It sings!

I have never been a big Black Friday shopper.  True, in years past, I have gone shopping on Black Friday, but I am not one of those people who sets my alarm, getting up at gosh-awful hours just to hit a sale.  I don't scour the ads, trying to find the best deal, and if I get somewhere and find it too crowded, I usually just walk out.  I enjoy shopping, but in a whirlwind kinda way.  Stores employ marketing folks for shoppers like me.  If it doesn't jump off the shelf, screaming my name, it's probably not going home with me.

Last Wednesday, the latch mechanism on my washer broke for the second time in a year.  It's a simple little mechanism that consists of a peg and a button, and tells the washer when the lid is shut, but without it, the washer won't spin out.  Not good.  The last time we had it fixed, it cost us $200.  For a part that was probably all of $15.00.  Now, my washer has done its job faithfully for seven years, but it was a standard, no frills Kenmore model that (according to Sears website) costs around $400 new, NOW.  Not seven years ago.  I'm thankful for the good job it's done, but I wasn't about to pay another $200 to have it fixed again.  If you have been keeping up with us for a while, you may remember that we also had problems with the dryer over the summer.  It was simply time for a new set.  How convenient that it should finally give up the ghost just before Black Friday?

The first place I checked for Black Friday deals was Best Buy.  Though I prefer Frys any day of the week, (Talk about a geek's paradise!) their website is rubbish, and didn't actually have any spoilers.  I have had my eye on the beautiful red Samsung washer and dryer for a year now, alas, the price on those wasn't great.  What they DID have was a Samsung steam washer and the dryer to go with it for HALF OFF!  Normally, these would be $1200 each, but they were selling them for $599 each on Black Friday.  They also offered 18 months no interest financing, if you put in on the Best Buy credit card.  While I don't have a Best Buy card (and there's no way I would be accepted for one!), my mother does, and she agreed to put it on her card so we could afford the washer and dryer of my dreams.  I must be an adult now, if I'm excited about a new washer and dryer!  Woohoo!

Driving to my parents' house for Thanksgiving lunch, we saw the tents already set up outside two out of three Best Buys that we had to pass.  The one closest to my parents house was the ONLY ONE that didn't already have a pretty good group of people waiting.  At 1:00 in the afternoon.  Jonathan decided then, that we had better go ahead and stake our place in line as soon as possible, so once we were through eating, I drove him up to the store and dropped him off.  The time was 2:30 or so.  That's right, 2:30.  On Thanksgiving afternoon.  And we were a good fifteen people back in line.  I NEVER thought I would want something so badly that I would be willing to spend the night on a sidewalk outside a store to get it.  The need for new appliances, however, apparently trumps common sense!  ;)  The night was not actually so bad.  I brought a big comforter, pillows and coats.  We had books, video games, and Jonathan's laptop.  Another couple in line with us had board games, and they looked out for our spot in line, so we were actually even able to take a break together and go over to the Wal-Mart across the street for snacks and the restroom.  At around 2:00 AM, lying on Jonathan's chest resting, and listening to the buzz around me, I actually felt quite peaceful.  Jonathan has that affect on me.  :)

Once they opened, we were in and out of Best Buy in under twenty minutes, with directions to their warehouse so I could get my new washer and dryer that day instead of having to wait until Monday for it to be delivered.  Good thing, too because although I did manage a load or two of laundry in the bathtub, stomping around in it like Lucy, we were running short on clothes!  When we got to the warehouse, they brought out the washer and dryer in no time flat, and we were just ready to load it in the truck when they discovered that there was a problem: The sales person at the store (who was the only one in appliances, by the way.  Poor guy.) had set us up to pick up the washer, but not the dryer at the warehouse.  The dryer was, apparently, still at the store.  We couldn't have the one that was sitting right in front of us, because it had been sold to someone else!  Well that's frustrating.  The store manager was very gracious, admitting that it was their fault, and said he would try to find us an upgrade.  AN UPGRADE!  :)  Half an hour later, they loaded a washer that was .3 cubic feet larger than the one we paid for and the dryer to go with it!

