The Week Begins...

The grandchildren came home last night and seemed genuinely glad to be back.  They had a nice vacation, visiting a family in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and going to Great America (amusement park) in Guernee (or however you spell it). 

It was my decision to keep the children home with me today, just for some time at home before heading back to the day care routine.  Ryan was up at the crack of dawn.  Meg left for work with him up...and he never came in to wake me!  Two hours after she left, I got up and he was quietly watching TV.  Bless his little heart!  Robin slept late.  I finally got her toady little bottom out of bed because it was time.  We had a fairly uneventful day.  Ryan conked out on the couch sometime around 1:30 PM...and only woke up at 4:00 because I kept after him to get up.  For obvious reasons, I probably got in only two hours of wallpaper stripping done...

Meg raced home from work because the children were signed up for swimming lessons at Splash Island, starting today.  (They had swimming lessons in Muncie at the YMCA up there.  It was established that Robin kept advancing to higher and higher groups because of her accomplishments there, and Ryan advanced a little.)  Today, interestingly, Robin got put in a group with little kids...and Ryan was put in a group of much older children, based on a very short evaluation of skills.  Aside from the fact that it was a cool day and Ryan was shivering--and Robin's group got scolded for not listening--they seemed to have fun.  They are given 25 minutes of lessons and 5 minutes of free time.  The instructors came up to the families after the lesson to introduce themselves and talk about the kids.  The young man that is Ryan's instructor thought Ry was doing extremely well for a 4-year-old.  Robin's instructor seemed totally unimpressed with Robin's skills.  Hmmm...unexpected outcome!  This routine will go on for four days this week and four days next week.  Meg's only goal is to have the children learn to swim and have fun in the process.  We don't expect them both to be Mark Spitzes!  We did stop at Dairy Queen on the way home...and ate our treats at the Friendship Gardens waterfall.  Poor Meg hadn't even had her supper yet.

My granddaughter is in our bedroom playing with her pet--a pill bug named Abby! 

Today, we took delivery of a new computer desk that will go in the living room where the "secretary" is now.  It's in a box.  Some assembly required.  While we work on the second bedroom and keep shifting things around, I am thinking this project isn't going to be all done by the time I have to return to school.  God help me!  When the second room is done, we will need a truck to move Meg's and Robin's furniture out of storage and figure out what to do with some of the rest.  Meg's mind races about these things...more than my ability to cope with "one thing at a time".  THEN, we get to move the radios and computers.  Please pray for me.  I look for that process to take place in about two weeks.  Will I be ready?  That's the $64,000 question...

My sister got an email from our brother's female roommate of many years.  You will remember that Doug died suddenly at age 52 two years ago...and since he had disowned us years before that, we have done the best we could to abide by his wishes.  Well...it seems that his roommate found a video tape which comprised his will.  She has a couple of pieces of furniture that she claims our father built from wood that was salvaged from a house on the family farm property back in the 1930's.  She wants us to have it, even though we aren't familiar with it.  My sister and brother-in-law made one rushed trip up there (Oak Park, near Chicago) at the end of May to retrieve a Chinese carved "captain's chest".  There is no way they will go up again.  I will inquire if his daughter, who lives in the Chicago area, wants to pick it up and evaluate it for sentimental value.  Don't know what else to do...

And now it is time to cash in for the night.  So much to do...so little time.

 

Field Day

Today through tomorrow (Sat./Sun.) early afternoon is national amateur radio Field Day.  My charge for the last several years is to provide the food.  The club provides the funds.  I've had a budget of $250 for the last several years and have alsways managed to stay under that.  This year, I fed the troops for a lot less than last year.  One of our members was able to get eight pizzas donated for lunch...and more for midnight.  Match that with what we already had.  I think I gave the treasurer back an envelope with over $120 left in it.  We had:  sloppy joes, pizzas, fresh fruit, a veggie tray, excellent ham, home-smoked pork loin, potato salad, baked beans, chips, cookies, brownies, and lots of drinks.  I don't think anyone left hungry!

