Making Hybrid Plans

Hello again.  Everything has changed and nothing has changed.  That's because most of the changes have been in my head, as in, my ever-changing plans for the future.  Since my last post, I was really struggling with wanting to quit my job immediately.  I felt like if I agreed to go visit our company headquarters at the end of June, I would be committing myself to stay with this job for many more years.  Well, I decided that it wasn't time to quit just yet.  With our office closing in a year and changes continuing to happen with the company, I could at least hang on until next August.  Summer in Arizona is just a really hard time with high electric bills and day after day of exhausting heat.  I get discouraged because it doesn't seem like I am making any progress.  But, I told myself that I only had to get through June, July, and August and then the rest of the year would fly by.  It always does.  Once temperatures start to go down I can get back to checking things off my own to-do list and the next thing I know it will be January again.  

So, I bought the ticket to Connecticut and went to visit our company headquarters.  It was quite interesting.  I've worked for the company 12 years and I had visited our old headquarters when I was first hired but it was nothing like this place.  We have a manufacturing plant there and it was fascinating to finally see how they make things and to meet people who's names I have only seen on emails.  I'm glad I went.

In the meantime, I got a terrible sore throat which turned into an earache and kidney pain through most of July.  It was one of those things where one day I felt better and then the next day I felt worse.  The antibiotics didn't seem to do much and then my intestines revolted.  The doctor switched the antibiotic but I am just now starting to feel normal again.  That's over 2 months of feeling cruddy.  When I feel sick I always get scared about retiring early.  What would I do if I was relying on a part time job and then couldn't work?  I need more safety nets.

And also, I made some decisions about my mother's house that I am living in.  I decided to ask one sister if she wanted to buy the house with me and the other 2 sisters if they wanted to be bought out.  They agreed and we are working on getting the title switched.  My original plan was to rent the house out full time but during Jan., Feb., and Mar., we can get almost triple the year-round rent.  Then I thought I would rent it out as a furnished rental for those months and then have an estate sale and rent it out unfurnished as a year-round rental.  But I still didn't like that idea.  So my current idea is that I will move out December-March or April depending on if it is rented, and then I will move back in.  I'm going to use the extra room off of the closet to store my things that I don't need and live in my unfinished barn-shed tiny house.  My main priority is getting the electricity done.  I contacted the electrician again and we are aiming for the end of September when it gets cooler.  I haven't been out there all summer because of the heat and also the paper wasps that have made nests on the barn-shed.  They die off when the weather gets cool.  When the electrical wiring is done, I only need some insulation and I can glamp for 4 months or so.  I'll use the shower and washing machine in the mobile home and have a camping toilet, mini-fridge, induction cooktop, and microwave (I'll have to buy one because I sold my extra one at the last garage sale, oops).  I'll probably hook up a sink with just gravity fed water and a drain that goes outside.

When the house is vacant again, I'll move back in and pay my sister half of the going rate for yearly rent which I estimated at $650.  I will pay my own utilities and she will pay half of the property tax, insurance, HOA fees, and maintenance.  I will move out every year Dec-Mar. until I decide that I can't afford it or want to live in my tiny house full time.  Then we will sell the furnishings and rent it out on a yearly basis.

So that's the current plan.  While we are waiting for the paperwork to get worked out, I have been getting some things fixed around the house starting with the main sewer backflow valve which stuck closed for the second time since we moved here.  It is quite inconvenient when the sewer backs up.  I was doing laundry and taking a shower and I heard the toilet making funny sounds.  That was the sewage coming up.  Ugh.  Then the laundry drained and the toilet over-flowed while I was outside trying to remember where the main sewer clean-out was.  And I didn't realize that the sewage backed up into the washing machine until I was wearing the clothes from that load and wondered why I could still smell sewage.  Icky.  Everything got bleached.  It cost $800 for the valve to be replaced and I went ahead with the other plumbing problems, cracked garbage disposal, filter for water spout in kitchen, tighten kitchen faucet, fix bathroom faucets handles so that they stop instead of going all the way around, replace bathtub spout because the diverter wouldn't close to make the water pressure go to the shower.  Whew, done.  Now I just need the leak at the skylight fixed and a gate added at the side yard.  And I bought flowers for the front yard and need to get them in the ground before they die, I've just been waiting for it to rain which they said it would do today but nothing yet.

