Apparently life was getting to easy, too complacent, too run-of-the-mill...so the toilet in the downstairs bathroom decided to overflow. And to tell the truth, it's not that unusual for a potty to back up and I am trying to be Superwoman now that I'm not working and bringing in income, so I got the plunger.
To go back a step or two...I was sitting right here at the computer reading some article about Alzheimer's and I heard water gurgling. Probably not a good sign. Before I could even sign off...another gurgle. By the time I got to the bathroom - the toilet water had a taken on a life of it's own...ugh! I plunged - it overflowed even more. I plunged again - it was clearly coming out the bottom.
I decided I was going to have to wait for it to go down and for Patrick to get up...so I did what any borderline OCD person does...I cleaned up. Towels into trash bags, bath mats out into the yard, shop towels and disinfectant at the ready. Gloves - a must! Pairs and pairs of gloves...thank you Dora! Let the clean up begin. I was sweating like nobody's business, the smell was just awful and I wasn't making much progress. I felt so bad when Patrick came down the stairs on his one day off...I was hoping to have it all fixed so he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. No such luck!
I can't do justice to the scene that played out over the next 60 minutes - we plunged, we scooped water, we soaked towel after towel, went through glove after glove, mop head after mop head, pulled the toilet off, snaked the main drain and NOTHIN'! Time to call a plumber. Justin, plumber of the year, nicest guy to wear a uniform, etc. came and saved the day (and cost us $225) - there was major blockage in the line. He put the toilet back on and replaced the wax seal - without us asking him to or him charging us...such a wonderful gesture.
He recommended a water damage repair company - we called them, they came, another wonderful soul - Joshua, we called the insurance claims folks and Joshua got to work. He called in reinforcements so the kids and mom could achieve some kind of bedtime - and they were out of here by 10:00pm.
I say all this to point out another very strange thing about ALZ....mom seems the least upset by this. I thought it would make her nuts or anxious or upset or scared. Nope. Out of sight, out of mind...literally! Mostly out of mind. She can be looking right at the damage and she doesn't seem to notice that anything is out of place. She showed a bit of anxiety when she was worried that she couldn't use the bathroom, but after that - nothing! She doesn't seem to notice that it happened, she's not upset that it happened, she has shown no sympathy for it happening and if she's in the family room or her room - she doesn't have a clue that it happened at all.
It's been quite a 48 hours - but Joshua came and picked up the fans today - we have peace in the home once again. The reconstruction company will be here tomorrow - thank goodness! Hoping to have the work started on Monday...How will mom handle drywallers, hammers, nail guns, the flooring guys? Who knows!?
Friday, September 13, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Amazed by what we can do!
So far, Patrick has repaired the dishwasher latch, we replaced the filters in my car thanks to a YouTube video to show us how to get to the one behind the glove box...The kids and I were hysterical on that one!, the lawn mower and the stupid Taurus' ac fans. All for about 10-20% of the cost of having someone do the repair for us. It took more running, more research and I am sure more time, but hey, to save 80% - who wouldn't!?
About 2 years after we got the Kia it started revving up (not just a little, but like I was ready to race for pinks in 1950's America!) at stop lights and stop signs and occasionally in parking lots. It would also just randomly die while I was driving down the road. I took it to the dealership because it was under warranty and they "fixed" it....oops, not really...so I took it back in and they "fixed it again"...shoot!, maybe not...so I went all Lisa on them and they did whatever they should have done the first time and finally got it to stop. 3 years go by and 2000 miles out of warranty it starts again. I call them, they are quick to inform me that my car is no longer under warranty ("would you like to speak to someone about purchasing an extended warranty?") and they felt no responsibility to repair the repair they did (3 times) 3 years ago.
I decided to use my daily computer break to see what my friends on the internet had to say about my car's particular problem. Amazing what you can find online. Then, with a call to O'Reilly auto parts and some confirmation, we got a $40.00 part and Patrick went to work fixing it.*
Amazingly, Patrick had purchased this weird screwdriver that can bend around corners...the trick car manufacturers play on you to make all home garage repairs much more difficult...hoping you don't have this (or even know it exists) so you have to take it to the dealership/garage.
