Vaccuum Surprise

Vacuums are one of my surprising areas of expertisse. I worked for 4 1/2 years during my college years on and off (mostly on) as a janitor. Part of that line of work involves knowing how to completely assemble and disassemble a vaccum in order to remove commercial-sized clogs. This knowledge has come in handy in my personal life a shocking number of times.
Segue to about 8 months ago. Our vacuum was on the fritz. Luis was pretty sure that it was because we had the wrong sized bag, so he spent about 2 months every weekend driving around to specialty vacuum maintenence stores searching for the correct bag. He ended up special ordering the bag from the Bissell manufacturing plant and making mulitiple trips to the store because it was backordered and then they sent the wrong size. It was crazy. Then my life fell apart for a while with the end of the school year and I stopped caring about the status of my carpet. I would still vacuum semi-regularly, but I kind of stopped caring so deeply about the fact that there were clearly issues with the machine. One of the nicest things about having dogs is that they eat literally every crumb of food that gets dropped on the ground anyway, so I figured that as long as there wasn't any gooey stains being formed then we were probably okay.
Then summer started and I declared a moritorium on housework. I did basic chores like laundry and dishes, but I decided that I needed a break from my life and part of that was any sort of real cleaning. I kind of just wiped down bathrooms instead of my usual aggressive attacking of stains. And I still didn't really care about the malfunctioning vacuum, despite the fact that it was getting to the point where it was regularly spitting things backwards onto my feet while vacuuming. Gross, I know, but it was just Lu and me all summer and we're pretty tidy people anyway, so I just kind of made do.
Well, this week marked the start of me returning to the real world and part of that involved doing some actual cleaning. Especially last weekend when Ana moved out, I kind of had to buckle down and clean out her room. It was medium scary how much dust was under the furniture.
I was kind of peeved that the vacuum wasn't pulling its weight in the sanitizing department, so I decided to employ my intensive knowledge of the inner workings of a vaccum and I pulled it apart.
Well, turns out he problem was never with the bag. As I was shaving off all the strings and hair from the roller bar, I noticed that the intake hole was literally a solid plug of carpet fibers and other mystery ingredients. I scraped it out with a wire hanger and then decided to explore the source of the blockage...
I opened up the main part of the suction tube and discovered.... drumroll please...
A large man's sock.
GROSS!!!
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I mean, I knew that the vacuum had lost suction, but I had no clue that it had lost ALL suction. My carpets haven't been cleaned for at least 8 months and I felt so gross that I vacuumed the entire house literally 5 times. I may be vacuuming daily for the next week because I just feel icky. But I'm glad I solved the mystery of the missing suction.
Here's the really messed up part. Most families, when such a situation arises, can look to one person as the culprit- the person in the family who would actually attempt to vacuum up a large man's sock and get away with it. In my family, it could be any one of at least 5 people. Yes. That is correct. Was it Mama' messing around and screwing with my appliances? Was it Ana cluelessly attempting to clean something up? Was it Andrei rushing through his chores so he could go outside and play as quickly as possible? Was Luis distracted while talking on the phone or just being generally too tall to notice what's going on with the floor? Was I distracted while trying to put out too many fires in other parts of the house? We'll never know...
I guess the real miracle is that we didn't burn out the motor.

First Day of School

Today is my first day back at school with students. So far I'm almost halfway through with the day, however, and I haven't taught a single class. That's because my morning classes are 8th grade classes and the 8th graders don't come back until tomorrow.

That's okay with me. It makes the day go by faster and it gives me plenty of time to get things done, like take my yearbook photo, run errands, make copies, update databases, visit with friends, annoy the counseling department with impossible scheduling requests, forward emails, print agendas, and take an unofficial photo of my first day as a teacher this year.  Phwew. I could use a nap now.

How many of you have little ones that started school this week?

*Update: I've encountered my first seventh graders. Every year I'm floored by just how precious and little the children are, especially at the start of the school year. I'm constantly overwhelmed with the urge to protect them and the urge to pinch their cheeks. This year is no exception. I just taught a class of 30 children for 40 minutes about the grading expectations at Dixon. They had their eyes glued to me the entire period with a mixture of fear, shock, and wonderment. It was the cutest thing of all time. Plus, it's super cool that middle schoolers seem to "get" my sense of humor. I love them so much. 

