Hot Water, Weather & Hockey....

So, here it is June 5, 2011 and I still have no hot water in my kitchen from this unplanned demo.  It's sure a lot of work schlepping hot water from the bathroom to fill the kitchen sink to do dishes by hand.  AND still no washing machine either.  I've been taking loads up to my Dad's place (he's in a modular home on our property) to wash and then drying them in my dryer.  DH hooked the dryer up again, so that is nice and makes it a wee bit easier.  The good news is that we will have a new hot water tank this week sometime.  Things are being REconstructed now and the tearing apart part is over.  Thank goodness!  Will try to get some pics up when I can.

My washing machine and upright freezer are in the family room.  The big wall shelving unit sits in our foyer.  Boxes of cans from underneath the counter are sitting in the living room.  Contents of the laundry room are in our bedroom.

My personal favourite (speaking of laundry room contents) is having the cat litter box in our ensuite bathroom.  Amazing what we have suffer with during times of upheaval!!!

I am not complaining, though.  I know that this could have been MUCH worse and we could have lost everything to a fire or something similar, so this is nothing, really.  I do still have hot water from our other tank that feeds the bathrooms.  All this makes me realize how much we have and that we take for granted.  Think of the old days when everything was done manually and water was heated on the stove.  Those poor women with lots of children and all that laundry.  Can't even imagine doing that all by hand.  Mind you, they wore clothes a lot longer than we do nowadays.  I am grateful for what we have.  The final tally for cost is not in yet, but that, too, could have been much worse.  Of course, it would have been nice if insurance covered all of this, but we can't have it all, can we????  LOL! 

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the past couple of days.  We haven't seen weather over 20 degrees (Celsius) since October 1st - heard that on the weather yesterday - can you believe it!????  October 1st, by the way, is my and my sister's birthday (no, we're not twins, but she was born 5 years before me), so I remember just how long ago it was.  Hard to believe!

On the hockey front, our home NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks, won the second game of the final series (against the Boston Bruins) for the Stanley cup last night.  Woohoo!!!  What a game!  The score was 2-2 and Alex Burrows scored 11 seconds into the first O/T period.  The Canucks have NEVER won the Stanley Cup in their 40-year history, so it would be nice.  They are playing well this year and quite consistently.  They've battled hard to get this far.  Go, Canucks, go!!!

Have a great week, everyone!

Still Demolishing

There is no end in sight to the water damage in our house.  The demo crew (might as well give them a plug) were here on Friday to start, then the Project Manager came back on Monday morning to have a look, and then the crew were back again today.  They uncovered more floors and found more water (sopping WET floors).  Obviously, we have to find where the water travelled to and everything to that point needs to be replaced.  Can't remember if I said in my last post what it was - it was a very slow hot water tank leak - probably over about 10 years or so.  We are on a concrete slab, so it's not just an easy fix with going into a basement and doing it from below.....there is no BELOW here.

So, because the hot water heater was sort of centrally located in the house, it has spread in almost EVERY direction!  It's wet in my kitchen, in one of the kids' bedrooms and in the computer room and laundry room.  Before we can start REconstruction, the DEconstruction has to take place, and it's VERY stressful. That's not even to mention the MOULD that has begun to grow - don't even want to go into that.  

I had to leave today when they were tearing out my kitchen cupboards or I would have cried.  So, I took Dad out for his daily Tim's, and a nice hot cup of coffee sure made me feel better AND I didn't cry.  Not too good at dealing with stress since the cancer thing - something to do with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I think.

Did I mention that this is NOT covered by insurance?  Nope.  Nada.  Not a bit of it.  THAT is the part that really makes me want to cry.  There is no end to the scope of work that needs to be done, so that means there is no end in sight yet to what it might cost.  I know it could be worse, and I'm trying to keep that in my mind.  I've been feeling sorry for myself, but I realize that it just needs to be DONE and I need to grin and bear it.  Here are some photos of the computer room with all my appliances in it, and the hallway/bathroom areas.....

And my poor KITCHEN....

Hmmmm, I DID want the bathroom remodelled, but this was NOT what I had in mind!

Other than that, I had a quite uneventful day.  LOL!!!!!

