We are hanging in here at my house. But here is an update on how things are going.
Weight is down though up the past few days based on where I am in my cycle then after tracking this month after month for years I know it is normal.
March 6 got my taxes filed refund on federal and owed on state
March 13 The K8 district we live in had an emergency board meeting and voted to cancel school on March 16 so teachers could figure out how to go to online learning if it became necessary. (they had a PIR day planned for the 23rd so I don't know if they planned to just change the day and have school that day or use the Thursday before Easter as it was not going to be needed as a snow day to make up the day)
March 14 4-H fruit sale pick up (I had a cough due to my allergies-if they would quite draining into my throat I wouldn't need to cough-and since people tend to get nervous enough during cold and flu season when you have a cough from allergies (mine are also cat danger in my throat) under normal circumstances I decided to stay home. 15 year old had ceramics and cat project meetings-at least they didn't have to bring their cats as they had veterinarian come speak to them. Picked up 15 year old and got some deliveries done of those who were at home addresses along with picking up some Indian Tacos from a fundraiser a friend of mine was having to raise money for travel expenses for her son to return to Denver for a check on his kidney transplant (they got a call from his transpant doctore late in the afternoon that it has been postponed indefinently)
March 15 afternoon MT Governor announces all public schools closed from March 16-27 schools will reopen on March 30. Evening local announcements as to where parents can pick up both breakfast and lunch in areas that qualify for the summer lunch program due to the high number of students who receive free or reduced lunch. These are drive up and any child under 18 can receive a meal but must be in the vehicle.
March 16 announced that the library in the larger town will be closed until school starts back in order to be turned into a childcare for medical workers at no cost to them. We find out that our federal tax refund was in our account so DH calls his parents and asks if he can borrow their truck to go get a washer and dryer. Everything including getting new hoses for the washer, a new electric cord for the dryer (some house are a 3 prong for that plug ands some are a 4 prong), and the metal vent for the dryer was under 1K so a little bit more than what our refund was but in what we had budgeted for just the washer and dryer. 15 year old went along to help load everything into the truck. DH and 15 year old were able to get the washer and dryer off the truck and onto the ground but not get it into the house or the old ones removed.
March 17 DH gets home from work at 2:30 AM and decides to bring in the washer and dryer because he is crazy. He gets to bed at 4:30 AM 15 year old went to bed about 3:45 while he finished up with the dryer. They both get up at 9:45 in order to take 12 year old to speech and occupational therapy along with delivering a couple of boxes of fruit in the larger town to finish up that area and to get a few things at the stores. DH and I had decided when school closures were announced that 12 year old was being restricted to home and therapy as long as they remained open. 15 year old went along to wait in the car with 12 year old while DH went into the stores. (we limit her outings to to stores to when they are not as busy under normal circumstances both to keep her from getting sick from people who can't get cover your mouth when you cough and to lessen the chance of her having a melt down. 5-7 PM on a weekday at the grocery store or going on a Saturday are out but going between 2 and 4 in the afternoon during the week or between 8 and 10 at night are safe times to take her) They get home about 1 and get the fruit that needs to be delivered to the smaller town near us loaded in my car which gave me some problems on Saturday so we were hoping that we had solved the problem with just putting some transmission fluid in as it was not to the add mark but was a bit lower than the full mark on the dipstick. DH told me and 15 year old to check it again when it was warm from running a few miles. I started out towards the town with both girls. Car did not get over 30 MPH in the first half mile so I decided to turn and head so that I could go around the 4 mile section that we live along while having 15 year old hit DH number on my phone so I could talk to him via my bluetooth. I get in touch with him and he tells me to head home continuing around the section (nice thing about living in an area that the main roads are all set up 1 mile apart in a nice grid if he thought it safe for us to continue I could have just turned the opposite way and gone into town. Car did get up to just under 40. Made the turn and lost engine power on the car tried to put it in neutral and do a rolling start no luck, tried again still nothing. Pulled to the side of the road and tried a few times to start the car (I had just gotten gas on Saturday so had close to a full tank). Call DH and he comes to us has me try it again nothing. He hooks the tow rope to his rear bumper and my front bumper. I have 15 year old transfer 12 year old carefully to his car as she was on the driver's side and there was some of the fruit on the passenger side. Things go fine until time to stop at the corner a mile down the road even though we were only going 15 MPH. DH hits the breaks and should be breaking for me as well but my car whips out to the side and goes along past him snapping the tow rope. I hit my breaks stopping nicely at the stop sign. DH comes and says he is going to push me so that he can get in front of me without being in the intersection. I tell him to let 15 year old steer as she is quite a bit lighter than me like 1xx instead of 3xx in weight lighter. I go and attempt to calm 12 year old down who has seen all this happen and is starting to freak out. She needed to see that her mama was perfectly fine. DH mentions that he can hook up the tow rope and try this again. HMM hell to the no I thought but I told him that I would rather call for a tow using my
AAA membership. He transfers the fruit to his car and takes that and the girls home. We figure if he has to head to work before I get home 15 year old can watch 12 year old for those few minutes. Tow truck driver arrives and as he is loading my car asks me what happened. I tell the driver along with what we think it is on not starting. I didn't hear a grinding sound so wondering if it was an alternator, driver says it might be a fuel pump gone out as well. 15 year old was saying could it be the battery earlier though I did have lights the last time I drove at night (can't check radio because it doesn't work at all and never has since we got the car along with the driver's window not working). I attempt to get in the tow truck but am unable to climb up in it so call DH who comes and gets me really quick. We get home he lets the driver know to put my car in what is normally his parking spot and tells me he is going into the house to get ready for work. I wait while the driver puts my car down and get the paperwork done as I am heading up the stairs into the house DH is coming out the door to head to work. I call 15 year old's phone and no answer since she had complained that she was tired I thought ok she heard us pull in and fell asleep (not walking down to basement). I call everyone that I have phone numbers for on the fruit that we still have to deliver and let them know that we will be delivering the next day late morning or early afternoon.
