Tuesday

ei34

How's everyone?  Hopefully keeping warm!

ei34

Can't not check in @levioosa how are your grandparents and how are you? It's really hard being the go-to person in an extended family

Kind of ssdd except that I have a random headache.  Not hormonal.  Hoping it goes away although I have Tylenol and motrin on me if it doesn't.  

banana468

Yes please @levioosa we are thinking of you!

Still feeling good so I'm crossing fingers that being vaccinated and staying the hell away from my husband are helping prevent me from getting Covid.  The disadvantage/ advantage is that the kids are so busy this week that yesterday Chiquita was gone from 7-4:30 and then again from 6:50 til 9:20.  Chiquito was gone 7:30 til 6 although at one point DH was talking to him and when he registered a fever I told him to leave that floor of the house. 

Had an interesting text exchange w/ the GS Troop leader last night. I love her and she's trying to plan and no one is responding or the group is declining events.  It's not fair to her and I feel bad plus my kid is wanting to go to events and winds up being the only one there.  It's rough! 

charlotte989875

Here, but cold. We were suppose to get a bad lake effect storm but the roads were clear this morning! 

J seems to be on the upswing (fingers crossed!). 

mrsconn23

Ugh.  Tuesday. 

Still stressed about job searching.  I looked into what I need to do to file for unemployment when my severance runs out next month.  Hoping for the best, but still covering all bases.  

Other than that, pretty low-key day today.  Applied for a couple more jobs.  I need to run laundry.  And I need to put the computer down and listen to a podcast and stitch to find something else to do with my mind.  LOL  I may run to the store for a few things we need for dinner tomorrow just to get out of the house.  I think DH needs a couple of things too.  

Otherwise, nothing to report other than it's snowing...again.  It's the most we've seen consistent snow around here in years. OH we did have a deer (looked young) show up in our backyard close to sunset yesterday.  DefConn and I were completely caught off-guard.  

levioosa

Hi everyone, not too much to report here. Grandparents are okay. Grandma is still down with my Aunt and Grandpa is at the house. Evacuation orders have been lifted with caution for them as we are expecting another big wind storm. They have been lucky so far. There are so many homes near them that are just gone. Whole neighborhoods are wiped out. It is surreal to know that the walk H and I did around their neighborhood was the last time we'd see some of those houses. Many of these people have been here for generations, and they won't be able to afford rebuilding and moving back. It makes me sick to think about the predatory developers too. My grandparent's town has been battling a certain developer coming in and building a ton of units up into the mountain and now the city is going to be hurting for money and will probably be much more likely to agree. 

I'm sorry about DH @banana468. That's so frustrating. I hope he recovers soon.

Good vibes for the job hunting @mrsconn23

I hope J continues to recover quickly! @charlotte989875

Otherwise, SSDD. I'm exhausted today. My schedule is a mess and I need to figure out who my MA is to work on some of it. In other small wins, I meal prepped last night and I had forgotten how much I like the little veggie burritos that I make. 

MNNEBride

It's frigid here.  It was -7 when I got up and it's warmed up to -3 now.  I need to go out and feed the birds and squirrels as the feeders are empty.  Was hoping it would get above zero this morning, but alas, I'll just have to suck it up and go outside.  They are predicting temps near 40 on Friday.  It's such a rollercoaster.

We're officially done with the football season now that the Vikes and Packers are both out.  We'll still watch the Super Bowl, mainly for the commercials.  DH wants to have a watch party but we'll see.

I worked on-site yesterday morning.  The supervisor I had worked with for over 10 years is retiring.  I went in to sign her retirement gift and then stayed to teach.  DH did ok with being home alone.  When I work from home I'm usually available if he needs something.  My manager and team have been super great in allowing me to flex my time if needed.  I submitted an FMLA form today to cover myself if I need to be away unexpectedly.  

I'm thinking about participating in a couple of craft fairs next fall and thinking about logistics: tax ID, credit card processing, displays, etc.

Tonight I have a haircut and will run a few errands.

@levioosa - I'm glad your grandparent's home is still ok.  Unbelievable devastation. I was just telling DH last night that there will be predatory developers and major price gouging for available rental properties.  
@banana468 - I hope your DH recovers soon and the rest of you avoid it.  The upside of the kiddos being so busy is that they are out of the house.
@mrsconn23 - Good to hear from you.  Purple shirt vibes for the job search.  Does the Kiddo have joint custody of the baby?  Is there still drama with the mom?
  

Casadena

Tired today. Kiddos both woke me up immediately after i fell into a super deep sleep and i never fully got there again. The night waking is driving me nuts. They don't need anything, they sleep in the same room, but just want to be carried back to bed. 

Some friends of ours just booked a Disney cruise for december and want us to go with them. Giving it a few days to work out whether my hesitation is real or just anxiety (they could fall off the boat, the bunk beds, what if they get seasick, kidnapped on a random island, etc). Also just kind of feel like 4.5 and 6 is too young? But idk. 

Taking the kiddos to a therapy dog session tonight and then out to dinner, hoping bedtime will be smooth with all the excitement

mrsconn23

MNNEBride said:

@mrsconn23 - Good to hear from you.  Purple shirt vibes for the job search.  Does the Kiddo have joint custody of the baby?  Is there still drama with the mom?
  

They settled the custody stuff in November, but at this point they are basically back together and trying to make it work.  We don't hear much from the kiddo directly, but he's super close with my nieces and they tell SIL a lot of stuff, so we have our finger on the pulse somewhat.  It's not smooth sailing, but it's going... We're doing our best to just support them, take care of the baby when they ask for help, but also keep reminding them my availability is very temporary.  She's realized she needs us way more than we need her.  So...yeah.