Washing Dishes

Well, the guys came on Friday and tore out the entire bathroom - right down to the concrete.  They left it all done up in plastic so the room was totally contained in a "negative airspace" with a fan blowing out the window.  That left me with no hot water to my kitchen or laundry room.  Luckily, we still have hot water in our master bathroom and the small bathroom near our front door.  They have their own hot water source.  So, I got to wash dishes by hand this weekend - woohoo!  Haven't done that in awhile.  Keeps you grateful for what you DO have, I guess.  :-D

Luckily, we have two other bathrooms - not sure how that would have played out if that had been our only bathroom, as it was before we built the additions to the house.  Oh, well, I guess I don't need to think about that.

The restoration company will be back again today.  They still have not found how far the water damage goes.  It will cost more than was thought since they couldn't finish in one day.  Nice.  At least they are available to do it - for that I'm very thankful as DH is far too busy to be able to do it himself.  Too bad the house insurance doesn't cover it, though.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now as I have THREE extra birds in the house.  Xena, the foster Quaker, Casey the foundling, and my Senegal, Cubby has come back after being placed in her new home last year.  Really noticing it with washing dishes by hand and the extra noise. Quakers really seem to feed off other Quakers' noisiness, and bird dishes really add up.

Had a good day yesterday.  Cooked lots of food for the birds so I could freeze it.  It just helps me to get going a bit quicker in the mornings.  Spent a lot of time on my feet, which had my back hurting pretty good last night, but it could have been worse.  Glad that I'm feeling better these days!

Watched the hockey game last night - game one of round three of the Stanley Cup final.  Our Canucks won over the San Jose sharks.  Hopefully they can get past this team to the final.  Go, Canucks, go!!!

Have a great day, everyone.  Another day of demolition here.

Water, Morning and Foster Feathers

We have a water problem. Not just a little water problem, but a BIG water problem.  We were going to renovate our bathroom.  We knew there had been some leakage behind the tiles around the bathtub.  We just didn't know how MUCH leakage or how MUCH damage has been caused because of it.  Hubby pulled up the floor last week in front of the tub as the tile had broken and the wood underneath was rotting.  I just had the restoration company in this morning and the water comes out into the hallway, the wall is WET up to three feet (according to the moisture meter) and who knows what's behind the tub as it's still in there.....  and there's MOULD - LOTS OF MOULD - you can smell it - Yuck! The fellow said that there could be a very slow leak, which could have been going on for up to 10 years.

It's a little bit stressful not knowing what's involved with fixing a problem of this scope.  We will be getting a detailed estimate, of course, but the fellow said roughly $4,000-$5,000 JUST TO TAKE EVERYTHING APART and fix it.  Then it will cost more to actually get a new tub/surround, fittings, flooring, etc.  Hubby was going to do it himself, but because it's so much worse than what we thought, he just doesn't have the time.  We are going to have to bite the bullet because the mould, now that it's exposed, is now a health issue.  Insurance doesn't cover it either.  They will only cover "sudden and accidental", not a slow, insidious leak over many years.  :-(

On the subject of morning, I am again becoming the morning person that I once was.  Since I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December, 2008, it seems like it's been a struggle to get out of bed every single morning.  Well, when I was diagnosed, I immediately stopped being able to sleep.  The doctor prescribed a sleeping pill - the mildest one available.  Let me back track a bit here.....

Chemo will send some women into premature menopause - this seems to have been the case with me.  Good in some ways, others - not so much.  Two of the not-so-nice things are the hot flashes and the insomnia.  The sleeping pill helps most of the time with the insomnia.  There is little that can be done with the hot flashes - suck it up and get on with it!  The insomnia I've been experiencing can be caused by menopause - it's one of the side-effects.  I am also on a drug called Tamoxifen, which lowers the recurrence of breast cancer by up to 76% over five years.  This is a wonder drug of sorts, an old drug, but it's not without its own side effects.  Hot flashes, bone pain and insomnia, to name a few.  So, I'm fighting the insomnia on two possible different levels.

So, one little sleeping pill does help me to sleep.  I've been wanting to wean myself off of the sleeping pills, so about 4 months ago, I started breaking them in half and only taking a half pill at bedtime. Still works for me pretty well.  On Saturday night, I started cutting the half pill into another half, so now only take a quarter of a pill.  Well, surprise - I started dreaming again.  Apparently, sleep meds do not allow your brain to hit REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, so you DON'T dream.  My dreams the past few nights have been very vivid and it's obvious I haven't dreamed in a very long time.  I also am waking before my alarm at 5:45 a.m., which I did all my life until the cancer hit and then I was stressed by that and on the different medications since then. I was then dragging my butt out of bed, and having to lay down again once the kids left for the bus.  Today I feel good.  It's early still, and I feel good and not like I'm dragging my butt and wanting to go back and lie down.  It's the sleep meds.  There are so many side effects of drugs.  It's so nice to be able to enjoy morning again. It felt horrible not to be able to enjoy the morning as I had before cancer came to visit.

