Potty Training

I am a mother to a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Neither one is potty trained. I wanted to have my oldest done by the time she was 2, but her stubborn personality made that a pipe dream. Then I wanted to have her trained by the time she was 3. The date came and went. So now, she has just turned 3 and she is still going in a diaper/pullup/panties -- basically whatever she's wearing she will use. She doesn't seem to mind the sensation one bit and when I ask her if she needs to go potty or wants to be a big girl, her answer is no.

I've tried bribing her, begging her, guilting her, shaming her and even punishing her. Nothing works. She is determined to wear diapers to college. My mom friends seem to have similar luck with their children, but at least their kids don't just scream no and run away when asked if they need to go potty. We've tried different potty seats as well, and nothing works. I'm almost to my wits end. Everyone says she will train when she's ready, but at this point I'm thinking it's never going to happen.

Oh the joys of being mom to a toddler.  At least my 1 year old enjoys the potty.

Inspections

So I have no idea if I've posted about the ongoing house addition project before or not, but I have some big news.  We FINALLY passed our electrical inspection!!

Woo hoo!  We have been trying to pass this since April and our electrical inspector has been finding reasons to fail. First it was the TR outlets. We had no idea he would count our addition as new construction and that he wouldn't let us match outlets the ones in the rest of our house.  So 72 outlets later, we have changed them all over.

Then he didn't like the direction that the cover to our outdoor plug opened.  Fixed that.  He didn't check it.  That figures.

Up next was a squabble over the location of the outlets in our hallway.  He wanted us to add one.  He didn't mention this during the rough inspection, rather he waited until the sheet rock and insulation were all in place.  Wonderful.  We (grudgingly) fixed that... he didn't comment on it/check it.

Last, but certainly not least from a financial standpoint, he wanted our breakers to be of the arc fault variety.  Now, again, that law is for new construction and ours was an addition. We wound up shopping on eBay for the breakers to save some money because those things are crazy expensive!!  $46 EACH!  The weird part is that he didn't give a flying rats behind that the old breakers were just regular ones - he wanted arc faults for the NEW outlets only.  So now there are 2 types of breakers in my circuit box and I'm pretty sure that violates the warranty and at least 1 electrical law. Just sayin'.

Anyway, ole cranky pants came out again and checked everything out and said it was fine!  Finally!  No more electrical inspector!  Any further electrical work will be done sans permit because I am not dealing with that man again!  lol - Just kidding, I don't plan on doing anything else with wires or wiring or any of that good stuff.

On a side note, one thing he wanted done is in direct conflict with something the fire department wanted done.  He thinks the smokes should be on their own line while the fire department says they need to be attached to an overhead light.  Guess we'll be changing that before our fire inspection this afternoon. lol  Wish us luck!!

Fixing the Washer

Yesterday I was washing a load of laundry when I noticed a river of water flowing from under the door of my mud room where the washer is housed.  Wonderful.  I opened the door and saw that the water was cascading from beneath the washing machine.  Luckily, it was in the final spin and drain cycle, so I only had to wait a couple minutes for the water to stop.  I grabbed a couple towels and sat down in front of the computer for a seemingly endless search on how to solve the problem.

If you have an HE machine and this has happened to you, I hope you will benefit from this post.  I know I saved at least $300 by fixing the problem myself, AND I had my washer up and working the very same day.  My leak was coming from the front of the machine.  If yours is coming from the back, this post probably won't be much help.

I have a Whirlpool Duet Sport frontloading HE washer.

The first thing I did was unplug the washer.  That's vital whenever you're working on an appliance because you don't want to get electrocuted, right?  Next, I removed the kick plate on the front of the machine.  I used a socket wrench to get the bolts off.  They are located on the bottom of the machine and there are 3 total.  You don't have to lift the machine or put blocks under it or any of that if you have a screwdriver that is thin enough.

Here's what it looks like (I've circled the location of the bolts holding on the kick plate in red. You will probably need to lay on the ground to see them):

Once you get the kick plate off, your machine will look like this:

See where that hand is grabbing?  That's the drain filter.  Put a bowl or something underneath it and slowly unscrew it (counterclockwise).  Mine was on there ridiculously tight because it was the first time I'd undone it.  Holy cow it was hard to get off, but luckily taking it off slowly allowed me to just "turn off" the water when my bowl got full so I could empty it out.

