12.15.2011

I ate all the muffins

Remember about my dryer, and how my neighbor was going to come over that day to fix it?

Yeah, he didn't. I camped out at home all day for the 2nd day in a row--didn't shower, didn't run my errands, didn't do anything except stay at home and wait for him and get more and more frustrated and take his calls about the different things that had come up and how he'll come over right after he gets this one thing taken care of.

After TDL was asleep that night, I drove to the store to buy his milk, since we'd run out. Got out of the car and realized I'd parked in a handicapped spot. Moved the car. Got into the store and realized that my wallet wasn't in my purse. Said [Jenny's word] in my mind. Remembered that I did have WIC vouchers in my purse, so grabbed formula instead. Believed that the people in line were giving me looks and had to refrain from screaming, "Lady, I do not NEED to be getting WIC Looks from someone who has  DOG IN HER CART so just STEP OFF." Came home and proceeded to have a meltdown with swear words and sobbings and statements like "I just want clean towwwweeeelllllls!" and "Plus I'm PMSing which is why I'm so fat and crying right now and also why I wanted chocolate from the store and I couldn't get annnnyyyyyyyyyy!"

GH comforted me, and then offered me the tonic of peanut butter and chocolate chips on a spoon, which he swore would taste just like a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. It was pretty good. After wallowing for a moment, I remembered that I have a brother who lives 20 feet away with a working dryer. I called him and announced that my period was three days away and that's why I sound so unhinged and can I please use his dryer tomorrow. (Bless boys who grew up with sisters. They are the best.)

So yesterday I spent all day doing laundry and drying my sheets and towels and underwear in the dryer of my sweet brother and his lovely wife. And then Daltongirl texted me wanting to know why on this green earth I hadn't asked for help because she too has a dryer and is married to the very handy and sweet Daltonboy. Love my lovely friends.

I have learned an important lesson, though, during this experience and some others I've had in the last year or so. Ready for it?

It's just better to have money.

I'm not kidding, it is. Doing favors and accepting favors and bartering services is all very well and good, except for when it totally is not. Because when there are delays and things, you have to accept it. Like when the nice lady in my ward offered to take newborn photos of the Dark Lord for free but then got busy and didn't give me the images for several months (there went my Christmas cards and/or birth announcements). Like with my dryer right now. You can't go stomping around and lighting fires under people's butts because they are doing you a favor. And that's what money is for. It means you can hire a professional and ensures that you are a priority. Your problems will be addressed immediately rather than when somebody "can get around to it."

I have accepted that my neighbor is never going to fix my dryer. He might not even have the part that is needed to fix it, because every time we ask for it he has an excuse for why he can't give it to us right now. Maybe he just doesn't want to disappoint us and feels that all these excuses are better than the truth, which is that for whatever reason, he can't help us. He has some problems, problems that make me feel really bad for him, and despite his good intentions it is just not going to happen.

So. On to Plan B!

9 comments:

Unknown said... [reply]

Hi...I'm your boating friend. We're in the same boat. But I'm not eating muffins. I'm eating cookies. They are good and easy to make - 1C of each PB, brown sugar, choc. chips, 1 egg, 1 tsp baking soda. Mix in a bowl with a spoon. Bake 10 minutes at 350. (No flour, few dishes, easy diet-killer.) I'm thinking of making a second batch.

After a week of people offering to check our car's check engine light issues it finally didn't start and we had it towed this morning. More money but less stress in the long run. (Especially since we are a one car family.) On top of that, Johnny is having gastrointestinal issues so let's both eat cookies and muffins, drop the oars for the day and just float along in our boat of difficult days. Heroin would help but that'd be bad...let's stick to junk food. Maybe order pizza - yeah, it costs money but can you put a price on your sanity?

Jonathon said... [reply]

I'll second that "it's just better to have money" bit. I'm tired of being a broke grad student while trying to raise a family. I can't wait to be done and (hopefully) gainfully employed. Being broke is one of the greatest frustrations in life, I think.

Do you know what part needs to be replaced? I just replaced the element in ours, and it was surprisingly easy. I don't know if doing it yourself is a possibility, but I hope you can work something out soon.

Nemesis said... [reply]

Jonathon, it is the heating element. We will absolutely try replacing it ourselves if we can just get the part from him. Or find another part somewhere else. He said that if you do it incorrectly it can start a fire, but we looked up some videos online and it seems pretty straightforward!

Unknown said... [reply]

Then again, who needs heroin when you have a giggling, happy kid!

AmyJane said... [reply]

Of course it's better to have money. Where do we line up to get some? :). In the meantime, you should note that we must still be commonlaw married cause we're having e same sucktastic week and we still cycle together. True, forever love I tell you.

coolmom said... [reply]

As I like to say, Money can't buy happiness, (or eternal life!) but it can sure buy everything else!
Did I miss where you ate all the muffin?

coolmom said... [reply]

I ate a whole loaf of cranbery orange bread yesterday...warm...straight from the oven. But it was a very small loaf. And it made my taste buds sing I tell you!

Mikey said... [reply]

You should have asked a month ago. I'm pretty sure CoolWife offered our dryer when you first mentioned that yours was having trouble.


@Everyone:
I offered to let her use the dryer before she announced her impending menstruation. I think it was just that she was so stressed out that she had prepared a bit of a speech and wasn't willing to let me screw it up by cutting the to chase.

Jenny said... [reply]

Michael you are the funniest ever. Seriously.

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