Still unsettled

Our house is still in a bit of a state of disarray because our sliding glass door still isn’t fixed and because of that we still can’t use the biggest room in our house. Last Tuesday the company that installed the door came back and scraped and sanded until all the spray foam was gone, but the stink didn’t go away. It was never the spray foam. It was/is the sealant that they put around the door and all over everything else. We don’t know whether they used the wrong sealant, or whether the company that makes the sealant made a bad batch, but either way, it still stinks. They are coming back tomorrow to hopefully fix the problem, and I really really hope that it actually works this time.

Meanwhile, summer goes on. Yesterday we took a trip to our local ice cream shop (we can walk or bike there), and they happily have started carrying vegan ice cream. Maren got a cone with sprinkles, I got a custom sundae, and Jeff got a custom milkshake.

We didn’t get anything for Linden, but I think we will next time. She really seemed to like Jeff’s milkshake, and they now have baby cones which I think would be just the right size for her.

We have been going on lots of family bike rides, and I have a new bike (technically a trike but upright like a regular bike) and Linden has a new bike seat that attaches to my bike in front of me and she loves it.

Today we also went to a nature conservation area right in the city that we didn’t know existed. It is relatively small, but there are lots of wildflowers and it’s actually quite a nice area. Maren got scared because she thought we were lost even though we were definitely not, and she was also hungry and had to pee, so the trip could have been more pleasant, but we had a nice time.

Seriously??

We have yet another bad smell in our house. This time it is related to getting a new sliding glass door put in. Our old one was about 30 years old and probably was not a great door when it was put in. Back in January we started having to stuff towels into gaps around the edges of the door to keep the bone chilling cold out. So in January, we call a company that orders and installs sliding glass doors and they said it would be about six weeks. After many phone calls, they finally installed the door almost 2 weeks ago. We noticed a smell immediately.

We waited two whole days before calling to say that something was wrong. The smell was intense, and hasn’t gotten less intense. It is a strong chemical smell and we have had to block off the room and open all the windows and the sliding glass door and keep them open. So there is a huge room in our house that we can’t use at all, and if we close the windows or the door the chemical smell permeates our house. We have called over and over again and they tried a quick fix which didn’t work at all.

On Friday I finally called an indoor air quality investigator (a profession I did not know existed, but now I am grateful for), and he indicated that he is 99% sure that the problem has to do with improper use of spray foam. They used to spray foam all around the door, and they basically sprayed it too thick, or didn’t let it cure for long enough before spraying a second layer. According to the indoor air quality investigator, once spray foam is improperly installed, there is no way to stop the smell (and health hazards that the chemicals causing the smell are associated with) except by completely removing every last speck of the foam. In our case this could mean removing all of the wood framing the door and building a new door frame. In some cases where people have their entire attic spray foamed for insulation it can mean tearing down the entire house. We will never allow spray foam into our house again.

We are still dealing with getting this fixed, and it will probably be a while before we do. In the meantime, we are enjoying lots of time outside.

Father’s Day surprise

Jeff does a lot for our family. We are very lucky to have him. So this Father’s Day I decided it would be fun to surprise him with something special:

The Regina pipe band was doing a fundraiser for the food bank. I made a donation to the food bank of a large enough amount to have them come to our house and give a private concert. I told him that there was a surprise that would be taking place at a particular time, but never in a million years would he have guessed that bagpipers were coming to play for him. Unfortunately Linden found it much too loud and cried the whole time.

I also got him a vegan cheesecake. Just from the frozen aisle at the grocery store. I didn’t expect it to be especially good, but it was actually surprisingly delicious. There has never been an easier time to be vegan.

Maren also gave several gifts. The first one was making funny faces. The second was a homemade wind chime that she created with help from her babysitter/nanny (more about that another time). The third was a series of three cards that she had made. We finished off the day with takeout Indian food. All in all I think we did a pretty good job. Happy Father’s Day!

Kids like to be outside

We have been trying to spend lots of time outside. I have not been to a store in months, but I have been outside every day. Maren and Linden have a lot of energy to burn.

I am so glad it is summer!

Too much

The world is too much right now. We are doing what we can. Jeff and I were already talking about how we could change our teaching in the fall to include clear anti-racism (we were discussing indigenizing our teaching, because the greatest racism here is against indigenous people). In Saskatchewan our Covid numbers are 16 active cases and falling, which is great, but we are bracing for another wave of cases as the province loosens restrictions. Again, we are doing what we can.

When it comes to our family and our own little world, things are pretty much the same as always. We have made a commitment to be sure that we are talking about racism on a regular basis, but these conversations are nothing new to Maren, and basically nothing has changed. So while the world is battling some very real issues, what is real here are toddler tantrums and preschooler shenanigans. Linden is trying to say so many new words every day, and is even trying to sing songs. Maren is learning to ride a bike with training wheels, and this morning taped paper bags to the windows and put animals in them. This is our every day life.