It was HOT! Too hot to be outside at noon fixing my car, but Patrick is the best sport and understands how much we need to save 80%! He hates this kind of thing, but he can't deny that he's really good at it, so he just does it! I was his lovely assistant - I think I annoy him when I hang around saying positive things and offering him drinks of ice water, but I am trying to show solidarity and that I am willing to sweat with him (and the entire world knows I hate to sweat outside in Texas)
*We did this on September 12 and it is still working perfectly (on November 7) all for $40.00!!! YAY! Since then, we have fixed our washing machine agitator, installed our own water heater, installed the new sink hardware and light fixture in the downstairs bath...I'm so proud of us!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Kids Just Roll With It!
The house is torn up, workmen randomly stop in to check moisture levels in the walls and framing, mom is batty because everything is out of place and she has zero recollection of the flood, but my kiddos are just rolling with the punches.
Homework - we had to yell over the fans and dehumidifier but we made the "all about me" tissue box, did calendar math, daily math and practiced vocabulary words like nothing was happening.
Peyton had a doctor's appointment to get a referral for her Angel Kiss and her yearly check up and was so glad to be out just the two of us. She actually sat in the waiting room playing with the bead and wire thingy...I told her this was her favorite toy at the Y in Phoenix too...she loved the sound and watching the beads roll down hill. She would giggle and squeal and grab the form with her little hands and shake the daylights out of it!
We had to have the television up to ridiculous levels while the fans were in the house, but that's about how they have to be anyway since mom can't hear anything - didn't seem to bother Keaton. Sophie did NOT like the fans - she needed to be right beside one of us as much as possible. She's not much of a tv watcher, but she sure likes to have her belly scratched!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
The 40-Day Flood
Patrick's upstairs...it's his day off...I could go wake him up...but that wouldn't be very nice. He has been working his butt off and needs his sleep. And let's be honest, I can plunge a toilet.
Boy, was I wrong! This was not your ordinary plunge/plug. This was much bigger than I understood. Luckily, Patrick wandered downstairs in the middle of my clean up, plunging, frantic race to stop the toilet overflowing. We both went at it - frustrated, but undaunted. We can handle anything!
Once again...WRONG! The water started running under the wall and into our hallway...bubbling up our flooring - yuck! The smell was less than pleasant. Our "save the day" shop vac was no match for this flood.
The thing is - this was a main water line blockage...so once we cleaned it up (we thought), we went to wash our hands in the kitchen sink and it all overflowed again. This was tied to EVERYTHING! No washing machine, no potty flushing, no hand washing...nothing!
We called Baker Bros and Justin (our plumber super hero) was fabulous. He brought out the big guns and cleared it right out...but the damage was done. We had what they refer to as a Cat 5 sewer back up...ugh!
The plumber led to the Dry Force call - Jason - my new favorite worker man on the planet came to inspect, inform and start the drying out process. I think we assumed it would be like when our water heater burst last year, but NO, this was sewage...MUCH bigger deal. WAY more work. SIGNIFICANTLY more tools!
The scene in the bathroom during and the hallway as they are cutting out the bottom 12" of our drywall.
Jason and Patrick - 2 best guys to have around during a crisis!
Notice the absence of walls on the bottom of the bathrom? Yikes!
And the absence of flooring (again) in my entryway. You can't see them all, but we also had 3 fans, the huge dehumidifier and something else that has a name I can't remember, did something to enhance air quality and was LOUD!
As soon as we thought the blockage was fixed...welcome back Justin and friend! Goodbye holly bush!
Another snaking...and a funny message from Justin on the back patio
 | |||
The flooding was a hassle, having the house all torn up was a giant pain, not having a door that closed on the bathroom was really inconvenient, but dealing with the All State adjusters drove me to drink!
It took over a month to finally get a settlement on payment and work to be performed with our insurance company. Thank goodness they found time to send us a letter threatening to NOT renew our policy if we dared have another claim...I'm sure that's why they didn't have time to pay us to get this damage repaired. Or maybe it was to make us take the paltry settlement they originally offered.
I must admit, if we were in a better financial situation, I would have just paid the difference to be done with it...but we weren't, so I dug my heels in and we fought. I won.
