I'm starting to dread Monday mornings. It's usually the morning John leaves town, and as soon as he leaves the house problems ensue.
This week's little dilemma started when I finally rolled out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen to make some breakfast. As I stood in the kitchen I heard a distinct rustling coming from the area of our stove and microwave. Was something in the wall? No, not muffled enough. Was it in the microwave? Nope, nothing there.
After banging on the cabinets above the microwave the noise stopped for a few moments. Ugghhh. Some critter was in my cabinet! It didn't exactly sound big enough to be a mouse, but it sure sounded bigger than your average cockroach.
Panic over the creature scurrying around in the cabinet combined with my distinct lack of decision-making ability first thing in the morning left me standing uncertainly in the kitchen for...oh...probably a good three minutes.
During those three minutes I contemplated how large I thought the animal/insect sounded, what it might do if I opened the cabinet, whether I should have a broom or a can of roach spray in hand when I opened the cabinet, if a frightened mouse could launch itself out of a shelf that high and land on me, would a mouse actually bite me if it did jump out and land on me, and what sorts of diseases mice carry these days - do they still carry the black plague?
I came to the decision that nothing good could come from opening the cabinet and instead decided to bang on it again, at which point the critter scurried across the cabinet and apparently disappeared from whence it came.
I noticed the time and moved on with making my breakfast, which included cooking up a bowl of blueberry oatmeal and generously sprinkling it with chili powder. No, not on purpose. I was going for the cinnamon.
In case you're wondering, the only thing remotely similar between those two spices are the bottles they come in, their dark color, and that they both start with the letter "c". And even though my oatmeal smelled...suspicious...I took a bite anyway, promptly spit it back out, and then dumped the entire thing down the sink. Turns out I'm out of cinnamon anyway.
I blame the critter in the cabinet for this whole debacle.
After work, on advice of my dad, I went and bought some mouse bait just in case. We already have roach bait strewn about, so really, either way I think I'm covered. I'll leave it John to investigate. Thankfully, I do not need anything out of that cabinet.
My dad's other piece of advice was to "just try and ignore it" after putting out the mouse bait. I appreciate that he's trying to make it all better long distance, but me ignoring a possible rodent isn't very likely to happen. I guarantee I will be entering that part of the house each morning banging together some books, singing loudly, stomping around and turning on every light on my way to the kitchen for, oh, a good three weeks.
Or maybe just until next week's dilemma shows up.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Sit with me.
He says all the time, "It's because I love you."
When I'm exhausted, filled with stress, or just feeling lazy, the man I live with picks up our dry-cleaning or gets eggs at the store and he patiently tells me (because my husband can be eternally patient), "It's because I love you".
When I'm sick, my husband will use the few minutes he has free from work or phone calls or doing our taxes to go pick up my medicine at the drug store for me. When I say thank you, he tells me he does it because he loves me.
There are plenty of times when I mess up. I forget to pay a bill and am now facing a late fee, or I've done something in anger or frustration around the house and ended up breaking whatever it was I meant to repair. My partner comes behind me and fixes my mistake. Eventually I apologize. It wasn't his problem to fix. But he always tells me, "It's because I love you."
One night I work the evening shift and am driving home even later than usual. I hear strange noises, then a loud pop that could only be mistaken for a vast pot hole for several seconds until I hear the tell-tale "thwap, thwap, thwap" of a flat tire.
A blowout. I find a piece of shoulder to pull over onto. Thank God for our roadside assistance. Someone will be here to affix the spare tire in the frigid temperatures in a matter of minutes. Then I realize it's unusual for my husband to be in town that night...but he is. He got home just hours ago.
I figure I should call him, so I do. Even though a towing company is coming to change the tire and it will not be long, John says he's coming. To sit with me. Just to be there. To keep me company. He doesn't have to, but he comes just because he loves me.
This is one of the wonderful effects of marriage - having someone to sit with, to wait with, to be together with.
It is not lost on me that hearing my husband say over and over again "It's because I love you" and having someone who says that and follows it up with action even when I'm frustrated, stressed, unpleasant or being selfish, is perhaps the reason why I understand clearly the love God has for me. It doesn't make sense, but now, seeing it displayed in real life, it does make sense - in a way.
"Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives." ~ Ephesians 5:25-28 (The Message)
So, these Bible words can be reality. I am married to a man who proves it. And the reality of this plan of God's, a covenant between a man and woman, sacrifice for each other, forever love, shared life...I wish those who ignore marriage in hopes of avoiding pain, or sacrifice, could know how indescribably better this covenant can be.
"It's just because I love you." Amazing how those few words can mend brokenness, smooth out anger and stress, boost confidence, and spur me to be a better person, a better wife...because I love him.
When I'm exhausted, filled with stress, or just feeling lazy, the man I live with picks up our dry-cleaning or gets eggs at the store and he patiently tells me (because my husband can be eternally patient), "It's because I love you".
When I'm sick, my husband will use the few minutes he has free from work or phone calls or doing our taxes to go pick up my medicine at the drug store for me. When I say thank you, he tells me he does it because he loves me.
There are plenty of times when I mess up. I forget to pay a bill and am now facing a late fee, or I've done something in anger or frustration around the house and ended up breaking whatever it was I meant to repair. My partner comes behind me and fixes my mistake. Eventually I apologize. It wasn't his problem to fix. But he always tells me, "It's because I love you."
One night I work the evening shift and am driving home even later than usual. I hear strange noises, then a loud pop that could only be mistaken for a vast pot hole for several seconds until I hear the tell-tale "thwap, thwap, thwap" of a flat tire.
A blowout. I find a piece of shoulder to pull over onto. Thank God for our roadside assistance. Someone will be here to affix the spare tire in the frigid temperatures in a matter of minutes. Then I realize it's unusual for my husband to be in town that night...but he is. He got home just hours ago.
I figure I should call him, so I do. Even though a towing company is coming to change the tire and it will not be long, John says he's coming. To sit with me. Just to be there. To keep me company. He doesn't have to, but he comes just because he loves me.
This is one of the wonderful effects of marriage - having someone to sit with, to wait with, to be together with.
It is not lost on me that hearing my husband say over and over again "It's because I love you" and having someone who says that and follows it up with action even when I'm frustrated, stressed, unpleasant or being selfish, is perhaps the reason why I understand clearly the love God has for me. It doesn't make sense, but now, seeing it displayed in real life, it does make sense - in a way.
"Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives." ~ Ephesians 5:25-28 (The Message)
So, these Bible words can be reality. I am married to a man who proves it. And the reality of this plan of God's, a covenant between a man and woman, sacrifice for each other, forever love, shared life...I wish those who ignore marriage in hopes of avoiding pain, or sacrifice, could know how indescribably better this covenant can be.
"It's just because I love you." Amazing how those few words can mend brokenness, smooth out anger and stress, boost confidence, and spur me to be a better person, a better wife...because I love him.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
"The Snow Factory Shut Down"
I believe those were the words used just a couple hours ago by a local meteorologist while giving an explanation of the obvious lack of snow after yesterday's prediction of 2-4 inches.
That clears everything up.
It also makes clear the fact that meteorology is an inexact science if ever there was one. In fact, should we even be using the word "science" in the definition of meteorology at all?
I'm staying put inside my house today anyway. The roads are icy (although I'm guessing with some moments of sunshine even that will be completely melted by late this afternoon), and it is just frigid outside.
With the confidence that I'll be headed back to work tomorrow, I'm handling this "winter storm" day with less stress and more productivity than the four-day-long episode last week.
As long as you count baking cookies and watching movies as "productive".
That clears everything up.
It also makes clear the fact that meteorology is an inexact science if ever there was one. In fact, should we even be using the word "science" in the definition of meteorology at all?
I'm staying put inside my house today anyway. The roads are icy (although I'm guessing with some moments of sunshine even that will be completely melted by late this afternoon), and it is just frigid outside.
With the confidence that I'll be headed back to work tomorrow, I'm handling this "winter storm" day with less stress and more productivity than the four-day-long episode last week.
As long as you count baking cookies and watching movies as "productive".
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Less than an inch
Well, the weather forecasters were all wrong last week. Turns out on Friday we got a bit more than "less than an inch" of snow.
That's our front yard and the street. We did, in fact, get five inches of snow and yet another day at home. At least on Friday the blanket of snow made it pretty.
Saturday the temperature here finally got above freezing and the sun came out. While it was still a little slick driving around the neighborhood in the morning, everything had melted by the end of the afternoon. However, before that happened John and I made a snow woman.
