Tired Tuesday

ei34 · December 2025

How's everyone today? Wishing all a smooth day at work!

ei34 · December 2025

I slept in a weird position and my back is paying the price. I'm also stressed bc my oil burner guys came to do some routine work and told me the entire boiler and burner need to be replaced. The estimate that was emailed to me was $8600. Which isn't just something I have. I don't know if I should call around to have other companies take a look or what. But I'm stressed.

short+sassy · December 2025

@ei34, I am so sorry to hear about your boiler! That's a major repair and a big chunk of money. I'd recommend at least two more quotes from companies with good reviews.

If you have any equity in your house, talk to your bank about getting a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). It's a fantastic banking product for times like these. You only pay interest on the money you borrow from it and it's a very low interest rate compared to credit cards. Typically, just a little bit higher than for home loans though it is a variable rate. It takes about 4-6 weeks to close on one.

The negatives are you need about the same ton of paperwork regarding personal finance as if you were buying a house. Banks usually require an appraisal. Sometimes they'll pay for the appraisal (my bank did), but I've heard they typically don't.

banana468 · December 2025

I'm so sorry @ei34 that's not an inexpensive expense. I definitely recommend multiple quotes from reputable companies. We knew when we bought the house the boiler was on borrowed time because FIL was attending the inspection and he has licensing in that industry. The boiler we had was known for catastrophic failures and sure enough, 10 days before Christmas when DH started to think the basement smelled musty (not something a basement in the Northeast should do in December) he stood with a flashlight to see as it kicked on that it was leaking water. FIL poured stop leak in and with repeated stop leak "infusions" we limped along until March when it was installed (which was best as to install it we also needed to be without heat for the day.

We worked it out financially but definitely felt like the family in A Christmas Story with the dad who banged on the smoking furnace before the Bumpus' dogs ate the turkey.

Casadena · December 2025

Back to the grind! Hope you all had a nice thanksgiving and break.

Headed to Iowa for a few days and came back Friday afternoon to beat the snowstorm. Got almost a foot over the weekend! It was actually really peaceful and nice. Sister flew home yesterday and it was fun to see her.

yesterday was absolutely nuts at work and rest of the week should be quiet though.

Weekend events pretty much through the end of the year and i'm already tired!

MNNEBride · December 2025

My interview and presentation were this morning. I think they went well. Offers will be sent next week. Now to focus on my regular work and compare interview notes with others on the team.

DH's primary added another depression/anxiety med, and life at home has been much better. He's very easy-going these days, and I don't feel like I'm walking through a mine field. We'll enjoy this peaceful time.

We received our first measurable snowfall on Saturday, accumulating about 7 inches. We stayed in Saturday and Sunday. I'm glad I got the outside decorations up on Friday.

My uncle's funeral was meaningful and it was good to see his siblings. My aunt is doing very well at coping. Thanksgiving was at my cousin's home. Mostly the same folks we saw the day before at the funeral.

We had reservations for a Christmas train ride last Saturday but were able to reschedule for this coming weekend. Hopefully, the weather cooperates. I also need to take down fall decor and put up indoor Christmas stuff. I can focus on that during the evenings this week, since I won't be working on interview-related tasks.

CharmedPam · December 2025

Oh no @ei34, that is VERY stressful. I’m so sorry for that news.
I’m back from Europe and it was great. I’d 100% do Switzerland again but all countries were great. We were in France less than 24 hours so I need a re-do on that country anyway

Remember the friend I went with on my historical south vacation? All the things she did to annoy me and I said I’d never do solo with her again. Well my other friend was on this trip and 100% validated my thoughts on everything. She has been pulling back from her too. Someone else in our meetup group came with and knows of her but doesn’t really know her - well, she got to know her better on this trip too and was with us. The meetup person used the word “overbearing” and “self absorbed” which describes her perfectly.
i was feeling better when I left, but got a cold traveling. It happened on the very last day at least. Ugh! There should be a law about back to back colds. Your body shouldn’t be able to produce it! I also came back to 9” of snow, which someone just cleared for me. There should also be a law about no snowfall before Dec 1st.

Edit - pictures of the most amazing mountain goats we saw in the swiss mountain range (one of the reasons Switzerland took 1st place for me)

levioosa · December 2025

I'm so sorry @ei34. Our water heater is about to go kaput any day now and even though it's a much cheaper repair I'm also stressing about it because really any unexpected expense is dangerous right now. Hopefully the other companies either give you better news, or a cheaper repair bill.

