Last holiday of the year, day five

I finally got around to sketching up The Dawg House mid-morning on Wednesday with intentions to exercise my God-given manly right to engage power tools like I actually know what the hell I'm doing with them.

After the sketch though, everything went to shit.

Declan went down for his nap and I repaired to the patio to set up a couple saw horses and a sheet of plywood as a working table.  Two cuts into my jigsaw Amy came out the door, babe in hand, to let me know that Declan refused to go to sleep.

"Every time you start the saw he says, 'Vacuum!' and won't go back to bed."

So I huffily put my shit down and wordlessly placed the recalcitrant toddler back in bed with a cursory "night-night, Dex" while Amy went to the mall with little T.  Declan bawled standing inside his bedroom door, knowing he wasn't allowed to cross the barrier, so instead placed his hopes on increasingly plaintive wails finding their way to the inner most recesses of my hardened heart.  By the time the sounds escalated to where Declan was being forced to watch his Tigger doll decapitated, drawn and quartered in front of his own eyes propped open by toothpicks, I finally relented.

I rescued the boy from his self-imposed torture, wiped his snot and tears and forced him to have a nap with me on the living room sofa.  Amy came home with the baby and took pictures of us.

I thought I had my chance after supper and again took tool to spruce.  Again the unholy howling of a dour Dex interjected most rudely.  He wanted to - had to! - come play outside.  So I lobbed the boy in the wagon and we trundled to the 7-11.  Dad for a big coffee and a Big Turk, Boychild for some Crispers.

Finally, after two baths and two bedtimes, I moved my shit into the garage, shut the doors and made sure to measure twice and cut once.  I did that many times.  At the end I was left with a delightful array of geometric shapes which, on the morrow, will be hustled together into some semblance of a residence fit for a dog.  Probably two.

And I'll take before and after pictures.  It's after midnight and I need to go to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here are a couple pics from recent days:

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Now kwitcher bitchin' and go to sleep already!

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My parents do this to me to amuse themselves.  Send help!

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We do not have a big tub.  This is very uncomfortable for Dad. 
Still, it's fun.

Comments

[marian]

Does Dex like the vacuum cleaner? Max used to get all crazy and do a wild song and dance every time I ran the vacuum. Eventually he insisted on vacuuming himself. This was odd because ordinarily he hated loud noises of any kind. Something about the frequency of the vacuum.

Anyway, good luck with the doghouse, and great photos, as always. Especially thinking of you crammed into the tiny bathtub.

[Linda]

Thanks for the Morning Jollies, Si. You make even the most mundane daily events read like great literature. Not to imply that your "project" is trivial in any way! Good luck with that.
Great pictures. I love Dex's chubby toes. And great fold-job, Tav!
Rub-a-dub-dub... captured perfectly AND tastefully, I might add.

[Cheeseburger Brown]

Dear Simon,

One of the advantages of having my daughter sleep in a loft is that -- in extreme cases of tantrumitis -- one has the option of simply removing the ladder and thus effectively caging the child.

In these rare circumstances I usually find her asleep on the floor, her face as close to the hatch as she force it, having whimpered herself to dreaming.

Love,
Cheeseburger Brown

[alec lynch]

My wife's old dog used to be terrified of the vacuum...until the day he accidentally came into contact with the nuzzle. After an initial moment of panic he realized the vacumum was actually the perfect dog massager and from that day on cleaning the house become more difficult as the large Dalmation insisted on plopping itself down in front of the vacuum for a good rub everytime he heard it.

[jen]

I still can't believe how much longer simple projects take with a toddler. It's absolutely unreal. Great post.

[Mark]

Don't know how I forgot to check your blog until now. Nice work on the planning, and you finally got some cutting done.

Tonight I barely got to go workout, because Ben was wailing and his mommy had a no good, awful, very bad day (or however it goes). Finally, he acquiesced and had a great time at the Y's Child Watch while I pumped my arms and legs on one of the Episcopal... I mean, reprical... no, I mean elliptical "bikes."

Working with wood? Tried it once... got fired. Thank you. I'll be here all week.

[Mark]

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