You Can't Make This Up

While I would be bored to death in a life that was the same day after day, life has been so much more stressful the past two months than I could ever have imagined. 

The roller coaster of life has been relentless.

Don’t get me wrong, this adrenaline junkie does love a good coaster but this one has been hell.


It feels like we’re stuck in an endless loop-de-loop and the damn thing wont stop!

Eleven days before double mastectomy surgery, after enduring countless tests and an additional bone cancer scare, the central AC in the house died. I have been paying a company called American Home Shield for a home warranty since we bought the house in 2011 specifically to protect us when the HVAC died.

I filed a claim and American Home Shield sent some half-assed contractor who was super nice when he thought we were going to upgrade both the AC and Furnace with him (they were 21 years old...it was time) but when I tried to get him to get partial compensation through the warranty company, he ghosted us.

In fact, he ghosted American Home Shield…but they don’t care.

I did some research and discovered that is his normal MO. He has a one-star rating with BBB and that star is because you can't give zero.

I called American Home Shield every day trying to get this rectified because I was facing a double mastectomy and returning home to a house with no AC. And, both the contractor and American Home Shield knew about my impending surgery!

American Home Shield informed me that they would pay to replace the compressor but that the freon was going to cost $1,400. We had a lengthy discussion about the fact that the system was 21 years old and once they replaced the compressor something else would fail that’s what happens with old equipment! Never mind the fact that I didn't want to pay $1,400 for freon. If we were going to pay that much money it was going toward a new system.

American Home Shield called Tom at Climate Control Heating & Air, LLC multiple times and left messages asking him to call. He didn't.

After a full week of daily calls to both American Home Shield and Climate Control Heating & Air LLC I was informed that the contractor had ordered the compressor without ever speaking to us.

WTF?!

I lost my shit!!!

We never authorized the repair and that guy never bothered to speak to us.

I did get one email from him yelling at me in all CAPS that said if he changed his recommendation, they’d send someone for a second opinion. I told him I didn’t care.

He disappeared again.

In the meantime, we had contacted a friend of a friend who is starting his own HVAC business. James gave us an amazing deal on a both a central AC and new furnace.

Damn good thing too.

Evidently the heat exchange was full of cracks. Had we fired it up this fall the whole family may have died.

I had surgery on May 17.

While I was in the hospital hubby went to Home Depot and bought a window air conditioner so I could come home and recuperate in comfort.

Think about this… in addition to the thousands of dollars that I have wasted with American Home Shield we are now out $8,400 for a new HVAC system plus the cost of a window air conditioner.

American Home Shield, after being shamed on Facebook, has paid us $797 that was supposed to cover the Compressor and labor - don't forget that we were going to have to pay $1400 for freon - so that measly $797 was truly a drop in the pond.

Unbelievably, the Friday after surgery, Tom from Climate Control Heating & Air LLC called. My only comment was that I didn't want to speak to him, and I hung up.

I could have let loose on the jerk, but what would be the point? It's not like he gave a crap to begin with!

James arrived the next morning and got the new system installed. By dinner time that night we were back in whole house comfort! We are so grateful to him for rearranging his schedule to help us.

There are reputable home warranty companies out there. American Home Shield is not one of them. If you are thinking about a home warranty do your research so you don’t waste your money like we did.

If you need a new HVAC system, let me know…I gotta guy! 

Sucky Day

Today was an emotional roller coaster day and for no reason other than it just sucked. 

One minute I was ready to cry, the next I was ready to slap someone and then I'd be laughing about something. 

For. No. Reason! 

Well other than my whole world is going to change in six days. Yeah, that might have something to do with it. 

As if the roller coaster wasn't bad enough I was instructed by someone who meant well but told me to, "take a deep breath and count to 10." Really?! 

W. T. F?!?! 

This is not a patience thing. This is a massive body altering operation followed by chemo, which we all know sucks. I don't need patience I needed someone to say, "I'm so sorry. Days like this really do suck." 

