Complaint Department

1. Within 24 hours of moving into the house, the kitchen sink backed up and leaked water into the cabinets and onto the floor. Because the sellers of our house purchased a home warranty for us, the warranty company had to schedule an “approved” plumber. He arrived this morning, used the words “retarded” and “illegal” more than once to describe our plumbing (I’m okay with illegal.), told us that what’s normally covered under the warranty isn’t covered today because it’s less than 30 days from the purchase of the warranty, and then mentioned that the work we need to have done isn’t actually covered under the warranty. Ever. He then charged us $100 for our warranty deductible. (I know. I KNOW.)

Plumber: I can fix your problem today for $380.

Me: But it’s not covered under the warranty?

Plumber: Nothing is covered under the warranty for 30 days. And, this would be considered a pre-existing condition.

Me: How long do you guarantee your work?

Plumber: 30 days.

Me: So, you walked into the house and told me that our entire plumbing system was not up to code, and now you’re saying you can fix it for $380, but you can guarantee your work for only 30 days?

Plumber: You’re not going to find it cheaper anywhere else.

I’m going to try to find it cheaper somewhere else. I can’t hand money over to someone who uses the word retarded. I just can’t. Also, his company has received bad reviews online because they take advantage of older people. So, here we sit in a kitchen with no sink in a house that has 1.5 inch pipes where there should be 2 inch pipes, and 90-degree joints where there should be two 45-degree joints.

2. I fell down at the old house this weekend and sprained my ankle. My potato ankle is now barely an avocado ankle, so I’m definitely on the mend. But still. Urgent care and x-rays and limping and hassles. (And, no. I didn’t do it on purpose to avoid moving. I saw The Tin Drum, but I’m no Oskar.)

3. Henry tried to attack the neighbor’s sweet old dog through the fence this morning. It was fine and no one got hurt, but we definitely haven’t made a good impression on that particular neighbor.

But, there are good things, too:

1. Meredith read The Fault In Our Stars on Friday and absolutely adored it, and I love seeing the girls feeling jazzed about books. Harper is currently reading The Hunger Games, and is VERY excited about the reaping. (I generally don’t let the girls see movies until they’ve read the books, so she has no idea what is about to happen.)

2. I’m less than 50 rows away from finishing a cardigan, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect as the temperatures are going to hit 97F/36C this afternoon.

3. Despite the fact that our plumbing is nuts and the ice maker quit and the dryer hose won’t attach to the dryer and none of the upstairs doors actually close or lock, we have a good bathtub. We haven’t used it yet, so I really have no idea if it works. BUT, if nothing else, I can fill it with warm scrambled eggs and take a nap in it.

This is the stuff that happens. None of it is going to ruin our lives. This is the stuff that happens. It just happens.

I finished a cowl out of my handspun.

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Yards and Miles

So much has happened, and not much has happened.

The girls started school and are liking it as much as you can like being a new kid in a big place where everyone else seems to know one another. They’re doing fine and they’ll do fine.

I went to Chicago for a day with Tempe and my mom for our annual yarn/fiber celebration. While there, we ate salads and cheesecake and we knit in front of a fireplace. I believe it was just what we needed.

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I came home with yarn to make three shawls and fiber to create something that may eventually become a pair of socks. (It all depends on if I can spin it thin enough to score the proper yardage. I’m not as good as I wish I was.)

Stitches 2014

I also purchased a Lo-Lo Bar, and I encourage you to do the same.

We closed on the new house two days ago and scheduled our movers to be here yesterday morning. They arrived on time, estimated our job to be a four hour move, loaded the piano and two boxes into the truck, and then told us that two of the three movers had plans before 3:00 and that the rain was going to slow them down and may result in stained carpeting in both houses. They then unpacked the piano and two boxes and left. They’ll be back tomorrow. Hopefully. It felt like a big deal, but it’s really not a big deal. We’re still surfing.

As I drove home from the house last night, our car (known to us as Carlos) hit the 100,000 mile mark. I would show you the photo, but then you might yell at me for taking a photo while I was driving. (Please know that I set the camera up before starting the car and that I was in complete control. I don’t text while driving! Also, I turn on my headlights whenever it looks like rain.) Anyway, our beloved Rocket hit the 100,000 during the piano solo in Overblow Your Nest.

(The piano solo is at the 2:10 mark if you can’t stomach the entire song. By the way, if you can’t stomach the entire song, we need to evaluate our relationship. I can appreciate individual differences as well as the next guy, but: Come on.)

Anyway, knowing that I wanted Carlos to follow in the steps of Rocket (because I’m just a little bit weird like that), I hit the play button at 99,998. Before the piano solo ended, we saw 100,000. (Can you tell I don’t really have much to talk about? Look how many words I’ve wasted on Carlos and his mileage! Shakespeare’s plays contain only 884,421 total words. I really should be more careful.)

((We once lived upstairs from a guy who described the woman he loved by saying “None of her movements are wasted.” I will never forget that, mainly because I tend to not move very often (If you are my Fitbit friend, you KNOW this.), and when I do? Movements are definitely wasted.))

I won’t have an internet connection at the house for five days. I promise to use that time wisely. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

Like an oscillating fan that is plugged in and working…

The girls have started at their new school and we move into the new house in nine days. Everything just keeps happening and happening.

Two survey guys came over this morning with sketch pads and chewing tobacco. According to the tiny pink flags in our yard, it looks like one of our neighbors has been cutting a patch of our grass as if it’s his own. Because I fully suspect that his wife will talk him into charging us for this unsolicited trim, I’ve decided to beat him to the punch by suing him for trespassing.

I’ll be leaving super early on Saturday morning (like, 4:30 in the morning early!) for the eighth annual yarn trip with Tempe and my mom. (I’ve discussed a few of our trips here and here and here.) Sadly, the electrician who will be visiting our house in a few weeks doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who would trade services for a cabled hat. Therefore, my yarn budget this year is a lot different than my yarn budget in past years. With that said, I fully intend to purchase the yarn required to make one of these, because if you have the opportunity to create something beautiful, you should jump on it.

Here is the best news of all: Ramona is definitely on the mend, and this morning she climbed into her basket for the first time in three weeks. (It was three weeks ago today that Sid died.) Anyway, we’re quite pleased and we definitely appreciate the positive thoughts that have been tossed our way. (I tend to like our animals more than I like most people, so when a four-legged is down we’re ALL down.)

Monapants

Remind me to tell you about the anxiety attack I had during Meet the Teacher night at Harper’s school. (Imagine yourself roaming unfamiliar halls that are filled with hundreds of people who look exactly the same and are all chirping like birds. (That is exactly what happened. I suppose you don’t really need to remind me of anything at all.)) ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>