synergy

Rising Chaos, Lowering Tolerance

The chaos level in the house is rising once again. K woke me up at 5:45 am the other morning to point out that the boiler was no longer functioning and we didn't have any heat in the house. The temperature was a balmy 30 degrees or so. The short version is that as I type, there are two men busily installing a new boiler at the cost of $3900 a week before Christmas.

To complicate matters, we had planned on leaving town tomorrow morning to go visit our families for the holidays. Now we are struggling with the decision as to whether we leave after having the boiler installed less than 24 hours or we delay our trip a day or two. We're planning to be gone for 12 days, so it wouldn't cut into our time too much, but I did pay for a room over Priceline already, and I hate to lose the money. We're planning to make the decision based on how the installatiion goes.

Between the need for a new boiler and the continued work in the basement, things feel somewhat crazy. It's taking a toll. I hate having these guys constantly knocking at the back door, discovering that they've screwed up something, having them ruin or take our stuff. For example, our wheelbarrow is missing. It's been replaced by a wheelbarrow, which isn't ours. The front door to the basement no longer closes and a pane of glass has been broken. We caught one team of workers trying to grind lead paint off the brick. Right now, the floor is shaking and the dog is freaking out due to the noise of them cutting out the old boiler in the basement. Our home has become a burden rather than a sancutary.

K continues to handle the chaos well, but we're both on edge. The good thing is that I believe her reaction is a perfectly normal reaction and not one fueled by bipolar rage or depression. She was in a class a couple days this week, and she was supposed to go to the office this morning. Instead she remains upstairs asleep due to the exhaustion from the class. Her exhaustion has eased, but it is one of the last lingering symptoms of her illness.

I'm edgy and trying to maintain my usual pollyana attitude towards things getting done. But it becomes difficult with the work in the basement. I hope to regain my usual happy, bouncy nature soon.

posted by synergy @ 9:32 AM