Now you are caught up again. Here are some pictures of my other summer projects:

This cart was a Christmas present to myself.  I finally put it together.

The carpet in the storage room got peed on by the chihuahuas I was fostering last year.  I took it outside and hosed it off then poured lysol and soap on it and rinsed.  I let is stay in the sun for days.  The padding was disgusting and went in the trash.  I thought about buying new carpet but it doesn't smell anymore and is already cut to shape.  Since I am going to be using the room to store my own stuff, I decided to put the carpet back in without padding.  If we ever rent the house year-round, I'll buy new carpet.

I bleached and painted the floor of the storage room before I put the carpet back.  It doesn't smell now.

A very long gopher snake visited my yard for a week.  He always startled me but I was glad to have him visit.

I repurposed the fiddle-muff that I had bought for my mom when she was in the assisted living home.  My dog appreciates it.

In my search for the water leak, I made a hole in the ceiling.  I think I know where the leak is coming in now.  The repairman will be here in a couple of weeks.

I have been having fun buying southwestern decor from the thrift stores around here.  I need a few more things.

I decided on "Italian chicken" as my theme for the kitchen.  Haha.  I don't think that is a "thing". Maybe I will be a trend-setter.

Learning the Hard Way

Trench dug, conduit in, trench filled.  Progress!  Sounds easy and simple. 

What actually happened was:
Day 1- bought pvc pipe, rented mini-excavator, trench was dug in under 15 minutes by the guy who rents the machines, ends of trench were hand dug by me and my nephew, pipe was glued, picture was sent to electrician, electrician said "wrong pipe".

Oh boy.  I've spent hours in the plumbing aisle and no time in the electrical aisle.  I won't forget this lesson, ever.

Day 2- bought correct pipe.  Grey pipe = good.  Found out 10' pipe does fit in my mother's car.

 Replaced pipe in trench.  Spent the rest of the day moving the stuff in the barn-shed to the center so the electrician has room to work but I really need to move most of it to the mobile home.

Whew, done for now.  Waiting for the electrician to run the wires.

Came home to this dove nesting by my front door.  I hope she doesn't mind a gaggle of dogs going in and out of the door everyday.

Next thing:  Work on taxes and sort through stuff for the community garage sale at the end of the month.  I'm running out of March already.

Luxury of Time

Nephew update:  He has a job at Mc Donald's.  I shipped 3 boxes and his golf clubs for arrival on Friday (Note to self, never ship golf clubs again.  Too expensive.)  There are 6-8 more boxes but I am going to wait to ship them until he asks for them since some things should be shipped straight to college in August.  His grandfather is trying to convince him to buy a laptop instead of a gaming computer.  I'm staying out of it.  That's about all I know.  He doesn't communicate much so I'm going to assume that no news is good news.    

This was mid-sorting.

Now that I'm not worrying about my nephew's whereabouts, meals, homework, screen-time, etc... my brain has so much time to think about all of the things I've been putting off.  I threw out all of the trash in nephew's room and put 85% of the stuff in boxes on the bed which I have left open so that I can find things.  I cleaned out any food that I bought for nephew and that I don't want to eat like Kraft Mac and Cheese and Hamburger Helper.  I'm going to drop it off at my tenant's house along with a big bag of dog food donated from the dog rescue and a table top bbq with leftover charcoal.  I'm really not the bbq type.

Today I took a half day off to wait for the water delivery truck to deliver 3,500 gallons of water to my new tank at the mobile home/barn-shed property.  The guy filled my 3,000 gallon tank, then put around 300 gallons in another tank.  Then I thought we could empty the truck into the 300 gallon tank but when it was filling, suddenly water started pouring out.  There was a 2 foot crack starting halfway around the tank.  Dismayed, I tried to think of how to save my water and ended up stuffing a plastic grocery bag inside so that it poked through the crack and slowed the leak to a trickle.  I wasn't planning on having to transfer water today but it was clear that it would leak out if I left it so I set up the pump and hose.  I suspect it got cracked when the neighbors helped my tenant get water when he was living here.  They took the tank in the back of their pickup and it looks like it was shoved out too many times.  The tank was very old and brittle so I'm not surprised.  I'm going to try to repair it and still use it for rainwater collection like I had planned.