Snow woman because we used a red leaf for the lips that made it look distinctly female. (I know you can't really tell in the photo.) Then I added a hat with some leaves and berries stuck on top.
She melted within a couple hours.
To gain energy for the snow-woman making project, we went to Denny's for breakfast because 1.) I was desperate to leave the house, 2.) Denny's is cheap, and 3.) with the ice still on the roads, anyplace more appetizing was too far away.
We were two of about six people in the restaurant Saturday morning. The waitress came and asked what we wanted to drink. We should have known we were in trouble when John ordered a water and she replied, "We don't have any water."
Oooo-kaaaay. Orange juice, then. That was met with the response, "We don't have any orange juice", at which point we decided to just ask what they DID have to drink.
Coffee and sweet tea was the answer. (There was a bit of a language barrier and I'm almost certain they must have had sodas as well...not that we were keen on that option either.)
I'm avoiding caffeine and John drinks neither of the choices offered, so we mumbled "no thanks" and off went the waitress.
I was trying to figure out how on earth coffee is made with no water when the waitress came back and offered us apple juice or grape juice. We got one of each and the grape juice, happily for John, turned out to be grapefruit juice.
Even though I'm pretty sure it's against code to continue running a restaurant with no water, our meal improved from there when we got blueberries added to our pancakes and all our food was hot. All in all, it was an even more exciting way to venture back out into the world after four days than I expected.
Since the snow's melted I've been reacquainting myself with society and becoming accustomed to wearing clothes other than flannel pajama pants and sweatshirts.
Although, I hear tomorrow we're in for more ice and snow and even colder temperatures than last week...if that's even possible.
I noticed on the news tonight, the forecaster was detailing very specific forecast maps of where exactly and how much snow different areas of north Texas could expect tomorrow...and at what time. I believe he's trying to make up for the "less than an inch" snow prediction from last week. We'll see if it all pans out.
That's our front yard and the street. We did, in fact, get five inches of snow and yet another day at home. At least on Friday the blanket of snow made it pretty.
Saturday the temperature here finally got above freezing and the sun came out. While it was still a little slick driving around the neighborhood in the morning, everything had melted by the end of the afternoon. However, before that happened John and I made a snow woman.
Snow woman because we used a red leaf for the lips that made it look distinctly female. (I know you can't really tell in the photo.) Then I added a hat with some leaves and berries stuck on top.
She melted within a couple hours.
To gain energy for the snow-woman making project, we went to Denny's for breakfast because 1.) I was desperate to leave the house, 2.) Denny's is cheap, and 3.) with the ice still on the roads, anyplace more appetizing was too far away.
We were two of about six people in the restaurant Saturday morning. The waitress came and asked what we wanted to drink. We should have known we were in trouble when John ordered a water and she replied, "We don't have any water."
Oooo-kaaaay. Orange juice, then. That was met with the response, "We don't have any orange juice", at which point we decided to just ask what they DID have to drink.
Coffee and sweet tea was the answer. (There was a bit of a language barrier and I'm almost certain they must have had sodas as well...not that we were keen on that option either.)
I'm avoiding caffeine and John drinks neither of the choices offered, so we mumbled "no thanks" and off went the waitress.
I was trying to figure out how on earth coffee is made with no water when the waitress came back and offered us apple juice or grape juice. We got one of each and the grape juice, happily for John, turned out to be grapefruit juice.
Even though I'm pretty sure it's against code to continue running a restaurant with no water, our meal improved from there when we got blueberries added to our pancakes and all our food was hot. All in all, it was an even more exciting way to venture back out into the world after four days than I expected.
Since the snow's melted I've been reacquainting myself with society and becoming accustomed to wearing clothes other than flannel pajama pants and sweatshirts.
Although, I hear tomorrow we're in for more ice and snow and even colder temperatures than last week...if that's even possible.
I noticed on the news tonight, the forecaster was detailing very specific forecast maps of where exactly and how much snow different areas of north Texas could expect tomorrow...and at what time. I believe he's trying to make up for the "less than an inch" snow prediction from last week. We'll see if it all pans out.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
ADD and Chicken Enchiladas
I am posting for the third day in a row! It must be some kind of a personal blogging record for me.
It can only mean I have got time. Plenty of time. Nothing but time.
Even though the dishes are still dirty, and, heaven knows, I could be doing something really productive with these forced days off - like cleaning out some closets. It's just that I have some kind of ice-storm-related ADD.