When it comes out, you'll have something like this, except yours will be dirty and it will probably have a bunch of stuff sitting in it like coins, screws, etc.:

Clean that puppy out.  It's the drain filter, so it's probably a good thing to know its location and how to access it anyway.  Once that's done, shine a flashlight around in the area that it goes to make sure there's nothing else in there.  I had a baby sock stuck in the drain tube on my machine.

Put the filter back in.  Also, if your machine isn't draining at all, you probably need to replace the entire pump assembly (the part that the filter is attached to), but luckily because of it's location that's an easy fix.  Order the part online and it's just 2 clamps and a plug-in electrical connection to install/uninstall it.  You can totally handle the job on your own.

After I fixed up the filter, I ran a load of clothes sans kick plate.  Not recommended and probably dangerous, however in my case it revealed that my leak was not fixed yet.  I also saw the water was coming from the seal around the door of the machine where it joined up with the tub.

I googled a YouTube video of how to fix it and everything said I would need a new one if there was any leak at all.  I called Whirlpool to get a price... $150.  No.  Amazon had one for $60.  Score.  So before I attempted the repair on my own, I decided to see if I could get the old "boot" off.  Fail... that process is so dang complicated and it involves taking the entire top and front panel off of the machine.  That wasn't going to happen since my machines were stacked, so I decided to look for a suspicious part I saw in the video.

To do this, I released the spring clamp/wire around the front of the door seal.  Just use a screwdriver and pry the spring (at the bottom) away from the machine.  The rest of the wire will pop right off.  Now you can disconnect the seal from the door opening, so do that and clean all around the inside of it.  Push it inside your washing machine and you will have access to the space near the drum.  I don't have any pictures of this because I was too busy to take photos and it's not a "normal" procedure, so there aren't any photos online either.

Next, I used a makeup mirror and a flashlight to locate the screw of the clamp that attaches the "boot" to the drum of the machine.  For me, it was on the left side around 10 o'clock. I found a small phillips head screwdriver and used it to tighten the screw on the clamp by 1.5 turns.  Then I went to work reseating the "boot" around the door opening and getting the spring-loaded clamp/wire back in place.  I closed the door and ran another load of laundry (with the kick plate still off).

SUCCESS!  The washer was working again and there were no leaks this time!  Getting the kick plate back on was the hardest part of the project and it really made me wish I had my machines on those laundry pedestals like this one:

Newtown, CT Shooting

After watching the tragic events of today unfold on the news and on Facebook, I feel like I must comment about something that someone said.

A former friend (as I unfriended them following this comment) updated their status with a message saying that it was a good thing none of the first responders wasted time praying and that they just apprehended the shooter in a timely manner.  They went on to say that God wasn't in any hurry to stop the shootings.

First of all, it's not like the shooter was taken out with a bullet from a police officer.  The first responders arrived AFTER the fact.  The shooter killed himself.  For someone so crazy to then turn the gun on themselves, I say IS divine intervention.  Imagine how many more children would be dead right now if the shooter kept going until an officer took them out.

What this poster failed to realize is that God gave everyone free will and unfortunately some evil people CHOOSE to do horrible things.  God doesn't stop people from doing horrible things.  However, if our society was a little more open minded and accepted that religion has a place in public life, maybe more people would be exposed to the types of morals and values that make for a safer society.

Thou shalt not kill.  Honor thy mother and father.

Those two lines would have prevented this whole thing from ever happening.  Instead, this sociopath decided to kill his mother and the students in her Kindergarten classroom.  I can't imagine that he had any type of faith, otherwise he wouldn't have done this in the first place.

So to the Athiest that posted the horrible comment on Facebook, it looks like you and the shooter have something in common.  You are both missing something rather important in your lives.  Faith and the types of moral compasses that would prevent you from shooting a room full of children or using a tragedy to spread your own anti-religious views.

This one horrible comment sparked such outrage in me.  I was tempted to respond with a something I once heard...  A student asked God why He allowed such violence to happen in schools.  God simply replied that he is not allowed in schools.

I urge everyone to keep the families and children caught in this horrible tragedy in your thoughts AND prayers.  Hug your children, kiss your spouse and never forget to tell the people you care about that you love them.  You never know when it will be your last chance.

