The end of the mould....we hope

So Thursday Rich and I cleaned all day. We bought a washing machine, and got rid of a bunch things and furniture that were damaged by the mould.

The landlord's were scheduled to come by after 7pm. I have discovered over the last few months that I have a problem with confrontation. I like keeping the peace. Rich is the complete opposite. He just doesn't care. I would say "well what if they say this?" and he'd answer "no" or "so what?" so relaxed it drove me nuts. We were also worried about the dog. They hadn't seen Chewie and although we didn't want to hide the fact we had a dog, she is a bit overwhelming as she's quite big. Rich said I should take the dog for a walk. Have I mentioned how great he is? So off Chewie and I went at 7pm. In a thunderstorm. It was ok until my contacts started swimming so badly I couldn't see. They eventually settled and Chewie and I continued on, completely drenched. It was a great 90 minute walk, we saw a deer with 2 baby deer and a rabbit sitting together at one point - it looked like a scene out of Bambi.

When I got home Rich said they'd only been there for 10 minutes and were very nice. They saw the problem and left. They said if we feel we need to move we can break our lease.
We picked up our laundry at his Mom's who'd finished it off for us after our washer broke (thanks Peggy!). We stopped and ate food we shouldn't have and then went to bed exhausted.
Friday we both worked and then we tackled the rest of the mould. I hate mould. And cobwebs. So gross. But it's done. We worked hard and the place is mould free as far as we can tell. With any luck it won't return and we won't have to move, but if it does, we'll have to seriously consider moving if they aren't willing to fix it. We'll have a building inspector in to see what the problem is next week.

Coming to work today was almost relaxing after the last couple days.

On another note, work approved me for part time status in the Fall. They did it only on the condition I go back to the dept I just finally got out of after 2 years and that I hate. I imagine I'll be there till at least my placement starts at school, and then we'll see.

Back to work....hope everyone has had a more relaxing week than we have had!

Kick us while we're down.....

The landlords got back to us about the mould and tried to pin it on our pets. No amount of pet peeing could cause this problem. It's ridiculous. We found the problem last night, there were two downspouts pouring directly down into crack in the foundation. This is so not our fault. They also tried to say we must have removed the pipe that makes the water flow away from the house. Why in the world would anyone do that? We don't even go to that side of the house.

Anyway just for a good kick me while I'm down, yesterday as Rich was cleaning and doing laundry, the washer broke. Many of you know we didn't have a dryer when we moved in and it was months before we had one and didn't have to hang dry our clothes. It's the landlord's washer so we asked what they wanted us to do with it. They said get rid of it. So we had to buy a washing machine. Grrrrr.

Then the lawnmower broke. It was our (read: Rich's) fault, but it's a cheap repair and we'll pay for that as it was our fault, however it happened yesterday too. In a couple days it'll be as good as new.

Do we move? Do we keep renting? Do we buy? We like this house and moving would be such a huge hassle. Needless to say we've been cleaning like mad today so there is no way they can say there is any evidence of pets anywhere (other than the litter box and 75lb german shepherd).

The couch broke too.

Back to cleaning.

Mould

So over the last couple weeks at night I've been getting a stuffy nose. I figured it was just because I was overtired and it was my body's weird way of telling me to sleep. Last night I was lying on the couch and my throat was sore too. I hate colds. I figured I was getting a cold. I would rather have the flu than a cold. So I tried to ignore it.

We still have boxes packed downstairs and I needed to get something out of one of the boxes. I went downstairs (where I never go) and noticed it was a bit damp feeling. Rich only really goes down to do laundry, but other than that he's never down their either. There is another long room in the basement that other than showing people around we've gone into maybe 4 times since we've moved in. I decided to check that room. Mould. Everywhere. It was disgusting. I have to get rid of my beloved trundle bed that I have been holding on to for 10 years. I don't know what it's ruined. I went back to the main room and started to really look. Behind the boxes against the wall, behind the bookcases, and even on the ceiling, there is mould. Everywhere.

I later discovered Rich hasn't been feeling well either - this must be why. I'm wondering if this is why my voice has been screwy too. I see the specialist next week so I'll ask him about it. I know some of our things are ruined, and I can only pray it's nothing valuble or sentimental.

Rich is off today and he'll start to work on cleaning it. I'll join him after work (though I can't do much still to help....silly recovery) and hopefully we can get it cleaned up so he can enjoy his other day off tomorrow, although I'm not optimistic it's a one day job.

The plus side to all this is we are renting so if we can't clean it it's not our problem financially - except of course the ruined stuff. Hopefully it'll all be fixed soon. Wish us luck - especially Rich.

Escaped Felon

Here we are in Kingston and I am up way too early. Chewie could hear people up and getting ready for work so I got up so Rich could sleep without listening to her whine. We just came in from a rousing game of Frisbee in the yard and she's panting beside me.