Shout-out to my sister-in-law and her roommate who stopped by with a Braum's peppermint shake for me this afternoon so I still haven't had to leave the house! (I know. Ice cream when it's 18 degrees. It was my sister-in-law's idea...I just thought it sounded good...and it was!)
You know what else was good? Seeing other actual people. In person. Life has been sad around here.
(Edited to note that it now seems there will be a fourth day of the ridiculous ice.)
Here's the huge icicle on our back porch that is loathe to go away already, taunting me that it is not yet warm enough for any of this frozen precipitation to start melting. It's also taunting me that we obviously have a large leak, right there, in our rain gutter.
In case you're one of the thousands stuck at home because of horrendous winter weather and you have lots of time on your hands and you like to cook, I have a recipe for you!
Strangely, I made these chicken enchiladas the other day, and this morning I talked to my mom and discovered she was going to make this same recipe tonight. I haven't made this particular dish in years. What can I say? Great minds think alike.
Appropriately, this recipe is from my mom. I believe it's from a cooking class she took in the '80s. I like to think I've brought it into the 21st century by adding a few little things to make it...not so beige.
Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cups of Pepper Jack cheese, divided
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped spinach
12 corn tortillas
8 ounces fat-free sour cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 Tbs. flour
15 ounces chicken stock
1 large avocado, cut into pieces
Mix shredded chicken with green onions, 1 cup of cheese, cilantro and spinach (and chopped jalapeño, if you want things super spicy). Soften tortillas a few at a time for a few seconds in the microwave. Divide mixture evenly among 12 tortillas, rolling them and placing them seam-side down in a 9x13 casserole dish.
Set oven to 350°.
In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 stick of butter. Add flour, chicken stock and sour cream. Stir until sour cream is melted and sauce is slightly thickened. Pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and more green onions or cilantro, if desired.
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. Serve with avocado as garnish on top.
Makes 12 enchiladas.
It can only mean I have got time. Plenty of time. Nothing but time.
Even though the dishes are still dirty, and, heaven knows, I could be doing something really productive with these forced days off - like cleaning out some closets. It's just that I have some kind of ice-storm-related ADD.
Shout-out to my sister-in-law and her roommate who stopped by with a Braum's peppermint shake for me this afternoon so I still haven't had to leave the house! (I know. Ice cream when it's 18 degrees. It was my sister-in-law's idea...I just thought it sounded good...and it was!)
You know what else was good? Seeing other actual people. In person. Life has been sad around here.
(Edited to note that it now seems there will be a fourth day of the ridiculous ice.)
Here's the huge icicle on our back porch that is loathe to go away already, taunting me that it is not yet warm enough for any of this frozen precipitation to start melting. It's also taunting me that we obviously have a large leak, right there, in our rain gutter.
In case you're one of the thousands stuck at home because of horrendous winter weather and you have lots of time on your hands and you like to cook, I have a recipe for you!
Strangely, I made these chicken enchiladas the other day, and this morning I talked to my mom and discovered she was going to make this same recipe tonight. I haven't made this particular dish in years. What can I say? Great minds think alike.
Appropriately, this recipe is from my mom. I believe it's from a cooking class she took in the '80s. I like to think I've brought it into the 21st century by adding a few little things to make it...not so beige.
Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cups of Pepper Jack cheese, divided
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped spinach
12 corn tortillas
8 ounces fat-free sour cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 Tbs. flour
15 ounces chicken stock
1 large avocado, cut into pieces
Mix shredded chicken with green onions, 1 cup of cheese, cilantro and spinach (and chopped jalapeño, if you want things super spicy). Soften tortillas a few at a time for a few seconds in the microwave. Divide mixture evenly among 12 tortillas, rolling them and placing them seam-side down in a 9x13 casserole dish.
Set oven to 350°.
In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 stick of butter. Add flour, chicken stock and sour cream. Stir until sour cream is melted and sauce is slightly thickened. Pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and more green onions or cilantro, if desired.
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. Serve with avocado as garnish on top.
Makes 12 enchiladas.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
So, this is what it's like to be stir crazy.
I don't remember ever being stuck in the house for two days in a row before. Well, unless I was laid up in bed on some strong pain medication that induced me to sleep away the time.
Now it looks like I'm going to be stuck here another day while a sheet of ice covers every roadway, sidewalk and parking lot in the city and wind chills remain in the single digits. Ugh.
