another busy day

We have been busy with laundry again all day. A bunch of loads down, easily twice as much still dirty. I hope I am never without a washing machine for so long ever again. I am certain that there will still be a ton of washing to do, even after I get back from Indiana next weekend.

Talked to Bill to plan out the end of the week. He has finals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We will be driving down there on Wednesday night - Dan does not want to take the day off from work. We will probably spend most of Thursday doing something fun in Indy, as Bill will be having finals all day. On Thursday evening we will take him out to dinner and start packing up his stuff. On Friday his final is in the afternoon.  So we will probably pack the bigger items (bike, book case, etc.) in his little truck and Dan will come back home on Friday morning (as he does not want to take Saturday off from work). Steven and Bill and I will come back in the Jeep (with little stuff like clothing and bedding and textbooks) on Saturday, after packing up the last few things and cleaning the room. That way we can get the last stuff ready to go on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

We will also have to keep an eye on the weather, as the little truck does not have a cover for the truck bed. If the weather is going to suck, we might have to get a tiny rental trailer to pull behind the Jeep for the big items.

In the meantime, I did not get much rest on my two days off, and am pretty tired. I am sure I will not get much rest this coming week, either. At least there will be only three days to work - tonight, Monday, and Tuesday. The rest of my time will be taken up with laundry and house work.  YUCK!!

busy but productive day

I do not know how much laundry got done, but it was several loads. And there is still so much that needs to be done that I could almost cry. I am very happy with the new washer, though - it is so quiet that I have to keep checking it to make sure that it is really running!

Filled up the bird feeders and repaired a couple of them. Did a load of dishes (though another load remains to be done). Watered all of the house plants. Kept running things to Steven that he wanted at his friend's house and had forgotten at home. Did tons of laundry. Did a bit of yard work. Even managed to find a couple of hours to take a nap before the rain came.

Dan and I went to a good Vietnamese restaurant called Dalat in Ypsilanti for dinner. http://www.dalatco.com/  They have the greatest egg rolls there you could ever hope to find.

And then we came home and I baked more chocolate chip cookies, and we did a bunch more laundry.  Yes - we are old farts!

Tags: Dalat restaurant, Ypsilanti

busy couple of days

We are having a busy couple of days!

The new washing machine was delivered, and I am using it now. I will be using it all day! Three weeks plus of dirty laundry for three people is a lot of loads of washing!  I am sure I will be using it several times a day for the next few days, trying to get caught up!

Yesterday Dan and Steven and I all went to the dentist. It has been a long time, since we did not have dental insurance for years, until my employer just started offering it this year.

My teeth were - rather amazingly - fine, other than needing a good cleaning. So were Dan's. Steven had a couple of cavities, which will be taken care of next month. He has one wisdom tooth starting to come in, but it does not need to be removed yet. They said we could think about getting him braces on his lower teeth only. They also said there is no medical reason for them - it would be strictly cosmetic. So we will think about it, and find out how much the insurance would cover of the expense. I have always heard that braces cost as much as a low end new car, so if the insurance does not cover much of the cost, and it is not medically needed - screw it. We have too many other expenses in out lives right now. Also - the kids are on the insurance until they turn 22. So we need to take care of any of Bill's dental needs first as he is 18 and Steven only 14. So we need to find out if Bill needs braces or wisdom teeth removal and take care of him first, as we have fewer years to do that with help from the insurance.

Bill will go for his dental visit in early May, after he comes home for the summer. Hopefully that will go well!

So we are doing well - last week we used the new vision insurance and this week we use the new dental insurance.

Bill's classes are over for his freshman year - he will have his finals next week, and then he will be home for the summer.

Last night Steven had a soccer game. It was cold and breezy and drizzling rain. I was glad to come home and cook up a hot dinner for everyone! I even baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

This morning Steven woke me up early so I could drive him to a friend's house for a visit. He woke me up with breakfast in bed - a large glass of milk and a plate of some of those chocolate chip cookies!

So today I have the house to myself, and am getting all sorts of work done. Lots of laundry, of course. I have filled up all of the bird feeders and am about to water all of the plants. Then I have a sinkfull of dirty dishes to wash. More laundry as all of this is being done. Since the sun is out, perhaps some yardwork. Hopefully then will come a nice nap sometime this afternoon!

to find British books...

Want a book from Britain that has not yet been published in your country (such as the latest books from Steven Erikson or Joe Abercrombie or David Zindell - which might not be available in the US for years)?

