Talk on a Tuesday

The Chairman is burning some late-night oil at the workplace and I don't feel like going to bed yet, so will do a late-night chat fest with you!

Have you seen those memes that say that someone is just done with 'adulting'.  That's kind of how I felt this past week.  Last week I noticed our water softener didn't seem to be working.  I went and kicked the tank a few times to see if that would help.  Then Googled it and it seemed like we had a salt dome issue.  So the Chairman and I dug through the salt and brine in the tank and discovered what Google said would be the issue.  But as I turned around I asked the Chairman, 'why is there a big puddle under the water heater?'.  Oh no.  A call to our plumber and some pictures and texts were exchanged and two days and nearly $2000 later we have hot water again.

Then the HVAC guy had to come to figure out why we were having condensation problems in certain rooms.  That was fixed and thankfully it was a little less than $2000.

So I've relished in the new stove/oven.  I've been literally cooking on all four burners.  I've been keeping the oven humming along.  Today's fare included three loaves of pumpkin bread, hamburger buns for at least two meals and also some dinner rolls.  I feel like I just gained a pound by typing that sentence.

A friend of mine just made this cute sign for me.  I really am happy with it.  And the saying is mostly true.

I have this spatula that I absolutely love that came with my Bosch mixer.  I tried to find a replacement for it to no avail.  In desperation I contacted Bosch via email my predicament and within ten minutes a lady responded saying she knew exactly what I was talking about and they just happened to have one sitting in her office so she sent it to me FOR FREE!!!  It is already safely nestled in my kitchen drawer just three days later.  Talk about service!

So I've been cleaning out kitchen cupboards and that led me to the basement and I started to go through boxes and tubs and looked in scary-dark corners of the "dirty room" and ended up with four huge bags of trash, a mid-sized SUV filled with treasures for Goodwill and then some other things we may use later or to sell.

 I was so glad to run across this again.  When our little premature baby died back in 1996, someone gave this to us just a few days after she had passed away.  For some reason, having her name etched on this little china box made her seem more real.  It was way more comforting to me than some flowers that were fading.  I'll always be thankful for their thoughtfulness.

Tonight I posted a picture of our old living room area rug.  Immediately there were people clamoring for it.  One lady that seemed the most interested and willing to pay full price said she'd meet me this week.  So I looked up her FB profile and I see it was a nice family.  Then I see some more details and I realize she has a little girl fighting a horrible cancer battle with her eyes!  She's blind in one eye now and may lose the sign in the other despite being cared for at Sloan-Kettering.  After we had agreed upon the price, I contacted her sheepishly and said I had been doing some FB stalking and saw what they were up against and to please leave the wallet at home.  She was incredibly gracious and we continued our 'chat' online.  I can't wait to meet her.  And I hope she brings little Julia along so I can tell her how brave I think she is.

Life is truly not for the faint of heart.  I think being aware of other's struggles is such a positive thing really.  It makes us feel less alone when we are going through them or makes us thankful that at present, we are healthy, happy, and hopeful.

So this is enough.  This week promises to be full of special privileges and visits.  I don't want to be looking sleepy so I better go catch a few winks.  Thanks for listening and for your cyber friendship!