In other years, I have stayed at the site to contest.  With all of the stuff going on at home these days, it just didn't appeal this year.  The children are coming home tomorrow, which makes it important to get things cleaned up here, in spite of the in-progress state of affairs.  We WILL get it all done.  It just seems overwhelming.  Meg sat in the computer room tonight, looking off into space, and said, "There is just too much crap in this house."  Yeah, there is.  We're working on it!

Off to bed with me.  I'm going to hate myself in the morning...  Oops!  It's already morning!

Keep Plugging Is My Mantra!

Friend Ryan came over this morning to work on the ceiling fan project.  He is the one who first put the wires and boxes in the attic at least six years ago when he installed the ceiling fan in my shack.  A couple of weeks ago, he came over to install one in Meg's new bedroom and discovered that he had to actually go up into the attic to find the wires and the box.  It had to have been at least 150 degrees up there, so he threw the wire and box for the last bedroom fan toward the right spot then just to prevent another attic trek.  Today, with a hole in the ceiling, he looked and reached, and reached and looked...working with his arms over his head.  FINALLY, he was able to grab them without having to crawl back up in the attic.  

Once the fan project was done, Ryan had to depart to take his Irish Wolfhound, Oliver, to the vet.  Oliver was being treated for thyroid problems, but was having a bigger problem with mobility.  X-rays and tests showed no broken bones, no hip displasia, no spinal difficulties...but the poor critter couldn't even get up to poop.  Medication wasn't helping.  The doctors didn't even really know what was wrong.  The bottom line is that Ryan made the decision to have 135-pound, 7-year-old Oliver put to sleep today.  My heart aches for him...

I keep working on the wallpaper stripping, but my heart isn't in it.  I reallly, really need to have the rest of the house in better order, just for my mental health.  I will work on that...and keep pluggin'.  :) 

   

Will It Ever End??

Went to Indy this morning to meet with my attorney.  Got there in absolute record time, but then had to find a place to park and find the building on foot.  Have been there before, of course...but that was at least 18 months ago.  I reinvent the wheel on a regular basis.  I walked at least three blocks in the wrong direction!  Noticed that the addresses on the buildings weren't matching what I thought they should be...so I stopped a lady and asked.  I was looking for 101 W. Ohio...but was two blocks past the division between east and west Ohio.  Backtracked and found the place.  Whew!  I came home SEVERAL hundred dollars lighter.  Litigation ain't cheap.

Soon after I came home, I went back to the wallpaper stripping project.  I am not pleased with the condition of the walls under the wallpaper and am not sure what to do about it.  Our plan is to paint, but there is sooo much to do to get those walls anywhere ready to do that. 

Tomorrow, my friend Ryan is coming over to install yet another ceiling fan.  This one has been in the box in the minibarn for years.  I hope this will be the end of the ceiling fan project for awhile...  It would be nice if we could have everything done before the summer is over for me.  Meg and I desperately want some order in our lives!

Stripping--the Sequel

Ha!  Bet you thought I was going to write about taking clothes off, huh?  The joke's on you!  I am, of course, talking about wallpaper stripping--second room.  This room is the one that is to be Robin's.  I spent part of the morning moving some things out of that room into Meg's new room--temporary because we are just moving things around until both rooms are done enough to move the furniture from the storage unit.  With the target room mostly empty, I started stripping wallpaper.  Meg remembers from years ago when we papered it that the walls were "evil".  That seems to be the case.  I'm not sure exactly WHAT is under the current layer of paper.  It isn't paint and it doesn't act like wallpaper.  Once the walls are dry, we will sand them down and hope to goodness they don't have to be primed.  That will take TWICE the time.  And I'm not sure how we are going to paint the ceiling with all of those glow-in-the-dark stars on there!  Ryan wants stars, too....so we are going to have to start looking for more.

