Home Repair Updates

I slept in this morning and hauled myself out of bed at 9:15. I washed the last of the dishes from last night's dinner and made myself a cup of coffee, then surfed Ravelry for a few minutes. I've just finished wiping down the stove. I am not a fan of cleaning, but it's satisfying to have a pristine stove or sink.

Mark and JB finished putting in the new front door last night, and JB also finished installing a new porch light. From the inside, it feels like an entirely new house; we bought a fiberglass door (tax credit) with an oval leaded glass insert. It allows so much light into the house that the foyer looks about a foot wider than it is.

Remaining to do today is more mudding in the master bathroom, installing the casing outside and inside the new front door, and packing up to go to San Antonio.

That's right, we went to Austin, came home for one day, installed a new front door, and are leaving again forthwith. Assuming the car is fixed.

That's the other thing. The car's battery light came on again. I called the mechanic, and he told me to bring it on out, but I told him no. I told him I was going to get a couple of second opinions, and I'd call him back and let him know what they said. He didn't answer when I called back. I'm sad because I've used this guy for over 10 years and really like him, but he really blew it on this repair. I told him it was more than just a loose belt, but he didn't listen. His loss.

The two mechanics I've talked with said it's either a bad/loose bolt on the alternator itself that shakes loose with the vibration of the car or it's a bad harmonic balancer. The mechanic we left it with said he'd look at it this morning and let us know the final answer. He couldn't guarantee that it would be fixed today, so we might have to rent a car for the trip to San Antonio. Not ideal, but do-able.

With the bit of day I have left to me before the packing and preparations begin, I'm going to take a shower. In my newly installed bathroom shower.

Home Again

We are home from Austin, thank heavens. I'm sure Austin was wonderful, awesome, and life-changing for everyone, but I spent half the visit in the motel bed moaning in agony. Absolute misery.

Sometime Sunday night, my poor tummy started to ache, and it all went downhill from there. I'll spare you the gory details.

Julia, Burgundy, Mark, and JB went to the Texas State Capitol Building, and then they went to the Texas Chili Parlor for lunch. I swear, I don't understand how those girls can stand to be vegetarians living in this state. I laid in bed at the motel with a fever of 101.9.

After lunch, they came back to the motel, and Mark took me to IHOP for Saltines and Sprite. I also wolfed down two pancakes without syrup or butter (but with the tiniest smearing of honey). Then I went back to the motel and went back to sleep. Mark, Julia, JB, and Burgundy went out again. I have no idea where.

Sometime around 7 I woke again. Fever was down to 100.0. I felt competent to resume knitting; it had been nearly 24 hours. I know, right? Too long.

I finished one of Julia's socks (I was on the toe already) and began working on the other sock.

The family returned to the motel. They had eaten at a Korean vegetarian restaurant with crappy service. My fever was down to 98.2. Mark took me to an Irish pub; I was feeling much, much better. I ate shepherd's pie.

Tuesday we woke, checked out of the motel, and the boys dropped Burgundy, Julia and I at South Congress. They went to art museums. I hung out at Hill Country Weavers, and the girls shopped their way down So. Congress.

After lunch, JB and Mark picked us up, and we all went to Alamo Drafthouse to see Sherlock Holmes. Dear, Sweet, Cuddly Baby Jesus, but I have a thing for Robert Downey Jr. I would LOVE to bite him. He needs to be bitten. Seriously.

Good Morning, Internet!

It's 9AM, and our brand new, beautiful German cuckoo clock just went off. It's the real deal, straight from Germany with beautiful pinecone weights for the winders and a tiny little bluebird for the cuckoo. And it goes off every hour on the hour. And every half-hour. We've had a little trouble getting the weight just right on the pendulum, but it chimed 9 times at 9:00 AM (and 10 at 10:00 AM), so I'm thrilled.

Of course, I am alone to revel in its beauty. Every other soul in this house is sound asleep. Scratch that; I think Mark just got up.

We had a marvelous Christmas. My mom gave Burgundy and I matching monkey slippers, and she gave Burgundy jeans and a dress and Julia some cute, pink scrapbooking supplies.

Julia had gifts sent over from Germany; they were so awesome and sweet! She gave me a fountain pen and refills (I raved over Burgundy's at the beginning of the school year), a beautiful necklace, and a jar of pear jam. I seriously considered hand-writing this entry before posting just so I could use the pen, but I realized my hand would be so sore I wouldn't want to type it later. Alas, the pen sits unused. For now.

For Mark, they sent a bottle of cherry liqueur (it's 80 proof, y'all!) for use in making a real Black Forest Cherry cake; if we weren't totally sugared out from the holidays, I would make one today! She gave him a magnetic desk toy and a really nice set of markers like the ones she brought over for herself. He'd been eyeing her marker set enviously because, like me, he's an office supply hound. Oh, and she gave him a triangular protractor. These presents (with the possible exceptions of the markers and the liqueur) would bore me to death, but My Favorite Nerd loved them. They were perfect for him, as mine were for me.

