Scattered Sundays

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Well, my friends, I have solved the case of “why have I had a sore throat for 2.5 months”.

Even Dr. House would have been stumped because I was always testing negative for the ‘Rona and other than my toddler-like ear infection, my health has been great.

Drum roll please…I found some mold in the basement.

After our washing machine flooded the basement, my father-in-law, my sister, and I removed the carpet. ServPro removed some of the flooring in my dad’s part of the basement that was impacted by the water.

I always thought it was strange that they left part of my dad’s flooring that was in the entryway to his part of the basement. It had butted up against our carpet, so I figured it had gotten wet, but since ServPro left it, what did I know?

Turns out, I knew something! Because…mold! Gross, gross mold.

The contractor fixing all the drywall and doing the painting finished up on Tuesday and our other contractor was ready to jump in and start the flooring Thursday night. In order to speed that process up, a few planks of the old flooring still needed to be removed.

My dad has been out of town and is coming back this weekend and we really wanted to have his place back together. I volunteered to remove the flooring so that our contractor wouldn’t waste a second with demo.

The planks that were in the entryway to our part of the basement gave off a horrid smell when I pulled them up. Yep, that is the photo you see above. Gross! I pulled a more few planks deep into the room and they looked fine.

I bleached the floor twice, turned a fan on, and made sure the door to our upstairs remained closed. It was a productive night and I was so thankful that it was just those boards, because could you even imagine if the rest of the floor was moldy??? In a thriller, that is what’s called foreshadowing… 🙁

Yep, our contractor started on Thursday and within about 2 minutes he called me downstairs. What I assumed was concrete dust on the backside of some of the planks was actually white mildew. It was NOT welcome news.

Everything from my dad’s bedroom and living room and our part of the basement and the laundry room had all been shoved into one small part of my dad’s apartment. We’re talking – his mattress and box spring in his kitchen, our huge IKEA shelves in his living room, etc.

Earlier that day I had been at the store to pick up Bennett’s school-approved birthday cupcakes. I walked past the Valentine’s display and saw peanut butter M&Ms. I don’t really care about M&Ms, but a tiny voice in my head said “let’s get those”.

The Lord was with me in that grocery store, because I really needed something to stress eat that night. I called my sister and before she even said “hello”, I yelled “remind me again why I don’t drink”.

It’s really hard to get me down, and it’s even harder to keep me down. But that night, I had myself a good pissed-off pity party wallow. With some M&Ms and maybe a bit too much kombucha to be responsible.

This is definitely a wrench in our plans and honestly, I was (and am) ready to be DONE with this ish. I’m over it. Over the piles of things, the insurance guy taking forever to get back to me, the piles of stuff, being in charge of this project on top of everything else I have going on. And the piles. OVER IT.

I know that in today’s world, we’re supposed to be all touchy-feely and all that. But I think the best thing I ever learned came from my Boomer dad.

It was after one of the 400 times one of them had a really bad health outcome and I was moaning and groaning about why bad things kept happening to them and blah blah blah. My dad looked at me in the eyes and said “nobody ever promised you life was going to be fair”. Boom. Noted.

So yes, I’m grumpy about the basement. But, it’s a first-world problem. And nobody said life was going to be fair. On the plus side, I’m looking forward to my constant sore throat disappearing. And, pass the M&Ms, please and thank you.

In happier news, Bennett turned 7 yesterday! Yep, this little smoochie is now 3 years away from being in the double digits.

We’re having a small party with family for him this afternoon. And next weekend he is having a little (indoor) pool party with friends. I didn’t want kids in my moldy-basement house and what could be considered a playroom is currently in a state of chaos.

It will come as no surprise to anyone, but Bennett wanted a cat-themed party. I found some fun cat decorations that aren’t-single use, so we look forward to reusing them each year until Bennett no longer is cat-obsessed.

He was very specific on his cake this year, even going to the extent of drawing me a diagram. He wanted a two-layer white cake (which is really a yellow cake that I always make. It’s this recipe), with frosting in between the layers.

But not just “any” frosting – half had to be white (it’s cream cheese frosting) and half chocolate. And then half white and half chocolate frosting around the sides and on the top. Basically, picture a black-and-white cookie as a cake.

And on top of the cake, we have this kitty cake topper. I’ll be frosting it later today, so I’ll share photos next Sunday. Or you can see them in my Instagram stories this afternoon.

I asked Bennett what he wanted for his special birthday breakfast. Maybe pancakes, or homemade cinnamon rolls? Or perhaps frozen berry cake or banana muffins?

Nope, he wanted Fruit Loops. Zero work on my part? Sounds good. #secondkid

READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Jo-Ann left this five-star review on our Instant Pot Beef Tips and Gravy {Pin this recipe}:

I made this as written and it was delicious. I added sautéed mushrooms on top when serving just because I had to use them up. I also really appreciate that you put the measurement right in the directions. It makes it so much easier when using a phone and iPad!

ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK

Chocolate Lava Mug Cake – This microwave Chocolate Lava Mug Cake is rich and chocolatey without any flour. Open your pantry, grab a few ingredients and whip up this mug brownie in 5 minutes. {Pin this recipe}

Tortilla Pizza – This incredible Tortilla Pizza recipe comes together in just a few minutes with only a few ingredients. Perfect for fast dinners or snacks, they’re even easy enough for kids to make their own. {Pin this recipe}

MEAL PLAN

Monday:: Troy is making dinner and we’ll be happy to eat it.

Tuesday:: Photographing a new recipe.

Wednesday:: Takeout to support a local small business and my sanity.

Thursday:: Soup! Some kind. Will likely be Tortellini Soup.

Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night.

Saturday:: Friends are coming over after B’s pool party and I’m picking up some pizzas.

Sunday:: Troy is making dinner because I have a soccer board meeting, and we’ll be happy to eat it.

What are you having this week?