Tell us about your morning routine.
Sure.
I wake up before 7 AM, wash my face and shower.
Get ready for the day.
Take my older son to work.
Take my little dude to school, and many times – my daughter will make me a cup of coffee. 😊
I don’t have to be at work until later in the day, so the mornings are usually spent watching movies with my daughter, or trying to figure out what we’re doing the rest of the morning. ❤️
Plain and simple.
I don’t have a busy routine in the mornings and I’m grateful for that.
In other news ….my kiddo had his first school event since being at the new school he’s going to here in Illinois.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I didn’t want to he sneezing and coughing all over the place and I was still pretty sick yesterday. I’ve been fighting this thing for almost a week now, and I lost my dang voice as I think I mentioned before.
I’ve been looking forward to it all week. My little dude has been looking forward to it all week.
It was a family fun night, and I didn’t want him to miss it. I really wanted to go to meet new parents and maybe get to know them and their kids, but I couldn’t even talk, so there was no point.
My daughter jumped in and saved the day when she said she’ll go with Elijah, and I was able to drop them off. She was a life saver yesterday and I’m so grateful for her.
I waited in the car and let them enjoy their time, as they played games, had popcorn, and ran around doing other things. It was packed and I really do wish I could have gone and enjoyed everything, but he totally understood why I didn’t.
Kailani messaged me a while into it and said my friend Stephanie was there. That was pretty awesome and I got a bit excited to learn that her stepson goes to the same school. I had no idea, but it’s good to know that I won’t be alone at future events, and she’ll be there. ☺️
So, I didn’t get to enjoy this family fun night I’ve been looking forward to, but I’ll be at all the future events. 💜
I was actually in the ER because I was so miserable the night before last, and I haven’t been able to sleep. Y’all know I hate hospitals and doctors, so for me to go get checked – you know I had to be feeling really bad.
I walked in, and they quickly did an X-ray.
One of the male nurses stuck a whole swab up my nose – way back – which is so uncomfortable and painful – to test for covid and the flu.
Then he sticks another down my throat to test for Strep – and on top of telling me he was going to start an IV – he tells me, “This is just going to be a little poke”. That little poke – hurt like hell, and the female entering my information into the computer tells me, “His name is Alex if you want to go after him”. I laughed and told Alex I’d be waiting for him in the parking lot after his shift was over – which made him laugh.
The wait at the hospital was going to be hours, and I just wanted to lay down, so I decided not to wait, and I went home to sleep it off. Or try to – because for days – as I said – I haven’t been able to sleep.
All of my tests came back negative or normal, so I’m just really sick, and I think I’m finally at the end of it.
I had some hot lemon tea today and my older son was laughing when I talked with my regular voice for a good 2 seconds and it left again. 🤣
I tried.
So, that’s what’s going on in my world right now.
Trying to fight this damn thing and living life.
I will also share that for the last month or so, we’ve been staying with my aunt and uncle until we find a place out here in Illinois.
My aunt and uncle’s house has always been our home away from home and we love it here. They’ve been amazing and we’re so grateful for them, but of course – we need our own place again and the one I thought I wanted – fell through.
We went to go look at a cute little – cozy apartment in one of the suburbs near us a few weeks ago, and I really liked this place, but when we saw it, there were still people living there and I like to do a full search of a place before I move in.
I always look for signs of mold, bugs, and other issues before I say, “We’ll take it!”, and I couldn’t really look around the way I wanted to – with the people’s things in there. So, we just kind of looked in the rooms, the bathroom, the kitchen, living room, etc. and I liked when the landlord told me that there’s a patio right outside the kitchen door, and she loves seeing patio furniture, so if I have some – put it out and use the patio. ❤️
However – what am I using it for? To get a view of the parking lot? lol.
Still, the living room had a nice view when the blinds were open, so I really did want to take that place.
I asked her if we could come back and look at it a 2nd time when the current tenants moved out, and she did call me a week later and told us to come back.
We went back to look and she told me she loves my family, and would love to have us move in.
However – the way landlords run background checks on future tenants, always be sure to do the same on your future landlords because I dealt with a slumlord for 6 years, and I never want to deal with one again.
When I did my research on this landlord, her name came up with all kinds of lawsuits, and complaints against her from other tenants. 👀 So, I really had to decide if I wanted to take that gamble and take the place, not knowing how she’d be with us.
She tried to hire my daughter to work in her office, and she seemed really happy about renting to us, but at the end of the day – her prices kept changing and going up, and this was one of the complaints against her.
The washer didn’t work and she wanted us to use the basement washer. Why? If I’m paying rent and I have a washer and dryer in my unit – I expect them to work and me to be able to use the ones right in my apartment. She didn’t have any plans to get the washer fixed, either.
She did plan to change the blinds and have the apartment painted, but then I noticed a crack in the ceiling and what looked like part of the living room ceiling could fall at any moment. It almost looked like a water stain and water damage from the apartment above, maybe?
She said she thinks it came from their AC leaking, and could have that fixed. You could or you will? I told her I didn’t need it falling on our heads, and she said she guarantees it won’t, and that it’s drywall.
She told us she learned her lesson, because in one of her other apartments – part of a ceiling fell and almost hit a child in the head while he was in bed. Seriously?
As much as we wanted and needed that place, I decided to dodge a bullet, save myself money and headaches and keep looking.
The final straw was when she wanted $75 for the application fee, but then switched it to $150.
So then – we found another place out in another suburb not too far, and the guy seemed so cool.
He told me all the great reasons I should rent from him and then threw in, “Plus, I’m tall, dark and handsome!”. 😆 Sir! I’m looking for an apartment, not a man!
He told me about a sweet elderly woman who lived in the apartment for years, and that he used to bring her Amazon packages up to her whenever she got them, and said, “Isn’t that sweet?”. He wanted brownie points – I’m guessing? I told him how sweet that was, and my daughter laughed and told me, “He’s about to bring your Amazon packages up to you all the time”.
What kind of made us giggle more – was that he asked if we had pets, and when we said we had a cat and bunny, he said he loves bunnies, but he’s allergic. He then says, “I just don’t want to be sneezing all over the place daily, but I guess I can take something for it!”.
My daughter whispered, “What the hell? You’re not going to be living with us. What do you mean daily?”. 🤣 She also whispered something about me opening my eyes one day, and he’s going to be standing over me with breakfast in bed, telling me not to worry about why he’s in the apartment. lol.
Kailani is hilarious, but this landlord really was acting weird and the things he was saying – made me wonder. Then again – maybe he’s just lonely? I don’t know.
He asked where I work and how much I make. Rent was $1,600 and he told me, “Oh yeah! You’ll be fine”. I guess we could have taken that one, but I’ve also dealt with a creepy landlord previously and I don’t want that again either.
So, we’ve kept looking and we’ve found a few we plan to hopefully go see this week.
I also know I want a house next year, so I’ve been looking for a new real estate agent and to see what’s on the market right now. Maybe by next fall.
I never wanted to own a house. I didn’t want the headaches that came with it, but I know it’s probably the best thing to do for my kids and myself. 💜
Until then, the apartment hunt continues and I’m excited to find something, and continue settling into life in Illinois again.
My aunt and uncle have been amazing and my uncle gets upset when I talk about leaving or going to see an apartment, but my aunt retires in a few weeks, and I’m going to feel bad if we’re still there when she should have a quiet house and my uncle all to herself. 😊
So, we’re trying to find something asap.
That’s another thing that’s been on my mind and a big stressor lately. Still, faith over fear and trust that God already has the perfect place waiting for us.
I’m out of here.
Love ya.
🤍Shel🤍