The end of summer is officially this Friday! It pretty much feels over already, since school's back almost everywhere.
Mattress and rug for the room formerly known as daughter's are arriving today. The dead car is finally being towed away today -- it was supposed to be Friday, but the tow truck needed its own tow truck.
My husband couldn't find his wallet this morning. He discovered that he had accidentally run it through the washing machine, which I think is pretty Old Skool.
What's happening at your place?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
57 comments:
Hey! The tow truck broke again! We're never getting rid of this car!
That is a bad sign.
I had a great interview today! Let's see if they thought so, too!
Go, Liz!!! Everything crossed. xoxo
I'm crossing everything for this job for Liz.
Kathy, it really does sound ominous when this many tow trucks break down, in your effort to get rid of the dead car.
I'm watching the American healthcare news pretty nervously. Are you all going to have to call your Senators repeatedly again?
QWP, it is a drag, but I think everybody needs to keep contacting their senators and congresspeople. (Mine are solid; but they all keep counts.) This also really sucks, because they are trying to jam a new bill through in the next couple of weeks, which AGAIN doesn't allow for the congressional budget office to do a full assessment. There will be a preliminary assessment from the CBO next week; but meanwhile, all signals are that this version may be even worse than some of the earlier ones.
I virtuously cooked another bean and veggie stew, but am folding and going out for mexican tonight on the ground that too much virtue makes a person cranky. Yes, I'll look for the more healthy options.
AW: I was hugely productive today...cleaned all three bathrooms, washed four loads of laundry, answered multiple emails on multiple topics, got some letters ready to mail, made pizza and cupcakes, walked 3 miles this morning.
W: my to-do list is still 5 miles long, with the easier/little things marked off (see above) and the big fat hairy complicated things still on it.
Sending the posse for the tow truck.
Crossing all available appendages for Liz.
I always vote for mexican food, so that works for me, kathy a!
"Too much virtue makes a person cranky" is my new life motto. Thank you kathy!
I hope the towing crew shows up soon.
Crossing every appendage for the job, Liz! Yay for a good interview!
Yay for a productive day, esperanza. I hear ya on the 5-mile long to-do list. This week is so ridiculously full, I'm already planning to make up some overtime by taking next Tuesday off. Seriously, it's that kind of week.
In-laws came for supper last night. MIL did fairly well, but got very sleepy by dessert and they left shortly after. She's so frail...
Hugs about the "she's so frail" feelings, Sue.
Kathy, giving yourself some wiggle room, to keep yourself from getting cranky about the wider lifestyle changes, is such a wise move.
Please share some of that productivity with me, esperanza! I'm in awe. (But also have a five-mile-long list right now, so I understand.)
AW: it's raining!!! Today, we're supposed to get more rain than we have since the beginning of August at least (and honestly, it wouldn't be hard to get more rain than we've had all summer). After seven years in the PNW, I never thought I'd feel this happy to see rain.
Esperanza -- so productive!
Sue, glad the in-laws could come for supper. And it sounds pretty good, even if MIL is frail and got tired.
QWP, yay for rain!
The bed and rug are now installed in the new guest room, and it's lookin' good! The tow truck's new date is a week from Wednesday, a mere 6 weeks after it was determined that the car needs to go to its reward.
Teh news continues to suck pretty badly today. War; health care; another giant earthquake; another hurricane. So, I can at least write my elected officials about the war thing, since I already covered health care and they don't have superpowers against natural disasters. Triage helps for me; how 'bout you?
I can't remember if I updated y'all or not, but my church member that was in Puerto Rico was able to return home last weekend. So she is safe, but she and her husband both have family members there. So frightening.
And yes, kathy a, it's all a bit overwhelming today.
AW: met with my preacher friends (we've been meeting for 15 years? at least) today, and we went out to lunch for soul food, to a place we had not tried before. It was so good. (and, er, not exactly approved on kathy a's doctor's plan).
Oh, I want to hear all about the lunch, Esperanza! And, excellent meeting with long time colleagues. Hope the family members of your church members are OK. xoxox
One friend had fried catfish (two humongous fillets), spinach, mac & cheese, and cornbread.
