Hi, guys.  Sorry for the missed post on Friday and the late post today.  (Maybe you didn’t notice, in which case, sorry for pointing it out.)

I recently wailed over the phone to my mom, “Everything in my life is brooooooooo-ken!” and I wasn’t even being particularly dramatic.  Seriously, “broken” has been the theme of the past month and we hit rock bottom (as far as I know, and at least I hope that was rock bottom) last Thursday.  In a nutshell, here’s what has broken in my life within the past month or so:

• The furnace – yowsa, that was an expensive fix.
• The dishwasher.  Well, strictly speaking it works, but it’s “temperamental.”  It has to be cajoled into cleaning and even then it doesn’t do a spectacularly good job, which is not what you want with a little one in the house.  Update: the dishwasher took offense at being called out on my blog and died for real two days ago! 
• The hose connecting the washing machine to the wall in the laundry room, which we managed to have fixed before it became a very soggy problem.  The washing machine is still emitting a high-pitched whining noise which terrifies me to my very core but doesn’t seem to bother hubby (so I hope he’s right that it’s n.b.d.).
• The guest room toilet, which fortunately we rarely used anyway.  The plumber wanted to charge us $700 to replace it – $400 for a new toilet and $300 for the installation – and I balked.  The Lowe’s list is growing, growing.
• The top half of my double oven.  Fortunately the bottom half and the cooktop still work, so we’re able to get dinner on the table, but the oven is from 1988 and needed replaced anyway.  I was hoping it would hang on another year, but no such luck.  It’s a good thing I like shopping for kitchen appliances.
• Hubby’s car.  The AC died and the engine started overheating two days before we were planning to drive to Maine for my brother’s wedding.  And it was like pulling teeth to get the dealership to fix it in time for our big road trip.  They did, but only after we called the sales associate who had recently taken us for a test drive of a new car for me.
• Those decorative panels on windows (what are they called?) – about 75% of mine fell off, at least partly assisted by hubby and Peanut.  I was very sad about this, so hubby walked around and fixed them, at least temporarily.  The windows are keeping me up at night though, because I hate them and I not-so-secretly want to rearrange them to give the house more curb appeal.  Is that even something that can be done?  I’m determined to find out.
• My work phone, THREE TIMES.  Currently anyone who tries to call me at work gets a “this number cannot be completed as dialed” message, which does not instill much confidence in, well, anyone.
• Peanut’s finger, which was shut in a door at school – ouch, poor kid.  She also got a bad cut and needed stitches.  We spent most of Thursday afternoon in the emergency room and have been in and out of the hospital for follow-up appointments ever since.  It’s healing well, fortunately, and we’re optimistic that the nail (which she lost) will grow back, even if it looks gnarly for awhile, but there’s no sadder sight than your two-year-old with a gigantic splint.  And then…
• My car, which broke down on the side of the road AS I WAS DRIVING PEANUT HOME FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM.  That was when I really started to wonder if this whole month has been some kind of cosmic joke.  Because… really?  I mean, really?  It was actually terrifying.  I lost all ability to steer or brake and the car was completely out of control.  In my first stroke of luck in weeks, I was able to coast to a stop in a large painted shoulder area that by some miracle happened to be right in front of me, because there was no way I was getting there on my own.  And then my phone died as I tried to call AAA.  Ha, ha, HA.  (I needed a new car anyway – I was driving a fourteen-year-old Nissan Maxima, which belonged to hubby back in 2001 when we first started dating.  But the scary breakdown incident was just the push I needed to go buy a new car.  I’m picking up my new wheels – my first car “of my very own” EVER – tomorrow, and I seriously can’t wait to get behind the wheel.)

On top of all that, the following things are almost broken:

• The fridge.  Do you want to know what is the absolute last thing you want to hear when your appliances, both cars, your furnace, your plumbing, and your baby are all broken?  It’s your husband saying “Does the fridge seem like it’s a little warm?”  (The fridge is also from 1988, but it’s chugging along.  Please hang on until next year, dear ugly old fridge, before you give up the ghost.)
• My spirit.  For obvious reasons.

Anyway, all this is (1) an attempt at explaining why posting has been a little bit sporadic these past few days, and (2) a shameless bid for sympathy.  I promise I have some fun content coming up, including a couple of posts recapping our weekend in Maine, and an exciting announcement.  But right now I’m just in hang-on-tight-and-hope-nothing-else-breaks mode.