Friday, September 30th, 2022
Friday Five!
TGIF!! I hope all our Florida friends are safe after the powerful hurricane and storm surges. We don’t have TV right now where I’d see more images, but I did see news feeds on my phone. That hurricane was scary, and the aftermath is horrendous.
Now to totally shift gears, let’s dive into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:
- Maggie is adjusting to her new home. The first couple days she was exploring, running around and thrilled to see people coming and going. But during the nights, she was scared and barked in her kennel. The first night I let her out to sleep in her bed next to me. The second night, we made her tough it out, the third night she was such a good girl. I’m proud of her! Really! When we first got her, she barked ten long nights. Just so everyone knows we’re not being cruel, we have real reasons why we want her to sleep in a kennel, the two main ones being 1) she is so attached to me, we want to give her places to feel safe without me next to her, and 2) fire or other emergencies in the middle of the night — in her kennel we always know where she is and can quickly load her in the car to escape.
- We love it in the new house so far! Although Wizard took a picture of me trying to cook dinner in my new kitchen and posted it to our family messageĀ board saying, “Mom is lost trying to cook in the new kitchen!” He’s not wrong!!
- The day after we moved in, we had a plumbing issue that happened when Wizard was gone and I was just leaving for a long awaited specialist (gastroenterologist) appointment. Suddenly I heard a weird bubbling. At first, I thought it was the washing machine where I was washing towels, but it looked fine. I heard the noise again, and found the toilet in the bathroom next to the laundry room was bubbling. Like almost boiling. I looked for a shut off valve, when it stopped. I HAD to leave. I shut off the washer and called Wizard. He answered, and said the exact words I needed to hear: “I’m pulling in the driveway now, come outside, take the car and go, I’ve got this.” It turned out the housing track superintendent was right outside our house (even more luck!) and knew what it was. There’s a cleanout drain outside, and some worked had put paper towels down there. They cleaned out a wad and all is well. Crises averted!
- We’ve had lots of help! I want to give a shout out to middle son, youngest son, my youngest daughter in law AND her mom! They have all done so much! My sister’s been here twice too while dealing with her own home owner problems (water leak) because she’s my rock! Oldest son and his wife, as well as middle’s wife all have offered, but they are on call for later projects :-). So many people have called, texted and emailed, knowing what this move meant to us (there’s a lot of reasons it needed to happen) and we are so grateful for that support. And you all know we loved our old house too, but life and needs change.
- Fun story; two sons were here helping to install ceiling fans. Wizard was involved too, and being a “dad” telling the two boys what to do. The two boys have installed more ceiling fans than Wizard, so that was fun. Youngest DIL and I were sealing the granite and doing a ton of other stuff, but we saw all this, including the boys endless patience with dad’s constant advice. All the boys were in the master bedroom trying to figure out how the housing track color-coded the wiring in the ceiling fan prewire, and the two boys kept telling wizard they know what they’re doing. Finally the fan was in and they told Wizard to turn it on. He did…and sparks flew everywhere! I was walking through and ducked in panic. There was a stunned silenced afterward, then youngest announced, “It’s okay, everyone calm down.” No one screamed or said much, so yeah, we’ll do that youngest
Anyhow, Wizard recovered from teh shock, looked at the two boys, “Told you it was wrong.” LOLOLOL!!! But all was fine. Middle (who has the most experience with all wiring, he really does know what he’s doing) replaced the wall switch, then they all redid the ceiling fan connections and it works great. They installed the next two without incident. Two morals to this story: 1) Our new house didn’t burn down and 2) Wizard is sure he was right! (For me, the best thing ever is that our kids wanted to be here to help!)
I know everyone will tire of hearing about the house. I totally understand. And we will soon learn the problems and challenges this house will have, but for the moment, we are enjoying it! I’ll try to post pictures on Monday (I hope — we keep getting sidetracked form goals by multiple ongoing projects).
So that’s my five and now I’d love to hear yours! I really do love hearing about your lives! Have a great weekend!
September 30th, 2022 at 7:09 am · Link
You’re fine. Talk about your new house all you want. Yay for Maggie adjusting to the new house. Yay for getting things accomplished and for loads of help doing it. Yay for an easy fix to what could’ve been a scary plumbing problem. Tell Wizard to stop picking on you – cooking in a new place is hard. LOL about the ceiling fan thing. Dads will be Dads.
1) Lately, I feel like all I talk or think about is work. Reading about your house takes me away.
2) I actually wrote something the other day. Like three paragraphs, but it’s something.
3) A little voice inside my head was trying to convince that today is Saturday. Good thing I didn’t listen because taking an unscheduled and unauthorized day off is a quick way to have lots of days off. LOL
4) It’s downright cool here this morning. I think it’s like 42, which is nice. I can’t wait for the trees to start changing. (Not looking forward to raking leaves, though. LOL)
5) I got some kudos at work yesterday. I was helping an elderly woman and she said I was excellent at customer service and that she ought to talk to my supervisors and tell them that. I wish she would, but I’m not counting on it. The good interactions never call. The bad ones can’t wait to call. Such is the way of the world. :sigh:
September 30th, 2022 at 8:20 am · Link
Totallyl get crating Maggie! Glad she’s settled in. Yay for family and friends. The new kitchen is NOT the old kitchen. Stuff is in different places, steps are different, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. LOL about the fans. I love hearing about the new house and I can’t wait to see pics! Okay, my very boring five.
