Water Leak

Oy.  I don't know how last week got past me without a post about the water heater. On Tuesday I went to throw a load in the washing machine.  There was a towel on the floor that had missed the hamper.  When I picked it up, it was heavy.  Wait...what?  Why is the towel heavy?  Well because it was soaking up the water leaking from the water heater.  Oy.
I called the last plumber and they couldn't come out till Tuesday of this week.  A week without hot water seems a bit much.  So I called Sarkinen back and they came out on that day and replaced the hoses going in and out.  The plumber told me if one failed it was likely the other would also.  I don't know if that is true but I had a working water heater again.  To the tune of $325.
A couple days later I decide I should just check that water heater.  Damn.  It is still leaking and it doesn't have anything to do with those hoses.  It is warm water which means it is coming out of the water heater.  It is leaking where the cold water goes in.
Called Sarkinen back. They can't come back until Tuesday of this week.  Oy.  So every time we needed water for dishes, baths and the washing machine, I go out and turn the water back on and then turn it off when we are done with it.  Such a hassle.  Hopefully Tuesday it gets fixed correctly.
It is just one more thing on my already overflowing plate.

No Calls

No calls today.  Thank goodness.  First I can't answer the landline.  The last phone did get broken several weeks ago.  And I have not gotten around to replacing it.  The only person that affects is me. 
The last week there have been so many calls from schools and reminder calls, it seems like all the phone did was ring.
So it is nice to get to a day when it is quiet. 

Ups and Downs

We have been planning our trip to Hawaii since last summer.  The condo was paid for then.  The rental car taken care of then.  The only thing remaining beforehand was the airline tickets.  Last year those tickets were in the $700 range.  Yeah....not doing that.  I have been waiting all this time for the flights to become a bit cheaper.  This spring they started nudging downward.   A little at a time.  Great prices to fly at times other than when our condo is rented.  Patience.  And more patience.
The tickets finally came in under $500.  I would have preferred under $400, but at this point I think it is the best we are going to get.  I went to the airline to see how full the flight was that we wanted and it was getting full.  So I bought the tickets.  The money had been set aside for that for a long time.  And while I maybe should  not do it being as how our circumstances are changing....I did it anyway.  We will make do in other areas.  This could be our last big trip for awhile.
I had invited Cassie to come out.  I need a babysitter just before our trip and my brother will already be gone as he is going a day earlier than we are.  I wanted the littles to get some nice one on one time also with their mommy.  They have been questioning the living situations and feeling a lot left out.
Naturally I planned and God laughed.  Now the whole family is coming which means my littles just got a back burner. But I remind myself that anything they get is more than they had and they will be happy about it.  So we coordinated and bought tickets so their whole family flies together.  And the littles are excited for them to come.
We had therapy.  And she broke the news to us that she is leaving the Children's Center at the end of the month to move to Arizona.  Her husband got a job there.  It is another change.  Change just sucks in our world.  But we will get through it one day at a time like always.  The littles didn't seem to take it in or it is just more of the same for them.  I took it in and thought great.....another person to explain things to.  As I have stated before....I'm so tired of explaining all the time.
We talked about the school issue and she said if we can't get them to school the only option left is going to be homeschooling.  Yup.  I still can't see how that looks yet.  But I have started already in small ways.  The little man had to write out the shopping list.  We talked about rivers and why they rise.  We talked about protagonists and antagonists.  They liked that one.  They have noticed that all movies seem to have a bad guy. I love how their brains work especially when they share what they are thinking.  I showed the little man the tricks with multiplying nines.  He thought that was cool.

One Day at a Time

It's my motto.  And I am sticking to it.  Trying not to worry too far into the future.  Breathing.  It's all I can do.

Time For a Change

The little man actually agreed to go to school.  I told him I would pick him up as soon as I could if he went.  Amazingly enough he then went.  And when I picked him up he was having a good pleasant conversation with one of the aides.
The little woman on the other hand is still refusing.  And I don't know how to make that change.  So I went to work and told Liz that something had to change.  I need to look at some other options.  I don't know what they are, but I can't have this clash every single day.  I can't have the unhappiness and anger every single day.  Liz agreed with me and gave me the next couple of weeks off to figure it out.  Everything I can come up with off the top of my head says I will not be employed at the end of this.
Now the home specialist came and he sure didn't seem thrilled with any of the quick ideas I had.  He wants them in school even if they are resisting so strongly.  I looked at him and asked so how do you make them go.  When they truly resist and nothing works...rewards, take aways, etc....how do you make them go? He did not have a ready answer for that.  He has not ran across this in his career yet.  He is just afraid if we do something different it will be lackadaisical....and it might....and they won't get educated.  He seemed shocked when I told him....homeschooling does not have to be 9-3.  It can be all day and in many many ways.  That is one of the beauties of it.  It is flexible to each learner.
Anyway it was good to get his opinion.  But something still has to change because this is not good for us at all.
Whatever we do does not have to be permanent.  It just needs to get us over this hump without too much damage to education.

Terrible Tuesday

This morning no one wanted to cooperate.  No one was going to school.  I did all the standard things.  And nothing worked.  I finally had to give up.  And that was not a good call to work.  My work needs a dependable person who can show up at those 7 a.m. mornings.  So I lost that standing because right now that person is not me. 
And the day never really got better.  I'm sure we were all playing off each other's emotions.  And we need calm here.

Little Woman's First Rush

Oy.  So the littles had a couple of days off last week.  Which means this week sucks. While breaks now seem to be good for us, going back to school routine is not.  So we get to daycare and the little man goes right in.  But not the little woman. 
She has thrown enough fits in the parking lot that we are kind of on probation at the daycare.  They can't have this going on every morning I need to drop them there and we were told this the last time she did it.  So rather than fight, I tried to coax and it didn't work.  I'm not a good coaxer. 
My dilemma is it is the first day of spring rush.  And work is doing it different now.  No extra people hired on a temporary basis to help.  So it is just Brenda and I.  My work ethic clashes with my kid ethic and trying to be respectful of her anxiety.  The only thing I could come up with was to take her with me.  And so I did. 
She spent the first half of the day sitting in a chair and playing on my phone.  Very quiet.  Very good and well behaved.  I was hoping for boredom so she wouldn't want to do this ever again.  That didn't happen.  The second half of the day she started interacting with customers who all interacted back with her.  She was engaging and made lists and lists of places. 
And so......