BIG Mess

The rural water lines have come through and has left a HUGE mess.  We're not even hooking up since we have a good well, but we had to give right-of-way for the easement, so that meant that they had to lay pipe through the entire length of our property.  This is what we've dealt with since yesterday morning...

 Last night as we watched them filling in the hole from where they bored under our driveway, we saw the backhoe hit our cedar tree and knocked down a large branch.  They then proceeded to take a chain saw and chop down another that was in their way.

It's a lovely sight looking out of our front window...  They're supposed to come back and fix everything they dug up, but it will most likely be spring before the dirt settles and they're able to sow grass.  And then there's our driveway...  We spent a LOT of money 4 years ago to lay asphalt on 200 sq. feet of driveway, and two backhoes and a skid steer did a number on it.  There are large scrapes, indentations from the backhoe supports, treads worn off onto the blacktop.  Who knows what else is lying under the thick layer of dirt.  Isaac is supposed to be here all weekend, so once the dirt is washed away, we'll see the extent of the damage.  They also cut our cable line this morning and when I went out to ask if they had cut it, the guy answered, "Maaaaybeee..."  Thankfully, they called the cable company and they came right out and fixed it. 

Now to keep Preston out of the dirt!  He was out there as soon as he got home from school today to inspect everything!

How I became a Republican

 via

I get asked this question often.  My dad's side of the family is strongly Conservative while my mom's side is as loyal to the Democratic Party as can be.  In fact, my grandpa has served our precinct on the county board since 1998 on the Democratic ticket- and for the record, I did vote for him.  How can you not vote for your own grandpa? 

Growing up, my mom's side of the family didn't talk politics much.  It was a subject that you didn't talk about with other people unless it was specifically brought up.  My dad's side, though, was the complete opposite.  Political talk flew as freely as any other subject, and it fascinated me.  I knew at that point that you could be a Democrat or a Republican, and since I heard mostly about Republican issues, that's what stuck. 

That's not how I became a Republican, though.  As I got older, I became more involved politically.  In fifth grade, some friends and I helped to raise awareness of a bond issue on the ballot to fix the heating/air conditioning in the schools and were even interviewed on the radio.  In jr. high, I was a member of the Young Republicans Club and we helped local politicians campaign at the county fair.  When I started to understand the differences between Republicans and Democrats, I ideologically matched more with the Republican views more than the Democrats.  That's when I knew for sure why I was a republican.

No one was too surprised when I majored in political science in college.  That was what called to me (actually, being a geneticist did, but med. school wasn't for me...) the most.  In my classes, there were only about 4-5 of us that were Conservative, but that made it even more fun, because we all tried even harder to make our views stronger.  I remember one class that we often broke into groups in to come up with solutions to pressing problems.  The teacher was strongly Liberal and rarely sided with our group, but we pushed HARD every time.  One day our issue was to come up with a solution to the private vs. public school problem in regards to higher levels of education in private schools and higher tuition that most people couldn't afford.  I don't remember our solution since it's been so long, but the teacher was speechless- we had come up with an idea that had the potential to actually work, that didn't involve more interference from State and National governments, and gave the people a choice.  That was probably the best day of class!

Today of course, I'm still a strong Conservative, and live my life according to those values.  I teach those values to my children and teach them the importance of them.  I want them to grow up with a strong head on their shoulders and to make the best decisions.  They may change their viewpoints later on, and that's their choice, although I HIGHLY doubt they ever will!  If you've ever been around them you'd know exactly what they think and how strongly they feel.  They take after their mother on this one! 

That's my little schpiel for the day!  I'll be enjoying the RNC this week and getting more pumped up about the election every day!  I want to be able to scream it from the rooftops come Nov. 6th that we've taken America back!!!!!  And I know two little ones that will be screaming right along with me!

Medically speaking

Christopher was able to get into a orthopedic podiatrist today and had his toe set back in place.  I knew when he called after the appointment that it was rough.  When he got home he said that despite 3 shots of lidocaine, it felt like the dr. was pulling his toe off and was quite painful.  Now his foot is pretty bruised up but his toe feels much better being back in place.  He has to wear a new boot for 2 weeks (the dr. laughed at the one the E.R. gave him) and then go back to see if everything is still in place and healing.

And if you could, please pray for Granny.  She shared with me last night that she though she had a little heart attack Friday night but didn't go to the hospital- she's a stubborn one.  She spent most of the day today at the hospital having EKG's and bloodwork done and has to go back tomorrow for more.  Right now she doesn't know anything.  She has atrial fibrillation as it is and her heart had been acting up.  Please pray for her health and that her cardiologist will recommend her for ablation because medication isn't taking care of the problem like it should.