I have to meet with my attorney on Thursday and cook for Field Day on Friday.  Field Day, for the uninitiated, is the national radio contest that mimicks emergency conditions.  Amateur radio operators all over the country throw up antennas and start making contacts with the rest of the nation.  The more contacts, the more points.  It is a 24-hour event.  Our club sets up at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds.  Last year, we had monsoons.  Hopefully, this year we can have decent weather.  I won't spend the whole weekend there because there is so much going on here at home...

I am in my fourth week of "vacation"...working my fanny off...surrounded by clutter that needs to go to a dumpster!  Once again, I just keep pluggin'.    

I Need Another Dumpster!

Have been working hard to get Meg's new room ready to move into.  Today, I cut paint splatters out of the carpet, vacuumed the room and the heat vent, and shampooed the carpet.  We still have things that we are tossing on a regular basis.  We have the garbage cans usually filled again right after the garbage truck has emptied them!  Still can't get around in the rest of the house, but I have been trying to keep my room neat...and Meg's new room is ALMOST in move-in shape.  (There are always little things to be done.  Still a little paint trimming to do around the windows...the blinds need to be washed, as do the windows and window sills.  Woman's work is never done!)

Yesterday, we took the children to Burger King because the weather wasn't cooperating for a picnic.  They played and played.  Then we took a run to Jamestown to pick up a bed frame that was offered.  (Thanks, Mike!)  Meg was supposed to meet Nathan at Trader Joe's on Allisonville Road near I-69 at 6:00, and time was flying...so I took an unexpected trip with them to save the time of taking me back to Plainfield.  We only had the kids for a little over 24 hours...and it didn't seem like enough!  They won't be back until next Sunday.  The only advantage to having them gone is the ability to keep working non-stop on creating a bedroom for everyone. 

It is official:  Nathan is engaged to marry his lady-friend.  We've known it was coming because the children have been talking about having "two mommies".  Therein lies a problem.  Insecurities raise their ugly heads, kid-related.  Meg and I talked about things last night.  My only advice to her has been, as always, to give things time. 

My daughter is my hero in so many ways.  Only slightly more than a year ago, she came "home"; created an amicable divorce with Nathan; secured a job that she really wanted; has already gotten one raise and has been promoted to a supervisory position; has taken THREE college courses toward a degree, passing with flying colors; got the children in suitable day care; obtained a waiver to get Robin in Kindergarten this last year (because her birthday was five days beyond the deadline); negotiated a stellar deal on a much-needed vehicle; worked to help finance the garage remodel project; has endeavored to maintain a healthy schedule for the children, working with them on their learning; dealt with my health crisis of last summer; has Robin in Girl Scouts; signed Ryan up for soccer and both of them up for swimming lessons this summer...and the list goes on.  And she's still on her feet!  Guess what her analysis is of all of this?  She thinks she's a terrible person because she isn't a perfect mother!  Darling daughter, give yourself a break!!  You have been moving mountains.  Time to say "good enough for now".

Back to work here.  Getting ready to start on the next room!  

Growth Spurt??

The children came home today with their mother around 11:00 this morning.  I was working furiously to clean up the house.  I hate it that they come home to the usually-trashed place because we have been working so hard elsewhere in the house that we haven't tended to the rest of the place...but there is no escape.  We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch today, as a special treat.  We went shopping for "bug houses" thereafter, but haven't been able to find any.  It was our intention to take the kids to Hummel Park with bicycles for some exercise later, but the weather decided to "shower".  They have been glued to the TV, anyway.  No biggie.

God bless them, the children have eaten all stinkin' afternoon!  Ryan acts like a bottomless pit!  They have had pizza, carrots, chow mein noodles, fruit, cereal--with and without milk--Gerber's meat sticks.  You name it.  Supper got pre-empted because of all of the snacking (on good stuff).  If they keep this up, they will eat us out of house and home! 

I went to the hardware store this afternoon to pick up a couple of replacement outlet plates for Meg's new room.  As I was looking at that stuff, I noticed a cute little deal--a tiny piece of clear plastic--that locks a light switch in the up-or-down position.  Hmmm...  The children have twice accidentally shut off the switch that controls the power to my bedroom.  Meg wanted to remove the switch.  I wanted to put duct tape over it.  This little dealie solves the problem for pennies!  In the 30 seconds or less that it took to install it, that particular switch is now locked in the ON position.  I love it!

