The Bugster*, Hopper and Scooter.

I have to say that I really struggled when I wrote the post about the code enforcement issue. It's such an embarrassing thing to have them called on you. You know? But I am wanting to be honest about being a hoarder - even the hard and embarrassing things. Because I need to remember them, so once I've gotten my house cleaned out I never go back there again.

And I have to say thanks to all of you who have supported me through this and haven't judged me for being in the mess I'm in. It's not been easy, but all of you have made it easier for me to make the changes I need to make and to know I can go on and reach my goal.

I've made a decision to change something about my blog. Instead of constantly referring to 'our oldest daughter', 'our middle daughter' and 'our youngest daughter', I will now be referring to them by their nicknames. It just gets a bit too wordy the way I've been doing it.

Our oldest loves ladybugs and always has. Thus, she will be 'The Bugster*'. Besides, she's really good at bugging me, so it fits on two levels.

Our middle daughter will now be referred to as 'Hopper'. We can be downstairs, and all of the sudden we hear her hopping on the floor above us. It's totally random. I usually have to say something at least 4 times before I catch her attention and get her to stop. Still. It's a cute quirk she has, and she loves when we call her by her nickname.

And our youngest scooted for years before she could ever sit up. She did the backstroke to get from room to room. As a result, she had no hair on the back of her head. She had it on the tops. She had it on the sides. And she even had some under the bald spot on the back of her head. I used to pull it all together for a long, but quite thin pony tail to sort of cover up the lack of hair. That is until Hopper was 3 and grabbed her by the pony tail and dragged her like a little cavewoman into the kitchen, so I would get finished with the bottle I was feeding! Shortly after that I cut her hair, but she still kept scooting. Thus, she will henceforth be known as 'Scooter' on my blog.

Tomorrow, The Bugster is coming over to help fill the holes in the baseboard trim and the crown moulding in the basement. She'll be coming on Sunday to help finish it all up. I'm hoping it will be all finished by then, anyway. It just kills my neck to look up all the time, and it kills my back to get on my knees to fill the baseboards. So I'm thrilled that Bugster is going to be helping me out. In return, she and her new hubby get the china hutch we bought when she was little. I think she thinks she's getting the better deal, and I think I am. so I think it's a pretty fair trade.

She helped me out a bit tonight, too. Since it's been so warm since I painted the umbrella planter except that we got torrential downpours for a solid hour about 3 hours after I put the second coat on). Bugster helped me get the clematis started up the pole again. I lost several shoots from it which is upsetting, but I'm really hoping it just causes it to grow in overdrive. It stretches about halfway up the pole now, and there are several buds waiting to spring open. I'll get pictures and post them when it starts blooming. I'd love to see it grow all the way up the pole and go down the tines eventually. I think that would be absolutely gorgeous!

We'll be taking Hopper and Scooter to get their TB tests read. So far they're showing not showing much of a reaction at all. Although Scooter seems to possibly be getting eczema at the injection site. I'll ask about it in tomorrow. I'm just praying that they both have negative tests. The antibiotics that they would have to take, if they tested positive are some pretty serious and nasty drugs.

When we're done there, we'll be dropping off some stuff at a friend's house. Just things from the girls' bedroom that I think they can use. So we'll be completing a bit of dehoarding tomorrow by getting it out of the house. That always helps.

And then we'll stop at Home Depot. We've got a gift card we need to use, so it doesn't expire. I'll be buying tomatoes and peppers and strawberries, if they have them. If they don't, I'll be getting some bare root strawberries somewhere else, if I have time to get them planted. I'm thinking of just drilling extra holes in some of the bucket planters I use for the tomatoes and peppers. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but I'll be doing it with a smile.

I'm just glad I'm going to have a mini garden this year. There's something so fulfilling about it, and it helps take the mind off the neighbors!

*Edited after the comment by Amanda. Didn't even think of that, since I'm not from England, but thanks for pointing it out. I thought of a couple other names for her to choose from (The Bugster and Buggerina), but she didn't care which I used. So her daddy got to vote, and he liked The Bugster best. So our oldest will now be known as Bugster or The Bugster from now on, because truth be told, she's always loved all bugs and not just ladybugs. :)