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My wife and I were in the hospital last Wednesday through Friday as our third child was born. Meanwhile the in-laws came down and stayed in our house to watch our two other kids. My in-laws are sweet, kind, generous people. They'll buy our kids anything they want (or us anything we need) at the drop of a hat because they're those type of people; gift-giving is their love language. I fully appreciate everything they've done and continue to do for us, and feel humbled and grateful for it. Plus, they're fun and gracious and loving. They've welcomed me into their hearts and their family even though I imagine I can be hard to handle sometimes and I'm probably not what they imagined they'd have as a son-in-law anyway. And I have to say, my wife's whole extended family is the same way.

The flip side to this is consumerism and waste. My wife and I came home with the baby on Friday and my fridge and cabinets were full of candy and junk food (we had prepared several days' worth of healthy delicious food for our kids before we left, all of which went untouched). The kids had spent basically the whole time just watching TV (we usually only let them watch 1-2 hours per day) and told us they'd only gone outside once. Toys and lawn chairs were strewn around so I couldn't pull into the garage. One of my kids' toys was in the middle of the street. My outside trash can was full of kitchen trash bags, and it looked like each bag was stuffed with paper plates and food wrappers and god-only-knows what else. Normally after 3 days our kitchen trash can is only halfway full, but in that same time period they managed to fill like half a dozen of those bags. The dishwasher looked and smelled like it hadn't been run at all. The countertop compost bin hadn't been emptied and there were not only mold and flies but actual larvae wriggling around in it. I found bits of food in my bedroom where my father-in-law had apparently spent most of his visit cloistered away staring at his tablet and eating candy.

And, my father-in-law has the Midas touch, by which I mean he breaks everything. He didn't understand how to work the shower and somehow he managed to yank the handle around 180˚ in such a way that hot and cold were still on the same sides as before but the handle was now upside down, and loose and jiggly. The shower door was loose too so that it didn't close right. Today I figured out he'd loosened one of the screws securing the hinge, so I tried to tighten it and it just wouldn't bite. My wife says it's worse now. And, within a few hours of visiting I can always count on my mother-in-law to text me asking for the wi-fi password because she's so addicted to her phone that's as long as she can go without wi-fi. This time neither me nor my wife responded to that text from her, to see what would happen. I guess she used her data.

OK, I just had to vent all that. I really do love and appreciate my in-laws, and I don't know what I'd do without them.
 
It had been overdue to get taken out when we left...I guess that one was on us. :p
 
Flyover, I know people like that. They mean well, but they somehow don't know how things work. I bet your father-in-law leaned on stuff or used it for support somehow to get shower handle and door loose. I'm glad you prefaced it with them being generous & it seems like none of the damage was intentional. The junk food & mess sounds like my best friend's fiance.

We are still using paper plates right now bc I still haven't gotten the kitchen cleaned up enough (as I've been working alone). Once my brother was able to put stuff in the fridge & freezer, any assistance ended. He will gripe up a storm about stuff on the floor but he won't pick it up & my back doesn't like me. I passed a kidney stone earlier & that left me exhausted. My Mom was starting to get pissy with me over nothing. Tomorrow (technically today since it's after midnight) is my birthday but I'm hoping she won't remember bc for some reason she is always a raging biyatch to me on my birthday. I think the only people who will remember are ones who get FB reminders. I intend to sleep as much as I can, but Mom wants me to make her shepherd's pie so I'll probably end up having to clean up & cater to her and she wants me to go get mail so I'll have to go do that.

I'm debating whether I should focus on the living room or the kitchen tomorrow. Living room would be easier but kitchen is more urgent, but I'm tired & feeling a little overwhelmed with having to clean with no help again. If my brother would just hold a bag open for me it would help, but he refuses to even do that-- even when I'm cleaning up his stuff.

Looks like I'm venting as well. LOL.

At least my kitties are snuggling me.