Darling Jonathan installed my sparkling new washer and dryer while I was at work on Saturday, and left me a voicemail saying that it "sings and dances".  He wasn't kidding.  It playes a song when you turn it on, when you turn it off, and when the cycle is finished.  hehe!  I LOVE my new washer and dryer!  While I certainly never expected to spend the night at a Best Buy (or any store for that matter) the outcome was MORE than worth it!  We got something that we needed, and I'm certain that it will save us money in the long-run, as it is a newer, energy star model.  We'll be able to pay it off in manageable payments, with no interest (Thanks again, Mom!) and paid HALF what it's worth and then some because of the upgrade.

Has anyone else out there spent ridiculous amounts of time in line for something you really wanted or needed?  If so, what was it?

IthinkIcan IthinkIcan IthinkIcan IthinkIcan IthinkIcan

You know, sometimes it just seems like nothing goes the way you've planned. It's really been like that for us lately. You may remember that I was laid off from my job in February. After several months of fruitless job search, we seemed to be doing fine financially. Everything went well for a while. We were able to keep up with our bills just fine, and as a matter of fact, with me home, we were saving money on groceries and gas. Our ultimate goal was for me to stay home and teach the kids anyway, so we decided it was time for me to do just that. I started my own business that was supposed to help me make a little money on the side just so I could contribute. Then it happened. Everything seemed to break at once. Jonathan's work has slowed down, and they've reigned in how much overtime he's allowed. Everyone's pay rate has been frozen, so the raise we were looking forward to last month didn't happen. Now they're requiring everyone to take a week long furlough before the end of the year. Now don't get me wrong, I am VERY thankful that Jonathan is still employed. I know that makes us more blessed than a significant percentage of the population right now, but this news couldn't come at a more stressful time though. It just seems like every time we get a break, something else goes wrong. I really like to try and stay positive about life. There's always something good in every situation. You may have to look pretty hard to find it, but it's always there. I'm falling short this time, though. Quite frankly, I'm so stressed I've been getting hives. No kidding.

Right now, I feel like the Little Engine That Could. I'm just not built for all this stress, but IthinkIcanIthinkIcan make it. If you feel so inclined, could you pray for our family? Specifically, that my business will pick up, and earn that extra money it was supposed to earn. Also that if I do have to go back to work outside our home, that God will bless me with an awesome job that I will ENJOY. That's a big one. I looked some earlier today, and I just couldn't bring myself to apply for any of them. Not everyone was made to sit in an office, and I am certainly not one of the people who was.

Thanks for reading, and for your prayers!

Monday potpourri

Wellllllll... In the latest what-else-is-going-to-blow-up-in-the-Martin-household news: Yesterday, Celestia went to the drier to get a pair of jeans to wear and they were STILL wet. Now, I knew that I had run the drier at least twice, if not three times. *sigh* So, I am now the proud owner of a shiny new clothesline! Truth be told, I have been seriously considering line-drying our clothes to save on electricity and be more environmentally friendly. After all, we know what a tree-hugger I am. Not to mention the fact that we have had to run that drier twice to get anything dry for the last year at least. Alas, fair clothes drier, I knew thee well. I'm actually looking FORWARD to getting my August electric bill so we can get an idea of how much energy that thing was sucking! I'm also pretty stinkin' happy that the latest breakage was something that's not a necessity! I can live with having to hang my laundry on a clothesline! :)
In other news: While I was outside hanging clothes, one of the girls decided that Floppy needed sunglasses. You can't tell from the picture, but he was pretty excited about that idea, too! :)

Murphy lives here.