Crack in tank with temporary plastic bag fix.

 While I was waiting for the water to transfer to the other tank, I dropped off 3 bags of clothes and 1 box of toys with a friend.  She'll find a new home for everything.  I stopped at Dairy Queen for a hot dog and drink and drove back to finish up the water transfer.  As soon as I pulled up I realized there was something wrong with the car and, sure enough, the passenger side tire had a side-wall gash.  Not wanting to use the cheap car jack on gravel, I called AAA.  I figured they would arrive by the time I finished transferring the water.  Unfortunately, they got lost and I ran out of drinkable water (I wasn't expecting to be there that long).  Next time I go out to there I must remember to bring reserves.  It was 105F out there.  Too hot!  I miss not having a refrigerator there since I moved it to the rental house but I will bring the fridge from my house as soon as I find a nicer replacement.  At least I had a window A/C which I stood in front of whenever I wasn't moving stuff around outside.

AAA arrived and changed the tire and I drove slowly to the tire shop.  A coworker picked me up so that I could spend 2 hours going through my email.  I'm going to have a lot to do tomorrow to catch up.  My coworker dropped my off at the tire store on the way home and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tire was under warranty and they only charged me $10 for labor. That was a relief. I'm glad I am safely at home now and I have crossed a few more chores off of my list.

Here's a layout of my property so that you know what I am talking about.  This is not where I am currently living, it's just used for storage at this point, but it is where I hope to retire someday soon.  I put the water tank on the hill to use gravity to my advantage and for ease of filling.  Eventually, I would like to have all rainwater catchment but I don't have enough roof area yet.

1- Shed. 2- Mobile home. 3- Barn-shed (someday tiny house) 4- New water tank.

This is the memorial tree for my father that my coworkers gave me almost two years ago.  It has more than doubled in size.

Just a reminder that the rattlesnakes are nearby in case I forget. This was under the water tank when we tipped it up along with a fat packrat.

Next Items on the List:

-Bring food and bbq to tenant.
-Dog adoption event.
-Pick a day to go look at houses with Mom.

It's nice to be making progress.

More Presents for Me

I like the idea of having a whole birthday month.  I have to work on my birthday anyway, so might as well spread out the fun throughout the whole month of May.  Last weekend, I arranged to have my barn-shed painted.  My handyman has a sprayer and it was just easier to pay him to do it than rent a sprayer from Home Depot 40 minutes away.  It took him and his helper around 6 hours to do it but it is finished and finally completely protected from the weather, even that top back panel I couldn't reach last year.

It still needs the trim painted white but I can do that later myself.

While they were painting, I was inside the mobile home cleaning up after the tenant who didn't exactly leave the place spotless.  Ok, so it wasn't exactly spotless when he moved in last July either.  There was dust on everything and I only got 2/3 of if clean.  I'll go out again next month after I get my water tank, get water delivered, and after my nephew leaves.  

Earlier that morning, at 3am to be exact, I had looked at Facebook after letting my dog out to pee.  I had been checking the garage sale sites daily for a washer and dryer but hadn't seen one.  Now, at 3am, I saw a set within my price range.  There was a phone number to call but, of course, I didn't call at that time.  I left a comment and then waited to call in the morning.  Then I got the cash out of the bank and brought my hand truck, just in case.  Around 10am, The seller replied to my comment that the washer/dryer set were pending sale.  Oh well, I assumed I had lost them.  About 45 minutes later, he posted again that they were still available.  I called immediately but he said another couple was coming to see them so I agreed to wait.  I was sure they were sold for the second time.  He called me back in an hour and said they didn't buy them.  I was thrilled and arranged to switch vehicles with my nephew because he had the truck and begged my handyman to take a break from painting to help me load them.  As you can see, happy birthday to me.  I got them!

