Ho Ho Ho!

Maddie loved Santa almost as much as she did last year. We tried to pump her up as much as possible, trying to convince her that she would LOVE Santa, that he was a friendly guy, and that he brought her presents, so what's to be afraid of?

Clearly she didn't buy what we were selling...

In case you're wondering, yes that's my hand pinning her to Santa's lap. Yes, that's what it took to get the picture on the 3rd try.

I'm nothing, if not relentless in my torture...

xxoo.S

I'm gonna try positivity

So the stove repair guy has called. He promises to be here before lunch time. Which is noon, right? Or in there-and-abouts?

I feel it this time. It's going to work. He will fix my stove. Let's say it again, shall we?

He. Will. Fix. My. Stove.

Yes, that's better. I feel much more zen now. And happy. In anticipation of a positive outcome. Because if you put the happy thoughts out there all those karma-zealots say you'll get it back, right? HAPPY. THOUGHTS. (was that too aggro?)

If we indeed do have a working stove I am so overwhelmed with ideas for dinner that I'm not sure I can stick to just one. A roast perhaps? Maybe my famously-loved lemon chicken? What about a cake for dessert?

The weekend promises to be good. One birthday surprise thingy on Sat night and the rest of the weekend for pure family relaxation.

Which actually means I already have a list of all the errands I'm going to be dragging the Hubs and Miss M along to all Saturday and Sunday.

Santa pictures are at the top of the list. As we need those for the Christmas cards. And perhaps some joyful Christmas prezzie shopping.

Happy. Thoughts.

xxoo.S

PS - have you seen this? We did one for Maddie last year, but I don't think she got it. Since she's starting to "get" the idea of Santa (although last night she told me "Maddie no like Ho Ho") I'm hoping this helps get her a bit more excited. http://santa.sympatico.ca

Aaaaand the stove is STILL not fixed.

I don't know why I feel compelled to keep updating this blog with my stove drama. Maybe as an outlet? Or to document the nightmare that has become mine in trying to do something as simple as get a RECALLED stove FIXED properly?

Maybe I want to ensure Maddie has enough ammunition in 20 years time against me. "Remember that month when you fed me nothing but microwaved meals and take out and sometimes bbq'd pieces of meat? I didn't get into Princeton because of you!!!"

The repair man came today. With all the parts and more that were needed to fix the stove. He tinkered around for about 15 minutes and then came up to my office dining room table where I was working and said, "I have bad news."

My response?

"I don't like you already." Pause. "I mean, that - I don't like the sound of THAT, already."

Apparently they shipped the wrong part. He walked me through everything talking about triptochometres (??! like I'm even supposed to pretend to know what  the hell that is), sealants, breaker boards, kryptonite and flux capacitors.

I'm totally kidding. About the triptochometres...

So he's ordering a part. Which magically he expects he could get tomorrow. So apparently waiting 1.5 weeks for the other part was SILLY because the part was WRONG anyway.

Of course not. Silly lady with her silly logic.

At least I found out that it's all being 100% covered under warranty. Which is kind of awesome in a now-we-can-have-Christmas kind of way.

Except now that I've posted that, I'm sure Frigidaire will change their minds and charge me the full $650 + labour ($650!!! For a CLOCK. That's an expensive effing clock, no?).

Right so... Microwaved lasagne anyone? I may have leftovers...

xxoo.S

Hi Guilt!

Daycare dropoff. I already feel guilty every time I have to do it. Even though I love my job and do enjoy working - I know that both me and Maddie would much rather spend the days together than apart.

The kick and scream days while getting manhandled into her coat + shoes are bad enough, but today topped that.

There was no kicking. There was no screaming. She just quietly got into her duds without complaint. On the drive over she was quiet. Not unusually quiet - she's not much of a chatterbox in the car anyways (yes I realize how lucky I am).

But when I was unbuckling her out of her carseat. That's when she got me. Gripping my arm like a freakishly strong little monkey, she looked up to me with big sad eyes and said, "Maddie no daycare. Maddie with Mommy today."

