Trimming the extras

Normally, putting Kinley down for a nap at 5:20 in the evening would be a no-go for me.  But today, it's a yes totally.

It's Thursday evening.  Time to kick back, relax, and enjoy my FOUR days off from school.  I guess they really aren't days off when they are bound to be filled with homework.  But at least I don't have to go anywhere.  Well, tha'ts a lie....errands are sometimes just as much of a pain as the commute to school.

So I'm going to enjoy my four days with my baby girl.  Now that she's in day care three days a week, I feel like I don't see her nearly enough.  I miss her.  She's changing so much and her attitude has been so sassy lately.  She's definately developed her diva personality.  And I'm not so sure that we are fans of it.  We've slowly been moving back into the groove of regaining control that we so willingly handed over to her just 13 months ago.  The terrible twos have hit our household.....several months too early.  She's getting very good at pushing our limits.  Not sleeping at night, throwing her food, laughing when we tell her no, eating the dog food, dumping the water bowl, not sleeping at night, fighting naps, not sleeping at night.

We're sleep deprived and cranky.  And that's no fun.

I feel like our life has done a major flip in the past two or so weeks.  Not only are we all working through the transition of me being back in school full time but we're dealing with a move.

Yes, we're moving.  Again.

You see, after having that "inspector" over last week that told me absolutley nothing about our mold problem, but instead decided to threaten our landlord over the CO2 detector and the "moisture problem", we decided to just bite the bullet and call our landlord.  Okay, so I'm a chicken and made my husband call.  Big shocker, huh.  (Dr. Laura even knows that my self confidence is zilch.)  Turns out, he agreed to just let us out of the lease at the end of February.  Which is exactly what we had hoped he would say.  He doesn't want a mold inspection done on the property.  Because if in fact there is mold found, then he would be stuck shelling out thousands of dollars to repair all of the affected areas.  No mold test, no mold "confirmed" and he can play ignorant about the whole situation when he sells the place.  So because of our concerns for Kinley's health, he said that we'll just cut our ties and move on.

Done and done.

The apartment that we fell in love with last Sunday ended up renting before we could get back there, but luckily, one just like it is open for a March 1 move in.  So..... we're going.

So now, we've got the life change of mom back in school, the move and then financial.

My husband's employer was bought out by a larger company (typical, isn't it?  no one keeps to themselves anymore) and since the "merge" they have gone from 50-60 hour work weeks to barely 40.  Good-bye OT.  So naturally, we've had to adjust our spending and living expenses.

This has brought on all sorts of life changes.  As if we didn't have enough already.  The Dave Ramsey classes have been a tremendous help in not only teaching us *how* to do things but also, how to talk about them without fighting.  And, the class leader has taken us under his wing and is helping us figure things out.   With his help, we're getting back on the right track, making the necessary cuts and re-learning how to spend and how to save. 

I guess that has been the biggest lesson of all. 

Today, I called and dropped our cable down to minimum, cancelled our DVR and home phone and *gulp* went with the slower internet service.  BUT, our bill went from $130 to $50.  Dang-o, dang-o.

That makes me feel good.  So on top of saving $300 on our monthly rent by moving, our utilities are going from about $300 to about $125 a month and we're cutting our cable, cell phone plan (my husband has a work phone, so we're cutting his personal cell) and we're just generally downsizing.

Instead of focusing our income on spending, we're now focusing on saving.  Getting our savings where it needs to be.  And while I think that missing all of my beloved shows on my DVR makes me want to cry, I would rather have that TV time as cuddling time with my family.  There is always streaming if I want to catch a show, but seriously, I have my DVR currently maxed at 99% capacity because we have zero time to watch what we record.  So why record?  I think we'll be happier without.  I hope we will.

I'm excited about the changes that we're making.  It feels like a fresh start....and that is exactly what we need right now.

Bang Bang

Sometimes, I feel like I just shoot myself in the foot.  And lately, it seems that I'm doing it alot.  Ugh.

So the "mold inspector" came this morning.  Turns out, he's not a mold inspector at all.  He knew nothing about mold!  He looked at the windows and agreed that we have a "moisture problem" but couldn't tell me anything more than that.  I then took the opportunity to explain to him that our carbon monoxide detector kept going off as well.  But since it was hit and miss as to when it would blare, I figured it was a malfunctioning detector.  Thought that maybe he would have some advice as to what to do.  He does wear the "City Inspector" badge, after all.

Yeah, he had nothing.  He said that maybe I could call the gas company or call the fire department but he thought it would be sufficient to just issue a notice to our landlord. 

The landlord that we were trying to *not* tell until we had a mold report.

So yeah, he's calling him today to issue him a 3 day allowance to get the CO2 detector replaced and a 30 allowance to "FIX" the moisture problem. 