Finally on October 17 - a full 5 weeks after the original flood, Juan and his team showed up to start fixing the damage. I can't tell you how amazed I am that they can cut out a foot of wall and replace it and make it look like it was never cut up. Our walls are textured, the house is 18 years old, there is a lot of natural light and you know me...I'm LOOKING...and I can't tell where the repairs start. Well done!
Check out the after!
I won't go so far as to say it was worth it for our new updated bathroom, but this is SO much better than what we started with!
All in all, it took 40 days from flood to finish. I was so worried about mom during this time, but as long as she wasn't looking right at it - she forgot there even was a flood. The kids are super resilient - they just worked around it. Patrick works all the time and is much easier-going than I am, so he handled it all beautifully. The clutter and dust nearly got the best of me on a couple of days, but I did surprisingly well...maybe because there is too much else to worry about or maybe I am mellowing with age...or maybe because I am finally learning that my worry will not make others move faster!
Football Thursday Nights
Keaton loves sports - all sports. He loves baseball best of all, but the camaraderie of playing on a football team for his school has won his heart!
Thursdays are Freshman Football days - he wears his dress clothes (and yes, a tie) to school. He lets his mother bring him a sack pre-game meal so he can eat with his teammates. He speaks in play-calling jargon to show us that he is totally a football player now!
He plays Center and Mike. Mike stands for something - Middle linebacker is the position. It also calls the defensive plays to the team once he gets them from his coach on the sideline. He loves that. His coaches love that he has the mind to grasp all the formations, keep them straight and then (and this surprises me), the attention span to remember to watch for them to be called in and not get distracted by all the action on the field.
He's still a bit awkward on the sidelines - he wants to look up into the stands to see if he can find us and to see who else is there. He talks too much when he's not in instead of watching the game. He has this weird habit of holding onto the bottom of his face mask ALL THE TIME.
But he loves football. He loves being a Central Charger Gold Teamer. He loves his number - #56. He loves wearing Central colors every day. He would wear a Central Charger shirt every day if we had enough! He loves his coaches and thinks highly of his teammates. He is excited to go to practice and games - he hates conditioning, but he does it with a great attitude because he is doing it as part of a team.
I met his coach last night at Mini-School. Seems like the perfect Coach for Keaton. Same enthusiasm, seems like a good soul, straight shooter and all around nice guy. I could be wrong, but my money is on Keaton growing up to be a high school history teacher and coach. I guess we'll see!
Thursdays are Freshman Football days - he wears his dress clothes (and yes, a tie) to school. He lets his mother bring him a sack pre-game meal so he can eat with his teammates. He speaks in play-calling jargon to show us that he is totally a football player now!
He plays Center and Mike. Mike stands for something - Middle linebacker is the position. It also calls the defensive plays to the team once he gets them from his coach on the sideline. He loves that. His coaches love that he has the mind to grasp all the formations, keep them straight and then (and this surprises me), the attention span to remember to watch for them to be called in and not get distracted by all the action on the field.
He's still a bit awkward on the sidelines - he wants to look up into the stands to see if he can find us and to see who else is there. He talks too much when he's not in instead of watching the game. He has this weird habit of holding onto the bottom of his face mask ALL THE TIME.
But he loves football. He loves being a Central Charger Gold Teamer. He loves his number - #56. He loves wearing Central colors every day. He would wear a Central Charger shirt every day if we had enough! He loves his coaches and thinks highly of his teammates. He is excited to go to practice and games - he hates conditioning, but he does it with a great attitude because he is doing it as part of a team.
I met his coach last night at Mini-School. Seems like the perfect Coach for Keaton. Same enthusiasm, seems like a good soul, straight shooter and all around nice guy. I could be wrong, but my money is on Keaton growing up to be a high school history teacher and coach. I guess we'll see!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Denture Game
I know it's not funny, but it's funny. This new fear that someone is going to steal mom's dentures in the night has taken on a life of it's own.