Yesterday (technically the day before) I took Mom to drop off her mail-in-ballot, picked up the new hose for the sink (but my friend hasn't replied to any of my messages so I think he needs some time to relax) & took Mom to the grocery store so she could pick out some new pajamas & some food from a larger store. Found some frozen meals she likes so she's happy.
 
An old buddy of mine who was a roofer for years does both voices,

 
My wife and I were in the hospital last Wednesday through Friday as our third child was born. Meanwhile the in-laws came down and stayed in our house to watch our two other kids. My in-laws are sweet, kind, generous people. They'll buy our kids anything they want (or us anything we need) at the drop of a hat because they're those type of people; gift-giving is their love language. I fully appreciate everything they've done and continue to do for us, and feel humbled and grateful for it. Plus, they're fun and gracious and loving. They've welcomed me into their hearts and their family even though I imagine I can be hard to handle sometimes and I'm probably not what they imagined they'd have as a son-in-law anyway. And I have to say, my wife's whole extended family is the same way.

The flip side to this is consumerism and waste. My wife and I came home with the baby on Friday and my fridge and cabinets were full of candy and junk food (we had prepared several days' worth of healthy delicious food for our kids before we left, all of which went untouched). The kids had spent basically the whole time just watching TV (we usually only let them watch 1-2 hours per day) and told us they'd only gone outside once. Toys and lawn chairs were strewn around so I couldn't pull into the garage. One of my kids' toys was in the middle of the street. My outside trash can was full of kitchen trash bags, and it looked like each bag was stuffed with paper plates and food wrappers and god-only-knows what else. Normally after 3 days our kitchen trash can is only halfway full, but in that same time period they managed to fill like half a dozen of those bags. The dishwasher looked and smelled like it hadn't been run at all. The countertop compost bin hadn't been emptied and there were not only mold and flies but actual larvae wriggling around in it. I found bits of food in my bedroom where my father-in-law had apparently spent most of his visit cloistered away staring at his tablet and eating candy.

And, my father-in-law has the Midas touch, by which I mean he breaks everything. He didn't understand how to work the shower and somehow he managed to yank the handle around 180˚ in such a way that hot and cold were still on the same sides as before but the handle was now upside down, and loose and jiggly. The shower door was loose too so that it didn't close right. Today I figured out he'd loosened one of the screws securing the hinge, so I tried to tighten it and it just wouldn't bite. My wife says it's worse now. And, within a few hours of visiting I can always count on my mother-in-law to text me asking for the wi-fi password because she's so addicted to her phone that's as long as she can go without wi-fi. This time neither me nor my wife responded to that text from her, to see what would happen. I guess she used her data.

OK, I just had to vent all that. I really do love and appreciate my in-laws, and I don't know what I'd do without them.
Congratulations to the FLYOVER FAMILY!
 
Thanks everyone. Yeah, I tried to slip it by... Just doing my part to offset all the smart/handsome people having kids!
 
Got mandatory evacuation notice for my parish. I'm hoping the storm will peter out before it gets to us. We will likely lose power. We're above the flood plane so winds are the highest risk. If I don't post for awhile it's bc I'm without power/computer. I'm really hoping they are wrong about their predictions for this storm.
 
Tried to convince mom to evacuate but she refused up until it was too late. Roads are already too flooded. Friends in town decided not to evacuate either bc they weren't about to take a new baby on a bus full of people who think Covid is a hoax. They didn't have enough gas to get further north & hotels have tripled their prices. The loggers filled in the ditches on our roads to get to the trees and didn't dig them back out so the roads & the roads were flooding before the storm from recent rains. Now they aren't safe to drive on to get out. I posted on social media about it and a local senatorial candidate's manager reached out to me, gave me her personal contact info, & said she will send aid if we get stranded again & need help. Hopefully we can get a generator running this time, but not sure how much gas we will have. We do have coolers & ice packs if we can't get it running. Storm is supposed to hit around 3 or 4pm.
 
