Bren&#39;s Missives

Virginia heads to college

: chesneyj; January 1st, 2024

https://chesneyj.dreamwidth.org/472322.html

Tags: college, unt, virginia

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Virginia needed 4 tires

: chesneyj; November 9th, 2023

https://chesneyj.dreamwidth.org/472236.html

Tags: cars, virginia

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accident

: chesneyj; June 10th, 2023

https://chesneyj.dreamwidth.org/472058.html

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Return of the Jedi - sigh

: chesneyj; May 4th, 2023

Current Mood:: blank

https://chesneyj.dreamwidth.org/471559.html

Tags: appliances, laundry, star wars

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Goodbye Lucy

: chesneyj; May 3rd, 2023

Current Mood:: sad

https://chesneyj.dreamwidth.org/471338.html

Tags: lucy

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Father's day 2021

: chesneyj; June 20th, 2021

Current Mood:: content

Had a busy Father's Day. Took Chris to lunch at Fish and Fizz (British restaurant in Richardson) which was attached to the British Emporium (second shop for them). Then we came home and puttered around. Chris helped me harvest beans, tomatoes, basil, Swiss chard, parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, etc.

We just finished making 2 - 8 oz jars of pesto, freezing the Swiss chard and parsley. The beans will wait until tomorrow. The other herbs are either in the freezer or hanging in the garage to dry.

And now Chris is trying to play the NES version of Mortal Combat that Sam bought yesterday. Sam loves the old school game systems. Been a long day and it is time for bed. Good night everyone!

Tags: garden 2021, hubby, natalie, sam, virginia

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Horrible no good week/year

: chesneyj; November 10th, 2020

Current Mood:: angry

To make the week better, I am working from home again because a bunch of people have either tested positive for Covid or have been tested.

At the end of the day Monday, we received an email saying that someone had tested positive in the office. Some digging said it was someone upstairs. But one person on our team was gone on Friday and Monday and another was gone on Monday. Both had fevers and have been tested. Results aren't back yet.

Another person on our team was taking his computer apart when I got to work this morning. His son, who is 18 and has been doing some work with us for the last year, wasn't feeling well. He was tested and is positive. Our boss, Bret, and his wife were tested. He is positive and she is negative. He is the one that was horribly sick in February and is now assumed to have had Covid back then. By the time they tested for antibodies, there were none.

I got myself tested this afternoon but won't hear back for a few days. And Sam is to go back to school tomorrow. I spoke to his counselor. She said that he is clear to come back since I have no symptoms and am now quarantining.

And to make the week the worst ever, Doug, the guy who helped me get this job and whose wife died of Covid in August, fell over the weekend and cracked his head. He had a fever on Monday and the doctor ordered an MRI. They found a malignant brain tumor! He is actually grateful for the fall since it allowed them to find it. He has surgery this week. He moved his elderly and infirm parents to his house in September from south Texas. I have no idea who is going to take care of them.

2020 can sit and spin. It is actually worse than 2019.

Tags: sam, work

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Natalie's orthodontic odyssey

: chesneyj; May 27th, 2020

Current Mood:: happy

Tags: braces, natalie

2019 needs to go away

: chesneyj; December 31st, 2019

Current Mood:: drained

It really started back at the end of April. We discovered that the bathroom between the kids' rooms had a leak and had caused Sam's carpet to get moldy. I called the insurance company to get things moving. This was April 28th. On May 1, Chris was let go from his job of almost 6 years for no other reason than the company had changed owners. We don't know anything else. I had to madly scramble to get new insurance for June 1. Virginia went to her final trip to Camp Cheley, Girls Trail's End, at the beginning of June. After sending her on her way, I sat in the airport finalizing our new, crappy HMO with the exchange and a wonderfully helpful insurance agent.

We had a great vacation over the summer. We drove to pick Virginia up in Colorado, went to see Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, and Dignity (a Native American woman statue) in South Dakota before heading to Minnesota to see my family. We got to visit Duluth and a bunch of other places before heading home early, to let the contractors in on Monday July 15th. They didn't show. A repair job that should have taken no more than 7 working days took 6 weeks! It wasn't done until the end of August. The tile guy sucked so bad that the owner himself showed up, looked it over, and sent in another guy to fix it. They had to suck up the cost of new tile to replace the destroyed stuff. And these guys had great reviews! Grrr.

So we finally had Sam back in his room with new carpet and repaired walls. No more sleeping on a cot in the girl's bedroom!

We adopted another dog in September. His name is Milo and he is about 9/10 years old. His previous owner died last December and the family turned him in to the Plano pound. He sat there until some time in the summer when he was adopted. Then they returned him, saying they were moving. I don't buy it. He is a pit bull and the sweetest dog. He does growl when he is tired but he will do as I tell him and go to his bed for a time out. I hope we will be able to break him of it. Otherwise, he is a sweetheart. He doesn't have much expression but his tail will wag like mad and it feels like a little bat when it hits you in the knees. He was well trained by his former owner and knows how to sit, heel, and stay. Once it got colder and wetter, we discovered he hates both. I have now done what I said I would never do. I have bought clothes for a dog. He loves his little shirts. He was so excited when he saw the first one. We also got him a nice coat with lights for when it is really cold.

