All Points Bulletin

ATTENTION>>>>>>>>>

To all those who had heard the sad tale of the "lost Huffaker tapes".....

The tapes HAVE been located! I repeat... The tapes HAVE been located!

They were found hiding in a secret antechamber inside the entertainment center!

Andy is the hero of the story.. he was dusting and was trying to get into a little corner and when he pushed on the side of the cabinet, the door popped open and there, inside... are all of our family video tapes (they have been "missing" for almost a year and I have been trying to remember what in the world could have happened to them... I really did think that I went on a crazy cleaning binge and accidentally sent them off to Goodwill) As soon as he told me where they were, I remembered clear as day... putting them in there, because that made perfect sense! The problem was that we bought a cabinet that bumped right up to the entertainment center and hid the door and I really just forgot that the storage area was there!

All is not lost..............

and,
I
am
not
crazy!

(o.k. that remains to be seen!)

If you prayed for me.. thanks.... if you prayed that we would find the tapes...thanks
and.. if you prayed that I would JUST STOP OBSESSING ABOUT IT.. thanks

i love you all
(and... if you want to see the video of our wedding.. or... hours of silly baby footage, drop on by!)

Holy Scrap!

I mentioned before that I had planned to go away for the weekend to get together with one of my best-est friends, Darci so that we could scrapbook together. Well, with all of chaos (and extra expenses) right now, I considered canceling, but Andy reassured me that there was nothing that I could do here and that some time away would be good for me. He was right, it was. I got to get away from the chaos, I got to relax, spend time with a great friend and ... let him handle the work for the weekend.

I got packed up on Thursday night and on Friday morning, I drove to Yuma, Arizona. It took me 5 hours, which was an hour longer than I had anticipated but I hit traffic, rain and several border patrol stops. I arrived at 1:00 our time (2:00 theirs) and we immediately transformed our suite into a scrapping paradise! We stayed at a Hampton Inn, which was really nice and included a breakfast "buffet" and hot coffee served 24 hours a day. After unpacking and getting settled in, we got right to work and started scrappin! We went to dinner, stopped in at the craft store for supplies and headed back for more fun. We stayed up until 2 a.m. and got right to work again the next morning. We cropped all day and only left our room for a quick breakfast, a craft store run and a great steak dinner. Again, up until 2 a.m. and up really early to wrap up what we could before check out at 12 noon.This is the table that became our landing strip and sticker station.This is the middle of the "sitting room", we moved the coffee table out of the way and made it our own. Here is where we worked, one on each side of the table.
We headed out at 12:30 and 4 1/2 hours later, I was home again with my family. I had a great time and got a lot of pages done. I took a hot shower, had a good night sleep, and spent time with a great friend. I just realized that we did not get any pictures of US scrapping or together. But I do have a couple of shots of the hotel room! (After we had re-arranged all of the furniture!) Andy had a lot to juggle while I was gone, with the asbestos people here, the re-pipe going on, and the kids.. but he handled it well and also got the touch ups done on Gavin's room and fixed the doors to the closet (they didn't open after we put in the carpet). He even installed our new kitchen light fixture. I think everyone was glad to have me home, and I am certainly glad to be here!

Updates on the house

Did you think that I went off the deep end? Well, almost....

The asbestos abatement team came in on Thursday and I almost lost my mind! I had to get everything out of the kitchen (only some of the cupboards) and my bathroom and set up a little kitchen in the family room so that they could seal off the kitchen, laundry room and master bathroom to remove the old linoleum that had been put down with a glue that contained asbestos. They put up plastic walls and even created a de-contamination room going out the back door. Two rooms and a shower! It was quite the process.

This is the three room "de-contamination" chamber coming out of our back door, with shower in the middle, I jokingly (sort of) asked if I could take a hot shower in there! It looks like E.T.!!

