Monday was spent swimming in piles of laundry. Every time I started to make headway in the last week someone peed on something, puked on something or spilled something bright and colorful on something. I have only seen the piles grow, not diminish for quite some time. Enough laundry that I needed to spend at least one day at home doing nothing but sorting, switching and folding laundry. Laundry and diligently watching and deleting shows from my DVR as I had reached the 'danger' mark for max number of recordings. (Last year I lost all my recordings in the spring thanks to a DVR goof and I don't want that to happen again. I live on catching up on the good stuff during a normal rerun season!) Monday was for laundry, period.
On Tuesday, I decided to let my house have a rest and, after our OT appointment, tackle the issue of my mini-van. Just a week and a half beforehand my traveling car repair guy, Bill, had come over to check out my 'Check Engine' light. (And yes, I did say my Traveling Repair Guy. He drives to you to fix your car which makes life so much easier. If you don't have your own TRG, you should get one!) The code on the light had been for catalytic converter, but the van had recently gone over 120K miles and the spark plugs were out of whack or whatever they do. Anyway, he had suggested that we take a step back, do an engine tune up first as those problems would blow out a new converter as well. We did. I got 6 new spark plugs and a new filter for something or other and the code cleared. He told me if the light came back on then I probably still have a problem with the CC so I should then take the van to this muffler place he recommended since that wasn't something he can do working out of his Honda Element. Exactly one week after he did the work, the light came back on. Bill works on a lot of cars in my cul de sac and I saw him that weekend. I told him the light was back on and he said go ahead and take it to the muffler place.
On Tuesday I called this joint and they told me that the 2 guys who do CC's were just standing around so bring the van in and they'll be done in 45 minutes. I got there with my two preschoolers, filled out paperwork and then walked them 2 doors down the service road right past La Quinta to Denny's (there's an old joke on the tip of my tongue, but I am TRYING to let it go) for lunch. Just after we ordered our food the guy called me and said that the engine light code wasn't for the CC, it was for an emissions leak and they needed to do a 'smoke test', and oh by the way they also found a leak in my fuel line, but that wouldn't make the engine light come on.
Mom and Dad had once upon a time replaced the original gas cap on this van with one that locks, had some trouble with check engine lights and then switched it out again with a generic cap that if you don't lock securely will make the check engine light come on for . . . you guessed it: an emissions leak. I had this problem too after 2 months of owning the car and then Bill checked everything and cleared it before I took the van for inspection that year and it never cropped up again. I thought it couldn't hurt to do the smoke test to make sure everything else was fine, but I was more concerned with the fuel line leak that I hadn't known about. Anyway, we finished eating and walked back to the shop to wait.
The kids had brought a couple small toys with which they lost interest in very quickly. It was more fun for them to play with small rocks outside the shop, get drinks from the water cooler every five minutes, ask me about huge tattoos on strangers arms right in front of them and then make rooster noises to try and wake up a gentleman who was snoozing in his chair while he waited for his car. After an hour and a half of this with my car elevated to the ceiling in the garage and no one working on it, I was ready to bolt! Just about the time I was ready to have my dad come pick us up, I saw two guys poking around underneath my van and then they came to talk to me. The one guy who could do this type of work was completely backed up and they had no time to do the test or find the leak in the fuel line. They got my van back out of the garage, told me they had made sure there weren't any hanging hoses or parts, but the leak was very dangerous and would I please come back tomorrow? All while I am piling my two children into their car seats. I was less than thrilled.
I was trying to figure out when I could get back there this week while I drove home and called my TRG, Bill. I explained everything and asked him if that was something he could do. The thing about a TRG is he's only one guy and you don't know where he is on any particular day, but I lucked out and he was at the Auto Zone by my house. He told me to come straight to him. He checked everything out and found the leak immediately. He followed me home, jacked up the car and had me fixed up in about 20 minutes. The line was bent and just had to be straightened, tightened and resealed, but it had been right by the gas tank. Thank goodness no one had sparked near me or thrown a lit cigarette butt under my car. He also said it must have just happened because he had not smelled fuel when he was standing next to my car a few days before. He cleared the light for the emission leak and told me to go to Chrysler for the right gas cap so that this doesn't happen again. I don't need a Catalytic Converter at all and the whole long ordeal cost me $20. Score!
