Defeated

I don't think I have ever gone this long without writing a post. This last month or so has been one thing after another and because of that, I have realized that I have no desire to write anything. I just feel defeated. It all started shortly before Halloween when our car wouldn't start in the Winco parking lot. Jeff came to the rescue and later that night we discovered that it was a blown fuse. Easy, cheap fix. Everything was going great until we got in the car after trick or treating with Rillz and Mindy to only discover that the car wouldn't start. Same fuse but this time every time Jeff put a new one it, it would blow. We we just a couple of blocks from our house, so Jeff and Rillz pushed it home where it has sat ever since. Passat's are rediculously expensive to fix. The parts and labor just add up. We just got done spending $450 on the dumb car on a fix that was not vital to the working of the car. We had to get it done to comply to the the new emissions testing in our county. It made us mad. Anyway, car still sits in the garage and we haven't touched it since. Nothing like making car payments on a nonworking car. So we drive the truck now. Which is fine but it too has its new issues and seem to be getting worse. Thankfully Jeff just works down the road so if all else fails, he can ride his bike.

One of our computers is wacky so we no longer use it until we can get that fixed. I think some sort of something is creeping in. We also found out a while ago that Cableone will no longer be working with our modem that we have. Great, more money out the window. Plus our Norton virus protection on our laptop recently expired which scares me too death. I lost 3 years worth of pictures this last January and just wanted to cry and cry because of a virus.

The most recent thing is our furnace. A part on our furnace just went out so we have been without heat for 1.5 weeks. It was okay at first but now the temperatures are dipping into the single digits. My sister in law put it best. She stated that is stinks when money makes the choices for you. It totally stinks. We thought that the part was pretty reasonable until we looked into it. It is quite expensive. Well my mom found out and paid for the part. It is my birthday present. I joked around with Jeff that he got a big screen tv from his mom for his birthday and I got a furnace part from my parent's for mine. Honestly I could not be more excited for the furnace part. This furnace part has been a new low for me. It really depresses me. I have no desire to do anything around the house because I don't want to venture into other rooms because they are cold. Our family room is actually warm with 2 space heaters and our fireplace but you can spend so much time there until you go crazy. We do have a fireplace but it efficiently heats the room it is in only. It is so weird. The dining room is open to the family room but the heat for some reason does not pass the invisible line seperating the rooms. I am so ready for a working furnace. Nights are actually pretty warm and almost too hot with the blankets. Brecken has been sleeping with us because it is cold. He likes to sleep with his arms out which don't help him any.

Just this last weekend, Jeff was heading to work for a couple of hours and wondered why the heater in the truck smelled like burning plastic. Sure enough when the heater was turned on, it was burning something under the hood so now we don't have the heat in the truck. Yesterday morning the smoke alarm was beeping indicating the batteries needed changed. I just about went over the edge. What else could stop working. I changed the battery and felt a little better.

Oh ya, on Saturday we were helping Mindy and Rillz load some stuff into their truck. It was dark and Jeff just happened to look up and see hot ashes flying out of our chimney. Great now we have orange ashes just floating around our trees and roof. Thankfully it was cold and wet and they went out before any of that happened. However it forced us to promptly go buy a chimney cap. More money out the window.

Last night I did break down and get Norton on our computers. I was super paranoid and it said that I can put it on 3 computers so the other one will get it too. I also bought the virus removal help super cheap. I figured I can have them do it or pay another boat load of money to have it fixed. It was cheaper to do it this way.

Also our dog is driving me bonkers. He continues to get in this closet where we have gardening stuff. He has managed to rip open a diazonon container (bug killer) and Miracle Grow container. He has also ripped apart the handle and tubing on a Home Defense container. He did some nasty stuff in his crate yesterday that I had to clean out. I wonder why. He also ripped off the misting system on our patio. Jeff and I weren't too mad since we have never used it the 5 years we have lived here.

Anyway, tile stuff for Jeff and holiday advent calendars are keeping Jeff and I busy. It is also giving us extra cash which is greatly appreciated. On a great note, Gunnar and Brecken are done for Christmas. We are keeping it incredibly simple. The last few months, I have been on this huge kick of simplifying. Working on getting rid of those things that have no purpose in my house. I don't need them anymore. I still have work to do but it feels good to get rid of stuff. It really is just that...stuff. It is taking up space in my home and me. It just feels so freeing to have it gone. I was watching the Oprah Favorite Things show the last 2 days and couldn't get over the peoples reactions. I don't care if Oprah gives away stuff. It really is nice of her but do people really need to cry over a 5 year Netflix subscription or a brownie pan. The $600 (or whatever it was) earrings are pretty but I probably would never wear them. If I were there, I am sure that I would scream with excitement but I wouldn't cry. I may have cried for the car because right now I could really use one. The other stuff, is just stuff. I am not sure when my shift happened but lately I am just thankful for those things that are necessary and important. Family, friends, the gospel, a roof over my head, vehicles to drive, food on the table...you get the idea.
*Within the few minutes that I originally wrote this, the blessed UPS man showed up with the furnace part (still not installed but it is at least here). I also tried to turn on our furnace to see if it would randomly would work and it did, thank goodness. I remember my mom recalling a time when I was growing up that everything that could go wrong did go wrong including the dog dying and needing a new well drilled all within a week. They got through it and so will we but while you are in the middle of it, it still stinks.