I don't have a hook up for an electric dryer yet but my coworker said he would help me install an outlet when I am ready for it.

The washer is temporarily in the living room.  Later, I'll move it to the storage room in the back and hook up water and a grey-water drain that will go to my mesquite tree.

I was so excited to have a washing machine at the mobile home again.  I carried 15 gallons of water by jug and washed the curtains, then hauled the water to the mesquite tree.  I don't have much water out there now so I will wait until I have my new 3000 gallon water tank filled with water and then hook up an inlet hose.  The tank was delivered to the store on the other side of town and I am waiting for my handyman to be available to haul it to my property with his flat-bed trailer.

In other news, I got a new dog.  I know, mother, I'm trying to get less dogs, not more.  Hopefully, I will find a new home for her before I move.  If not, the rescue group will find her a new foster home.  She was one of a mom and pups that I fostered 5 years ago.  It was actually around the same time that my parents and nephew came to live with me.  She got adopted by a family but the people got divorced and remarried and now have small children and she is a very energetic dog.  I think the new wife just didn't like her.  She needs a family that will play with her and take her jogging.

As the only female in a house full of 4 male dogs, she tired of the unwanted attention.  She jumped on the chair with my nephew and booped Jimmy-dog on the head as if to say, "Leave me alone."

This was her when she was a puppy in my backyard.

And this was her mother.  I would call mom a chow chow-cattle dog mix.  Daddy was probably a lab-pit bull mix.

So, I will be trying hard to find her a family.  She doesn't have any medical issues, gets along with large and small dogs and cats, and knows sit, down, shake, and is house trained and kennel trained.  All I need is to find a jogger who wants a partner, bonus points if he/she works from home.

The Master List

Let's check the progress on my never-ending to-do list:

Laundry - Fixed!  The handyman found the leak in the wall in the drain pipe behind the sink.  Someone had over-tightened the cap and cracked the pipe which eventually grew to be a big leak.  It's a good thing we hadn't used the toilet in that bathroom because, Eew, it uses the same drain.  The laundry water was leaking under the kitchen cabinets and now I know what was causing the moldy smell.

All fixed now.  I sprayed the inside of the wall down with bleach, and the handyman will come back later to repair the drywall.  It is so nice to be able to do laundry without the added hassle of draining it into a trashcan and then emptying it by bucket in to the sink.

Dog - Adopted!  A family came to meet Sassy at the big adoption event but they needed to wait a week since the wife was out of town.

Last Sunday, I took Sassy over to their house to meet their other dog and cats.  Things went really well and they love her and want to keep her.  It is exactly the kind of family I wanted for her because she is affectionate and loves attention and there are many people in their household to give her attention, plus the parents really like her too.  With my nephew leaving and me moving in with my mother, Sassy would get even less attention from me.  And, she gets 3 walks a day!

Visitors - My sister stopped by on her way through the state.  We had dinner and then floated around her hotel pool and caught up on news.  Then Aidan's grandfather stayed with us Monday and Tuesday nights.  He was in very good spirits and it was a pleasant visit for all.

Glasses - My nephew and I spend 2 hours at the eye doctor getting a new prescription and picking out a new pair of glasses for him.  He will be off of my insurance when he turns 18 this summer so we need to get these things done now.

Truck - The check engine light went on in the truck that my nephew drives.  I switched vehicles with him and took it into the shop.  $400 for a new fuel injector, system flush and oil change.  Hopefully, it will pass emissions testing this week.

Barn-shed- I didn't take stuff out to the barn-shed because I decided to stuff it into the extra bathroom instead.  It worked.  My living room actually looks like a functioning living room now.

 I wanted it to look good when visitors came but they never went in that room.  They didn't know how bad it looked before anyway.  Oh well, it looks better to me.  I plan to take stuff out to my barn-shed and mobile home (once I clean it) on Saturday and Monday (I'm taking the day off work).

