Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2002. Mattie was a month old. That day I tried to snap multiple photos of Mattie, in hopes of capturing the "perfect" photo for our baby announcement. Yes he wasn't a newborn by that point, but what I love about this photo series was Mattie's character and spirit were already shining through! To me this photo screams out.... HEY I AM CURIOUS AND WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE!
Quote of the day: I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature. ~ Paulo Coelho
Truly some days I just have to laugh! I had high hopes for my morning. I thought I would get my dad up, do the morning routine and then get to Foundation work. I have several donations that I have to process and acknowledge. But getting concentrated time in my house is close to impossible. Today was NOT a disappointment. It lived up to my usual chaos.
It started with a call to my electrician. I spent about a half an hour this morning diagnosing the outdoor lighting issue. The issue being that my front outdoor lights by the driveway are all out. The rain knocked them out. I checked the circuit breakers, they were fine. So I knew a GFI (ground fault interrupter -- a safety device in electrical systems) had to be reset. But where was this GFI located for this string of lights? I truly had NO IDEA, as it was my husband who installed most of our outdoor lighting. I never paid attention to the process, why would I? This was his thing, and I trusted he would always be there to manage so many things.
Any case, this morning I was Columbo! I deduced that there was an extension chord underground running from the driveway, along our stone pathway, and into an electric outlet on the porch. When these extension chords were plugged in, they tripped the GFI. So I knew this outlet was the culprit. Of course I can't tell if the issue is an outlet, an extension chord, or another issue. Any case, my electrician and I know each other well. Keep in mind that when we bought this house, Bob was practically here daily for months, rewiring the house. As nothing was to code!
I explained the issue to Bob and told him what I was able to figure out! He literally said..... you did a great job diagnosing the problem for me! But of course unless he is on site, it is hard to know how to fix it, so I am waiting for an appointment with him this week. The beauty of Bob is he charges by the project, NOT by the hour! So while he is here, I will have him help me with other lighting issues. Bob and my plumber, Cody, tell me all the time that I am on my way to becoming skilled in plumbing and electrical. Something to add to my resume.
But this isn't where my day ended. I had to complete some annual paperwork for my mom. She gets benefits through the City of NY, but to qualify for these benefits, I have to complete documents that require information from Social Security. Typically my parents get a letter from Social Security each year, but this year, neither of them got their letters. So I tried to get into their on-line portals. Forget it! Which meant I had to call! I made FOUR calls to Social Security today and was on the phone for 4 hours! I AM NOT KIDDING.
The first call was on my mom's phone and I NEVER spoke to a live person, but was able to request the form I needed, which will be sent by mail. The second call was on my dad's phone, again, never speaking to a live person, but requesting the document I needed to be mailed to me. Then the third call, in which I needed to speak to a live person at their help desk, I waited on hold for 90 minutes. When Wally came on the phone, he spoke to both of my parents and then he and I worked together to get access to my parents portals. That alone was about 40 minutes.
My dad's portal was actually easy to access, it just involved resetting a password, but my mom's wasn't easy. Wally helped me and I thought I was all set, as I got into the system. So I hung up with Wally. Big mistake. Once on my mom's portal, more identifying questions were asked of us, and the system did not like the answers. Therefore, they locked us out of her account and suspended it. So this led to phone call number 4! I waited on hold for 20 minutes and then Jamie came on the line. I explained the problem. You are going to love this! The system has my mom's birthdate wrong! Jamie thought I was entering the date incorrectly, until I finally said to her..... I KNOW MY MOM's BIRTHDATE. She quickly realized that what was inputted into the system year ago was incorrect!
So now the only way to solve this issue, is to go to a Social Security office, and the first available appointment is June 30! Truly I can't make this up! If it is going to happen to someone, it will happen to me. Unfortunately, I can't let my mom handle these issues alone. No matter how many times I explained to her what we needed to do, she still was confused at to why we were talking to Social Security. In addition, he was getting very anxious and unable to function. It is very hard being the only intact person in my house, with no one on the ground here to turn to for help, support, and to share the load. This is not how I imagined my life was going to look like and if someone told me I was going to get divorced and would be juggling caregiving, bills, a house, and the Foundation alone, I would have absolutely laughed! I (along with my family and friends) NEVER saw this coming.
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