June 2012: What's happening in your world?

[goddessoflubbock]

The plumber cost $125 after the coupon and I'm now learning we overpaid dearly. Most places would charge $70-75 but I let DH handle getting the plumber.

DS is getting a lot of hours at work now so he's amassing a good amount of savings.

We got his results for his TAKS test, the state end of year tests in math, English, science and social studies. He passed all with flying colors and got commended performance (excellent) in social studies.

Dd took the new STAR test so no results yet.

[Sophist]

Congrats to DS, and I bet DD did great on her test as well.

[goddessoflubbock]

I don't know why DDs results are so slow in coming :/

DS went to see the Avengers with his gf. In 7 months it's their first real date. Her mom won't let her date but her dad will, kind of. The grandparents bring her to the pizza joint when he's working

Although DS is generally always well behaved I explained in explicit detail the implications of a misstep. He is 2 years and 6 weeks older than her which in Texas means until she's 17 kissing is the limit .

DH is still looking for work, he applied for work in a kitchen at a restaurant yesterday.

[Civet]

I've been having a really hard time coping with moving and living alone. The move itself went ok, several family members and a few friends helped so it went as well as a move can go (especially one in the rain, heh). There are a lot of things about this apartment I am not pleased about and a couple of things I am not sure I will be able to live with, I have to see if I can get acclimated or not, I guess. One is the cigarette smoke smell. Currently it's not pervasive just happens from time to time, and if it continues that way it will probably be tolerable at least. The other is more problematic, I have several restaurants directly behind my building (their roof is one foot away from my bedroom window) and the fans are both smelly and extremely loud. The smell of food would alone be irritating, but the sound is the worst part : / . Aside from that, the apartment is old and not well kept, half the windows either don't open or won't stay open and things are just kind of run down. The good points of it (which is what I noticed when I saw the place of course) are that it is a lot of space for a one bedroom place and I have a really nice area for my office/studio. The bedroom is pretty much just the right size since I don't need extra space for my work area in there. The neighborhood is the same one I've been living in and like. And, despite the fact that the windows are mostly pretty shotty, they do let in a lot of nice light. I'm listing the positive traits of the apartment so it's clear it's not a terrible place, it just.. isn't all that great and has some rather unexpected drawbacks.

I have been kind of a mess since starting moving on Friday. Finally I got a decent night's sleep last night and I feel slightly saner today, though still not too well. My mom has been patient with me as has a friend I've been talking to trying to help me through this. My mom has pointed out I have a terrible time with change, and it's true, and it's hard to say how much of my feelings are due to that vs. due to the actual situation I'm in.

[Sophist]

I currently live in an apartment in which the cigarette smoke comes in. It's the #1 thing I regret about where I chose to live. It definitely makes my sinus infections worse. Something to consider, Civet. Keep an eye on your nose and make sure your rate or severity of infections don't increase because of the smoke.

[goddessoflubbock]

Would incense or candles help?? The smell of cigarette smoke is pervasive - my mom once sent a box of stuff to the kids - it was a USPS box - but it reeked of smoke!

As for the noise, perhaps a fan of your own? A good nights sleep makes a big difference!!

DS is out again with his friends. A very lovable bunch of nerds LOL
he sat out here with me for awhile last night after work, telling stories and cracking jokes. It was great.

DD is getting to live the only child life this summer with DS gone so much. He was here for dinner today, it's been a week and will be a week before he joins us again.

[Civet]

Sophist- That's my main concern, too. When I lived in my first apartment my downstairs neighbor was constantly smoking pot and it really, really aggravated my sinus problems (not to mention upped my stress level like crazy). Before he'd moved in there was a family that smoked cigarettes, but probably were not heavy smokers as we'd only smell it in my roommate's closet. If it happens to be that small and localized kind of smell I think hopefully I could tolerate it for awhile at least.

Goddess- I'm very sensitive to most smells, so I can't really tolerate candles or incense either. Noise and smell are my most prominent sensory issues, which is why I'm having a rough time with these things, I think.
I'm not sure if a fan would work or not, I'll consider it. I am thinking about a white noise machine which I guess if it helps would have the same effect. My refrigerator is also rather loud, but the noise is not as high pitched and irritating so when it kicks on it tends to buffer at least a little bit of the restaurant fan noise.

