Today I was reminded of why I love being a Milo-mom. I was the special guest star at Milo's daycare today. All this week they had sign ups for parents to come in and read their kid's favorite stories to all the kids. It was my turn today. We took Knuffle Bunny Too, Olivia and the Missing Toy and If I Had A Robot. Milo is so funny when I come in to his class and spend time with the rest of the kids. He acts like he is so proud of me cuz I'm just the coolest mom in town.
Anyway, I spent an extra half hour there today, participating in afternoon snack and reading the stories to the kids, and it was loads of fun. The kids all asked me if I could come back tomorrow and read to them, so they must have enjoyed it too. Miss Kia told me that anytime I want to come in and read, I would be welcome. I wonder if all the parents get treated this way, or if it's just me, because I hang out there so much?
I just like talking to the kids. They crack me up with their "Ooh ooh Milo's mom...did you know I have a dog?" "Oh Milo's mom, Miss Lindsay says I'm not supposed to pick my nose." "Milo's mom...Milo's mom...sometimes my brother hits me when I take his toys." If I could record all of it and bring it home to share, I totally would. Today the kids did get a little scary when I was sitting on the floor getting ready to read to them. All 15 of them came up and tried to sit in my lap at once. Eek. First of all: EW. GERMS. and second of all, too many lil' critters at once. I told them to spread out, and Julia (who talks a LOT) said "But Milo's mom...we really like you!" I told her that I really like them too, but not so much in my lap.
Yesterday was also a special day at daycare: It was Parent Breakfast Day, when all the moms and dads could come in and eat breakfast in the classrooms. It was a really busy day for me at work, so I explained to Milo that we would go to Lakeview extra early so we could participate. Milo was really looking foward to me meeting the other moms and making friends with them, so then we could go visit those kids at their houses. (Seriously. That is what he said when I told him what we were going to do.) Milo was sorely disappointed when we went in the class and I was the only mom there at the time. The other kids all crawled all over me though, so that made him feel better. I also told Milo that made him extra special, since I was the only mom there. Milo actually ate the breakfast on offer too: A bagel with cream cheese and a banana. I had eaten earlier so I just hung out and talked to the kids. I'm hoping that other parents came and went before we got there, and that I wasn't the only one to show up.
This brings me to something that bothers me. Are most people seriously too busy to take an active role in what their kids are doing, whether at daycare or at school? At both Milo's preschool and at daycare, Corey and I and just a few other parents are actively involved in what's going on. How hard is it to spend 15 extra minutes or so to participate in something? Or maybe spend an hour at home doing homework to keep the kid interested in the topic of the week. It's not like we're uber-parents or anything, we just pitch in when the teachers ask us to. It's really disturbing that not more people get into what their kids are doing. No wonder this world is turning into such a scary place!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The light at the end of the tunnel
Some good news! After tomorrow, it's going to be sunny and warm for the rest of the week. Woo hoo!! Hopefully, the basement and the laundry will dry out in a timely manner.
Also, I called our propane company today and scheduled them to come out next Friday (May 1) to do the dryer conversion thing and hook it up. To the tune of $150, but still...at least we know now that it will be done sometime soon. What a load off my mind.
Also, I called our propane company today and scheduled them to come out next Friday (May 1) to do the dryer conversion thing and hook it up. To the tune of $150, but still...at least we know now that it will be done sometime soon. What a load off my mind.
Monday, April 20, 2009
What's worse than regular cat barf?
Pumpkin-colored cat barf!! Have you ever tried to clean bright orange cat puke out of a beige berber carpet? It's not happening. That stain is there to stay despite whatever desperate measures you take.
The vet suggested that I mix canned pumpkin in with Monet's food, to help her with her digestive issues. So I've been doing it, and she eats it with disdain, and then gets me back by yarging it up all over the carpet in the basement. O joy.
The pumpkin has lots of fiber in it, so the vet said that it would help move along anything that was blocking up Monet's butt, and maybe help the hairballs come up. It's not working, so far as I know, but I'm going to keep trying it. It's actually slightly easier to clean up barf than it is to shove laxatives down Monet's throat, which I've had to do in the past.
