an end to the plumbing problems????

Well, we are hoping so anyway. Guess we will find out in a few months.

This weekend we had a tree cutting party. The neighbor had a tree to cut down and so did we, so we went in on a cherry picker together. Long story short, the tree in the front of our house that had the roots growing into our water pipe is now gone. Left in its place is the stump and all the leaves and small branches waiting to get picked up during branch pick up next week. half the wood is stacked neatly in our backyard to use for firewood next year, and the other half is sitting in the neighbors yard. (we gave them half the wood for doing the hard cutting part in the cherry picker)

So, now we can see into the neighbors front window and they can see into ours. We have also lost a bit of the shade that was provided by that tree. However, it may help heating costs in the winter as the sun can get through now.

And we will have to wait and see to find out if this ends the plumber having to roto-root every few months. If not, we will have to start the search all over again to determine the problem.

One Problem Solved

Just call Brian Mr. Tech Support. Apparently when he got home from work yesterday he was so pissed off at Dish Network and the local dealer that he decided he was going to mess around with the connections to see if perhaps the cables were hooked up incorrectly (Entirely possible since the cables were not color coded like they were supposed to be and in the switching boxes we may have switched cables). I mean, he couldn't really mess anything up any further, right?!?!
So, when I got home from work last night, I was informed that the cable is once again working and everything is doing what it is supposed to be doing.
We once again have cable, I can record missed shows while I am at work, and we don't have to wait in anger for the installer to come out and look at things. (I think we are keeping the appointment though, just to make sure there really is not a more serious problem.)

Why does bad luck come in 3's???

Starting Saturday:
1. Our flooding/drain back up issue. Look into "The joys of home ownership" entry for more information on this problem.
2. Brian had to get new glasses after the optical tech at Wal-Mart broke his. You never expect that anything will happen once they give their "since you did not buy them here, we are not responsible should any damage happen to them during our adjustment" disclaimer. Low and behold, she broke the tip of his earpiece. The glasses would still do their job, they would just dig into the side of his head. Talk about a headache. So, since it had been 3 years since the last eye exam, we decided that was the best choice and thanked the Wal-Mart lady for her help. (We went to Lens Crafters to have the issue resolved.)
3. After spending close to 2 hours on the phone last night with Dish Network Tech Support, we have come to find out that there is a problem either with our dish or the cables that hook everything up. No big deal, we are still under warranty after recently upgrading to a new DVR, so send someone out. Well, last night we were told that no one could get out here until Friday between 12 and 5. Okay, I guess if that is the best you can do. We can live with the little TV from the basement with the basic channels for a day. Well, Brian called the local dealer, who would be sending someone out, this morning to find out that the soonest someone could be out here was NEXT WEEK Friday. Um, a whole week without cable and being able to tape missed shows while at work-I DON'T THINK THAT IS ACCEPTABLE!!!!!! So I went to work this morning and Brian was going to do some calling during breaks to see what he could get accomplished. I think that because the service lady at Dish told us someone could come out tomorrow, that is what should be stuck too. Why do we have to suffer because the local dealer gave her the wrong information???

Hopefully this is the end of the back luck. I have had all I could handle for a while. Wish us inexpensive luck on all our issues.

The "joys" of homeownership

We have drain backup issues. Every few months, our basement shower drain backs up and sends water out the bottom of the shower, under the walls and out into the basement. It also backs up into the shower. We had the shower replaced a year ago, and were told that was the root of our problems. That doesn't seem to be the case.
Funny I used the word root, because that seems to be exactly our problem. Anyone that has been to our house knows about the 2 large trees in front of the house. Well, it seems that the roots from one of those trees may be growing into our drain pipe by the street, causing occasional backups into the basement.
As beautiful as the trees is and a wonderful shade provider during that afternoon sun, it is starting to get very costly. And since the back ups happen on the weekends, we end up paying the plumber extra for the weekend call. That tree just may have to go.
Today our pipes had their 15 minutes of fame. The plumber came and sent a camera down our main drain in the basement bathroom. Everything appeared to be clear from our house to the street, but at the street is where the tree roots became visible. Upon the advise from the plumber, we called the city to see what they were going to do about it. They sent a crew out to open up the manhole cover and clear their MAIN pipe which runs down the middle of the street. I am told that everything is clear on their end. Then explain to me the video tape that I have showing tree roots growing into my pipe 44 feet from my house. Again, anyone that has been here knows that our house is not far from the street, so the problem would be in the street.
Well, if it is, we are still responsible because it may be in our lateral (whatever that means. That is what the city guy told me) The city is only responsible for the main line and we are responsible for anything else.
So, our pipes have been rotor-rooted, the main city pipe has been rotor-rooted. All we have to do now is wait a few more months to see if we can go swimming in the basement again. Stay tuned for the latest plumbing saga.

