November Musings: Repairs . . . Did I Mention Repairs?

I'm starting a new feature and each month will share snippets of my life with readers. Writers form relationships, as it were, with their followers, and, as this site grows, I think it is important to touch bases with all of you on a greater personal level.

Repairs . . . Did I Mention Repairs?
Between the water-boiler, the oven, the broken window, and the CAR again! I've been up to my eyeballs in repairs
 


This month has been interesting to say the least. My newer water-boiler needed parts and repairs (ouch!) again. "Again" seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life. It needed repairs last year, too. Go figure.

As I was mentally absorbing the unexpected cost, the oven in the stove I picked up last year before Xmas quit working. I was baking up a batch of biscuits and noticed they were  . . . sitting there. Upon investigation I winkled out the reason: my oven was stone cold! I removed doughy, unappetizing-looking lumps and resorted to finishing them off in the microwave. Hmm . . . suffice it to say they were . . . somewhat edible. A broken down stove right before Christmas . . . right.

My car needed repairs AGAIN and I finally got around to getting it into the shop so that Justin (my car repair wizard) could take a look. The good news is that the beast will maybe run for another year or two. Ah . . . a light at the end of the repair tunnel . . .

On top of all this, a broken window upstairs (that I'd been meaning to get fixed) went from a status of "to-do" to "urgent." More glass had broken away and a sudden rainstorm vamped up my motivation to finally see the window replacement taken care of. The guys are coming tomorrow to take a look.

I wish the timing in all of this had been better. All this . . . right before Xmas. On the up-side, I can now get started on my Xmas baking, with an oven that is acting like an oven after a visit from the repair man.

I'm hoping to get my upstairs landing drywalled towards the end of the month. The plaster has given up the ghost--so it's off with the old and on with the new. I've convinced Dave, my contractor, to tackle the project.

For readers who aren't aware, I live in a Victorian house that is approximately 100-200 years old. My home is on an acreage so this is the perfect setting to write; however, living in a character home means LOTS of repairs. There's a good reason people restore old houses. They have to. I've spent the last 5 years in a juggling act between the car and the house--the two competing for my attention. This means, of course, that my focus is diverted from writing. Probably a good thing in the end. My friend Heather is convinced I'm a repair magnet and a work-a-holic.