March 18 we get moving about 11 am to load the fruit in DH's car (he and 15 year old had unloaded it when they came back to the house while I was waiting for the tow truck the day before) and go get the deliveries done. We are able to get them done even stopping part way through so that DH can go into
Walmart and get me a new rolling laundry basket as mine that I got when 12 year old was a baby is on it's last legs before completely falling apart. He also got a 18 count of eggs and looked for potatoes which he said not only the bin was empty it was clean. Figure that DH could head in a bit early to stop by Albertsons on his way to work to see if they had potatoes which they had a 10 pound bag and he was able to pick up a few cream soups. DH called me when he got to work to let me know that he was going to clock in but that there was signage that his shift was changing. Sunday would remain the same, the rest of the week he would go in 1.5 hours later starting the next day. I attempted to call the inlaws but no answer at their house though they sometimes have problems with their landline phone since they went to a bundled program with their phone and internet. They don't leave their cell phone on unless they are out and about so it means sometimes we can't get a hold of them. Called my mom to see how she and my dad were holding out along with letting her know that DH would be going to work at a different time. She of course had to ask me what was wrong with my car. I told her that it lost power when turning a corner and would not restart and that the tow truck driver thought it might be a fuel pump.
March 19 My dad calls me and lets me know all the things he was able to find shopping while he was taking advantage of senior shopping times. Then starts in with what's wrong with the car and was it doing this. I let him know that it was acting up a bit prior to dying and that there was no grinding sound when I tried to start it so DH and I thought it might be an alternator and the tow driver thought it might be a fuel pump. My dad says that it could be one of those but that we could have locked up the engine in which case the car is gone.
March 20 Since it was payday DH went to the farm and ranch supply place to get a 40 pound bag of cat food and a 35 pound bucket of litter along with seeing what he could get at the Walmart in the smaller town. We also called and got a 2000 gallon delivery of water. DH and I went through our cans cupboard and took stock of what we have. Let's just say I have plenty of sweetened condensed milk to last me a while just need to add some other ingredients to it and I have fudge at least to make for special treats if I don't have eggs to make cookies for the girls since we won't be going out to resturants as a treat. DH headed to bed early knowing he would have to get up early in order to be at the stores when they opened so I had 12 year old get ready for bed so it would be quiet for him she did not go to bed like she was supposed to in fact it was close to 2:30 AM just about to sleep at 3 AM and 15 year old was up and in the kitchen fixing some food. Ok kid you woke me up so now you can share with me. Finally got to sleep around 3:30 with the alarm set for close to 2 hours later.
March 21 Got up with DH early in the morning or at least enough to make sure that he heard his alarm. Plan was to go back to sleep when he left which was close to an hour later than he should have left to make it to the first store. Soon after DH left 12 year old is up and going to need an eye kept on there goes going back to bed. DH keep calling me to give updates on what he has found and to ask me questions. He does not have any luck finding a 2.5 or even a 5 dozen count of eggs, a jar of yeast though he is able to find 6 packets which will at least get some bread if we run out and can't get more while I get a sour dough starter going. He was only able to find a small thing of powdered milk as well. He said he spotted honey at several places but did not bring any home though that I know I can get because I know the people that own a local apiary. Except for replacing thing like milk, eggs, and fresh produce along with bread as long as we can get it we are back to being stocked up though I would like it if DH can find some rice, no high fructous corn syrup jam, and pick up some baked beans we are set for a while here. In between DH's calls I had my dad call and ask if we knew what was wrong with the car. I went hmm no the fruit came in Saturday and we got delivered what we could, the smaller town run was 95% businesses and the people work Monday-Friday during the day, Monday DH and 15 year old went and borrowed parents in law's truck so that they could go get the washer and dryer we got with our tax refund, Tuesday I attempted to take the girls to deliver fruit and the car broke down, Wednesday we went and delivered fruit, Friday and today (Saturday) DH was trying to locate a few last minute supplies (this was supposed to be one of our regular larger stock up trips anyway though normally we would not have worried so much about things like flour and sugar, and yeast, and eggs because those we could get on the nex trip (all things that if your lucky and find a small amount such as 1 pound of sugar you get it because you might not find any elsewhere and if you wait it's gone) people around here must be planning on lots of baking) besides we needed to wait until payday to be able to do anything and the girls and I are not going anywhere until mid May. My dad proceeded to tell me that we should have not gotten a washer, we can use the one in their basement as well as the dryer which is not vented to the outside (this washer is a warm/cold with no delicate option that he washes his greasy coveralls in a few times a year so) and we should have saved that money because we might be looking at unemployment soon. He also told me that we need to at least figure out what is going on with the car so we can save to get it fixed when things have changed so that the girls and I can go places.