And that my peeps? Is where Guilt tapped me on the shoulder and said, Hi!

xxoo.S

Alarm clock

Maddie, without fail (for the most part) wakes up these days between 6:58am and 7:03am. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining... it's FAR better than the recent 6am offensive strategy she had been launching on us last month.

But doesn't anyone find this incredibly strange? That her little internal alarm clock is that precise? I do. Am both mystified and intrigued by it.

xxoo.S

Bullets b/c I don't have the energy to create flowing paragraphs

• Spent the weekend in Kingston. Specifically to see Stone Temple Pilots, that for some unknown reason, put K-town on their list of concert tours. I guess Scott needs the money? It was a nostalgic walk down memory lane for me - I was one big STP lover at one point. And they still put on a  good show. I felt young and old all at the same time. Mostly old.
• Maddie joined me on my road trip - and got to spend a bunch of time with Grama V as well as visiting Grandma and Grandpa Burke. She played shy with the latter and acted like a whiny spoiled brat with the former. Quel surprise.
• Don't you love how you come home to a house as messy, or messier, than you left it? When the Hubs has had all weekend sans toddler to um, apparently sit on his ass and watch football?  
• Our stove is still not fixed. But apparently the part is "in". But they aren't calling me back for a service appointment because.... Why? Was the cursing and crying and sobbing and begging a little off-putting?
• Other than that, I slept most of the weekend away. At least, as much as I possibly could.

xxoo.S

3rd person

Maddie has this endearing habit of speaking in the 3rd person. As in, "Maddie no like 'nanas." Or, "Yes, Maddie have more 'nanas please. Maddie more."

Sometimes it's completely out of context - like, "Maddie no kitty. Beep beep kitty." <-- that just sounds like a whole lot of gibberish, eh? Well, it would to me too, if I didn't know we had a 50 lb cat that lies at the top of the stairs, stretched out and constantly in.the.way. Getting a gentle "beep beep" is far nicer than my method of getting him out of the way---trust.  BUT my point is more that the "Maddie" at the start of that sentence is really unnecessary.

And yet, that's how most of her sentences now start out. And while writing it out here kinda makes it sound like we're raising a little cave-dweller, if you hear it in person, it really is adorable. With a capital ADORE.

I'm sure everything will be MY/MINE/ME/I very soon and I will miss this little egocentricity.

xxoo.S

And here's more stove drama...

So I haven't written in a while. Perhaps that's because my brain is turning to mush from eating too much microwaved food.

That's right. My stove is still not fixed.  It's a long story.  And I'm feeling particularly venomous about it now. So what better thing to do than complain to you guys, right?

It all started here. When one of the burners magically decided one evening, to not turn off until we actually clued in and unplugged the stove. After time spent online researching and 1-800 calling, we finally determine that our loverly stove has actually been recalled due to dangerous mind-of-their-own-elements just randomly turning on, never to be turned off again.  Lame, but yeah, we all know they don't make 'em like they used to.  So we get an appointment to get the damn thing fixed - 2 weeks later.

Whatever - we still have the oven, right?

For about 2.5 days. Then that stops working.

Huh. That's weird. Better call the recall dept at Frigidaire to report this little occurence as well. Make sure they bring all the parts they need to fix it. You know - trying to be PROACTIVE in the whole, full disclosure of all information affecting said broken-ass stove. We're told, no worries - the repair dude would assess the situation.

Fast-forward to our long-awaited repair appointment on the Monday. Aaaaannnnnd, repair dude is a no show. After numerous calls to the recall line, it's determined that in fact, the repair guy was "sick" that day and couldn't show. Or call. Or let anyone know that he was a no show.

Repair rescheduled for Wednesday. This time the guy shows up.  I show him the stove, explain the issues, and he twiddles away.  About 20 minutes later he's done - well, the cooktop repair anyway. The oven is "not under recall" - it's a regular shitty-quality malfunction and in no way related to the burner issue.  His response to my strong disbelief at this INCREDIBLE COINCIDENCE?  A shrug and, "yup, guess it's just bad luck." Although he did know what was wrong with it (needed a new timer), he couldn't fix it.

Back to the 1-800 number - to be bounced around randomly to different departments before they decided to tell me to call the place the stove was purchased (The Brick) - they'd be able to get the repair done.

