Jill did not take Andrew leaving without shedding quite a few tears.

Andrew did fine on the ride to The Colony. I rode in the back with him while Doug was driving. We had to stop just north of Huntsville and change a very smelly - dirty diaper.  Andrew took his bottle and napped for about an hour. Next stop was north of Ennis at a QTrip for an adult bathroom break and refreshments. We switched drivers and Doug got in the back seat with Andrew. The last stop was in downtown Dallas, where we switched drivers again, because Andrew was not happy and missed his Mimi. Home by 3:30pm. Andrew played,ate and had his bath / bottle...in bed by 8pm.   

 Monday was the holiday and Andrew got up about 8am. We started the day with coffee.

 

We spent the rest of the day playing and playing! Doug did some yardwork, spraying weeds, staking the magnolia trees...etc.. They neighbors came over with their son Kameron and Andrew did not like his play time. He had just woke up from his nap and probably didn't like seeing 3 strangers at once. We changed the design of the play area to further contain the speed crawling of an 8 month old.

 

Tuesday..was interview day for Josh...Andrew helped me work ...or should I say it was me working at keeping him busy so I could work.  I got all my work done and we still had plenty of playtime. Josh arrived at our house after 8pm and filled us in on all the details of the interview. We hope to hear good things about a job offer in the weeks to come. I would love it if they lived a little bit closer!

Prayers are being requested for Josh as he seeks divine help and guidance for suitable employment.

More Andrew playing photos!