In the meantime, when we're not home, the bedroom doors are closed and locked (after the cat is chased out of there) to keep that lil' witch from barfing on the beds.
Do you see what I have to deal with? Is it any wonder I'm cranky 99% of the time?
The vet suggested that I mix canned pumpkin in with Monet's food, to help her with her digestive issues. So I've been doing it, and she eats it with disdain, and then gets me back by yarging it up all over the carpet in the basement. O joy.
The pumpkin has lots of fiber in it, so the vet said that it would help move along anything that was blocking up Monet's butt, and maybe help the hairballs come up. It's not working, so far as I know, but I'm going to keep trying it. It's actually slightly easier to clean up barf than it is to shove laxatives down Monet's throat, which I've had to do in the past.
In the meantime, when we're not home, the bedroom doors are closed and locked (after the cat is chased out of there) to keep that lil' witch from barfing on the beds.
Do you see what I have to deal with? Is it any wonder I'm cranky 99% of the time?
The drama continues
Oh man, this weekend was a doozy. I am just now starting to calm down from all that went on. Nothing terribly traumatic or anything, just more annoyances. I don't handle annoyance well at all, especially when said irritation continues on and on and on.....
So last week the drains backed up right before the new washer and dryer showed up. That was the beginning of the end for me. Saturday morning, the washer and dryer are delivered bright and early (8:15 or so). The guys take out the old washer and bring in the new one. Then they turn around and look at the old dryer and say to me: "That's propane. We can't touch that. We're not allowed to do anything with propane dryers."
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked them why. There was no real answer except they're not supposed to. I couldn't believe it. So I suggested that they turn their backs and I would unscrew the damn gas hose from the back of the dryer (after turning the gas off of course) so they could cart the dryer away. The lead guy could tell I was ready to flip my lid, so he said "No, no, just make sure the gas is off. We'll take care of it."
They took the old dryer out and brought the new one in. They put it in the laundry room and then told me that they couldn't hook it up. I asked why. Because it turns out that all gas dryers are factory equipped to handle natural gas lines only, not propane. And of course, the dryer I bought did not have a conversion kit included with it. I asked them what to do. The guy told me to call Sears and ask them, he wasn't sure. Big help!! This experience wasn't going well at all.
The guy asked me if I wanted him to hook up the washer. I said "Sure go ahead, you're not doing much else here today." They get the washer in place, and ta da!! The drain hose isn't long enough to reach the laundry sink. Jeeezus Christmas. I was about ready to pop a blood vessel at that point. The guy gets on the phone with his warehouse to see if I was supposed to have a hose extension. They gave me a song and dance about delivering it the next day (Sunday). I said okay and sent the guys on their way. Minus a tip, by the way, because NOTHING went the way it was supposed to, except that the old stuff got taken away and the new stuff got put in the basement.
Now it was 10AM-ish and I had $1100 in new laundry facilities, but they were completely useless to me, so I had to go to the freakin' laundromat to do all the wash that had piled up since the drain issue occurred. This means I had to spend another $10 to wash my clothes, plus gas to drive there and back, all because the Sears salesperson that I bought this stuff from is an IDIOT. First of all, he never mentioned any of this natural gas/propane conversion crap to me when I said I wanted a gas dryer. How was I supposed to know the setup is different? It doesn't even say anything about it on the Sears website!! Second, I specifically asked the doofus if the drain hose on the washer would be long enough to reach to a laundry sink, and he said "Oh yah, don't worry about it." OBVIOUSLY I SHOULD HAVE WORRIED!!
Milo and I came back home from the laundrymat and hung the clothes outside to dry, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with Sears, trying to get some answers. It turns out that I have to order the conversion kit for the dryer from Sears, and then get our propane people to come out and install it, once I have the part in hand. That would have been really nice to know TWO WEEKS AGO when I ordered the dryer. Not only do I now have to wait for the parts, I will have to call Suburban Propane to do this for me, and that is going to cost even more money. Plus it means we won't have a functioning dryer for at least another week.