I'm just glad we get to see him a lot and that we're building a strong bond/relationship with him.  The kiddo told me the other day that I can get him to sleep faster than anyone else.  I'm definitely making sure he knows we're going to be best buds.  LOL 

levioosa

Casadena said:

Tired today. Kiddos both woke me up immediately after i fell into a super deep sleep and i never fully got there again. The night waking is driving me nuts. They don't need anything, they sleep in the same room, but just want to be carried back to bed. 

Some friends of ours just booked a Disney cruise for december and want us to go with them. Giving it a few days to work out whether my hesitation is real or just anxiety (they could fall off the boat, the bunk beds, what if they get seasick, kidnapped on a random island, etc). Also just kind of feel like 4.5 and 6 is too young? But idk. 

Taking the kiddos to a therapy dog session tonight and then out to dinner, hoping bedtime will be smooth with all the excitement

I think the ages are almost perfect for a Disney Cruise. Now, will they necessarily remember it? Possibly not. But 5-6 is a perfect age to realize and enjoy the magic of Disney (IM-Nonparent-O). I don't know if I'd go on a cruise is G is on any sort of immunosuppressing medications, but if he's cleared by his doctors, then I say go for it. 

Casadena

levioosa said:

Casadena said:

Tired today. Kiddos both woke me up immediately after i fell into a super deep sleep and i never fully got there again. The night waking is driving me nuts. They don't need anything, they sleep in the same room, but just want to be carried back to bed. 

Some friends of ours just booked a Disney cruise for december and want us to go with them. Giving it a few days to work out whether my hesitation is real or just anxiety (they could fall off the boat, the bunk beds, what if they get seasick, kidnapped on a random island, etc). Also just kind of feel like 4.5 and 6 is too young? But idk. 

Taking the kiddos to a therapy dog session tonight and then out to dinner, hoping bedtime will be smooth with all the excitement

I think the ages are almost perfect for a Disney Cruise. Now, will they necessarily remember it? Possibly not. But 5-6 is a perfect age to realize and enjoy the magic of Disney (IM-Nonparent-O). I don't know if I'd go on a cruise is G is on any sort of immunosuppressing medications, but if he's cleared by his doctors, then I say go for it. 

thanks!

He finished chemo in May and on no regular meds at this point, just bloodwork every couple months as followup and so far in remission! Can't say he's cancer free for another few years, but things are going well as of now

short+sassy

@levioosa, I'm glad your grandparents are doing well, all things considered.  It's good news they haven't lost their home.  I hope it stays that way.

@mrsconn23, good luck with the job search.  Hopefully now that it's the new year, companies know the budgets they are dealing with and job openings start raining down.  That is my own hope also, now that either myself or my H need to get a job with health insurance before we can move.

I'm disappointed we weren't able to escape this place before the Super Bowl.  I worked in the Downtown the last time it was here and remember the hell.  Because our ground has a high water content, we are very susceptible to potholes and have very messed up streets.  Which the city ignores most of the time.  But starting about a year before the SB, they get very serious about replacing ALL the streets anywhere near the Superdome.  Every day is a new "adventure" as to what is closed and has a detour.  It was especially bad this morning.  I had to drive a few miles in the wrong direction just to find another crossing to the street I needed.  Then drove all the way back down almost to where I started.

-----------

My musings on what on what might happen to LA areas based on what I saw after Katrina.

The NOLA suburbs were largely okay, but these descriptions apply to them also because of proximity.  But once you get out of the suburbs, it's rural, whereas most of Southern CA is very urban and one town rolls into the next.  Exponentially more people also, so maybe these effects will be softened. except for real estate.

Rental and house prices skyrocketed almost overnight once people started returning.  Roughly 3x what it had been before the storm.  Coincidentally, my H and I had just signed a one-year lease.  We felt so lucky.  We had finished moving about 10 days before the storm.  Neither our new place or old place had flooded (barely) because they are raised houses.  I joked to my previous landlady that she had one of the few working fridges in town.  Rotting food when the power goes out ruins a fridge in only a few days because you can't get rid of the smell. 

@levioosa, if your grandparents didn't clean out their fridge before they evacuated, do not let them open it.  Duct tape that sucker multiple times around the door and haul it to the curb.

Real estate investors bought houses, but not really developers.  it was a good thing because 50% of the housing stock was destroyed.  We're too old of a city to have massive build, planned communities like that.  But that is already rife in CA, so I could see it happen.  Ugh, I remember the housing communities thrown up in the '80s when CA real estate was rocketing to the moon.  It was like something out of Stepford Wives.  Picture a planned community with 300 houses that all look almost identical to each other.  And the next community over looks pretty similar also, lol.  So much fake stucco.  

Any stores selling furniture or appliances were off the chain.  Car dealerships also.  I regret not getting a job at a car dealership.  It always sounded awful to try and twist people's arms to buy a car.  But there was no twisting for a good while.  Peoples' cars had flooded and they were desperate to find new ones.

Tons of jobs!  Employers were desperate.  Especially in construction, though supplies were very hard to find for a long time.  But on the other side of that coin, a lot of businesses had closed and never reopened.  People lost their jobs.

But here is the crazy part people don't expect.  Fast forward 12-18 months and all of that buying came to a halt.  Everyone who was coming back already had and were settled now.  If people hadn't come back, they were unlikely to.  No one was looking to buy a house or rent a new place anymore and prices went back to pre-storm or lower.

Nobody was buying appliances, furniture, or cars anymore either.  People had new stuff and it was going to be a long time before they needed things like that again.  Many of those stores closed, ironically on the heels of having their best year ever.

NOLA proper's population dramatically decreased in size.  We still have 25% fewer people living here than before Katrina.  The parish/county suburb next to us has decreased in size by about 5% over the last 25 years.  I do wonder what will happen to population size in the long term for specific cities affected in CA, as well as LA County's general population.