My sweet friend, Lenda, has a saying: "I never learned anything profound on vacation."
I'm always brought up short by the vast truth in this statement. I should have known then that I wasn't going to learn to be serene in an already peaceful place. Oh no. The reason Serenity has its own prayer is because you need it.
The start of this year has me beat down and heavy laden. It began with a gas leak in the fuel track of Ruthie the (not so) Wonder Van. First it was under recall. Then it was already fixed. Then it hadn't been fixed. Then it was maybe it had been already fixed, but nobody knew. Then it was yes it definitely had even though we'd told you it wasn't and since you can't remember the exact date, time, and name of all the people that told you this too bad so sad pay for it yourself. Then it was oh that guy left. Then after a solid month of having one vehicle and becoming cab driver mom carting the mister and small fry all over the city it was "It's under warranty." Dude, I didn't even care at this point. I was just so happy that we didn't have to pay $400 on a van that is on its last leg.
In the meantime, the kitchen faucet went belly up and refused to push any water out of the spout. This fell at a time when we were tapped. I'm mean beyond broke seeing as it was the week after Christmas and just had to buy a new battery for the defunct van. For a whole week, I carted dishes back and forth to the bathtub and did dishes there. But then we went on a mini date night to Menard's and Home Depot finding an awesome faucet on the clearance rack for $40! SCORE! It's awesome. The water pressure is amazing. It's black. Our sink is stainless. I don't care. It adds to our quirky, wack-a-doodle house. But it couldn't stop there. Oh no.
The dryer went on strike refusing to heat. Cancel two hair appointments seeing as my cape and all shop towels are in said dryer. Cold. And Wet. Good News? It was a fuse. That we didn't even have to pay for :)
At Christmas, I kept burning everything. I thought it was because I cheated and bought pie crust. Turns out it was because the knob to the oven was stripped out and I couldn't control the heat setting. I couldn't turn it off either. So a new stove it is. Except that due to Big Man's position at work, he is in constant contact with a man who runs a used appliance store. We went down there and I picked out a Maytag gas range that was self-cleaning with A CONVECTION OVEN!! Payment? Just the trade in on our old range since B sends him so much business. Whaaa?
We can't stop there, folks. The faucet in the bath tub pulled a full out Vietnam protester act and simply refused to revert the water from the nozzle up into the shower. The little do-hickey (that's the technical term) that reroutes it broke. Now, we have an 84- year old Arts and Crafts style house that I adore. And with that Arts and Crafts style house came a claw foot bath tub that I THOUGHT I would adore. I don't. In fact, I hate it and completely understand why they are ripped out of every house that has them. You can't just pop down to Lowe's and pick up a $30 faucet kit and it's as good as new. Oh no. You have to buy specialty parts. $80 specialty parts. Not cute $80 specialty parts. But it was an easy fix and my husband is quite handy :)
Two days later, the screw holding the curtain rod into the ceiling over our claw foot tub rusted through and fell on down...while I was in the shower. It is now duct taped. I don't care if it ever gets fixed as I really just want a different tub.
Harder even still was a week ago last Sunday. Brandon's 91-year-old grandmother had a stroke. She was moved to hospice last Wednesday. It's just a matter of time now.
It's been one hit after another since our week of rest at the end of last year. I should've known. Serenity is not found nor practiced when the road is easy. Makes me wonder what the rest of the year will be like. But here is what I've discovered as I type out the horrors of the past four weeks: We were provided for. The stress is great. I'm not going to gloss it over. It's starting to take it's toll. We are snappy and unkind. Over-tired and beyond weary. Our love is still strong, but our communication is shotty. And I need to sit at the blog and write more as it nurtures and helps balm my sore spots.
I feel amazed though as I write this down. We only had to spend $230 ($90 for the battery, $40 for the sink, and $80 for the bath) when so many things went kaput. In that period, Brandon also painted our living room and my mom gifted us beautiful curtains I found at Penney's. My table has a lovely vase full of flowers from Brandon's bosses telling us they are praying for his grandmother. I am glad I sat down here today to whine and complain because in doing so God reminded me of his provision.
Kisses to your faces,
Rach
