When It Rains, It Pours

 

     A couple of you might be wondering what I have been up to lately. My blog posts have been absent. First, let me reassure those of you that may have wondered a little bit that I am fine. Life is fine. It's fine. And while no one is hurt or dying or going through a big life change, here in my little world, things keep crashing down. Picked apart the problems are only minor annoyances really. But it is that season of my life in which the problems keep increasing continuously.

    The kids' bathtub faucet has been leaking. The handles need to be replaced. It also needed shut-off valves. I had to hunt down the fittings I wanted to use and order the bathtub set I wanted. I managed to install the shut-off valves on my own. The cut-out for the bathtub access area isn't large enough to be able to change out the piece for the handles. So that project still hangs in the balance. The kids have to shower in my bathroom until it is fixed, which defeats the purpose of them having their own bathroom. At least their toilet is still working.

    The dining room needed the chair rails replaced and set higher. My home was built in the 1950s and according to my house, the people were much shorter. Well, that's not necessarily fair. I breed giants and my man guy and I aren't exactly short either. But anyways, the rails need to be replaced and placed higher. Also, I completely abhorred the color I originally painted Japanese Koi orange. Between the library (aka living room) and dining room, my house looked like a UF frat house. Not the feel I was going for. So now we will paint the top half a cranberry red and have white below the trim. For those interested, my library is a navy blue color. So now, it is painted in a gray primer.

    A couple of weekends ago I had to dig up four red maples that were growing right next to my house. Man guy wants to try his hand at Bonsai-ing. Is that a word? We have some Chinese Wisteria randomly growing in the middle of my yard where one day I will put in a firepit. I also put some cardboard and mulch down to replant a couple of other red maples that have grown much bigger but are a few feet from the house. Not to mention mowing 1/2 an acre once a week with a push mower. Can you believe that the riding lawnmower we bought for $1500 before we moved 4 years ago is now for sale for $4500? That's simply insane. I could not justify that expense at all in such a short time after such a big move. Also, my garden of the Three Sisters needed tending. I enjoyed a nice little harvest of butternut squash and corn! The butternut squash volunteered itself all over my garden, or rather, randomly popped up. I had planned for pumpkins and did manage to find a few locations to plant my Hokkaido pumpkins for the Fall.

    The children started school a couple of weeks back as well. We homeschool and like to start early. The earlier they are done, the earlier they get to focus on the things they are most interested in. They are doing well, but having four children in four separate grades means that I am always being asked a question. Thankfully, I combine Science, History, Geography, Art, and Music scaffolding to their individual levels as needed. The younger ones enjoy listening to the more advanced material of the older ones, and the older ones enjoy helping the younger ones with their many projects. So it works out, most of the time. It is all just very time-consuming and I am not able to write during most of the downtime since I am being interrupted regularly.

    A few of the cracks in the brick-and-mortar on the outside of the home had insects flying in and out of them. So of course, I had to seal those up and plug those holes. I am not fond of insects in my home. I am already fighting a fierce battle with the ants. Lately, I have noticed less of the little sugar ants and a couple of fire ants here and there. So yeah. There seems to be another fight on the horizon. Yay...

And the list goes on and on and on and on. And every day there is something new. Last night I noticed the dishwasher leaking after it was done running its cycle. Put that on the mile-long list.

Over the last few days, I have realized that I will need to rethink my daily and weekly schedule since life is throwing some extra EXTRA my way. And I want, I need writing to be a part of that life. Over the past few weeks, I've been able to journal which has helped me maintain my sanity amidst the busyness of life. And soon I will need to slow down or burn out. When that happens, my mind will turn to writing to ignore or put aside all the problems.

    So yes, I am alive and well. My world is just raining problems- and when it rains, it pours.