The Year of the Unfinished Project

I've decided that this year is going to be my year to finish all my unfinished sewing and knitting projects. I've listed them on the side and I have a feeling that as I finish them and can start to dig out my cupboards that there may be more. I've also banned myself from buying anything for any new projects until the list is done, regardless of what a great deal it is. Wish me luck and hopefully I will soon be marking lots of dones on my list.

Fit for Motherhood

I frequently wonder why I'm not married and I tell myself all the standard answers. But this weekend, I thought it might be because I'm not fit for motherhood and this is why. My poor roommate that works with pre-school children with disabilities finally got H1N1. We both knew that it was inevitable and were hoping that I would be able to get my vaccine at work soon enough not to end up sick too and that she would get a mild case. Well she didn't get a mild case, but I got my vaccine in plenty of time to not get sick(knock on wood) Friday night she started getting sick and by Saturday she was in rough shape, but managing with plenty of Tylenol and fluids. And then the symptoms got worst and her fever spiked and then she as complaining of chest pains and I was very scared. Because I work for the provincial health authority I get all the scary details that don't get released to the media. So I called one of the medical residents in the ward and asked if he could come and give her a blessing and give me advice what to do. As an aside, I'm very grateful for all the women who let their husbands serve. I know that it can be a real sacrifice. After they left, I felt reassured that I was doing what I needed to to help her and I knew exactly what to look for as my sign to immediately go to the hospital. But has the night progressed and her fever got worst I was very scared. I hardly slept and spent the night alternating between monitoring her breathing and temperature, listening to her weeping in pain and know that here was nothing that I could do and praying that she was going to be alright and I would know what to do. Now I love my roommate, but I don't love her like you love a child and I wonder if I'm cut out to suffer that much. Finally when her fever broke it was such a relief, but I kept wondering if I could have handled a night like that 4 times over. I have no idea what the answer is but I'm glad my roommate is going to be fine.

Thanksgiving

As many of you know it is Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend. I love Thanksgiving. It may be one of my favourite holidays. It's the only holiday where no one yells at you for wishing them a happy day or that has been taken over by commercialism. It's simply a day to be thankful and eat yummy food. For primary(Sunday school), I spent the week leading up studying what the Prophets and Scriptures have said about gratitude. So when my Saturday turned into a bit of a gong show, I was in a good frame of mind.

Here is a low down of all the things I'm grateful for.

It was the coldest Thanksgiving in 50 years and I was outside selling girl guide(scout) cookies all day on Saturday.

1. I'm thankful that I own 3 pairs of long underwear, 3 pairs of winter boots for different types of snow and cold, 8 different hats, 6 scarves, 4 pairs of gloves and mittens with some extras, and 7 winter coats(and I'm making a new one).
2. I'm thankful that I have a new furnace that is keeping my house nice and toasty warm.
3. I'm thankful for a programmable thermostat to save money.
4. I'm thankful I have a closet full of blankets.
5. I'm thankful for hot water that I can use to thaw myself out.

The car I rented got a flat tire and I couldn't leave the store where we were selling cookies because I was needed for leader to child ratios.

1. I'm thankful for tow trucks that changed the tire and put the little doughnut on.
2. I'm thankful to the girl from the car rental place that came to the other side of the city to switch out my car.
3. I'm thankful for the new car that has seat warmers and a fantastic stereo.

I spend my entire Saturday selling cookies, by the end my back was killing me because I was bending over dealing with all the money and standing on concrete and I needed to finish my pies for dinner the next day.

1. I'm thankful for takeout.
2. I'm thankful for pay per view movies.
3. I'm thankful for drugs, lots of drugs.
4. I'm thankful my roommate peeled and sliced all the apples.

I have so many things to be thankful for. Yesterday, I had a very yummy dinner at my friend's house and today I had pumpkin pie for breakfast and I'm still in my pajamas and it's almost lunch.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving and know that I'm thinking about you.

catching up

My summer was mostly overcast or pouring rain with brief periods if sun, so I just couldn't write.

