The problem is the contract with the railroad. We need to file an application that can take 30 days to approve. The contact at the railroad company assured our real estate agent they'd push it through as fast as possible but we should still anticipate at least a weeks delay from when we file.
Then we had more drama with the cleaning company. Yesterday when they left they told Tony they would be back at 8:30am. They later called him to say it would probably be closer to 10am but they'd call him when they were on their way.
We moved the cats back out to my parents' house and hung out for a while. Around 12:30 Tony decided he was going back to the hotel to get another shirt and then he would go to the house and wait. He was mowing the lawn when they finally arrived around 2:30pm. He called me again just after 4:00 to tell me the two cleaning people were calling it a day (seriously, after an hour and a half of work). We decided he should go to work for the rest of the day to try to make up for the lost hours spent waiting for the cleaning crew and being at the house. They told him they'd be back at the house again tomorrow at 8:30am. But if they're going to show up several hours after they say they'll be there and only send two people who work less than two hours before leaving again... This project could take weeks and cost Tony his bonus, and possibly our new house if he can't keep his hours up. I told him to call Service Master and complain, but he wants to see if they do better tomorrow. This is just plain bad business. Sending two people to work 90 minutes, showing up 4+ hours after they were supposed to be there makes it difficult for us to clear our schedules to wait for them. Would I use Service Master again? Absolutely not. Would I recommend Service Master to a friend? No, but I would definitely warn them to find someone else!
No babies for Caduci this go round. I will have to breed her again. Penelope's J litter is quickly outgrowing their cage, so the next time I get out to the house I'm going to have to move them to one of the big cages. If we were staying there, I'd put chicken wire on the big kennel and let them be in the yard every day. They seem to love getting out and playing in the grass, and the kids love to sit with them.
Day two of cats leaving the house, Henry is looking a little better. His eye isn't yucky anymore after I cleaned him up yesterday. He's still thin, and he needs a bath (sphynx cats need regular baths to wash off excessive oil since they have no fur), but otherwise he's looking alert. He's always been a slim cat, so I'm not terribly worried.
Today while at my parents' house, the big truck came with all the lumber for their new deck. It was fun for #5 and I to watch out the window as the truck driver used the crane lift to pick up stacks of lumber from the truck and then set them down in the yard.
We had been invited to help build the deck this weekend, but it looks like our invitation has been recinded. All three of my uncles will be coming to help, and one of them adamantly despises children. I suspect he also has Aspergers and as soon as children start to get loud, he goes into meltdown mode. With five kids, likely all on the spectrum, there really is no way to keep them quiet or prevent them from arguing or fighting sometimes. It's best if we stay well away.
Tony isn't scheduled to work this weekend, but he's probably going to end up working anyway to make up for lost hours with the basement clean up. So maybe we could leave Moose at my parents' to keep Mitzu company for the weekend and the kids and I can have another marathon swimming session. I'm just getting over the itchy skin from last weekend. Sensitive skin and chlorine aren't friends. Tony did buy oatmeal bath and bath bombs though, so maybe we can take an epic long swim day and when the kids are exhausted and falling asleep early, I can take a relaxing bath!