From Mom, October 2, 2009

October 2, 2009

Dear Jeremiah,

I didn’t get a chance to write to you yesterday. I got all caught up on stuff at work and basically went to sleep when I got home. I replaced yet another water heater yesterday and I broke it. =) I had it all filled up and let the air out of the pipes. So I flipped the breaker back on and about a minute later I heard this gurgle noise coming from it and thought to myself (cause no one else was there) there must still be air in it and that I should flip the breaker off. And just as I was thinking that, I heard a poof sound. So I flipped the breaker off and opened the top element panel and sure enough I could smell burnt electrical. So I drained the water heater and pulled both elements. The bottom one was okay but the top one was peeled open like a banana. And of course I’m out of elements. So I’m currently waiting for those to get delivered. Then I went and found Joseph to confess my sins. Lol. Found him in B201 doing the move out walk thru. So he got to have a good laugh. The water heater in B201 wall all crocked and leaning a bit. So Joseph put his foot near it and presses down on the floor. And was like all whoa. The floor is all soft. So I went and got my stuff and got it all drained and pulled out. Called Joseph back over to look at the floor and he pulled out all the rotten stuff. If it wasn’t for a floor joist running under it, that heater could have fallen through and landed on top of the one downstairs and taken that one out too. Fun huh? So anyways, in the process of doing all that yesterday, I strained my back a little too much so today I’m all sore. I should have taken a hot bath last night but I didn’t. Usually when I do that I have no problems the next day. I really need to tonight, if I want to get anything done this weekend. I sure hope I can sell Pony soon, I want to pay a few months on the phone and car insurance. Then all that would be left is the water bill and the garbage. I can make Wes pay the water bill and the garbage isn’t that much, like $50 for 2 months. Mike called me a bit ago and said that all his stuff came back okay for working at Swift. Yah!! He does his orientation next week and they are advancing him $100. He will be getting paid every week. The advance is good because he was kinda worried about feeding himself on the road. I told him loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. I don’t think he was too impressed with that idea. We still don’t know a schedule for him yet. He told Ann that he’s keeping the boys. Ann keeps saying. I can take them and then I can’t take them. Back and forth. She loves them and all but she doesn’t really like taking care of them. So she is going to have them on a regular visitation. And we will work out the day care situation between Wes, G&G and Priscilla. Priscilla only works part time. So that will be a little help for them financially. I will care of them at night and on the weekends that Ann doesn’t have them. The dogs and Bear are getting used to each other, except when they are overly excited. But most of the time they do okay I believe that there is a 3 dog limit at Ft Campbell by the way. Pit bull or Pit bull mixes are not allowed at the dog parks there. They can be at the base but just always on leashes or back yards that are securely fenced. I don’t know what kind of dogs your friend has, but just in case. You know the aggressive nature can be bred out of pits just like it was with Rotties and Dobermans. I didn’t get a letter from you yesterday. That would have been your Monday letter. So we’ll see what I get today. =) Well I better get back to moving around and work. My leg has fallen asleep. I love and miss you.

Love Mom.

P.S. =)

Okay so anyways it’s almost 4pm Friday. I’m hungry and my back’s hurting. So I’m back to laying on the floor here in N106, writing to you. I was just up at the office talking to Joseph about how crappy our health care coverage now is since it got changed last year. Honestly the only reason I have it was to cover you. I’m not sure if I will keep it next year. I don’t feel like the benefit is a real benefit. Joseph is composing a letter to the company’s president. I am thinking about it also. After all if no one ever voices their opinion how would things ever change? I’m not going to finish this apartment today. I’ll finish Monday. Now I’m just counting down the minutes until I can go. I’m laying on my side and can only see the paper with one eye so I can’t seem to stay on the lines very well. =). Do you remember Donna Cordz? I don’t know if you do. You used to play with her son when we still lived in Yakima. Well she found out that she had pancreatic cancer and that she only had about 3 months left to live. That was right after you left for boot camp. They took her off the feeding tube about a couple weeks ago. Shirley says that when they go off the tube, it’s only a few days left for them. So I don’t know. She may have passed away already. Dk. Pretty sad. She’s only about 10 years older than me, her 2 kids are about 10 years older than you and Mike. Grandma used to babysit her and her sister when they were tiny. I used to babysit her kids when they were tiny. You see there’s kind of a close connection there. Families intertwined kind of thing. Tomorrow marks 2 months since you’ve been at Ft Benning. I haven’t called your phone since August 1st. it still seems weird not to talk to you all the time. I keep busy with work, dogs and all the guys living in my house. You always are there with me in my thoughts. I replay your letters and contemplate letters to write to you. I wonder about what your doing and compare your time zone with mine. A lot of time your getting up just as I’m going to sleep, like your on the other side of the planet. =) I emptied my apron and tossed it in the washer. It’s pretty dirty. Even without soap it will be an improvement. The new office person started yesterday. She seems nice so far. We’ll see. I had almost $3 in change in my apron, 3 pens, work keys, nail clippers, 1 apartment key tag and my note pad. Plus little pieces of trash that seem to fall in there. I keep sitting up in front of the heater to heat up my back muscles. I can hear the washer spinning, almost dryer time. Well that was painful. I’m going straight to the tub tonight. If my muscles don’t loosen up. I won’t get anything done this weekend. I gotta get my room painted including the floor. I’m gonna have Mike move the little beds to my room before he goes out on the road. I also need to get that new fan I bought put up so I have light in the dog’s room. I have my reading light in there now and it really doesn’t put out enough light. I think I’m gonna remove the A/C unit from my window. I haven’t used it all week. Next year I plan on getting one for the other window. Maybe I should make curtains with a fold up flap of the A/C so it doesn’t get all stuffed around it. I was going to make flat curtains anyways. Uses less material so it costs less. Those two t-shirts you gave me don’t fit. I guess Army size aren’t the same as Hanes sizes. If you get me a sweat jacket, get one that’s bigger. =) My phone’s dieing. I gotta get ready to go home. Love you more.
Love mom.