Pre-birthday Present - I was tired of spending money on necessities and decided to splurge on a 3,000 gallon water tank for the property.  I would have done this 2 years ago instead of buying the above ground pool as a temporary water tank but I didn't have the money then.  It cost $1,537 with tax and will cost me a little more to have my handyman deliver it with his flat bed trailer in a few weeks.  Then, I will spend $150 to have it filled with water.  That should be enough water to last until I get some rainwater collection systems hooked up.  It will soon be too hot to work on any big projects outside so this is my safety net if/when I sell my house and need to move out to my property before my mother and I find a house to buy together. 

Tiny House People - The tiny house people are staying another month.  I told them that I was planning to sell the house this summer.  I wish I could get their tiny house out to my property but I think the road might be too uneven and narrow.  We are planning to go out there this weekend to evaluate it. 

New Rental house - The new rental house is doing well.  The tenant is paying his own utilities so I am looking forward to a lower electric bill.  The washer is working well and the tenant loves having unlimited water.  I know the feeling.  Hauling one's own water is a tedious and difficult chore. 

May is looming on the horizon.  Only 2 weeks of high school left, then one week of finals and graduation.  The airline tickets were cheapest on Wednesday and Saturday of the following week, so I let my nephew pick.  He chose Saturday so he will have a week to relax after graduation before he moves to Minnesota and gets a job.  I'm trying to enjoy these last days with my nephew but everything is so busy and time keeps marching on. 

Like Playing Whack-A-Mole

 After work yesterday, I trotted out to my car, turned the key, and it didn't start.  Oh great.  I've been worried about this ever since I decided to use most of my savings on Jimmy-dog's surgery.  My 2 vehicles haven't given me any trouble recently.  What if something happens?  It happened and I called AAA and waited, hoping there was a problem with the battery because that's easy to fix and it would have been free since my last battery was through AAA and still under warranty.  After an hour, the battery guy comes out and checks the battery.  The battery is good.  Darn.  Checks the starter.  Bad.  He says he can get it started once but I decline because by now it is after 6pm and every auto shop is closed and I don't want a dead car in my driveway.  I decided to wait to call a tow truck the next day and a co-worker was nice enough to take me home. 

The next day, my nephew and I have to share his truck.  I drop him off at school and head in to work late.  But wait, this is also the day for my third attempt at the final inspection of my barn-shed (for allowing it to exist on my property).  I called the inspector at 7am like she told me to do.  It went to voicemail so I left all of the directions in the message.  She called me back and said that she was not going to be the one to do the inspection today but she would pass on my phone number to the fellow who was chosen.  I was worried because he did not have the directions and what if he couldn't contact me by phone like the first inspector?  30 minutes later, I get a text from the inspector telling me he will be at my address between 2-3.  So nice to have contact with an inspector!  I sent back a text with the directions.  

Then school, work, ok, now time to deal with the dead car in the parking lot. I called the auto shop.  They say they can look at it.  I called AAA again for a tow truck.  The tow truck driver comes out in 45 minutes and says "try to turn it on when I tell you".  He has a hammer in his hand.  I am curious.  He looks around and says to try to start it while banging on something with the hammer.  The car starts and I am thrilled.  I asked him to show my the trick and he shows me where the starter is but I would need 2 people, one to bang on the starter while the other one turns the key.  I have learned something new!

I drive the car to the auto shop which looks really busy and another co-worked gives me a ride back to work.  Time goes by and I eat lunch and then send a text to the inspector asking if I need to be present.  He says no, just look for an update online.  For the next hour I nervously refresh the building permit website until... PASSED! 

 I am so relieved.  I can finally stop worrying about that permit expiring and having to do this all over again and pay all the fees again. 

After that it was work as usual until my nephew called and needed a ride home. I was hoping the car would be finished but it wasn't so I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out the bill. I hope it isn't a lot. My reserves are very low.

Pizza and Progress

Another hard-working Saturday. But first, we filled up with a slice of pizza, a very, very big slice. Not a bad price either. Only $6 for a super-sized piece of pizza and a drink.  I've driven past this little pizza place hundreds of times and finally thought to look up the reviews, which were great, so we stopped in.

Before this, my nephew went to his ACT test prep class (the last of three Saturdays, yay!) and I continued painting the grooves in the barn-shed. A very slow and tedious process. 