Thanks.

Funday Sunday

One of my favorite things about Sunday is going to Granny and Pa's.  We usually go up around 3 or so and stay until 7, so we have a lot of time to visit and the kids have a lot of time to play.  They live on 7 acres so there's space for the kids to run to their hearts' content and roam around like we did as kids.  It's great!

This afternoon was no different except that mom was in Chicago so she wasn't there.  We decided to dig our sweet potatoes tonight and actually got a decent crop.  Granted, some were the size of a cigar, and some smaller, but we got a few good ones to bake.  They filled a Wal-Mart sack and will last us a good while too!  The kids knocked down all of the sunflower stalks and had a good time with them!  In fact, they built a fort with them between 3 trees and spent a good chunk of time over the hill playing quietly with NO FIGHTING!  Hallelujah!  I wish I'd brought my camera, and Granny couldn't find hers, so I'll have to get a picture of it some time this week.  Pa has orders not to touch it because they're afraid it will fall down!

Next weekend should be fun, too!  The city had to cancel the fireworks on the 4th this year since we were under a burn ban, so they rescheduled them for this Sunday.  We've never had labor day fireworks before!  It's also mom's and Christopher's birthdays next weekend as well, so we'll be doing lots of partying!

A little trip to the E.R.

Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time second-guessing my decision not to take Preston to the dr.  He'd been complaining of some chest pain when he coughed, but he wasn't wheezing and had good air exchange.  That, and we have his albuterol  inhaler, so since he felt well otherwise, I sent him to school.  But that didn't stop me from having this nagging fear that his cold would end up in his lungs and we'd end up in the E.R.

Then this morning before we went to help serve at the mobile food pantry, I had this vision of me breaking a finger and not being able to finish two sewing orders for a lady.  Obviously God was saying to me that there would be an E.R. trip and a broken bone in our future.  Hindsight is 20/20, and I LOVE when I realize that He's been speaking to me!

Well, this afternoon when I was taking out some trash, I realized I'd left my phone in the car, so I grabbed it and checked my messages before going in.  In the meantime, Christopher had a little run-in with our fireplace.  I got in from the garage and he told me I needed to take him to the hospital.  I called his mom who had  just gotten into town right as I called and she came and said he needed to be seen.  It was either dislocated or badly broken because the baby toe was sticking out to the side quite a bit.  So she stayed with the kids and we headed to town.  Three x-rays later and he has a broken toe- a badly broken toe.  Bad enough that he has to see an orthopedist.  The break is at an angle, and isn't a clean break, and makes it appear that his toe is dislocated.  The E.R. dr. wouldn't touch it after the x-rays came back, and had the EMT wrap that toe around the next toe to keep it immobilized and gave him a lovely walking shoe to keep him from bending his foot.  He has orders to call an orthopedist Monday morning, so we'll see what they have to say.  And what was kind of funny was that the EMT he had taught the art class in college where Christopher and I met.  He came and offered to cut the chicken wire for my geodesic dome because it was cutting my hands. :)

So Christopher is hobbling around in his walking shoe and nursing some Vicodin.  It should be an interesting few days.

Fixed

After a long afternoon yesterday and yet again not having the correct parts (the guy had to go to True Value to buy some hose that they didn't send), our washer appears to be fixed.  I can't tell you how nice it is to wash clothes in my own home again.  I've done 6 loads in 24 hours with no issues.  I did find one shard of melted fiberglass in the first load, but it could have somehow gotten in there, so I'm not too worried- unless I find some more.  Other than the motor and the electrical stuff, we've pretty much had everything else replaced, so it's kind of like having  a brand new washer.  It's nice.

A Sad State of Affairs

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks that we've been without a working washer.  Four weeks...  My frustration is mounting each day.  Each day I load up the laundry basket, drive up the hill and divide up my washing between mom's and Granny's houses.  Thankfully I've not had to go to the laundromat once.  Technically, I did go there, but so did everyone else in town, so I walked out. 

Last week the technician left us with this...

 Because he didn't get all of the parts, he had to order the rest on "emergency."  They were "guaranteed" to be here Friday morning and he was coming back that afternoon to fix them, so he decided to leave the washer apart so it would be "faster to fix."  Well, UPS didn't deliver the parts until 6:30 Friday night, so our service call was cancelled.

 Yes, folks, that is the motor that he just left lying on top of the washer.  That and all of the screws are just lying on top, too.  We'll be lucky if they're all still there after a week- Nonnie's a pretty pesky cat.

