Zag's Week, A timeline of DOOM

[Zag]

What has gone before: (caution, LONG!)

After a "routine" check on thier apartment, Cam and Zag find they suddenly have only 30 days to vacate, because
the new apartment manager says they are "too dirty". Cam and Zag admit to clutter, but state that they have started re
painting an are having the carpet replaced at their own cost, and have already spent over $1000 toward that end.
No avail. They are assured it is NOT an eviction, just a termination of lease, and there will be no reprisals. Riiiiight.

Wednsday afternoon; Cam and Zag apply to an AWESOME 3 bedroom apartment of the SAME LAYOUT of the one they live in currently, only
3 miles away, (and much more affordable.) Hopes are high, and things are looking up! Wednseday night passes quietly, and Thursady
morning seems full of possibilities! Tim goes to school, Zag does dishes, etc. and plays with Miko.

Thursday afternoon; Cam calls asking Zag to meet him with the kids outside when he gets off work so they can jump in the car and zoom off to the
new apartment complex to sign paperwork before it closes. Zag says "Sure." Tim comes home from school, and plays nicely with Miko.

Thursday evening; Zag gets the kids in order, takes them outside, and immediately Tim runs off down the hill, and into the woods. The woods is a
wonderfully overgrown mess that has a 40 degree angle mud encrusted path to the small creek and on the other side, direct access to a double
rail-road track. JOY! Zag tells Miko to sit on the stairs as she hurries after Tim. Upon entering the underbrush, She sees a lovely new skid down the
path marking which way Tim went. However, he is nowhere to be seen, and does not answer her calls. Zag has Miko join her at the wood entrance.
Attempting not to loose her sanity, watch Miko, find Tim, and not slide down int mud, is .. to say the least .. NOT EASY. Tim is finally spotted,
due to the fact that he's A: Wearing a bright red shirt and B: Carrying a glowing GameBoy. After a frantic 10 minutes of alternately threatening and encouraging
Tim to come back, another tense five minuets pass as Zag attempts to get Tim up the mud slide of a path. Telling him to "Grab the branch" to pull himself up,
results in Tim picking up a twig and waving it about proudly. It's almost funny. After 6 attempts, a very muddy Tim is finally in reach (with Zag hanging from the
afformentioned trusty branch) and he then smiles, and PURPOSEFULLY slides back down. Zag attempts not to curse, and fails. (Meanwhile, Miko stands
by giving encouraging advise, "I think you can get him this time, Mommy!") Finally dragging Tim up out of the woods a mud and leaf encrusted mess,
Zag spends a long time alternately hugging and scolding him.
Meanwhile, Miko finds an abandonded golf club. (Looks like a 1 Iron, probably hot, it's that kind of neighborhood.) Miko pretends it's a hobby-horse. Tim
immediatley demands "Where's Tim's golf club?!" and is told he did a BAD JOB and therefore doesn't get one.
The next 20 minutesare spent sitting on the cold concrete, with Tim in Zag's lap, alternately screaming "Tim wants Crazy Golf!", crying, and shrieking like
he's lost a leg. Zag uses up all available patience calming him, rocking him, singing with him, and generally trying to make him relax. Miko plays hobby-
horse, and sings along. Cam is an hour late. Neighbors walk by looking at Zag like she's some kind of fungus. Zag resolves to be calm when Cam gets there, but fails
miserably due to the weight of the stress of the last hour. This is when Cam tells her that The new apartment complex called to say that the preliminarey credit check
is showing an eviction notice. From their current apartment complex. What a surprise. After a long semi-professional phone call with the New Mangaer (aka Super B!tch),
and some hemming and hawing, they are finally told that the notice is from 2004, when they were a day late with their rent, due to changing banks.
S.B. agreees to fax over official documentation stating we never actuall were evicted, and that the evition notice was resinded. But not until Monday morning.
Because she had a meeting tonight. Yeah. Coincidentally, notices went up all over the complex that week about a complex wide "Welcome Fall!" party, with drinks,
snacks karaoke, etc. on..... wait for it....Thursady night! Yeah, some meeting. Needless to say, Cam and Zag do not attend.

Friday morning; Cameron left for work. Or tried to, but failed, due to a dead car battery. A jump got it started, but it died whenever the car was
turned off. Cam gets a ride to work. Zag attempts to get the old battery out, only to find it's BOLTED INTO THE FREAKING CAR.
After borrowing a socket set, (Cam subsiquently promised Zag a shiny new set of her own at the earliest opritunity) the old battery is finally out. Zag attempts
to load in the spare battery from their old car (which she saved, along with the wiper blades, floor mats, and anything else usable.) without zapping herself out
of existance,as the children watch from the window. Surprise! The replacement battery has the - and + terminals on OPPOSITE SIDES of the dead one.
Turning the battery, Zag finds the terminals' wires aren't long enough to reach the - and + bits. Oh yay! So, now there are two useless batteries.

Friday night: Cam hitches a ride home from work, feeling like he's been run over by a bus. He's sick, dog-tired and down in the dumps.