Better late than never

I finally broke down and decided to find out what this Harry Potter craze is all about. I bought all 7 books this weekend. Barnes and Noble had 1-6 in a boxed set, and I couldn't seem to resist. Of course, what good would 1-6 be without 7, so that got added on to the purchase as well. I haven't started reading yet, but books 1 and 2 look relatively short, so I should be able to get those done in no time.
If anyone out there reading this had read the series and would like to have book discussions on it, I am all for that.
Happy Reading to all!!!!

Another year bites the dust

Yep, yesterday marked the beginning of my 28th year on this earth. It really doesn't feel any different. Brian keeps telling me to wait until I hit 30 (he will be 33 this year), and he keeps teasing me about getting older. The great things is that no matter how old I get, he will always be older!!
The day was really no different than any other Monday. Except for the fact that there were a few cards in the mail and less bills. I love having mail that doesn't require sending money to someone. The mother in law also stopped by, with one of the sister in laws, to drop off a gift and cake-we all know that Brian wasn't going to make one. And I still had to work at Sylvan, but I did get a gift certificate to Dairy Queen, so I guess it was worth it. And my student load was fairly light and easy, so I can't really complain. Now I just have to figure out how to spend all that birthday money.
The other excitement from the day was that Brian started his new job. Well, the training part anyway. I guess there is no guarantee of a job until the training is completed and passed (whatever that means). I believe that means we have another 3-6 months to wait before we know if he has permanent full time employment.
I still have no full time employment. I did get an application in the mail that I asked for 2 weeks ago. I even e-mailed them last week to make sure it had been mailed since I hadn't gotten it yet. They assured me it had been mailed-that was July 31st when I got that e-mail. The postmark on the stamp said Aug 2. Makes you wounder. Do I really want to fill out that application?? It is only at a day care center for K4. Guess I will wait to see if anything else comes along.

A DMV visit can be accomplished in under 1 hour!!!

I was just as shocked as you are reading that, but I did it today. And I must say it was a firts for me!!! I needed to have the lein removed from my car title (the car has been paid off since May, so I decided that I would finally make the trip in to the DMV). So after teaching at Sylvan this morning, I headed to the DMV, with my title and lein removal paperwork from Ford in my hand, along with a book to read. Walking in, there seemed to be an awful lot of people, so I thought I was doomed. I waited in line to get my number. The time stamped on my number was 11:13am. There were only 4 numbers ahead of mine, maybe this wasn't going to be so long after all.
So, I took a seat and began reading. After about 10 minutes, I was noticing that the 500's were not moving at all and everything else was. (My number was 535) Finally it went to 532 and then they started flying from there. Just before 11:30, I heard that wonderful DMV voice say "now serving 535 and window number 6."
I gathered my things and went to the window. The guy took all my stuff, entered some things into the computer, took my check, and handed me my new title-with no leins!!! I was walking out of the DMV shortly after 11:30.
So for all those of you who dread going, like I used to, it is possible to make it a short trip. The trick is to pick the right day and the right time. Would I have been so lucky at 3pm on a Friday?? Probably not.

Anyone wanna trade lives?!?!?!?

Brian came home 2 weeks ago to tell me that he quit his job at the bank because they wanted him to sign something that wasn't true. When he told them he wasn't' going to sign it, they said they would have to walk him out. so, they walked him out. He couldn't even tell me this face to face, he called me form his moms house to tell me.
So he is unemployed, again. And I am still mostly unemployed.
He had a somewhat promising interview this morning. Sounded like he would get paid to play with toys and other things all day. His dream job. All he has to do is keep his thoughts to himself and things should be fine. Some days whatever he is thinking comes out his mouth, not thinking about what his boss will think.

I have sent out 4 job applications last week and one more today. I still have nothing lined up and am not even getting any interviews. I would even be happy with a NO so that I know that my resume is at least being looked at. Oh well, it is still July.

So, keep us in your thoughts as we hope for the best. If not, I may be writing this blog from a cardboard box or tent in the backyard as we may have to rent out the house.

Sorry its been so long

Okay, so I logged on to see that it has been a month since my last post. In my defence, it has been a very busy month. Summer school started June 18 and ended July 20. (We had the week of July 4 off!!) So my mornings were packed with teaching soon to be kindergartners how school works, what things are done (and not done) at school, and how to behave. Overall, the 4 weeks went really well and there were no real problems. A few kids that liked to act out and need several reminders, but they wouldn't be 5 year olds if that didn't happen.

