EDIT: I typed up this post in the very beginning of March, about 6 weeks ago.
So my last post lays out three steps I was going to take for us to get fit. I tackled the third, which was to organize the kitchen. It's nice to be able to get something out easily without knocking things over. We have gotten out to the park multiple times, started a garden. Things were on a roll. And then.....and.....then.....
The first shoe to drop was a call on the weekend from Jeremiah's job agency (his current job was a contract, temp to perm). Um, that can not be a good sign. Phone tag ensued, until Sunday when they got to talk in person....oh, hey, don't worry about coming in tomorrow for your job, your contract was cut short. Sigh.
The second shoe to drop happened while I was washing down the walls to prep for painting. Moira decided it was time to fly the nest, leaving a room open. We were moving some of the boys over to her old room, and their current room was in desperate need of attention. Having moved here almost 13 years ago, with all our walls just primed, and not actually painted, I can assure you that it is not a good idea to leave such walls to be left unpainted for over a decade. Anyways, I'm cleaning the walls when my cloth dips between the wood laminate flooring and the baseboard (the trim was never put back on when the floors were put in).
To my surprise a black spider jumps out and attacks my cloth. The spider looked very much like a black widow, which we've had a few in our house over the years, so not out of the realm of possibility. The creepy crawly scooted back under the baseboard. Jeremiah decided to pull up the first board to get access to the spider, only to accidentally pull off about 4 boards to reveal, to our horror, black mold.
Well, that explains a LOT. It explains why after a year of just one cold, we had a winter full of back to back illnesses. It explains the inability to lose weight despite eating a whole foods, no sugar diet. It explains Jed's increase speech difficulties. It explained a lot. What's more, is when we went into the master bathroom to finally tackle finishing the shower, in preparation of dealing with the mold in the boys room and the bathroom on the other side of their wall.....only to find MORE mold. What was bad about that was the shower has not been used in 8 years....so it's not like we had a leak. Come to find out that the moisture from under the house, coming through the hole in the floor was enough to spark the 'fire'.
Needless to say that's put a snag in things. The painting has been put on hold, so we can now deal with the mold. BUT.....that means once the mold is killed off at their original sites, we have do the whole 'WASH DOWN' of every. single. thing. we. own. To say that I seriously thought it would be easier, and faster, to burn our house down, not only crossed my mind, but I entertained it. Yeah.
The pictures today are going to be a mix of what we all *want* to see. Having fun, doing things, etc. But, today I also show a few of the very, very nitty gritty reality. It's not all fun and games. It's no secret I don't always keep it together. But here it is in pictures.
Our spring baby turned 15 this year! This is a cake based on Saoirse's favorite band's animated characters. Not sure what they are called.....but it's from BTS.
Going furniture shopping with Moira. This was the table and chairs she decided to go with. Even
though she moved in 2 weeks ago, she still has another 13 days till it arrives!
Checking out the new dig!
Throw in Prom night to the mix. We had our oldest's last prom, and Saoirse's first prom. Too bad Merida is too young to go, but the four oldest girls all at the prom this year!
New kittens on the homestead! Only two. A boy and a girl. Names being debated. Very interesting names to be sure.
And there you have it...the wonderful, though not quite Pinterest quality, photos. Here we have the reality of behind the scenes. You can see some furniture in the middle of the room, awaiting to be moved to another room. The leftover items from my kitchen organizing, about 6 water bottles brought in from the van, and dishes.....they multiply like rabbits around here. Sigh.
You thought I was exaggerating when I said the boys room was in need of serious attention. No, no I wasn't. Never mind the other walls....sigh.
The mold we found in the boys room, that was coming in from the bathroom that is on the other side of that wall. Though devastating, I am very glad we found it and can now kill it, and stop the cycle of ongoing sickness.
The mold in the master bathroom. Joy, joy, joy. Lots to look forward to. As a matter of fact the food grade H2O2 just came in while typing this up. That will be used to kill the mold, then once dried we need to seal it. THEN we can finally finish off the master bathroom, finish the boys' room, and redo the main bathroom.
In the midst of the yuck, we still have to get outside. This was an amazing beautiful day temp wise! It was on the chilly side.
But this is reality too. When small things finally add up and I snap. Just two days before, Moira took the kids out of the house for 6 hours. I was able to get a lot of work done. That picture up there of the mess in the dining room and family room? Yup, all cleaned up. The living room, tidied, vacuumed. ALL the dishes done, counters cleared. It was a breath of fresh air. And two days later we have this. Just before I took this picture Jonah was going to take out a large vase we were getting rid of. Just the day before I had cleaned it out, as someone had dumped a bunch of odds and ends in there. Not only were those items *back* in there, but another container of odds and ends I cleared out of the boys' room had been dumped in there as well. My reality is that I take one step forward and am pushed 5 steps back. And sometimes, sometimes, I am not sure I can take that happening one more time.
I know we will get past this. I know we won't always have little kid toys in the house. I know I won't always be feeling puffy all over from the mold, and feeling like I can't move. In the mean time the little things can get to me. The big things can get to me. These are the days when I look around and realize this was NOT what I had expected or hoped for. And so, I need to dust off and try to make my dream in my head a reality.