To sum up:

On the home front I've dealt with the nightmare of the dealing with the condo board and finally got everything fix last weekend. I now need to put everything back.

On the dating front, "I'm looking for my fourth wife." Why would someone say that on a first date? And "If you voted for Obama or consider yourself a feminist you'er not the girl for me." I didn't vote for Obama because he is too conservative for me, besides I was too busy burning my bra.

On the work front, my organization is undergoing a major upheaval and while my group is secure, there is a lot uncertainty and the fighting in the media is awful.

On the health front, I had a scare and I had someone tell me that I'm "really getting fat".

But the fall is here and I'm starting anew. I've taken up swimming with a goal to swim 1650m. I'm taking a sewing class to make a coat. I'm moving to the teenagers with girl guides. So things should be better.

The damage

My biggest frustration with my whole water nightmare has been the property management company that my condo board hired. I feel like they are trying to take advantage of me because I'm a new homeowner and don't know much. The property management still hasn't sent someone, but they are starting to realize that I'm not going away. What they don't know is that I have the ability to read, consult experts and talk to my neighbours. So know I have knowledge about how to deal with water damage, I know the law that governs condos and I have the support of my neighbours to get elected to the condo board. And when that happens, the property management company with rue the day I bought my house. I think the other part that drives me crazy is I don't like feeling like I need to be this tough jerk, just to get stuff done.

I got lucking and was able to salvage the carpet, but not the carpet pad. I learned that you have to dry carpet from back to front so the glues that keep it together don't dissolve. So here's the pictures of the damage. My first indications that it was more than just some wet carpet.

The problem corner where the water is seeping in from the foundation.

When I realized that I had mold.

The rusty nails that told me that this was not an isolated incident. According to the insurance guy, it's not the previous owners fault that they didn't notice because the dry wall was doing a good job soaking up the water.

The pile of of molding drywall I riped out.

I don't know if you can see it but the vapour barrier was dripping with water.

This corner is going to be a nightmare. This is before I pulled out the moldy insulation.

You can see where it is coming in.

One of the frustrating parts was that some of the insulation looked fine from the front.

But then I found this on the back.

The frustrations of water

I'm exhausted. Wednesday evening I stepped into a puddle of water in my basement, of course it was in the finished side with my perfect set up for sewing. Then came the mopping and calls to the condo board. They are responsible for any problems with the windows or foundation. Then came more phone calls and frustrations. Friday, the condo still hadn't sent someone out, so I called my insurance company and they sent someone out 2 hours later. Of course, it's not covered. In any case, the contractor guy was super nice. Turns out I have a water seepage problem at the base of my foundation that has been going on for 3-4 years and the reason no one noticed was because up until the heavy snow that we got after the ground thawed on Tuesday, was just the perfect conditions to create a puddle. He also told me how to clean everything up instead of taking the money that I don't have. So Friday I riped up half my sewing room. And still the condo still hasn't sent someone out. The property management people that the condo hired don't realize yet that I will not stop until it is fixed and if they want to have any peace they will fix it quickly. I'll post pictures later.

a small brag

Since this is my blog and feel that this is an appropriate place to brag. This week a received an award from SAS, the programming language/software I use at work. I receive the Customer Forum Leadership Award for my work as President of the Edmonton SAS user group. I stepped down this fall and it was nice to be recognized for my work building up the group for the last 5 years. Then that night, there was a big party for the retirement of the organization I work for. There is a huge government restructuring with health care in Alberta. And to pre-emptively answer the question, my job is very secure. There are not that many people in the province that have my knowledge about the administrative data used to evaluate health care. Anyway, this is me a Herta. She is the longest employee at the Cancer Board at 45 years. I have to admit that I can't imagine working at one place for that long. She is a fountain of knowledge and one of the people that really helped me when I started working.

And another brag, one of my co-workers asked me if I had a secret life as a sexy bombshell. I made my dress for the night and I love it. Some of my co-workers even walked right by me. It made for feel great about myself. Below are my friends Anthony and Amy with Herta. Anthony and Amy are my ranting friends from work. When I need to get on a soap box, they are there for me.