The weekend is flying by, more quickly than I like to see, I’m starting to hope that the money from the ex’s tax refund doesn’t make it to me before my planned 2 days off in March, (I’ve requested the 16 & 17 off which, with my current schedule, means 5 days off in a row & a nice break) I don’t really want to use 3 of those days in Fayetteville, I’d much rather hang out at home, clean up the garage (yes, Again!)

Friday I got to hang out with Chrissea for awhile before she went to work, we mostly just sat around & chatted, I did online stuff while we chatted, mr 8 was laid up on the couch watching tv most of the day, he was still spiking a fever & said his stomach hurt a little bit but he wasn’t nauseous or vomiting etc & with liberal applications of Tylenol felt like he could go grocery shopping without too much trouble.

When 11 got home from school we left as usual, though 18 & the BF had already left to do their shopping & errands, we had Chrissea’s daughter with us & stopped to check the mail, at the bank for cash & in Riner for drinks & the obligatory 12 packs of Diet Coke which I buy every two weeks for the next two weeks (I’m not sure if I’m drinking less just lately or bought some extra somewhere along the line, because I still had 8 in the fridge when I brought home the 2 new boxes)

We ended up eating pretty much, right away, because everyone was hungry, we actually had a remarkably good dinner from a pizza place I know locally, I used to work there when I was pregnant with Mr 8 & the owner still remembers me, she was there & so we had to have that false little ‘hi, how are you’ sort of chat that you have when you only see someone once a year or so & only for a few minutes.

We then went to Goodwill where everyone was happy, I didn’t find anything for myself (but I don’t really expect to on most trips there) but got 8 two pairs of pants, a pullover jacket (fleece, orange & gray- he loves it but, ugh- orange?) I found a pair of pajama pants for 18 & one for 11, 11 picked herself out a shirt & Sami, Chrissea’s daughter, found a sweatshirt with her school’s name & emblem embroidered on it, something which costs $30 when purchased through the school & she paid $4 for it.

Then on to walmart, grocery shopping is almost never fun & it’s less so when you have to stay within a fairly tight budget. I saw my current boss & 2 co-workers, which was nice, usually though I see a few people from work I seldom see anyone I interact with on a daily basis & so that was nice. 11 & Sami decided to use their money ($10. each) to buy some snacks which I wouldn’t/couldn’t buy for them. They have bet 18’s BF $10. that they wont eat them all before next weekend which should be interesting to see if they can do it.

Once we were through checking out it was back home for the evening, the usual chaos of putting groceries away, showing 18 & the BF & 18’s friend V who was visiting, what we got, unfortunately the pj pants I bought for 18 didn’t fit her but they fit 11 in a large baggy sort of way, which is, of course, how pajamas should fit.

Chrissea arrived home shortly after midnight & after watching the news with me we both went to bed & passed out pretty quickly considering the whole day’s doings. Which don’t sound like much written down but there was a lot of walking around involved in the groceries etc!

Once 8 was up this morning I was too, he watched cartoons until I actually got out of bed & then we watched a couple of Good Eats I had on DVR, he likes the science aspect of that show & I like both the science & the recipes, 18 came down & threw a fit because the water pressure was down, accused me of running a wash this  morning, I had actually run one last night & stopped it at the rinse cycle so as to try to keep the water pressure up.

18 fussed & complained & ranted & then went back upstairs after waking everyone else in the house up, she seldom likes anything around the house as it is & the tree issues have really colored her perspective on everything, she’s not happy here now & is bitching about everything, of course, I keep trying to remind myself that if everything was perfect & exactly like she wanted it she’d never leave, her being dissatisfied means she’ll be motivated to go out on her own with the BF after high school graduation & I want that!

I love her but she drives me nuts so much of the time. Especially her insistence that she knows more than I, is more practical than I, more mature than I & is a better housekeeper than I am, (well, okay so on that last thing, maybe she is, but if I actually had time & inclination to try to keep the house spotless believe me, it would be spotless- it’s just not a high priority- I believe a clean house is the sign of a boring mind!)

Chrissea took her leave fairly early to go to work & we all set to cleaning, I sent 8 to pick up his room, 11 to help me pick up the living room & Sami to sweep up her dog’s spilled dinner in the dining room, Sami decided to sweep & then mop the whole dining room & then vacuumed the living room, cleaned some of the bathroom & swept & spot mopped the kitchen, she could only spot mop because by that time I had finished rearranging a cabinet so Chrissea & Sami would have a place to store their food, cleaning my stove burner drip pans, scrubbing the whole stovetop, shelf above & the wall above that, re-organizing the under sink area in the kitchen, finishing the laundry load I’d started the night before, sorting the laundry which can go on the line outside from the jeans, socks & underwear which I dry in the dryer, hanging that laundry & polishing the silver candlesticks, bud vase & trivet which I found while cleaning out the aforementioned cabinet for Chrissea’s food. & I was putting together my spinach lasagne to refrigerate until it was time to bake it for dinner.

While I was doing all that stuff 11 & 8 were between Sami & I running around helping both of us, I sent 8 to the car to spray the sticky seatbelt latch with WD40 & he came back offering to load the trash from the garage into the car for the trip I’d said we’d have to take today. He did the whole thing himself & when the car was loaded, he, 18 & I all ran to the dumpsters & the store to check the mail & for 18 to get some snacks because her friend A, was coming to visit, this is the one who was here at Labor Day from NJ & has that snobby father who felt the need to look down on me because we used to live in a trailer.

When we arrived home I started the lasagna baking & settled in here to read & write, it’s been a long two days & part of me will be glad to get back to the relative peace & quiet of the workplace, especially in light of the most recent disaster, I was told by the plumber back at Thanksgiving time to change the water filter often. due to the issues the water seemed to be having he recommended once a month, well that was the 26th of November, so I thought I really ought to do something about that.

(I did try to do so, but even with the special plastic wrench, which I had to go out & buy because the original one which came with the house disappeared sometime in our first year here, I couldn’t budge the filter holder myself at all- particularly frustrating because I’ve watched the brother of the guy I bought the house from, Chrissea’s BF K & the plumber I usually use, all untwist this piece with their bare hands!)

So when I couldn’t get it again today 18 pointed out that A’s  BF used to work for my plumber & that her friend Av was coming over today too, so the plumber BF tried first but felt that the pipes wouldn’t support the pressure of him undoing it, because it was awfully tightly set on there. So then 18 asked Av after the others had left & he tried, he was able to get the filter holder off. However after they brought it up & I cleaned it out, they couldn’t get it back on tightly.

It’s on as tight as we can get it on there but there’s a pressure leak & water is squirting out at the top, we took the glass filter holder off again & I cleaned the screw on threads with q-tips to make sure every little rock & piece of silt & dirt was out of the threads, they got it on fairly tightly, no pressurized water spewing out, but it was still dripping heavily, we tried calling 18’s BF who’s out at his D&D game to have him pick up some of that stretchy plumbers tape but he’s not answering & could very possibly be out until 2 am, so Chrissea’s going to bring some home for us from Walmart & hopefully I’ll get a shower sometime before I go back to work tomorrow at 11 am!