Running On Empty

Mercury is retrograde right now. Lots of things have come up, tempers flare, and the mess that is my house is one long bout of confusion.

The septic tank needed to be pumped and recertified. The guy the trailer people sent never would show up. I called the trailer people, got nasty, he still didn't show. Finally the boss man came out here, so I told him. Still no septic guy. Turns out the fool went to the wrong house. We got the guy who put the tank in. He showed up promptly, pumped the tank, pretended not to notice our gray water was going into the woods rather than the tank, strongly advised us to keep the tank pumped every three years, and cheerfully went on his way. I have decided to keep him in business just because it was a relief to have someone show when they said they would.

I was offered house insurance. Agent wouldn't call me. I have car insurance with State Farm, so I called them for a quote. They were very helpful. Expensive, but helpful. After more than a week, the other agent finally calls. She had a vague sales pitch. She kept saying Choice would replace our possessions. State Farm does that too. State Farm will cover say, up to $2,500 worth of guns. I kept asking what Choice covers. Our possessions. Well, is that everything we own up to a certain amount or do we itemize certain valuables? Or do we need extra coverage on my antique furniture? She never would answer me, she just ran State Farm into the ground. She kept saying it was important to get the coverage that was right for us. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do here and it would be a lot easier if I didn't have to beg for a phone call from Choice. That's when she said she didn't call before because she is on maternity leave. And I told her I was 6 months pregnant myself, I am moving, and I am tearing down a house so I really didn't want to hear about her problems. Unless she is having quadruplets I don't care. Even then, I don't see how that would hamper her in making phone calls. She started whining so I told her State Farm suited me and I hung up.

Will and I are fighting a good bit. Mainly it's over stupid things because we are both stressed out. Some of it is over the bad behavior of others. The boys are being little shits because they have no routine and no one is watching them. My in-laws were using the boys as free labor. I put a stop to that because while I want the boys involved in the new house, I do not want them in the kitchen that we are tearing down with all the dust and mold. My mother-in-law thinks I am being over-protective. She told me when Will was about the boys age he cleaned out a well. Read that as none of the adults wanted to climb down a dark, dank hole. She then remembered that not long afterwards Will developed claustrophobia. This is why I do not trust anyone to watch my children.

I won't go into the kitchen. It was much more structurally damaged than I feared. It has been patched (badly) many times over the last 100 years.

Because I have no kitchen, we are eating all our meals next door. My mother-in-law has grown resentful of the extra cooking. Rather than say so, she finds reasons not to be home when it's time to eat. Because my in-laws are hoarders and there is no room to set down a plate, I refuse to cook until the kitchen is cleaned. And then they can clear the dinning room table so that we don't have to awkwardly balance plates on our knees in the living room while we wonder where to set our drinks. Nobody wants to clean so there's not a lot of food choices.

To escape, I have been very focused on sewing. I can't do much because first I don't have room to work. Our house was ready before our storage building so the contents of the kitchen were relocated to my sewing room. Second, I don't have much time. I spend many hours on the phone trying to schedule, arrange, contact, resolve, and organize this mess.

The animals are going nuts as well. My rabbit chewed up electrical cords and Sophie bit Will this morning when he stepped on her in the dark. I am the only one who understands the animals need fresh water.

Goddess help me.