So the heating guy came yesterday and found that the switch to the boiler that runs the radiant heater hasn't been switching off...............at all!!
In other words, we've been burning propane constantly to run a heater that isn't on! The original cost to fill the big propane tank outside (because we don't live where there are gas lines) was about $600.00. It went up with flying high gas prices to $800.00, then $900.00 per fill. We filled it three times last year. You do the math for last years propane use!
We rarely ran the heat last year because it cost so much to fill the tank. Thus, the cold morning showers, the cold basement air, the COLD EVERYTHING! We've been using the wood burning stove upstairs, but that really only heats one room, then it's off to the dungeon cold bedrooms for a long long winters nap. I invested in heating blankets and space heaters for everyone last year.
Now we know why it's cost so much to use the broiler and I'm infuriated! I've been freezing and not turning on the heat because of a stupid SWITCH that's broken. I could just.....just.....just......break something.
Poor Nate has been running his tail off with all the projects he's taken on. The freezer, the heater, Heather's car, the new gym.
Heather needed new tires so we helped with the financing there, and part of the reason for an entire new tire was driving on a flat. And part of that problem was because she jacked the tire up on an angle and bent her jack, so she needed a new tire and a jack. Wanting to save money, Nate goes to the junk yard to find a jack and tire, pulls down the back seat of the junker car to get to the trunk and a wasp or bee flies out and stings him in the eye, leaving it swollen and bruised. But he got the jack!
He has had a schlew of bad luck when fixing things. I tell him for every one thing he fixes, he breaks one. That's not exactly the case, but close. I love him and am so proud that he is able to do the repairs that he does. He really is very talented!
Defrosting the basement walk in freezer with a tool that looks like a blow drier, he propped the heater tool up and left it to melt the ice, forgetting that this tool gets hot enough to melt aluminum and burned up the wiring, thus making the freezer useless. He had to find room for all the food from the walk in freezer in the two refrigerator freezers upstairs. He had to call a repair man, who kept changing the dates of repair. Nate finally bagged using the repair man and figured out for himself how to fix the freezer. It turns out, the freezer was improperly wired the whole time and that is why it was freezing over in the first place!
Another mishap, during the big gym building extravaganza, sparks flew while Nate was drilling or something in the ceiling, and it melted a hole in the broiler tubing to the radiant heaters, thus shutting down any chance of heat. So he calls the repair guy and this is when he found out that the switch was broken and has been remaining on the whole time, thus the outrageous propane bills!
So, it has been through the mistakes made that Nate's discovered the original problems with the freezer and radiant heater. If Heather hadn't driven on her flat, and jacked the tire upon the crooked part of the road, she wouldn't have needed a new rim or jack! What a mess! What a cost!
So the food is all back in the walk in freezer and the parts for the heater have been ordered so maybe there is a chance we'll be able to run the heat this winter!
Thanx Nate for going the extra miles!
Happy Birthday my little Monkey cheeks! I wish I could hug you and squeeze you and give you your presents myself. 
The swelling on the right side of her jaw was considerably more and it's a hard swelling. 
We thought this was bad until it became.................
AND THIS
(You know it's really awful of us when we know how bad she feels and how much it hurts but we still can't help laughing a little under our breath because she looks like Goldie Hawn in her fat suit!)
These were taken on Friday Sept. 11, Post Op day #2
Can you believe this swelling?
POD #5
She doesn't look very happy because her wounds are draining an awful tasting something and she's still on pain killers, but the swelling has gone down so much and she can actually give us a little smile. Oh, and she can use a regular teaspoon instead of a rubber coated baby spoon.
Belly shot
No idea about the nose powder! (No wonder he's so hyped ha ha)
These pictures are out of order but Nate and Whit are removing all the wood that was once a wall to reveal a bigger open space. Follow the big beam seen here in this picture and you'll be able to decipher what wall is being removed! He's going to stain that beam so it will be really beautiful when it's done. 
The picture above has the wall removed. Just need to take off the board on the floor.
All the boards coming down
Almost done
Out of order, this is the wall being taken down.
Whit has become quite a skilled worker. I can't believe he once looked up at me from below my hips and held onto my pants. I kept looking at him with awe knowing that he is now a full grown man. It's as amazing to have your kids grow up and become adults, and live in an adult world doing adult things. I think this is a hard transition for me (but a good one, kinda like becoming a grandmother). 
My carpenter hubby
The wall before it was removed
Our rooms smell so clean and they each have a tiled bathroom with a hand held shower and blow-drier. The strip above the bed has oxygen and suction on both sides of the bed as well as electrical outlets which makes moving the patient around to sit on the chair much easier. Each room has a recliner, desk with computer plugs and nightstand. The couches we ordered make up into a bed, but they didn't get to us in time so we have these really beautiful rented couches in each room (Pictured). I don't know if I'd want to rent these couches from that place knowing where they were before! We will be getting the futon couches sometime in October. 
Each floor has a lobby complete with a working fireplace! The smell of new carpet is so wonderful!
Janet RN CNC (floor manager) and Theresa CNA posing in front of the Dynamaps (blood pressure machines). Everyone was getting everything ready for the big move downstairs. I really had no idea how hard moving an entire floor of patients would be let alone all the equipment, supplies, office stuff, telemetry station, etc. It was a lot of work and we all went home exhausted but it was so worth it because now we have computers in the rooms, so we don't have to push around the C.O.W.'s (computer on wheels). Everyone loves all our changes. 