One friend had the catfish sandwich (two slightly smaller fillets, on cornbread!) and cabbage.
I had the "veggie" plate: black eyed peas, spinach, green beans, mac & cheese, and cornbread.
Also, iced tea all around, because of course we had to drink iced tea.
We were disappointed that today was "cake day." It alternates with "pie day," which is what we had wanted to order.
That sounds delish! And the healthy parts are fish, spinach, green beans, cabbage, black eyed peas, corn in the bread -- plus, mac has protein. It has been so long since I ate Southern. :)
Just to be clear, you mean sweet iced tea? Because that is the national beverage of the entire South, as I recall.
"eating Southern" = how my family cooks, especially for special occasions.
Of course sweet iced tea.
If you want to be Southern-cooking inspired, the other meat entrees were: meatloaf, fried chicken, baked chicken, smothered pork chops....and enchiladas, because San Antonio.
Enchiladas! That's what I should have gotten last night. But anyway -- no hushpuppies? I think that's more an Atlantic coast thing, but cornbread is definitely healthier than their little deep-fried cousins.
Y'all got me drooling.
My PT dry needled tendons in my neck today. I know it's gonna make everything feel so much better in a few days, but it was so painful and I'm still sore. But it's small potatoes compared to earthquakes and hurricanes.
Liz on iPhone
Today (and Friday) are Strangers in the House days. Three different sets of maintenance folks.
This morning it was the refrigerator (making that noise again). Guy came, checked it out, found three separate issues all requiring parts he's going to have to order, said he'd be back when the parts come in. It will take at least two hours.
This afternoon it will be annual HVAC maintenance, including new UV bulb.
Friday will be the security company changing our system from one that uses a landline to one that uses cellular. $7/month more to the security system, but we can cancel the landline and save between $20 and $45 a month on that bill.
Busy, busy, Liz.
My husband thinks he's found The Dog at a local shelter. He asked me to go see if the dog likes me (that being a fair enough estimate of dog friendliness), so I may do that today or tomorrow.
Have fun meeting The Dog!!!
We're both going on Saturday. Cross fingers Duke is still there! (But there isn't usually a weekday rush for older dogs...)
Crossing appendages that he's still there and that you and the pup get along well!
It really matters that my sweetie believes he Is The One. And he can't go until Saturday. (I'm kind of an extra in the dog love -- the person who feeds and is nice, but not the main event.)
So, this is funny. I said the next dog should have a D name, since our first 3 were Annie, Buddy, and Cora. Last night, he ran in and said, "You know that nice dog at the shelter? He didn't have a name, but they just named him Duke!" It seemed like a sign from the Universe. ;)
Appendages crossed that Duke is waiting for you on Saturday, kathy!
That's a lot of strangers in the house, Liz. I hope the dry needling helps your neck tendons.
You know that point in the week where you just realize there is no way you can possibly get everything done that must get done? Ya, I'm at that point. Sheesh.
Oy, Sue! Sending over some magical triage powers, and a side of "can you get help from anybody?"
Liz, I'm not quite sure what dry needling is, exactly, but hope it helps! Neck pain stinks.
Lots more mobility today! Should be even better tomorrow.
Liz on iPhone
Parenting mistake confession: so, Mr. Q is out of town, and so I'm on bathtime duty (in addition to every other duty). I was getting the bathroom ready last night, and realised that the tub was disgusting. So, I decided to clean it quickly before E's bath (using vinegar and baking soda). I used a big pile of baking soda, to make a paste to scrub the ring around the tub, and then it seemed like it took forever to rinse it off. And then I filled the tub, put E in the water, and everywhere her skin touched turned bright red! The water was all full of baking soda, which flares up her eczema. So, I flared up her eczema last night.
AW: she was relatively good-natured about it, once I got her skin rinsed off in the shower (and then coated her in vaseline, and put her in cotton jammies). She was sad about wanting to play in the tub, but I bribed her with a cookie for bedtime snack.