Thanks, tuffy.

bthomas, I hope your knee heals quickly.

Last night I made dinner to get all of the hamburger meat cooked. My version of shepherd's pie-- potatoes, hamburger meat, garlic salt, & velveeta cheese. Mom wasn't feeling well so she only ate a little & my brother ate 3/4 of it. I wasn't all that hungry either though.
Raccoons kept getting in & trying to hide behind drawers to hunker down. We tried to barricade the door once all the cats & dogs were in, but the raccoons kept getting in & messing with stuff. They ate all of the MREs.

This morning I got up early & moved the generator that my brother left outside into the shed. Mofo was heavy. My brother was supposed to help me, but he wouldn't get up. I did get his help later on to get a sheet of plywood from the workshop (thought we had more but only had the one) to put up over the sliding glass door. Had obstacles in the way so couldn't fit it where I wanted it to go, broke a drill bit, & but there is at least some sort of barrier there now. I have my bedroom door open so my cats will come in rather than going outside, but a couple of the cats slipped out. I will need to call them in before the storm hits.

It was supposed to hit around 2 to 3pm but it slowed down, went back to category 2, & is expected around 6 or 7pm now. But it's been raining since yesterday, internet has already gone out a few times, & power is starting to flicker a bit. As annoying as the raccoons are, I hope they can seek shelter under the house or something.

I'm really hoping the storm will downgrade to tropical storm status before hitting & that we won't have power out for too long. The campaign manager for a senate candidate from one district over reached out to me & gave me her personal contact info. Said if we need help to call her & she can have some people come and cut trees off the road & assist us. She also offered to loan us a generator if need be & bring food/supplies. I'm hoping it will be cooler than it was when the other hurricane hit bc I can handle no AC if it isn't hot.

Meanwhile, my friend in town didn't evacuate bc he didn't want to risk taking his one month old baby on a bus full of strangers who might be sick, he didn't have enough gas to get very far, traffic was a nightmare, he was convinced the storm would follow him, & when he tried to book a hotel they had tripled the prices. The shelters where people are being taken is within the hurricane path.

I really feel for the people in Lake Charles though. They got hit hard & still hadn't recovered from hurricane Laura. Some chemical plant got wrecked & released deadly toxic chemicals all over the area. This storm could spread that stuff even more. Many people can't go back home bc it's not safe due to the chemicals.
 
Made it through the storm. Several neighbors also got stranded bc of floods.
Power went out around 5pm and has been out since. Power pole went down across the flooded road so we were stuck but apparently someone chopped the pole up. Fireman went door to door checking on everyone. Said he was able to get over all the water and the grounding wire for the pole-which is stretched over the riload like a tripwire. One of our nice neighbors posted video of himself chest high in water so fireman was going to see if he needed help. Funny that they sent someone for people when it was mandatory evacuation but not when there was no evacuation order.
Power is still out in town buy one gricer store has a generator so they were open. Bought some ice.
Not as hot as after Laura thankfully, but the mosquitoes are everywhere. Frogs are around too so they have been singing. I hope that they get a lot of the mosquitoes.
Friend hooked up.the generator but a breaker on the pole blew so no go. He will troubleshoot later. He's aggravated bc his grandfather drove up and laid on the horn 10x before we got over and did it another 4x while we were there. He wishes he could get into witness protection at this point to get away from the moochers and stalkers. Lol.
Friend told him to never come by again. 20 min later the old man was there laying on the horn and hollering my friend's name.
Cops won't do a stay away order.
Hoping we won't wait 3 weeks to get power back again.
 
Finally got ahold of a live person at the power company. Told them where the downed pole was and let them know my elderly disabled mother is I'll and can't leave the house so we need power back ASAP. They did not care.
My friend had huge drama with his fiance yesterday. It's not official but the engagement is off. She's refusing to take her meds for anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Doctor on the phone said if she keeps refusing, he can have her committed as she is prone to violent outbursts and might harm the baby.
 
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