What’s Eating Aunt Debbie? Or What The Hell Is Wrong With Her Now?

Yeah, there’s always something wrong with me. I think I might go crazy…crazier, rather. Things just never seem to go smoothly for us, always something going wonky. The past month and a half is no exception.

Our car battery died, and even though we have a quick charger gadget, the battery eventually was drained completely, beyond charging. For weeks, every time we wanted to go somewhere we had to charge it up. I offered to buy a new battery when we were in town one day and Dad’s said, “I don’t even know if it’s the battery or something else.” I was thinking, If it wasn’t the battery then why does charging get it started? But what the hell do I know? I’m not a mechanic. Eventually, the battery was drained so completely that even the charging gadget wouldn’t work. We had to call AAA. That’s when Dad decided to buy a battery. Then he bitched about the cost. I just reminded him that I offered to buy it weeks ago but he declined.

Since it had rained so much a few weeks ago, work on the house slowed even slower than before. We had so much rain, several bridges and roads were destroyed or flooded over. This past week has been dry, thankfully. Still, I was so hoping to be out of this dump before the hot and humid summer. Ugh. At least the new house won’t have cracks and crevices for the spiders and other creepy crawlies to come in. Sure, we’ll get insects and arachnids occasionally in the new house but not like in this old house. You don’t dare wear clothing that you haven’t shaken out. You always check your shoes before slipping your foot inside, even if you just took them off and hour ago. You always check pots and pans before using them. You feel a tickle? You’d better check because it may not be just an itch! I could go on but I think you get the picture.

The drywall has been hung in the new house but still needs to be taped and textured. Then we have paint and flooring. The septic tank and ditches need to be done, too. Dad will run out of money sure as shit. We’ll be lucky to have any cabinets in the kitchen at all. I have a plan for the upper cabinets that will be less expensive than traditional cabinetry. I’m going to buy some good wooden cube shelving and have open cabinets. The cheapest we can do for lower cabinets is around $1,000, but that’s not counting counter tops. I’ll probably buy a buffet cabinet and we can keep dishes and silverware in that. Below are a few photos. 1) Kitchen sink area, in front of window, 2) Bathroom sink/toilet area, and 3) the living room, looking at the front door. The rooms are pretty big except I wish the kitchen was a bit bigger. Can’t win them all, I guess! I’ll show more photos as things move forward.

Every time I sit down to write, I get distracted because of Dad’s noise. Noise like farting (loudly) as he walks by me, or talking to himself whenever he’s in the room. You see, I sit at the kitchen table to use my laptop. It’s difficult staying focused, not just because of his noise and constant interruption but also because I’m trying to pay attention to what he’s doing or where he’s going. I have him trained to tell me when he goes outside. Then I have to pay attention to how long he’s beeen out there so I know whether to go looking for him. There’s a lot of stress and anxiety involved in living with, and caring for, an elder parent.

Dad fell several times in the last month and a half. No injuries aside from a couple of small bruises and minor scrapes. Gawd, he worries me.

I’m hoping that when the house is done and my sister is here, that the stress level will go down. Maybe I won’t worry so much about everything because I’ll have someone here to lighten the load. I’ll have help watching Dad, and helping him up off the floor when he falls. Maybe I’ll be able to keep up with birthdays, even if it’s just to send cards. It’s been a long time since I sent a card in the mail. I just can’t keep up. Too much on my mind. I used to write letters, too, the old-fashioned way! I’d like to get back to doing that, as well.

Oh, well. Such is the life of an increasingly aging disabled woman. I hope this post isn’t too scrambled. Haha! I may or may get to tomorrow’s Friday’s Funnies. We’ll just have to wait and see. I hope the rest of your week is fantastic!

See you next time!

Oh, The House…

Well, crap on a cracker. We’re going to run out of money before the house is move-in ready. By move-in ready, I mean that it won’t be completely finished but it will have the necessities to live in. We weren’t sure if we’d get the entire kitchen cabinetry done but that the kitchen would be usable. Now, we’re not even sure of getting that far.

The drywall is the next step. Materials and labor are going to cost a bit over $10,000 and the septic, maybe about the same. Then there’s painting. Even with a no-frills paint color and brand, that might be as far as we can go. This is such a disappointment. We had hoped to be moving in before the hot and humid summer began but that’s not going to happen.

If only we could win the lottery. We don’t need millions of dollars, however, that would be nice. No, just an extra $40,000 or so would really help us get the house, probably finished. It’s going to take some time doing a little each month or two. Depending on the project, it might take months to save the money to do it. Ugh.

So, we need either $40,000 extra or a miracle. I don’t see either happening any time soon. It’s just so disappointing. I had been so down about the whole new-house situation and then we found a guy to do the work. My depression subsided and hope began to take over. Now, hope is slowly dissipating.

It’s difficult living in this old house. My life is a struggle the way it is. I don’t need the house making things even worse. It used to be a cute little place but in the last 10 years it has started falling apart. It was never anything fancy but it was functional and comfortable. Now, not so much.

I’ll keep y’all posted. Pray, or cross your fingers, or whatever you do, for us. We need all the help we can get.

Until next time,