I called Sears up Friday night to tell them that the parts had arrived only to be told that the soonest they could come back was Wednesday.  So I had a little chat with the guy on the other end about what it was like to be without a washer for 3 weeks and have the guy come out every Wednesday for 3 weeks and still not have it working.  He assured me that if it's not fixed this time, that they'll go ahead and give us the voucher for a new washer.  I'm sure they will, because he's ordered way more in parts than what they're going to give us for a new one!  They should've just cut their losses in the beginning and just wrote us the check!

So let's see if the guy actually gets this thing running again tomorrow.  I'm not holding out much hope.  In fact, I'm scared that he's not going to remember how to put it back together again since it's been a week since he took it apart.  All I know is that if it's not fixable, I want that voucher in my hand tomorrow so we can go to Sears and pick up a new one as soon as he leaves!  Wish me luck, pray for my strength, cross your fingers, do whatever you feel like doing.  I just need a working washer ASAP!

First Day

Friday was the first day of school for this year, and I'm happy to report that all went well, and although it was rough getting up, everyone was ready and waiting by 7:45!  We had 15 minutes to spare!  That my friends, was an accomplishment!  Please excuse the lack of editing below.  My camera is acting up and leaving me with less than stellar photos...

Preston is in 3rd grade this year.  I am SOOO thankful for his fall birthday, otherwise he'd be in 4th grade, and I'm just not ready for that!  He only missed the cutoff date by 25 days.  This guy surprised me and went into the school all by himself!  I was so proud of him!  His morning (they got out at 11:30) went well- Mrs. P. gave them a snack, and any time you give this boy food, you win him over.  He likes his food!  They also had a visit from 2 dogs- one of which he informed me, had no eyes...  Apparently it had some disease and the vet had to take them out.  Seems a little strange to me, but then again, I'm not a kid.

Kate is in 8th grade this year.  Her morning went well, too, and she was glad to see all of her friends again.  She's a little bummed that she's not in many classes with her friends.  One of her humanities classes this year in shop!  We've all had a good laugh over that one as she's not really the shop class kind of girl, but I think she'll enjoy it!  They don't have home ec, though, which I find really disappointing.  When I was in 8th grade, we had home ec all year except for the 6 weeks the girls went to shop and the boys went to home ec. 

Hopefully this will be a great year for both of them!

Best day ever

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures.  Boring, I know.

Today was the last day of summer break- we had to make it count.  Yesterday was a pretty lame day after trying to squeeze in every last bit of summer for the past week.  The guy from Sears was here for nearly 4 hours trying to fix our washer, only to find out they didn't ship all the parts...  So he ordered them "emergency" and they are supposed to be here in the morning and he'll be here to fix it in the afternoon.  At this point, all I want is a working washer, but I also don't have much hope!

Anyway, back to today.  After taking 2 loads of laundry up to mom's and Granny's to wash and riding the Mule while we waited, we ran a few errands and decided we needed one last picnic in before school started.  We went out to the lake lot- a place I spent nearly every summer day as a child, yet my children rarely see.  With Preston's ears, we can't risk swimming in lake water.  Even a drop of bath water causes an infection, and even with his plugs, his ENT doesn't want to risk it.  I want my children to have their own memories of our lake lot just as I had.  Since we've had such a severe drought and record high temps, the lake was way down.  What is usually under 2 feet of water was dry sand, so after lunch, the kids hit the sand and played in the water with a 5-gallon bucket.  I must first mention that said bucket was tied to an old dog "chain" that they found and thrown into the water to catch a fish.  We had to lift it very quickly (as quickly as you can lift a 5-gallon bucket full of water) to see if they'd caught anything.  They got nothing...

While playing on the sand, Kate tried a little hillbilly hand fishing... I digress.  And guess what, she actually caught a small fish!  Thankfully the fish was right in front of her and she never actually stuck her hand in any kind of hole!  Then they found a salamander with a blue tail, and the highlight of the day, a snake!  The got back on dry land really fast after that one because it was probably a water moccasin, but they were thrilled!  Kate looked at Preston and said, "This is the best day ever!" to which he agreed!  It goes to show that you don't need to spend money to have the best day ever.  It really made my day, and I know I've replayed that memory over and over again since then!

I'm praying for a great school year.  Preston's had two rough years with teachers that just weren't a good fit and that wouldn't challenge him enough.  This year's teacher is young and is married to one of my lifelong friends.  Coincidentally, he was one that I spent my summers playing with at the lake lot, and he still has the lot right next door to ours, so that's kind of neat.  That's one of the benefits of a small town!

