Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Little One

Well, my grandson is now 10 months old as of this past monday. It seems, over the past few days, he has really mastered the whole walking thing!...lol! He also has what we call the "spider crawl" cause that's what he looks like when he doesn it....:)

Update on the Creatures

I did find an inexpensive exterminator. He even cut the initial treatment from $110 to $60 with treatments every three months for $84. I think that's a really good deal. He said in order to be absolutely sure the creatures are gone, he'd have to treat a few more times. I will stay on contract for about 6 months then I will cancel. Prior to the last tenant, we've never had issues with creatures. I don't want to pay for something I won't need. Should it become an issue again in the future, I can always sign up on contract again.

Ok....I speak to the company, Lloyd's Pest Control. We agree to do the contract via fax. I set up my fax machine and Arthur faxes the contract so I can sign it and fax it back. I'm thinking we are finally on our way to resolution.

Well, the fax comes, but I am out of ink!....Ugh! So, with money being tight, I send my boy to Walmart for the ink. Walmart is out of it. They suggest Staples. So off he goes. That location is out of it too! They were nice enough to call the next location and have them to hold one for us. The blasted ink refill cost $49.00! Ghee! Could it possibly be anymore expensive for a black ink refill?!!

Didn't have time to worry about the cost. In the meantime, I called Lloyds to see what time they close for the day. By now it was about 4:45 pm. They close at 5:00 pm. They said it was ok and that they will still go out to the house. At the time I called the company, my son was trying to call me and said that the fax was interrupting the phone line (my fax and phone are the same line). So, dummy me, I unplug the fax machine and lost the contract that was stored in memory!!...lol! It was the end of the day and I was very tired...lol!
As we speak, the fax in being re-sent. By the end of the day, we should be nicely squared away. Treatment will be done, house aired out and the tenant can move in...:). That is the goal of the day.

Positive thoughts and prayers!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Hanging in there!

Yesterday was a busy, busy day! Looks like today will be the same. Only way to fix it is to "fix" it...lol.

It started out with the rental unit in San Diego. This last tenant, who has been in the process of moving out for the past week, was so filthy. This house has been in my family for four generations. It has been rented out on many occasions. My children and I lived in it for 17 years. The house has never had roaches!

The roaches were so bad in this house until they were crawling in the tenant's bed and in the refrigerator!...yes, alive in the refrigerator! Once she emptied her belongings from the house, it was then that I saw the true magnitude of the problem. Two weeks ago, upon assessing the house for the prep for a new tenant (yes, I evicted this tenant), every kitchen cabinet has massive amounts of roaches..each cabinet. I had my contractor put 12 foggers throughout the house. I took pictures just in case I should have to go to court.

My regular contractor is out of town until the 14th. So, I am using another contractor. The more he inspects the house, the more things he finds broken i.e. both toilet seat screws are missing, the garbage disposal is broken, someone kicked in the bedroom door leaving the door mildly cracked around the door knob, we won't talk about the backyard!

Well, I finally gave in to an exterminator. He said the foggers won't even touch the eggs and they won't kill the roaches unless they have direction contact with the poison.

If all goes well, this should all be over by 5pm tomorrow!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Playing Around

I am just tickled pink that my daughter showed me how to put an animated picture onto my blog page. As you all know, I do child care. I thought it would be kinda nifty to have my webpage link on my blog :). I was getting a little puzzled because I know how to put pics on there and I thought an animated one should be similar if not the same. I kept trying to figure it out.

As usual, you know how our kids can be when it come to computers...LOL! My daughter took a look at it and it was quite a simple step! I am so excited! I do realize the people on the blogs are typically not from our own cities, but it is fun just knowing it is on there :).


Thursday, August 6, 2009

Prevention

Ok Ladies,

I'm sitting here feeling oncoming symptoms of pre-pms. It is really not a good thing when preventive measures, to avoid 'most' of the discomforts, are not working. What is a girl to do? It's like knowing why you feel the way you do, but being totally unable to do anything about it while, all the time, you are being effected by it....depressed, in pain, bloated, irritable, etc. All you can tell yourself is, "Oh, it's just that time of the month." Then spend the next 3 to 7 days dealing with it!....Ugh! All this while running a child care!

Those over-the-counter pills have never worked for me. Unfortunately, what does work is that of two heating pads, one on the front and one on my back, and laying down. After a day and a half of that, I'm usually good to go. Moltrin or Extra Strength Tylenol helps with the pain but not enough.

Okay, okay... I got that out and off my chest. Now it's time to go deal with it. I'm still in the "pre" stage....lol! I just had a huge cup of hot, lemon tea. Oh yeah, I'm fighting a cold too. Time to put everything in slow, minimum gear and take it one step at a time.
Gotta do this thing, ladies!

1. I enjoy counseling with people to help them see a different perspective.

2. I totally love my family even though they drive me crazy sometimes

3. I am disappointed in myself because I am afraid to start new projects for fear of not completing them

4. I really do enjoy crafts. I was very crafty in my earlier life i.e. drawing, crotcheting, gardening, etc.

5. Children are awesome little humans that need a lot of direction with tender love and care...and a smigdeon of discipline :)

6.
Pets are awesome too because they are so loyal and can make us feel good

7. I want to thank KT for sending me my first blogger's award!


Here's my first time....

1. I look forward to Linda and Her Twaddle blog because of her light hearted honesty about the family and her world.

2. KT's Sassy Blog is filled with energy and exploration that should we should never let end in our lives.

3. I can really, really relate to Fat, Frumpy and Fifty. I go through many of the same phases in my life. Learning to embrace them.

4. I find A Working Mother's Chatter to be so calm and sweet as she adores being a mother to her toddler son with a new little one on the way.

5. I admire Elvie Studio for all her creativity and enthusiasm for life

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

My Oldest Son

My son has finally realized the error of his ways...lol. He seems to be ready to straighten up and fly right now. However, there is a trail of errors to be corrected as well.

Almost a year ago, his dad and I agreed to send him to live with his dad. I have done the primary raising of the kids. Dad has a tendency to have very high expectations. However, what he is trying to implement is good but it would be better if dad would "teach" our son rather than bark at him.

My son once said, "Mom, I'm too old to be a kid and too young to be grown man. It's like I'm in the middle." I explained to him, "This is the time where you let your parents 'teach' you various elements of life as they occur." i.e. paying bills, car repairs, buy groceries, etc. Most of the time, I feel, young adults need to go through new experiences step by step with guidance from their parents. To just "tell" them what to do and expect them to do it, can be confusing and overwhelming.

At this point, I think this is my son's delima with his dad. So, what my son does is calls me and I give him directions on what his dad is telling him to do. Then I call dad and get more details. Eventually, it all works out. I usually end up getting everyone on the same page.

So, ladies, divorced or married, it seems our job is to make sense of confusion in the family. If you are divorced and have children, you are still connected to that mate through those children. It is very important to be able to communicate and interact at a minimum basis for the sake of the kids. I feel my ex and I have achieved this very well.

No offense to the husbands, but the wives tend to be the "brains" behind the family....lol!