We go into survival mode when the children are here...particularly Ryan.  Robin is civilized.  We just keep on workin' on the other child.

Please remember my friends Patrick and Carmella in your prayers as they make the transfer from Midland to Flint, Michigan.  Life goes on...but it can be a hardship!

 

Done!

At least 99.9% of the painting is.  Some touch-up to do...and the carpet needs to be shampooed, etc...but the huge bedroom job is very nearly complete.  Am I tired?  Yes, I am...and so is Meg.  We started working at about 8:30 this morning and didn't stop until 8:00 tonight.  Had I still been working on my own, it still wouldn't be done!  The next room is smaller.  Hopefully, it will go faster.  We can hope...

Found my wallet.  It was in a bag with the paint supplies from Ace Hardware.  I knew it was here, somewhere!

Off to bed with me.  Grandchildren will be home tomorrow for a couple of days.  I miss them!

Yet Another Day Behind

I've worked all day, but the room isn't done.  Attending to details is the problem.  I had to do some laundry, among other things.  I did ask Meg if she could take tomorrow off to get the job done.  Thus, I will have some assistance. 

I can't find my wallet.  I'm pretty sure it's here, somewhere...but it is wearing on me that I haven't found it yet. 

I'm still not sleeping well in my "new" bed.  I'll just keep hoping that I get used to it, someday.

Slooooow Going

I actually did some painting today.  Started by priming some raw wood trim around the windows...and put some primer on the very pink closet door.  Decided not to prime the baseboards and trim.  Big mistake!  While painting the trim, I soon discovered that it would take two coats to cover properly.  Just something else to slow me down.  I am still cleaning and smoothing walls and letting them dry while I paint trim on opposite walls.  Fortunately, it dries fast...  I originally thought I'd have the whole room painted by today, but now it looks like it won't be finished until tomorrow.  The trim takes awhile.  The walls and ceiling will go much faster...I hope.

With my attention being taken up by the room project, the rest of the house just gets worse and worse.  At present, I can't find my wallet.  I know it's here someplace!!  I would love to suspend the room operations to create order in the rest of the house, but tempus fugit.  Hurry, hurry, hurry!  I'll be glad when it is aaaaalllll done. 

 

 

Lessons Learned

I was under the weather with a digestive upset much of yesterday, so I didn't get anything done on the room that is to become Meg's.  EXCEPT, one of my ham friends, N9XOQ, dropped by to clean out my maple seedling collection--I mean gutters.  I swear, I don't know what I would do without the brotherhood of amateur radio!  I am such a lucky duck to have so many wonderful friends, some of whom have gone extra miles to help me out.  (You, too, Mr. Buster!)  I wish there were something I could do to return favors for them.  I do feed them at Field Day.  I'll have to make sure the food is extra good this year!

One thing we did do yesterday was pick out a paint color for the room.  We took a pillowcase to Ace Hardware for them to match with the computer.  That has always worked for me before...  The guy asked what the fabric was.  I said cotton.  He said, "That's good.  Polyester always messes up the computer match."  Pillowcases made of polyester?  Hahahahaha!  No way!  We got a gallon of the expensive scrubbable stuff and came home.  Today, I painted a square foot on one wall for Meg to see (because the walls weren't ready for real painting yet).  Ack!  Instead of the blue-gray we were expecting, it was purple!  I checked the label on the pillow case:  60% cotton, 40% polyester.  Double-ack!  So...we just ate a $35 gallon of paint!  Lesson learned: check the fabric label if you are matching a color to a fabric! 

Today, I worked on filling nail holes, cleaning and smoothing the walls, and generally getting the room ready for painting.  I really thought that I'd have it all painted today, but the color mishap short-circuited that.  So did the fact that the wall prep task was bigger than I thought it would be.  I did get my hairs cut this morning, and Meg and I did make a trip to find another paint color.  We also ate out at Pizza Hut...normally saved for special occasions.  I ran the Tuesday night radio net, and all was well. 

