Paying the Piper... Yet Again

My regular readers know that over the last 7 months, my daughter has been to the dentist MANY times in order to get fillings.  To the tune of $1000+.  Today we got to add another $200 to that amount. 

Why?  Because when she was 2 she bumped her tooth.  And a couple years ago when we were living in our camper she bumped it again.  But apparently that time she damaged the nerve and last week the nerve revolted.  It started to swell and her gums started to turn dark red.  Never a good sign. 

Friday, I got in contact with her dentist and sent her a picture slightly more detailed than the one below (I love email and tech save medical professionals).

You can see the swelling above her left front tooth.

After she looked at it, she confirmed my suspicion that the tooth was going to need to be pulled.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad yet so we didn't have to schedule something over the weekend.  So, first thing this morning I was able to get her an appointment for this afternoon to get her tooth pulled.  She did great (as usual)!  She is somewhat of a pro at this point with all she's had done.

What you may not be aware of is that my daughter is 7.5, and until today she still had all her baby teeth.  That's right, she hadn't lost a tooth yet.  And I will say this, it's gross interesting to see a tooth pulled that wasn't set to fall out on it's own for some time yet.  It still had the root on it!  Of course my son thought that was a little cool.

Although I am a bit bummed this tooth cost money to come out, we were able to catch it in time to prevent damage to the adult tooth.  And apparently it had a small cavity that was starting to affect the tooth next to it.  So I'm just going to tell myself that it saved me some money.  Yep.  That reasoning works for me. NOT!  Anyway...

And of course, there's the joy in my daugther's face when she smiles and shows her missing tooth.  At the rate her teeth are going, that would have happened in another year or so if it happened naturally.

Luigi to the Rescue

As my regular readers know, we purchased our home almost 2 years ago.  At that time, we knew we would need to make some fixes.  Some immediate (replacing stained carpets).  Others over time (adding a ceiling inside the garage to make it cooler in the summer).  It was a short sale, so it's to be expected.  Then there's the matter of personal taste issues that can be dealt with either as things go on sale or break.  The kitchen is one of the biggest and more expensive personal taste areas we wanted to deal with.  With money being tight, all projects have been put on hold unless something breaks.

Well, we've been limping along 2 things in the kitchen and I finally got fed up with it and hubby agreed it was time to deal with them.  The first thing that needed to be addressed was a cast iron sink.  The problem (besides I didn't like the color) was that the coating was chipping which caused rust to form when water came in contact with it.  Considering we are speaking of the kitchen sink, it comes in contact with water on a very regular basis.

The second issue?  The kitchen faucet.  It's been leaking for about 2 months now.  We found a way to make it stop leaking, but it was a pain to remember.  Again, when we bought the house we knew the faucet had to go.  Not only was it installed wrong (the handle wasn't lined up the way you would expect it) but it wasn't the style we liked.  Unfortunately, the kind we like is apparently not made anymore.

Original sink and faucet. 

Chipping and rust on old sink

But we lucked out... we found one at a yard sale for $5!  We had to use a few parts from the faucet we removed, but it's working GREAT!

And the sink?  Well we got that when my Aunt and her boyfriend were moving across the country.  Hubby found it sitting loose in their shed after they had moved out.  Hubby figured it might come in handy in the garage some day (once we get water out there).  When I realized it was the right size for the kitchen, I suggested he rethink its destination.

I'll be honest, he was a bit reluctant.  Then I told him it was what I wanted as my Loot Day gift and he gave in.  Having my dad here to help didn't hurt either since the old sink was probably 100 lbs.

Sink is out.  Had to make the hole a little bigger.

 And we found a few added benefits of the new sink and faucet too.  The drains in the new sink are offset enough that plates don't plug the sink.  While replacing the sink we also purchased new drains and stoppers so the sinks actually plug correctly (the water used to drain out in about 5 minutes).  And we also discovered that the old faucet wasn't letting much hot water through.

We also used the opportunity to change the "handles" in front of the sink.  The previous owner had black handles everywhere but right in front of the sink where they were yellow white.  My guess is they were all white at some point, but they couldn't reach those to switch them without removing the sink, so we did it while we had the sink out.  And all this for $40 and a few hours of hubby and my dad's time.

And for all his reluctance, he's actually enjoying the new sink and faucet too.  Now if only I can get him back in the habit of doing dishes on a regular basis again ;-)

New sink and faucet.

So what do you think of the end result??

Family Visit Review

Rather than try to attempt to make this into a few posts I decided to make a summary post.  A couple weeks ago I mentioned that my in-laws were going to visit for Christmas and that I would most likely be otherwise occupied during that time.  Well, I was.  So here is a summary of what's happened with my family over the last couple weeks:

My in-laws visited for 10 days.  During that time:

• The kids went to the beach multiple times with Oma and Opa. Daughter got wet and sandy and son played with his trick kite.  They both had a blast and Mommy got some work done.
• My son went to his first sleep over (I think Mommy had a harder time with that than my son).
• I did lots of baking mostly as gifts but for us also.
• I had a few showings, inspections, etc.
• My in-laws were able to find a renter for the house they bought the last time they were down here (they bought it before prices went up even more, planning to retire in a few more years).
• Hubby started his night shift schedule.  It's really worked out well so far (even with family visiting).