Have you ever had one of THOSE days?... Or weeks?... Or months? The last few weeks have just been one of THOSE times for our family. You know the kind. You just want to shake your fist at God and shout "Hey You up there! Didn't You promise that You wouldn't give me more than I could handle? I've about had it, here!"
It all started with the truck. I like to make sure we take good care of our truck. After all, it's the only means of transportation we have, and I am thankful for it every day. (Thanks, Dave and Donna!) We had just taken it in to do some regular maintenance on it, and no sooner did we get it back than the air compressor went out and busted one of the brand new belts we had just had put on! Not sure if you've priced air compressors lately, but it's not typically the kind of money I just have hanging around in my back pocket. The next week, the air conditioner in the house stopped working. Now I know what some of you may be thinking... You can live without an air conditioner. Um no, I beg to differ with you. One cannot live without an air conditioner in Texas. Really, people around here literally die from heat exhaustion when their air conditioners go out. While working on an art project Wednesday afternoon and "watching" a movie, I hear a loud "POP" from the television, and realised that the projector lamp in my DLP had burned out. Greaaaaat. Thursday evening, I came home to discover that in a span of about 45 minutes, someone had opened my front gate and two of our dogs were gone. I have spent 5 days now searching for them in every way I know how, and NO ONE has seen them. Today, my internet suddenly stopped working, and I called only to discover that I forgot to pay the bill last month. OOPS! Can't I get a freebie flake moment every now and then? No? OK, I'll pay the re-activation fee, and let's take care of this month's while we're at it. Maybe I won't forget that way.
Sometime in the midst of all this madness that directly affects my life, I learned that one of my friends from high school had passed away unexpectedly. From heart failure. At 32. Not the way you expect to lose a friend when you're in your 30's. He left behind a baby girl, a step-son, and a fiancee who is now a single mother of two.
Reflecting on Drew reminds me that God has not given me more than I can handle. We're really OK. Fixing everything that has broken wasn't cheap, but we had the money squirrelled away in savings. I miss our dogs terribly, and telling the children was awful, but whatever happens, life will go on. Certainly if we never find them, it won't be for lack of looking. We've done all that we can. I only hope that whoever has them (and I really think someone must, or the spoiled ones would have come home by now, looking for that air conditioning we just had fixed) will either contact us, or is caring for them, and loving them.
So, where does that leave us? Well, I can honestly say that I am done with Murphy's Law. Murphy needs to go stay with someone else for a while. But things could be so much worse. I could be in El's shoes - pregnant and separated from my husband. Or I could be in Quiana's shoes - having just lost my love and still needing to take care of my babies. Things have been worse. Jonathan and I have joked many times that we're getting the "worse" and "poorer" out of the way now, so we can enjoy "better" and "richer" later in life. Today, my blog friend Lauren reminded me that this life isn't supposed to be easy. On one hand, God promised that He wouldn't give me more than I could bear, but on the other hand, He tells me to put on armour. This life is supposed to be a battle. Day after day. I take comfort in the fact that He is watching over me. If you don't check out any of the other links in this post, promise me you'll check out that last one. I promise you'll be blessed by it.

Grrrrrrrrrr

This afternoon, I came home to find this:

The chain that had previously been holding my oh-so-shoddy back gate (many thanks to the subcontractors hired to build the fences here in Oak Hollow!) together had broken.



So, after a trip to Lowe's, out came the trusty power tools (a sincere thanks to Dad Martin for making sure Jonathan has nice power tools!) and the rest of my afternoon was spent installing a new latch in the middle, and two hook and eyes on both the top and bottom of our gate.


SOOOOO glad I'm not the helpless type! ;)

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

By now, you're probably wondering "what has she been doing in the last month that she can't be bothered to post anything?" The short answer is housework and home improvements. I'm sure you were hoping for something more exotic or glamourous but that, my friends, is the truth. See, I am a terrible housekeeper. I admit it. (Whew, I'm glad I got that off my chest!) Most of the time I'm doing good to keep enough laundry washed and the dished cleaned! So, with Jonathan home for almost a whole month we got down to some serious stuff around the house!

The computer desk that Jon had was, as he so aptly put it, past it's due date. It was a hand-me-down to begin with (thank you Jamie & Scott) so it was high time for a new one. One of our Saturdays was spent entirely on building the new one. Actually, to be more accurate, JONATHAN spent an entire day building the desk, and I spent half a day getting a massage and shopping, and the other half helping to build the desk.

I got my daddy a pair of season tickets to the opera for Christmas, so one Saturday was spent doing more shopping, and going to see the Marriage of Figaro.

And now for the kicker... Two months ago my washer broke. Last month was the refrigerator. (that killed another weekend, by the way. I have never thrown away so much food!) This month, on Thanksgiving, my kitchen faucet broke! Yep, there I was, cooking green beans for Thanksgiving dinner, and the faucet starts spewing all over the place! Greatness. We also discovered that the cold water cutoff under the sink doesn't work either. Thankfully, we were able to stop the spewing by disassembling the faucet, so we didn't have to go without water. *sigh* I am now the proud owner of a special tool to turn off the water at the metre on the curb. Yeah, I know you can do it with a wrench, but it happened to be raining the day after Thanksgiving, and I didn't feel like crawling on the wet grass to turn it off. Anyway, I have a beautiful new faucet now that makes it super easy to fill the water basin on my Rainbow vaccuum cleaner. I love it!!! :)