Right after Pete and I got married, we moved into our brand-new apartment in Uptown Charlotte, and filled it up with our brand-new wedding gifts, appliances, bedding, etc. Everything was so pristine and clean and shiny. In the subsequent 11 years, though, the luster has faded on almost everything, and now I believe we are in, and probably have been for awhile now, the official time known as the Broken Stuff Era (B.S.E.).
In the last week alone, the kids have broken 2 of our original Fiesta dishes, and 1 Corelle baking dish (all wedding gifts) (And none of our beautiful serving platters we received back then are without chips or cracks in them at this point.) Also in the last week, beside the washing machine saga, our vacuum cleaner broke, the kids added an extra major dent to our living room wall, the fluorescent light in our closet won't light, and our computer network router stopped working, causing our laptop to be un-useable, as well as our Tivo. And while we've been trying to pretend our camera has been "fine" for the last couple of months, we have now been forced to realize that if the LCD screen is blank, you have to use a thumb-tack to press the shutter for each picture, and the camera shuts off every 5-10 seconds, it's probably actually "broken" and needs to be replaced.
Our garage looks like a hospital for wooden objects at the moment. Where our van used to happily sit, there is now: a broken kitchen shelf, a "new" (bought at a yard sale for $10) semi-broken bed for Rayna that needs some fixing up, a broken weed-wacker, and a dining room set that is awaiting some "fixes" (more on that story later). I think the sawhorses are going to put down roots in their newly-won territory. Pete's poor jaw clenches everytime he walks out to the garage to get his shoes, and sees all his "projects."
But as I recall, for my entire childhood my parents lived in the B.S.E. All of my dad's free time on weekends or evenings was sucked up by repair projects, and honestly I don't remember a single perfectly shining new thing in our house during my entire 18 years of living there -- at least if there was one momentarily, it was only that -- for a moment.
So I have a feeling that now that we have entered the B.S.E, we should probably get comfortable here -- it might be a long stage.
(Ed. note: I just heard a crash -- the towel bar in the powder room has broken off.)
oh, i am laughing...but only to keep from crying. the worst part of living in the bse is that it eats into already severely limited "free time" to fix all the bs!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the 10-11 yr mark is where it begins. We just replaced our everyday glasses, the ones that weren't broken, because they were so nasty. We are going on 14 yrs here and we have been slowly replacing things that broke around the 10 yr anniversary. Fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteThat's really funny! And -- yes -- you are right -- I don't remember anything shiny and new either! I do remember Dad getting really happy when he realized that John was finally fixing more stuff than he was breaking! You have that to look forward to, at least! By the way, this comment is saying it's from Katie -- maybe 'cuz Graham was over here doing stuff to my computer on Saturday?? But, anyhow, it's really from me!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the nuudle creations and glad to hear that you have a new washer! :-)
ReplyDeleteAmy - missing your gang at Waxhaw CC. Are you out at Monroe?
ReplyDeleteAnyway - you'll appreciate knowing that I have 3 broken items waiting for "Gorilla Glue" on my kitchen counter right now: a coaster, a beloved cereal bowl (handmade), and the lid to my flour canister. That does not include the innumerable items here and there and filling my garage waiting to be repaired, replaced or recycled.
Yes. The B.S.E.