So my last post lays out three steps I was going to take for us to get fit. I tackled the third, which was to organize the kitchen. It's nice to be able to get something out easily without knocking things over. We have gotten out to the park multiple times, started a garden. Things were on a roll. And then.....and.....then.....
The first shoe to drop was a call on the weekend from Jeremiah's job agency (his current job was a contract, temp to perm). Um, that can not be a good sign. Phone tag ensued, until Sunday when they got to talk in person....oh, hey, don't worry about coming in tomorrow for your job, your contract was cut short. Sigh.
The second shoe to drop happened while I was washing down the walls to prep for painting. Moira decided it was time to fly the nest, leaving a room open. We were moving some of the boys over to her old room, and their current room was in desperate need of attention. Having moved here almost 13 years ago, with all our walls just primed, and not actually painted, I can assure you that it is not a good idea to leave such walls to be left unpainted for over a decade. Anyways, I'm cleaning the walls when my cloth dips between the wood laminate flooring and the baseboard (the trim was never put back on when the floors were put in).
To my surprise a black spider jumps out and attacks my cloth. The spider looked very much like a black widow, which we've had a few in our house over the years, so not out of the realm of possibility. The creepy crawly scooted back under the baseboard. Jeremiah decided to pull up the first board to get access to the spider, only to accidentally pull off about 4 boards to reveal, to our horror, black mold.
Well, that explains a LOT. It explains why after a year of just one cold, we had a winter full of back to back illnesses. It explains the inability to lose weight despite eating a whole foods, no sugar diet. It explains Jed's increase speech difficulties. It explained a lot. What's more, is when we went into the master bathroom to finally tackle finishing the shower, in preparation of dealing with the mold in the boys room and the bathroom on the other side of their wall.....only to find MORE mold. What was bad about that was the shower has not been used in 8 years....so it's not like we had a leak. Come to find out that the moisture from under the house, coming through the hole in the floor was enough to spark the 'fire'.
Needless to say that's put a snag in things. The painting has been put on hold, so we can now deal with the mold. BUT.....that means once the mold is killed off at their original sites, we have do the whole 'WASH DOWN' of every. single. thing. we. own. To say that I seriously thought it would be easier, and faster, to burn our house down, not only crossed my mind, but I entertained it. Yeah.
The pictures today are going to be a mix of what we all *want* to see. Having fun, doing things, etc. But, today I also show a few of the very, very nitty gritty reality. It's not all fun and games. It's no secret I don't always keep it together. But here it is in pictures.
though she moved in 2 weeks ago, she still has another 13 days till it arrives!
Chalk warriors running around the house!
First you tap the chalk on the board to make a powdery mess. Dip fingers in the chalk powder and apply to face! Repeat with different colors.
Make sure to involve your baby nephew.
If you give a girl the keys to her first apartment, she may want to run to Target to get the needed items for her apartment. If she needs to run to Target for new stuff for her apartment, her sisters and friend may want to come along.
Checking out the new dig!
Throw in Prom night to the mix. We had our oldest's last prom, and Saoirse's first prom. Too bad Merida is too young to go, but the four oldest girls all at the prom this year!
New kittens on the homestead! Only two. A boy and a girl. Names being debated. Very interesting names to be sure.
And there you have it...the wonderful, though not quite Pinterest quality, photos. Here we have the reality of behind the scenes. You can see some furniture in the middle of the room, awaiting to be moved to another room. The leftover items from my kitchen organizing, about 6 water bottles brought in from the van, and dishes.....they multiply like rabbits around here. Sigh.
You thought I was exaggerating when I said the boys room was in need of serious attention. No, no I wasn't. Never mind the other walls....sigh.
The mold we found in the boys room, that was coming in from the bathroom that is on the other side of that wall. Though devastating, I am very glad we found it and can now kill it, and stop the cycle of ongoing sickness.
The mold in the master bathroom. Joy, joy, joy. Lots to look forward to. As a matter of fact the food grade H2O2 just came in while typing this up. That will be used to kill the mold, then once dried we need to seal it. THEN we can finally finish off the master bathroom, finish the boys' room, and redo the main bathroom.
In the midst of the yuck, we still have to get outside. This was an amazing beautiful day temp wise! It was on the chilly side.
But this is reality too. When small things finally add up and I snap. Just two days before, Moira took the kids out of the house for 6 hours. I was able to get a lot of work done. That picture up there of the mess in the dining room and family room? Yup, all cleaned up. The living room, tidied, vacuumed. ALL the dishes done, counters cleared. It was a breath of fresh air. And two days later we have this. Just before I took this picture Jonah was going to take out a large vase we were getting rid of. Just the day before I had cleaned it out, as someone had dumped a bunch of odds and ends in there. Not only were those items *back* in there, but another container of odds and ends I cleared out of the boys' room had been dumped in there as well. My reality is that I take one step forward and am pushed 5 steps back. And sometimes, sometimes, I am not sure I can take that happening one more time.
I know we will get past this. I know we won't always have little kid toys in the house. I know I won't always be feeling puffy all over from the mold, and feeling like I can't move. In the mean time the little things can get to me. The big things can get to me. These are the days when I look around and realize this was NOT what I had expected or hoped for. And so, I need to dust off and try to make my dream in my head a reality.
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