But, she did have to remind me about it a little bit this morning (as is her right, since I did this to her). "Mommy! Last night you rinsed the tub recklessly! Then the water feeled like a needle!"
Yay, Liz!
Oh, QWP. Very verbal, isn't she? No worries; sometimes things happen. It was just a mistake, not intentional; and if somebody keeps pushing the guilt button, I think it's fair to point that out. (Because everybody makes mistakes sometimes, even lil pumpkins; and that does not mean the pumpkin is bad.)
Duke's entry on the adoption site was changed last night to say he was "transferred." So I called a few minutes after they opened today, and 15 people were ahead of me. Called again, still 15 people ahead; so I took the "save your place in line, we'll call you back" option. It's been 1 hour and 20 minutes; no call yet. This is totally a teeny violin, first world problem. But do you suppose they have just given phone duty to the dogs?
W: dishwasher is broken. Needs a new motor. 3-5 business days for the part.
AW: Sweet likes to wash dishes. She thinks it is fun.
AW: Mini had a friend over for a playdate. I'm discovering I have a litmus test for whether or not I like Mini's friends: do they include Sweet, or connive ways to leave her out? This friend passed, plus I like her mom.
Boo, dishwasher breaking. Yay, new friend!
Hooray for a new friend, who passes the Sweet test! Boo for the broken dishwasher!
Did you ever hear back from the adoption place, Kathy?
W: my day started earlier than usual, with a sobbing child who thought that her daddy might have come home in the night, and including many meltdowns through the day, including one during preschool (it was time to go inside, but she wanted to try to catch a ladybug first, and had a meltdown when told that she didn't have time for that; she got to gather herself I the "thinking chair," which is a euphemistic way of referring to the timeout chair).
AW: said child is asleep now. Also, my sister came over and helped me all day, and we spent the entire preschool break canning. My sister also made tiny meatballs, which I then put on a bet l very filling pizza, and the whole world seemed much more manageable after we all had supper.
Oh, boy. Do I want some meatball pizza. Sigh.
I waited so long for the adoption people (5 hours), and then tried another part of the phone tree, the adoption volunteers! None were there, but I could leave a detailed voice message! That was a few hours ago, and still nada. So, I'll just have some of that virtual pizza, thanks!
Follow-up interview sked for Monday. Sending references now.
GO, LIZ!!!!! That's excellent! Everything crossed.
Finally got someone about the dog! He's apparently been transferred to a rescue organization about an hour away. (Or else one in Utah by the same name, which seems less likely.) However, there was a small disclaimer that usually the dogs going out to "rescue partners" have medical or behavioral issues. Left a message to find out more.
ooh, Liz, exciting!
W: I cannot get going today. Working from home is hard, but I am horribly unsuccessful finding a non-home location from which to work. Library is *loud* plus I can't have a beverage. I don't drink coffee, and coffee shop is also loud. It's still too hot outside. I think I really need to take a day off more than anything, but I have so much to do!!
What about a U library, instead of a public library? It's possible that might be quieter, and more tolerant of beverages.
Is it possible that locals who've been there longer might know of quieter public spaces?
I hope you have clarity about the dog soon, Kathy. (Also: are you guys equipped to take on medical or behavioral issues?)
I hope you found your work spot and groove today, esperanza! (No beverages at all at the library? Hm. Is there a nearby college with study carrels or a more lenient library? Could you rejig your home work space, to trick your brain into thinking you're away from home? I've had years of university work without sufficient school office space, and so I understand the struggle. Usually, what worked for me was pretending I wasn't at home when I really was.)
Lots of AWs here: E slept for nearly 14 hours last night (and had her best school day all month), and Mr. Q is back home (and brought with him all the leftover Chinese food and pizza from a party last night, and so we also have supper sorted). And it's the weekend!
AW: I don't mean to brag, but I cooked an entire supper on the grill. Pork chops, sweet potatoes, green beans.
W: dishwasher is still broken--can you tell?