Some nights she tucks them into her sweater pocket and then tries to pretend she still has them in her mouth so I won't ask about them. Some nights she keeps them in and tucks all the "stuff" (denture cream, toothpaste, toothbrush and the overnight holder) into various parts of her clothing and walker. Then she can't figure out how to get them out and complete her evening routine. One night she actually went into her room, shut the dividers (which she NEVER does) and hid all the pieces in different places! It took me 20 minutes the next morning to help her find them so she could get ready for breakfast, her poor dentures wrapped in a tissue under the pillow on the chair all dried out. Some nights I catch her at a good point and explain that she leaves them in her bathroom and although I can tell she doubts me deeply, she leaves them in there. Usually that requires 2 or 3 "pssssst, c'mere's" to bring me over to ask in whispered tones if her dentures will be okay "down here" - that's when I can tell she thinks she is at Meadowlakes and that "down here" means the public restroom outside the big dining hall - I can see where she might not want to leave them there! She always confides to me that some of these women can't be trusted and then glances back over her shoulder at the bathroom as she is walking away.
Last night she was in a foul mood because I wouldn't turn the tv on in the family room - the kids were both overwhelmed with homework last night - Peyton had 2 auditions this morning, 1 project to finish and 2 projects to present today - lots of practicing. Keaton had 100 Spanish vocab words to copy, a Pre-AP Geometry paper due today and PreAP English vocab words to study for a test tomorrow (he has a game tonight - so studying is but a fleeting hope for me!). I don't have a lot of rules, but I don't allow television, phones or i-Pad until homework is finished. Mom has a tv in her room, but she thinks it's a punishment to have to sit in there, so she won't watch it until she is full-out ticked off at me.
The sad thing is - she thinks that by being nasty she is going to get her way or guilt me into doing what she wants. I'm just not wired that way. When my kids or co-workers or fellow volunteers do crap like that - I dig in. I'm not proud of it, but I can't help it. After the initial defeat, she then will wander through whatever we are doing talking over whatever we are saying and hinting about how much she'd like to sit and watch tv with us. Bless her heart! Peyton was in full-on eye rolling mode and Keaton had retreated upstairs - he's too nice to ignore her and then he gets overwhelmed because he can't get his work done. I am becoming somewhat cold-hearted (or practical, depending on the day) and do the best I can to make the situation pleasant, inviting her to sit with us, but not turning on the tv and not letting her be too distracting while the kids are doing their work.
Anyway, she was in a mood - and "a mood" usually translates into several laps around the house - trying to find a way to get us all to pretend that she didn't just act badly or say something hurtful to get her way (my least favorite part of ALZ) and to go to the bathroom - something to do? a way to keep her eye on the family? stress-induced? I have no idea, but she made at least 10 trips in about 40 minutes last night. By the 4th trip the Denture Game was in full swing. Peyton gets all worked up about it - I honestly thought it was the idea of teeth lying around the house was freaking her out...last night I discovered she is terrified that Sophie is going to chew them up and G-Peg will have to live with us without her teeth in every day!
So, I set my alarm for 10 minutes early (4:20am) so I could sneak down and find and gather her denture stuff without waking her up, get it back into the bathroom, put the cleaning tablet in (I could tell she had neglected that part in last night's frenzy) and still get to TKP in time to get a lap lane. I was successful!
I love my mom, I don't begin to understand her and since she was such a stranger to me after daddy died, I have no idea where this distrust comes from. Sadly - it may have always been there and I was too young and selfish to notice or ask her about her beliefs or past or to hear something she may have tried to tell me that would explain this. Maybe it happened after daddy was gone - maybe she senses, but doesn't quite remember, the details of how she was taken advantage of when her 2nd husband passed. Maybe it's just a part of aging or Alzheimer's. Whatever it is - the Denture Game is how it presents itself in our new world. She seems no worse for it - she had no recollection of it last night or this morning. It's funny how she has no problem with them being in the bathroom when she gets ready in the morning. Even funnier when I don't get a chance to get them back in there and she fusses around wondering who moved her teeth.
I wonder if other ALZ families play this game to...or maybe it's the Coffee Cup Game or the Spoon Game or the "this is my Quarter" game.
