Hello! Tueller's House of Frustration, How Can I Serve You?

Sigh. Really, it's been an amazing week, filled with complete ups and downs that a roller-coaster cannot shake a stick at. It started last Sunday, for some odd reason I was devastated by the idea that I "had" to go to Chicago and attend religious services at the LDS temple--never mind that it's NOT mandatory, no one asked me to go, and I pretty much planned the trip (with great help from Stephen in getting a sitter so we could swap). Even so, I was up half the night thinking about it, and was dead tired the next day. On the upside, I learned what an amazing man my husband is, as he was ready to cancel the trip just so I'd sleep (even though he was really looking forward to it). Funny part is, after I did sleep, I really looked forward to the trip, and then had a wonderful time there, knowing I'd gotten ahead on housework so there'd be no worries this weekend, and we could enjoy ourselves. Of course, the fact that it took FOUR HOURS to return from Chicago (a two-hour trip) was one of the downs...yet it was a bit nice to spend four hours sitting with my husband in traffic, knowing that NO BODY could interrupt our conversation--not a waiter from the restaurant (which was a big plus on this trip--the food was GREAT!), not one of my darling children, and not a phone call trying to pry my husband away from me for a meeting (after he's been slaving away at work). If I ever rule the world, I'm outlawing meetings that last more than 15 minutes, and limiting those to once a month per person. Life should be lived, not met about.

Then, Saturday came. I was thrilled to be able to babysit for the couple that sat for us.

Their daughter is absolutely delightful and curious. Cute as a button, too. Of course, there has to be a down for the weekend...our pipes froze, and it doesn't look like it's going to warm up anytime soon. The funny part to this is that we were brushing our teeth upstairs when Stephen ran downstairs to check the weather to see if we needed to leave the water on. The water actually stopped as soon as he got to the bottom of the staircase, and all I could say was, "Umm, honey? Too late!" At least we have water in the kitchen and one of the bathrooms, including hot, so dishes can be done...well, they could be, until today.

I was in the kitchen, minding my own business, washing dinner dishes when I hear the strangest noise...a popping noise if you will, and then, I realize, with great disdain, that my feet are getting wet. Yes, despite NOT freezing, the pipes under our sink broke. What a sick coincidence. One of the two places water is actually running in my home, breaks. So, needless to say, my dinner dishes are half done, there are no hardware stores open, and I'm merely praying for the bathroom water to keep working. What more can I do? Besides running the water and keeping heaters on...not much. Especially since we had been doing that, and the water STILL froze upstairs, odd. It has to be freezing somewhere we can't get to, we've heated all we can think of without running our heat bill through the roof.

On the other upside (see there are always lots of those...who needs water anyway?), Stephen got to have a one-on-one outing with each of the children yesterday. We're trying to spend lots of one-on-one time with them before #3 comes, and it's been so pleasant. Chayce ended up with two new nightgowns out of the deal (note to self, thank great-grandma Tueller for Christmas bonus), and only one meltdown the entire time she was out with her dad. The meltdown was over a variety pack of little girls' high heel dress up shoes. Stephen forbid those entering the house again (we had some, but too many falls and owies occurred, they were banned for safety reasons), and my fashion diva was devastated. Zachary is pining away for a new addition to his train set, yet the ONE train he wants cost double what Chayce paid (plus some) for two nightgowns. We told him he'd have to earn the difference before he could buy it, which meant he had to keep his regular chores done and THEN (and only then) he could ask for extra jobs to earn the $$. I refuse to pay him for merely doing his part in taking care of his surroundings and home. Taking care of yourself should be something you just do, not get paid for. So, his extra jobs are not from his list, but from everyone else's. If he does something on someone else's list, he can be paid (because that is going above and beyond) but only if he's already taken care of his own list. We'll see how it works out. He'll be five this year, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch for him to comprehend.

I suppose I should run off and tidy what I can before bed, without cleaning the kitchen (oh darn! Or is that a positive? ).