If it's funny later...

We've had a rough week at the Peterson Household... one that illustrates our family policy of, "If it's going to be funny later, it's funny now."

It all started when we went to our friend's house last Wednesday and forgot the diaper bag. You got it... no diapers (overcame by the fact that she has a child in size 4 diapers... too big for Bethie but worked in the pinch.) But more importantly we had no formula for Bethany. This was overcome by the fact that these friends had some goat's milk which I could feed her.

Why this was so disturbing is the fact that we always do roll call when starting the van, "Angela, Matthew, Josiah, Anna, Emma, Sara, Nathan, Mercy, Bethany, Diaper Bag." No joke. The diaper bag is like a person to me. I've used one for so long I hardly know what to do without one. The children are only allowed to answer when they are buckled and ready to go. SOMEONE said the diaper bag was there, but it clearly wasn't.

I'm surprised these friends ever even invite us over as there is always SOMETHING which goes on...

I tell you all that long story just to set the stage. Friday morning was cold, cold, cold. Like 2* or something. We had remembered to drip the faucets overnight, but I forgot when we went to 4-H and they were frozen when we came back a few hours later.

On Saturday we got them thawed, but they burst again. We now have the Great Flood of '08, and the Lesser Flood of '09. Thankfully, Eric had the day off because he was going to go to a gun show with a friend (the same one where we forgot the diaper bag... hmmm... maybe it's not us, maybe it's HIM?!). Anyway - that was bravely sacrificed. (A really good idea...)

This was in the midst of a series of things which broke all at the same time. There are so many things you are going to think I am joking. Our dryer has been out for over a week. One of the toilets needs a new flush valve. The vacuum was broken. The water pipes were burst in several places, and the repair burst several times... it took them all day. Thank God for friends who know what they are doing, and willing to sacrifice their time to help us yahoos out. Our washer doesn't drain well. The diverter valve on our kitchen faucet is broken, and we will need to replace it. Right now it only works if you turn on the water, then turn on the sprayer... Dont'cha know that makes it hard to do the dishes for us all? The computer was down for a bit yesterday, and when we tried to watch a movie last night, the DVD player didn't work without some fiddling.

Oh yeah - and Eric came home with the flu on Sunday afternoon... he's better and so far no one else seems to have it, but still... he was sick. And I was facing a stomach bug going through 11 people with no functioning dryer.

I am sure you are all wondering WHY I am writing all this. Mainly just to get it recorded, as someday I'll really wonder if it really happened. Also because I spent much of the day on Saturday trying to get appliances to do their jobs only to have them not work. To the point that we just had to laugh.

I also wanted to pass on how proud I was of Josiah... he had worked with the appliance guy one afternoon to try to repair the dryer, so he was able to replace the belt on his own. The bearings also needed to be lubricated, and he didn't know how to do that, but he did pretty well fixing it. Our vacuum was also also fixed. Sometimes you just need to let them fiddle around and see if they can figure out a broken appliance. What's the worst they can do? Break it? He's learning to fix things, and doing a great job at it. I tried to get him to fix the toilet, but he's not quite ready for that big of a step...

Anyway- when you are faced with those things which seem so overwhelming right now, but you know will be funny later... just laugh. If it's going to be funny later, it's funny now. Trust me... it'll make the now a lot easier to bear.

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UPDATE: Currently, the water, the dryer, the vacuum, the computer, and the DVD player are fixed and working. I am so thankful for that!!! Join other GratiTuesday posts at Heavenly Homemakers .