Appliance Malfunction Saga: Part the Second in which other food-related appliances quit working

Part the First is here.

We survived Thanksgiving, somehow. We muscled our way through the visit to the in-laws, the saving grace there being Superman's brother and his wife. They're the sane ones in Superman's family and we stayed at their house. Superman spent Friday afternoon and much of Saturday with his parents. I "had plans" with my favorite sis-in-law. I won that round.

Home again after Thanksgiving weekend, and our bottom oven has a burned out element. Complicating factor #next, I promised to bake a bunch of cookies for the bake sale our Hospice Care organization holds in conjunction with one of their biggest annual fundraisers. Cookies due at 3:00 p.m. Thursday. My top oven is fully operational, and its size works wonderfully for baking cookies. I'm spoiled. I want to bake two sheets at a time. In two ovens. I asked Superman to order a replacement element once we were hooked up to the internet at his brother's place, but of course one needs the make, model, serial number, oldest child's SSN to order the replacement. No go ordering it Friday. But I remembered. As soon as we got home Sunday evening I asked again. After pulling the oven out from the wall, finding frightening things underneath it, and finally locating the necessary numbers, my wonderful husband ordered the replacement elements. He ordered both, though only the bottom element was burned out. A few months ago the top element in the top oven burned out. Since these things seem to be happening now at the oven's advanced age, we figured better to replace both top and bottom elements for the bottom oven. But will they arrive in time for baking day Thursday?!?!?!?
  via GIPHY

Yes. The package arrived Wednesday and my wonderful Superman installed them Wednesday night. Thursday I made 5 batches of cookie things. It was thrilling.

Oven repair achievement unlocked.

But wait, there's more! No, not the oven. It works fine now. But remember all the turkeys from the previous post? When Superman got a great deal on turkeys and bought four? Because we like turkey and we have a nice upright freezer in which to store food, shopping wisely when prices are low and all that good responsible stuff? Well, we had a freezer.

Thursday afternoon (iirc) I snuck into the freezer to get myself a bowl of Great Value Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.* I like to keep it in the deep freeze so it's good and hard (giggle) rather than in the smaller refrigerator freezer. I opened the carton, positioned the scoop preparing to fight for a chunk of hard frozen dairy delight, and the scoop almost fell through to the bottom of the carton. Oops. And Oh Shit.

I keep a lot of water bottles in my freezer. We like the Bolthouse juices, and the empty bottles store water well. Frozen water bottles are useful when packing coolers, for instance, or to use at the beach/park/lake/hike/mowing the lawn. They also provide thermal mass to help keep the freezer cold. Good thing, too.

I filled our 'fridge freezer with as much of the food from the deep freeze as would fit. We got one of the turkeys in there. The other three I put in the refrigerator and surrounded them with frozen water bottles, then turned down the temperature in the 'fridge. Thursday night when Superman got home we debated our options. We needed a freezer SOON. The current one is a few years old, but is kept in the garage that gets super hot in the summer; not an ideal location for such an appliance but it's what we got. No idea when a repair person might be able to get here. The freezer still has power. The light inside works. The electronic display on the front still has something on it, but not the 5 indicating its cooling level. The internet was vaguely helpful, telling me how to run a diagnostic using those buttons on the display panel. Two buttons, up and down. Hold both for three seconds, then the display will blah blah blah blah blah. Some kind of code signs. I don't know. They mean nothing to me and I haven't the tools to do anything with it.

Thursday morning, and also Wednesday morning at about the same time, the power in the house did one of those BLIP things, where everything shuts off and restarts immediately. Makes my refrigerator beep, resets the settings on my dryer, blanks out the clock on the microwave (but not on the coffee maker or the stove, interestingly). Is that a power surge? Anyway, I suspect that might have knocked out the capacitor on the freezer. Where is the capacitor on the freezer? How does one get to it? Where does one get a replacement? Oh fuck it. Why not just buy a new one? We have the money for a modest freezer, and don't need a huge one.

By the time we figured this out, Lowe's was closed. Lowe's and Sears Hometown Store (only appliances and lawn care equipment) and one independent store are our local options for freezers. Lowe's opens at 7 a.m. and has the best prices, so there we go. Seven o'clock on Friday morning is a good time to go to Lowe's, in case you're wondering. The freezer selection was minimal, but we found what we need for a reasonable price. And Superman has a pickup truck, so Bob's your uncle and we have a new freezer at home. The tricky part now is getting it off the truck by himself. He had help getting it up there. I tried to call Twitch to come help, but he was unavailable. Superman, being Superman and an engineer, got it done without hurting himself. I'm so proud. (No, really)

We got it in place (I helped without hurting myself, too!) but can't load it up until it pre-cools** for 24 hours. The only thing I'm concerned about is those damned turkeys. I did all I could, so I let it go. When we were finally able to load up the new freezer, all but one of the turkeys was still frozen. There's another turkey thawing in my refrigerator now. Turkey dinner this week! Again! After we finally finished off the turkey soup my dear husband made from the disastrous Thanksgiving debacle. Good thing we like turkey. Perhaps we'll have Twitch over again.

