I'm tired of cooking/preparing 3 meals a day. It's just the two of us but boy oh boy can that woman eat!! She stays slimish, I get fattish. It's bad enough I do everything here much less start making her one thing and me the other. At times I feel guilty when I buy her fast food cuz of the nutritional value....not to mention I eat it too.
I am not going. They cannot expect everyone to go and spend the money for such a trip. I do not enjoy traveling, first of all, and it I were going to travel I would go somewhere I want to go. They are the ones doing irreparable harm to relationships! Not us!
My fear is twisteds will be going......
And they aren't that young, he's seeing 40 on the horizon and has always wanted kids so he's pushing to get this done. I wish they'd elope.
"We're going to tie the knot in the Maldives and you're all invited!"
[thinks - oh ffs]
Could you make a trip of it and stay somewhere within reach but not quite so ruinous?
glad -hope the wind has died down
cw - if you can't, don't!
Progress. The water level has still not gone down enough for a camera shot so this morning the guy had to dig in the back lawn. He located the blockage 7 ft inside the back fence. Now it goes to the project manager to arrange repair. Hoping that happens quickly. I know the repair will take a few days.
I called the insurance adjuster back - when she said to - but no answer. No surprise either.
DD is having some problems after her 4th chemo but so far it is manageable. Praying it stays that way.
I went to dd's the other day and ended up coming back home the same night. They really aren't set up for a guest. There is a futon in the basement but there also is wall to wall undone laundry, bits of technology strewn around etc. I was looking for my sense of humour under a pile of grubby sox and some very used bedding.
Dd is in no shape to deal with it or with the kids. I gently remarked she might suggest that the kids do their laundry every year or so. She just shrugged and looked at me and said "Teenagers." I nodded. I had them too.
Sil said he would set up the spare bedroom once he is off work. That may work. I don't have high expectations.
Yesterday I went over there for a bath and to rinse out a few unmentionables. That worked. Meanwhile I am "camping" here in the house. There are an assortment of public washrooms > 2 mins drive away - 3 of them in 24/7 service stations, one in an A&W very nearby which opens at 6 a.m. (I was there at 6:01 this morning) and one in Sobeys which opens at 8 a.m. I could go to a hotel on insurance money but I really don't want to. Once the house is ready and staged and being shown, Rocky and I will have to be elsewhere. That's soon enough. Rocky is loving being out in the garden and I am loving being in my home so I will manage here as long as I can. There are lots of things I can do here that don't need water but do need to be done. The plants will do fine on bottled water and I can make coffee and tea, use paper plates and so on.
Once they have evidence, by way of a photograph, that the sewer pipe is collapsed then the repair work can proceed, starting with digging up the back yard. I think I'll be lucky if the original problem is fixed by this time next week. Then the lawn will need to be fixed.
Due to covid, I am not anxious to be anywhere else than here, though I may end up in a hotel. I can come and visit with Rocky, cuddle with her, let her out etc. every day. The basement is clean now so she is fine down there at night. The thing is, at my age, you can't just can't throw a few pairs of panties into your purse, grab your thyroid meds and take off. Those days are long gone. I need plug ins for hearing aides, supplements for CFS/FM, foods I'm not allergic to, toilet paper and shampoo/conditioner I'm not allergic to and so on. The list is getting longer. So far I am managing OK, but if I get too tired of the washroom antics I'll go somewhere else. It's complicated.
I am supposed to talk with the insurance adjuster this afternoon. Wish me luck!
Golden, hope all is going ok.
Here I am on Day 3 of my challenge to myself (to focus more on me, and less on helping my mother). An enormous medial crisis (no one's fault) happened today, Sunday, while I tried to relax. My mother started choking (it all ended well). It took hours to solve the situation at home. The caregivers helped. We called the nurse, doctor. Ambulance.
My mother's choking went up and down the whole day. Seemed fine again, then bad again. One of the most stressful days. Finally, my mother's body calmed down. Blood pressure returned to normal, heartbeat, temperature. We told the ambulance to go away. My mother (competent) prefers to stay home. I agreed. She looks OK again now. We'll see what to do tomorrow. She's napping now (sitting upright in her recliner) (better not to lie down flat in case she chokes).