I tried to confirm delivery of the extension hose for the washer, and kept getting the runaround. After the third phone call, when the woman told me in her difficult to understand accent that "they will have to call me back, we just don't know" I knew that no extension hose was coming on Sunday. Yesterday Corey and I went to Lowe's and just bought one. It was probably a lot cheaper than ordering it through Sears, anyway.
To add insult to injury, the delivery guy left my washer manual lying on the basement floor on Saturday. I never even saw it there. Saturday night, the basement flooded again when the water softener ran (because the softener water goes into the same drain that is causing all these problems) so by Sunday morning, the manual was completely sopping wet. I happened to see it when I came downstairs to get something, and I just burst into tears. That was just too much for me to bear, what with all else that had gone on. Fortunately, it was warm enough outside yesterday that I was able to spread the manual out on the front porch, and it dried out pretty well. But still. It would be nice not to have had to do that.
Today I called Sears parts to order the conversion kit, and the guy that answered the phone was a complete drone. He didn't change his tone of voice at all during the entire conversation, not even when I told him how IRRITATED I am at the whole situation. There was no offer of maybe free shipping to make up for the inconvenience. Instead he said "Can I interest you in purchasing a dryer lint brush to go with that?" I could have reached through the phone and choked the guy. He also offered me 10% off on a home renovation package, like perhaps new windows. Yeah, as if I'll ever buy anything from Sears again!
We do finally have the washer up and running but the water situation is still an issue. I have to be careful about how much laundry we do, so as not to flood the basement again. It doesn't matter anyway, because I can only wash on dry days at this point, when I can hang the laundry outside. This week who knows when that will be!
You can bet that after this situation is completely resolved and the washer and dryer are both completely functioning, I am marching myself down to the Sears in Quakerbridge mall and demanding to speak to the appliance sales manager to give them a piece of my mind about their horrible training methods. I am also going to send a blistering letter to the corporate offices about all of this because it pretty much all could have been avoided with a simple "So, do you have a natural gas line or is it propane, lady?"
Corey and I spent a large part of yesterday afternoon checking the drains in the basement to see if they are clogged. They aren't; the water level is just so high that nothing is working like it should. I even went to our next door neighbor's to ask them if they were having water troubles, and they told me that the guy that lived in our house before us had all kinds of water problems in the basement. Aha! This made me feel marginally better. The neighbors also informed us that they have two sump pumps running in their basement because of all the problems that they've had in the past. That is definitely food for thought, especially if this non-draining nonsense continues.
And the final straw: This morning I was taking a shower, and a giant centipede fell on me. I needed that unwelcome visitor like a hole in the head!
Oh yes, I'm still sick with a cold, too, which made all the aggravation even more aggravating because I can barely breathe.
So last week the drains backed up right before the new washer and dryer showed up. That was the beginning of the end for me. Saturday morning, the washer and dryer are delivered bright and early (8:15 or so). The guys take out the old washer and bring in the new one. Then they turn around and look at the old dryer and say to me: "That's propane. We can't touch that. We're not allowed to do anything with propane dryers."
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked them why. There was no real answer except they're not supposed to. I couldn't believe it. So I suggested that they turn their backs and I would unscrew the damn gas hose from the back of the dryer (after turning the gas off of course) so they could cart the dryer away. The lead guy could tell I was ready to flip my lid, so he said "No, no, just make sure the gas is off. We'll take care of it."
They took the old dryer out and brought the new one in. They put it in the laundry room and then told me that they couldn't hook it up. I asked why. Because it turns out that all gas dryers are factory equipped to handle natural gas lines only, not propane. And of course, the dryer I bought did not have a conversion kit included with it. I asked them what to do. The guy told me to call Sears and ask them, he wasn't sure. Big help!! This experience wasn't going well at all.
The guy asked me if I wanted him to hook up the washer. I said "Sure go ahead, you're not doing much else here today." They get the washer in place, and ta da!! The drain hose isn't long enough to reach the laundry sink. Jeeezus Christmas. I was about ready to pop a blood vessel at that point. The guy gets on the phone with his warehouse to see if I was supposed to have a hose extension. They gave me a song and dance about delivering it the next day (Sunday). I said okay and sent the guys on their way. Minus a tip, by the way, because NOTHING went the way it was supposed to, except that the old stuff got taken away and the new stuff got put in the basement.
