There has been plenty going on to occupy the CavFamily. For one thing, we have put our home on the market. We did this to preserve our equity since the prices are only going down, and we probably won’t get this much for at least a few years. We hope to be moving elsewhere soon. If I receive a new call, we’ll have a headstart on selling the house.
This means lots of work. We have been “de-cluttering”, which mostly means packing up unnecessary items to create the perception of more space in the home. The real estate agent is hopeful; our home is priced competetively and the market for smaller homes is better than for larger homes. I got plenty of work done Friday and Saturday- to which CavGirl commented “You’re a workhorse, daddy.” She picked this phrase up from Jon & Kate Plus 8. The excess stuff is gone and the home is ready for the virtual tour photos.
With a vacation coming up, we also had to “de-dog” the home. He is a shedding machine. As a result, the prospect of asking our neighbors to not only let him out, but being able to vacuum the home on a moment’s notice if an agent wants to show it and how he might respond to strangers means he needs to go on vacation. Just not with us. Former neighbors agreed to watch him while we are away. But, they now live a few hours away. So, on a trip to visit family they stopped by last night to pick him up. CavGirl was not quite down with that. Tired and hungry, she had a mini-meltdown because the dog is gone, temporarily.
It was a good thing the dog is gone. Shortly after putting the kids to bed, CavWife realized it was getting warm in the house. The A/C was not working, period. Not even the fan or heat. I think the lightening storm must of wiped out the thermostat and a nearby fan used to create white noise for sleeping children. It was a long, warm, sticky night in the house. We had some doors and windows open. No telling how the dog would react to the various noises and critters outside. I didn’t get much sleep, crashing in the living room since it had better airflow. Thankfully, the forecast says that it is only supposed to get to around 88 today. Much better than 95+. But I passed on the shower in the hopes that the A/C guy has it up and running around lunch time. Then I take CavBoy to his re-evaluation for his hearing. They wanted to see how the better tubes affected his hearing.
Saturday was a long, tiring day. We had the joy of going to another wedding. We sat with a friend and her 3 year-old. CavGirl, CavBoy and their friend had too much fun. We should have gotten a babysitter since I got so stressed out at the noise and endless questions. I found them a huge distraction but the people around us didn’t seem too put off. At the reception, I was able to spend time with a guy I rented a room from while getting my 2nd degree from RTS. He also rented a room to the groom. Like CavSon, he was born with a cleft-plate, so we spent time comparing notes as it were.
We left the reception around 2, after CavBoy’s diaper seems to have sprung a leak. Too much to drink for that boy. So we had to slip out the back quietly. He crashed on the short ride home, but CavGirl was another story. Her whining was a preview for the evening. All my parenting tricks failed. Nothing seemed to get through to her and grew increasingly exasperated. It was a good prelude to my sermon on Sunday on how God loves us enough to discipline us.
This morning, our speech therapist called to say he wasn’t coming. We requested a new speech therapist, but wanted the transition to take place when we went on vacation. He decided “what’s the point”- ah, our son’s well-being… We don’t want him to go 5 weeks without speech therapy. This therapist seems to have little experience with cleft-palate kids (though he talked like an expert). His recommendations were about 180 degrees different from everyone else’s. He also refused to take his personal history as a recently adopted kid into account and determined his progress in 4 sessions was insignificant. I’m not sure why he was informed of this change now, but I’m not liking how he bailed on CavSon today. So now we are looking for a new therapist with experience working cleft-palate kids locally. As if we didn’t have enough happening.
So, I have now escaped to my ‘office’ for cooler air and a quiet atmosphere. Much needed for my sanity. My stay here will be much too short.
Update: The A/C repair cost about $160. It didn’t look good at first, but it turned out that the transformer and relay had been blown out by a power surge. Had it taken a direct hit by lightening, the whole shebang would have to be repaired costing about $1,600. So we are thankful!
CavSon’s hearing exam came back as borderline normal, which is great news. He’s had a rough day since he didn’t sleep well. He was crying most of the way home, even when I held his hand he was not comforted. Not the best thing for my shoulder.
Cavman Considers 