Did We Survive Hurricane Katrina or Not?

I think I was abducted by aliens. It seems like only yesterday that the ceiling was leaking in the foyer.... But it has been days now and I have fallen down on my blog-duties once again.

Repair Update

The first piece of joyous news - the guest bathroom toilet now includes a seat and is (so far) completely functional. Actually I was a little surprised when going through receipts earlier today (more on why I was going through receipts earlier today later in this post) and was reminded that we originally had the guest bathroom toilet replaced because it was rocking. Sort of. Actually... The first guest bathroom toilet met its untimely demise after Yvonne flushed five or six bath toys and Dave removed the toilet to retrieve the toys and... Well the toilet ended up in many pieces on our patio. Dave replaced that toilet himself... However - the toilet rocked. Dave blamed himself. We called Lowe's - and had 'professionals' install the toilet. That toilet also rocked.. and eventually cracked from all the rocking.. and eventually leaked from all the cracking. So far - this new professionally installed toilet is not rocking, cracking, or leaking... Of course we are currently avoiding said toilet at all costs so as not to tempt fate...

Second - we had Merlin Wagner Electrical out at the house this morning to troubleshoot our weird tripping circuit breaker problem from a month or so back. The guys rather miraculously figured out that a light switch near our front door operated an unused cable which was apparently put underground when the house was built... and that something happened to short out the mystery line (oh say like digging for a sprinkler system) causing our circuit breaker difficulties. Another problem solved... So far. Maybe.

Third - the A/C unit (more properly - "heat pump") that we had installed last week stopped working yesterday. Just 'poof' stopped working... Completely. Our friends at Herman Cronier sent a guy out this afternoon to figure out why this happened. I don't have the full story at this point but I heard something about a fuse being blown... This could be another problem solved (so far) - but I'll have to ask Dave for details later.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Update

Since I have absolutely nothing else to do - I started putting together a "Household Notebook" last week to get us better organized around here. In case you didn't know - I'm a list-maker. I make lists of my lists. A "Household Notebook" is basically a three-ring binder where one can keep lists (and lists of lists) of necessary household information. When ours is complete we will have a section for calendars, to-do lists, and shopping lists; a section for basic info on each family member including clothing and shoe sizes for the kids (no more undressing the kids to check labels before a shopping trip); vaccination schedules and records for babies and critters; important phone numbers as well as unimportant phone numbers; and even a section for those pesky take-out menus we can never find when we're frazzled enough to need one.

I'll take this moment to say that I believe that the 3-ring binder is one of the most marvelous creations of mankind. My next project will involve a project binder for repair & decorating stuff around the house (I need a better place to keep all of those paint chips and little sketches). Already tucked away around the house: the huge homeschool binder, the lesser homeschool forms and worksheets binder, binders for each of the boys' schoolwork, binders for each of the kids' artwork (tabbed by age), a binder for ridiculous correspondence from FEMA, SBA, MDA, and our insurance company, and a binder for receipts and estimates (tabbed by year). Hmm.. I should consider making a binder with an index of my binders... A master binder!

PMS Update

Pregnancy lasts for a long time.. and my memory is short (thus the lists!). Therefore, I had completely forgotten that for at least two (maybe three) weeks out of every month I not only feel like I have been trampled by wildebeast -- I also totally lose my mind. Losing one's mind is not conducive to home organization (or the common good). After reading a few thousand internet comments on the subject I sent Dave out for a bottle of Premsyn. Don't ask me how to pronounce that. Premsyn is supposed to relieve not only the usual physical discomfort of PMS (read: trampled by wildebeast discomfort) - but also calm the nerves and tone down mood swings. Twenty four hours on the stuff and I think I feel a little more sane. I'm expecting no miracles - five kids, millions of ongoing repairs and improvements, a couple dozen binders to maintain, three cats, homeschool, and a big fluffy dog: There's a limit to the calm that can be achieved with over-the-counter medication.