P.S. Is it wrong that I already have a favorite student? It  probably is, but I can't help it. This kid may be the most likable person ever. And in case that idea appalls you, you should know that all teachers have their favorite students. The very, very good ones never let on to whom they are, though... odds were you were somebody's favorite student at some point, too!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well it's been a really busy week. It feels more like a month since the last time I posted. Nothing exciting, cool, or special- just a lot of work. We basically moved everything in my room around in order to accommodate about 500 new books I bought over the summer, and it's been a challenge just manhandling all of that furniture. Yowza. Thank heavens I had Brendan here to help out. He's been great.
The biggest change of all was this weekend when Ana announced that she was moving out. I guess she'd put in applications at a few nicer apartment complexes in the area just in case and there was one in particular that is a government subsidized place in PG that she really liked because it has a playground, pool, and it's insanely cute and basically brand new. I guess they told her they had an opening for a 3rd floor coming up in late October, which was earlier than she was planning on but she was okay with it. Last week they called her and told her there was a 1st floor opening up, 2 bed 2 bath for $700/mo or something like that but the catch was she had to move in this weekend.
Needless to say Brendan, Luis, and Marco spent all weekend hauling furniture from Provo to PG and as of yesterday afternoon everything of hers that was in my house is gone.
It's like losing a tooth. You kind of look forward to it, then you dread it, then it's a painful process actually removing the tooth, and then when the tooth is gone you can't stop thinking about the hole in your mouth, but you're also somewhat giddy about the dollar under your pillow. I guess in my case it was 50 cents, but you get the idea. I can't believe she's gone. Not only gone, but moved into some other place. Every time she's left before all of her stuff stayed put in my crawl space. It is going to be so weird without her constantly around. Even these last few months when she was never around, she was still always around and I still had to step over all her stuff wherever I went.  We figured out the other day that she lived in my house longer than she's ever lived anywhere since moving out of her parents house in Mexico. That's crazy.
Anyway, it's a time of new beginnings, I guess. What with school starting for Andrei and me, Brendan moving in, me starting fertility treatments, and a possible move in the future it seems like times they are a changin'!

The day after my big day...

Well, today was eerily calm compared to yesterday, but let's back up.
Everything went great yesterday. Brendan's flight made it without a hitch and I picked him up right on time. We had plenty of time for him to get back here and me to give him the tour before I had to take off to my appointment. He got settled in and I took off to the clinic.
Things went well. The doctor was very professional and never once hinted that I was crazy or just too fat (I mean, c'mon. I'm a size 12, people! It's a little big for my age, but seriously!?). Dr. Slater got right down to business and we talked about my previous experiences, went over my bloodwork from the last endochrinologist (the one who implied I was a hypochondriac and told me to drop 40 pounds immediately). She answered a lot of questions I had and gave me a diagnosis that put together all of the pieces. We made a plan and we're moving forward with it.
After I came home from that, we had meatballs and cheese tortellini with pesto sauce for dinner and I gave Brendan a tour of the town. We stopped at Hawaiian shaved ice for dessert and ended the evening by helping him start to look for jobs. There are some great prospects for him, so we're pretty optimistic. He's a great kid and is very sweet and helpful. I'm very glad he's here.
Today he helped me work in my classroom all day and I helped him write resume's and cover letters to apply for all the jobs we found yesterday evening. I took him out to Taco Riendo for lunch and introduced him to real Mexican tacos. He was very excited, but not as excited as he was when we made a tri-tip and Greek Cucumber/Tomato salad for dinner. Yum yum!
So that's where we're at now. I have one more day of freedom before I go back into meetings on Friday and back to class on Monday. In unrelated news that is also somehow totally related, Ana announced today that she is actively looking for apartments and may be moving out as soon as Saturday. Wow. Huh. There you go.
Ah, summer. How I will miss you...

Busy Day

I have to get ready to go get my brother from the airport today. He's going to be staying with me for a while as he's working and saving up money for college/mission. It's going to be weird since in my head he's still 12, but in actuality he's nearly 19 and a really cool kid, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
As soon as I get him home I have to run to my consultation with the fertility clinic. That's a whole bag of issues in and of itself that I don't want to get into right now, but long story short it's going to be very difficult for me emotionally to talk about my medical history with the physician and I'm really hoping that the lady I'm going to see is compassionate and actually treats me like a person with a complex past and a real problem. If not, I won't take it well. I really wish I didn't feel so alone, and that I didn't have to go to this appointment by myself.
If I make it through that, the rest of the day will be spent showing Brendan the beautiful and historic city of Provo and working in my class to get that mess all sorted out by Friday.
Wish me luck!

A Day in the Life

A big theme in Casa de Farias is being cheap and saving money. It's actually comical most of the time how cheap hubby and I really are, but in the long run, we have SO much fun trying to find ways to flip our dimes into quarters.
Here's an example of a day in my life.
Background: My brother Brendan is moving in with us while he saves up money for his mission and does (theoretically) a semester of college.
Problem #1: We have no spare bedrooms since SIL is still in our guest room... indefinitely.
Solution: Turn the office into a bedroom.
Problem #2: There's no room in there because it's full of office furniture
Problem #3: We are too cheap to buy a new bedroom set.
Solution: Sell the office furniture and use it to buy bedroom furniture.

