Mama The Grouch

Things are never as simple as they should be. Example: I had made an appointment with the chimney cleaners to come check everything out before we used our wood stove this year, and at eight thirty this morning, right on schedule, they arrived. I explained briefly that if it wasn't too expensive or difficult, we'd like to remove the wood stove, which is about thirty years old, and either replace it or convert the whole thing back to a wood burning fireplace. I had thought this would be minimally difficult and not terribly expensive. I was very wrong, as they quickly explained. So, I told them never mind about all that and just to go ahead and clean the chimney and stove so we could use it this year. Then, resigned, I went out to the kitchen to feed Addy breakfast. Not five minutes later, one of the guys comes out to the kitchen and says a little hesitantly, "Ma'am, can you come out here so we can show you something?"
Grr. To make a long story a little less long, it turns out the whole thing is broken, and it was unsafe that we were even using it last winter. The blower is missing altogether, and the insert has been pried away from the top of the stove and is basically a fire hazard. Fixing it to make it even workable will cost around five hundred dollars, and replacing it about two thousand. Not quite what I was expecting.
Man. The last couple of days have kind of sucked. Saturday was emotionally difficult to say the least, visiting Jim's grandpa and relatives and being away from Adelay. And Sunday I was as nauseous as I've been so far, gagging into the sink every time I tried to brush my teeth, recoiling in horror at the sight of a package of ground beef every time I opened the refrigerator. I went to bed at something like eight thirty, getting up only to gather more supplies (water, some little muffins which were staving off empty stomach nausea.) I keep thinking, "By the time I go back to the doctor, I will be almost ten weeks pregnant. I'll feel better then. I just have to hold out three more weeks." This is probably untrue, but having some kind of end in sight, even imaginary, helps a little.
So, this is kind of a boring and whiny post here, but it's all I've got today. I think I'll try to take a nap later, and then maybe I'll have something more interesting and/or cheerful to say!