Diary of a Working Single Mother

Ok... I must have jinxed myself when I hoped for a smooth-sailing two weeks before my aunt's arrival. This week turned out to be much much worse than the week before!!!

1) First off, the stock market was down more than 170 points on Friday.. that can't make anyone feel good.

2) Both Di-di and I got really sick!!! Di-di started with a running nose on Sunday that turned into fevers on Monday and Tuesday which kept him from going to daycare. My flu-like symptoms started on Tuesday evening. My whole body ached and my head felt like a burning furnace.

3) Supposedly, my work gives us "unlimited" sick days off, but I of course couldn't call in sick!! (I also had the worst cold sore breakout on top of the flu.) We are in the middle of evaluating a deal, against a very tight negotiation deadline. I can't have another person take over due to confidentiality agreement and the tight deadline. On top of that I am preparing quarterly reports that have been delayed due to me working on the deal!! I am hopelessly behind on work.

4) You are going to think I am crazy, but we actually decided to remodel our kitchen before S left CA. Guess what? The cabinets had been delayed and finally arrived THIS Tuesday. The installation guy was eager to get started so that he can get paid ASAP!!! He wanted to start the job on Wednesday morning which meant I have to scramble to clean out EVERYTHING from the kitchen cabinets on Tuesday night. The installation guy was efficient and finished in 6 hours! However, the counter top guy was too busy to start his job, so now I ended up with beautiful new cabinets without the counter top, sink and appliances......

5) Something happened to the electrical power after the remodel on Wed, so my home network was out and I couldn't get any work done on Thursday!!! In a feverish haze, I remembered driving to Starbucks so that I could connect to work using Starbucks wireless network. The other customers were probably scared of me: coughing, dazed, with the ugliest cold sores, hunched over my notebook PC, typing away like a mad woman... hahaha... The power in the garage is still out, but I connected two long power extensions from insdie the house to the network in the garage to power the network.....duh...why didn't I think of that on Thursday before driving to Starbucks with a fever!! Sigh... the beautiful new cabinets are the only thing keeping me sane at this point.

6) Without the kitchen sink and appliances, we have to eat out every evening which is hard for a sick mommy. However, Di-di loves eating out. He has been in a good mood when we eat out! Note to other mothers, remember to add dining out costs to your kitchen remodeling budget. I totally forgot this cost and it's going to add $$$ to my original budget!

All I can say is that THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!! I am counting down the days when my aunt arrives.....

BTW, the new kitchen cabinets totally made my week. I will be so happy to have that new counter top! Here are some before and after pictures:
(Our old kitchen cabinets & really ugly appliances)

(Remodel in progress)

(Bye-bye old and ugly kitchen cabinets)

(Welcome home.. my beautiful new kitchen cabinets.. still need to buy a new refrigerator..)

(New cabinets just waiting for new counter tops and appliances:)