My deep-felt empathy for all of us, with our difficulties.
That's terrible about the sewer line. I've had it happen a few times. Tree roots grew into it. The sewage backed up into the basement.
I hope you have the special insurance. Best thing I ever did. It's only $180.00 a year.
I had a clay sewer line collapse on me once. The house was a 1890's victorian. In those days there was lots of common trenches that went through yards, not in easements, there were no easements. The line broke when the plumber tried to snake it, cleaning roots out of it which I had to do twice a year.
The utility company only allowed pvc replacement in those days. I learned of a new technology in sewer pipe that alleviated the necessity to dig up the old and put in new called in situ replacement. The new "pipe" was actually a flattish tube of material that was inserted into the old pipe, then pressurized air to inflate the new, which broke away the old clay pipe while still in the ground. But the utility did not allow the use of it yet. Ended up having to move the line because neighbor would not allow my sewer outflow to continue in the same place, under his back yard. Wouldn't you know, his property was a mess, probably the worst in the area!
https://www.aegion.com
Had to replace the old iron water line at the same time, it had corroded so badly that the water pressure in the house was very low.
Good luck, it is a maintenance thing that most never have to deal with.
I just had a call from the project manager - very nice guy. He suggests I move out for a few days as the water has to be kept shut off. He said they are pretty sure about the pipe and can start once they have photos. It should be done by Tuesday at the latest. Of course it will take longer to fix the lawn, but I can be back in the house. I'll either stay at a hotel or at my dd's if she wants the company. She got her 4th chemo yesterday so is starting to feel rough so I am not sure she will want me and Rocky around. Rocky may be OK here as long as I visit a bit. She has her food and litter and is used to this house. I have shut off the basement, but she has plenty of cubby places to sleep upstairs.
Opening windows as much as I can to get fresh air in!
Oh my - always something!
Update - no clean up and no progress yet except to find out that the 150 ft snake isn't doing it. Another plumber with a longer snake is coming. The clean up guy said there s nothing he can do until the sewer is unblocked. It keeps backing up.
Wondering if this is a city issue as it seems to be beyond my property.
Poor Rocky doesn't know what is happening. Her night time routine has been disturbed. I guess I will give her her treats and let her sleep where she wants to. She doesn't want to go down in the basement as usual so I made her an extra litter box upstairs.
ETA - Yay! The plumber with the BIG snake is here. Hope that does it and the clean up gets done tonight!
Not much will have to be tossed - the small freezer, some shelving and a few bits of baseboard and ceiling tile I had stored down there. The wooden base the washer and drier sat on will have to go. Not sure what else.
The plumber is still down there and the clean up crew will come when they are finished what they are doing elsewhere.
I really didn't need another insurance claim to deal with. I think it is the same adjuster we had for the post evac stuff and she was awful. Oh well.
On top of this R now has covid and is feeling pretty rotten, so he won't be up to work on the house for a while. I had already decided that we would not get it on the market for May 1, so aiming at June 1 now. It will happen when it will happen In guess.
So my challenge was supposed to start today (22 April '22):
(1) Stop whining for at least 7 days. (2) No excuses; help myself as much as I helped my mother.
I ended up yelling (I normally never yell) while speaking to my mother today. But not at her (she knows that). But at the situation, the stress, the pressure. She (for once) spoke very calmly to me, really understood and empathized, felt the worry I have for my life.
I really needed to express what I said. So I'm glad I did it.
I hope all of you are well. Please everyone, me too, I'm trying to find the right balance: in my situation, I must tip the scales more towards me, more help towards my life. Wishing us all luck!!!!!
A couple of days ago a fire was started by the battery of a crashed drone.
Starting tomorrow about 11 a.m. and continuing into the night. gusts to 65 mph! It has to stop sometime, right? The level of dust gets so bad you cannot see past the houses across the street. One neighbor is in the process of moving to Wyoming where it is even worse, more often. Wonder if he is sorry yet!
I challenge myself henceforth to stop whining (at least for 7 days straight), starting from 22 April ’22.
I challenge myself to make the same Herculean effort towards myself, as I did for my mother. No excuses.