Update: I ended up working at home and pretending I was somewhere else. It kind of worked. The Ginormous University is here, but it would likely take me an hour, at the very least, to get there. That burns up a lot of work time. (oh...I could go on the bus someday; there's an idea...). My seminary is next door to Ginormous U, and would be way easier to access the library (mainly because I know where it is already). Our town is building a new library, and I'm hoping it will have more quiet space.
QWP -- sleep, plus leftovers for supper! Yay!
So, no call back from the rescue place either.
But not to worry! My beloved stopped at an adoption place on his way home from stuff, and he met 2 good dogs! He really likes Clyde, a rescue from Houston after the hurricane. Took him for a walk and everything!
Anyway, Clyde's most notable quirk so far is that he wanted to chew on wood chips at the park. Think we're heading out to see Clyde in the a.m.
Old Skool: bubble gum-flavoured pediatric antihistamine tastes TERRIBLE.
Regular whine: I know this because it turned out that one of the containers of leftover Chinese food (which Mr. Q thought only had chicken and vegetables) also had some pieces of shrimp in it, and I'm fairly allergic to shrimp. I only had a single baby corn before noticing the shrimp, and pretty soon my throat was feeling a little tight. And it turned out that I'd run out of my antihistamine. But, thankfully, we had pediatric antihistamine, and Mr. Q and I figured out the adult dosage. And it worked!
Also whine: now I'm incredibly drowsy.
Espearanza for the creative outdoor cooking prize! This prize features a set of disposable plates, for the dishwasher-deprived.
Oy, QWP! Glad you caught what was happening, and good you could ramp up the ped dose. But yuck.
I'm not sure if I mentioned a few weeks back that they were taking down one of my SIL's heavier meds, slowly. And -- it seems to be working out well! She's more alert and responsive, hasn't gotten particularly agitated, isn't tearful. She liked the things my husband took when he visited today, and he got to talk to regular weekday staff. However, she is once again talking about her first ex -- his name is basically the only intelligible word. (Nothing to be done about that...)
Mr. E keeps insisting on paper plates, but the plates are the least of the dirty dishes.
Sounds like a good adjustment for your SIL, kathy.
QWP, I've had to use bubble gum flavored kid toothpaste before. It's disgusting, so I can only imagine having to actually swallow the meds. Blech.
We went and met Clyde this morning -- and he is a sweet boy, very friendly, not aggressive, even passed the cat test (curious and friendly, not going after them). But somebody already indicated an interest, so they're checking. We'll probably go back tomorrow; my beloved has an emergency backup dog in mind.
Yay, we're getting Clyde this afternoon!
Yay Clyde!
Clyde likes the yard; likes the house OK, especially the cat kibble and my slipper. The boys went out for a short hike nearly 3 hours ago! I assume it was tres exciting, and also that they stopped at the pet store for dog supplies, such as food and treats and bedding. (Our local pet stores are dog friendly.)
Have decided this is a binge night, since we obviously are not having a relaxed dinner out; so, plan to order pizza. The just returned, and Dad has a bunch of tasks, like assembling the sleeping crate etc.
Yay!!!! So glad you brought Clyde home!!! So exciting!
:) Neighbor Lady
He's a good boy! And the Dog Man is really happy.
PSA: if you burn your hands with jalapenos or similar hot peppers, the following do nothing: soap, dish detergent, milk, baking soda paste. On the other hand, soaking your hand in vegetable oil does work! (Hours after chopping grilled jalapenos, my skin was still red and burning, but now it's better! But it didn't feel better while I was soaking them in oil: only when I rinsed off the oil did the pain go away.) Apparently jalapeno oil is oil-soluble.
AW: we made and canned salsa! And my hand isn't in pain anymore!
Liz, I am so excited for your job news! I am sending all good mojo your way for a positive outcome!
Ouch to the salsa hands! I am such a gastric weenie that I can't do much in the way of peppers/spicy stuff, so I have never had the experience of chopping them. Good to know!
So happy Clyde has a home! We are now in the head space to get a kitty, but the last week since we returned home from D.C. has been eventful, to say the least.