Some nights she tucks them into her sweater pocket and then tries to pretend she still has them in her mouth so I won't ask about them. Some nights she keeps them in and tucks all the "stuff" (denture cream, toothpaste, toothbrush and the overnight holder) into various parts of her clothing and walker. Then she can't figure out how to get them out and complete her evening routine. One night she actually went into her room, shut the dividers (which she NEVER does) and hid all the pieces in different places! It took me 20 minutes the next morning to help her find them so she could get ready for breakfast, her poor dentures wrapped in a tissue under the pillow on the chair all dried out. Some nights I catch her at a good point and explain that she leaves them in her bathroom and although I can tell she doubts me deeply, she leaves them in there. Usually that requires 2 or 3 "pssssst, c'mere's" to bring me over to ask in whispered tones if her dentures will be okay "down here" - that's when I can tell she thinks she is at Meadowlakes and that "down here" means the public restroom outside the big dining hall - I can see where she might not want to leave them there! She always confides to me that some of these women can't be trusted and then glances back over her shoulder at the bathroom as she is walking away.
Last night she was in a foul mood because I wouldn't turn the tv on in the family room - the kids were both overwhelmed with homework last night - Peyton had 2 auditions this morning, 1 project to finish and 2 projects to present today - lots of practicing. Keaton had 100 Spanish vocab words to copy, a Pre-AP Geometry paper due today and PreAP English vocab words to study for a test tomorrow (he has a game tonight - so studying is but a fleeting hope for me!). I don't have a lot of rules, but I don't allow television, phones or i-Pad until homework is finished. Mom has a tv in her room, but she thinks it's a punishment to have to sit in there, so she won't watch it until she is full-out ticked off at me.
The sad thing is - she thinks that by being nasty she is going to get her way or guilt me into doing what she wants. I'm just not wired that way. When my kids or co-workers or fellow volunteers do crap like that - I dig in. I'm not proud of it, but I can't help it. After the initial defeat, she then will wander through whatever we are doing talking over whatever we are saying and hinting about how much she'd like to sit and watch tv with us. Bless her heart! Peyton was in full-on eye rolling mode and Keaton had retreated upstairs - he's too nice to ignore her and then he gets overwhelmed because he can't get his work done. I am becoming somewhat cold-hearted (or practical, depending on the day) and do the best I can to make the situation pleasant, inviting her to sit with us, but not turning on the tv and not letting her be too distracting while the kids are doing their work.
Anyway, she was in a mood - and "a mood" usually translates into several laps around the house - trying to find a way to get us all to pretend that she didn't just act badly or say something hurtful to get her way (my least favorite part of ALZ) and to go to the bathroom - something to do? a way to keep her eye on the family? stress-induced? I have no idea, but she made at least 10 trips in about 40 minutes last night. By the 4th trip the Denture Game was in full swing. Peyton gets all worked up about it - I honestly thought it was the idea of teeth lying around the house was freaking her out...last night I discovered she is terrified that Sophie is going to chew them up and G-Peg will have to live with us without her teeth in every day!
So, I set my alarm for 10 minutes early (4:20am) so I could sneak down and find and gather her denture stuff without waking her up, get it back into the bathroom, put the cleaning tablet in (I could tell she had neglected that part in last night's frenzy) and still get to TKP in time to get a lap lane. I was successful!
I love my mom, I don't begin to understand her and since she was such a stranger to me after daddy died, I have no idea where this distrust comes from. Sadly - it may have always been there and I was too young and selfish to notice or ask her about her beliefs or past or to hear something she may have tried to tell me that would explain this. Maybe it happened after daddy was gone - maybe she senses, but doesn't quite remember, the details of how she was taken advantage of when her 2nd husband passed. Maybe it's just a part of aging or Alzheimer's. Whatever it is - the Denture Game is how it presents itself in our new world. She seems no worse for it - she had no recollection of it last night or this morning. It's funny how she has no problem with them being in the bathroom when she gets ready in the morning. Even funnier when I don't get a chance to get them back in there and she fusses around wondering who moved her teeth.
I wonder if other ALZ families play this game to...or maybe it's the Coffee Cup Game or the Spoon Game or the "this is my Quarter" game.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Pioneer Peyton
Peyton and I are tackling another Pioneer Woman recipe, Alex's favorite grilled chicken, for Sunday supper.
She learned how to juice citrus, whisk a marinade and pound chicken!
And how to grill...sort of...she
didn't get too close!
that's what Daddys are for!!!
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