Here is the kitchen getting sealed off, they then put up big plastic walls between this room and the rest of the house. Here is my little kitchen area in the corner of the family room. Here is what it would be like if our house was much smaller.. all the furniture crammed into one room. There are piles in the living room and on the patio, too.
Friday, the plastic came down and we got to see what our floor looked like. All of the subflooring is gone and there are only the boards left! We had Master-Serve (This company rocks!) come out and re-pipe our entire house, install a tankless hot water heater and an electronic water softener. We got all new faucets and they finished up the job on Saturday. We now, have hot water! We can shower and we can run the dishwasher (until the flooring is in, we will not have a washer and dryer.) Today, the city inspector will come and sign off on the re-pipe and then, the contractor will come and help us to figure out what to do next. We are going to look at flooring tonight and get some more information about the products available. The water abatement team came today and there is no more moisture in the walls, floor or ground underneath the house (no more than "normal" anyway). They have removed all of the fans and de-humidifiers and it is eerily quiet in the house.

This is where my new valves and drain for the washer are going in...

Here is the new tankless water heater, installed outside on the side of the house (kitchen wall) This is my bedroom wall, behind the shower. It looks like this inside my craft closet and below both toilets and the kitchen sink as well. The re-pipe company will be patching tomorrow.

I am still hopeful that we will have flooring in time for the big birthday party that we have planned for the 7th of February and I think that it will happen. Today, feel stuck because there is really nothing for me to "do" about all of this, I just have to wait. I can't even put things back in cupboards because the walls still need to be patched. I am flitting around, unpacking and just trying to feel like I have my head on straight. I plan to go to the gym and to shop for new trashcans. Not very exciting, but much more peaceful than I have felt in the last two weeks.

I am really excited that we are going to have new flooring, but boy... this was quite the way to get it. We are tired of being off schedule and feeling out of sorts and look forward to returning to normalcy. The hot water helps, as does the quiet... and we will eat at home tonight - although I do think that it will be take out!

Ommmmmmmm... breath...... Ommmmmm

The noise is getting to me. My head is buzzing from this constant humming. It is like when you stay in a hotel and the wall a/c unit is just blowing....
We had dinner with the in-laws again and got clean and shiny before coming home. Thank goodness that they are just a few blocks away. I have thought about the hotel, if even just to escape to, but... the kids would just be crazy there. Besides the fact that there are literally NO hotels around here! I would have to drive at least 15 minutes but more like 30 to get to a decent one, and that....is a pain in my patooty! We have eaten out a couple of meals and will be reimbursed for those too, but we don't want to "abuse" the system.

Today, the kids had the neighbor kids over for most of the day and they all played outside and had a great time! I made the menu (?) and a grocery list and realized that if the washing machine was going to be moved on Monday, I had better do ALL of the laundry TODAY. This included several extra loads of warm weather clothing pulled out of storage (it has been in the 80's here) and some bedding too. I can't see my couch or coffee table now, they are buried in clean folded laundry!

Andy got the room painted and it looks GREAT!!! We just have to put in new outlets and covers and get the ceiling fan changed out! The carpet goes in tomorrow and the bed should come soon! I am really excited about getting this project done...we are into the fun part now, decorating and moving him in! NEXT I get to obsess about Ella's room and what to do in there! I also took on a third job :1.the church, 2. cleaning the gym, 3. babysitting. Yup! I had a friend approach me and ask for a friend of hers! Twin girls that are in first grade at Gavin's school need to be watched for about a half hour a day, three days a week. It will be some extra money and might be just the motivation we need around here in the morning! I will meet the girls on Wednesday and they will start coming next week.

It looks like our date is still on for tomorrow and I am really glad... Andy and I soooooo need some time together. It has been so rough around here for the past six months and we need the time to re-group and remember that we are a team. I am glad that we are going to hike, it is more like something we would have done before kids. We never really went to movies and dinner much when we were dating, I don't know why that has been our fall back date. I guess because it is easy when you are tired. We are going to try for day trips more often, that is so much more "us". Besides, it's a little bit easier to get a babysitter... and ... it doesn't make bedtime strange for the kids.

This week will be one full of newness and some challenges, but I am feeling better about taking them on. Today was actually one of the most relaxing that I have had in quite some time. I just worked on what needed to be worked on and didn't really think much beyond that. I do have to start organizing my scrapbooking stuff for this coming weekend, but I will carve out time for that on Thursday. I am worried about all of the work that needs to be done at the office and how much time I have missed already this month but, so long as I can get in and put in some solid hours this week, I should be fine. We have decided not to go to Family Camp at the end of the month and although I am sad, I am mostly relieved. It is one less thing to plan, pack for and spend money on. We might start work on Ella's room that weekend!

