I need an out

I need an out, this is a code I use to let my husband know I have had enough. We started this when the youngest was two. I wouldn't have to say anything more, just "I need an out". I didn't use this much until recently. I have added two more people to my household since February, making it a total of nine people living here.

I need an out soon, very soon. I have been in a grouchy mood for two weeks. Running between my dads two houses and mine. No air conditioning in one of his houses and no water running in either house adds to the stress. I am happy to say one house is now packed and empty. The yard on the other hand is a different story. The other house is going to be a challenge. It is packed but must be unpacked and then repacked. Junk and any mice must gone from the boxes before being moved to a storage unit.

My dad is a collector. A common thing I am told among those that came from the depression era. This means I have found balls of string, rubber bands in balls, paper clips, rocks, plastic bags in huge numbers. I have yet to understand this. Canned food that I know should not and will not be eaten. My mom passed away 15 years ago, I am still sorting her clothes. I have boxed her old shoes and given them away. I found clothes that belonged to my dad when he was in his 30's, he is now 78.

My dads one house, the one I grew up in, has been broken into many times and many things stolen or broken. One bedroom I finally made it to the closet to find a broken urn. I didn't want to upset my dad so I called one of my nieces and asked her if her mom had ever mentioned what kind of urn our mother or my grandfather had been put in. She didn't know and neither did my sister. I finally asked my dad, he told me he knew it was there but could not remember who's it was. He was sure however that my mom and my grandfather were in leather pouches and in boxes but he was worried they had been stolen. "Oh God, don't tell me we have other relatives here". I asked, more like pleaded, could this be one of our former pets remains, he didn't think so. There was no broom in this house or dust pan and none in the other house. I couldn't just leave those on the floor, I took two old envelopes and scooped up as much as I could into a plastic container. Some of it got onto my hands, I didn't think I would ever get that off my hands, or at least I imagined I could still feel it on my hands. I brought the mystery ashes home and stuck them in a cabinet. My kids were a bit worried at first. Now they love nothing more than to tell company we have a dead relative in our cabinet. I still haven't found my mothers ashes or my grandfathers, I still have the other house to go through. No one in the family is sure who this is here.

I need an out.