The Math: Desk for sale $70 + Printer for sale $30... MINUS
Bed off of KSL (local awesomer version of Craigslist) $85 (frame, headboard, footboard, mattress, box springs) + cheapest dresser at Ikea $59 (on sale from $120) + $5 can of spray paint to turn a brown nightstand into a black one.

Result: for less than $50 I have an entirely new set of relatively matching bedroom furniture plus I got rid of a stupid old printer and a desk that I truly hated....

Not too shabby, eh?

Light Show

We're in the middle of a pretty big (comparatively) summer storm. It started last night as hubby and I were riding our bikes back from Walmart. I hate Walmart and only go there as a last resort, but sometimes I can't avoid it because they have stuff I can't find anywhere else. Yesterday, I was looking for 4 inch satin blanket binding. The only other store that carries it is Jo-Anns at twice the price.
But back to my narrative.
On the way back into Provo hubby noted that there looked like an extreme storm moving in from the South. It was slow moving, though, and we got home long before the show could begin.
Around 5 am, this morning, the epicenter was apparently right over my house. I was awakened by the kind of lightning and thunder that I normally only experience in Houston. It was a treat, and I groggy as I was, I immediately grabbed for my camera.
Sadly, I'm not so hot at night photography and had trouble getting the settings straight, but I got one or two decent photos in. Here's my fave.

I love summer.

Family and Xenophobia

I have a super-warped vision of family because, let's be truly honest here, my family is like the exact opposite of traditional. Without pointing fingers or naming names I can safely say that my childhood was difficult and that my idea of family is not linear or concrete but more of a nebulous haze floating around me which I sometimes choose to be a part of and other times not. For the past 7 years, I mostly choose not.
That's really weird coming from someone who grew up in a church where the motto is "family first."  But I got the idea early on that my family was whomever I wanted it to be, and some times I'm only okay with being a family of 3. That's a strange concept for most people, but especially for my husband, who has a pretty standard and very united (and outgoing) family. Sometimes they're too united for me and I hide in my office for weeks at a time because they won't go away.
The point of all of this is that I am paralyzingly xenophobic- I'm even afraid of answering the telephone, believe it or not, because I'm not always sure who it is. Since a large part of my family is oddly enough very much strangers to me, I usually avoid ...pretty much everyone. To make a long story short, most of my family is cool with spending time with me on their home turf but rarely on my home turf, and I am not usually comfortable going "out" to "see" people. Because of this, I don't really do a lot of things with people other than my husband's family and circle of friends- I couldn't keep them away from my house if I had a moat, barbed wire fence, and armed guard. Surprisingly, this really doesn't bother me that much.
This worries me- the xenophobia and social anxiety, but not enough to get help because getting help would involve going someplace to "see" somebody and talking to multiple strangers.
It's starting to be kind of a big deal, these days, because my youngest brother will most likely be moving in with me. I was going to make the announcement when the time got a little closer, but we kind of fast-tracked this thing and he bought a ticket to fly here from Virginia in a couple of weeks, so I guess it's pretty close to a done deal. I'm excited, because I love him very much. I'm also worried that I will have trouble allowing someone into my inner circle which is so very, very closed most of the time.
In the long run, though, I think it will be very good for me. And for now, I'm just wondering how many people out there also suffer from social anxiety and an overwhelming fear of strangers, and if I'm the only person on Planet Earth who's sometimes scared of being with their family?

Aspartame

I have a confession to make: I am a SERIOUS Diet Coke addict. It's kind of scary, and it's really sad.
I've tried several times to get off of the stuff, but I always end up drinking it again because I work at a job that requires me to be at work long before my internal clock thinks it's time to wake up.
I have noticed, over the years, that I am starting to suffer from more and more bizarre health problems which doctors can't identify or treat, such as chronic headaches and serious fatigue.
I have a hunch. I think it's the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke, aspartame. I've done a lot of research lately, but what I've noticed is that when I travel internationally, I feel a lot better. It's due, in large part, to the fact that I am totally psyched to be traveling internationally, but I have a theory that it's also partly because most foreign countries do not allow or use aspartame in the quantity that the U.S. does. They use saccharin or sucralose or acesulfamine K as a replacement or supplement to aspartame. That and Coca-Cola Light costs more per ounce than wine in most countries so I usually just drink water when I travel.
The biggest clue came when I developed a mystery allergic reaction in May. I have, for several months, suffered daily from random hives covering all or part of my skin. I will break out in terrible, terrible hives that look like bug bites and which persist anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. When I went to Italy they went away after the first 2 days. They came back as soon as I returned to the U.S. That got me to thinking, researching, and postulating. I also noticed a major increase in migraines and decrease in energy.
So I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to try replacing my usual Diet Coke and Coke Zero with Coke with Splenda or generic cola with sucralose for 2 weeks. I wil be interested to see how things come out. I will be keeping a journal to record my health symptoms and daily soft drink intake to see if there's any correlation that I will make available to anyone who is interested in this sort of stuff.