After lunch, my nephew tried out the paint roller while I filled in the grooves. He is a did well for his first try but his clothes and shoes will have yellow splotches forever. Luckily, the paint came off his forehead.  He thought I should have painted the barn-shed red because of the green roof but I am trying to make it look more like a cottage and less like a barn.  It's more yellow than I wanted it because I expect the sun to fade it quite quickly.  We will see.  

After he finished paint rolling everything that could be rolled without a ladder, I introduced him to my reciprocating saw. He enjoyed lopping off tree branches much more than painting.  Every few minutes he was saying "what can I cut now?".

I have a lot more to paint and very little motivation at the moment. The upper loft walls, front and back, need to be painted, for sure, as well as the rest of the grooves. The porch area can be last because it is covered and shaded from the sun. I have very few weekends left before the weather gets unbearable. I was hoping to take next Saturday off from painting chores. If I want to do that I had better start painting after work instead.  I think I'm going to run out of paint too.  I haven't decided what to do with the porch itself.  The floor should be stained again, I think.  The beams and ceiling could be white.  I'm having trouble picturing how it will look.

Anyway, 6 more weeks of school and then a very short summer break.  I keep looking forward to a long summer break but school starts back up July 20-something.  Well, any break will be welcome.

Back and Forth

The days are so busy, I'm afraid blogging and taxes are getting shoved to the back although I'm going to have to make finishing my taxes a priority next weekend or the IRS will not be happy with me.

Last week my niece came to visit and my mother spend 2 nights in the hospital for a racing heartbeat. I used a day of vacation time so that I could take her home. Half day of vacation on Thursday, then the doctor decided to keep her another night, and another half day on Friday so that I could leave work as soon as she was set free.

On Saturday, my nephew had ACT test prep in the morning, same as last Saturday and next Saturday. While waiting for him, I spent my time painting the barn-shed yellow. Hopefully, with his help next week, I can finish the job.

After his class, he drove us to visit my mom for her birthday lunch. He is getting better at driving now that he has 17 hours of experience. He needs 9 more hours of night driving before the end of July. That will take some effort to accomplish since I rarely go out after dark.

I am sitting here on the couch, trying to decide if we should go out to the mobile home like we usually do or stay at the house another night because it has been raining all day and the dirt roads will be muddy.  If we wait, then I have to get up early to take him to school and go to the house after work to pick up food and the dogs. Decisions, decisions. Only 7 more weeks of this back and forth stuff. I can hardly wait.

Electrical Meanderings

I've been planning to upgrade the electric system in the mobile home for months but I just haven't made it a priority.  On Wednesday, I was trying to cook dinner when the power went out.  I thought that was really strange since I was only using the microwave, but I flipped the circuit breaker outside and decided to cook with the stove top instead.  A few minutes later, everything went dark again.  I was really puzzled but flipped the circuit and finished heating dinner on just one burner.  The only thing I could think of was that the circuit breaker was bad.  I have never had any experience with a bad circuit breaker so I was just guessing.

Later that night, when all of the lights were off, the modem suddenly went off.  Now, I was really confused.  I couldn't imagine how the modem could trip the circuit on its own.  I decided to move the modem to my nephew's room so that we would have internet access at least.  This involved going outside and fishing the phone cord through the window while in my slippers. As I am setting the modem up, my nephew mentions that the outlets on one side of his room are not working and the water heater went off.  Slowly, it dawned on me that the electric oil filled radiator in his room had been plugged in and on since he got home from school which explained the earlier power outages while I was trying to cook, AND, he had just turned the water heater on which explained the power going out when "only" the modem was plugged in.  It turns out that half of the lights and outlets in the kitchen/living room, his bedroom, and the back bedroom (storage room) are all connected to one tiny 15 amp circuit.  So, the kitchen appliances, the heater in his room, and the water heater are all fighting for the same power.  Luckily, the previous owner installed a separate outlet in his room so the heater now has it's own circuit.  The kitchen appliances and the water heater in the storage room typically are not on at the same time.  Things are ok for now but soon I hope to install some additional outlets on their own circuits.

These experiences are certainly helping me understand the basics of home electric.  When I wire my barn-shed I will be sure to add enough circuits so that none get overloaded.

