Cloning is good
I’m ready to lose my lunch over the fact that I seem to be getting very little done at my mom’s and we need to get it listed and in shape to show. We got a copy of the first CAD draft of the house and while it needs some tweaking, it wasn’t bad. I’ve had it since the beginning of the month but have been dragging my feet getting back with the builder and the designer. It came in a .pdf file that can be marked up and that pleased me a lot. I went in and made notes and drew changes in that I wanted made.
Jeff was home on vacation when the kids were home on break and my big plans were to spend time each day at my mom’s doing what needed to get done. The first day was a wash because it was her birthday and we had a hair appointment. She didn’t want to be home so I took her here and there to get her out of the house. She doesn’t drive and is in too much pain to walk far (it’s not as if where we live is set up to be pedestrian-friendly–things are too far to just walk) so she gets stir-crazy. Now that my brother is out it’s even more quiet than it was before and I’m sure it’s incredibly lonely for her. This is the first time in her life that she’s ever lived alone.
Things were going well that week. I stopped off at the hardware store before going over and bought things to help me get things done like grout, clean and new garbage cans and sponges etc. I put together a cleaning kit from home and took my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser mop. I thought it would be a good chance to test it out and see what it’s made of. I started on the basement and my brother came over that day after taking a half day off of work. Originally he wanted to take the whole week I was available off from work but things went to hell and someone had a funeral, someone needed this day off and that day off bla bla bla. He came over to help which was nice because I didn’t want to go through his personal things. Apparently his slightly nutty fiancée was worried that I’d toss everything. I’m not supposed to know she said that. Heh.
On went the week and I cleaned out her tub really well and used a grout saw to clear out any loose stuff so I could regrout and fix up her tub. It wasn’t in bad shape; it just needed a little TLC. I pulled off poorly applied caulk and the whole nine yards. My plan was to come back the next morning, grout and then move on to the next project.
Never happened.
Thursday morning rolled around and I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck. I had the flu. The stupid, motherfucking flu. For something like five days I was in pain and vacillated from freezing cold to boiling hot, rocking and moaning. I couldn’t even get relief sleeping. All I know is that next year I’m getting that flu shot come hell or high water. I was useless and thank God Jeff was home to take care of the kids. There would’ve been no way I could’ve cared for them. The worst part? I got nothing more done and my poor mother was left without the use of her tub until I could get back to her house. I told her to come over and shower here but she had figured out a way to clean up and not get water into the exposed areas of the tub. It was almost a week before I got back there and finished up the grout. I still need to caulk but the tub will be just fine until I do. It does look great though. I’ll give myself that.
Thankfully the weather has improved which means my mom’s pain has subsided a bit. This means she’s been able to do things around the house and get things in order as much as she’s able. I’m really glad she’s feeling better and you can tell by the way she moves when she walks. Selfishly I’m happy because that means at least something is getting done even if I can’t be there. I still have a ton to do but I can do it if I can get to her house without the kids. That’s the challenge. I could use a clone or six.
What doesn’t help is how long my brother is taking to move the remainder of his stuff out and sorting through his crap. The basement is in sorry shape and I don’t know how anyone could live like that. His fiancée was home all day while he was at work so I’m not entirely sure why it’s such a mess but what’s done is done and now I’ll be left with the bulk to clean. I hope he gets the rest of this things out soon because I need to sort through what’s left, throw out what’s useless and then clean. The floors look like a (clean) litter box with all the kitty litter strewn about. I guess his cats liked to hide in the mountain of empty Dell and Amazon boxes on the opposite side of the basement and dragged a lot of litter around in their paws. I need to vacuum that up and mop the floors. I broke down most of the boxes last Sunday and hopefully I can finish that and put them out for recycling next week.
I rented a storage unit a little over a week ago but I’ve yet to put anything in it. I need to pack some things up from my mom’s house and take them over. There are things here that could go, too, like Jeff’s golf clubs, the snow blower and things like my studio lights and framing supplies. They are simply taking up space in the basement since I never have time for that stuff anymore. Sigh.