After letting the kids run off some steam in the yard, we all went inside to start laundry and dinner. That was when we discovered that the AC had gone out. Luckily it isn't 100 degrees outside yet, but I can't open my windows (circa 1960 with ridiculously difficult storm windows) by myself so I couldn't get any extra circulation inside besides fans. It was hotter inside than outside. My AC guy is an old family friend, Joe, and I spoke to him at length. He had just been out for a courtesy check of our system for the beginning of summer a few weeks before and everything was hunky-dory. The whole system is only 4 years old. He told me he would be there the next day before noon.
My dad came over Wednesday morning to stay with the little guys while I went to the parent/teacher conference. The day before I had been in the car with just Riley and I had told him 'someone is coming to our house tomorrow, can you guess who?'. 'Nooooo'. 'It's a man . . . a big guy'. 'Noooo'. 'He has a big white beard'. 'Mama! It's Grandpa!' All week now he has started laughing and said 'Mama, it was a guy and a big white beard and it was Grandpa!' I think he liked the silly guessing game with clues. Anyway, Dad came over and I left a check for Joe on the table. By the time I returned Joe hadn't arrived and then he called to say it would be 3 instead. In the meantime, the rep for the solar screen company arrived. I had asked them out to do a quote for me to try and cut our utility bills and also to let my AC have a chance to do it's job well. I was absolutely thrilled with the quote. As the day was heating up, I ran around the house to make sure all the fans were on and when I pulled the cord on the fan in the play room, the globe covering the light fell on my head. Yes, I said that and yes it happened. Luckily it didn't break on my head, but once it hit the floor the edges shattered and it was not usable. Everyone left and I attempted to tackle the laundry as well as the clutter around the house so I could do floors and bathrooms the next day.
It was hot, even with the fans. Most of them are ceiling fans, but I also have a tower fan which is very powerful. This is great, except for when your 3 year old keeps running by and turning it off because it's 'loud'. Joe and his son, John, showed up finally around 4:30. They looked at absolutely everything and couldn't find a reason for the AC to not work. They finally found the problem, it was the outlet the unit was plugged into. It had no power whatsoever. Weird. We ran an extension cord across my kitchen and living room and got the AC running again, but now I had to find an electrician. Angie's List is my newest favorite toy and in no time I found a highly recommended company. Since my AC was running again, I insisted on no rush, but he said he would be here around lunch time the next day.
Honestly, despite the madness of the week I was feeling pretty good when I woke up yesterday morning. After all, I had somehow avoided two potentially very expensive problems already this week with only a $20 price tag. I couldn't get Joe to take any money for even the gas to get to my house, which made me feel bad, but he's like family and he takes that very seriously. I took Scooter to OT and was so prepared I even had a bag of goodies for Riley to munch on and a favorite set of shape puzzles for us to do together while we waited.
It was kind of nice to have some time with just the two of us playing together. Usually Scooter takes the lead on projects and it's hard to tell where Riley is in regards to basic preschool knowledge. Scooter always answers before Riley has a chance to when I ask about colors or shapes or letters. I really enjoyed seeing him matching up the shapes and naming them. I was pleased to find that he even knew he had to put two of the blue diamond pieces together to make a rectangle for some of the pictures. I was also surprised to find that he has an innate skill that Tyler also had at that age (actually younger, but I'm telling you if Riley had it before I couldn't have told you since Scooter is always there helping). Riley would glance at the picture in front of him and say something like 'We need 5 white diamonds' or 'We need 6 green triangles'. He wasn't counting them out, he just looked and knew and he was always correct. Tyler used to do this and it always amazed us when we would get out of our car in a parking lot and at 2 1/2 he would glance around and say 'There are 8 white trucks here'. When we would look around and count, we would find he was absolutely correct. I think this is a really great indicator of the potential for great math skills. I am so happy to know that Riley might have these skills as well. He was also extremely patient with placing the pieces in just the right place since there are no grooves to fit into on this game and everything shifts with the slightest nudge. It's actually Scooter's toy, but Riley really did well with it yesterday on his own.