I am now on a brainstorming quest to figure out how we are going to get all of the bedroom amenities into Ryan's LITTLE room, when we get to it.  His room will be what is now my radio shack/computer room...and it is the smallest room in the house, excluding bathrooms.  All of the loft beds I've seen are too big.  I may have hiton an idea for a type of murphy bed to go into the closet.  We'll see!  I'm going to call in my expert builder to see if he thinks it is do-able.  (RAF, are you reading??)

My to-do list gets bigger every day.  My energy isn't what it used to be.  As I have said before, I just keep pluggin'! 

Mixed Emotions

The day has come and gone.  The house is still in an uproar with no immediate end in sight.  The children were good, for the most part.  We (mostly Meg) didn't feel that she had enough quality time to spend with them because we are working full-tilt to get the house projects done before I have to start school again.  (Megan, my dear--'tis ever thus.  You can't do everything all the time.  The Perfect World doesn't exist!)  They are back in Muncie for the week now, and Meg was in tears before they had even arrived there.  "I miss my kids."  I do, too!

Meg and the kids met with her father (sans wife) for breakfast at Cracker Barrel here in Plainfield.  She got the check, much to his surprise, so he ended up buying the children a Webkinz apiece.  We have several Webkinz now.  Whoop-de-freakin'-doo!

After breakfast, we entertained the children with various independent activities, to keep them occupied so we could scrape wallpaper before going to Grandma Judy's luau.  The luau is something Judy (Nathan's mother) has been planning since winter...and she went all out.  She had made Hawaiian dresses for both Robin and Wednesday (Nathan's girlfriend's daughter), purchased a Hawaiian shorts outfit for Ryan, had the cutest plastic coconut cups with straws for beverages, and leis for everyone.  She had a Hawaiian-inspired menu with barbecue pork sandwiches, a wonderful macaroni shell salad, a gorgeous fruit salad in a watermelon base, and a coconut cake that was really, really good.  She had also purchased grass skirts with coconut bras for the little girls, with the idea that they would learn a hula together.  Robin was kind of cranky...and then a storm came along about hula time.  We raced around getting things brought in, then everyone evaporated, I'm sure leaving Judy wondering if it was all worth it.  I admire the daylights out of the woman!  She attends to details and thinks of everything.  She has to be tired tonight!  

When Meg and I returned home, Meg finished off the wallpaper stripping in what is to be her bedroom.  Originally, I think she was hoping the room would be painted tomorrow.  Not possible!  The walls have to be washed down to remove the last vestiges of wallpaper backing and paste, holes have to be filled, baseboards have to be cleaned...then everything has to dry before painting.  Besides, she hasn't picked out a wall color yet!  The actual painting will be the easy part.  Then we get to start on the next room.  Woo-hoo!

I mixed feelings about the day.  Meg returns to work tomorrow and I'll do the best I can.  I really want the children to come home next weekend to some change and order.  Order is the biggest problem right now.  We just keep pluggin'   

 

 

Happy Father's Day

My father, God bless him, departed this life in 1994.  Today, I will lift a glass in his honor and memory.  He would have been so proud of his great-grandchildren!

Speaking of which...the children came home yesterday...er, that is to say, Meg went to Muncie to pick them up.  When they got home, I took them to the zoo so their mother could do a little shopping and work on the wallpaper stripping project.  The kids were very good.  We didn't see that many animals because we were busy eating Dippin' Dots and playing in the sprinkler area.  (I had taken a change of clothes for them.)  I brought two tired little kiddos home around 6:15.