Take a breath?! 

So I completely came unglued on the person. 

I then called them back to apologize and explain that in the future if you catch me in a mood like that giving me advice about calming down is the WORST thing a person could do. What I need in that moment is to be validated. 

As God is my witness, she replied with, "Well I do validate your feelings...but you do need to step back and take a breath." 

I hung up. 

I don't need advice. I didn't call for advice. I don't want advice. 

I needed a sounding board. I needed understanding. I needed someone who would take my mind off this mess and make me laugh. Change the subject. Talk about something stupid. Something menial whatever...just don't lecture. 

Yes, I am strong. Yes, I'm a fighter. Yes, I will get through this. 

Doesn't mean that I'm happy about it or that it will be a walk in the park. I do my best to stay in the here and now but sometimes what's coming pokes his head into my life to remind me that dark days are coming. 

Imagine being at the beach with a beautiful blue sky listening to the waves crash on the shore and a rain cloud suddenly comes over you and only you. Then it goes away, and comes back repeatedly. That was how I felt today. 

No amount of breathing made me feel better. And, well, I had to do it all day to stay alive. 

Having other cancer patients/survivors tell me they know how I feel made me feel better. 

Having people make me laugh makes the biggest impact! 

A friend messaged me today to see how I was and I replied, "It's an angry day. Some days are happy but today I just want to slap someone."

Later on when I left the shop to pick up the boys from school I got in my car, put the key in the ignition to start the car and found this on my windshield. 

Oh how I love my friends. 

Keep me laughing gang. 

Bee Hives, Pneumonia And Lobsters, Oh My!

Over the winter my hubby assembled two new bee hives and we are now awaiting the call to go pick up the colonies and their queens any day now.

Once the hives were assembled hubby took the boys to the hardware store to let them pick out their own colors so that they could help him paint the "bee houses."

In preparation of the arrival of the bees the boys (all three) have been learning about the colony, the workers and the queen.

It's been a very fun process that involves books and videos and even some TV shows. I now know more about bees than I ever thought possible...especially because I am allergic to the little buggers!

The roller coaster of life continues to astound me. One day up, the next down. Last week was a low one.

In fact last week was pretty much a nightmare.

In true three-year-old fashion David stuffed a raisin up his nose Wednesday night.

He was not able to blow it out and the pediatrician was unable to locate it the next day. He assures me that he can still feel it up there.

I truly hope not.

The following morning Daniel woke up with a fever of 102.6. It dropped below 100 after a dose of Tylenol but I still called the doctor to check to see if they wanted to see him. I was advised to keep an eye on him but that if the fever spiked to 105 to go to the ER.

Just after 8pm that night we arrived in the local ER because Daniel's fever had spiked to 105.5!

Within one hour they had him through triage, in a bed, flu tested, given Tylenol and x-rayed to check his lungs for pneumonia.

He tested positive for the flu and for pneumonia. I immediately felt like the worst mom on the face of the earth.

How could I have missed this? What did I do wrong? What should I have done? How did this happen? He was in the pool the day before for over an hour until I physically removed him so we could eat lunch!

How can you be swimming one day and have pneumonia the next?!

Seriously...how does that even happen?!

We were in the ER just under three hours. In that time they ran a flu test, blood tests, took x-rays, hooked up an IV and administered both fluids and antibiotics.

The following day David and I headed to the grocery store to stock up on fruit and a few other staples to get through the weekend/Holiday.

This was the first time that I'd had only one child with me in the grocery store and we had a pretty good time picking things out together.

David is a really smart kid. His verbal skills are above average and his memory is astounding. He picks up on things that most adults don't and even conjugates verbs properly!

The level of his intelligence became very obvious while looking at the lobster tank in our local grocery store. I pointed out that most of the lobsters were pretty small with the exception of one that was considerably larger than all the rest.

"Maybe that's the queen," David replied.

Um...maybe.