Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What a week.

We have a not very nice kitten on our hands.  Not only is she all teeth and claws, and hisses and growls... with us, with the other cats, with everything... she had a bad case of ringworm, and she shared.



Honestly, I didn't take the risk and the vet's warning seriously.  Thankfully, ringworm (not a worm, a fungus) is not dangerous and is treatable.  It's a strong little fungus though.  It spreads easily.  And it doesn't like to die.  After a visit to the dermatologist and an unpleasant scraping, Jonathon is now on an oral anti-fungal as well as a cream and a body wash, and it will still take several weeks to go away.  Ian and aren't as badly hit, we'll stick with the external care.  Jonathon missed 3 days of school, and though he's back in today it's a good thing there's a 3-day weekend coming up. And to think I was worried it might be chicken pox.

At the same time I killed the washing machine.  It was off balance with a blanket and some jeans and by the time I got upstairs to the walking, thumping machine it had torn its drum right out of its socket.  Apparently it's not the first time the machine has had issues because on closer inspection the front panel (that also popped off) was being held on by a strip of tape.  Time for a new machine, and one was installed today.  Because with ringworm in the house I do a -lot- of laundry.  Jonathon's sheets have to be washed daily as well as his towels, the kitten towels after she gets bathed in anti-fungal shampoo, any blankets he uses, and of course his clothes.  We use an anti-fungal spray on his pillow and mattress.  It's way way worse than lice.

Then I went to make dinner and the propane was done.  Good thing the extra was full, even though it required a wrench to open it.  And then I couldn't get the cabinet locked again.  So I just left it open.  The refill came today and the supplier locked the cabinet for me.

And gas prices went up 15%.  It was expected as the subsidies were unsustainable.  Now we'll pay about $100/tank.  The Jordanian population is very unhappy and taking it to the streets.  Should be an interesting holiday weekend.

On the plus side, we have hot water. So I am not complaining.  Just stating that this week has been a little less than stellar.

But even with the ringworm and the buster washer, there are always bright spots to any week. Last Friday we went to dinner at Crumz with Ian's OMA and her husband.  It was a really nice time with good food and great chatter.  The girls were off at the mall for dinner and a movie with friends, the boys were home fending for themselves.  For all the angst of having teens and preteens in the house there are some definite perks.

Saturday was Rebecca's swim meet.  I use the term "meet" loosely.  It was what it was, for what you can do in single lengths in a 20m pool, single timers per lane (who most often did not stand up to mark to the time, much less lean over the edge to see a touch) who also did recording, and everyone gets a medal regardless of place.  Yes, "meet" is a loose term, but the spirit was there, the kids had fun and Rebecca has more info on what she could do for her senior project.

And Sunday we had rain - lots and lots of cold, steady rain. Some tunnels flooded and there were suds on the streets.  I understand oil slicks, but does this mean that a lot of cars are leaking soapy stuff? On Sunday the temperature topped out around 51F.  It will rise to the low 70s this weekend but in any case, the request is in for the house heat to come on. The girls' rooms both have open walls on 2 sides and each has sliding glass doors.  Their rooms are very very chilly.  Apparently we have underfloor heating, our A/Cs can switch to pump heat, and we have radiators.  I get the feeling when the heat goes on we'll be cracking windows in this place in order to breathe.  Not complaining.  I'm always cold.  Right now sitting in the den with jeans, long-sleeved shirt, windbreaker, socks and shoes on.  My feet are still cold. And my fingers.  And my nose.

Today Jonathon went to school and I had time to clean.  Thanksgiving is at our house next week so there's plenty of stuff to do. The kitchen needs some real help after the past 5 days, but so does the rest of the house. The dust is collecting, the vacuum is feeling lonely, and I believe I actually need to purchase a mop.  The girls have a Thanksgiving  potluck at school next week as well, not sure about middle school yet.  It just means I have a ton of shopping and cooking and baking to do. Just like everyone else.

As any good baker does (which I am not, and which they never do), I'm going to try a new recipe.  This one... Pumpkin Crunch Cake.  Sans pecans, plus Go Lean Crunch.

Now to order a turkey from AECSA.  There's no way I'm comfortable cooking one in our oven.  It'll be amusing to see how everything else turns out with our stove top and oven the way they are. Cross you fingers for us.

1 comment:

  1. I wish we could order a turkey. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get one. We might be having Thanksgiving chicken. Amman does get surprisingly cold, and last year we had days off for snow, but it's not common. I loved having the radiator heat. We didn't have the wonderful, lovely, divine underfloor heating, so parts of our flooring was cold, but we had a lot of hot water pipes (for the buildings radiators) under our marble floors, so many places were very cozy. I'm going to miss that this winter! Oh, and that picture. I swear, I can see the little halo glowing! How can such a cutie be the devil you describe? ;)

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