March teaches us the beauty of patience

The meteorologist insists it was 50 degrees today. 
I strongly disagree.
Badger and I took a little walk, just to get out of the house and away from the TV.
The wind was blowing, and it was downright cold.

By the time I came home, my ears were numb.
I grabbed Skunk-Ape off of my desk and held him up to my ears until they warmed up.

Skunk-Ape didn’t mind. 
He thought he was being cuddled, not used as a furry heater.
If he hadn't wanted to be nabbed, he shouldn't have jumped up on my desk yowling. 

We must have slept through a pretty good storm Sunday night into early Monday morning.
One of the old trees at the cemetery was down.
I don't think it was lightning.
I think it was the wind.
We have a cedar in the backyard that Cowboy has been putting off cutting down for years. 
It keeps leaning more and more every year.
He might want to consider cutting it this year.
I'd hate to have it fall on either our house or the neighbor’s house.

We were sitting here watching TV when we heard this weird noise coming from the laundry room.
We went back, and the water heater is making a noise. 
Well, the video says it better than I can.

Cowboy says it's fine. It's fine.
I'm still not running any hot water tonight, so no washing dishes or Badger's three-hour shower.
We'll do that in the morning when Cowboy is at home.
It's probably fine. 
It's a new water heater, but it did this until 10 p.m.
That was roughly three hours of hearing it.

The weekend is creeping up, and Badger’s already getting cranky. 
With her autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she just can’t handle the noise and the mess when Raven’s kids are here. 
There’s nothing I can do about it. 
Raven can’t afford to move out, and honestly, I don’t think he’s in any hurry anyway. 
Rent is sky-high, and he’s paying child support on four kids. 
By the time he pays child support, there’s not any extra to put back.

The truth is, Raven’s kids have some serious behavioral problems. 
They’re all neurodiverse, but it shows up differently in each one of them. 
They’ve never really been taught to mind, and they don’t have any kind of routine or boundaries. 
They scream, holler, fight, and make messes kids their age ought to know better than to make. 
And they do it all weekend. 
It’s a lot for Badger to deal with, especially with her own neurodiverse struggles.

It’s Badger and me cleaning up after the kids go home. 
Over the years, we’ve been left with messes that go way past normal kid messes. 
Some of what we’ve had to deal with hasn’t been sanitary at all, and no grandmother or aunt should ever be left to clean things like that. 
That’s the simple truth. 
We’ve tried talking, we’ve tried signs, we’ve tried everything, and nothing changes. 
She and I have done it for nearly three years, and I understand why she gets so cranky on the weekend. 
I understand where she’s coming from. 
I don’t like feeling upset because the grandchildren are coming for the weekend. 
I want to look forward to seeing them. 
But I don’t, because I know what an entire weekend with them is like. 
That’s not how being a grandparent should be.
It just isn’t.

But the truth is, there isn’t a workable solution in sight. 
I know plenty of people live in multigenerational homes, so I’m not acting like we’re the only ones doing this. 
Still, what we’re dealing with isn’t easy. 
The kids are only here from Friday to Sunday, but those three days are enough to turn the whole house upside down. 
 And even though it’s only three days a week, it doesn’t make the reality any easier to live with.
It’s still a lot to deal with.

This isn’t where I meant to go tonight. 
It’s Wednesday, and tomorrow is Thursday. 
Thursday has turned into a day I dread, because Badger and I have to start cleaning and hiding things away for the weekend. 
And it’s work, it really is. 
Now there’s yet another room we’re going to have to strip down. 
The kids have always prowled and messed in the bathroom, but now they’ve started to get into things that are really dangerous for them. 
We can no longer lock a few cabinets and call it good.

OK, we’ll stop here before I start really ranting and venting and making the post unpleasant.
I’ll go back to “The X-Files” and keep my fingers crossed the water heater doesn’t explode.
What?
Cowboy said they do explode.