Updates

I'm happy to report that we've had pretty good days with Rachel since my post last week about the truly rotten one we'd had.  We've had minor behavior issues and some frustration, but we've been able to get a handle on her and get her redirected without too much drama and consequences.  I'm keeping a close eye on how much sugar she takes in from junk food, since there seems to be a pretty direct correlation between her sugar intake and obnoxious, hyperactive behavior that leads to all sorts of wrong decisions on her part and a seeming inability to make the right ones.  I know that countless studies have proven that sugar does not directly have an effect on behavior, but there are theories that certain things in sugary foods and the consumption of them in environments like birthday parties *can* cause hyperactivity.  All I know is that when Rachel has had candy, cupcakes, etc., we see a response to it.  And until she can learn to better handle how she responds after eating sugar, we'll be doling it out sparingly.

There are other factors at work besides the sugar, but those are things that will take more time to change and to train.  But it's been nice to have a good stretch, and the more of those we have and the longer we go between big outbreaks, the more encouraging it is.

My car is now back from repair and feels downright zippy.  It took $870, including an oil change, but that still saved us $268 by going to the dealer vs. taking the quote that Midas gave us.  And we got Hyundai factory parts by going to them, too.  The only downside of going there is the drive to get there and having to pick it up during certain hours, but I think it's worth the hassle.  Hopefully this will be the end of the problems we've been having and it'll be fine until we do the next round of recommended maintenance.

We still have a drip happening between the master bathroom and the laundry room.  I'm guessing the plumber will have to pull off more of the sheetrock to figure out if the tub drain is leaking.  Beyond that, I have no expertise and really couldn't begin to guess what's causing the problem.

The snow stopped late yesterday.  The streets are largely cleared, except for the ones within a few blocks of our house.  But, they did come through and scrape and put down some dirt, so it's been okay.  Driving to pick up my car was mostly uneventful and just a little scary coming down the hill to our house and pulling into the garage.  But, no slipping!  Hopefully it'll warm up now and melt the iciness away from the roads.  And allow our house's heater to work more effectively - it's been going nonstop for probably the past day and a half, and it's still only 58 degrees inside.  But considering that it was 10 degrees with the windchill factor this afternoon, I suppose 58 degrees isn't all that bad!