And the hits just keep in coming...

So, the day we FINALLY got our dryer hooked up, the boys and I spent about 3 hours outside with my neighbour, cleaning up the property around the house while he mowed the yard for us.  This was a HUUUGE deal, because it hadn’t been done in over a year, since our mower(s) quit working.  So about 8pm, on the Tuesday before the 4th, I went to take a shower, because working outside is gross and sweaty work.  So there I was, standing just outside the spray from the shower head, with my hand in the stream to tell me when the water is ready, and it NEVER warmed up.  Shit.  So I wrapped up in a towel, and went to check the display in the kitchen.  Now, I should probably mention here that we have a Rinnai tankless propane water heater that has served this household well these last 13 years since it was installed.  This will be important information later. 

However, on this day, the display was blank.  I hit the power button.  Nothing.  I had Oldest Son go outside and unplug it, wait a few minutes, and plug it back in.  STILL nothing.  So, I ended up taking a very short, and very COLD shower, determined to call a plumber to come out the next day to fix it.  So that’s exactly what I did.  I left a message that night for one of my local plumbers, and he came out the following day to check out my problems.  Because of course, if I’m having a plumber out, I’m ALSO going to have him check the leak in the dishwasher as well.  So he came out the next day, and... he couldn’t help me.  With either of my problems.  

The dishwasher, he said, was a problem with the solenoid, which in theory should be covered by the warranty (that’s a whole other post, that is!), and he couldn’t figure out the problem with the water heater.  It had power, the problem was that said power wasn’t getting where it needed to be.  He suggested I contact the company that provides our propane.  So, since the farmer’s co-op provides our propane, I called them.  It was 5:03 on the Wednesday before the 4th, and they were closed the following day.  

And, did I mention their technician only works at this particular location, and in this particular county, on Tuesdays and Thursdays?  So I waited until Friday, figuring I would hear something, at least, by then, and I get told the tech wouldn’t be able to come out until the following Tuesday.  So, yay!  More FREEZING cold showers!  But still, ever optimistic, I figured it would be an easy fix, and things would be back to normal on Tuesday.  Boy, was I ever wrong...

So Tuesday arrived, and I eagerly awaited the tech.  He met me around back, fiddled with a few things on the water heater, and told me it’s the PC board, which is basically the brain of the hot water heater.  So it was effectively brain dead.  🤦🏻‍♀️  That was NOT what I needed to hear...  So I messaged the ex, to get his opinion on what was going on.  The tech told me the new board would be about $300 for him to get, then another $100 to install, or $1500 for a new system, plus the $100 for the install, so I told him I would call and let him know what we would do.  So now we’re already at a week with no hot water.  We couldn’t run the dishwasher, and hand-washing dishes involved filling pots/ pans with water and heating it on the stove/ in the Instant Pot to get water hot enough to clean with.  The following day, the ex and I agreed that we should have the tech order the part.  Now, he had said it would take 2-3 days for it to come in.  And do you remember what I said about the tech’s hours at this branch?  That’s right, Tuesdays and Thursdays ONLY.  So yep, another WEEK of cold showers for us.  So much fun!  

I’m not sure when the part arrived, but that second Tuesday morning, I had alarms set from 8am-9am to make sure I was awake to call and make sure he would be out to fix it THAT DAY.  I called over, and was told he was on another job at that moment, but that he would call and let me know when he would be out to fix it.  I did not get that call, simply because I forgot to turn off my Do Not Disturb after I hung up the phone with them.  And I’m not sure how, but apparently even the dog didn’t react when he knocked, because next thing I knew, it’s nearly 11am, and my phone was ringing.  Knowing it was the repairman, I answered it quickly, and he told me he was all done, and it should be working.  So I ran out of my bedroom, and sure enough, the display was all lit up again!  So I adjusted the temperature, turned on a faucet, all with this very kind gentleman still on the phone with me, and yep, hot water!  Yay!!!  I took a shower almost immediately, and even allowed my 17yo the rare treat of using mama’s shower to bathe himself.  (I don’t generally let the boys use my bathroom for anything apart from taking the occasional pill at my sink, lol)

So at least that’s one problem I don’t need to worry about.  Now I just have to figure out how to pay it off. 😫  And, on that note, I’m going to leave you with some of my favourite pictures, those of my sweet Little Flower, this time with a very large, very PINK ice cream cone.  lol

Can’t win...

The past few weeks, my car has been acting strangely. Hesitating, not accelerating properly, having difficulty starting, and generally giving me a hard time actually letting me drive.  Well, the other night, as I was to Walmart (about 28 miles away and off the highway), while on I-10, my car just stopped accelerating altogether.  Then, it started slowing down.  Finally, I pulled off the side of the road (into the grass, because I don’t believe in stopping on the pavement when I’m on a major highway) and stopped.  And freaked out.

Thankfully, I have friends in the area who were able to come rescue E and me, and my mechanic towed it in the next day.  But the problem now is, the mechanic keeps saying there’s nothing wrong with it when there is very clearly BUCKETS of stuff wrong with it!  So, until I can afford to take it to a different mechanic, I’m stuck driving a half-broke car.  🤦🏻‍♀️

And on that note, because there’s really not much else to say, here are some pictures of my sweet Little Flower from the 4th!  Ooh, her sweet smile just makes everything right in my world...  ❤️🥰

It’s official!!!

So, for months now, as we’ve been cleaning up the house, I’ve been going through all of the clothes and sorting out stuff we’re keeping from stuff we’re donating.  And my biggest problem has been the baby clothes.  Naturally, in the normal course of things, all of these sweet little baby girl clothes would have been donated, either to other ladies having baby girls or to the local Humane Society thrift store.  But, naturally, this doesn’t happen when mama is expecting number two, so we’ve been holding on to them, all over the house, waiting to find out what gender this newest baby actually is.  And, as it turns out...  *drumroll, please*

IT’S A BOY!!!  So the baby girl clothes are going, and now we get to welcome baby boy clothes, yay!!!  Naturally, we’re all VERY excited, and can’t wait for him to get here, but of course we WILL wait, because he’s not ready to be here yet.  lol

So that’s our newest news!  Have a wonderful day!!!

FINALLY!!!

That’s right!  It ACTUALLY happened!!!  The parts for the dryer arrived the other day, we got someone from our local co-op, the nice people who provide our liquid propane, to come out and now we have a working dryer again!  And I absolutely LOVE it!!!  It’s so efficient, and even has a timer that lets me know how long it’ll be before the clothing in it is dry!  It is SOOO good to have a working dryer in my home again!!!  Now we can REALLY work through all the old clothes so they can go to the local animal shelter for their thrift store.  Do any of you have an animal shelter with a thrift store attached?  I much prefer to donate there, knowing that the proceeds go to helping our local no-kill shelter be able to support the animals they’ve taken in.  It’s a great idea, in my opinion.  But that’s all for now!  I’m so happy to have a dryer again!!!  Obligatory dryer picture!!!  lol

Dryer Update!

Missed a call from Home Depot the other day.  Turns out, the part that we have been missing is FINALLY no longer on back-order!  So he had the company ship it directly to me, and as soon as it arrives, I’ll be able to make arrangements to have my dryer hooked up.  And it’s about bloody time, too!!!  I can’t WAIT to have a working dryer again, being without one has totally sucked!  And of course, obligatory baby photo!