Around 2AM the night / morning before my in-laws left town, my little brother got to our house for a 5 day visit.  So that meant we had 9 people, 5 cats, and 1 dog at my house for that night.  Hubby and I were in the camper along with my brother and everyone else (and all the animals) was in the house.  The more the merrier right?  While my brother was in town:

• My son played extensively with the small parachute my brother gave him.  My brother is a parachute rigger which means he packs and fixes parachutes so to make one wasn't too hard.
• One of my first cousins and his family came and visited for a few hours.  It was a great way for them to see all my family at once since they hadn't seen my brother in over 15 years.  In fact my cousin's wife had never met my brother.
• My parents, brother, and my family of 4 went to Busch Gardens 2 days before the New Year.  Yes, it was crowded but it was still fun.  My dad and brother hadn't been in close to 20 years so they were able to enjoy a couple of the new rides as well as our favorite from the last time they'd been there. My mom and daughter were able to see a couple of the shows too.  I must admit, I'd never been when it was that crowded before.  We got one of the last parking spaces in the farthest parking lot  (it was about 1.5 miles from the entrance of the park).  The good news though... it was so crowded they didn't charge parking because they didn't want to hold up the line taking money from people.

A Very Family Christmas

This year we are going to experience a first.  We are going to have my parents and hubby's parents staying at our house for Christmas this year.  Hubby's parents arrive tomorrow after dinner so I just wanted to warn you all that as sporadic as my posts have been lately, they may get worse.  Then again, I may have fun things we've done with ALL the grandparents to share, so we shall see.

For now, I must get some cleaning done and dinner cooked.  I just wanted to let you know before I got busy again.  If I don't get a chance to post before then, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas!

When It Rains, It Pours. But then Comes the Rainbow

As my regular readers are aware, we recently had to replace our dryer.  Others may know that one of the elements in our oven died a couple months before that.  Rather than bore you with the details, let's just say that since then, it seems like every large piece of equipment in our house is dying or has died.  Needless to say, dealing with these issues during the slow time in real estate around here is hard on our already-tight budget to say the least.

All of that changed this week though.  How's that?  Well, today hubby finished a week of paid training for a new job.  A regular paying job.  A job where he is eligible for benefits in a few months.  As a family that has been self-insured for 9+ years this is a big thing.  As a family that has been dependent upon contractor pay (can you say irregular) for those same 9+ years, it's an even bigger deal.  To know that we will have money each month is an answer to prayer.  And what's even better, next week he's set to switch to a "night shift" that will still allow for me to homeschool and work in real estate.

Not only will his work schedule not impede on our current lives (much) it will mean I don't have to work quite as hard and will mean we have the ability to fix those things that are broken or breaking around the house.  God it good!

Oh, and a big shout out to hubby's new boss.  He's the friend that recommended hubby for the job.

Hubby gets to work on this beast (plus many other large pieces of mechanical equipment).  Anyone who knows my hubby knows he loves to tinker.  I think he's going to like his new job.

An Inspiration

Everyone has someone they look up to.  Someone who they respect for their skill (athletes), their knowledge (a teacher growing up), or their ability and willingness to help people in need. 

Well, today I want to take time to honor someone (two someones actually) who inspire me.  I've known them for about 15 years now, but each year that passes, I get to know a little more about their heart and passions.

Gan taking pics of my kids

 They have a love for their family that is wonderful to behold.  I know for a fact that they pray for everyone in their family each day.  They pray for missionaries (who they've never met) on a regular basis (probably daily as well).  They participate in functions at their church as much as their health and time allows.  They are a bundle of love and affection and are always on the go.  In fact, I don't think I have a single picture of the two of them together.  Because they are always doing something.  And considering they are in their 90's that's pretty amazing if you ask me.

Gramps watching the festivities

That love extends to each other too.

Today is the 70th anniversary of my husband's grandparents.  Not only are they a wonderful example of Godly people, they are a wonderful example of a Godly marriage.

We love you Gan and Gramps!  Wish we could be there to help you celebrate.

Back In My Element

Before my son was born, I had various office jobs (think administrative assistant type work).  For each job, I was responsible for managing at least one project and the way I did that was through a database.  It was simple enough for me to create the database (wizzards make it particularly simple these days), but what I really enjoyed was creating reports and queries.  It was fun being able to figure out what information I (or my boss) wanted to see on a regular basis and then to create the documentation.  When I had to create a formula to do some math it was even more fun. 

Over the last couple months I've been thinking about how I could better manage my time.  I want to spend less time working and make the same if not more money (who doesn't want that, right?).  There are numerous ways I think I can accomplish that.  The one I am focused on the most right now is to make it so I have access to my notes no matter where I am.  And guess how I've decided to do that?  Yep, a database.

Right now I write everything down in a large notebook.  That means when I'm away from my desk (meeting with clients, taking my kids to the dentist, or even grocery shopping) I don't have access to my notes.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been in the car and gotten a phone call.  I always intend to write it down when I get back to my desk but more often than not, I forget till days later.  Now I will be able to make those notes even when I'm out (don't worry, I will not text and drive).

After spending a couple weeks researching which database will work best for me, I'm about to start the fun part... setting up the database, queries, and reports.

Pray for my family.  There's a really good chance I'm about to become very distracted.