Freezer replacement achievement unlocked.

And this afternoon, because this is my life, or something like it, the microwave died. More detail in the previous post. I've lost track of how long we've had that microwave. We've lived in this house for 11 years? 12? It moved in with us, and was old then. No question about whether to repair it. Can microwave ovens be repaired? Ours sits in the bottom shelf of the upper cabinet to the left of the sink. Superman measured the space and heigh'd off to Walmart (again) for a replacement. He found one the exact size of the old one. The light in this one works so now I can watch my food cook again! Finally! Gotta find some Peeps for a jousting match. Are there Christmas Peeps?***


YES!! I figured out how to embed a YouTube video!

Microwave replacement achievement unlocked!

*A bowl full of this delicious ice cream with a generous shake of chocolate Ovaltine powder applied to the top - Yum! Don't stir it in much, though, at least not at first, but be careful not to inhale the Ovaltine powder. That hurts.

**The opposite of preheat?

***There are!!

I can't stand the taste of Peeps, though, so I doubt I'll get any tbh. 

Then there's this:  

OMG

OK, I'm done. 

*sigh*

If I knew what to write, I'd have posted before.

I was dismally depressed late lasts week, and although I thought about dragging you through the mire of that depression, I couldn't quite get my thoughts clear enough to write anything. So I chose the better part of valor and didn't.

The depression has lifted, mostly, at least for now. Two sunny days have helped, but I actually enjoyed the dark rainy of last week, even though I was depressed. If that makes sense, and I don't think it does.

Sproing seems to be settling in well at the treatment facility. I'm not sure about his progress, or really much of anything. I talked to him yesterday, and Superman and Diva went to visit. I stayed home to study.

Manny (the pickup truck) isn't working. Again. Superman left the headlights on last week and ran the battery down. We jumped it off, and I was able to drive it home from the parking lot at his workplace, but when I tried to start it this morning there wasn't enough juice to start him up.

I have a big test, a really scary monster, on Thursday. I haven't been studying like I should. That can be said for most of my semester, actually. What happened?

I dunno, maybe I'm in the doldrums. It's mid-term now. Life is in a delicate holding pattern. The days are getting shorter. We finally had a cool day yesterday. The temperature dropped to just above freezing last night, though this afternoon was very warm in the sun. The breeze was nice, but without a breeze things were warm. Kinda nice, really, and dry instead of humid. But the sun hurts my eyes.

What, do I have to complain about everything?? Sheesh. OK, remember when I said the depression has lifted? I spoke too soon. Or perhaps I should just not think about it. Too much navel-gazing is bad for the soul.

Never mind. Pretend like you didn't read this drivel. Go for a drive through the blogosphere and find something fun.

blah blah blah blah

School is going well for me this week (so far), grade-wise. I got my scores from the developmental psych test I took Monday and the sociology exam from last Thursday. I suspect it may not be appropriate to mention in this quasi-public forum what the scores were, exactly. If you're that curious, email me. 

Diva. Did I ever go into any detail at all about Diva's indiscretions from last week? Do you really want to know? If not, don't read the rest of this paragraph. As I reread the post, that about says it all. Diva tried out for a spot in the Arts Magnet School program for middle school. She did not get in (there are lots of reasons, and I support that decision). However, Diva darling was very angry when she received the letter informing her that she didn't make the cut. So she made an obscene phone call to the woman in charge of the Arts Magnet program for our school district. Since the woman wasn't in to take the call, Diva left her message on the voice mail, and included her name (First Middle Last) and our home telephone number. Then she added "Don't call me!" Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, obviously, and one of the reasons she didn't get into the program. So she was suspended from school for 3 days, beginning last Friday. Tomorrow will be her first day back. Superman and I have tried to make her life pretty miserable since then. She's done school work and a lot of scrubbing and cleaning. I fear she may have enjoyed herself too much anyway. She has been grounded this whole time, not allowed to play with anyone (besides Sproing) and not able to talk on the phone. Will this make a difference in her behavior? I don't know for sure, but I doubt it. If history is any indication, it won't make a hill of beans worth of difference in her behavior. 

The next paragraph is about Sproing and the trouble he got into in school today. I'm warning you now so you can avoid it, too, if you so desire. 