That Neighbor

They say that everyone has "that neighbor" - the one who comes and goes at all hours of the night, doesn't mow their lawn, is a revolving door for somewhat questionable activities, etc. Think about your neighborhood and you can probably pinpoint who "that neighbor" is.  If you can't, odds are that it's you.

Up until about a month ago, we really didn't have "that neighbor", so I assumed it was either us or the people next door.  They don't come or go at all hours, but the basement light is constantly on during the night and they probably don't own a lawnmower.  They do however own several dirt bikes that they start up at random times whenever we are out back with the kids.  That's special.

However, since the addition of our newest neighbor, the one with the dirtbikes hasn't seemed all that bad.  Our dear neighbor has decided to clear-cut his lot, giving a lovely view of our backyard from the road.  The trees used to act as a natural barrier for kids and pets.  The new neighbor has also decided to build a house on his newly cleared lot... as close to the boundary lines as allowably by the town bylaws.

He also thought it would be a good plan to knock on my door and ask me to clean up the debris in my yard that is unsightly.  The debris is from a construction project, which we began before he bought the lot.  It's not done, hence the reason the debris is still there.  I find it rather insulting for him to tell me that my small pile of wood and metal is more unsightly than a clear-cut lot that's full of holes and temporary wooden molds for a foundation.  I also have a toilet in my debris pile and I feel it might be making a good planter in the future... facing the neighbors house of course.

He also hired a questionable surveyor that has given him some misinformation as to the location of the boundaries, so now he is trying to "meet with us" regarding the boundaries.  He is claiming a portion of our yard belongs to him.  There's also an area near our sheds that is in question.  He claims they are on his property, we know they are on ours (we had a surveyor confirm this).  Here's where it gets fun... our surveyor says they are on our property by 22 feet.  His says they are over the line.  22 feet is a HUGE discrepancy for professionals.  The problem is that his company has the larger reputation, but they are basing their claim off of a plot plan drawn up by a fly-over aerial photo of our lot.  When I spoke with the department of public works about this, I was informed that the photos are for estimates, which aren't accurate and the distances can't be used by a surveyor. 

Now the real fun begins of convincing the neighbor and his good-for-nothing surveying company that the distances are inaccurate and that he does not own the part of our yard that he thinks he does.

To me this all seems rather silly.  If you purchase an empty lot next to a house, why on Earth would you assume you own the neighbors property?  That seems like looking for trouble to me.  Whatever he thought would come of moving next to us isn't going to happen and any hopes he had of having a good neighbor are now crushed.  I think a nice tall fence is in order and he can feel free to not contact me further.

I am so outraged at the nerve of this individual.  Then to top it all off, he started threatening legal action -- on what grounds I have no idea -- because he is old and I am young and he thinks that will intimidate me.  Well, have fun with your lawyer, waste all the money you please.

Cleaning

For those of you who were keeping up with the cleaning challenge, you probably realized that I gave up after a very short time.  It just wasn't working for me with my life and the way I live.

With that being said, I did come up with a weekly cleaning guideline that has helped a lot. Here it is:

Monday:  Clean the kitchen from top to bottom.  This includes counters, floors, tables, chairs, stove, fan, microwave, etc.  Do a regular cleaning of the rest of the house.  Laundry:  clothes

Tuesday:  Clean the bathrooms from top to bottom.  This includes counters, floors, tub, shower, toilets, sinks, mirrors, etc.  Organize the vanity quickly and throw out anything that looks old.  Also, fold the towels in the closet if they have gotten messed up.   Do a regular cleaning of the rest of the house.  Laundry:  towels

Wednesday:  Clean the master bedroom & dining room from top to bottom.  This includes dusting, cleaning the table, vacuuming under the bed, tidying up the closets and clearing off the bureaus.  Do a regular cleaning of the rest of the house.  Laundry:  bedding.

