I wish there were more enjoyable moments right now but I must accept the good with the bad.
Since we got here we have gone through cataract surgery (both eyes) for my wife, finally gotten the braces for my daughter which we had put off for over a year because we had waffled on moving south for so long. I think the orthodontics people are still shaking their heads at how often we are in with her to get wires fixed - she may cause them to revise their "off limits food" list.
I've still not felt like I could take time to find a Sleep Apnea doctor and dentist. I had started to try and look into apnea doctors and someone did recommend one. I have not followed up though. For a while, I was not able to get to a doctors list on the insurance web site - they still had me associated with my previous employer and couldn't figure out how to fix it. I think they may have fixed it now (after months) but I haven't tried logging in. It was extremely frustrating not being able to get to our current medical items. For a dentist, I just need to figure out where I want to go - near home or work.. I need time to review the places that are nearby.
We still have our leaking travel trailer which we are going to try and sell for whatever we can get but need time to work that out. We think there is a place that will buy it - have to let that one go a big loss I guess. We don't have time/cash to fix that right now.
I had to replace the rear brakes on my motorcycle which I had unknowingly ground down to the metal (how I didn't notice sooner I don't know - guess I don't press them hard enough normally).
A Toyota dealer says our front brakes are ready for replacement (although a different dealer later didn't comment). I've got the rotors and pads just in case I find we need them right now. We still have a rattle around the sunroof in the Toyota - just no time to get it looked at yet. Wife keeps laughing and telling me it is a nut that a squirrel stored - and is still glaring at me whenever I take the car.
On a plus note, we now have a house - and a nice one at that. On the downside, there is more work to do to it than was revealed by the home inspection and that is frustrating. We also are sort of stuck between between homes - family at the apartment and me at the house for most of the week (having together 2-3 days of work week) and then everyone at the house on weekends. We took the travel trailer mattresses to the house so we had something to sleep on. It is painful at times for me - I'm starting to try and get some back exercises going again - it is starting to help but slow.
Regarding the house, we had to replace the main breaker the first week - we only had power to half the house (1 leg of the 240v wasn't working) and it left the big appliances either non-functional or partially functional. I learned one day that cold showers are still not enjoyable. I am thankful we have full electricity again.
The wife of the previous owners had some medical issues and we are slowly figuring out why some things were done the way they were. We are slowly sorting out some of those things and updating the easy stuff. I was sad to hear that once the prior owners moved out the wife went straight into a nursing home. I do try and pray for the family.
The washer and dryer didn't convey with the house so we went out and got some new ones - includes some features we didn't have before like the "steam" functions. The problem showed up though during the first use of the dryer though. It was putting out codes regarding "airflow" being a problem. I, being somewhat handy, figured it must just be a clogged vent. It was funny that I was outside at around midnight one night with a flashlight trying to find the outside vent - without luck. The next day, my wife and family pointed out that it was a plastic pipe that comes out of the ground about 12-18 " from the outside exterior wall (!??!??). Anyways, to make a long story shorter, it wasn't clogged - the new "smart" dryers monitor airflow and will warn you or even stop if it thinks there is an "excessive" restriction. In our case, the way it is plumbed under the concrete slab and out with around 4 90 degree turns ends up at around 20 feet of length without the dryer to wall connection which is longer than desired because we wanted the doors to open in a way that made loading easy. So we are at the moment stuck running the dryer into a "in the house" water based lint trap and leaving some doors open around the wash room to let the heat and moisture out (hope we don't draw lizards in - I know who will have to chase them). The long term solution will probably be a vent extender and possible a reroute of the vent through the attic and out a wall - not really in the budget right now.
We have some leaky drains in the master bath to fix up. Those are on my list of things to do sooner and later so we don't get a bigger mess.
There are a number of light dimmers and electric outlets that need replacing - nothing too bad but time consuming and complicated because the house is wired "interestingly". It was mildly noticeable when reviewing the breaker box - a number of items marked "lights" but no room indicated and things like that. There were not nearly as many breakers in use as to what I would expect either. What we know now is that there are some items on the same circuit as a major appliance - like maybe some wall outlets and the stove. The shed was wired off of a heat pump circuit and even that wiring I am not sure I understood one aspect of what they did. This is going to take time to sort out.
Then there is the shed. We knew there was some rot but not the extent - when we had looked before it was full of stuff so there wasn't much access. On move in, we found holes in the floor and the ceiling was a total loss. My parents are awesome and want to help by replacing the shed. We started tearing it down and found that they had tacked up new wood over exterior rot (some years ago probably - not for the sale). There were plenty of ants and palmetto bugs using it as a home. This is going to take some time to sort out too.
I've not ventured into the attic yet. Hoping that doesn't show more issues.
We still have a number of items to bring down from VA. I hoping we can make a trip soon - that will provide one real bed for the house at least along with a bunch of storage stuff and additional workbench for the garage. Not sure I need the additional workbench but I may have some specific uses.
On top of all this, my kids are/were struggling to get caught up in their school work since they started late with some Florida virtual school classes. They fell farther behind in those and I don't know whether it is a bit of a self-direction issue or just issues related to never doing work mostly online. I have not been overly encouraging to them and I hope they forgive me for that. I should say that I am proud of my son for doing *extremely* well on his SATs. I am also very proud of my daughter for how well she is doing with violin lessons (and guitar as well). They are both so very capable of doing just about anything but they need my encouragement more than harshness sometimes. I am hard on them - I think they should always do things to the best of their abilities.
At this very moment, we still have not sold our house in VA as well. It wasn't really a problem for a few months - it was a "safety net" if we just couldn't deal with it down here. I think we are enjoying it to some degree and it is now time to get the house off our books. That has been a huge anchor around our necks for a while. I think we have an offer now and plan to sign a contract shortly - hoping this works out finally. Still not getting what I had hoped for but it is a little higher than a previous offer someone made. I do want to give a praise that it looks like it is going to sell though!
I must admit that I have been handling the stress of the issues pretty poorly lately/still. I'm very embarrassed and angry with myself at the moment. I am thankful for Jesus forgiveness though. I continue to pray for strength and perseverance. I continue to hope that once we get totally out of the apartment and into the house along with finishing up this years schooling - we can work on "renewing the family and individually" for a lack of better words. Separation of family is never a good thing - I am understanding that clearly now. That applies to both our family "unit" and church family as well. There is strength in togetherness both those areas.
Fortunately, the new church we visited twice now seems like a good fit. I am hopeful that we can quickly make some additional friends (still massively miss friends from VA and wish they were closer). I really need more support right now - still feeling personally responsible for many issues. I really need to spend time in bible reading and quiet time. So many things keep wedging their way into that time.
Scott
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