Good Evening, Madame Treasurer

A couple of weeks ago, I was phoned by the President of a local non-profit society, and asked if I would consider taking on the position of Treasurer.

Prior to that call, I was only vaguely aware of the existence of that society.

A friend was using their services.

Prez told me that they had been looking for a new treasurer, and that my name had been mentioned a couple of times as a reliable person, capable of doing the job.

Prez said "you are well-spoken of among your peers."

"My friends have been lying about me, have they?" I replied.

The Society does advocacy work for the poor and disabled, and operates an emergency shelter. They are also looking for ways to provide shelter for the local homeless population.

The commitment is only a few hours a month, mostly doing what I do at work. So I already know half of my job! I get to do some research on non-profit societies, and research is one of the things I love about my job.

I'm really excited about this! I have enough new stuff to learn to make the job interesting, with enough familiar stuff to avoid New-Job Stress.

And with me taking care of this previously-neglected position, Prez has more of his time available to help clients.

While we were talking today, I mentioned that one of my tax clients is working on a project called "The Hundred Dollar House"... it is a 10'X10' structure made of reclaimed materials. His idea was that it could be used to house the homeless.

Prez likes the sound of it.

Now I need to check my records and contact this client, see if he is interested in meeting with the Society, and possibly putting his project into practice.

Volunteer work always manages to make itself interesting.

JJ Is Thinking About Moving To Alberta

When I suggested the same thing a year ago, so we could make a fresh start, away from the friends and co-workers who have heard all our negative stories about each other, he rejected the idea. He didn't want to give up his friends.

He didn't want to give up HER.

Now he's thinking about moving.

And I have to talk to him about it... I wrote it into our Separation Agreement. One of us wants to leave the province, so I have to talk to him about it.

IJ will be devastated. He wants to see his dad more, but wants to live with his mom. He misses his brother.

If JJ and JMJ move to another province, IJ will only see them a couple of times per year. And I will have one depressed ten-year-old on my hands.

To make matters worse, when JJ called me tonight to let me know what ferry they would be on, he said that he did not spend much time with IJ this weekend. He was sleeping or working all weekend.

So, IJ will be telling me all about that when he gets home.

For years, I was trying to make JJ see how much his kids want to spend time with him. I thought that once we were separated, he would have to spend time with them. Instead, he got himself a girlfriend, and SHE takes care of his kids.

He has learned nothing.

Happy Anniversary

I have been blogging for one whole year, today.

I just finished reading over my first few posts. Not much has changed.

I am not depressed about JJ anymore.

I am still writing about the stupid stuff he does.

There is still some sadness that he chose to leave me.

And there is alot of relief now that he is really gone.

Too bad he can't stay gone.

Miscellaneous Updates

VN is not staying with me any longer. She was only here for a week.

She was referred to a friend of a friend who had space for her and her St Bernard. She now gets free rent in exchange for housework and dog sitting.

Good deal.

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It took JJ over a week to get JMJ into a school. I was talking to JMJ last night... he did not go to school yesterday. He was not feeling well.

I asked what his symptoms were. He said his ear is bothering him, and he has an upset stomach.

I recognize those symptoms.

The ear is unrelated to the stomache. His ear will bother him if there are allergens in his environment. He has a prescription nasal spray for that.

The upset stomach is stress.

He gets that most years at the beginning of school. He had a huge change this year... from a small class group and two or three teachers, into a high-school with 2000 students, and a class schedule to follow.

Hid dad likely has no idea about it. I know I told him about it each year. But he had no interest in being a parent. It was outside his realm of experience, so he paid it no mind.

Now, he is the parent.

He has alot to learn.

And he does not talk to me anymore.

He could learn from my experience. After all, he is a parent to my child. Who else could help him more?

I know he will not ask. I guess I should send him a brief email about it.

And try not to sound like I am telling him what to do.

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The cat is still not using the kitty door. He does not like it.

At 5am today, I got up to let him out, and then discovered he had pooped where the litter box used to be. Other mornings, I have found a poop in the bathtub.

He is trying to be a clean cat. It is just tough for him right now, because I am as stubborn as he is.

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I was catching up on laundry yesterday. After folding IJs clothes, I went to put them away. Usually, I tell him to put them away. This time, there was so much laundry, that I did not want to wait for him to come home from school, so I did it.

I started putting clean clothes into his drawers, and then I saw it: Rat Poop! In his drawer!