Thursday:  Clean the kids' rooms top to bottom.  This includes picking up toys, putting things away, vacuuming, cleaning under the beds, and dusting where necessary.  I also pick a few large toys to clean with sanitizer.  Do a regular cleaning of the rest of the house.  Laundry:  none

Friday:  Clean the living room from top to bottom.  This includes vacuuming, picking up toys and putting them back in the kids' rooms (we have a toy basket in the living room, which I empty every Friday).  Also, dust the furniture and vacuum the crevices on the couch.  Clean the sliding glass door and wipe down the TV.  Do a regular cleaning of the rest of the house.  Laundry:  clothes

Saturday and Sunday I just do basic cleaning and there isn't any more laundry to do until Monday.  This way I kind of have the weekends off.  If there is an event happening or I am hosting something, then obviously I do more cleaning.  If things are slow or I am bored, I pick a big task off my list to accomplish.  I keep a pen and pad handy for when I'm doing something else and think of/see another item that needs to be tackled at some point.

That's it.  Basically I pick one area/room each day to tackle and then just do a quick clean up of the rest of the house.  I clean the windows every other week on the inside, and save the outside cleanings for the "spring cleaning/fall cleaning" marathons.

Lyme disease

I've decided to write a blog post about my recent experience with ticks in New England in hopes that others recognize the symptoms of Lyme and get tested before they feel like I have been.

My story begins the weekend before Halloween.  I woke up Saturday morning feeling off.  By the time I had breakfast made I was so nauseous that I didn't want to eat it.  I also had a strange pressure in my head, like before you get a migraine headache.  Wonderful.

As the day progressed, so did the nausea.  My stomach started to bloat a little as well.  By Saturday night, I was unable to keep food down.  I thought I had a 24 hour stomach bug.  We had friends over and the timing couldn't have been worse.  After losing my dinner, I decided to take a shower to try to feel a little better.

That's when I saw the speck.  Right in my belly button.  A little black dot.  It was a tick.  I called my husband in and he was able to get it out, whole and alive.  It was hands down one of the smallest ticks I've ever seen.  I continued on and by Saturday night at midnight my stomach was so bad that I had my husband run to the gas station for Pepto.

I rode out the illness through Sunday and through Hurricane Sandy on Monday.  At this point we were getting concerned.  My back was hurting, my knees were hurting and my all-day nausea was making it impossible to eat.  Of course we thought I could be pregnant, so we quickly ruled that out.

By Tuesday I still wasn't any better.  My husband told me to call the doctor.  I agreed and was able to get an appointment for that Friday.  As the week went on, my symptoms worsened.  Friday couldn't get here soon enough.  I was tired and sick and couldn't take care of the kids or the house.

My doctor immediately suggested pregnancy.  Why is it that whenever a woman in her child bearing years goes to the doctor for an illness, they assume you're pregnant?  Do you really think that thought didn't already cross my mind?  Wow, I'm so glad I waited all week for an appointment and then paid my $25 co-pay for my Dr. to play the role of captain obvious.  No.  I am not pregnant.  Lets get serious.

So then she did her usual exam consisting of blood pressure, listening to my lungs, my heart, etc.  She took my temperature and had my lie down on the table so she could poke at me.  Pretty much everywhere in my abdomen hurt along with most of my lower back, knees, etc..  I told her about the tick and she decided to do a bunch of urine work and have a Lyme test done, though she admitted that she thought Lyme was unlikely given that the tick wasn't engorged so it probably hadn't been on for any length of time.

I waited through the weekend, with increasingly bad symptoms.  On Monday, I called for my test results.  They had come in that morning, but the doctor hadn't reviewed them so I wasn't allowed to know yet.  I called again in the late afternoon before they closed.  Still nothing.  That night at 6:30 my doctor called me.  She was surprised, it was Lyme.  She prescribed some antibiotics and had it sent over to my pharmacy.

I got the email from the pharmacy letting me know my prescription was done 4 minutes before they closed.  I'd have to wait another night.  What a long night it was!  At this point my back pain and nausea made it impossible to sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time.  Standing was a no-go.  Sitting was a no-go.  It was awful.

I picked up my prescription first thing on Tuesday and began taking the pills immediately.  It took until Thursday to notice an improvement and I woke up again this morning (Friday morning) feeling terrible.  I hope it will get better after my next dose.  The doctor is supposed to call today or Monday to let me know the results of the more detailed test to determine whether it's a new infection or if I've had it for a while.  I'm not sure why that matters, all I know is that I'm glad I insisted on the test.