I will remember to breath and take some time outs and know that this will be over, before I know it and I will have some beautiful rooms to show for it!

Hot Water?

here is the culprit: the rusted hot water pipe leading out of the hot water heater

Here is the first hole cut into the wall to try to find the problem.

Well, the "Water Abatement" team came out today to test the walls and floor for dampness. They are damp. Apparently, one needs a long handled tool with a probe and sensor on it to poke at the wall to determine this. (A hand is not adequate!) Several large holes have been drilled through the flooring and baseboard under my stove and there is a large (noisy) machine that has several tubes protruding from it that is blowing air under the house. There are two large (noisy) machines (one in the laundry room and one in my bathroom) that are "de-humidifing" the air. Our hair is VERY static-y and our lips are cracking... but there will be no mold growing under OUR house! De-humidifier with tube running into my bathroom sink.

Big-loud fan thing blowing air underneath the house and blocking up the kitchen.Crazy tubes going through holes in the baseboard to blow hot air under the house.

A team will come out on Monday to test for Asbestos before the abatement team can start tearing out wall, floor, cabinet, etc. By then, we will (hopefully) have an estimate from 2 companies on the cost of re-piping the entire house. We decided that this would be the most "responsible" thing to do because we do not want to have any more pipes rust away and burst causing damage. We have been told that we can move into a hotel, but THAT sounds like a big 'ol pain in the neck. Besides, there are really no hotels near us. (Do you think that the insurance would cover a hotel in say.. Santa Barbara, or Palm Springs?) I don't know when we will have hot water, but it won't be this week. (my prediction) We have the motorhome and Andy's parents are taking good care of us. Tonight they fed us dinner and we got showers before heading home!

Dampness and damage insid of the cabinet that the water heater stands on. It will be removed.

Andy got the paint for Gavin's room but was too exhausted to start on that today. He is getting up early and hopes to have it done before dinner. The bed has been ordered and the carpet guys are coming on Monday to move the carpet from one bedroom to another. This meant that today, I had to pack up everything that was on shelves and on the floor of the kids room so that we can get the furniture out of there on Monday.

I am really sad and frustrated because we have been planning a date for Monday... we got Andy's parents to watch the kids and we were going to hike Eaton Canyon in Pasadena. Afterwards we were going to do some (window) shopping and have lunch. However, with all of the workers that are going to be coming in and out, it looks like our date might get postponed. (Rats! Foiled again!)

I am trying to "let go" and relax and know that there is not much that I can do about all of this, but it is REALLY hard! I was ready for the front part of the house to be in a state of chaos with the bedroom thing, but now.. the ENTIRE house is upside down! (and, did I mention NOISY)

I have to trust the people who are helping us and know that they are doing everything that they can to make this go smoothly for us. It will be interesting, to say the least.

More on life

A couple of questions were brought up and I thought that I would just continue my previous post!
Our roommate DID move out. She did not stay here much in August, (she does home health care), she was gone on vacation for a good bit of September and she had all of her stuff moved out by the end of September. (She did pay rent through November, though) The original agreement would have had her here through January, then we changed it to May/June 09. With student teaching coming up, we were talking about asking her to stay even longer, though. I think that this house was a pretty stressful place to be last summer and I know I was certainly no jewel to live with, plus a friend of hers offered free rent in exchange for helping to clean out and organize the entire house. It was an offer she couldn't refuse. We are having a challenge dealing without the extra income, but we are doing o.k. The extra room is much needed, appreciated and being enjoyed.
The kids have been sharing a room since we moved in and Gavin is moving into the smaller, front bedroom. We (um.. actually.. Andy) painted the trim and replaced the handles on doors, and we have installed a closet system in there too! This weekend, Andy is going to paint the walls and then we are going to order a loft bed (like a bunk, but with nothing underneath). We will be moving the carpet from the shared bedroom into there and then we will decorate and get him settled in. Most of his stuff is already in there and he does his homework in that room, but he is sleeping in the old room. The kids are really excited for all of this to "really" happen, with the holidays, we really did not work on that project much at all. Another question was about the cake for Ella, the doll? That IS the cake. It was really fun to make, Andy's mom and I did it together and it was more fun that usual because I wasn't worried about the outcome. It was just for us and I knew Ella would love it anyway that it came out! I would make that again, if anyone ever needs a doll cake!

