Blank Paper:

Like... So many problems. Some of which have been ignored for 30 years. And so, we are now trying to fix them. Before, you know, the house burns down.

The latest ones are the 2 chimneys. Neither of which have apparently ever had chimney caps put on. You know what happens when you don't up a chimney cap on? The mortar between the lining brick washes away. And then fire can get in places it shouldn't. So can creosote.

We are currently staring down the barrel of a $20,000 bill to repair this shit.

Not actually, no. Home Owner's insurance might cover some of it. Might. Like $9,000. Minus our $2,500 deductible. And if we do a new fireplace insert into the dining room, we don't have to do the most expensive repairs. Of course, those most expensive repairs are also the things that insurance might cover. If we leave off the repairs to the outside chimney, or maybe find a different contractor, we can cut it down to around $6,000 for now. Guestimating because I don't know what things like shipping and handling for the new stove and insert would be, or what the cost of the new flexible flue pipe is (though one online store priced it at $550). So, I can guess some things, but not others.

Of course, I gotta talk to the hubby about all of this. Have I mentioned that talking about money makes me get close to a panic attack? Seriously. Just thinking about it, my face starts to tingle and then go numb and I can feel my heart race.

*points at icon* I'm having issues doing that right now...

So, updatey thing. MiL had the lung cancer surgery back in May. Afterwards the cancer board at the hospital decided that it was aggressive enough that she should have chemotherapy. That has been fun. Three weeks cycles of poisoning and recovery. But now that is finished. Right now they are doing supportive. recovery care, getting her blood counts and kidney function back up. It is what it is.

She starts a clinical trial for a drug next week. Something that has apparently been on the market forever and that they are investigating as a post cancer drug. *shrug* She felt a moral obligation to do it, and it pretty much tipped her scale towards doing the chemo since it was a requirement to take part in the study.

PET scans... 2 weeks ago? 3? 4? Recently. She had just started to recover some of her activities, like doing altar flowers for the church. Which, of course, means that something went wrong.

She picked up a tub of flowers and hurt her back. We all thought she pulled a muscle, until she went to her primary clinic due to continued pain. Nope. Compression fracture of a vertebrae. So... Yeah, that's fun.

No previous hint of osteoporosis. The PET scan was recently enough that it should not be cancer. Chemo can cause osteoporosis, so that is probably what is happening.

But, she is in pain, and anxious. I understand this. I do.

I do not understand her be bitchy about EVERYTHING. The boys put a stack of papers on the table that is there for people to lay things on to sort though. She yelled about that. The Munchkin had library books on the kitchen peninsula. She hitched about that.

Like, seriously. I get it. But stop taking it out on everyone.

My tongue should be bloody from how many times I bite it now.