Luckily the former homeowners gave us all their old paperwork on the appliances and so I had all the details needed for the Brick repair center. No longer under warranty it was determined.

I responded, "Like I give 2 shits - I'll pay to get it fixed, just please please please send me someone. Oh - and the timer part that this repair dude said we needed."

They promised they would. For Friday. Fantastic - so I had dreams of a working stove by weekend.

Which also happened to be the scheduled date of my annual Christmas bake-a-thon with my mom. All would be good.

Or not. New repair dude shows up. Takes a look and starts fiddling. Then, with a crackle*snap*pop and a puff of smoke - there goes the burners. The only working part of our stove that we had just got back into service.

Turns out, yes, we need a timer.  But he doesn't have the part - gonna have to order it. Will be a few days. Likely Tuesday at the earliest. But oh - because he feels bad for us for wrecking the only working portion of the stove (and because the oven not working isn't actually a coincidence, but related to the original recall issue), he's going to try and get the part through warranty so we don't have to pay.

Lovely. But I just want my fecking stove please. If the warranty process is going to take another 2 weeks, just give me the bill and I'll take it up with Frigidaire later.

So another weekend of eating microwaved food and take-aways. 

And then Monday goes by. And then Tuesday. A nasty cold managed to eat up all enjoyable vacation days that were scheduled in the first place - and making me a little more fuzzy-headed than normal - which meant I wasn't my normal "stalker" self and it took me until today to realize - hey, where's repair dude with my part and his handy-dandy repair skills?

Another call into his office results in a "part is in the States. You have a weirdo non-regular stove and ETA on part is undetermined."

And that's when I said FUCK YOU FRIGIDAIRE.

Actually I didn't. I didn't even use the F-word with the repair dude. I thanked him for his incredible follow-up skills and asked that he please call me the minute the part shows up and if he did so I may just name my next baby after him.

Graham has a nice ring to it - non? It could totally work asexually.

All is not lost though. The Hubs unearthed the ol' George Forman Grill from the basement. No more microwave pasta dishes for us. 

How lucky am I?

xxoo.S

**So there's you're answer as to why I've been quiet. Because I've been a brewing pot of instability, irrationality and venom. Or perhaps that's just a side-effect from eating Taco Bell more than once a week...

Don't judge a book...

The Hubs got into an accident last night. He is fine (as is everyone else involved). But his (work) car is not. The tow trucks were on the scene before the cops - which is interesting in a whole realm of logistics that I don't have the energy to really explore at this point.

What was super intriguing (to me anyways), was how nice the tow truck driver was. Because apparently I am pre-judemental  to the extreme and think all tow truck drivers are big, grumpy, scary man-bears on par with a Hells Angel biker.

To be fair, I am openly admitting my misconceived prejudice, so don't flame me too much. And no - I have never, ever, met a tow truck driver, so I really have no basis for this opinion.

As he took the Hubs down to the collision reporting centre, he offered to give him a ride home. And then proceeded to wait for him.

For the better part of 2 HOURS.

At dinnertime. On a random Wednesday night.

Maybe it's the remnants of the big-city living that makes my head spin at this random act of kindness. But dude - that's pretty awesome. Sitting and waiting for the Hubs to get through a crazy line up at a collision centre that was approximately 30 minutes away from our home.

And no, there was no payment involved. He gets paid on the impound fees (or something like that), not on time spent on the "case".

While eating his dinner at 8:30pm, the Hubs relayed this info to me, and all I could repeat (aside from, thank eff you are fine), was, "You know, that was really nice of him".

And it was.

Thank you random stranger. You helped make a bad situation, somewhat better.

xxoo.S

You can say it - she's adorable

That face that you see - it is Maddie's way of nicely showing disgust at me trying to get her to help me remove the pumpkin guts. Yeah, she wasn't down with that at all...

Maddie, on Halloween night, dressed as a little bug, with her buddy, Cole the Lionheart.

Note the impulse makeup craftily created from some of Mommy's lipgloss. Try not to note the spaghetti sauce stain that I couldn't get out of her only pair of pink leggings.

Wing shot!

xxoo.S