Mojo Hunting

It seems a lot of people are having the same problem as me, so I'm putting it down to January. Oh, and probably being slightly overwhelmed by everything that's going on at the moment.

- Have learned that the furnace for basement under floor heating (a must in Chicago stone floor basements) was incorrectly installed 7 years ago. Of course, I can't contact the company in question, nor would I want them back in. Unfortunately, the crap installation job has rendered the 15 year warranty on the furnace null and void. We can have it patched up, but the new company (a stellar company) can't guarantee how long this will last, and if we ever try to sell the house, we'll have to put it right anyway. We are now getting quotes to replace the entire system, which is a huge job and very expensive. (Think thousands.)

- But first there is the problem of how to vent this furnace to the outside. (It's currently vented into the big furnace which is against code, not to mention dangerous.) Since the front two thirds of our house are joined to next door, we have to figure out a way to get the pipe outside without having exposed pipes everywhere on the inside walls. Fortunately I am a dab hand at reading architectural drawings and I think I have figured out a way to come up through the floor, through the coat cupboard and out that way. We'll still have to "open the walls up to see what's going on" though. Argh!

- Then there's the summer. I have my ticket to CyberMummy (June 25th) and had planned to come over with kids and park them with aunt or mother for a day or two. Now it transpires, mother, aunt and third sister are swanning off to Italy from June 21st to 29th. Not only that, but because they'll be at aunt's when they come back, there's no room for me and the kids.

- The summer is a bit up in the air anyway since we don't know where the Queenager will be going to college yet. Unlike the UK, colleges over here all seem to start at different times. If she goes to one, her first class will be August 22nd; another college will be September 2nd. Before the start date, she has to do a week's orientation, but again, they're all different dates.

- And then, me and the Queenager are supposed to be going to Ghana for a week to visit the school we help support. Obviously it makes more sense to fly from England, but I now have to figure out what to do with 15 year old and 7 year old.

- Yes, there is the Ball & Chain to factor into all of this. Being the big boss of his company, he can't disappear for weeks on end, but usually comes over for a week to ten days. My dilemna now is, do I have him come over at the beginning when I'm at CyberMummy, or the end to take the boys back to the States.

Oh, and I  have started peeling the wall paper off the Man-Child's bedroom walls. I don't want wallpaper on top of wallpaper so I decided to get it down to the bare walls to see if we should paint or paper again! The paper is coming off in one inch pieces. It took me two and a half hours yesterday to do a strip that's about seven feet by two, above his closet. I know I should get a professional in, but I can't face the prospect of trying to find someone reliable, getting estimates, hanging around for them to turn up etc. Besides, perhaps ripping bits of wallpaper will be theraputic?

I need to go and lie down. Again.

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