Life and Times
It's been a while since I've last posted so here's what's going with us.
What's down
Sewage! It's down and staying down, at least for now. We've had several minor backups and dumped buckets of incredibly toxic chemicals into the sewer in the hopes that what was down would stay down. So far, it's working. Fortunately (?), the city plans to dig up the street in the late spring and replace the water mains, the sewer lines and the storm sewers as well. They do provide a minor grant towards getting the pipes to the house replaced so instead of $5000-7000, we're hoping (read praying really hard) that it will come in about $2000. But we absolutely need to get this done, so it will get done. And when it's done, it will be fixed for our lieftimes, so we never need to think about this again. Works for me.
Today, we had an engineer come and take measurements for drawings to begin reconstructing the basement. Because of the sewage, a lot of stuff needs to be replaced. We are hoping to be able to replace the temporary wall holding up the stairs with a more permanent, safe, and even attractive version. However, if the city says footings are required, pretty will be thrown away and adequate will be substituted. Damn, this stuff is expensive! I wish we could afford the pretty!
What's up
GMinor is still battling anxiety issues, but it seems to be coming along. It's very generalized now so it seem harder to deal with. But there is progress. Sadly, she has bailed on her singing lessons and performances/competitions for now. I was surprisingly upset about her quitting singing. I guess I was more invested in it than I thought. But she discovered that the songs she was prepping for competitions were significantly more complex than she expected, so it's probably best to take a break for now. But many tears were shed (by me!).
Fortunately, she is still playing violin and in fact is now tutoring a younger schoolmate. This is causing her a lot of stress, but she's determined to do it. I am hoping that, after time, she will overcome this and even enjoy it. I can hear her - she practising vibratto now. Awesome!
What's all around
In an anxiety-based fit of rage two nights ago, GMinor yanked open the glass show door only to have it nearly come off in her hands. We've noticed it lost a little piece of something a few days ago, but that yank took it off it's hinges. The plumber came and he's ordered the bits, but it will take a week. So the bathtub is getting a bit of extra use. Bah.
GMinor is *not* impressed that she will be required to contribute to the repair bill though. Loudly unimpressed. My ears are still ringing.
Oops, violin is wrapping up. Gotta go.
What's down
Sewage! It's down and staying down, at least for now. We've had several minor backups and dumped buckets of incredibly toxic chemicals into the sewer in the hopes that what was down would stay down. So far, it's working. Fortunately (?), the city plans to dig up the street in the late spring and replace the water mains, the sewer lines and the storm sewers as well. They do provide a minor grant towards getting the pipes to the house replaced so instead of $5000-7000, we're hoping (read praying really hard) that it will come in about $2000. But we absolutely need to get this done, so it will get done. And when it's done, it will be fixed for our lieftimes, so we never need to think about this again. Works for me.
Today, we had an engineer come and take measurements for drawings to begin reconstructing the basement. Because of the sewage, a lot of stuff needs to be replaced. We are hoping to be able to replace the temporary wall holding up the stairs with a more permanent, safe, and even attractive version. However, if the city says footings are required, pretty will be thrown away and adequate will be substituted. Damn, this stuff is expensive! I wish we could afford the pretty!
What's up
GMinor is still battling anxiety issues, but it seems to be coming along. It's very generalized now so it seem harder to deal with. But there is progress. Sadly, she has bailed on her singing lessons and performances/competitions for now. I was surprisingly upset about her quitting singing. I guess I was more invested in it than I thought. But she discovered that the songs she was prepping for competitions were significantly more complex than she expected, so it's probably best to take a break for now. But many tears were shed (by me!).
Fortunately, she is still playing violin and in fact is now tutoring a younger schoolmate. This is causing her a lot of stress, but she's determined to do it. I am hoping that, after time, she will overcome this and even enjoy it. I can hear her - she practising vibratto now. Awesome!
What's all around
In an anxiety-based fit of rage two nights ago, GMinor yanked open the glass show door only to have it nearly come off in her hands. We've noticed it lost a little piece of something a few days ago, but that yank took it off it's hinges. The plumber came and he's ordered the bits, but it will take a week. So the bathtub is getting a bit of extra use. Bah.
GMinor is *not* impressed that she will be required to contribute to the repair bill though. Loudly unimpressed. My ears are still ringing.
Oops, violin is wrapping up. Gotta go.