It's me. I have some little black cloud over my head,
raining ridiculousness. Day in, day out. More bad news upon more bad luck upon
just plain insanity. Let me give you just a small sample of the madness:
I get a new (used) truck and the check engine light comes on
during my maiden voyage.
The hood won't shut.
I lock myself out of my office for over a half hour with no
phone.
I drop a Pillsbury ready-to-make bread in Walmart and it
explodes, leaving me to carry this doughy blob up to checkout.
Daycare announces a HUGE weekly price increase. I have to
cut back and take the camaro and motorcycle off the road. Looking to cut back
elsewhere too.
I receive the wrong t-shirt in the mail for Mike's Halloween
costume.
I buy some picture frames on sale for an art wall only to
discover that half of them are missing hangers – they’re desk frames only.
My new printer all of a sudden won't print.
And this is all just since Friday. Not even a week’s worth
of the last 3+ months of pure poo. Sound like I'm complaining? Darn
tootin. It would be one thing if it was all stoopid little stuff. I can
laugh about getting locked out of the office and dropping the dough. I can’t
laugh about vehicle problems. I can’t laugh about the rising cost of daycare. I
can’t afford to laugh. Not anymore.
So this extreme monetary stress and automotive anxiety is
being compounded by a rash of incredible bad juju. I need a cleansing or
something – and fast.
To make matters somewhat worse, the last of the MG parts are
on a boat from England, delaying the completion of that project. Here in New
England, cold weather has finally hit and I can’t delay updates to our heating
system… a baseboard currently behind the piano needs to be moved as soon as
possible, or it will ruin the piano. And while we have things disconnected, we
may as well complete the radiant heating system we began installing last
winter. (So far, it’s only in the living room and needs to be extended into the
kitchen, mudroom, hallway, and Mikey’s room.)
Cha-ching, cha-ching.
Then there’s the desperately needed new trash shed. We’ve
given up even propping the door on the old broken one. The animals get in one
way or another. Racoon and now possum. It’s a backyard buffet!
I’ve given up hope on the completion of the porch this year.
Dam we were close. Just the rest of the trim and front steps… But I can’t do
it. All the siding for the next side of the house and an octagonal window…
can’t do that either and half of that stuff is already bought! And forget about
much needed bathrooms. I get choked up thinking about it. I regret not tearing
that thing off in the beginning. I can’t believe I’ll have to live with it
indefinitely now, with no sign of economic improvement on the horizon.
Over the weekend, I did manage to hang all those frames in
the hallway – now a gorgeous art wall. Except for the art. I can’t afford to
fill the frames right now. (And hey, there’s that new printer that won’t work.
I’ve got to look at that tonight.) I almost regret buying the frames except for
the beauty and potential of the art wall.
Our neighbor has promised promised he’ll finish our kitchen
drywall around the new (now kinda old) window. If I’m lucky, we’ll still have
some of the right color of paint downstairs. I so want to trim out the window,
but fat chance of that too.
I’m just fulla sunshine, huh? Boy are you glad I haven’t
been writing as often as I should. Nobody would want to hear about it. I don’t
even want to hear about it. We still have our jobs and can still squeak by
living a modest but comfy lifestyle without crazy amounts of debt. At the same
time, I’m not getting any younger. Life doesn’t wait for me to save money. And if
there’s one thing I hate, it’s wasting time.
