Poor Arizona

Perspectives

As I rush through my daily life, it often is very beneficial to stop and considering things through another's perspective.  This video should be required watching for anyone working with children, because you never know when you will be working with a child with this experience. One of the hardest things I have dealt with in my job is disrupted placements and adoptions.

h/t to Eyes Opened Wider

If you would like a transcript, there is one available here.

And I just keep running in circles

I haven't posted much for a multitude of reasons.  I want to post the details on the house, but am waiting until we close.  This process has taken a ton of work and is going to be so totally worth it.  We keep  getting entangled in red tape, though.  Apparently, the Realtors, Mortgage Brokers and Title Agencies are completely overextended with all the sales right now.  Amazing how that happens. Lower the prices and people buy houses they can afford.

It looks like we are getting a lovely 1980's 4-bedroom brick home for $85,000.  We are getting around $30000 in a 203k loan to renovate the place.  Most of the issues are deferred maintenance and homeowner done repairs.  I will not commit to anything or buy anything until we know the house is ours.  The only thing I have bought was boxes for Konal to pack for his move to Dad's.  I am going to start packing soon, but right now, I just want to get the house bought.

I am sick again.  I hate having a lowered immune system.  I am home today because I always get sicker the day after I start antibiotics.  Even though I have bronchitis, I am also dealing with some gastric issues that are not letting me get far from a bathroom.  I have a meeting at 10:30 that I am going to call into and a buttload of paperwork and billing I will work on this afternoon.

Aidan leaves for Math & Science camp tomorrow.  He is very excited!

I finally joined Facebook after years of resistance.  I'm scared. :)

A cat in a patch of sun

DSC00009, originally uploaded by foole_of_hearts.

I went to a surprise birthday party after a weekend at Partners in Policymaking. Lo and behold, on a friends Flickr stream is this lovely photo. Yes, I am sound asleep in a patch of sunlight on a very comfy poof.

Life is good.

20/20- the whole segment

Faces of Hope

It is 2 am, and I am still up refining a presentation I am giving next week.  I need to have the powerpoint ready for a planning meeting tomorrow.  This presentation is one of the hardest for me.  I am one of four parents telling their story at an agency.  We have been asked to share the joys and the sorrows of our journey.

Because of this, I finally got off my duff and converted my old video tape of the ABC's 20/20 episode we were on in 2000.  I was hoping to get a second chance when they contacted me last year and wanted to profile us as a successful family.  That fell through- I guess successful doesn't sell.

In reviewing it, I found myself cringing over and over at the language used.  It was so negative.  I am still trying to load the clip up to Myspace, because they allow longer times, but in the meantime I can post the highly edited version here to show you what I mean.

From Videos

For that reason, I entitled my presentation "From Despair to Hope".  I used my graduation video and the retrospective I recently put together to balance the presentation out, as well as to illustrate one fact: we have come such a very long way. My baby is growing up, and he is going to be just fine.

To Do List on the New House

Forgive the disjointedness of this post.  It was written as a line by line to my mortgage broker and was accompanied by scanned in estimates which would make it less confusing.

This is probably cheating, but on the other hand, it is all that is on my mind right now...

OK- Priority Repairs.  The plumber did not give me individual estimates, but a total.  I have the individuals when I can from shopping around at places like Lowe's.  I included my "wishlist if we are able to fund them" items, but obviously, the priority repairs come first. Chris and I really want to be environmentally friendly (not to mention lowering our daily cost of living) so all the new installs are low-flo, eco systems wherever we can.  I know I am forgetting something....  Let me know if you have trouble reading anything.

Roof- $6364

Insulation: R-40 $900

      Wishlist: Active Attic Fan: $250

                           Solar Attic Fan: $450

Room by Room:

Garage:

Garage Door: $1500

Hot Water Heater: $800

      Wishlist: Solar Water Heater $5000 before incentives ($325 after)

Water Softener (Priority, because all the faucets have to be replaced due to mineral deposits) $1000-$3000 for a high end system (I am thinking the $1200 range)

Kitchen: 

 New cabinets, minor electrical work, and new sink & faucet.  See Hultzman estimate, although countertops will add another $600 according to him verbally.  I have more estimates lined up, but not until after we close. I forgot to have them add in connecting the hood to the outside-  Chris tends to make my smoke detectors go off.

Replace Garbage Disposal $100-$200, Dishwasher $400-$600, and stove $600-900. I pulled all the appliance costs from Lowe's.

New fan in dining room with light kit, plus electrical work (Ketring estimate + $70-$100 for fan)

Guest Bathroom:

Shower repair, new toilet, new cabinet/sink/faucet.  Both Parker and Sons and Hultzman included this in their estimates. I forgot to have them estimate connecting the exhaust fan to the outside. It currently vents to the attic.  That is on the priority list, though.

Master Bathroom

New shower (no way to repair the shower without removing surround, plus the glass doors are broken), new toilet and new faucet. Cabinet is fine.

Rest of house:

Repairing prior homeowner electrical issues with fan boxes in each room, plus installing new fans, including the outdoor fans.

Pulling out illegal propane hookup from Chimney (Estimate in Word Doc)

Fixing house water shut off valve in front of house.

Repairing hole in ceiling of family room. (Estimate including in Hultzman's)

                    Wishlist: Repairing unfinished closet in 4th bedroom

                    Wishlist: New flooring for 4th Bedroom.

                    Wishlist: Greywater system for watering landscaping: $3000

                    Wishlist: putting in closet system for Master Bedroom closet. No estimate on that yet.

So much to be done this summer.  This doesn't include painting and moving and all that jazz.......

Nano!

This warms the depths of my geeky heart.  Nano technology explained for the masses.

The Nano Song from nanomonster on Vimeo.

No Flu!

So, here in Maricopa county, three schools are being closed for 7 days due to the swine flu.  My kids are worried, everyone is talking about it at work, and the internets are abuzz.

I have to help a family move tomorrow at work, then go to a candlelight vigil hosted by the Mental Health Awareness Coalition. The next day, I have a United Way event, then I need to create a presentation on what success in families looks like for a talk in 2 weeks.  I also need to create the curriculm for a class I run.  The topic this month is utility resources.

How is all this tied together.  I am sitting here with a sore throat, stiff neck, and rapidly filling up nose, not to mention this awful headache that has created momzilla all evening.

Both the boys are complaining they don't feel well, as well.  I doubt it is the swine flu, but even if it is, I am sunk.  I have no paid time off.

To think I can't pursue the management job in Flagstaff someone recommended me for today.  Sometimes, my life is too complicated.

Aidan's Surgery

After successfully dodging my civic duty yesterday (actually, I was willing, but the timing was wrong) Aidan had his surgery this morning.

It happened, which was a miracle, since Aidan was trying his best to make it not happen.  I am a bit zombie today. So is he.

Now for the healing and to get back to work.