Fabulous weekend!

First off, we spent the entire summer with unbearable heat- so hot some days we just couldn't leave the house, let alone go outside to do anything.  This weekend, though, Mother Nature cooled things off a LOT- we're talking upper 70's and 80 for the high temps!  I can't tell you enough how welcome it was!  And you better believe we spent most of it outdoors!  And I apologize for no pics.  My big girl camera just isn't doing such a good job anymore and is about to be replaced, so I don't even feel like picking her up any more!

Friday morning I bought groceries and the kids went up to Granny and Pa's so I could shop in peace.  I'm SO thankful that they've watched the kids each Friday for me again this summer.  It really made grocery shopping a much better experience!  They spent the entire time outside digging potatoes and picking the peach tree clean.  After lunch, we headed out to pick our own peach tree, though not one of ours was fit to eat.  Our tree is just too old to produce quality fruit anymore.  We played around out back and then after dinner went to the park and rode scooters.  It was so nice to not even break a sweat!

Saturday morning I had to go up to mom and Granny's and use their washers to do laundry.  I'm so glad they live next door to each other and let me use their washers on a daily basis.  I'm really ready for them to get our washer fixed!  We had plans to meet up at the Effingham pool with Jess, Reid and the girls, but it turned out to be too cold- it had gotten down into the 50's for the low.  Since that was a bust, we decided to meet up at Keith and Dee's after the girls napped to swim, but their pool was too cold too, so the kids all just ran around outside and had fun for a few hours.

Today was Grandma Neva's 91st birthday party (I know, I really should've taken some pictures of that...) and they had it at the nursing home since it's too hard to get her out anymore.  We had good food, good desert and a good time.  The kids had fun with their cousins.  After that we headed up to Granny and Pa's and they got to play with Glen and Cooper again- twice in one week.  They couldn't have been happier!  Since Seth is working in Chicago, I don't get to see him very often, so it was nice to visit with him.  We can't wait until next weekend when they'll be back because Uncle Jeff will be in town!  I haven't seen him since last April after Pa's accident, so it will be nice to see him!  I already told the kids we'll be up at Granny and Pa's right after lunch next Sunday to have extra time, and they're excited!  It's also Diana's birthday, so we're planning a big party.  Can't wait!  I just hope the cooler temps hang on so we can enjoy our last week of summer break doing as much as we can!  School starts Friday!

Splish Splash

Today we headed over to my brother and sister-in-law's for a day of fun at the splash park near their house.  We rode along with Granny and Pa.  Now, I thought we were just going over to their house and maybe have a picnic at the park.  We had vaguely discussed going to the splash park "sometime" but it was never mentioned that we were going today- until we were half way there.  I had no suits, and didn't have Preston's ear plugs.  I did at least bring sunscreen along.  When we got to their house, we dropped off Pa and Preston and went out to the only store in town to search for a suit for Kate- Dollar General.  Yep.  And of course, they had none.  We finally found a cheap pair of cotton capris that were more like Bermuda shorts since Miss skinny long legs could fit in an 8-10 girls pants.  She wore one of Diana's tops with them and was MORTIFIED.  True teenage drama for you there, folks!  Preston was able to fit in one of Glen's suits although it was a bit tight, but we managed!  Since we forgot his plugs, and Diana didn't have any cotton, we had to improvise and use the Mc. Donalds napkins from lunch.  They say necessity is the mother of all inventions...

 It didn't take long for Kate to forget her outfit woes and embrace the fun!  They had a BLAST!

 Mr. Cooper.  He is such a ham!  He had a really fun time in the water.

The kids had more fun in the river area than they did anywhere else.  I wish they hadn't just found this place because this would've been a great place to have come a few more times over the summer.  School starts a week from tomorrow, so that really shoots a lot of our time.

After the splash park we went back to Seth and Diana's for a while so the kids could play a bit before we headed home.  Granny and I helped Diana blanch and peel about a bushel of tomatoes for salsa while the kids played and we got them done FAST!

I will tell you that after today, *I* am beat.  The kids were worn out as well, but sitting in the hot sun all afternoon wore me out!  Not to mention that a thunderstorm rolled through around midnight and Preston was up until after 1:00 since he's terrified of storms, so it was a long night and early morning.

Braces and a broken washer

Kate had a dentist appointment this morning to tighten her braces.  It went much better than expected, although it was clear to everyone that she didn't want to be there.  Dr. F. was VERY pleased with how her top teeth look.  They've only had the braces on them since March!  The bottoms aren't changed much, but it's only been 6 weeks since they were put on.  They tightened them up quite a bit, so she's sore again, but it's worth it for the end result!  Progress!

