Science Projects, Plumbing, and Electricity, Oh My!

Yesterday was something else.

I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it was pretty dang minor. But for me and my household, it was fraught with inconvenience.

Don't you just love the word 'fraught'? It's so dramatic.

It started off normally, with the alarm ringing at 5:50 am. Got the kids off to school, though the bread situation was dire enough that those who chose to brown-bag it ended up with pb&j's on half-stale hamburger buns. Whatever. Abby had her science project that she'd been working on for two weeks, Josh was dressed for PE, people had their homework, lunches, and all seemed to be well.

I got a call later in the morning from a mildly distraught daughter, letting me know that she would most likely not be attending her after-school club, since she had left her science project on the bus. You know that terrifying feeling when you suddenly realize that you've forgotten something very important, and there's not a blasted thing you can do about it? Yeah, that was her morning. As she stepped away from the bus, the realization hit her--she had left it behind. And the bus was leaving. Her day had unravelled fast. But, she stepped up and accepted the responsibility for her mistake. After a university-administration-building-worthy runaround, she was told by the office people that she'd need to just ride the bus home immediately after school, hopefully finding her project (a papier mache animal plus poster) unscathed. No activity bus for her. She handled this news as gracefully as she could, and was thankfully granted a reprieve by her science teacher. Abby was scheduled to be one of the first ones to present their project in front of the class, but her teacher bumped her to the following day. Thank heavens for small favors.

When she called me, I suggested that she ask if she could duck onto the bus after school and collect her project if it was still there, then pop back into the school to attend her club. She asked, and her wish was granted. And thankfully, she found her project right where she'd left it, was able to scoot right off the bus, turned it in to her science teacher, and made it to her club.

Now, to my day.

It seems like this week has been "the week of the household break-down". We've had troubles with electricity and plumbing, and now it seems like the appliances are deciding to follow suit. I fear they are going to start dropping like flies, like the oven did yesterday. Normally not a huge deal, as I do most of my cooking on the stove-top or with my ancient, yet huge, electric skillet. But, I was making bread. In fact, I had reached the point of no return; I was heating up the oven to put in the bread that was completely risen in the pans.

The oven was having none of it. It started sparking and smoking, and telling me off in its oven-y way. No bread today. Fortunately, I've gotten to be great friends with our electrician this week, and he answered my call with a nice little chuckle. I was not as amused as he was. To my mind, an oven repair is a long, drawn-out affair, with parts being ordered and things being shipped from far away places--in other words, I was replanning the dinner menu for the next two weeks. At least.

My new best friend showed up bright and early this morning to take a look at the suicidal oven.

He: "Looks like the element."

Me: "How long?"

He: "I'll pick one up this morning. Will you be around today?"

Me, picking jaw up off the floor: "You're kidding. Just like that? You bet I'll be around!"


And off he went. Two hours later, he was back in my kitchen, head in the oven, installing a new element in my convection oven. What a saint. I wouldn't get so excited, except for the fact that our landlord's washing machine is still waiting for a part that they ordered about six months ago. No kidding. Of course, we moved it out of the house and replaced that sucker after about two weeks. With a family this size, even missing three days of laundry is bordering on insanity.

Six months. Too bad that washer didn't need a heating element. Who knew?

Of course, I have had to call my dear friend again this morning, as all of our overhead lights in one of the rooms popped off all at once. And there was this nice little burning smell.

Ahhhh, the joys of non-homeownership. With the week we've had, I couldn't afford it.