Anyway, it was the first time I looked at Scooter going off to Kindergarten with hope instead of trepidation. I have worried a lot about the two of them being apart since they are so inseparable now. I knew it could be great in some ways and extremely difficult in others. I am going to love having my little Riley-Bear to myself for the next 2 years. After all, he is my only child that has had to share his time with me since birth, pretty much every day. The other two got a lot of their mama just for themselves, but Riley hasn't had any of that luxury. It's going to be frustrating at times for sure since he's so demanding, but I am really looking forward to getting to know Riley better and seeing what is hidden behind those delightfully devilish little eyes and grin.
As we left the building, the electrician called and said he was on his way. We met up at the house and he was fabulous. He had everything working and my whole system checked out in less than an hour. He found another potential problem and went ahead and fixed that too for no extra charge. He said that with kids in the house he would have come right away when I called if the AC hadn't been on, but since I told him it was on and there was no rush he waited. I will definitely use him again for electric. Very professional and fair. Once I knew that this bill was low and there were no unexpected, crazy charges I called the solar screen company and put in my order.
My mood was so good after my screen order and the electrician left that I decided to tackle one of my organization projects. I emptied my pantry from top to bottom. I had food loaded into laundry baskets and stacked on counters. I had appliances lining the floor in front of my cabinets. I had green grocery bags filled with pasta, beans & rice. I scrubbed the shelves and thought they were so dingy they needed a fresh coat of paint. Hmmm, maybe not the paint. After all, Dad mentioned something about new shelves that were deeper, so I won't put the effort into painting today. My pantry was now spotless, but my kitchen looked like a tornado had blown through. I assessed my storage needs, grabbed the broken fan globe and piled the kids in the car for a run to Home Depot and Target. If you saw me, you might have heard me whistling a happy tune. I was feeling super awesome at this point.
Home Depot was first. I carried my broken globe inside and proceeded to cut my left pinky finger twice on the shattered edges while I was in the store. After I found the replacement bulb, one of those nice old men working in the appliance section fetched me some paper towels to staunch the flow. We made it back to the car where I used my handy-dandy first aid kit to bandage my scratches and then we went across the street to Target. We cruised the aisles for more cereal containers and some plastic bins I thought I could use to organize spice packets and tea bags. Then I let the kids roam the Dollar section for a prize. They had dug out 'pennies' from my spare change and wanted to buy a toy. There was a brief disagreement about the 'real' toy aisle and what those pennies would actually buy before they settled on a set of stampers to 'tattoo' Scooter's arms and a big plastic shovel for Riley to use at the park next time. We loaded up and headed back home.
My finger was stinging and my stomach was growling. My patience was wearing thin and I realized that it was 2:30 and I hadn't eaten since 7. Oops. That's never a good thing. When we got home I stuck a frozen meal in the microwave and tried not to snap at my kids while they asked for stuff that was in the bottoms of laundry baskets. Riley asked for a program on TV in my bedroom while he ate his banana and while a disagreement ensued between the brothers regarding just what they should watch, I found a mess. On the floors I had picked up diligently the day before. Urgh.
They had been looking for pennies, remember? I had gotten down the spare change jar for them. It's one of those canister type glass jars with the clamping mechanism that seals the attached top. Someone had given this to Scott either before we got married or for our wedding. It was painted on the top and said 'Poker Night'. You know, save your change for penny poker night, a big thing in his family. So we have kept our spare change in that jar for almost 6 years. I had asked them not to make a mess, but there was spillage anyway. I could have made them clean it up, but at this point I just wanted to eat my chicken alfredo dish in front of the TV while I watched American Idol from the night before and then finish my pantry. I wanted them settled so I could regain my equilibrium and move on. I also wanted all the spare change off of the floor so I cleaned it up.
