I find that when I am facing stressful times it is best for me to stay away from my blog. But tonight I realized that so much stuff has been going on that I really just need to update it.
So first, I am back to work full time. I will not get into why now, but it is what it is. I was very fortunate to find a job I really like and I am fortunate enough to have 2 bosses who I adore. So, that makes the back to work full time transition a little less painful. Which is good because I really miss my kiddos. Especially because I was starting work just as Courtney was finishing school for the summer. So, I didn't get this summer off with them.
Anyway, I am an executive assistant at a title company. Here in Colorado when you buy a house, you close at a title company. I know that some states you do that at a lawyers office, but in some states you use a title company. Thankfully I do not have to do any of the title work, my job is really an admin job.
What eles... Ah yes, lets see, June we had the Black Forest Fire. We have several friends who still have houses just because the wind was blowing in their favor. And we know of people who lost everything because the wind was not in their favor. We do know it was human caused, we do not yet know by who/what.
Then there is the flooding. Thanks to the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar, poor Manitou Springs is almost going to be wiped off the map. Every time it rains, the water just slides on down the hill and causes a real mess. During one of these floods, I happen to be at a work event in Green Mountain Falls. It rained, there was flooding, long story short, the 1/2 dozen employees and a few real estate agents that were stuck because Hyw 24 to get back down to the Springs was closed for hours, we spent the night on the floor of our Woodland Park office. There is just nothing like sleeping on industrial carpet I am here to tell you.
Then, the last few days we have been having rain like its a 500 year flood. It was really bad the latter part of this week. Hubby and I kept an eye on our basement, as many peoples basements were flooding due to all the rain. But we were good! Our sump pump was draining water out from the foundation, and it seemed to all be groovy. Then, it rained the rain of all rains in our neighborhood today. (while we were at Courtney's birthday party) We came home from the party and the major intersection by our house was closed due to flooding. That is not a good sign. And the debris and washed out landscaping told us on our journey home that we got hit hard. As soon as we got home, I checked the basement, and sure enough, we had water. Where the sump pump pushes the water out is on the back of the house, but the drain that sticks out is only about 1/2 inch off the house, so it drains right next to the house. Normally this isn't an issue, but when we have as much rain as we have over the last few days, the ground can't handle it and it was draining into our window well. And eventually it just started to drain into the foundation and wall. So the water was seeping in under the carpet.
I called our neighbor who came over and helped us drain the window well, and then attach some PVC to the drain on the house and make it extend out several feet away from the house. We have had so much rain, our sump pump has been running almost non stop the last few days.
So while Hubby and our neighbor worked on that, I worked on sucking up water inside, then pulling the carpet and then placing fans to dry it out. Thankfully a friend of ours dropped off an industrial fan for us to use. When I was making a trip to Home Depot to exchange some of the PVC piping that was the wrong size, I stopped by the rental department to see if they just happened to have any dehumidifiers. Once they were done laughing, they said no, people would be dropping them back off the next day, but they were currently all out. (Don't worry, they didn't really laugh.)
The last few days have been quite a mess all over Colorado with the flooding. I even had a leak in my office at work. Even my sister up in the Greeley area is dealing with a "No flush, no water down any drains" for at least 10 days. Yes, that's right, no flushing her potty for at least 10 days.
But in the last few months there has been lots of good stuff too. Courtney turned 7 just this past week. She has been asking and asking to go to Build-A-Bear and get an outfit for her bear she made there last May with her Girl Scout Troop. So, on her birthday I surprised her with a trip there and let her pick out 2 outfits of her choosing, including shoes. She picked out a wedding dress and a Princess Aurora dress, and 2 pairs of high heels. Yes, they have high heels for bears. And she got her bear a sleeping bag, which she puts her bear to bed in every night. She was in heaven. She had so much fun, she had her bear try on her outfit in the store in their "fitting room" area.
Last weekend the girls and I went to Cripple Creek while Hubby went on a motorycle ride. The girls and I took the train, which is just a short 40 minute ride out to the valley and back, then had lunch and then checked out the museum. As an added bonus, the wild donkeys who still roam around were right out in front of the train station area, so we got to pet them several times. We had a wonderful time.
We are currently up to 4 dogs. We have 2 beagles right now who belonged to a co-worker of mine who moved out of the city. She was headed to a place that she wasn't able to take them. So, we are tying to find them a new home. We will soon be working with Colorado Beagle Rescue to help them get a new home. I love them, they are adorable, but 4 dogs, 3 birds, a hedgehog and 2 kids are just a bit too much.
Yes, 3 birds. We picked up 2 more cockatiels this summer during the adopt a pet week special. Dani and Star joined our flock about 2 months ago. A week after we got them, our beautiful Indian Ringneck, Kiwi, passed away suddenly. He was a very old bird and so it was just his time. We were sad to have that happen, but it gives us great comfort that he got to spend the last year and a half of his life with us in a loving home with lots of individual attention. So, for a week, we had a flock of 4. But now we are at 3.
So, Courtney is back in school. 2nd grade this year! Her school breaks it down into divisions. She is in division 2, which is actually 1st and 2nd grade combined. This means she has the same teacher as last year. Which is wonderful, her teacher rocks and is such a great fit personality wise for Courtney. Courtney has been back in school for a month now, and of course is loving it!
Kasey is going to a daycare facility near our home, and they work with the district to teach the same pre-school program. This is nice in several ways for us. One is that Kasey was already in the program so we were just able to switch her schools essentially. Two is that Kasey is familiar with their teaching methods, so pre-school was not a radial change for her, and 3 having her in the district preschool program actually saves us money on daycare costs! Bonus! The first week we were taking her there was rough, but the Preschool program had't started up yet. So now that it has, and she has made friends, it is much better.
Of course there has been a lot of other stuff happening the last few months, but this post is already getting long, and it is getting late. Hope you all are well!