They also sent a gift to the family: the German cuckoo clock I mentioned earlier. It's so beautiful, and I've wanted one for so long.  I'm just thrilled.

We had two gifts that kept us in screams of laughter all morning. The first was Burgundy's gift to me: The first one opened. She gave me a miniature hazard sign with a motion-activated fart detection and warning system. Every time someone took a picture, the flash set it off; sirens wailed, the orange light flashed, and a loud voice would yell, "WARNING! DANGEROUS GASES DETECTED! FOLLOW-THROUGH IS IMMINENT! WARNING" There were seven or eight other messages, all of them equally hilarious, but that's the one I remember.

The second hilarious gift came from Julia to Burgundy. Early on, Julia asked what Burgundy would want for Christmas. I explained that Burgundy collects nutcrackers, and a genuine, German-made nutcracker would be enormously precious to her. Julia was really excited about this, and immediately called her parents and set them to work. Christmas morning, Burgundy unwrapped her first gift from Julia: a long slender package containing a really sleek, very sophisticated, and undeniably usable nutcracker.

And Burgundy compares last year's UT nutcracker to this year's Genuine German nutcracker.

Mark scored major points this year with jewelry. A stunning ruby and diamond necklace, earring, and ring set. Mark is really not a jewelry guy. Aside from my wedding ring, the only jewelry he's ever given me is a set of white gold hoop earrings. I think it really tears at his inner utilitarian to give people he loves things they can't really use. That makes me extra happy and honored to receive these from him. It means he not only saw what I wanted, but overcame his own urge to pragmatism to buy them for me. AND he bought them on Black Friday, which was when we were in the midst of huge Marital Distress. It was bad enough that we were talking divorce while crying with each other because we didn't want to. That he went out and bought me something so beautiful, romantic, and impractical in the midst of that hell and upheaval really speaks to my heart. I love that man; I really do. The chains around our necks were a gift of bling from Burgundy to Mark.

There were tons of other gifts, but I'll hit some highlights. The t-shirts I ordered for Mark and JB had not yet come in, so I printed the cartoons for each of them and put them in their stockings with a note that said, "You shoulda had this on a t-shirt." I bought Mark the Useless cartoon, and JB the woodpecker (the t-shirt only has the last panel).

Burgundy got a photo printer and scanner. Both girls got Doc Marten vinyl knock-off boots; Burgundy received bright green, and Julia received hot pink. I bought them both tights, and Burgundy also received  two more charms for her charm bracelet: a monkey (because I call her Rat-Monkey) and a music note. I tried to knit them both socks; Julia received two socks both knit to about the 3/4 mark, and Burgundy received one fully knit sock. They both received a pair of felted slippers, and I knit Julia a Giant Stocking of Doom to match Burgundy's.

Surrounded by their puddles of goodies, I said, "Okay, it's time to open your big gifts now." I waved Julia's smallest package in the air.

Julia said, "What? There's a big one after all this?"

Realizing I'd just potentially given something away, I said, "Yeah, we bought you a ticket home!" Julia huffed (she sounds just like Meryl Streep doing Julia Child when she huffs), and we all laughed; I told Burgundy to open her present, and she discovered the printer.

I handed Julia her gift. She said, "I can't believe there's more after all of this!" The terrible irony is that we paid nowhere near full price for any of the gifts. Burgundy's biggest gift was about 70% off. For Julia's we paid just over half price. She tore the wrapping paper off and removed the protective film and then just sat there with her mouth hanging open and said, "You're crazy! You're all just crazy!" We gave her an iPod touch.

We'd planned on spending about $170 on each girl. We originally bought Julia an iPod Nano for about $140, and then I picked up everything else she received in her stocking and in regular gifts for right at $30. I found leggings on clearance, tank tops on clearance, etc. About a week later, our friend Anthony came to us and asked if we still needed an iPod for Julia for Christmas. He'd received an iPod Touch - what Julia really wanted and had planned to buy for herself until I dissuaded her) - from the company he was leaving, and he planned to sell it. The Touch came with a package of protective sleeves and a $15 gift card. All together, the package was worth about $225. Anthony offered to sell us the package for $150. Off to Fry's Mark ran to return the Nano, which after tax had been $149. So we managed to do this HUGE Christmas for her while staying more or less on budget.

For Burgundy, we found her biggest Christmas present, the printer, for $30 on Black Friday. I picked up it and the biggest family gift, Beatles Rock Band, on three hours' sleep that morning. The Rock Band game was much cheaper, too, going for $150 instead of $200, if I remember correctly.

I know Mark got a deal on my jewelry, though of course, I won't ask him. The really exciting things are that once again, we've had a wonderful, fun, relatively stress-free Christmas with Burgundy's dad, and we did our Christmas on budget.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

My House is a Shambles

But it's all for a good cause. First, the good news: JB finished hanging the cabinet and light fixture in the guest bathroom. And he painted it, and it looks good! We still need to do a little more trim work, but that's NOTHING compared to what he's accomplished.