So, by the time I would get home I would have to eat lunch, do any prep work for the next day and head off to Sylvan. Sylvan has really been giving me hours, so I wouldn't get home until 9. Then I would eat, do any prep work that didn't' get done in the afternoon and go to bed. Even my weekends were busy with Sylvan and other family things.

The week off for the 4th was also busy. We spent that week camping with my dads side of the family. That was fun and luckily it didn't rain-we were in a tent!!

Now things are starting to slow down a bit. I still have a basement full of summer school stuff to sort through in my free time, but there is no rush. I will still be working at Sylvan 4 nights a week, but have also added 2 mornings a week. I hope to have a bit more time to do some postings on here, for all those of you faithful readers that like to know what is going on in my life:)

Sylvan by candlelight?!?!

We almost went that way yesterday. You see, they are ripping up the road in front of Sylvan-it is down to one lane, one direction. So, it was shortly after 5pm and all of the sudden the lights went out. There was no storm and the winds were not really all that strong, so we figured it must have been the guys out front. But what construction worker works past 4:30???
We continued teaching by the light coming in the windows, thank goodness for the sunlight. Then we had to decide what to do about the last 2 hours of the night. (The power company was called, and the had to track down employees, so who knew when the power would be back.) Did I mention the phones were dead too?!?! So, kids that were staying for the 6:15 hour had to stay since we couldn't contact parents, in an orderly fashion.
We finally decided, the teachers and one administrator (the center owner went home shortly after we lost power), that we would teach by sunlight from 6:15-7:15, but the last hour would have to be cancelled. So parents were tracked down in the parking lot as they dropped their children off and infromed of the change. No big deal and the hour went fine, but we were loosing light at the end-even my eyes were starting to hurt.
Wouldn't you know, right about 7:15 the lights came back on?!?!?!!! Well, guess I get to go home early. I mean, you couldn't very well tell the parents, "just kidding, we are really going to have that last hour of class!" I'm sure parents were a little confused as they came inside to pick up their children and the lights were on, but what can you do? One never knows what will happen with those city employees and their projects.
I will be so happy when Midway road is back to normal, which I know won't be for a while.
Hopefully tonight will be less eventful, I am not sure how much more excitement I can handle!

Summer School-Day 1

The crazy day. Kids coming in early, late, with parents, without parents, not on my list, wrong name on my list. I think kids started coming in at 8:20-the time they are allowed to enter the hallway. Then two families came in, one girl was in my room-her friend wasn't. The one came back a little while later, and now the other girl is in my room too. Can't split up those friends, what will the 5 year olds do!! Then one comes in and says the first name is different, is it the same kid. I don't know, sent them to the office. she came back and said they goofed. So I now have to make 2 new name tags as part of my homework tonight.
Once the parents were gone and kids were where they were supposed to be, the day went fine. I didn't realize how little was actually left in the room until the kids started playing. Oh well, they didn't really seem to mind and now that I know how fast they work, i will have more planned.
I had 4 kids out today, so my total was at 11. What a nice size and they all played so quietly!!
We will see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully nothing blog-worthy, but with 5 year olds, you just never know!

It's been a long time

In my defense, I have been very, very busy. I haven't even been on the computer very much this month. And when I was I was to tired to do anything but check for important e-mails and get off. I guess I will start at the beginning of the month. I had subbed pretty much non stop since the 14th of May. I had maybe 2 days off in there. Yes, i was even kept very busy during that last week of school. I guess that is what happens when a parapro quits with a few weeks left of the year. I was not her long term sub, but I subbed for her sub a few times. So, school was don on the 8th of June.
What have I been doing since then, you ask? Well, that day we left for Watertown-Adams graduation party was on Saturday. Sunday it was down to Milwaukee for the graduation party of our old neighbors. Followed by a drive back to Kaukauna. I felt like I live in the car last weekend.
Monday I got to sleep in, it had been a while. Shortly after I woke up, I was asked to babysit for a friend so they could get some work done outside and not worry about the baby. Well of course I said yes, I would never turn down Abbie time. I went back there on Tuesday morning as they had some errands to run and to make them quicker, they left Abbie at home. Wednesday I went supply shopping for summer school and spent the rest of the day organizing school stuff. Today I went to school to see my room and what was there. Minimal things, but I think I will be able to make due. After all, it is only 4 weeks. Hopefully the weather is nice and we can spend some time each day outside. Tomorrow I plan to go to the library to get some books for summer school before all the good ones are taken(hopefully it is not too late already!!) of course, all these busy days are followed by nights spent at sylvan. I even get to go on Saturday. As far as I know it should be a somewhat relaxing weekend, but we will have to see if that proves to be true.
Stay tuned for good first day of summer school stories on Monday!!