Another question was about baseball. Gavin is going to be in his 3rd year at Murphy Ranch and he loves it (so do we...it is a legacy thing now since my brothers and Andy and his brother all played up there). Gavin started out with YMCA ball, it was very fun and the kids really learned the rules and how to play. Each child has a parent with him/her while playing each position so that they have help and support. Ella asked to play and the scheduling seemed to work out well for us, so we are going for it! I have NO idea if she will like it, we will wait and see.

Lastly, the water heater... it was NOT the water heater, it was the main hot water pipe coming out of the hot water heater and supplying the rest of the house. It had several pinhole leaks for an undetermined amount of time (I am guessing for the last month or two) and then it blew 2 big holes in it the other night. There is a considerable amount of mud under the house (brave husband went under and looked) but no standing water. The wall is soaked and very damaged as is the cupboard and all of the subflooring. The plumber couldn't do anything today, except tear a big hole in the wall and figure out what supplies he needs to do the job.

The plumbing work IS covered by our Home Warranty insurance and we made a claim to our Home Owners insurance to cover the other damages. We can't do anything until the insurance adjuster assesses the damage. We are hoping that he/she will be here tomorrow. We are also getting an estimate for a tankless water heater, but it may be way beyond our price range. Relocating the hot water heater to outside might be another option, but right now.. we know nothing, have no estimates and are thankful that water boils quickly on our stove. Andy also made sure that the motorhome is hooked up to water and that the propane tank is full, so that we can get a quick rinse off in there if we need it.

Tomorrow, Ella has her 4 year check up and will get FOUR shots...pray that she remains calm and that the promise of an ice cream cone afterwards will keep her in good spirits!

Until later....

Life...

Still, no time for blogging! Been to a couple of Dr's (nothing major, just checking all systems...it's been a while) Had sick family... head and chest colds, followed by a minor intestinal upset and finished off with pink eye.. all of us, all of the bugs. Does Lysol make a "bomb" akin to a flea bomb that I can just light off in this den of bacterial ickiness? Windows open, everyone feeling better. Andy and I both missed some work, not so good.

Celebrated Ella's 4th birthday (inconceivable!) We took the kids ice skating, had breakfast for lunch and had dinner and cake with Gramma Sharon and Grampa Jack(Andy's parents). Gramma Mary and Grampa Randy (my mom and stepdad) joined us for cake. It was a wonderful family day. Though both of the kids did cry on the ice and Gavin claims that it was the worst day of his entire life.

Have a hair appointment tomorrow and finally going to work. Have been going to the gym, did gain weight over the holidays, did already drop some of it. More Dr. appointments next week for me and for Ella. Photo appointment for her birthday pictures too!

Hot water heater blew last night, need to have it replaced...and the floor, and some wall, and the cabinet and the room has been steam stripped of it's paint. (just some, not all) This weekend, scrapbooking and Gavin has Little League try outs, we are also going to paint his "new" room, finally. Andy and I have a date on Monday to go for a hike and have lunch! Yipee! The next weekend will find me in Yuma, Arizona with long time college friend, Darci. We are going to scrapbook our brains out!

It is a busy month, but I am striving for balance. Thought I had almost achieved it last night with a good cry, a long work out, a heartfelt talk with my husband, a hot bath and a soothing cup of cocoa. THEN the hot water heater blew! I am very upbeat about it though, we may finally get that Tankless heater, painted walls, new floor and new cabinet that I have been wishing for! (I really need to be more SPECIFIC with the universe when I wish for things, ahhhh)

Here is how we feel!

Here is what we need!

And, does anyone know what happened to "The Cutest Blog on the Block"? Is it me, or have they gone missing!?

Did anyone get the license plate number?

Wow.. that holiday season hit me like a semi-truck. Once I peel myself up off of the pavement, I will change that background and maybe come up with something interesting to blog about. I did suceed in enjoying a 4 hour "lunch" with some girl friends today! Whew.. then a Pampered Chef party... missed my family though and look forward to hanging out with them, oh.. maybe in a week or two... yikes.. absentee mom here.... enough on the guilt trip... moving on.... gonna read some other blogs and then head off to bed. My "to do" list is 3 pages long and now that I am organized, I will start working my way through it.....
for now... sleep is the priority....
good night!