We interrupt this program...

I am trying so hard to have a good attitude today. Really I am. Can you see me straining over here while I try to smile?

Remember the newly painted bedroom? I posted about it here. We stalled a while when it came to moving back into the bedroom...we wanted all the paint fumes to dissipate before we slept there again. We also needed a chunk of time to get everything moved and maybe a helper to make the move easier. (I'm not moving furniture these days.)

Yesterday, while I was teaching, the professor and a friend of his moved the whole kit and kaboodle back into our newly painted room. When I came home, I was thrilled to see it. The room looked bigger, even with the same amount of furniture in it. I was excited to get into bed in our "old" bedroom last night. It looked gorgeous.

The dogs made themselves at home right away too. They were thrilled to be back in their regular territory. We knew we'd had a successful home reno job.

Then, last night, right as I was beginning to put on my pjs, the professor and I looked up at the newly painted ceiling right above my part of the bed (ahh, it looked so beautiful when he painted it...) and we saw the plaster had buckled. There was cracking. The professor touched it. It was wet. This just happened- yesterday.

We said a few bad words. We tried to isolate the problem, and as best we can tell, it is a leaking or broken boiler pipe between the second and third floors. Yet, our house is toasty warm, even on the third floor. The ancient boiler is doing an admirable job. Even so, we determined that it wasn't safe to sleep under something leaky that might spew hot water in the middle of the night.

The professor sent the dogs and me down to the living room. The dogs were sleepy and curled up for cuddles and I called my mom. Who else can you call at 10 pm CT (11 pm ET-- her time...) to have commiseration about these kinds of *^#%^!! things?

Somehow, the professor moved all our furniture on his own back into the "back up" bedroom where we'd been sleeping for a little over a month. This is where the nursery will be when the babies are born. He put down plastic tarp and a trash can in our -again empty-bedroom to catch any spills.

We went back to trying to sleep a little before midnight. I was exhausted...but somehow, the city decided that last night was the time to use the construction equipment bobcats to clear large snow piles on the main street outside our house. (Beep beep beep every time they backed up, all night long) Also, we had an endless number of dump trucks, filled with snow, idling on the street as they headed to snow disposal sites. This idling and enormous gas wastage apparently must be done between midnight and 6 AM to avoid traffic problems?

This AM, the professor called the plumbers, who now treat us like family. They explained that they are very busy and that both of their master plumbers are out sick. Luckily, we still have heat so there is no desperate emergency--we're all hoping it is a small little leak...but we'll wait until they come by to cut into that section of freshly painted (and now ruined) plaster ceiling.

Oy.
Have I mentioned that it's downright cold here lately? I am considering throwing in the towel on this day and creeping back under the covers again with a dog or two to keep me warm.

Good news? The carding class went well. There are still more Florida pictures to enjoy later in the week. We're all safe and warm and no one was burnt by leaking hot water in the middle of the night...I guess it's time to be grateful for all these things...right?

you never can tell

We're expecting a "wintery mix" today and tomorrow. This is a term that means it could rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow or not. There could be a real mess outside, ice everywhere...or just a cold rainy day. We've learned that in, say, Buffalo, NY, this would mean an inch of ice. In the South, it might mean no ice at all. It depends on the meterologist and the neighborhood! The professor and I planned to make use of the morning to take care of things before the temperatures dropped. It's his first day of official university winter vacation (although he works all the time anyway!) so he volunteered to walk the dogs while I do errands before the ice hits.

Out the door they go... but Harry gets away from the professor, and takes off down the street after a loose dog. I run into the street after them. Harry is caught in short order and the loose dog? Poor girl... An older, white and black spotted short haired, 50 lb mutt with clear signs of neglect/mistreatment. She looked as though she was nursing puppies, she'd lost hair on her tail, she was cold and wet. Worse still, her only collar was an overly tight pinch collar. This is ok for walks or training--but horrible for a dog to wear all the time.

First I tried to help this dog find her puppies, but she was truly lost. When she came up to one door, I knocked and a sleepy looking young man told me she was a stray and maybe her puppies were "around the corner." After a bit, I brought her home and called animal control for help. We set up a crate on the front porch with a blanket and tarp over it, tried to feed her (she wasn't hungry), and took off the pronged collar and went for a regular collar and leash. The professor took our dogs on their regular walk.

The animal control lady is named Roxy. She's very nice and knows me by now. I catch a lot of dogs! Roxy was able to tell that this sweet older dog probably wasn't too ill and probably didn't have young puppies, but had probably had many litters...that accounted for the distended teats and tumor like growths. Our gentle but neglected "older lady" went off to the animal shelter. They will help her if they can. We have a good and humane local shelter.

Anyhow, this post was meant to be about some yummy apple walnut bread pudding I made. (Leftover homemade challah, cream, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, apples, walnuts, butter...) I also meant to mention this: My nephew Nate turned 3. Aunt Joanne and the professor gave him a Curious George raincoat and rainboots...and our little guy wears them constantly! All day long, inside at nursery school, and even had trouble taking them off for naps. It's too bad that they don't make Curious George raingear in all sizes, I'm telling you! The professor could use some size 14 EEEE wellies to match his nephew's!

The point of this ended up being different, I think...you never can tell what will come up. It's good to keep learning, (my, you showed me how intellectually active you are in those comments!) just so you can hop to it when dogs in need drop by, or when it starts being icy, or when, say, you've got a yearning for some bread pudding. I'm off to settle in. We're baking bread here. We've got some wood on the backporch in case the power goes out. No telling when you might need warm whole wheat bread or a fire on a damp cold day!