We arrived home, and were very glad to see that we had no damage to our house, and though the power was off for a while, it had apparently come back on.
We lost everything in our fridge, but theee wasn't all that much in there. The stuff that bothered me most was the butter, condiments, homemade spaghetti sauce -- stuff like that. They're all small items, but we usually have a LOT of them in our fridge.
We go get a small load of groceries, and come home and settle in. I make homemade chicken soup, and we are watching TV when we realize that our cable TV is not quite what it should be -- channels we pay for are missing... So, my husband sticks his head outside to make sure the cable is connected. It is, but the weatherhead that attaches to the house for the electricity is leaning drunkenly off of our roof. Great. So, I call the power company. They come out the next day, which was Monday. The power guy says, ummmmm... I can't fix that. You have to get an electrician to fix that, but that's actually a fire hazard, so I have to cut your power off. Great!
We lose all the new groceries. I call for an electrician. They come out the next day, which is Tuesday, but they say they can't fix it because the roof needs to be replaced. GREAT.
We call a roofer, but he won't even come out once we tell him what the problem is. He seems dumbfounded by the electricians' statement, and says, we can't fix the roof unless the weatherhead is attached. We have to be able to work around that! FREAKING GREAT!
So we call *another electrician* who comes out to fix it on Wednesday. We assume we're good to go. We call the power company to have them reattach our power. Here's where the real fun begins.
We call the power company, and they tell us it will be in the next day, Thursday. My husband goes to pick up more clothes, and there is no power. He calls again, and they tell him that their records show that the power is on, but he tells them he's in the house, and there is no power. They tell him that it will be on by 8pm. I had rehearsal, so I told my husband that I'd check the house on the way home. I get home, and guess what? NO POWER. I am livid, so I call the power company AGAIN, and the operator tells me that a guy had been out to the house earlier, but it was a two-man job, and he was by himself, so he didn't fix it. I try to calmly tell them that my power will be back on within the hour, or my next call was to the TV news.
He must have been impressed with my level of white-hot anger, because he had a crew there within 7 minutes. This guy gets out of his truck and tells me that the notes he has seen say that the last guy didn't fix it because the "structure was unlivable." I was like, WE'RE LIVING IN IT NOW!" The guy went around the side of the house, and he says, I "have no idea what that guy was talking about, but I'm sorry, I still can't fix it. Whoever put the weatherhead back on the house didn't strap it down enough, and I reached out my hand and was able to physically pull it off the house. I can't hook our cable back up; it'll pull it straight off the house!" FABULOUS!
I think he could sense that I was about to spontaneously combust, so he said, I'd call those electricians BACK OUT HERE and make them fix it. Just tell them that that work is not up to power company standards, and you're prepared to call the BBB.
(One of two)
(Two of two)
I call the overnight number for the electricians and urge them that they need to take care of this right now, before I totally lose my sh!t, and they must have not wanted to tangle with me because they came out at 11:30pm. They apologize profusely, and tell me that they've lashed it down within an inch of its life.
I call the power company AGAIN to get the power on. They say we are first on the list for the morning. My husband goes over first thing in the morning (calling in sick to work for the first time in 2 years) and THERE IS NO POWER. He gets on the phone, and they have it on by 11:00am. Finally.
I have come to hate phone bureaucracy with an unparalleled passion.
But, this is all a first-world problem, and we are lucky that we aren't underwater, or living on one of the islands that have been decimated. I am lucky, and I need to be more thankful.
Hugs to all!
KLee
KLee, I went to a regional church thing yesterday that was run by our denomination's disaster response agency (who are incredibly phenomenal). It was a time to share our stories about how we/our church/our loved ones had been affected by Harvey and to listen to others' stories. One of the things the disaster guy said was that there's no comparing what happened to two different people. My disaster affects me, and yours affects you, and that's the way it is. You can have compassion for someone else's trauma without denying your own.
Having said that, what a pain in the butt! I'm so sorry that what should have been relatively simple has turned into this.
Post a Comment