I have decided to stop checking my phone messages between classes. Right before sociology class today I checked my voicemail. I had a message from the case worker at the elementary school telling me that Sproing had misbehaved in class to the point that he was removed from class and sent to the in-school suspension room for the last 3 hours of school. In the message she asked if he is taking his medication. Oy. I talked to Superman, asked if he'd given the boy his meds this morning. (I got to sleep in a little bit this morning!) Yes, Superman watched Sproing take his meds today before school. After I got out of class I went to the school to ... To what? Investigate maybe? See what damage he'd done this time? I don't know. But there I was, and I gathered incriminating information. He'd started acting out oppositionally in his music class, and was sent to the office. Afterward he was sent back to class on the condition that he could get himself under control. He assured the case worker that he was OK now. Half an hour later his classroom teacher sent him back to the office, which is of course when they put him in lock-up and called me. I had to get Twitch from school so wasn't home when Sproing came home. I left a note on the whiteboard in the kitchen for him to stay home, to not go out with his friends. Diva was instructed to point out the message. She asked what to do if he didn't stay, and I told her that if she makes sure he sees the message, then she has done her part. If he doesn't stay, that's his decision and he will reap the whirlwind for it. Guess who was not home when Twitch and I returned? I've called his friend's house but get no answer. Somebody is in deep weeds right now. 

In a bitter twist of irony, the sociology professor lectured today on deviance and conformity. 

My mind is full of so many things. I want to write about the exciting things I'm learning in school. I want to write about some of the self discoveries blooming in my life. I want to express my excitement about an interesting symposium I may get a chance to attend in Washington, DC next month. These children take a lot of effort (duh) and distract me from other things. 

Let's take a look at that for a moment. (The rest of this post is skippable, too. It's going to be filled with navel gazing on the topic of parenting vs. the rest of my life.) What is my responsibility to these children? How far does it go? Must or should I devote all of my energies to caring for them? Is it alright for me to have interests outside my family? 

Here's the deal. Theoretically at some time in the future my children will leave this home and build lives for themselves outside of our immediate family structure. (I say "theoretically" because today I can't see that happening.) Or they will leave this home to take up residence in a penal institution. Whatever path they take, it will be away from me. That is how it should be (The becoming independent from the parent part. Not the jail part, necessarily). Assuming that day comes and I am still alive, I will need a life of my own. Now is a good time to prepare for my future, and that's what I'm trying to do. 

I do have other interests. If you have read just about anything else in this whole blog you will know that the GLBT community, issues, rights, etc. are a passion for me. I feel something akin to a divine calling to be involved in some way in helping and supporting the homosexual community. 

It just seems to me that I should be able to attend school and parent my children. On one hand, one could argue that having outside interests and being involved in something I find fulfilling (school, in this case) is generally good for me and by extension good for the family, including Diva and Sproing. And Twitch and Light, as well, of course. Superman thinks it's a very good idea. He likes me to be interested and excited about life. That's one reason I call him Superman. 

On the other hand, perhaps I am neglecting the needs of my special-needs young adolescent children. Perhaps, one could argue, I should be at home to deal with issues that come up with them during the day, and be prepared to tend to them when they get home from school. As it is, I'm frequently busy studying (or pretending to study but writing blog posts instead) when they are home in the afternoon. 

I feel very weak today. I'm emotionally fragile and unsure of myself. Then those messages start playing in my head, the ones that go something like "if you were really a good mother, you would...," "You are selfish for...," "You don't deserve...." I know I'm not supposed to listen to those messages, rather I am supposed to focus on positive and encouraging messages. And here's a hint about how depression works: I don't deserve to hear positive messages, and I feel guilty for holding that opinion. No of course that doesn't make sense! That's why depression is considered a disorder. 

A neat and tidy summary would look really good here. But this is my life, or something like it, and there are very few neat, tidy summaries here. So this is all you get. 

I had a weekend

The play for which I was sewing costumes opened and closed this weekend. Community theater, folks. Five shows, plus one on Thursday morning for the school kids. 'Twas the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I didn't watch it. I actually didn't even do all the sewing I was supposed to. I did get the four dresses built, but the mob caps were fewer than desired.  I'll go ahead and make some more now, anyway, because they'll be used later. Brigadoon is coming up soon.

My allergies have been acting up, causing my throat and ears to itch. Sunday the mess moved into my lungs. I need my inhaler, but can't find it. I think the thing has expired, anyway, so I'm going to call the doctor's office this morning to request a refill on that prescription. If it gets much worse I'll go in for a look-over. Right now I don't think I need any antibiotic. Yet. My chest is tight, though, and I've got a wee cough. I feel icky, but not so much that I can't do anything. 

I think some other things may have happened this weekend, but I'm not sure what. I slept a lot. Superman and Twitch went grocery shopping yesterday and bought $400 worth of stuff. He likes to stock up. 

We have a new-to-us fireplace insert. It was cool enough last night that Superman built a fire in it. He says it puts some nice heat into the room. I think we'll set a fan in the hallway to encourage some of that warm air back toward the bedrooms. 

So, in conclusion, there isn't much to blog about. On today's agenda is more laundry (yes, the washing machine is still working!) and a visit to the drug dealer, my psychiatrist. Nice fellow, but not nearly as useful as my therapist. (No offense, Ur-Spo)

Happy Monday to all, and to all a good week.