When it rains AND it pours...

Yeah, so lots of fun in the Monster Maison these days. Good news is that I have internet as of this morning. :o) I am finally caught up on emails and Facebook, but I still have about 600 posts in my reader that I haven't looked at yet. Sigh.

I've been experiencing progressively worse knee pain lately. I know I've mentioned it before, but it is really getting out of hand. I limp everywhere now. Yesterday I decided to fight it and get some stuff done. Oh, what a joke. First, I "borrowed" my neighbor's internet so I could find some addresses of errands I needed to run. Then I went to Hallmark to find postcards for the boys to send to their classes. Hallmark doesn't carry Philadelphia postcards. But, the mail place 4 doors down did. Plus, it saved me from driving to the post office. 2 yr olds in any kind of store = ugh. I made it out without her breaking anything.

Then I got to wait in the AT&T store for 30 minutes so I could get a Philly number. Sugar was being anything but sweet. Oh, that girl! At one point she kept saying 'potty' so I asked one of the workers and she said, "we don't have a public bathroom, so I'll have to ask my manager" and then continued to talk to the customer. I finally grabbed Sugar, ran (as much as I could with my knee) to the manager and said, "Where is your bathroom for a 2 yr old emergency?" Notice, I didn't exactly give them option. I get Sugar on the potty, and she says 'done' without 'doing' anything. ARGH. Potty training is SOOOOO over-rated! Finally, it was my turn to be helped and I'm told I need to do it over the phone. GRRR....

Getting gas should be free of problems, but of course, the printer wasn't working at my pump and it said I needed to go inside. Like I'm going to drag 3 wild kids into a store with candy near lunch time, no thanks. Nor was I willing to leave them alone in the car while I went in. I left without a receipt. This was almost painful for me with my meticulous record keeping, but I just couldn't deal with the other options.

Then I decided to brave going to the bank. *shudder* I will say though, the bank personnel were AMAZING. They gave my kids all kinds of distractions, including Popsicles, and didn't seem even the slightest bit annoyed. I will be opening an account there soon. I was very impressed. They even told me where I could find a mail receptacle for the post cards.

But the real fun was that evening when I got a call from my realtor that the backyard was flooded. What a helpless feeling that is! I pretty much spent the next hour and a half trying to find someone who could help my realtor get the water out of the backyard and fix the sump. I guess the entire system floated out of the ground because it wasn't weighted down enough. Oops. The water got into the house too. So I called Neysa and since she is super strong and has a super strong hubby, they were able to move the furniture out of the water. It wasn't standing water, the carpet was just wet. Either way, bad to have furniture sitting in it...

Then I was on the phone forever this morning with water restoration people, the guy that is fixing the yard, my realtor, making my ortho appointment, etc. I think I have burned through half of my cell phone minutes in 2 days. At least I think everything is taken care of for now. I hope.

Oh, I looked up our home online after Sarah's comment. It was built in, drum roll please..... 1860. This house is almost 150 years old. So, fine, it isn't older than the discovery of electricity, but it is still old. :o)

I'll probably post again before my knee appointment. Now that I have internet and all. :o) And here are some pictures of Sugar's closet, I mean, room:

We squeezed in her crib for her baby dolls and yes, that is my wedding dress

The bookcase, dresser and wardrobe

this is the whole room...

yes, I realize the wardrobe takes up her entire room, but it needed to be

big enough for Sugar's clothes and all of the linens. Sheesh.

Out of sight

Hi! Remember me? No? Yeah, it has been awhile, huh...

So, I called out an SOS and my a.m.a.z.i.n.g. grandma came on Monday to help me pack. She is seriously a master packer. And cleaner. She has single-handedly packed my entire house. In 3 days. AND, she has been going to the gym with me every morning. She runs circles around me. I thought I was in shape somewhat, but I can't keep up with her! I'm exhausted! You are all jealous, but that is too bad, I'm not sharing her! GRANDMA, YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!!!!

And because we could all use some lemonade laughs, here is my day for you. Woke up and started cleaning and packing, etc. Got Jamo off to school, came home for more packing, want to cry because my knee is still hurting, decide to go to kettlebell anyway because, hey, it is my last one. Come home and get kids lunch and then Roo on the bus. Drive all the way out to Eaton Rapids (20 minutes) to exchange a plant that died only to find that I forgot my receipt when I arrived. So then I have to drive back home and then another 20 minutes back out to ER. Pick up Jamo from school and then dash over to get Roo. Lucky boys have a dentist appointment today. I get to Roo's school and go to the office to sign him out. I go in and they say, "Oh good, you are here, we couldn't reach you at home." Huh? Apparently he peed his pants during gym class. Nice. According to Roo, he told the teacher he needed to go potty, but she said to do one more lap. That has not been confirmed by the gym teacher, but either way, argh.

I only had extra pants for Sugar, so I didn't know what to do. It was already 3 minutes until their dentist appointment and there was no way I'd have time to make it home and back. So, I went anyway and asked if they just wanted me to drop off Jamo, but I couldn't reschedule Roo because, hello, I'd be 12 hours away. They said they'd take Roo too. I'm the mom that took her kid to the dentist in pee pants. Great. That is what I've come to people! Argh!

So, they had no cavities. One of Jamo's top teeth finally came in after falling out in December. After the dentist, I ran to Elaine's to get more boxes (thanks!) and then to the store to get more tape. Since I'm in stellar parent mode and all, I left Roo in the car because he didn't want to go in with pee pants. Nice. Force a kid into the store with pee pants or leave him unattended? Don't you judge me. I haven't even told you the story about Roo missing the bus yesterday. Don't bother commenting on how it is illegal or what a bad parent I am. I don't have time to read my emails anyway. Anyway, after that, I planted my new plant, and cleaned the van. No, like super-cleaned. Vacuumed, wiped down, super-cleaned. And then we went out for pizza because cooking is officially impossible at my house. We took the pizza to the park and it was glorious. I love Michigan.

Then it was an insane night of baths, getting whiny and tired kids to bed and a wailing 2 yr old. Thank heavens I will have Brad back soon!!! And there is seriously and SERIOUSLY no way I could have done this without my grandma. Brad's dad is coming in tomorrow to help with the loading and actual driving which is awesome because I didn't want to drive alone in a van with the kids. Tomorrow is cleaning. Joy. The packing is mostly done. Anyone want to clean from 11-2 tomorrow? It will be a party! Okay, it won't, I lied, but my grandma is really fun, so it is like a party!

And in case I don't manage to get on a computer tomorrow, I'll see ya'll in Philly!

Oh, and my Google Reader has 340 posts waiting to be read. Sorry everyone. I'm really behind on reading.