Friday, September 21, 2012

celebrations!


It's autumn here.  Really autumn.  Not that 90-degree hogwash that we've had for the last two years, but chilly-morning, crisp-blue-skies kind of weather. We went for a fall hike last Sunday, and it was perfect.  We were all rubbing at each others' edges, wanting to be together (Dan leaves this weekend for a month), but needing a little space, and for us a hike usually gives us both.  Plus there  are fungi everywhere you look, which can't help but enchant even a grumpy person. Right?







I can't think of a better way to celebrate fall than with a hike through the woods, but we were also celebrating my birthday this week - a bit early, since Dan will be gone.  The day we were having our potluck (which is the way we seem to do these things), we got a new refrigerator!!!  I know, holy wah.  We've been needing it badly, with a drippy, leaky fridge and a freezer that needed to be taped shut, and our landlord acquiesced, so yahoo, a new fridge showed up at the door.  

Now, while this is a fantastic deal, I decided it was also a really good time for a meltdown. Talk to my hormones, I'm still figuring it out, but really - instead of feeling deeply grateful for a new clean! place to put our food, I sat on the couch for a good 10 minutes and cried.  And then I tried to explain to my bewildered kids why I was crying.  I told them it was because the doors opened on the wrong side, and that I was feeling ashamed for feeling so ungrateful, because we really needed a new fridge, but the doors were opening on the wrong side and I was really really disappointed. 


I was also feeling overwhelmed with the amount of food I dug out of our freezer. Several fist-sized bags of rice.  Three bags of black-eyed peas, 'cause I could never remember that I still had some for those two times a year I like to make them.  Several dead glow-sticks.  Old chocolate. (why am I admitting to all of this????? Good gravy.)



the freezer pile
And then, after venting for a bit, things got so much better.  I kept asking Ani to give me space, telling her that I was having some huge feelings and I didn't want her to feel that they were about her, and she kept moving in close because "Mama, I just want to give you some sympathy!" So we stopped bungi-cording (away!-close!-away!-close!) and settled on filling the fridge together. What a sweet kid.  My wise friend S stopped by and gave me a huge hug and calmly explained that you can easily move the hinges and handles on a fridge. Gulp, really? (Did I mention she's 20? And so wise.)  My friend J showed up and got really excited about the miscellaneous little packets of grain from my freezer - she took them home to cook up for her dogs, alleviating my huge guilt over the waste.  My friend ET showed up with a beautiful cake and she and J plotted for their handy partners to do the fridge adjustments as an early birthday present for me.

Their partners showed up and had other ideas - they were ready to drink beer and tutor Dan on How To Alter Your Fridge and Make Your Sweetheart Happy.  It was awesome entertainment, and I can now actually feel truly grateful for our new fridge.



doors? who needs doors?

I highly recommend the home-improvement-as-entertainment theme for your next party.  Add tasty beverages, highly artistic head-gear, ice-ax cake cutting and homemade confetti, and you will have yourself one heck of a memorable shindig.




I'm very serious about having fun
It was my favorite kind of party, where the unexpected happens, the company is great, and the laughter just keeps going...


5 comments:

Kerry said...

awwwwwwwwwwww. Happy Birthday!

merry said...

How many adults does it take to change a fridge door? It doesn't matter! The more you have, the happier the party, right? I didn't know you could change doors either. Yowza!!!

slim pickins said...

oh good - i felt silly for not knowing that and feeling so upset!!! and YES, the more you have, the happier the party. it was great.

Tokarz said...

That was an awesome party!!!SO fun with a great bunch of people! Best birthday party ever!

alissa said...

I totally get why having the doors WRONG would prompt a meltdown. I'm so glad you have handy friends. and wouldn't it be awesome to have a fridge with no doors? I have seen a prototype of a fridge that is basically a slab of cold goo that you just shove things in. I don't know if that will catch on.