I only had one library book checked out this week and I finished that yesterday afternoon. I guess this is when an electronic book reader would come in handy.
If this post is disjointed and random, it is because that's the way my brain feels. It's the cabin fever.
I could have really done with my acupuncture today. I'm certain it would have helped.
Somehow in the last two days I have gotten all the laundry done, but not folded a single thing. I have taken the time to cook meals, but not one dirty dish is cleaned. I have taken apart the humidifier but not actually gotten around to cleaning it.
This leads me to wonder what on earth I've been doing with all this time! I do believe I have wasted copious amounts of time watching the local news. Don't ask me why. It's the same news all day - all weather related. Wind chills are hovering around zero degrees...ice, ice everywhere...jack-knifed semis...everything's closed - likely for the rest of the week...stay home...the poor people who have come here for the Super Bowl...it's colder here than it is in Pittsburgh...why can't Encore fix the power outages already?
Perhaps I'm hoping that at some point the weather guy will say it's all coming to an end and he's sure we can drive around safely tomorrow and be outside without getting hypothermia. I might as well not even watch tomorrow because I don't think I'll hear those words until Friday. Evening.
Even though I am slowly going crazy, I thank God that I have shelter...and a working heater. I also thank God that I am living here rather than in Cairo amid violent, horrible protests or in Queensland, Australia where massive flooding is now being followed by a hugely devastating tropical cyclone.
No, I live in a country where ice storms and the mysterious disappearance of O.B. tampons from stores seem to be what we worry about.
(Seriously, who pays $39 for a box of tampons?!?)
And now I definitely vow to stop listening to the ridiculous local news.
Now it looks like I'm going to be stuck here another day while a sheet of ice covers every roadway, sidewalk and parking lot in the city and wind chills remain in the single digits. Ugh.
I only had one library book checked out this week and I finished that yesterday afternoon. I guess this is when an electronic book reader would come in handy.
If this post is disjointed and random, it is because that's the way my brain feels. It's the cabin fever.
I could have really done with my acupuncture today. I'm certain it would have helped.
Somehow in the last two days I have gotten all the laundry done, but not folded a single thing. I have taken the time to cook meals, but not one dirty dish is cleaned. I have taken apart the humidifier but not actually gotten around to cleaning it.
This leads me to wonder what on earth I've been doing with all this time! I do believe I have wasted copious amounts of time watching the local news. Don't ask me why. It's the same news all day - all weather related. Wind chills are hovering around zero degrees...ice, ice everywhere...jack-knifed semis...everything's closed - likely for the rest of the week...stay home...the poor people who have come here for the Super Bowl...it's colder here than it is in Pittsburgh...why can't Encore fix the power outages already?
Perhaps I'm hoping that at some point the weather guy will say it's all coming to an end and he's sure we can drive around safely tomorrow and be outside without getting hypothermia. I might as well not even watch tomorrow because I don't think I'll hear those words until Friday. Evening.
Even though I am slowly going crazy, I thank God that I have shelter...and a working heater. I also thank God that I am living here rather than in Cairo amid violent, horrible protests or in Queensland, Australia where massive flooding is now being followed by a hugely devastating tropical cyclone.
No, I live in a country where ice storms and the mysterious disappearance of O.B. tampons from stores seem to be what we worry about.
(Seriously, who pays $39 for a box of tampons?!?)
And now I definitely vow to stop listening to the ridiculous local news.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Unfortunate Events. Fortunate Timing.
I think it's a fact, though I can't tell you where I read it, that we remember negative, unfortunate, traumatic events much more readily than we do the pleasant, happy, good moments.
I have to say that after a long day of work last week and fighting a mysterious uncomfortable illness with John being out of town, I almost cried when I returned home for the night only to have the garage door stop midway down...for no apparent reason. I did almost immediately recognize the problem as an unplugged cord leading from the automatic opener on the ceiling to the power source. Unfortunately, the power source was up high and I am short. Even with the handy step stool I couldn't reach to plug it back in.
I realized then that a trip out to the shed in the backyard, in my heels, guided by a flashlight would be necessary. So, off I went, rescued our ladder from under no less than three other pieces of lawn equipment (apparently we have not used the ladder in a while), and trudged with the ladder back to the garage where I was able to plug the garage door opener back in. Problem solved.
