I'm Here

Or maybe I'm there. I'm not sure at all because life seems to be spinning a bit out of control at the moment. I'm sure I will find my groove again and settle in but I have to say, the snow, the water damage in the living room from the ice and snow spilling over the chimney flashing, a broken washer and then Christmas really has tossed me a curve ball (or two).

Dakota headed back to work today for the first day in two weeks. But don't think this week will be kicked back and smooth sailing for me. We just got back home from visiting my family late yesterday afternoon and I'm still trying to get a handle on the Christmas gift chaos (including a gift the kids gave Dakota which requires sd memory cards. It's so much fun!)
in the living room because tomorrow I begin the process of taking stuff down and putting away the decorations.

This afternoon the appliance repair guy was here to deal with the struts on our front loading washing machine. He was kind enough (HA!) to inform me that we will probably get 2 more years max from the washer and to repair it would be silly since it can be replaced for a mere $100 more than fixing it at today's prices. Add this to the fact that we know the dryer lifespan will be about the same. It's a full-sized stacking unit - which is what we need for the space it is in. And oh - let's not forget that the under the house venting for the dryer line should be replaced and brought to code with smooth metal venting instead of the corrugated stuff that is under there. Let me bring your attention to the fact that we replaced the vent line two years ago for $270. Sad for us, they replaced it with corrugated line instead of the proper stuff. Niiiiiiiice. Like I would know what the proper thing to do would be. Do I look like a dryer specialist? Umm...that would be a huge NO! He gave me a number to call and talk with a guy he would highly recommend.

Umm...yeah. I'll put that on my to-do list for later down the road. It's not a safety issue - more of a long drying time/cost issue at this point. At least it isn't a safety issue.

Tomorrow we have DirecTV coming out to install new service and remove the Dish Network stuff from the house so we can call and cancel that. Now mind you, I would have been totally happy to stay with Dish but when they lost their contract to carry Fisher Broadcasting/ABC in our market, they kind of sealed their fate with us. They apparently are still in negotiations to get ABC back but it's been two weeks and I'm tired of missing The View and all my ABC shows start up next week and I really don't want to miss them through no fault of my own (not to mention that they are known to go long time periods (years even) without bringing stations back due to contract issues). So - we're jumping ship. If you live in my town and are planning to do the same thing, let me know. I have a deal that could save us both some money. :)

Then there is New Years Day. I'm not sure what the plan for that day is because I'm hoping the Christmas decorations will be down by tomorrow night. If they aren't...then that's the plan. Not that I'm ready for them to go away - but I have a rule about them being put away by the new year. Stupid rule, really. But whatever.

Friday Dakota will be at work again and it will be Kelton's last day of Christmas break. I'm not ready for him to go back to school but, as it does, time marches ever forward.

I have tons of photos that need to be downloaded, organized and posted (and yes, sister of mine. Copied to a CD and sent to you. I didn't forget. *grin*) and I have stories to share.

It seems overwhelming from where I sit right now but I keep remembering the riddle of "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." So step by step I know it will all get done.

Stay tuned. I'll be back soon. :)

I hope you are all enjoying the last few days of 2008.