So I checked his other drawers.

They all had rat poop in them.

I took the drawers into the bathroom one at a time, and washed the contents. The bathtub is currently full of empty drawers. I need to sanitize them still. The clothes have all been sanitized.

The rat man came to check on the traps yesterday... they were all empty! So I now have only 1 trap inside the house... on top of the hot water tank, where they get into the house. There are 10 or so traps under the house. The idea is to catch them before they get inside.

The fact that no rats were trapped this time is a good thing. It means we got them! The rat man figures I had just one family of rats inside. I know the mother ate the poison I set out. We saw some dead babies, and the rat man caught a few half-grown rats (so did the cat).

The rat man will be back in a month to check traps again. If there are still no rats, he will come about every 6 weeks.

The trailer park management paid for the initial setup. I just have to pay the rat man for the follow-up visits, at $75/visit.

I plan to keep him.

Mom With Power Tools Completes Another Project

I hate Kitty Litter Boxes. They stink. The litter gets tracked all over the house. They take up space.

Liquidation World recently received a shipment of pet supplies. I bought a Kitty Door for $10.

I was all set to replace one of my windows with a piece of plywood with the Kitty Door in it. Then I read the instructions. They said I could cut a hole in my window glass and then install the Kitty Door!

So, I called a glazier and asked if he could do it.

He said yes.

So, I took him my window, and he put a hole in it.

He didn't even charge me!

IJ helped me put the Kitty Door on the window... he held it in place while I screwed it together.

I built a platform and screwed it to the window frame. Then I put the cat on it.

He is nervous about using the Kitty Door, so I came up with a plan: tape the door open during the day so he can see that he can get through. Once he has used it a few times, he should be able to push it open on his own.

I managed to coax him through the Door twice today. Both times, he sat on the platform for a minute, then came back in on his own.

It's just a matter of time, now.

Mom With Power Tools is awesome!

IJ Is Upset

IJ went to his dad's for the weekend.

I picked him up at the ferry tonight.

He cried half the drive home.

I asked him what was wrong. I tried to get him to talk to me. He just sat there, looking out the car window, sniffling.

I was asking him about his weekend when it started. He was talking, then he became sad. Then he turned away from me and the sniffling began.

I told him I would talk to him about it if he wanted to. And I told him I would talk about something else if he wanted me to.

He didn't answer.

So I waited for him to be ready to talk.

We had a good evening when we got home. He finished his homework, and went to bed without trouble.

I still don't know what's wrong.

JJ Is Pretending I Do Not Exist

JMJ is living with JJ now. After a week of school, JJ still hasn't found a placement for JMJ yet. He better find a school for JMJ, fast!

JJ has decided to cut off all communication with me. He let me know which ferry JMJ would be on Friday evening so I could pick him up. He then failed to ask at the terminal if the boat was running on time.

It wasn't.

I found out when I arrived to pick him up. As I was walking to the ferry slip from the parking lot, an announcement came over the PA that his boat had just left Horseshoe Bay. It was running 30 minutes late!

I emailed JJ on Thursday or Friday that I would put JMJ on the 6:30 ferry Sunday night.

He did not acknowledge my email.

I phoned him several times Sunday asking him to tell me that he knew when JMJ would be arriving in Horseshoe Bay.

He did not acknowledge my phone calls.

I put JMJ on the ferry anyway, but was very uncomfortable doing so.

I emailed JJ today, telling him that if I do not hear his voice telling me that someone will be there to pick up the kids, I will not be putting them on the ferry.

He replied: "I will answer your emails."

That was all he wrote.

That still does not address my concerns. Just because he emails me on Friday that 6:30 is good on Sunday does not mean he will remember on Sunday -- or that he is still alive on Sunday!

A Note From VN

VN has been staying with me for a week now, and will be here a while longer.

I don't know... she took my last man, broke him, and now she wants ME to get some more!

I'll have to rethink having a roommate.

Mom With Power Tools Strikes Again!

I visited Canadian Tire on the weekend to buy a circular saw. They had them locked in a cabinet, so I had to track down a salesman. I told him what I wanted, and he said "do you want a skill saw or a circular saw?".

I guess he's hard of hearing.

Or thinks that Moms don't know what they want when it comes to tools.

Then I went to the building supply store and asked for two sheets of standard 3/8" plywood.

They didn't question my decision.

