I haven’t had much time to talk lately

And there’s no time now either! Just thought I’d pop in and let everyone know we are still alive and well, but stressed and overworked like crazy. I have been dealing with my kitchen being torn apart because of the cabinets and trim being painted. It has been a month now since I do it when I can and I am ready to pull my hair out! But I am on the final push here. Everything’s painted except for the 3 coats on the front of the last five doors. I painted so much over the weekend that I never want to pick up a paintbrush again. Too bad for me since we’ve still got 4 rooms to go plus the basement! Just to give you an idea of the amount of painting there was in the kitchen, there are 24 doors and drawers that need 3 coats of paint on each side, and there are 5 sets of cabinets that the doors attach to that need 3 coats each, 3 windows of trim and two doorways. It just wouldn’t end. First there was the sanding, the washing, the 144 coats of paint just on the doors and drawers, then the trim went on forEVER!

Oh well, today I have to finish painting and do all the laundry and clean the kitchen and the family room. Oh, and I have to get the guest room ready because FireFaerie is coming into town to have her wisdom teeth out. I am dealing much better with her leaving school in the last semester of her last year. Denial helps alot. A little three letter word is saving my sanity here. When people mention that she must be ready to graduate soon, I say "She has decided not finish YET."  Yet. Lovely word, and one I have come to love and depend on! LOL!

I did find something I have control over though. Our water bill was floating (excuse the pun. LOL!) around $90 on a good month and has gotten as high as $130 when we have a house full of kids. The average monthly bill should be $35, at least that was the average 4 years ago which was when our leak started. The problem is that the hot water faucet upstairs won’t turn off. It started as just a drip but now it runs full blast. It is an internal plumbing problem accessible only by either cutting a hole into the one piece wall and tub, or by yanking the whole thing out and remodeling the bathroom. Either way, it renders the shower useless which is more inconvenience than we can deal with, and we need both money and time to tackle the problem.  But the bills have been getting on my nerves and listening to the water run constantly makes my blood pressure rise so I have really been making a concerted effort to only have the water on when absolutely necessary. This entails a few more trips up and down stairs on laundry day and my dishwasher hasn’t been used in a month. Wow, I miss my dishwasher, but the damn thing takes two hours to do a load of dishes! (I’m thinking that thing’s broken too eh? lol) Anyway, hubby opened the bill and shows it to me asking if his eyes are deceiving him. $53! Wow, it hasn’t been that low in YEARS!

And speaking of hubby, he is far more overworked than I am lately. It seems he is always coming home late, and tired, and still with work to do. He spent the whole weekend in front of the computer getting stats done for the team and then grading for his classes. If he’s not in front of the computer, he’s at school or a game. He is stretched to the limit and feeling bad about not being able to work on the house or yard, but this is what his job entails and we knew it was coming once Baseball season started. I just wish it weren’t wearing him out so much. He still has a sense of humor though. One of his kids emailed him last night at 10PM asking him what time tonight they had until to email their assignment due to him. Even though he was dead tired, he still smiled and wrote back "You have until 11:59 PM to email it tonight, then it’s tomorrow." Gotta love a smartass teacher huh? LOL!

Well, I am off to do the dishes and get the laundry going. I had to wait for the hot water to build up again and the wait is over. I’ll be back when my sanity is. Hm, no, that’s not realistic, I’ll be back when I have time! LOL! Hugs all around!