Never a dull moment...

...in this neighborhood. When your doorbell rings at 4 in the morning, you tend to get a little worried. Luckily Brian was awake, so he answered the door. At 4am, would you expect anything but the police?! I didn't go to the door, but I guess there were 2 policeman there wondering if there was a 20 something person in the house that was bleeding. Ummmm, we are all sleeping, so I don't think so. Feel free to come in and look. They didn't take us up on that offer, but continued to search outside and visit a few of the neighbors.
(Apparently they had received a call that there was someone bleeding profusely at one of 3 houses.)
But they could not find anything. Supposedly a car that was involved was found about 20 minutes away in another city. What are you doing in this one then!!!!!!
A few minutes later, 2 of the 5 cop cars in front of our house left. I do not know when the others left and Brian said he could still see someone searching the train tracks behind our house. I never heard ambulance sirens, so I am guessing no one was found (or at least not in serious condition).

Have you ever tired to go back to sleep after something like that?!?! First of all, you are looking outside to see if you can figure out what is going on. Then when you finally do climb back into bed every sound makes you jolt awake. By the time you have settled yourself down, it has been an hour and will be time to wake up shortly.

And, if that weren't bad enough, this is not the first time police have been in the neighborhood. The truancy officers have been to a house down the street several times. They are not something i worry about. But the police have been to the neighbors house a couple times. Do you know what it is like to look out the window and see 3 cop cars in the driveway of the house next door, lights flashing and guns possibly drawn?? Makes you want to know exactly what is going on. Is that public knowledge?

If anyone is looking for excitement, come stay with us for a week and you may just find some.

Subbing, Subbing, Subbing

I have finally had a few days off to catch my breath. I have been subbing for the past week and a half. Don't get me wrong, that is a good thing, but it has been a while since I have worked a full week. I have been a preschool parapro, I have supervised in school suspension, I have been in the CD room working with small groups, and I have been a "floating" kindergarten teacher. I have enjoyed all except the in school suspension. I actually thought, at first, that would be easier and more boring than the middle school library. I was wrong, WAY WRONG. The child I was supervising was an EBD (emotional, behavioral disturbed) student and could change moods in an instant. One minute he would be doing his work just fine and the next he would be flipping out about something. And when he flipped out it took quite a while to get him back on track again. Course, I didn't know any techniques that they were using in the EBD room, so that was a bit challenging. I survived, but would not want to do it again-if I had my choice.
The other days went well and it hardly felt like working. Especially in preschool, I mean where else can you get paid to play and color for most of the day. I did have some other "teacher like duties" too, but they were not as tough as controlling my EBD student.
The district is off today for an unused snow day, so I knew that I would have today to catch up on the house work that got neglected by the time I would get home at 8 every night.

oh to be a student teacher again

Ok, maybe not really. I mean all that hard work with none of the pay for it. But subbing when there is one in the room is pretty awesome. This was the case last Friday. I subbed in a 3rd grade classroom and didn't know there was a student teacher in the room until i got there that morning. And he was to the point in his student teaching that he was teaching everything. Again, I was only there to help with crowd control and give feedback as necessary. And I was doing odd jobs for the teacher as she wanted me to leave the room several times during the day. I would have to say it was pretty easy day. And the class was fairly well behaved that I didn't even have to help with discipline, he had everything under control. This teacher is also out on Thursday and Friday of this week, so I am hoping that i could possibly be back there again. Hey, it is more easy money for not having to do a whole lot. I would have to say it is easier than the middle school library.
Thank goodness for student teachers!!

I don't know if I could ever be a mentor teacher. I am not sure that my teaching skill are the greatest yet. Maybe someday i can have the luxury of having a student teacher in my classroom-course, I would need a classroom first!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Between subbing, Sylvan, friends visiting from out of town and the beautiful weather, I haven't had much time to write in the past week or so. Last week, I subbed 3 days and so far this week I have subbed 2. last week I even got a few days in the middle school library, so those were easy days, but tiring. I would much rather be doing something, after all I am getting paid to work. Middle schoolers just don't have book check out as often as those elementary schoolers do.
I am hoping to get more subbing in as the month goes on, I mean there are bound to be personal days when the weather gets warmer, right?!?!
This weekend was full of visiting and reminiscing. Someone Brian and I went to college with and her husband were up from IL this weekend staying with some other friends of ours, so we spend the weekend out of the house-literally. On Saturday, we visited in our backyard since the weather was so nice and then we went out to eat and back to Bill and Kristins house. Sunday we went to Oshkosh to the outlet mall. All six of us and the baby found something during that journey-and accomplished our goal of me finding dress pants and Brian finding shorts. What a great weekend.
I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend again. And hopefully I will get a few more sub days in this week so that i have a reason to want to relax.