After work we got the car loaded up and headed off to Eden's birthday party which we were late for. I didn't get off work right on time and it took me almost until the party started to get home. We did get there in time to see all the cool presents and the great flower pot cakes Krista had done, and then we headed back out.

The drive to Kingston is so incredibly boring that we bought and "If" book last time and we were working our way through that. Things like "If you could have a dinner party with any four people from history who would be there?" Rich thought my answer was weird. (I think Hitler, Marilyn Monroe, Jesus, and Johnny Carson would make for a fascinating evening don't you?)

One of the questions was about lying, and I told Rich a lie I'd told my parents when I was about 19. His response "You HAVE to tell them!". Great. So we get here and I tell them. I'd come home to Niagara Falls for the weekend - one of my first weekends home from university in Toronto. I'd just got my license and there was a party I wanted to go to. Now I don't drink, and so that wasn't a big deal, but Mom and Dad let me use the car (I think for one of the first times). Off I went, and at the end of the night, around 2am, I drove home a couple friends. I dropped off Chara first, then Stacey. As I dropped off Stacey and backed out of the driveway, I heard a thump. There was a car across the road at the end of her hill driveway I didn't notice. So like any responsible teenager who has just commit a "hit", I "ran". Drove home thinking no one would ever know what happened.

The next morning on our way home from church Mom called to ask if we were almost home. Dad told her we were, to which she replied "the cops are on their way over....they want to talk to Jaci". Great. So now I'm freaking out. We get there and park, the cops get there and park, and start asking questions. All I could think was deny deny deny! And I did. They took my license info in case, and said they were questioning everyone at Stacey's that day and taking everyone's info. I asked if it was ok to go back to Toronto for school, and they said yes they'd contact me if I was going to be charged. All day I freaked out. My parents assured me it'd be ok cause I didn't do anything wrong.

So last night I came clean. Told them everything. To which my Mom replied "we know". What do you mean we know? She said I'd been so petrified they just pretended they didn't know for my sake. It's nice to know that Mom and Dad still love a felon like me - and knew I was a felon all along.

We know. I should have told them years ago. Too funny.

Off to start our relaxing weekend in Kingston....hopefully with a nap!

Timing sucks

So I posted that we were going to look at a house. This is dangerous. We loved it. It was a 2 story with a finished basement in Dundas. Huge yard (big enough for my hot tub I want!), 4 bedrooms upstairs all with hardwood flooring, a nice washroom with 2 sinks in the vanity. The main floor was a large living room, very nice entry way, kitchen, walk in pantry, and 1.5 bath. The basement was fun. It had a large laundry room with storage and big deep freeze they were leaving. Also a finished rec room with a wood burning stove and a bar. Then behind there was another room that could have been for another bedroom, an office, storage, or whatever. There was a 4 car driveway and a garage. We loved it. It looked so much smaller from the outside. Rich asked their asking price. Originally they asked 389,000. I almost choked on my water. They had dropped to 354,900 but were eager to sell and were willing to come down.

So we left depressed with Rich telling them it was "a bit" (try a ton) out of our price range but we'd call them by Thursday. Then we headed off to the cafe to watch a movie and have a coffee. On the table in front of us is a Real Estate Magazine. So we flipped through it getting more and more depressed. It's not that we can't afford a house, it's just with me going back to school we can't for one more year. I feel like everything is on hold while I get this done and that is frustrating. Needless to say, we won't be going house shopping for "fun" again!

The other thing that I couldn't believe happened was I got a call yesterday from Hamilton Police Services offering me a chance to interview for a part time communications job - basically for police dispatch. Great job, one I was trying for back in Feb. Figures they'd call now when I can't go. I was honest and let them know about the school thing but if they were still interested in me I would love to interview. She said to apply again when I was done school.

Just poopy timing for everything. Cest la vie.

Looking forward to Kingston this weekend. Should be nice to get away for the last time in what looks like may be a long while. We'll stop at Eden's 2nd birthday party on the way which should be fun.

Back to work. Hope everyone is having a good week!

House Shopping

So most of you know I'm going back to school in the fall. This will result in a major decrease to our income (hopefully followed by an increase if I get a job!).

My Ipod broke. We went to Futureshop yesterday to try and get it replaced there first, they said to call Apple. We aren't sure what happened but we will be sending it to Apple to see if we can get it fixed. In the mean time I will be getting a second one free with my Mac I'm going to by soon.

On the way home from Futureshop we saw a sign at the end of our street for a house for sale. It is a 5 minute walk from our house now (which we are renting). We drove to have a look and it looked nice. I said to Rich "I wonder how much they are selling it for". Doesn't he grab his phone and make an appointment for us to see the house tonight.