In other news, the engineers came out and tested my tie-down anchors and THEY PASSED!  I was so nervous because the test was so expensive and I didn't want to have to have it done twice.  The anchors that my nephew and I hand dug moved a little bit under the strain but then they held at 400 lbs for two minutes.

The mysterious pull test machine.

I can finally move to the next steps for the barn-shed which are extending the fence, skirting, and finalizing the permit.  And then I have to paint it.  I never have enough time and money for every project but I will keep on doing little things here and there and eventually it will all get finished.

Days Go By

This time of year always flies by.  It didn't help that I was sick last weekend.  I took Friday off again but didn't get a lot done.  First I rearranged the storage room so that the cats have more 'approved' places to hide.  Hiding behind the bug spray was not acceptable.  I found a box of old documents that needed to be shredded so I sat in front of the tv and shredded them.  After that I ate lunch and took a nap because I was feeling rather poorly.  I woke up at 3 and pruned the tree that was over-hanging the driveway.  It bugged me every time I drove by.  I didn't have enough energy to drag the branches in to a pile so they are still lying there.  Then my nephew came home from school and we went back to the house in town.

Oh, but first, I should have mentioned that we (including the dogs) went back to the house on Tuesday night because my nephew had Veteran's Day off.  I managed to get out of bed early to take him to school on Thursday morning and then I left work early to take him to a dentist appointment.  He doesn't get cavities so I wasn't worried but when he came out he mentioned that he needs all 4 wisdom teeth extracted.  Yikes.  He isn't too concerned but it will cost me around $900 after insurance.  Luckily, I have enough money in my health savings account for things like this.  I decided not to rush it and try to get it done before the holidays.  Instead, I scheduled the extractions for January when he has a Monday off.  He will get them pulled on the Friday before and have 3 days to recover.

On Saturday I stayed in bed as much as I wanted and wandered around in the yard a little, collecting seeds and pulling weeds.  I still felt crummy.  On Sunday I woke up and felt 98% better which was great because we had an early Thanksgiving meal to go to with his youth group.  We brought pies.  It all went well.

Now it is Wednesday already and the weekend will soon be here.  I have Friday off again and the engineers are coming out to do the pull test on the barn-shed tie downs at 9am.  Finally!  I hope they pass the test and I can move on.  I've been waiting months for this.

Digging and Digging

Finally, I got the two holes dug for the barn-shed tie downs.  On Monday, I checked my nephew's grades like I do every day because the school emails them to me.  I noticed two big zero's in English which brought his overall grade down to a D again.  69.5 to be exact.  I fumed about them for a while since I was at work and could not do anything and then decided that the new rule for this quarter would be that any late work means manual labor as well as zero's.  Last quarter, if he got the work in late then he escaped the hard labor but from now on, even if he turns it in and gets a half credit, he has to do work for me.  I knew he had done the assignments which made it extra frustrating for me that he didn't turn them in on time.  That kid is going to get stuck going to summer school even though he does the work.

So, when I got home, I got out two pairs of gloves and two shovels and we each started digging holes.  It was hard work even thought it had rained a couple of days earlier.  After 12" it was pretty much impossible so we unwrapped the digging bar.  I had heard that the digging bar makes digging in rocky soil easier but I had never used one.  

Teen labor.

 The internet was right.  Digging bars are awesome for digging up rocks.  He used the bar to pry out the rocks and I finished scooping out the dirt.  It was dark by the time we were finished and we had to use his cell phone for light.

18 inches!

 I was thrilled to get that chore done, well almost done.  I tossed a tie-down anchor in each hole and we went inside for the night.  The next day I had to work late so I didn't get home until after dark.  This morning, I heard it raining and when I checked the holes they had some water in the bottom so I scooped some Quik-crete into the holes and mixed it with dirt.  It rained again this afternoon.  Now I need to wait for the soil to dry out and then call the geo-technical engineers to see if my tie-downs will pass the 400 pound requirement.  I sure hope they do because I want to move on and do something else to the barn-shed, like, put skirting around it, build stairs, possibly even extend my fence so that it goes all the way from the mobile home to the barn-shed.

