That New Stuff State of Mind

In the year that I have been out of work and home with Deuce, our fixer-upper house has gone unfixed, for the most part. With the notable exceptions of the fence and the guest room (the latter of which I did for under $50), DeuceDad and I put our home improvement plans on hold.

There are things around the house the DeuceDad and I each can't stand, but we're living with it in the name of financial responsibility. DeuceDad hates out kitchen with the fire of 1,000 suns. The carpet and wall colors in the office sap all my creative energy.

What I really can't stand isn't the lack of floor molding - it's the broken things. The fridge door doesn't stay closed. I broke the handle off my washer. One of the burners on the stove doesn't light. I was plotting a coup in which I order new appliances and deal with the payments later (somehow). But then my cell phone broke, which actually changed things for the better.

I knew I couldn't call customer service and act like a reasonable human being. DeuceDad generously offered to call AT&T and try to get a replacement - and he succeeded! No yelling required! New phone was set to arrive on Friday, and life would be restored to normal. It was almost too easy.

Wednesday was a little hectic, and when I came home to some destruction in the garage from the dog I decided I needed to tackle some of the things that had been driving me nuts.

I ordered a new knob for my washer. I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned the filthy carpet in the family room and our dog-smelling couches. I cleaned some kind of sediment off the innards of the stove burner so the igniter works. My cell phone arrived and I synced it - although I need to reenter all my contacts (argh). In the period of a few hours I resolved a lot of things that had been bothering me without spending much money.

The temptation to get new stuff was so great - I like to have nice things as much as the next person. But a little research and elbow grease did the trick for now, and I'm really proud of what I was able to do.

I used:
Taylor Rental
Sears Parts Direct
Palm Support
Yahoo Answers
And my own two hands!