1. Our highs are still above normal but our lows are about right. No AC on so that’s a yay! After this summer, the AC unit needs a looong break. I’ll probably switch to fall/winter linens in the bedroom this weekend. I’m so ready.
2. The footage out of Florida is crazy. I’ve been watching a lot of “live” coverage. I’m totally impressed by Gov. DeSantis and his first lady. Good thoughts and prayers to all the people. Most of my friends and acquaintances are in the Tampa area so they’re fine. Don’t know about some of the others.
3. I tried a new cinnamon roll recipe that uses canned cinnamon rolls. They were pretty darn yummy and sooo easy. That recipe will be featured on my blog on Tuesday. Complete with a pic of my attempt. LOL
4. I don’t really have a Pete story for this week. I did look out the front window the other day and caught him trying to con the other “crazy feral cat lady” in the neighborhood–the nice older (yeah, even older than me!) lady across the street. She was refilling her bird feeder and he was out there rubbing against her legs and looking all cute. This is the same cat that brings dead birds to the garage.
5. Tomorrow is First Saturday. No siren test for the James Gang though. Stormy’s soccer game starts at 10:40 and there’s no way to get the 25 miles from where he plays to where the sirens are. However, we will make the drive to Edmond for lunch because Alvarados! It’s been two months since the Kids were out of town last month. Gotta get our fix.
Have a great weekend, all!
September 30th, 2022 at 3:19 pm · Link
1. I am so happy that Maggie is adjusting to her new home. I know so many people that crate their pups at bedtime. Just like you, safety is the key factor.
2. A new kitchen has to be learned. I can’t wait to see the photos.
3. Wow, all the key items lining up when you needed help. I call that godsends. So glad it was a super easy fix. But it also has me asking why some goof would have put paper towels in there in the first place.
4. It’s wonderful to have a good helping supportive family.
5. Oh man the fanš. Wizard must be walking around so proud.
I love hearing about the house. Keep filling us in.
1. After three days of very limited water, it appears to be fixed. Debris from the calcite flush got into the softener mechanism and caused it to be in non-stop “purge” mode.
2. Went for a ride out farther into the country to get cider today (didn’t get it before because of house issues). Man is it good. Real cider is so much better than the processed stuff the grocery store sells.
3. Couldn’t play a movie eldest lent us because it was 4k. All the others had worked fine in our old blu-ray player but not this one. Jurassic World (I think). We now have a new player and we will be watching the movie tonight.
4. Tomorrow Youngest and I are headed to NY to see my mom. It will be another long day. I plan on cleaning again.
5. Sunday middle is coming over with Queso. We’re going to go out to one of the wooded parks and take the pup on a long walk. I’ll have lasagna for us for dinner.
Should be a good weekend.
I hope you have a great weekend and have fun doing more in the new home.
October 1st, 2022 at 11:19 am · Link
B.E, thanks! In a few weeks, we might even know where most things are in the house. We really are lost in the kitchen
1) The day job is a big deal and quite an adjustment! I like hearing about it. I also think you’re facing a whole lot of new challenges and I love that.
2) 3 paragraphs is great! More than I’ve written in fiction.
3) So glad you remembered it was Friday!
4) Fall is arriving! I love fall and I think you do too (except for raking leaves).
5) That’s a great compliment! I hope she calls your supervisor too. But you’re right, we are more vocal about complaints than compliments.
Hope you’re enjoying the weekend!
October 1st, 2022 at 11:32 am · Link
Silver, thanks!!
1) No A/C running is a big yay. I really appreciate having it in the summer, but I’m so ready for fall.
2) It’s really scary to see the devastation in Florida and to know that death toll will rise. I’ve had more of a chance to watch some footage and it’s awful. I imagine the governor is doing all he can.
3) I will go look at your blog…wait, I’m back and double checked and you said NEXT Tuesday, not last Tuesday **facepalm** You should have seen me trying to find the easy cinnamon bun recipe, LOLOL!!
4) Pete’s a charmer!!
5) Nope, you can’t be in two places in that close a time frame. And if you dared to try, there’d be something typing up traffic and aggravating you to know end. But going to lunch and seeing the kids is wonderful!
Hope Stormy wins/won his game and you have a great food and company at lunch!
October 1st, 2022 at 11:40 am · Link
Viki, thank you! Learning the new kitchen is fun but will take time. Once I get the feel of it, I’ll begin rearranging if I need too. But the hardest parts of selling the house and moving are over and that’s a lot to be happy about!
1) Glad the water is fixed, but it’s so frustrating how stuff like that happens, and we have no idea until it creates problems for us. Living without water (or limited access) is hard!
2) Yay for finally getting your cider! You have had a lot with the refrigerator and water issues. Now you can relax with a hot cider (I think you like it hot).
3) Hope you enjoyed the movie in your new blu-ray player!
4) You are a great daughter and youngest a great grandson. I hope your mom is having a good day, and that you don’t overdo helping her.
5) Queso is coming!! I’m sure Spunk isn’t thrilled, but he sounds like such a cute and fun dog. Hope you guys have a great time on the long walk! And are you making that lasagna? When did or do you have time????
Hope you have a great weekend and your mom is doing as well as possible.