Saturday morning; After an almost sleepless night due to feeling like a leaky faucet, he drags his butt to the curb for a co-worker to futz with the car,
and give him a jump. He manages to get to work, but the car refuses to re-start without a jump. Zag stays home with two hyber house-bound kids.
DVD watching ensues. Cam gets a ride to work even though he feels like crap.

Saturday Afternoon; Zag hears from the new apartment complex, about the soon-to-be-faxed-payperwork. They ask if she can provide some other papers
today. Zag asks if she can fax them, and then proceeds to do so. Cleans house, cleans laundry, dishes, empties trash and all around plays "Super Mom".
Cam works inside the store because of no-car. He warns his boss that he's sick, and will probably need to call off on Sunday.

Saturday evening; Cameron is indeed, sick. He calls off work tomorrow. Tim goes into the room Zag, Cam and Miko share, and proceeds to rip Miko's bed apart
while no-one is looking. Really. He reduces her foam mattress to hand sized foam snow. Zag and Cam are NOT amused. It is agreed that Miko will now
have to sleep on the living-room hide-a-bed because they can't afford a new mattress. Zag takes Miko's crib-cum-bed apart for the time being. Cam sleeps
fitfully, and Miko wakes several times, crying because she doesn't know where she is at first. Zag calms her each time to let Cam rest.



TODAY; Sunday.

As planned, Cameron stays home. Zag plies him with Vic's Vap-o-rub and Lub.Zag relizes that they haven't been able to pick up her prescription
refill, and she only has half the medication she needs. Tim and Miko generally misbehave as much as possible. Zag attempts
to make what's left of the food in the house into meals. Cam slowly recovers after several naps, and some Disgaea 2. (Better than aspirin!)
In the afternoon, Zag feels drowsy and grumpy (due to meds withdrawl) and takes a nap. Around 7 they get a neighbor to jump the car
and pile in, heading for the Local Car Parts For Insane Prices store. Cameron has the store guy check the battery, futz with it, jump it again
and then goes in to buy a new one. (leaving the car running with Zag & kids inside.) Comes back out to break the news that... The bank denied the
check, and they CAN'T buy a new battery. Attempting to trade in their old car's battery (remember, it didn't fit?) for a new one, since they had bought it there
anyway and had the extended warrenty, they find out that they can only trade it for the SAME KIND of battery, in otherwords, a new, but useless one! Yay!
They do this anyway, on the pretense of "Hey, why not?" It costs 68 cents tax, but still does not solve their problem. Cam agrees to keep the car running
and circle the parking lot while Zag runs in with the kids (who are not happy to have been cooped up in the car all this time) into the grocery next door.
After a quick "I want oreos! No wait, Cheet-os!"- filled trip, they pile back into the car and head home. Upon pulling in, and turning off the car they are surprised
to find the interior lights and headlights are suddenly staying on. Cam Turns the key and... the car starts! They turn it off again, and wait 30 seconds.
The kids fuss. The parents pray. The car starts again. Zag and Cam look at each other and Cam finally says .. "Well, now I'm glad the check wouldn't
clear." After unloading the groceries and getting the kids inside, Zag remembers that she left something in the car. It's now been 10 minutes since the
car was turned off. Zag opens a door and... there is Light! Cam and Zag agree it's been a hell of a week, and that it's time to END it! They all go to bed, after
Zag types this long ass blog. The End (of one week)

Join us Monday for Zag's birthday, and god only knows what this week.


Oh yeah, and Miko is completely potty trained.

[ZombieBunny]

*Hugs da Zag*

[Cloud]

I do not understand.

[Zag]

I do not understand.

Me either Cloud, me either.

[Cloud]

It goes without saying. OK Let's talk about you.

[Zag]

It goes without saying. OK Let's talk about you.

Everyone else in in dreamland, but I can't frikkin sleep. How are you?

[aernath]

MORE HUGS!!!!

All I can say is hang in there!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, and Miko is completely potty trained.

And there's a little miracle!

[Joost]

what a week! hope you find a super-nice-new-home

and a hug

[Cloud]

week is a week.

[wELCOME cONSUMER]

That's pretty damn hectic. Good luck with everything. Hope you can find a
wonderful new place to live, devoid of super bitches...

[monkeyboy]

I viewed the blog on Rs first. Tim needs a serious timeout!

Glad to know there is more to the new apartment story than what I read over at Rs, and that you are still able to make the move to a new place after some paperwork.

Also good to know the car battery is now working!

I wish you all the best for your birthday!

[Baakay]

"Tim? Nothing personal, but you're grounded till you're 45."



Well let's just hope that Ms. Whoozit-on-Wheels gets that paperwork FILED. That just stinks. Bad enough to actually be having your lease terminated without having an inaccurate piece of info on your record...

But... POTTY TRAINED! If memory serves this is no small thing! YAY!

Grab that positive with both hands and hold on for dear life, I say.

[klet]

How . . . icky! Smack Tim for me.

I know how difficult it is taking care of autistic children. My brother's high-functioning autistic, but he's gotten better as the years past.

I hope everything works out for you!