The Curse of November strikes again
4 Nov 2012 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennickelsSee my previous post about how I hate November.
So, after spending all evening washing and combing hair and doing laundry... I thought maybe I'd get a break from the bad stuff. The girls' hair is all clean, the freezer was defrosted, most of the laundry was done.
Then I get up this morning to finally get in the shower and find out we have no hot water. So I got to take a freezing cold shower.
Apparently with all the hair and clothes washing we didn't just use up all the hot water but drained the tank which let the heater burn out or something. Of course, it's Sunday so we have to wait to contact the landlady. At least all the girls already had their hair washed. I'll have to do Owen's in the sink with the cold water and then he can wash up with a washcloth.
Who knows when we'll have hot water again. Which means I can't run the dishwasher because cold water isn't going to do a damn thing to clean the dishes. I'm going to have to heat up some water and wash them all by hand even though I'm almost out of dish soap (I haven't washed dishes by hand since we moved in here. Sigh. Luckily I normally wash all of our clothes in cold water. We were using hot for the bedding because of the lice but we can switch back to cold and dry everything on high.
Oh, I also forgot (although this isn't a November curse thing) that our slow cooker got cracked. Patrick was putting it in the sink a couple weeks ago and knocked into the sink instead. When I went to finally wash it a couple days later I found a crack all down the one side inside and out. Grrr. Now we need a new slowcooker and all the foods I want to cook need a slow cooker or a big roasting pan (which we don't have). If we don't have the money for a turkey this year I was going to cook the pork roast we have in the freezer. I usually do that in the slow cooker but could do it in the oven if I had a big enough pan. Our fridge looks so freaking empty, it's sad. We have a bunch of boxed stuff just nothing in the fridge and the freezer is starting to empty out.
I guess Owen and Brenna have been telling their friends that they don't have money for lunches and snacks (they're supposed to bring a snack every day but we don't have any) and food in general so the other day the school called us to tell us about the services the town and county offer for under privileged families. If Patrick was working and getting his full pay check plus some OT we'd be fine.
So, after spending all evening washing and combing hair and doing laundry... I thought maybe I'd get a break from the bad stuff. The girls' hair is all clean, the freezer was defrosted, most of the laundry was done.
Then I get up this morning to finally get in the shower and find out we have no hot water. So I got to take a freezing cold shower.
Apparently with all the hair and clothes washing we didn't just use up all the hot water but drained the tank which let the heater burn out or something. Of course, it's Sunday so we have to wait to contact the landlady. At least all the girls already had their hair washed. I'll have to do Owen's in the sink with the cold water and then he can wash up with a washcloth.
Who knows when we'll have hot water again. Which means I can't run the dishwasher because cold water isn't going to do a damn thing to clean the dishes. I'm going to have to heat up some water and wash them all by hand even though I'm almost out of dish soap (I haven't washed dishes by hand since we moved in here. Sigh. Luckily I normally wash all of our clothes in cold water. We were using hot for the bedding because of the lice but we can switch back to cold and dry everything on high.
Oh, I also forgot (although this isn't a November curse thing) that our slow cooker got cracked. Patrick was putting it in the sink a couple weeks ago and knocked into the sink instead. When I went to finally wash it a couple days later I found a crack all down the one side inside and out. Grrr. Now we need a new slowcooker and all the foods I want to cook need a slow cooker or a big roasting pan (which we don't have). If we don't have the money for a turkey this year I was going to cook the pork roast we have in the freezer. I usually do that in the slow cooker but could do it in the oven if I had a big enough pan. Our fridge looks so freaking empty, it's sad. We have a bunch of boxed stuff just nothing in the fridge and the freezer is starting to empty out.
I guess Owen and Brenna have been telling their friends that they don't have money for lunches and snacks (they're supposed to bring a snack every day but we don't have any) and food in general so the other day the school called us to tell us about the services the town and county offer for under privileged families. If Patrick was working and getting his full pay check plus some OT we'd be fine.
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no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 03:15 am (UTC)Hope things get better soon.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 03:54 am (UTC)If I had a slow cooker, I'd mail it to you. If you have an Amazon wish list, maybe you could add your favorite slow cooker to it & post the link so that your F-List could chip in. Amazon makes it easy, and hides your address from gift givers.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 05:35 pm (UTC)And we fixed the water heater. Patrick realized there was a reset button hidden under a panel that was screwed on. My dad always took care of all this stuff so I didn't even think about it. Plus we always had gas heaters so you just had to relight the pilot to get things going again. All these electric appliances and stuff confuse me, lol.
We're just trying to muddle through until we get our taxes back next year. It was all supposed to go towards buying a van (since it's way too cramped with 7 people in a 6 person vehicle and the girls are way too big to keep sharing a seat) but it looks like anything we get will be going towards a new fridge and to fix the truck. Sigh.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 06:04 pm (UTC)Gosh, how are you going to make ends meet until the tax return arrives? That's months away. D:
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 06:22 pm (UTC)We'll probably live off of cheap stuff like crappy hotdogs and processed cheese, PB&J, some chicken here and there and frozen veggies.
We've done all this before. We've learned to splurge on certain things (like the pork roast which is about $20) but I can either separate it into 2 large meals or cook it all at once and it will last almost a week if we don't take too much. That's the kids eating dinner and me eating lunch and dinner. We always run out of side dishes first and it makes great sandwiches too (that's how Patrick usually eats the left overs).
If push comes to shove I can see if my dad has money (sometimes he does and even if he has bills to pay he'll give me and my brother the money first, he doesn't care about himself and there's no use arguing with him). Sometimes around this time he sends money to buy the kids Christmas gifts. I can always use that for food (what better gift when you aren't getting full meals).
Patrick's hoping to go back to work at the end of the month on restricted duty (no lifting heavy bags but I guess there's other stuff he can do). I'm not exactly sure about that move because his shoulder is still killing him. Going back could injure it further but if he goes back he'll be getting his full pay again. And then the short term disability or however it works goes back into effect (that's like 3 months full pay while he's on OJI) if he leaves work again.
Not sure how that will work out. I'm worried he'll hurt himself more but he's determined.
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 09:11 pm (UTC)Freezing cold showers are awful. I had to take them three days last week while the power was out. *shudders* Glad to hear you were able to reset the water heater!
I hope this month will get better very soon!
no subject
Date: 5 Nov 2012 09:33 pm (UTC)Owen somehow used up all his lunch money and had to take his lunch today. Salami and Cheese on wheat bread with a baggie of Saltines on the side. Water to drink. At least they get free fruit and fresh veggies at school. If he's hungry he can fill up on that.