The new (ab)normal.

Remember our leaking windows? Well, we had our lovely little condo-hired handyman come in this morning to do further exploration of what could be causing the leaks. And what did he discover? An ant infestation...

Sick. Seriously sick.

Call me crazy, but somehow mold seems so much less gross to me. Mold doesn't have a personality. I didn't keep "mold farms" as a kid. I used to like ants. They were the go to bug when it came to introducing my kids to the world of bugdom. Ants. Easy peasy. Rarely bite. Kind of cute in a insecty kind of way.

Not anymore...

Now that they live in my son's wall, they are my forever enemies. They have completely eaten through the plywood right through to the exterior stucco. There is actually frost on the studs because there was nothing left to separate the wall from the outside. Kind of explains why his room used to get so cold.

He said, "Didn't you see ants all the time?" Nope. In the summer the odd one would scurry across the main floor, but that's pretty typical summer stuff (and never on the top floor). Never ever anything to make us suspect anything to this magnitude...
Yeah. Wow.
Wow again.
Yup...that's the backside of the old stucco (which is now covered in vinyl siding).

Anyway, so now we leave it, as is, and let the wall dry out. Then I have no idea what happens next. Basically the entire wall needs to be replaced (inside and out). Its currently -23° outside, so not sure that will be happening anytime soon.

So this is our new normal...

Both of the kids dressers are in our room now.

And its amazing that stuff like bookcases, desks, dress-up baskets and whatever other randomness all have found a little place to go. I figure this is going to be a long haul, so I really wanted stuff to be put somewhere that was not in the way. This was our project when Rob got home from work last night. Completely dismantle, set up, and re-organize Gabe and Abbi's room.

Remember our leaking window? Well, that's a whole other story. That is likely due to the lack of ventilation in the attic, causing the ice to melt down into the wall (coming through the window). So that issue..well, we're not even there yet. But just to top things off, and really, to make it fair, we had some of our wall ripped out too...
So much better. I mean not better in the sense of it's still a serious pain in your butt, but I can deal with this (this is about 3 feet from my side of the bed) way more than I can handle antness. So again, this side will dry out, then they decide what happens next.

So yeah. This has been my morning. I'm in this daze. Like really? 3 days before my husband leaves for a 2 week trip for Africa? We just had to go there. Really? Seriously? Although I'm "trying" to focus on the bright side. We own a home. That in itself is something to be grateful for. And as much as I often begrudge condo living...we don't pay for the repairs. That is a wonderful thing. I actually have walls to be infested by ants, many people don't (not like I'd offer my ant infested walls out). And we live in a 3 bedroom home. My kids can share a room. We have places to put the extra stuff. I mean, its bad, its sick (and disturbing), but it could be much, much worse.

Wasn't that impressively optimistic? I know right? Because then I walk downstairs and look at this wall, which is right below Gabe's room and think...oh my word, "what is behind there now?" How else do ants get to the second story of a house...other than through the wall.
Oy.