Now it was 10AM-ish and I had $1100 in new laundry facilities, but they were completely useless to me, so I had to go to the freakin' laundromat to do all the wash that had piled up since the drain issue occurred. This means I had to spend another $10 to wash my clothes, plus gas to drive there and back, all because the Sears salesperson that I bought this stuff from is an IDIOT. First of all, he never mentioned any of this natural gas/propane conversion crap to me when I said I wanted a gas dryer. How was I supposed to know the setup is different? It doesn't even say anything about it on the Sears website!! Second, I specifically asked the doofus if the drain hose on the washer would be long enough to reach to a laundry sink, and he said "Oh yah, don't worry about it." OBVIOUSLY I SHOULD HAVE WORRIED!!
Milo and I came back home from the laundrymat and hung the clothes outside to dry, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone with Sears, trying to get some answers. It turns out that I have to order the conversion kit for the dryer from Sears, and then get our propane people to come out and install it, once I have the part in hand. That would have been really nice to know TWO WEEKS AGO when I ordered the dryer. Not only do I now have to wait for the parts, I will have to call Suburban Propane to do this for me, and that is going to cost even more money. Plus it means we won't have a functioning dryer for at least another week.
I tried to confirm delivery of the extension hose for the washer, and kept getting the runaround. After the third phone call, when the woman told me in her difficult to understand accent that "they will have to call me back, we just don't know" I knew that no extension hose was coming on Sunday. Yesterday Corey and I went to Lowe's and just bought one. It was probably a lot cheaper than ordering it through Sears, anyway.
To add insult to injury, the delivery guy left my washer manual lying on the basement floor on Saturday. I never even saw it there. Saturday night, the basement flooded again when the water softener ran (because the softener water goes into the same drain that is causing all these problems) so by Sunday morning, the manual was completely sopping wet. I happened to see it when I came downstairs to get something, and I just burst into tears. That was just too much for me to bear, what with all else that had gone on. Fortunately, it was warm enough outside yesterday that I was able to spread the manual out on the front porch, and it dried out pretty well. But still. It would be nice not to have had to do that.
Today I called Sears parts to order the conversion kit, and the guy that answered the phone was a complete drone. He didn't change his tone of voice at all during the entire conversation, not even when I told him how IRRITATED I am at the whole situation. There was no offer of maybe free shipping to make up for the inconvenience. Instead he said "Can I interest you in purchasing a dryer lint brush to go with that?" I could have reached through the phone and choked the guy. He also offered me 10% off on a home renovation package, like perhaps new windows. Yeah, as if I'll ever buy anything from Sears again!
We do finally have the washer up and running but the water situation is still an issue. I have to be careful about how much laundry we do, so as not to flood the basement again. It doesn't matter anyway, because I can only wash on dry days at this point, when I can hang the laundry outside. This week who knows when that will be!
You can bet that after this situation is completely resolved and the washer and dryer are both completely functioning, I am marching myself down to the Sears in Quakerbridge mall and demanding to speak to the appliance sales manager to give them a piece of my mind about their horrible training methods. I am also going to send a blistering letter to the corporate offices about all of this because it pretty much all could have been avoided with a simple "So, do you have a natural gas line or is it propane, lady?"
Corey and I spent a large part of yesterday afternoon checking the drains in the basement to see if they are clogged. They aren't; the water level is just so high that nothing is working like it should. I even went to our next door neighbor's to ask them if they were having water troubles, and they told me that the guy that lived in our house before us had all kinds of water problems in the basement. Aha! This made me feel marginally better. The neighbors also informed us that they have two sump pumps running in their basement because of all the problems that they've had in the past. That is definitely food for thought, especially if this non-draining nonsense continues.
And the final straw: This morning I was taking a shower, and a giant centipede fell on me. I needed that unwelcome visitor like a hole in the head!
Oh yes, I'm still sick with a cold, too, which made all the aggravation even more aggravating because I can barely breathe.
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