It's been a hard month... and although this post isn't meant to be a complaint, it may seem that way. Actually, I thought it was important to document the realities of life. Especially when I've been saying to my eldest that one of the BIG reasons to learn to think happy is because "you're going to grow up and one day the furnace will explode (not literally) and the car will need a big repair and the roof will start to leak... all in the same month." And that's basically what I been living...
So here's the list
-I totaled the car (after just putting $1500 into it the month before)
-the washing machine died, like drill bit stuck through the drum died, on top of already leaking oil and not spinning well, and we had to buy a new one
-our insurance kicked in and it's NOT cheap - about 1/3 Beorn's income each month
-the toilet downstairs broke, water every where
-the alignment on the new car was $200, not $70, due to almost stuck bolts
-the lock on the back door broke (literally), had to replace the whole door
-the horn on the new car died, $100 to diagnose, $400 to fix
-the kitchen sink isn't working well, the water pressure just comes and goes, it needs to be taken apart, hoping it's just a hard water build-up
-deferment is up and our first student loan payment is due in a couple weeks
and yet with each problem, a blessing
- an extra large tax return let us buy a new car with cash, even if it's not what I had planned for that money, and we have no car payment
- while shopping for a washing machine I cried out "I just want my washing machine back!" (not an expensive new-fangled one), a recommendation from a friend found us at a small appliance shop where the man had a machine just like my old one he'd rebuild for half the cost of a new one - I got my washing machine back - with fewer dings!
- two of my babysit kids are back (after being home with dad for the winter) and the income from them just about makes up for the insurance
- the toilet only needed a wax seal and it was just $4 and the flood didn't hurt anything because Beorn caught it fast and it was downstairs
- the bolts did finally come loose, after we'd oked replacing the tie rods, saving us hundreds of dollars
- we still had the knob and dead bolt we'd bought five years ago when we bought the house, that wouldn't fit in the old door, saving us $$$ and the door only cost $7.50 at the restore and all it will need is a new transition strip.
The horn and sink and loan payment don't have corresponding blessings... probably because we haven't actually dealt with them yet.
Waiting on the horn to make sure the car passed safety the day after we bought it (if not, I'm insisting the dealership pay on that one, they said they'd "take care of registration" and the assumption when you buy from a dealership is that the car will at least pass safety) and to give me a month to scrounge more money together.
I just haven't had a moment to even look at the sink, maybe tomorrow.
And the loan... well, if nothing else, I'll take money out of savings... because I CAN... because we've managed to get through everything the past couple months WITHOUT using our rainy day fund.
And that is why, despite how awful the past few weeks have been and how everything keeps braking, I consider myself blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment