This afternoon was a little chaotic to say the least. I had 2 extra kids and one had a frog named “Todd.” Poor Todd was caught at recess and was in a plastic water bottle with a few blades of grass and sloshing water. I took the 4 kids + frog to Costco and let’s just thank the Lord I don’t have 4 little voices calling me mommy. With all of the goods, we barely fit into the car when we left. It brought back fond memories of this childhood fave…
We heard the strange pop noise and then got a call from our next door neighbor that the hill behind us was on fire!! Too close for comfort. I roused the neighbors because I saw flames and kind of freaked out thinking the worst and if we needed to evacuate, I wanted everyone to have a fighting chance. You never know with CA fires. I ran across the street in my pjs and socks and started banging on doors like a mad-woman. This is on the heels of our 911 call yesterday for a little guy who had a bad asthma attack (he took a med-evac ride to San Diego and is stabilizing). I think we are going to rename our block Wisteria.
The fire trucks came and it was out in about 30 minutes. Luckily, we still have June Gloom and no wind so it was out really quick. They are still cleaning it up as I write and investigating. From the pop sound, we think it was started by the electrical poles. Anyway, Good Morning Sunshine!!
I wouldn’t know. I’m beginning to forget anyway. Come on, Maytag!! They said the compressor is on the way but that it would be Monday at the earliest. That is 12 days from when this saga began. Darn. The natives are really burned out on Taco Bell and sandwiches these days.
I do want to say a big thank you to Renee for loaning us a mini-fridge which fits perfectly under our bar and allows us to have the essentials. I’ve never been more grateful for a cold water or Diet Pepsi in my life! Thank you Renee!! Plus, it makes me feel like I’m in college again…remember mini-fridges?
Oh, that’s right…THERE’S NOTHING IN IT!! Yes, we are still waiting. Maytag said maybe Wednesday or Thursday so until then, every beverage we consume will be tepid. Ah, refreshing!
What’s next?! They say things come in threes, so we only have one more thing to go through before the set is complete. The refrigerator is kaput and thing number two happened this morning. I loaded the kids in the car, inserted the key and – wait for it – nothing. Darn. It was weird. I started laughing because I though it was a joke (as if my car can play a joke on me…okay blondie!). So I tried a few more times and nope. Nothing. Dead.
I ran back to the house and informed a very unenthusiastic Garth that the car wouldn’t turn over. A little panic ensued because today is a big day for him…2 conference calls and 2 meetings, one an hour away in Mission Viejo. We came up with a quick plan. Garth took me and the kids to school – today is my day to volunteer at school. Then, he came home and charged the car and it started! Apparently, when we were cleaning out the car last night someone (no names, please) left the indoor lights on. At least I think that’s what happened. Anyway, Tom (the same one that helped us out yesterday with the fridge fiasco) followed Garth to the school and they left my car in the parking lot. Then Garth got a ride home and the day has resumed from there. I think I’m ready for a nap…and it’s only 12pm.
Early this morning I came out to make some coffee and made the mistake of opening the freezer instead of the fridge to get some milk. A steady stream of very cold water came down from the icebox spilling onto my clothes and then the floor. Lovely. The freezer was no longer cold. We did have some clues that something was wrong but in pure denial, we thought it would somehow fix itself. Interesting, since I really can’t name anything off-hand – other than the human body – that heals itself. Anyway, our clue was that a few weeks ago, a very obnoxious buzzing sound would turn on and off throughout the day/night. Last night, I timed it…it came on every 4 minutes and lasted about 15 seconds. I know this because it kept interrupting 24 and I was thoroughly irritated. Jack Bauer commands (and receives!) full attention – as any fan of 24 would know.
At about 10am, a church friend who does appliance repairs showed up and informed us that we were beyond him. Our compressor was shot. Super. So I called Maytag to see if we were still under warranty and you would have thought I won the lottery because made the warranty cut-off by 1 month! Wheee! Not having to pay a dime…that is the good news. The bad news is that Maytag doesn’t know which compressor model we need, so we have another guy coming out…on Friday. Then, they will order the part which could take up to a week. Then, we need to make an appointment for another guy to come out an install it. Hmmm…that would be 9 days from now (best case scenario).
By 10:30, I was in the kitchen staring at a freshly stocked – and broken – refrigerator and trying not to panic. It’s was a lot of food and time was ticking…I didn’t want it all to go bad. Most of the items in the freezer were already thawed out and had to be refrigerated and consumed within the next few days. So I ran to my neighbor’s house and she offered all of her garage refrigerator space. Thank you Megan and Tom! I ran back to our house loaded up my red wagon with food (yes, I tracked it through the house) and hauled it to Megan’s. In the meantime, I called my friend Renee, who had some room in her freezer. Renee came over and filled a laundry basket full and hauled it back to her place. After I found good homes for the food, I spent a solid 2 hours bleaching the fridge. A warm refrigerator can get stinky rather quickly.
When I went to pick up the kids, I told them there was a surprise at home in the fridge. It was Garth’s idea and we both expected a “what the?” response. Well, Owen must have had a terrible day because he opened it, looked up and me and sobbed, “So we’re never gonna eat again?! WAAAAAA!!!!!” It took everything in me not to crack up at his seriousness. Garth could barely hold it together too. I explained to him that we are probably going to be eating out more than we want to for the next week. He was all smiles after that.
So we are on the countdown for refrigerator repair…good times.