I took it all home, and started fixing the one-eyed-monkey-designed kitchen.

I needed to finish the partitions between the bank of drawers and the cupboards on either side of it. The rats are getting under the sink, and then into everything else.

Measure, saw, glue, nail.

Done.

Next, the cupboards above the sink. The vent pipe for the water drains goes up one end of those cupboards. The rats have been climbing it and getting into that cupboard, and the ceiling.

Two boards cut and nailed in diagonally to block access from the pipe to the cupboard. Line the seams with steel wool, and another job is done.

Lots of wood left, so I construct partitions for the cupboards above the stove... if the rats do happen to chew through again, they will have an additional obstacle to get through. Plus, items can be stacked now without falling into the next cupboard. More convenient for storage purposes.

After lining the cupboards with mac tac to hide the raw plywood, Mom With Power Tools retires for the night, satisfied that the rats can no longer invade her kitchen.

Mom With Power Tools suffers from a false sense of security. In the night, the rats chewed a fresh hole in the ceiling and got into a cupboard previously unknown to them.

Mom Wisth Power Tools becomes Mom With Rat Poison.


I am Mom.

He Called

FdM called me at the office a few minutes ago.

I was so relieved to hear his voice.

The last few days, he was just eating and sleeping.

He's feeling much better today.

And he thanked me for all my phone calls.

I Still Haven't Heard From Him

FdM has still not called me. Tomorow, I'm at work all day. IJ is home from his dad's and starts school tomorow. I need to be home after work.

Not knowing how he is doing is frustrating. It is upsetting. It is depressing.

I would much prefer a 30 second phone call from him, telling me how he's doing -- good or bad.

Not knowing is really getting me down.

Concerned

FdM and I had plans to go to the Vancouver Art Gallery on Wednesday. He called me several times that morning with updates. He finally had to cancel... he wasn't feeling well.

We spoke on the phone on Thursday. The first thing he said was "I haven't checked my messages".

We spoke on the phone Friday. He suggested we go to the gallery on Saturday.

That was the last time I heard from him.

I'm worried about him. I have left him a message every day, but he has not called back. He is probably still not checking his messages.

I'm checking my messages. Even if I don't leave the house... I check the machine regularly to make sure I haven't missed a call.

I even checked for messages at the office.

I'm not being obsessive... when I'm in the driveway cutting plywood, I can't hear the phone. If I'm doing laundry, I can't hear the phone. I was in the office anyway, feeding the fish, so I checked for messages.

I'm going to walk the dog.

Maybe there will be a message for me when I get home.

These Rats Are Driving Me Crazy!

After the incident with the Rat in the cutlery drawer, I went shopping and purchased everything on the list I posted... except the mint. I forgot the mint.

I spent the better part of the day on Friday trying to Rat-proof my kitchen. I stuffed all the holes with steel wool. I cut plywood and made partitions to keep the rats out of the cupboards. I set up my Ratzapper with fresh bait and turned it on.

By the time I went to bed Friday night, I was satisfied that the Rats could not get into my kitchen.

Saturday morning, I got up and checked on the Ratzapper. The red light on top was flashing... I caught a Rat! I switched the power off, then picked it up. It was empty! The Rat went inside, ate the bait, and left! He was supposed to be electrocuted.

I was not happy.

I made myself a cup of tea. I opened the cupboard door and got myself some sugar. As I was sipping my tea, I saw it... Rat Poop in the cupboard. I was sure they could not get into that cupboard. I went looking for a way they could have gotten into that cupboard... they chewed a new hole in the ceiling!

That was it! I had had enough! I went to the local nursery and bought Rat Poison. I have been trying to avoid poison... I don't want any poisoning accidents. Alot of animals live in my neighbourhood... and in my home.

I cleaned the cupboard above the hot water heater (in the bathroom). They are getting into the house there, so I knew they would be back. I put a package of Rat Poison there, then washed my hands thoroughly.

Within an hour, I could hear Rats eating in that cupboard. I resisted my curiosity impulse, and did not open the door. Instead, I just smiled.

Today, the cat has made regular trips into the cupboard under the kitchen sink. He hasn't brought anything out though.

I will probably peek into the bathroom cupboard before going to bed, just to see how much of the Poison the Rats have eaten. If they finished off that batch, I will set out a fresh package for them. The box has 8 packages in it.

I don't want them to run out.