After I got all the money back in place, I closed the top of the jar and picked it up as I was getting off of my knees to put it back on Scott's dresser. The jar broke in my hand. I don't know if there was some pressure crack there from before or what, but the weight of the coins made the thing break right in the middle where my hand was holding it. It cut the dickens out of my middle finger on my right hand. I grabbed paper towels, rinsed it out, put on a band-aid and got the kids away from the mess. Then I ate my lunch so I wouldn't pass out while I did anything else. I cleaned up the glass and the change. I bled through 5 bandages in a row. No matter what I did, the thing wouldn't stop bleeding. It was a gouge in the side of my finger and I couldn't believe how much the thing was bleeding. I started doubling up the bandages so that it took a little bit longer to seep through, but it wasn't enough.
The two neighbor girls are home from college. One just finished her sophomore year, Kelly, she used to babysit the kids for me all the time. Her older sister Lauren just graduated as a nurse and is waiting for her assignment to Captain school in the Army. She had gone on a post-graduation trip on Saturday, but I went to ask Kelly if 'Nurse Lauren' was home yet. No. Oh - well, I guess I better go get this looked at huh? Yes, especially since I can't see through the blood to know if there is still glass in there or not. Kelly offered to stay with the kids so I wouldn't have to take 3 boys with me to the emergency room. I did think about urgent care, but I really hate those places. I drove myself to the hospital, texted Mom and Scott and sat down to wait it out with book in hand.
It was a long wait. I wasn't really a priority, of course. Things were calming down from a rush when I got there and I eventually got a stretcher in the hallway for treatment, but then there was another rush of critical cases so I sat there for a very long time. A doctor came up and asked to see my 'boo-boo' like I was a child which I thought was rather insulting. He glanced at it for a heartbeat and told me I needed stitches and stay put. An orderly brought a tray of goodies for that joy and then I waited some more. Finally a PA came by and cleaned the wound with a cotton ball and water and said he couldn't do stitches since it was a gash, not a cut. Right. "We'll just put derma-bond in there and give it a chance to heal and that will help with the pain too." Okay, sounded good to me.
Here's the thing though - that stuff stings! That was worse than getting a needle through skin, believe me. It was worse than the original injury was. Afterwards I sat there waiting for the throbbing to subside and the nurse to discharge me and it occurred to me that no one had disinfected my cut or cleaned it anymore. I did pour some peroxide on it myself earlier, but really every germ that could have been there just got sealed in with the glue. Oh and lint from the various means of staunching the bleeding. They told me to follow up with my doctor on Monday and I think I will so I can be sure there isn't an infection happening in there.
Really, I am not too much of a wimp when it comes to pain, but after 3 hours at the hospital I was very ready for a
Today I was supposed to drop Bella off at the Vet for her quarterly thyroid test and then pick her up later, but it's thundering out there and I really want to finish my pantry project, so I pushed that until Monday. Guess I won't be getting to my floors today after all. I am hoping for an uneventful day. And on the up side, my solar screens could be installed as soon as tomorrow, although it will probably be Monday or Tuesday. I keep thinking of old classic rock songs this week like 'Bad Mood Rising' and for some reason CCR's lyrics 'You better hidey-hide, You better Jump and Run . . .'! This week has turned out completely insane and I didn't get half of things I wanted to accomplished. Oh well, there's always next week and the only thing on my calendar for that is two OT appointments and Bella's test, so far.
Please pray for me! I don't know what is going on with me this week, but I need a teeny tiny bit of peace before school ends and we head out on a family vacation to San Antonio. Scott has to work on Saturday and that always makes things more challenging around here, but I did just find out I will get my hair done tomorrow which helps. If anyone wants to distract Scooter and Riley with a play date or something fun, please let me know! I am going to do a fun girly thing on Sunday with my buds Liz and Melody which will be nice and I will be sure to fill you in on what we are doing and why next week because it's kind of funny really. I have decided to take the DART train to meet them and avoid driving thanks to my track record this week. Oy! What a crazy week!
Love and God Bless!
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