Progress, finally! Hooray!

Finally, some serious progress on the house repair!

Repair work stopped

Our house sitter let me know she wasn't going to the house, because of the heavy snowfall and icy roads today. I called our house repair contractor, to make arrangements to let him in, and found out they weren't planning on coming, either. They couldn't even get their repair van out of their parking lot, because of the treacherous layer of ice everywhere. So today is a lost day, all around. Except I had no problem getting to my work, other than it taking twice as long. Go figure.

Repair work started!

I found out round-aboutly, that the repair work has started at the house. There was an innocuous note on the kitchen counter from our house sitter. "The water is off!" she said. Come to find out, the repair folks had come and removed the toilet and most of the underlayment in the master bathroom. They couldn't get the toilet water supply valve to shut off completely, so they had to turn off the main water supply for the entire house. After awhile, I realized that was a bad thing, not just for me using any bathroom, for also for the water heater, which could burn up with no water in it, so I shut that off, and the gas supply line to it. Then a funny noise reminded me that the hot water recirculation pump was operating dry, so I unplugged that. Now I think those things are a little bit safer for the next few days.

Moving back May 7 - What? When?!

Finally, K got an estimate for moving back to the house. May 7. Had to pick myself up off the floor after hearing that. We of course were hoping that once K had given her choice for the vinyl floor covering, they would start work immediately, and be done in 2-3 days. But now, the contractor says he can't free up a work crew until early May.

Mostly Icy

The snow depth's not bad at all this morning, with asphalt visible on the parking lot. It's pretty icy out there, though. Mandy found a nice warm place on the couch to cuddle up under her favorite blanket, while I was getting ready for work. She was pretty cute, peering out from under the blanket, keeping tabs on me, as I came and went from the kitchen. K's caregiver didn't make it this morning, due to the icy roads, so she's "home alone" today. Luckily, the podiatrist's office called to recommend that she cancel her 1pm appointment, so now she has a free day, which will allow her to sleep off the all-nighter she pulled last night.

Snow coming

I love this :-/ "Strong Spring snowstorm on track to impact Northern Colorado tonight through Tuesday ... Snow accumulations: 6 to 11 inches ... Avoid overexertion when shoveling snow ... Overexertion can bring on a heart attack—a major cause of death in the winter. If you must shovel snow, stretch before going outside." So, stretching can prevent a heart attack? Who knew?! ;-)

Rash

K developed a nasty looking rash around the upper parts of both legs on Saturday evening. Not sure where that came from. I guessed that maybe a reaction to laundry soap, but she said she'd worn those pants all day, and the itchiness and rash appeared very suddenly that evening. So we're pretty clueless. Her Leukemia medication (Bosulif) does have a known side effect of rashes, so that's a possibility. The rash seems to have peaked shortly after it appeared, and is now spreading out, getting lighter, and generally going away. We hope.

Visitors

We were happy to have John and Michelle come visit this weekend. We were all staying at the Residence Inn, which made it somewhat easier to see each other on short notice. K wasn't able to break the "up all night" habit, so she was sleepy during the day, and not as good company for her Brother as we would've hoped. And that's just the way it's been going, these days. I suppose I'm used to it, but I am definitely not comfortable with it. 

Another week in the hotel

I'd like to say we're going home today, but that would be an April Fool's joke. Maybe in another week. The contractor thinks he can free up a work crew by Tuesday, and then it might take a few days to get the most recent water damage repaired. But then the damage from the separate incident a few weeks ago needs to be fixed, and that will require yet another stay away from home, while the floors are being refinished. I'm hoping we'll be able to consolidate all that work, and just stay away until next weekend. I think that Mandy probably hopes we'll stay longer, so she can keep chasing the bunny rabbits off the patio in the mornings.