The Hester Family

Marc isn’t feeling well. He had an infection of some kind back in January/February and now it’s back he thinks. He has an appointment today to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and it can actually go away this time.

On a better note, I got a call from our tax person’s office and they told me that our taxes had been filed. I felt so blessed when she told me what our return would be. God has most definitely answered prayers there. Now we can finally pay off the windows.We wanted to wait, but a cold winter and energy efficient rebate made up our mind to do it in November. We knew we would pay them off once we got our return. It’s nice that that time is finally here.

We are all sick. I caught a head cold from the children I babysit and then Locke got it. It wasn’t too long before Marc was complaining about his head. I can’t wait until we all feel better. Luckily Locke has been doing well with his naps, so I’m hoping he’ll feel better soon. Marc cleaned out his humidifier the other day, he’s a good dad.

He’s currently making omelets with tomato, yellow pepper, ham and cheese. It will be great! I really want steak with over easy eggs and rye toast. Maybe some potatoes with cheese as well. My house is cold. I can’t wait until the weather warms up. I checked the temperature on my phone and it said 19 degrees. What? Come on it’s the end of March. I’m eating the omelet, it is good. It’s not a steak, but Marc made it so it’s just as good.

Marianne should be coming over today. I’m excited to see her. She’s been sick as well. I told her she was more than welcome to hang out since her germs were probably the same as ours. She should be here after church. Oh church. We should go some day. I know we will, it’ll just be a matter of getting back in the routine.

My father cut down two 60 ft. Elm trees. They were hanging over in my neighbors’ yard and they made me super nervous. We had so much wood, luckily someone was able to take it all for firewood.

Marc and I had 9 new windows installed in the house in November 2010. They look awesome. They make the house warmer. Hopefully we’ll get that tax credit and our tax return soon. I do think we still need to replace or add some insulation and then instant warmer house.

The living and dining rooms have new paint on the ceiling and walls. My mom and I, mostly my mom painted one window trim and a small piece of baseboard trim white. It looks clean and fresh. I have beautiful curtain rods to hang up once all the trim is painted. Marc already hung the rod up on the window that’s painted. It looks so nice. I just need to iron the curtains. We replaced old roller shades with faux white wood blinds. Instant upgrade.

The house we own is in need of love. Before we moved in we ripped up all the old carpet in almost every room. It was old and smelled foul. Once we tore it up we realized that the project was more than just buffing the hardwood floors. We hired an awesome Polish man to refinish the floors in 5 rooms, stairs, and the landing on the second floor. His crew did an amazing job! We now have beautiful oak floors on the first floor and pine on the second floor. The house smells and looks a lot better because of it.

Before the inspection was done on the house, we had to scrape and paint the basement. FHA loans require there be no chipping paint due to lead. Since the owner of the home was older and lived out of town they allowed us to do it. The basement still needs another coat though, we used Drylock to help with moisture.

The backyard hadn’t been touched in 10 years. There was a 6 foot chain-link fence behind the garage. It seemed to be a dog kennel that was now housing the tallest weeds and vines I have ever seen in a yard. They were growing over the fence and were almost as tall as the garage. The amazing fast growing vines also covered all 3 sides of the backyard fence. Three-quarters of the backyard was covered in weeds. Marc couldn’t even mow that section of the yard. The front of the house was covered by ugly, prickily bushes that was causing water drainage problems. My Aunt’s boyfriend brought his backhoe on tracks and ripped out the the pointless dog kennel, ugly frontyard bushes and weeds. My father, uncle and 6 male cousins came over to help rip out weeds, drag brush, load the fence on my dad’s truck and break concrete. We still have more weeding to do, ugh.

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Today I took the cats to get their annual exam, rabies, and other tests done. I did not take them to the vet we usually go to, because we’re poor. Well not poor, just need to rearrange the way we are spending money. The Animal Shelter was hosting a wellness clinic provided by Just Animals. They supply cheap routine care for pets. Their idea is that if they can keep costs low, people can keep their pets and not have to send them to shelters. I liked the idea since my average bill for 2 cats is $370 a year and that’s not including preventive heart worm/flea medication. This year I spend $110. Whoa buddy!

While I was there with my very quiet cats I saw a few people I know. Possibly the 2nd grade teacher that worked at my old grade school, the woman who always returns my stuff at target, and of course my bestie Marianne. I knew I’d see Marianne though, I told her about the clinic so she could save money too. Tifa got benadryl before her rabies vaccine, she has issues with reactions. Anyway, she was totally out of it and must have thought there were 10 cats in her carrier with her instead of just Cloud, she flipped out. Poor Cloud didn’t stand a chance, by the time I heard the hisses and blood curdling meows, Cloud was as far back in the carrier as he could be with his ears down. I had to cover Tifa up with my purse in fear she would bite me to rescue Cloud. It was insane. Tifa is never like that. Cloud did however get a much needed whooping from Tifa, just not for what he deserves it.

Tifa is fine now that the medicine is wearing off and after a couple of vomit episodes on the bathroom floor, we’re getting back to our normal lives. Never thought I’d be glad when she didn’t leave us alone when we were eating dinner. It’s good to have her back, now for obedience school.