Meg did a big stroke of business in the wallpaper stripping department yesterday.  It isn't all done but getting closer.  What's taking so long?  Consider the walls of a room covered in nice vinyl wallpaper.  Then consider that the wallpaper comes off a couple of inches at a time.  Spray, scrape, rip...spray, scrape, rip...(repeat) ad nauseum.  After the paper is all off comes filling holes, smoothing, etc., in prep for paint.  That should get done fairly early this week, if Meg can pick out a paint color that she likes.  We are painting the ENTIRE room, including trim and ceiling. 

Last evening, we brought a box spring and mattress to the house out of storage and plopped it on the floor in my new room so Robin and I could each have our own places to sleep.  (We do have a bed offer but won't need that yet.)  The children greeted my new room as if it were a huge play area.  Well...what do you expect?  It's the only room in the house with any space to it!

Today, Meg and the children are having breakfast with Meg's father and wife here in Plainfield, and this afternoon, we are attending a luau party that Nathan's parents have been planning since their return from their Hawaiian trip last winter.   It should be a nice Father's Day for the men in the grandchildren's families. 

And if you are a daddy, Happy Father's Day to you!!

Errand Day

Ya know, every once in awhile, one has to stop what one is otherwise doing just to run errands in order to make other things happen.  For instance, before I can paint, I have to have paint supplies...yes?  Today, I hoped to combine a haircut into other errand trips--my bank in Avon, Goodwill, Aldi's, and Wal-Mart.  Never got the haircut appointment, so I did the bank, Goodwill, and Wal-Mart.  (Will do Aldi's when someone is here to help me load/unload water softener salt.) 

I took quite a bit of trash to the street today, but realized after the fact that there was much more to go.  A large part of the remodel project has to do with getting rid of stuff.  We have dumped lots and lots of stuff--some of which might have netted us some $$ if we weren't so cramped to get rid of it.  BTW...if you want something to go without charge, list it on freecycle.org.  That last two things I listed (BIG items) were gone the same day!

It has rained virtually all day today.  Have I mentioned that I am sick of rain??  If I haven't, remind me to mention it. 

 

Ha! I Won! (Sort of...)

When Meg got to work this morning, she IMed me, asking if I thought gas would go up today.  She had already filled up on her way to work but was just curious.  Along about noon, I saw on the news that gas was $4.19.9 in places, so I decided to dash out to fill up...hoping I wasn't too late.  Judging by the line of cars that ran out to 267 as I approached Thornton's, I guessed that the stations down by the interstate had already gone up.  I got in the queue and filled up at $3.83.9.  Lucky me!  But still...$49 for 3/4ths of a tank is an all-time record.  I won...but what's the prize?  We are cutting back on food purchases just to try to accommodate for increased prices at the pump.  I shop at Aldi's.  (Good food, actually!)

I started stripping wallpaper at 9:00 this morning, and stopped, due to sore fingers, at 4:00.  Slow going!  I hate stripping wallpaper, but it is a necessary evil in order to get  updated decor in a room.  Meg's new comforter arrived today.  She'll have to choose wall color now.  It MIGHT get done this weekend, although that's pushing it a bit.  We are totally re-doing every room while each is empty.  'Tis the only way!  One at a time... 

 

No More West Side Story!

I have slept in my new bedroom the last two nights but couldn't get the cable TV to work, so had to watch a video instead of TV while in bed.  I chose West Side Story.  The tape wasn't rewound.  It happened to be cued to my favorite part of the movie--the dance on the roof.  "Oh, good.  I'll watch that.  ZZZzzzzzz."  I don't think I even got through two minutes of it before I was in Slumberland.  Last night, still without cable, I put West Side Story in again.  Understand that I LOVE West Side Story...but it is no substitute for the mindless entertainment that I look for when trying to fall asleep.  I was also cold.  I really wanted to go to sleep, but my feet were like ice cubes, so I snuggled down under the covers, putting my feet in various positions under my legs to try to get them warmed up enough to nod off.  I think it took 45 minutes!  I'm used to the waterbed with the heater, I guess...