A lot of people at the Martin discussion board swear by this internet book store, which currently offers free world wide shipping:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/homepage.php

I have not used this store yet, so cannot personally vouch for it...

Though with the new Erikson and Zindell books coming out  in Britian in May, I might be giving it a try!

Tags: British books, Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, David Zindell, free international shipping, Book Depository

new washing machine

Dan and I met one of the big box home improvement stores yesterday before I went into work, and we bought a new washing machine. It would have cost about 2/3 the price of a new one to get the old one repaired, so we bit the bullet and got a new one.

We wanted to get one of those front loader machines, because they are so green friendly - using 60% less water than a top loader. But we ended up getting a top loader because the front loaders all cost hundreds of dollars more.

It was delivered this morning, but the drain hose was not with it, so the men have to come back tomorrow to hook it up.

Thankfully, they took away the old one, so we do not have to haul it to the dump.

I just hope the thing tomorrow will work out, as all three of us have dentist appointments in the morning!

Yep - used my new vision insurance last week; will use the new dental insurance this week! Bill will get to go to the dentist when he gets home from school.

wiiiiiiiiind

The roaring of a high wind woke me up this morning. I am hoping that no more large trees will come down in our yard. The one that came down and blocked the road was more than enough.

Somehow I did make it through work last night, despite the aching knee. Four more nights to go this week!

The Tigers finally managed to beat the White Sox yesterday, and the Wings won their playoff series against the Flames early this morning in the second overtime of game six. I was really glad they won - game five on Saturday had devolved into one of the uglier hockey games I have seen in a long time, and mostly due to Calgary.

I was up way too late last night trying to get some emoticons up on my friend Danlo's internet discussion board. I never could get anything to work right, and got woken up far too early by the roaring wind.

Tonight I think I will just come home and relax rather than working anymore on those emoticons!

We are now something like 3 weeks without a washing machine. I had to go buy new socks and underwear for everyone. And Dan keeps telling me he does not want me going to a laundromat, as they are creepy. I am getting very frustrated with life.

So, here are some of the unexpected expenses we have run into lately:

water heater needs repair (only two years old)

washing machine needs repair or replacement (only five years old)

need to rent a log splitter to cut apart the tree

several repairs on Dan's truck

chain saw needs repair

dish washer needs repair

Throw those on top of buying a new rider lawn mower for Dan (the old one had become unusable) last fall and getting Bill his laptop (and yes - being the good and responsible kid he is, he did pay for part of it) last winter and all of a sudden money is getting pretty tight. Also throw in the fact that the desktop computer needs to be replaced, as it is several years old and running very poorly. We also need to have the septic tank pumped out and the chimney cleaned. Throw in the really bad economy (the local newspapers have recently started calling what is going on in the is area a depression as it has been so bad for so long around here and so many more jobs are getting lost all the time) and we are starting to get pretty nervous.

nice spring weather is FINALLY here!

The good spring weather has finally arrived. At last it is sunny and beautiful!

Of course, this came just in time for our eye doctor appointments yesterday. So they only dilated my eyes (Dan will have to go back and get his eyes dilated in May). That way one of us could see to drive.

Anyway, it was so bright outside, and my eyes were so very dilated, I felt sort of funny. We had planned on going to a charity pig roast last night, but I asked to be dropped off at home instead. So Dan dropped me off on his way from Saline (where the eye doctor is) to Milan (where the pig roast was). He and Steven (who was already in Milan helping to set up a wrestling tournament) went to the pig roast, and I rested at home. Steven laughed when he got home and saw how big my eyes were!

Today Dan and Steven left early to the wrestling tournament in Milan. I went later in the morning. I must be a curse to my child - whenever I am not there to watch him, he does great, and whenever I am there he does not do very well. Today he did not do so well. He was clearly tired and lethargic.

So when his matches were over, I brought him home. He had helped set things up, so did not need to stay after to help clean up and roll up the mats.

We spent a quiet afternoon watching our Tigers lose to the darned White Sox, and then watching our Wings win their playoff game against Calgary on television.

When Dan came home, we all ate a quiet dinner together.

Then Steven went to his best friend's house to spend the night.

Tomorrow I will be back to work, though my knee is still very sore and I do not know how I will be able to make it through eight hours of standing and walking. Dan will take Steven to a travel soccer game in Tecumseh.

Bill has only one week left of classes!

He will be home for the summer in two weeks!