In addition, he finished all the baseboards in the living room, foyer, and hallway in time for Burgundy's party. It looked SO good, and I feel so much better about my house having this theoretically little thing taken care of. Now I want to go paint the walls and the remaining trim in the hall and foyer so I have a completed, semi-polished look.

Meanwhile, yesterday he began demolishing our master bathroom. The tub is almost completely out now, and we're leaving in a few minutes to grab lunch and borrow Mom and Dad's big, scary truck. We're going to swing through Lowe's (or Home Depot; I haven't decided yet), pick up the bathtub, faucet and fixtures, and a new plumbing tree, and we'll be ready to go. I'm very excited about this. JB has warned us that it will probably take several trips to the store, and there will be some oopsies. I am AOK with this. I'm just excited that it's far enough underway that it has to be finished, no matter what.

Busy Busy Busy!

I should have anticipated that with a new job, new schedule, upcoming holidays, out of town guests, and the still on-going family crisis that I wouldn't post regularly. I'm really sorry for anyone who'd started reading me regularly and now finds I'm not updating. I must find a way to incorporate a quick (read: not a small novel with hand-drawn illustrations) post into each day.

Burgundy's having the worst time in Pre-AP Algebra II. She had a 68 average going into the holidays, and we spent all of the holidays and most of the week after focused exclusively on that class. She studied with a tutor, she practiced the material alone, and she worked like a fiend. On 12/4, she took the exam that could have brought her average back into Passing Land. She made a 63. Poor girl cried and cried, Mark and I fought and fought, and we initiated the process of getting her transferred into another class. Burgundy is taking an all pre-AP/AP load in school. She has As in all her classes right now except science, where she has a B on the border of an A, and Algebra II, where she has an F. Seeing the level of effort she's putting in, I'm inclined to believe that Burgundy is not the whole problem. There are concrete issues with the teacher, but it seems at best crass to blog about them where the whole wide world can read and judge the man.

Regardless, they will not transfer her until after the end of the semester. She has a quiz this Wednesday, an exam the Friday of the week she returns from Christmas break, and semester exams the following week. We've doubled up on the tutoring (more like quadrupled up: she meets with a different teacher twice a week, and she meets with a private tutor twice a week), we're working with the private tutor (a former teacher turned aerospace engineer) to devise a strategy for preparing for the semester exam, and we're praying. A lot.

I'm really enjoying the new job and the level of flexibility that I have. I'm working six hour days this week so that I can take off next week starting on Tuesday. The following week I'm travelling for personal reasons, so they gave me permission to work from home (or on the road, as the case may be) for a few hours, and then I can work six hour days the week I get back. In other words, I can work (roughly) two forty-hour weeks instead of four twenty-hour weeks. I feel as though I've been set free.

Mark gave me the go-ahead to purchase a grain mill. I ordered the more expensive mill. It was about $100 more than the base model, but it provides a wider range of flour textures. I've been buying wheat berries from Bethlehem Harvest for a couple of months and ten pounds at a time. I then paid Mrs. DeGray $2 per 5 pounds to grind the berries. Once my mill comes in, I'll be able to just buy the berries right out. Which is good, because they'll last a while, and I can mill my flour fresh right when I need it. I know having Mrs. DeGray mill it for me still made it miles fresher than the store-bought stuff, but it was MUCH more expensive. Given that I'm able to keep up with my family's bread demands and given that I've been doing this without a hitch (well, we did have to buy one loaf of bread. One.) since mid-October, I think I'm here to stay, breadwise. And I feel okay shelling out the dough (har har har) for the mill. I thought about asking for it for Christmas, but I realized that asking for household appliances sends the wrong message to DH. If he bought me a mop or a vacuum, we'd be in counseling. Or he'd be in physical therapy.

I've finished our family's Christmas letter, and it's almost ready to mail. It's four pages this year; last year it was three. I hope I can hold the line next year at four pages, because if we add another sheet, we're going to have to up the postage. Besides, I think four single-spaced, 11-point font pages with 1/2" margins is a bit much to ask of the people who love us, even if they do enjoy reading. I'm hoping to print page 3/4 (the signature page) this evening and get the family started on the signature process. We have nearly 140 of these bad boys to print, so it's a several-day process to get everything signed, printed, folded, stuck in the envelopes, addressed (even with mail merge and stickers, it's a lot of work), stamped, and mailed. I really need that done by Saturday. I want the ones I love to get their letters by Christmas.

BabyDaddy arrived yesterday. He was scheduled to arrive Saturday night, but he ran into horrible rains in New Orleans, got turned around and lost on the way to the airport, and missed his flight along with a bunch of other people. His mom sprang for a hotel in NOLA, and he caught an early AM flight into Houston. I picked him up at 9:45, and I had him at the church by 10:40. Burgundy caught sight of him, dropped what she was doing, and threw herself into his arms. I'm happy for her, and I hope they're able to have a good visit. Still don't know where or with whom he's going to stay. His flight doesn't leave until January 5. He stayed with us last night, but we're going to have to figure something out for the long term. We're going through too much turmoil to try to serve him right now.

That's it. I need to work. Work work work. I like the new job.