I hope you feel better @charmedpam

I'm glad DH is doing better @MNNEBride. We are going through it with my dad right now. The mood changes are out of control and it's so hard on a caregiver too. Good vibes for your offer and interview!

Weekend was okay. I just don't feel in the holiday spirit this year. I was thinking about everything that has happened and I almost can't compute that we've only had this administration for one year, that my brother passed away just a few months ago, and I've had three different positions at work this year. Yesterday I interviewed with a recruiter for a per diem position at another company. I feel like I could have done better. I also know they wanted a two day a week commitment but I can only give one right now so I don't have high hopes. That left me feeling pretty anxious last night and I just really hate socializing in that way so regardless of how well I did or didn't do I was going to overthink it for the next 5-7 business days. Money is getting beyond tight and that's also causing me stress around Christmas. Poor H just keeps getting rejection after rejection for jobs. I'm picking up extra shifts at work and have an extra one this week but they haven't even paid me for the hours I did before last pay check and I won't keep picking up shifts if they can't pay me on time.

Anyways, not to be all doom and gloom. We decorated the house, and the tree looks nice. The kitties are managing to stay mostly away from it so far. Squish likes to chew on the tree but we can block that easily enough. Thank goodness they don't try to climb it. One of my packages came with a bunch of long brown paper and I threw it on the floor as an enrichment activity as a joke but the joke was on me because they actually love it and played with it all last night.

banana468 · December 2025

It's feeling harder to get into the spirit this year too. Between worrying about DH's health and stressing about other stuff I have to re center and remind myself about the true spirit of the season.

We did get our tree over the weekend and put up the fake so the house is looking much nicer. Tomorrow is Chiquita's 15th and that pushes us further into "Christmas Zone."

short+sassy · December 2025

@levioosa, our previous cat Nip never tried to climb our Christmas tree. But she would spend hours swatting at the ornaments on the lower two branches. We quickly learned the first year that only soft, non-breakable ornaments could go on the lower part of the tree, lol.

I hope your per diem job comes through and good luck to your H with his job hunt.

Good luck also to your hot water heater hanging in there until times are better. The last time my H and I needed to replace a hot water heater, we bought it ourselves rather than having our plumber bring it. It was also a lot cheaper at a plumbing supply store than it was at big box stores. Between the lower cost for the water heater and less time/mark-up from our plumber, we saved a few hundred dollars.

ILoveBeachMusic · December 2025

There is a lot going on with WW. Feel better soon @CharmedPam. I love the pictures of the goats. What kind of trip were you on? I was thinking a cruise but obviously not. So sorry about the boiler, @ei34. It seems like that kind of stuff happens at the most inconvenient times but then again it is never convenient. Good luck with all the job issues @levioosa and @MNNEBride.

I had a second opinion appointment for my back yesterday. This spine guy said that the first guy is correct - surgery is the only other option. However, this guy does a minimally invasive procedure with a shorter and more manageable recovery. So, I'm planning on having it done in April. That should make it ok for me to go on our family vacation in June and to Scotland in August. It will be interesting though, because I go on Medicare the first of April. I hope having bills charged immediately doesn't make things go awry.

House is all done for Christmas. Friday we are headed to DS2's for the weekend. We will attend a Yuletide Village, weather permitting, on Saturday. Monday we go to Chicago for the twin's piano recital on Tuesday. Home on Wednesday so I can get the house ready for my book club's Christmas gathering. It takes me a few days to get the house ready with my back giving me pain. Then I need to start wrapping stuff - which I'm sure will also take me a lot longer this year.

CharmedPam · December 2025

It this tour @ILoveBeachMusic
https://www.gate1travel.com/tour/central-europe-tours-10affdechat26.aspx
They really keep you busy and the hotels were great! I highly recommend. G1 has promo codes a lot. We got some $ off, and it’s how we can “afford” Japan

ei34 · December 2025

Thanks everyone

@CharmedPam it sounds incredible- awesome pics. I guess it was an Alps tour? My parents, and more recently, one of my sisters, have done that trip. It's definitely on my bucket list.

@MNNEBride glad that your H's new med is helping with his behavior at home somewhat

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