Stupid Tree....

Vent post!

We have this tree in our backyard that tried to die on us last year. So Mark cut off the dead part, the top half, and voila! The bottom half started sprouting new branches! Now, for some reason he decided to call the tree in to housing maintenance who turned it over to the housing inspector to decide what he wanted done with it.

He showed up this morning and the first thing he said was that we had to clear the boxes off the porch. Fair enough, Amanda's husband dropped them off there and Mark hadn't dealt with them yet. We are collecting boxes to make packing easier when we get started. I then met him in the backyard where the next thing he said was, "What is up with your backyard!?!"

Note- it was a total mess, toys everywhere- a hamster cage from our hamster that died that I put out there until I could deal with it and kind of forgot it was there- two swingsets- dirt on the patio because the boys had fun with Mark's container garden that had squash in it next year- a few weeds in the landscaped bark- and some plants that had been left to winter without being trimmed so that the roots would survive. It needed attention badly, but it's been so cold and windy that we were waiting for a decent Saturday to go tackle it.

Then he was mad about the tree, which wasn't dead, and said we should have called it in to housing in the first place instead of chopping it down ourselves. We have to replace the tree because they can't accept it in that condition. Do we want to do it or do we want maintenance to take care of removal and planting a new tree? I guess maintenance.... because I don't know squat about planting trees and he wants a big one which will cost lots of money......

Next he goes to town about we have until close of business tomorrow- 4:00pm- to have both front and back yards cleaned up, plants trimmed, new bark covering the sprinkler systems, sprinkler system removed from our container garden which means somehow getting all the dirt out of them and moving them elsewhere so we can repair the tubing, house sprayed down to remove all the dust, and while we're at it.....

I also have to make sure the inside of the house is totally clean in case he wants to inspect that too. Because "in his experience if the outside looks like this then so does the inside." And he didn't care that my OB told me to take it easy and not do a bunch of heavy stuff, stay off my feet. Of course my house is a disaster right now! I have either been queasy, or tired, or gone! Not to mention depressed and really wanting back on my meds right now, so cleaning has kind of taken a backseat. I called Amanda in a panic, crying, because I was instantly completely stressed out. Luckily, she was hanging out on base and came to help. Mark tackled the outside, and we started in on the bathroom. Before she left we were able to get the boys bathroom, and both boys bedrooms completely cleaned, toys sorted, and 4 huge bags of stuff hauled out to the trash. After she left the living room and entry way got done, and the toys picked up in the backyard along with any trash that had blown over the fence over the winter. Mark got the front yard mostly done.

Tomorrow is the kitchen/ dining room, laundry room, my bedroom and bathroom, and what remains of the backyard. Which is trimming up the plants and getting new bark. Oh, and fixing the dumb sprinkler systems that we worked so hard looping to our box garden. We're hoping to borrow Amanda's truck to haul bark, and she is coming over tomorrow to help me some more. We figured this cancels out all those hours of babysitting I did while they moved! I have cried a couple times today, and got very crampy so had to sit down several times, and it's just been a long day for everyone. My poor children and husband got all sunburned because they were out all day.

AND!!!!!!!!!!! Oren got out of school early because of a gas leak at the school. They evacuated the school and surrounding housing areas, and Amanda was able to track him and her daughter down at the grocery store across the street where their classes were. Oren's teacher was.... um.... very grateful that she came to get him! :-) He gets excited easily and I'm sure was very interesting to handle the hour that Amanda spent trying to track him down. It was only supposed to take 30 minutes to clear everything, but took longer than an hour so they were releasing children to parents, since it was lunch time and there was no way to feed them.

What a day! Here's hoping I get some sleep tonight, and that tomorrow is a better day. I have an OB appointment, and luckily I haven't spotted in a week, so she should be happy. My glucose numbers will make her cringe, I'm sure. They do it to me!

I know that the yard and house are our own fault, but that doesn't make today any easier. We don't want a write-up, and we are hoping to be approved for a 4-bedroom, so we are going to suck it up and get it done. He's just a really OCD, nitpicky inspector, and I'm not sure how this is going to go..... Crossing fingers!