Today, a ham friend came over to help me get the waterbed drained and out of the old bedroom (which will be Meg's room).  He also installed a new ceiling fan in that room and moved a big piece of furniture.  Before I could let him go home (God bless the dear boy), I asked him to check to see if I had the coax screwed in right on the TV in my bedroom.  I did, but it still wasn't working.  He took the plate off the wall and discovered that the coax wasn't even attached to the plate.  He fixed that in short order and voila!  I don't have to watch West Side Story again tonight!  I am so very grateful for his help.  (I am under strict orders not to use his name because he's afraid someone else will snag him for household repairs!)

I am so relieved to have the old room cleared out so I can start wallpaper removal.  I tried some today.  The good news is that it is very good vinyl wallpaper applied really well.  The bad news is that it is a bear to get off the walls, and every wall in the room is covered with it!  It will be a BIG job.

The house is still trashed, but I can at last see some daylight at the end of the tunnel.  We are still de-cluttering as we go along.  Meg is playing with a floor plan online tonight, trying to figure out how everything will go in her "new" room.  We are asking a lot of small spaces, but it is sure better than all of us cramped into two bedrooms!

I have worked out a sleeping arrangement for Robin while the transition moves forward.  She will sleep on an air mattress on the floor in my room.  Her dresser is there, and some of her toys.  It will be a good arrangement, I think.  When HER room is done, she will have her own space (which she claims not to want).  Ryan will continue in his toddler bed until everything else is cleaned out.  We're looking at mid-July before we are far enough along to remove radios and computers from his room...

Speaking of the little skunks, we miss them!  Kendra (Daddy's lady friend) called to say that Ryan has/had a fever but seems okay.  And apparently Robin was skipped up a couple of notches in swimming lessons because she is a little fish.  They are also going to Vacation Bible School.  Keeping them busy is a good idea!  We talked to them on the phone tonight.  Robin sounded quite excited and happy. 

Tomorrow, I will tackle more laundry and wallpaper removal, and clean as I go along.  Happy "vacation", huh?

Okay...I Need Help!

Meg and the children went to visit Meg's father and wife this afternoon, then she delivered the children to their father for the week.  I puttered around here at home, attempting to continue the move into the new bedroom.  I accomplished some, but if this house project is going to get done this summer, I need help!  There is just too much to do for one person to make much of a daily dent. 

What is holding me up?  The fact that the house was in such disarray before the remodel project began is at fault.  The fact that I had to work and Meg has to work and we deal with two chilluns every day.  The fact that there is too much junk to go into too small a space.   Today, I did a load of dishes, a couple of loads of laundry, some sorting and moving from my old bedroom.  Washed bed linen.  Made my new bed.  Meg and I both agree that things always get worse before they get better.  The house is a total shambles.  The only thing that looks good is my new bedroom!  It will get better, but only God knows when!

We are enduring a pre-summer steam bath right now.  Temps in the 90's, when we were running heat in the car just a couple of weeks ago.  Welcome to the Midwest!

I will have trouble adjusting to the new bed location.  I keep going in the wrong direction! This will get better...  It just takes time!

Indiana--State of Emergency

We went to bed with thunderstorms last night...and got up to thunderstorms this morning.  For all I know, it rained all night--and then, it REALLY started to rain!  I sat on the patio and watched water collect in places it has never collected before...and in short order, flooding was all there was on the news.  Not just a little--a LOT.  Hendricks County, fortunately, was not on the emergency list, but the counties just to the west and south were socked.  Pictures of a failed dyke on Princes Lake in Johnson County reminded me of New Orleans after Katrina.  They were asking people with boats to come to the rescue.  Even the Coast Guard sent helicopters to evacuate land-locked Indiana residents.  Some places received 10 inches of rain.  Not good, considering the soil was already saturated from previous storms of the past two weeks.  In any case, we are high and dry, but many are not.