Now where does that leave us?  It leaves us with the possibility of Mr. Landlord coming in and bleaching the molded areas &/or painting over the molded areas (as it appears he's done before) and I'm willing to bet that all of this will be done in the place of an inspection. 

Thank you Mr. City Inspector.

And to make it all hurt that much more..... we fell in love with an apartment yesterday.  And, it's $300 less per month.

I feel like I just shot down any chance at all of us getting out of this place.  And getting it mold tested.

Just for the heck of it, I called a professional mold testing company and they charge $250 for a full air inspection and sample testing.  But in my opinion, that should be at the expense of the property owner, not the tenant.

What to do, what to do.....

Squeaky Feet

So, secretly, I love my new "office."  I can come up here, work on homework, write a blog, check my email, or whatever.....in peace.  I mean, I can still hear her and know what's going on downstairs (I'm in the loft, which over looks the living room) but I don't have her hanging on my legs and whining to help me type.  It's kind of nice. 

I made my cup of coffee and requested ten minutes of blog time....and off I went.  Ahhhh, bliss.  Haha.  It's the little things in life, right?

Yesterday we spent all day (most of the day) looking at new apartments and came up with nothing.  No joke.  The areas where we want to live, just don't offer much in the line of apartments.  So we're going to have to broaden our search.  We are looking at one property this morning and we're really hoping that it is nice....but at this point, I'm pretty negative Nancy about the whole thing.

I'm totally hung up on this mold thing.  I mean, if it comes back as mold, then that's one thing.  But it has to come back as a dangerous level of mold for us to break the lease.  Right?  So I'm not even sure that looking at/falling in love with a new place is the right thing to be doing.  And if it is a dangerous level, do we need an attorney to help us out of the lease or can we just say "hey, this place is no good, we're out of here."

There is no doubt that we want out of this current lease so that we can get a cheaper place that we actually like living in.  But I'm not so certain how possible it is to actually get out of it.  Am I making sense?  I am holding my breath until Monday at 11 when the inspector is actually here and tells me my options.  But I pray that it's "dangerous" enough to get us out, but not "dangerous" enough to have done long term harm.

I had my appointment with Dr. Laura yesterday and while we started out talking about my marriage, our finance stresses, etc., it all got turned into my breastfeeding relationship with Kinley and my complete overwhelming anxiety that comes with the thought of weaning.  I guess I didn't realize how uneasy I am with the idea.  I mean, I know that I'm going to wean her.  I know that I don't want to nurse her till she's 2, but at the same time, I am not sure that *I* can handle the wean.  I have some work to do there.  And thank God for Dr. Laura.  She gets me.  She knows how I think.  She knows what to say to help me solve the questions in my mind.  She knows how to get me to take the baby steps so that I accomplish but never step out of my comfort zone. 

Last night we enjoyed a Saturday night of nothing.  We caught up on some DVR'd shows, hung out with Kinley and just chilled out.  I can't remember the last time we did that (on a Saturday).  It was so nice.  Kinley's sleeping habits are absolutely terrible lately and we fought her to go to bed till 11.  It's been  tough.  Our baby that slept through the night, went to bed on her own, always happy and content, is no longer.  I don't know what to do or think anymore.  Every hour is something new that we're not used to. 

The pediatrician saw four teeth on top coming, so maybe this is all due to that.  But I just don't think that's it.  And a mother's instinct is usually right on.  Or it has been for us.

We're having to miss church today because of Kinley still not feeling her best.  She's still not got her voice back and her nose is stuffy.  If this is the mold doing this to her.....ohhhhhh, I'll be livid!  But maybe it's not.  Maybe she has a cold?  Just no other symptoms other than the raw throat and congestion.

And did I mention that she's walking?  It's not 100% of the time...but she takes 5-10 steps at a time and does it often.  So yeah, we say we have a walker on our hands.  And it's the cutest thing ever.  Ahhhhh, I love that girl.

Goofy face, but I wanted to show you her new "necklace."  And I
know that most parents wouldn't let their child walk around playing
with this, but she only does so when she's with us.  So it's safe(r).
It's a USB cord.  She LOVES it.  Carries it around and normally has
it around her neck like a scarf.  If she sees it on the floor, she grabs
it and whips it around her neck (only once, we're not talking strangulation
here) and will wear it like that for a long time.  Here, she's wearing it for
dinner.  I think it's the cutest thing ever.

We gave her Cheerios in her snack bowl and instead
of eating, she poured them all over the floor.  The flood
 of Cheerios surround her.  And you see my shoes there
(she's a shoe fanatic) and then there is daddy's cell phone
(because she always wants either his or mine) and then there
is her cord/scarf.  Lucy is sitting in the chair using all of the
strength of God to not jump down and devour the Cheerios--
but trying to look innocent as if to say "she did it!"