Are we going to see the house still? Yes
Do we have the money to get a house right now? Sort of.
If I go back to school (which I am for sure) would we be able to afford a house? Noooooo
Will we end up liking the house? Probably.
Is it in an area we would love to own a home? Yes
Will it thoroughly depress us to look at a house that we will probably like and not buy? Yes. It will. We've done it before.
So why are we looking? Glutton for punishment? I don't know. Sadly, I am looking forward to seeing the place. Maybe it'll end up being some disgustingly cheap hidden gem of a place.

In the mean time I will count down the months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and even seconds until I start school. This is exciting for 2 reasons:
1) I'm just looking forward to going back and pursuing something worthwhile.
2) School = waaaaaaaaaaaaay less working at a job I don't like!

Big Brother is on again. They need to backdoor Will or Boogie.

Back to work.

Chicken and other things....

I made my first roasted chicken last night. I will post a pic later but I was quite proud of myself. Yes I took pictures. Rich wasn't there for me to show and it looks great as far as I am concerned.

So I'm beginning my third week back at work and this is my long week, 4 days on last week, a day off, and then starting yesterday I work 6 days in a row. I'm looking forward to Thursday. My last day in the long stretch, then Eden's birthday party, and then Rich and I will head off to Kingston and that will probably be the last trip until Christmas.

So yesterday at work I had some good and bad things happen. Earlier this week my boss told me there was no guarantee I would get the part time status that I wanted to go back to school. I'd work Sat/Sun every week and go to school Mon-Fri. They offer this to many students so I didn't think there would be an issue. The reason I needed to know right away about the approval was because I could only book my weekend vacation once my part time status had been approved. So anyway the supervisor meets with his boss Friday while I off, and he would leave me a voicemail with the response.

Saturday I get to work, no voicemail. And guess who's on vacation for a week now. So no answer yet. Very frustrating. Then I look and the brilliant people in scheduling still have me on disability, and the 2 supervisors I would talk to to get this fixed are both on vaca next week as well.

Now one good thing that has happened is I was finally put on the team I've been helping out for months now. This job I like a lot more - I talk to techs instead of customers. So much better. The downside to this is because I'm the newest on the team my schedule will get a lot worse. Later hours and probably most of the weekends. The upside though is I'm more apt to work overtime before my shift than after, so this will make that more doable.

I didn't make it to the Goodyear's for their bbq yesterday. Chewie was really antsy and the weekends when I'm on days and Rich is on nights is the worst. Another piece of our home decor was eaten yesterday, so I figured I'd get out and play with her so she burned off some energy.

Still healing slowly. Not all better yet.

Back to work.

PS. I love Big Brother. Love Kaysar, Janelle, Howie and Marcellas.

Question for everyone:

If your bills were going to stay virtually the same, but your income was going to decrease, and your time you had available to work would significantly decrease, what would you do for some extra cash?

Think flexible, independent, and not necessarily a huge amount of money. Just something extra you can do for some extra cash that doesn't tie you down too much.

If anyone can think of anything please comment! I'm not trying to sell anything, just hoping I can get some outside advice from friends.

Thanks!

Random....stealing my title from Krista

This is my second week back at work. We're still having healing issues but it's coming along slowly. Last week was very long, I think largely because I over did it. The long weekend I was out Thursday night, home Friday, and Saturday went to Niagara on the Lake with Natasha which was super fun, but lots of walking. Sunday was church, out late, and then had to be at work for 6am. As soon as I got home we were off to St Jacobs with Mark, Krista and Natasha. Again a lot of fun, but it made for a long day. The rest of the week I started at 8, and by Tuesday at noon I was ready to crash. I left work early and was in bed by 8:30pm.
Rich and his partner are doing wonderfully. He got at least 4 phone calls from him yesterday. Too funny.
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I submitted my request to go to part time in the fall at work. So looking forward to that. Now if only I can get the vacation I want.
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I did definitely get my Arts Cohort that I wanted at U of T next year. This just means my three core courses are all taught from an arts perspective, which just makes it a bit more interesting.
I have no idea how I am going to teach history. I better hope I can google questions as kids ask me. I'll be watching a lot of the history channel this summer.
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One of my friends from work got married yesterday. She's had a rough couple weeks as her young son (9 yrs old) had a pacemaker put in a couple weeks ago. The wedding was fun and as there was almost no break between the wedding and the reception we were home super early it was great. I am getting old.
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The minister at the wedding was funny. He kept giving us trivia tid bits that were often vague or wrong. He also commented that it was nice she didn't walk down the isle to the common Cannon in G. For those wondering, it's the Cannon in D that is the popular one.
Rich danced with most of the single women at the wedding. He was a hit. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal but I tried to explain that women really do appreciate it.
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I hate the tradition of throwing the bouquet. It just screamed "hey single loser come look silly" to me. This was the first time I didn't have to participate! I loved it. It's a way better tradition when you don't have to participate.
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Off to start a new week at work. Yuck. 8 weeks left till part time!