Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Holy Cannolli - it's flippin' cold outside! Mid-ish 20's tonight and low 20's tomorrow night. Too much coldness for this part of the world....grrrrrr! I did a little more preps today, but still worry - always worry when it's that cold here - we're just not prepared. And, they're whispering about snow flurries tomorrow...probably nothing that will stick, but it might fall from the sky anyway.

I had DH go out and wrap the front faucet...I turned off the water to the back and opened all the valves. Put a box in the quail cage and stuffed it with hay. And, (and I'm not happy about this) because I can't bring Gracie inside. The oldsters are in her room. Plenty of other times I've just put her on a leash hooked to the front door - but the oldsters have to walk through there to get to the bathroom so that won't work either. I'm so bummed and feel so guilty.

Cowboy is up in the backyard with her and I fixed them both a place in an unused storage bldg. I've got a corner of it piled deep with hay and put their feed in there. I'll check later and if they're not snuggled up together I might end up bringing her up to our room. I don't worry too much about the big dogs - they have enough body mass to help keep warm, but Gracie is only 50 lbs instead of 100+ like the others. It's just not fair...

 

[baymule]

I hope Gracie is snug and warm. I know what you will do if she isn't. Paris's dog house is stuffed with hay, low of 14F tonight. Trip has beds on the front screened porch. The sheep and lambs are bedded in pine shavings and hay, the chickens are piled on the roosts and the horses are hanging out in the barn.

This cold weather will pass in a few more days. You really don't need the added stress of bad weather on top of what you already deal with.

 

[sumi]

It's so mild here, I'm almost feeling bad, listening to what you guys have to deal with over there. I hope the cold will pass soon and you won't have any extra stress or hassle from it

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We only got down to 30 last night - thankful for that! But, we've been having sleet all morning with possible snow flurries this afternoon. Headed for a low of 22 tonight. Upside of a few days of this cold weather is parasite reduction - and fewer garden pests next year! I'm alright with that.

Not sure why, maybe medication tweaks we've been working on since last week - but mom slept all night! All night long! Ten solid hours! She woke up - peed - and went back to bed. Holy cow - I'm a new woman!

I haven't ventured outside yet, but I scoped things out from an upstairs window. All looks well. I'll go out in a bit and feed and refill all hay racks. May have to actually haul some water out because I have the water cut off to the back. Guess I could turn it back on, but there might be ice in the water hoses anyway - so I think I'd rather just haul water out there in the first place.

I go back to work tomorrow - yay? Need to find something warm to wear. Why can't I just go in my sweats?

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yay sleep! That's fantastic, whatever the reason.

Hope you and the critters stay warm tonight!

 

[baymule]

Sleep is good, glad you got some sleep! The cold will pass in a few days, thank goodness. It was 14 here last night.

 

[sumi]

Glad you got a good night's sleep! That was much, much needed. Hopefully your mom will continue doing this now and letting you rest. You haven't had a vacation at all and now back to work, yuck. Any news/progress on their house sale, assisted living etc? I know I'm being a touch impatient now, but

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That one night's sleep made up for weeks of broken sleep - it was great.

Still have the contract on the house, but things got a little sticky with the loan they started out wanting...it was a lot like a construction loan and just wasn't going to work. So, they're going for conventional financing now - however - before you can get a loan the house must have walls and a working kitchen. They asked if they could go in and put up sheetrock and some semblance of a kitchen then try to get the house inspected for a conventional loan. Now - all this would be happening before any financing went through. I hesitated at first because I didn't want them to go in and put stuff up and then tear it out if their loan didn't work. So, I asked for non refundable earnest money and that they must leave the sheetrock on the walls. I just signed the release of earnest money contract today so we'll be getting the 2K check this week and hopefully things will move forward from there. The worst that will happen is if it doesn't go through we put it back on the market and we've got the 2K.

Assisted living told me right after Christmas that it should be "soon." I emphasized that we couldn't continue this way much longer and if we didn't get them placed there I'd have to look for somewhere else. We're going ahead and getting TB testing this week which has to be done before they will be admitted anyway. Mom has been systematically destroying things around the house. The blinds in their room are trashed. She's peeled carpet tiles off the floor, peed on furniture... the list goes on and on. But, all those things are cosmetic and not a huge deal. The worst thing is that she won't use her walker and I'm so afraid that she'll fall when we're asleep and we won't be able to hear her.

I am a bit disappointed that for the second year in a row I've missed out on my Christmas vacation....last year it was the flu...this year it's the oldsters needing constant attention. OH well, there's always spring break to look forward to.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sounds like a good deal with the house, glad to hear it's moving forward still. I really hope the assisted living place comes through soon.

 

[baymule]

That sounds like a deal on the house, I hope their walls and kitchen passes inspection. We had damage to the place we bought and had 30 days to get it fixed. Maybe the loan could stipulate conditions on making the house livable so the loan would be approved.

You need relief. I hope there is an opening soon for your parents.