When we were out shopping with Richie's brother and his girlfriend last weekend, we saw a family (mom, dad, little girl about Kinley's age) shopping with either the mom or dad's parents.  So it was the family and then the grandparents.  The grandma was blind and had a seeing eye dog.  That wasn't so out of the ordinary...having a blind mother, I'm used to seeing that, but I'm always in awe of the seeing eye dogs.  My mother never/still doesn't want one but I so wish she would.  The independence that they bring are just amazing.  I know why she doesn't want one....or maybe I think I know why she doesn't want one and that's her thing....so whatever.  But I've been around several "working dogs" and they are just the most amazing animals ever.  If you've not read about them, do so.  It's pretty cool how they are trained, coupled up with their owners and how they live.  Ah-mazing (how many times can I say that?). 

But I got off on that whole seeing eye dog thing.  That wasn't the point of this story.  The point is this, the little girl that was about Kinley's age was walking with her grandma and she had on the squeaker shoes.  Every tiny step that she took was sounded out by "squeak, squeak" and grandma knew that she was right there. 

I stood there, Auntie Anne's pretzel in hand, and cried.

Something as simple as that squeak, made all of the difference in the world to that grandma.  It brought her the calm that her granddaughter was there with her step for step.  Just think of them being at home....grandma doesn't need to worry about where she's at...she'll hear her every step.  It's something that the sighted take for granted.  So, you think that Kinley will be getting her some squeaky feet?  You betcha.  She probably won't wear them all the time, but you can be certain that they will be her Nonie and Papa shoes!  And who needs ruby slippers when you have squeaky shoes and the power of Nonie and Papa?

Moldy Blog

We've moved the old laptop up to the loft.  It now sits in a make-shift "office" (not even close to an office) for my school.

The laptop used to sit on the kitchen table, which is in the dining room, so I guess I should say it used to sit on the dining room table.  But we have no table in our kitchen....so does that make it a kitchen/dining table?  Or a dining/kitchen table?  Never mind.  The laptop used to sit on the kitchen dining table.  Now, it's in the "office."

You wouldn't believe how much more time I have to spend on everything else when I don't have the laptop within ear shot of it calling my name.  Cause it does.  It calls to me every three minutes, wanting me to check my email, check my google reader, check my facebook....well, not so much facebook really.  That has been kind of boring me lately.  But definitely the email and google reader.

School has been a handful.  The professors threw us straight in with no mercy.  The homework was knee deep (no joke!) on the first day.  I was up until two in the morning on Wednesday.  Ugh.  Thankfully, it's the four day weekend (for me, no school on Fridays or Mondays) and I can slow down and breathe.  I made myself clean the house before I would "allow" myself blogging time.  And I got it almost done, so I ran up here to my beloved blogger while Kinley is napping.

I had to take her to the pediatrician today.  She's been doing the screaming, ear tugging, head slapping, finger sticking in her ear thing.  So we assumed it was her first ear infection.  Ummmm, nope.  Ears are clear.  She does have throat irritation and stuffed up sinuses though, so she recommended a very small dose of Benedryl to help that out.  She mentioned a possibility of a mold allergy.  I quickly dismissed that.  We don't have mold in our house.  Right?  Who has mold in their house?

Ummm, we do.

It never really occurred to me before, about how dangerous mold can be, until I put two and two together.  Which sometimes takes me a while. 

We've seen the ick window sills in our living room several times and we're always like, "ewwww, gross" but that's about as far as it ever got.  I mean, it's a rental.  Not our problem. 

It quickly became my problem when I heard that my baby could be suffering from a mold allergy.  And over half of her symptoms that we've been dealing with for the past few weeks, are on the list for symptoms of mold exposure.  Nice, huh?

So I called the health department and scheduled  mold inspection.  They are coming Monday.

This is sort of a blessing in disguise. 

We have been contemplating looking for a cheaper place anyway, and what better reason than this place being a sick hole for our baby.  (And, it could explain why Richie and I always have headaches.)  I'm not saying that the level of mold (is that right?) in here is dangerous...but it looks like it very well could be.  I took some pictures of the icky-ness for you.

I was going to add more, but blogger won't let me.  Hmmm.
I fixed it.

Yes, that is ice on the INSIDE.  Is that normal?

Do I have any mold-experienced readers out there?  How much mold is considered a dangerous level?  The only visible mold (that I have noticed in this quantity) is around our two living room windows.  They hold major amounts of condensation (see the ice on the INSIDE?) so maybe it's normal to have mold like this?  Maybe I'm over-reacting?  What are your thoughts?

Moving is totally NOT something we want to do (side note: we have way too much stuff....moving is the least desirable option) but if this place is full of mold and is unsafe for our daughter (oh yeah, and us) then it's the sign that we've been praying for.

For a few weeks now, we've been praying about our situation and trying to decide if looking for a cheaper place is the right move for us.  And I guess there is a part of me that believes that this is the sign that it is the right move.

I guess we'll know for certain on Monday when we have the inspection done.