Fall was a struggle with Virginia finally asking to be tested for ADD. And yep, it turned out that her brainwaves and test results indicate that she does have a mild form of ADD. I can't get her in to see a psychiatrist until the end of January because of our new insurance. Chris found a position at a staffing agency in August (goes through June) that provides insurance. Very expensive but it covers our doctors. We didn't qualify for a subsidy anymore so the insurance offered on the exchange was out of the question. It would cost just as much but cover less. Not worth it.

Then came November. On Saturday, November 16, my brother received a phone call. He called my mother who then called me.

My much estranged father passed away sometime before November 13th. Dad was found by police after a welfare check was called in by a woman who had interviewed to be a caretaker a month before. She couldn't get hold of dad so she asked the police to do a well check. Dad had been deceased a few days by then. Dad had 3 pets, a cockatile, a yorkie, and a cat. All have gone to rescue agencies. The police were able to get the dog and bird but the cat was hiding. My sister and brother, who live in Minnesota, have been dealing with the in town aspects such as the trailer and vehicles. I have taken on the bills since they typically require just phone calls. My sister works with a pet rescue and was able to trap the cat and it now has a good home. My sister spoke to the shelter that the dog and bird had been sent to. Both had been sent to different rescues. My siblings then began digging.

Dad had a sex change 20 years ago. I am going to try to keep the pronouns correct but it is difficult when you are the adult child to alter your method of address.

I am not able to do much from here so my siblings have been doing the majority of the work. The first day, before death remediation had been called in, they tried to sort the hoarder situation they found. As they dug through items, they found over a dozen unsecured guns and ammo. They hope they won't find any more but who knows at this point? Dad also had 2 storage units. They were quite large and filled to the doors. We are paying bills trying to keep things going while my brother applies for executorship. We don't expect much in the way of money but some family heirlooms are turning up, which is nice.

And then, on December 15, my uncle, Dad's younger brother, died of kidney cancer that had spread. His 3 children were with him. He will be cremated and buried with his parents this coming summer.

Then just 4 days later, I was told that my uncle, the one only 3 years older than me, the one that I grew up with, has cancer under his tongue. His surgery is scheduled for January. Luckily the MRI didn't find cancer in his lymph nodes.

And tonight, our 18.5 year old oven decided to die while Chris was cooking chicken wings.

I am very ready for 2019 to end.

Tags: add/adhd, dad, hubby, insurance, natalie, sam, virginia

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Garage freezer

: chesneyj; September 6th, 2018

Current Mood:: accomplished

It has been a really long day. I got up at 4:45 and went to the gym, realizing that I hadn't set the crock pot up to make the hashbrown breakfast I had planned. So instead of finishing my whole hour work out, I did 30 minutes and headed home to put it in the oven as a casserole. I am so glad I did. While it would have fit into one crock, it took 2 - 9x13 pans. The kids devoured the first one but the second was to be used nest week. So I headed to the freezer in the garage to put it away.

I opened the door to a flood of meat juices. It had stopped freezing over night. We bought this damn thing in February 2017. Of course, out of warranty.

I called Chris and we started the process of saving what we could. Luckily, while defrosted, everything was still cold. We put a bunch in a cooler with ice and the rest in the freezer in the side by side. I had someone come out and look at it and, of course, it had started to work again. He said it was the cold control. It was stuck open (I looked at reviews and many people had the same problem with this model) and when we moved it, it knocked it back closed and it started to freeze again. Joy. It will cost $335 to fix. The blasted thing only cost $400! So I said I would discuss it with hubby. We still aren't sure what to do. It could last a day or 10 years!

So, since everything was still at refrigerator temp, we were able to salvage most of it. The fish went to the trash can (whimper). But I was determined to save 8 pounds of ground turkey, 2 pounds of ground beef, 4 pounds of chicken breast, 2 pounds of stew meat, 1 frozen pizza, 2 pork chops, and 3 pork roasts. So as soon as I got home from work, I started cooking. I spent 4 hours on my feet but every bit of it has been cooked. I gave away one of the pork roasts to a co worker who can cook it tomorrow morning. Everything else has been browned and frozen. I don't remember doing this much cooking in a long time. But I saved hundreds of dollars of food. The kids ate the pizza for dinner, Chris and I ate the pork chops. The roasts are in the crock pot and will cook overnight. I didn't season any of it so I can add it to whatever I need to do later.

Oh, and I contacted an engineer to check out our foundation so we can begin the exciting task of getting our slab foundation fixed. The ground in Texas shifts constantly and, after 40+ years, ours has finally said enough. We have numerous cracks in the bedrooms and doors don't want to close. It is time. Now to figure out how to afford this. sigh.

Tags: appliances, house