We had a guy from Sears come by today to look at our washer.  We ended up buying a "protection plan" from them that covered all parts/labor/service calls for one year since we didn't know how much this was going to cost us.  After calling a local repairman last week and being quoted $500, Sears' plan was much more reasonable!  Long story short, something is causing the drum of the washer to beat against the inside of the washer and is tearing up not only the drum itself, but is melting and ripping off the fiberglass inside the washer- that's what was causing all of the smoke!  The guy doesn't know why, though.  So next Wednesday he's coming back with another guy and they'll be replacing the drum, basket, and seal, which will arrive sometime in the next few days.  But since the guy doesn't know what is causing the drum to be out of whack, this may or may not solve the problem.  If it doesn't work and they deem our washer "unfixable," we get a $500 voucher toward a new one!  I don't have my hopes up too high on that being the case, but I like knowing that if it's not the drum itself that's the problem, we don't have to worry about anything for the next year.  Already, the parts alone made the plan worth every penny, so I'm glad we decided to go with it!

Now I'm off to start a load and watch it for the next 52 minutes while it runs.  According to the repair guy, "You can still use it.  It shouldn't  catch fire."  At least we know it's not an electrical problem!

Prayers, please

We got a call today from Christopher's mom saying that his cousin had just lost her baby- she was 37 weeks along.  I can't imagine how devastating this is for them, especially with her parents here in IL- they are in Florida.  They have a 2 year old daughter as well that was looking forward to meeting her little sister.  Please keep them in your prayers.

Shop til you drop

Every year right before school starts, we make a mega shopping trip to Fairview with Dee, Jess and Grandma Lou.  It's an all-out, go til you can't take another step marathon trip.  It really should be an Olympic event, but if it was, we'd surely come in last.  Maybe that means we should be making some "training" trips throughout the year!

It was a fun day- it always is when we have Grandma Lou with us.  I'm sure the people at Smokey Bones thought we were nuts with as hard as we were laughing!  Since we went on Friday this year, I didn't have anyone to watch Preston, so he had to go along, and he wasn't very happy about it.  He did well, though- as much as an 8 year old can spending a day with 5 women on a mission to buy school clothes.  We were gone 12 hours.  See why I said it was a marathon event?  Phew!  By the time we left, we were literally in pain from so much walking. 

The rest of our weekend was more low-key.  We went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid and it was great!  We're big fans of the books and it's always exciting to see them come to life.  This was a laugh out loud movie and we all enjoyed it.  Now they just need to come out with a new book!  Tonight we spent the evening at Granny and Pa's and it was nice enough to play outside and not get too hot.  We had a big thunderstorm come through Thursday night that dropped "2 inches and 1 centimeter" of rain.  I sent Preston out to read the rain gauge and that's what he came in saying!  Ever since then, it's been cooler, and we're enjoying every minute of it!

Where there's smoke...

Our lovely washer and dryer, decked out with construction and farm magnets- surprise, surprise!

Yesterday, I was washing a load of sheets and when they were done, I opened the washer to this very strong smoky odor.  I passed it off to the vinyl on the mattress pad getting too hot during the spin cycle.  I don't know about your front loader, but ours spins so fast that you'd think it would fly off to the moon, or at least walk across the laundry room floor.  Thankfully, it does neither!  But the mattress pad was unscathed, and the next load that I did was just fine.

Today I was washing yet another load of sheets, and it started making this horrible rattling sound that made me go check on it.  Kate came down to see what the racket was and as I opened the door, a bunch of grey smoke poured out and it smelled HOT like electrical.  Christopher was home, so I called him in from outside.  We ran a rinse cycle with no issues, he took the back off and looked inside- nothing.  He decided it must be because it was on high spin and that if we turned it to medium, it would be OK.  I had to re-wash the sheets and do another load with no issues.  Then when I went to do another load tonight, I forgot to turn it to medium and lo and behold, the hot smell.

Apparantly, from what we've googled, this is a common problem with front loaders, and we should have unplugged our washer from the start and not used it again...  Oops.  The last thing we want is a fire!  So I have to call a repairman tomorrow to have it looked at and see if it's worth fixing.  They're not quite 5 years old.  When our old washer quit, it wasn't worth it to repair, but then again, it wasn't an $800 washer, either, and after looking online for new ones, I don't really want to plop down the dough for a new set- because you know, you can't have a mismatched set.  And I don't know when we'll be able to have it looked at because we're going to be gone Friday, so that looks like we'll be hauling laundry up the hill to mom's until Monday.  Fun times!