On to foster feathers.  I currently have two extra foster birds and one of my own birds that I re-homed last year is also returning.  It's difficult some days as two extra cages (it will be THREE shortly) does make a difference.  There's also the extra dishes to fill when making breakfast and supper, which involve cooking and chopping. Extra cages to clean, too.  It all takes time. 

I am blessed that I am a stay-home-mom and have the time to care for the birds, as the kids are now in middle and high school.  I wasn't able to foster for a few years, but now I can again and it's nice to be able to help out. There is a season for everything in our lives.

I am enjoying the busy-ness of life again.  It reminds me that I am well again.  Halleluia!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, whether your children are near or far, or here on earth or up in heaven. I have two babies in heaven (as well as my two down here on earth) and today I am reminded of them more than any other day of the year. I am also blessed to be mom to many feathered and furry children.

I hope you had a wonderful day. I sure did! I had quite possibly THE best Mother's Day. EVER. REALLY. I will post about it when I have more time.

For now, Happy Mother's Day to all moms and a special thanks to my friend, Connie, who made my Mother's Day so special.

How Great Thou Art

Wow!  What a voice!  What a wonderful rendition of this timeless hymn......and what a gift that Carrie Underwood has been given.

Happy Birthday Connie!

My dear friend, Connie has a birthday today!  Happy Birthday, my dear!!!!  She also just became a Grandma on Saturday!!  Hard to believe she can be 29 AGAIN!  LOL!

Happy Birthday!!!!!  You deserve the very best that life has to offer!

By the way, this photo of Connie and her DH is a couple of years old (I don't really have a current one) - she looks MUCH older now and she just became a Grandma on Saturday, May 1!!!!  Just kidding, dear!!!!  LOL!!!  But congrats to Connie & her DH on the safe arrival of their new grandbaby, Jace James.  Parents JJ and Karisa are so proud and doing an awesome job as new parents.  I will be "Oma Audrey" - we are all as proud as can be!!!

Another Kitchen Helper

Speaking of kitchen helpers.......today I was getting supper ready, and I looked down to see my little Maya.....

You REALLY need to be careful when you have little feathered ones wanting to join you to "help".  Sometimes it's easy to not hear them coming across the floor - especially the smaller ones. Two of my birds are flighted (Bella & Elmo) for specific reasons, so they can get to me by flying if they wish.  I try to make it a habit to always look down before I move away from the sink......  Many times I see this when I look down......

Accidents can happen so quickly, so it's always a good idea to check and see if anyone has come to visit me at the sink.

Funny....Or Is It?

Connie, Stephanie and I went to Ikea today.  We had a great time, and I got a few little things that I didn't know I needed, but I really did!  :-)  I got a strainer that fits across the sink, a new squeegee for our shower doors, a few other things I can't remember right now, and two funnels.  Well, when I got home, I was putting the funnels into the dishwasher and lo and behold.......they looked like this......

Pretty regular-looking funnels, right?  Well, that's what I thought, too - until.......

As a breast cancer survivor and having gone through two mastectomies and reconstruction, I couldn't help but notice some similarities.......LOL! 

Kitchen Helper

I was busy in the kitchen today.  I was cleaning up some dishes and getting the birds' breakfasts ready.  Abby wanted to help me.  It's not always a good thing having an African Grey help you in the kitchen.  I requires lots of "stuff".....

Stuff helps to distract said African Grey from chewing the coffee maker and the wires.  Notice all the plastic cups, measuring cups, empty milk containers, cardboard? These are the distraction materials.  Other parrot owners will surely agree.  Of course, as good as my intentions were, somebody was not impressed.....

I think Abby was onto my scheme of trying to keep her occupied with the "stuff" while she was "helping" me.  She also did NOT like me taking her photo......

At least she didn't chew the coffee maker ......

.....but MAN, she was NOT impressed with me!!! 

Thanks to my sweet Abby for the being my great kitchen helper today!!  I sure had a lot of "stuff" to clean up when we were finished!!