Back in the subbing game

still not as much as I would like to be, but better then a sporadic call every few weeks. I subbed Wednesday-Friday last week and I have 3 more days set up for next week. I still don't have anything for this week, but it is only Tuesday. I wish I could get more teacher jobs instead of the parapro jobs, since they pay more, but I guess at this point money is money and I will take it however I can get it. (Short of having to go stand on the corner of College Ave. somewhere downtown)
Still no job leads for next year. I have sent in a few recent applications and am still waiting to hear back on them (or not hear back) I am sure that more will be coming up in the next few weeks as contracts come due and districts start working on budget things for next year. I am not going to totally worry until the end of August. I didn't get hired until the middle of August when we first move to the Fox Valley, so I know that a lot of schools are not in a real hurry to hire sometimes. I also have to decide how far I am willing to drive each day to work and how that drive would interfere with the hours i would work at Sylvan. But at this point I am willing to do about a 30 minute commute, one way.
Off to do more job hunting.

Successful Easter

As mentioned before, we had Easter dinner at our house this year. I would have to say that everything went pretty well. Brian's mom couldn't make it because she "won" the work lottery and had to work on Easter Sunday(Do people actually call with insurance questions on Easter?!?!) But Brian's dad was able to make it for a little while, my parents came up, Adam came in from school (probably more for the home cooked meal then the visiting), and my aunt came up from Fond du lac. I think that everyone had a great time, even if Brian's dad didn't come with an off button and talked pretty much from the time he got to our house until the time he left. That's okay, I spent most of my time in the kitchen preparing food along with my mom who brought pretty much everything that we would need for that day.
Overall a wonderful time spent with family.

Spring Cleaning???? Happy Easter!!!!!

Not sure if you can really consider it spring cleaning when it is snowing outside, but I am cleaning my house. Oh and not just the normal dusting and vacuuming. I have cleaned out closets, drawers, file cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and the normal cleaning as well. It is just so hard to think of it as spring cleaning. Does this mean I will have to do it all over again once we really get spring?!?! I won't be-once a year is enough for this kind of cleaning for me. And I probably wouldn't be doing it now if it weren't for the fact that we are having people over for Easter. Sure, I didn't have to clean out closets and cabinets, but as long as I knew I wouldn't be called to sub this week I couldn't think of a better time. So,, I have completed (almost)my spring cleaning in what would appear, to anyone reading this today, to still be the middle of winter.
I hope it stops snowing so that all our travelers can get here safely tomorrow. Not that any of the snow is really sticking, but with Mother Nature you can never be too sure.

I would also like to wish everyone reading a Happy Easter Whether you are cooking or someone else is doing the cooking, I hope you all have a wonderful time visiting with family and friends.
Off to do more cleaning:)

March goes out like a lamb

a cold wet lamb, but at least there was no snow. What a month March was!! I think we experienced all the seasons in 31 short days. (We even saw fall, with leaves blowing off our roof from last fall!) Gotta love Wisconsin. I mean where else can you experience at least 2, sometimes 3, seasons in one day? Now, when we should be having Spring weather, we are getting colder temps with a threat of snow over the next couple of days. I would much rather have the rain that we had all weekend-at least I don't have to shovel that. Sure, it makes the already large puddles of mud on the lawn every bigger, but then it also keeps the neighborhood children off the lawn. And if not, you can at least track them by the footprints left in the mud!:) Just kidding, we don't really do that. And the neighborhood children and pretty good about staying on the sidewalk, it is the neighborhood dogs that we have to worry about. If you ever see a story about flaming dog poop found on someones porch in Kaukauna, it was probably us:)

Menasha is on Spring Break this week, so I don't have to worry about any wake up calls. That is okay, because we have having the parental units (and an Aunt) over for Easter on Sunday and I could use the the free time to clean the house. I plan to spend a good portion of the week doing a huge spring cleaning of at least the first floor of the house-the basement is pretty organized and cleaned out. (Too bad I won't be able to open the windows, without freezing, to let all the dust that will be stirred up out of the house.) Oh well, life goes on and so do we.