But I felt at that moment that every time John leaves town things go wrong. Terribly wrong. Why do all the bad things happen when he's not around?
Now I know, realistically, this isn't true, but it's how I remember things.
That's not the end of things gone wrong with my husband out of town over the last week. Today, however, I realized that the timing of certain incidents have been quite fortunate.
Last week (the day before the garage door opener incident, in fact), I lamented the fact that as soon as John left town, our heater stopped working. We had a conference call with our saint of a heater/AC repair guy who actually answered his phone at 9:30 p.m.! And who correctly diagnosed the problem over the phone and promised to come fix it the next morning. Thanks to a down comforter, layers of clothing, and some extra blankets I stayed toasty warm and our repairman showed up 45 minutes earlier than promised and put in a new igniter within 20 minutes.
Turns out the timing of this crisis was perfect because this week we are experiencing record low temperatures, days on end of ice-covered roads, and wind chills well below zero. And I can rest assured that my house will stay warm!
This week (of course, after John left for the airport), our freezer/fridge stopped working. Well, at least it stopped being cold enough and started running constantly without stopping. With the help of my dad and the internet, the problem has been diagnosed and I spent a good part of a day emptying out the entire contents of our fridge, taking apart the covers over the coils, and using a hairdryer to defrost the thing.
The ice build-up! It was amazing! The defrosting is just a temporary fix because something with the defrost system is broken, but hopefully things will work until a repairman can come out (or we can get a new(er) fridge...because if you know us at all you will have no doubt that we do not buy new appliances). With all the ice on the roads it might be a while!
So, speaking of ice on the roads. All these below freezing temperatures and record lows? Well, it makes it just perfect for storing all our food out on the patio or in the garage while the fridge is out of commission. Great timing, huh?
Things may go wrong...or should I say will go wrong...but the timing has been perfect. I'm going to focus on that!
I have to say that after a long day of work last week and fighting a mysterious uncomfortable illness with John being out of town, I almost cried when I returned home for the night only to have the garage door stop midway down...for no apparent reason. I did almost immediately recognize the problem as an unplugged cord leading from the automatic opener on the ceiling to the power source. Unfortunately, the power source was up high and I am short. Even with the handy step stool I couldn't reach to plug it back in.
I realized then that a trip out to the shed in the backyard, in my heels, guided by a flashlight would be necessary. So, off I went, rescued our ladder from under no less than three other pieces of lawn equipment (apparently we have not used the ladder in a while), and trudged with the ladder back to the garage where I was able to plug the garage door opener back in. Problem solved.
But I felt at that moment that every time John leaves town things go wrong. Terribly wrong. Why do all the bad things happen when he's not around?
Now I know, realistically, this isn't true, but it's how I remember things.
That's not the end of things gone wrong with my husband out of town over the last week. Today, however, I realized that the timing of certain incidents have been quite fortunate.
Last week (the day before the garage door opener incident, in fact), I lamented the fact that as soon as John left town, our heater stopped working. We had a conference call with our saint of a heater/AC repair guy who actually answered his phone at 9:30 p.m.! And who correctly diagnosed the problem over the phone and promised to come fix it the next morning. Thanks to a down comforter, layers of clothing, and some extra blankets I stayed toasty warm and our repairman showed up 45 minutes earlier than promised and put in a new igniter within 20 minutes.
Turns out the timing of this crisis was perfect because this week we are experiencing record low temperatures, days on end of ice-covered roads, and wind chills well below zero. And I can rest assured that my house will stay warm!
This week (of course, after John left for the airport), our freezer/fridge stopped working. Well, at least it stopped being cold enough and started running constantly without stopping. With the help of my dad and the internet, the problem has been diagnosed and I spent a good part of a day emptying out the entire contents of our fridge, taking apart the covers over the coils, and using a hairdryer to defrost the thing.
The ice build-up! It was amazing! The defrosting is just a temporary fix because something with the defrost system is broken, but hopefully things will work until a repairman can come out (or we can get a new(er) fridge...because if you know us at all you will have no doubt that we do not buy new appliances). With all the ice on the roads it might be a while!
So, speaking of ice on the roads. All these below freezing temperatures and record lows? Well, it makes it just perfect for storing all our food out on the patio or in the garage while the fridge is out of commission. Great timing, huh?
Things may go wrong...or should I say will go wrong...but the timing has been perfect. I'm going to focus on that!
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