At the moment there is heavy construction going on on my street so I may actually welcome the fan sound at this point when I can hear it again . I knew they were doing work around this area, unfortunately it seems that this particular street is getting worked on just as I've moved in . They are retooling all of the pipes throughout the city and have been going up and down the main street here for months. Hopefully they won't be on my street in particular for too long.

[goddessoflubbock]

It's going to be a long summer! The plumbing has backed up twice, it's ridiculously hot, and DH, DS and I are all sick - DS has the worst of it

[Sophist]

It's going to be a long summer! The plumbing has backed up twice, it's ridiculously hot, and DH, DS and I are all sick - DS has the worst of it

Not that I'd wish DS I'll health, but considering he's in a good state of health, I'm glad you're not experiencing the worst of it!

[goddessoflubbock]

It's going to be a long summer! The plumbing has backed up twice, it's ridiculously hot, and DH, DS and I are all sick - DS has the worst of it

Not that I'd wish DS I'll health, but considering he's in a good state of health, I'm glad you're not experiencing the worst of it!

LOL Me too! His boss gave him a couple days off

I mailed all my bills on June2, everything has cleared but my mortgage! They emailed me a reminder today. I'm probably going to have to pay online tomorrow and stop payment. Just more headaches. Every other check cleared...

[Civet]

I am slowly getting used to my new apartment. The noise continues to bother me but I am running fans or AC or TV to block it out to the best of my ability. The smells from the restaurants I'm just trying to close out by closing windows at strategic times, hopefully I'll have a system down after awhile but it seems fairly random as to when the smell is the strongest (possibly depending on which way the wind is blowing, really).

My mom came to visit and helped me with a bunch of unpacking in the kitchen and some things in the bathroom, which was very nice. I also had a friend from out of town visit for a little while (which was planned before I even knew I was moving). I think that having others around for a bit is helping me ease in a little more.

I also had a small birthday celebration with friends this weekend, we had sushi and saw Prometheus.

[adhocisadirtyword]

Sorry I missed your birthday, Civet! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I'm glad you're getting settled into your new apartment.

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Over here, just been busy dealing with Boo. Ava's out of school as of yesterday, so I'll be letting her sleep all morning for the next couple of days to get it out of her system. Saturday we're going to the exploratorium with some friends.

This diet takes up so much of our time. Making everything from scratch with as much gelatin, organ meat, and raw dairy as possible. His teeth are a little better - or at least not any worse. But it's very slow going and such a lifestyle change. And VERY expensive. But our health has been amazing. I feel better now than I can ever remember feeling - even as a teenager. My only problem is getting enough calories in his diet without overdoing the dairy. I feel like I should be feeding him lard at various intervals. Poor guy just is stagnating in the weight gain dept. I put lot's of butter on EVERYTHING, make sure he gets a lot of starchy carbs, he's still breast feeding, and he eats meats, vegetables, whole milk yogurt, and raw whole whipped cream.

[goddessoflubbock]

That diet does sound labor intensive! Just a thought that maybe totally worthless but awhile back I saw a show about how sumo wrestlers gain weight bc they don't want a lot of fat, might be something to look into?

DS is better now, went back to work tonight. He really enjoys his job but I think his boss makes him nervous, bc he doesn't do well when she is there. Essentially what social skills he has tank :/.

[adhocisadirtyword]

We're using fat to up the overall calories. He needs to eat at least 700 calories a day (in addition to breastmilk) and that's a lot of meat and veggies. He can't have fruit juice or anything with sugar, so we're going with fat for lack of a better option. But yeah - I have noticed I tend to lose even more when I up the fat. Go figure. . I'm hoping for him that pure calories will win out. Waiting and seeing right now.

[Sophist]

DS is better now, went back to work tonight. He really enjoys his job but I think his boss makes him nervous, bc he doesn't do well when she is there. Essentially what social skills he has tank :/.

That was me on my first job doing ABA with toddlers. I totally froze every time my supervisor would sit in on a session and she'd always take it over; she literally thought I was mentally retarded. She tried to get me fired but the parents always insisted I was their best therapist, so she never succeeded.