Heat up

We're back in the 90s for another week -- low 90s, but still. Yesterday was very hot, high 90s, and the house didn't cool down enough, and it's going to be in the 60s at night all week.

Complain, complain. I'm feeling kind of nauseated today, for no good reason, so it makes me grumpy.

Rocket Boy arrived yesterday, which as always is a mixed blessing. Glad to see him, glad to have him here -- especially since our hot water heater decided to stop working Friday night. If he weren't here, I would have just called a plumber, and instead he has to think about it and decide whether he wants to fix it himself, but he's also done a lot of troubleshooting already and he's pretty sure he knows what the problem is. I think we're going with a plumber, but he'll be able to tell the plumber what needs to be done, so that will speed things along.

***

OK, the plumber has been and gone, and now we have more problems. The water heater is totally shot, first of all. The plumber thinks it is under warranty (it's less than 4 years old), so we may be able to get a new one. But Rocket Boy will have to install it, because our whole setup is totally not to code and no reputable plumber would be willing to work with it. The plumber suggested a tankless water heater, but his guess was that it might cost $6000 for the whole thing -- the water heater, the work to change out setup, etc. He really recommended that we replace it ourselves with a free one.

We're pursuing the warranty idea, but we don't have the original receipt. I have my bank statement saying we spent $835.73 at Home Depot four years ago, which might be enough, but Home Depot told us we also have to bring in the old hot water heater, which will be quite an undertaking since it will be hard to fit it into either of our cars. To do that, we will first have to drain the old water heater and unfasten it from the water intake and outtake valves, the gas intake, etc. Rocket Boy noticed something about his original setup that is going to have to be fixed first. It might even involve welding. I would like to take a nap and let all these problems waft away, but our bed is covered with the contents of the water heater closet (normally it has a board in front of it and then shelves with all our linens and miscellany).

So, you know, I'm glad Rocket Boy came home, but it doesn't seem coincidental that the water heater implodes right before he arrives. It obviously knew he was coming.

***

The kids started school on Thursday, and so far it all seems fine. Teen A is only taking three classes at the high school, and then in the afternoon he's at TEC, so that's different. They provide a bus to get him back and forth and all that. The first day, he called me to pick him up after school because he'd missed his bus, which was a pain, but the second day he made it home on his own just fine, so I hope that's how we'll proceed. Teen B has all regular classes, but I realized that I've already met four of his seven teachers. He has the same teacher for music and foreign language as last year, the same special ed teacher, and his language arts teacher was Teen A's teacher last year.

Oh, and they have US History together, so that's the same teacher, although it's someone new.

Teen A needs some special boots and clothes for his TEC class, so today we drove to Longmont and went to a store I've seen before but never entered: Murdoch's Ranch & Home Supply. What a cool store! They had a wide assortment of steel-toe boots, and Teen A chose some nice black Caterpillars. We also got him some appropriate shorts, and Rocket Boy got himself some new jeans. I was tempted to buy something for myself, but since the bill came to almost $300 and the water heater and its associated costs were looming in the background, I was glad I didn't.

***

I'm trying to remember what else happened this week. Oh, I got my retainers and I'm learning how to wear them. Which reminds me, I'm not wearing them right now! OK, got them back in. They are starting to smell, because I keep drinking milk with them in. Must give them a good brushing tonight. Retainers are a lot more trouble than I expected them to be, and I hope I will not have to wear them 24/7 for more than a month. Wearing them at night is bad enough, but during the day... one problem is that I can't speak clearly when I'm wearing them. The orthodontist said that would only be true for a few days, but obviously that's not the case. The bottom retainer is OK, but the top one is impossible. The kids make fun of me when I try to talk while wearing it.

But I think I can learn to live with them at night. I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep when I was wearing them, but it turns out that I can. 

I lost a little more weight this week.

•     Weight the morning I took my first shot: 254.6
•     Weight last Sunday: 244.0
•     Weight this morning (after 9+ weeks on Mounjaro): 242.8

So that's 11.8 lbs down in a little over 9 weeks.

OK, I need to go start dinner. I don't want to make dinner, but we spent $120 on dinner at Murphy's last night, and there are all these expenses rolling in, so...

***

All right, dinner's started. It's a pasta dish, and the water is heating for the pasta. The sauce is made out of roasted tomatoes and beans, both of which have been seasoned and are in the oven roasting. I should note that I do not want to eat this. It is hot and I am not hungry. So far today I have eaten a bowl of Heritage Flakes with a small banana, tea with milk, a CorePower protein drink, and part of my leftover salad from dinner last night. I do not want tomato-bean pasta. But dinner must happen, so dinner is happening.

***

And dinner is over -- it turned out pretty good, though Teen A only ate about one spoonful -- and Rocket Boy and I went on a walk, and now everyone but me is having pie (I've had all my food for the day).

It's going to be a challenging week. Heat, my tiredness from the drug, the hot water heater saga continuing, Back to School night, happy hour at a friend's house on Tuesday, helping the kids with their homework, and on Friday I go to Seattle. Sure hope I'm up to it!