In other news, my nephew's choir class is having a fundraiser for their spring trip to a Disneyland choir competition.  They are selling super-expensive candles.  I'm really not interested in candles.  Doesn't anyone sell candy bars anymore?  I suppose it could be worse.  He could be selling magazine subscriptions.

$17 and $28 for candles.  I can't tell how big (or small) they are.

Today at work, one of my co-workers sent me a picture of this koala and said that when I was having a bad day I should look at the koala and it would make me feel better because at least I wasn't as miserable as the koala.

That made no sense to me.

First off, as a biology major drop-out, I am very interested in animals so I had to look up koalas.  This koala is in fact sleeping in the rain and not miserable.  His fur is waterproof and koalas live outside in trees so it is normal for them to get rained on.  They also sleep a lot to conserve energy.  This koala is perfectly fine.

But, being someone who cares for many animals, seeing an animal in perceived "need" does not make me feel better because I am better off than it.  I want to help it.  So, I gave the koala a coat and hat and sent it back to my coworker.

Problem solved!

Spending Money

I've been putting it off for so long but I finally spent some money on new tools.  I found some cordless tools online, specifically, a reciprocal saw for cutting out door and window holes, and a brad nailer.  Then I asked the opinions of some coworkers who, of course, has conflicting recommendations.  Then I went to Home Depot to look at the tools and hold them.  There were so many choices that I became quickly overwhelmed and left without buying.  The next day I remembered the reasons why I wanted the saw and nailer, for specific jobs, looked them up online again and ordered them.  I will have to wait a week for them to show up but for purchases like that, I prefer to read reviews and info online and not go to the store where there are too many choices.

I also started ordering components for the electrical system, the breaker box and breakers.  I know which wire to buy but I need to measure so that I buy enough.  And I bought an electrical tester kit which tests wire, outlets, etc...  It will be fun to play with the outlet tester in my mobile home.  At the same time, I am trying to figure out the best way to bring water to the bathroom.  I have a water pump outside but the outside switch isn't very convenient.  I bought a new RV water pump for either the mobile home bathroom or the barn-cabin's bathroom.  I also haven't decided where to place my water tanks for ease of access.  Next week the gutter company will come out and give me an estimate.  I hope it is under $1,000.  Straight gutters on the mobile home and the barn-cabin don't seem that complicated.  I'm not looking for anything fancy.

For hot water, I am looking at a 12 gallon water heater.  A lot of people like the instant hot water heaters when using propane but I have been happy with my 6 gallon electric water heater.  I plug it in 15 minutes before my shower and it is hot enough.  I'll let my nephew have a little more hot water in his bathroom.  I also plan to buy 100 ft. of black hose to put on the roof as a solar hot water heater.  I've never tried it before but it should work here in Arizona, land of the burning sun.

Packages are starting to arrive.  Some fun, most practical.  I bought some solar lights for the barn-cabin that are supposed to arrive tomorrow.  Those are fun although I'm not there at night so I won't be able get the full affect until I move there.  I really want to fix up the yard, put up fencing, a pathway, shade cloth and cool twinkly lights but I think I'm jumping ahead.  There is plenty of more important work to do.  Saturday we will be doing as much as we can with the mobile home bathroom and living room.  I hope we get a lot done.  I love seeing progress!  

It Has Arrived

It's here!  The barn-shed-cabin or whatever I am going to call it, is here.  The delivery driver made it up the road without a problem and was already backed in and ready to unload when I drove up.

It was a long and careful process of unloading and leveling but the driver was very good at his job.

 All set up.  Now, so much to do!  Tie-downs, skirting, steps will be the top 3 on my to-do list.  Oh, and gutters.  I hope gutters aren't too hard.

It was toasty warm in the loft.  Not much head room.  If I had ordered this shed custom, I would have had the loft floors lowered.

The to-do list for the interior is too long to list.  Insulation, electricity, plumbing, drywall...

Between the mobile home and the barn-shed will be my snake-free area (I hope).  I need some ground cover delivered, maybe mulch or bark and rock for where we park the cars.

It's all coming together!