We had plans to take the children to the zoo today.  Uh....no.  And time to go to the Children's Museum was taken up with torrential rains.  So, Meg and the kids decided it was time to move Grandma into her new bedroom.  That, my friends, is not an easy job!  The children launched into vacuuming and picking up a path between the bedroom and what used to be the garage.  They actually were a big help.  Then Meg and I moved my dresser...and I decided, after looking at things, that I should take over the full-sized bed and let the waterbed go.  We went to Meg's storage unit to get a twin bed out for her, only to discover that we needed a bed frame for it.  That prompted a shopping trip on the way home.  We are home now.  Sometime between now and midnight, we hope to have beds set up for everyone, even if only temporary.  I will like my new digs when the dust finally settles.  We just aren't there yet!

Awaiting the delivery of supper right now (pizza), then will be hitting up the second wave of moving work--setting up beds.  Once this project is finally done, the ol' place should look pretty good.  In the meantime, we are still in turmoil.  And the weather certainly hasn't helped!

Discouraged. :(

I may sound like a terrible person for saying this, but I somewhat look forward to the children's being gone for a couple of weeks.  They are going to be with Daddy and his girlfriend in Muncie for a little bit, starting on Sunday.  I adore my grandbabies, but there is just so much to do around here to get this place habitable since the remodel project is done that I scarcely do justice to dinner time, etc. 

Today, I spent most of the day at school in a curriculum meeting.  (I get paid for it.)  When I got home, I got sleepy, so laid down on the couch for a "short nap".  The nap turned into something a bit more major than short.  I woke up around 4:00 and saw that the sky was getting dark again, so I left to pick up our KFC dinner and the kids...just to beat the storm.  When I get the children every day, it's a crap shoot what kind of mood they'll be in.  Both seemed to be okay today.  Dinner went fine, and because it was rainy, we watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks" which we all enjoyed.  Then Ryan went nuts.  (He does this almost every night.)  He gets wild and out of control, throwing huge tantrums, which eventually sends Megan over the edge...and we end up with nightly Bedtime Wars.  Neither of us knows what the answer is.   Meg is tired, of course...and by that time, so am I.  What to do??  Both of the children resist going to day care in the mornings, but I have resisted the temptation to keep them here for the summer because there is too much to do.  Catch 22.  Can't get anything done with them here; want them here because it's summer!

I know it sounds like I'm whining, but there is so much to do that it can easily be overwhelming.  I can't do it all alone.  My ham friends are godsends to me in helping out with some things, but even they have their own crosses to bear.  It seems that they give and I take.  Rarely do they ask me to help them, so I feel that things are out of balance...and I'm not comfortable with that.   The best I can hope for is to get everyone into a bedroom of his/her own before school starts. 

Oh...the 7th grade English teacher in my school, in the classroom right next to mine, has liver cancer that has spread.  He's a young guy with 3-year-old twins and a brand new baby.  (His wife teaches French in our district.)  He's been through the mill but has recently been told that treatment efforts have largely failed and he is "terminal".  It breaks my heart.  It's so unfair.  He has never smoked or done anything that would be a no-no for health.  His doctors are putting him through another round of chemotherapy starting soon, to try to give him a few more months.  Please pray for Rich and Julie Dimmack.  They are both really upbeat, refreshing people. 

And while you're at it, please pray for me, too!

Weather, Weather Everywhere!

One wave after another.  Storms!  Tornadoes in several places in Indiana.  No one dead...yet.  And the hits keep coming.

I haven't been able to update this blog much because my computer is on the fritz.  (Am on my daughter's now.) 

This is my third official day of "vacation".  Monday and Tuesday, I did laundry.  Today, I had to go to school for a curriculum meeting.  I just keep plugging.  One of these days, the work will all be magically done.  (Yeah, right!) 

After all, tomorrow IS another day...

Yucko!

I decided yesterday that we had to clean before we could move just to make space to wiggle.  This morning, I started on the pantry.  Got it consolidated and cleaned out...then went to the refrigerator.  Well!  That turned out to be a bigger job than I thought it would be!  Dirty, yucky, messy--but now clean and bleached.  (We can actually see the shelves and know what is in there.)  Now I will work on the floors in the kitchen and putting things away to make a path...

Still haven't decided about the bed.  I need someone to make the decision for me!