Renos 101

 Can't wait to see how this is going to end - probably with me yelling "Are you fucking kidding me?". Rob and Grady have started to renovate the basement. Two generations of Weatherall's working together is always fraught with risk, even more so when it involves cables, the fuse box and wi-fi. Grady is griping about safety precautions, especially after Rob threw a hammer at him. He actually only dropped it, but Grady is prone to the dramatic. It doesn't help that their approaches to the renos are diametrically opposed, and words are flying fast and furious. Well, it's more so Grady who apparently now requires a tetanus shot due to an unfortunate nail placement but that's not as bad as him breathing in toxic mould (a dime sized black speck under the window), or stepping in a cold puddle when bringing in the first sheet of drywall. Watching them carry the drywall down the stairs was comedy gold all by itself, until Grady almost died. Oh, and the best part it hasn't even been an hour yet.

Grady 1 : Sid 0

I fear for my children's future. Last night Sid's friend stayed over. Ren has taken quite a shine to her so yesterday evening when they were in Sid's room I kept hearing Sid yell at the dog and slam her door. After half an hour of that commotion she trundled down stairs with Ren and dumped him unceremoniously in front of us. It would appear she credited the dog with super powers as he was able to turn the handle on her bedroom door and open it, at the same time moving the wooden chest she had wedged behind it, to gain entry into her room. Truthfully I learned a long time ago to tune out my children, so I wasn't paying much attention to her griping. That changed when Grady hurtled down the stairs a few minutes later laughing manically and grabbed up Ren to take back upstairs. Yep, it wasn't Superdog letting himself into Sid's room, but Grady, opening up the door and quietly pushing Ren in, all to mess with his sister. 

Up On The Roof

Grady is on the roof looking for the cat that went up the chimney. Honestly I can't make this stuff up. My only decision now, is when to tell him that the cat came back down.

Sid 1 : Grady 0

 Overheard snippet of conversation between my children.

Sid: I can't believe they are still together after all they've been through.

Grady: Who ?

Sid: (amid peals of laughter) Your asscheeks !!

I actually feel for Grady

Driving Lessons

With Sid's 16th birthday looming this summer, she is anxious to start driving practice. We thought the back roads near the farm would be a good start. We were wrong. Sid slides into the drivers seat of my van, announcing she's a natural. Grady is in the back frantically making the sign of the cross, while I am white knuckled in the middle row and Rob drew the short straw in the front passenger seat. She starts off slow, so far so good and then promptly heads straight for a ditch. Grady truly took on the role of a back seat driver, and while Rob is yelling at him to shut up, I'm yelling at Sid to avoid the ditch she is unerringly aiming for. After a few metres on the straight, Rob thought it would be a good idea for Sid to attempt a turn, the rest of us - not so much. Sid is well into the intersection as Rob is trying to get her to turn the wheel, by now she is well off course and the ditch on the OTHER side of the road is looming large. Rob grabs the wheel, and steers back on to the road. Sid is annoyed and chastises us for yelling at her, but as I pointed out we were all screeching the same thing "brake, brake, BRAKE !!" She still declares she's a natural.

Power Outage

Day 3 without power has transformed a previously patient, level headed adult (me) to a cranky whiney baby. Freezing cold shower - OK full disclaimer it probably lasted less than 10 seconds prior to an imminent cardiac arrest - contents of the fridge piled in coolers on the kitchen floor with fingers crossed for the contents of our overflowing freezer. Seven people in the house to feed - unfortunately only one meal planned for a BBQ - the rest required the non functioning stove or Airfryer. Multiple trips to Tim’s, McDonalds and Buffalo Wild Wing (Sid’s family discount) to compensate. First trip out for coffee my hero husband braved a line up from hell - and brought home mega coffees, thinking we could zap them if they got cold Sid heading back to BWW this morning in order to use the WiFi for her homework. Shout out to my friend who graciously allowed Grady to invade her home last night to plug in all his portable chargers so we could benefit today. Throughout all this, the communication from Elexicon has been deplorable. Their online “updated” outage maps showing restoration times 24 hours in the past - and yesterday’s message for houses that were still out of power was basically a big “F**k You” to the people who pay an exorbitant hydro rate in the first place. So who knows how much longer we will be off the grid, it’s not looking promising for today. The only saving grace is that all the family are home this weekend so we share in the misery together, Weatherall style.