A veritable DIY (do-it-yourself) training ground

Okay, I've decided that the condo we're staying in was either booby-trapped by my parents before they left for England or it's haunted and really mad at us. Either way it's decided that right before we have the home-study to complete our Foster Care Certification is the perfect time to start falling apart. I'm not talking one or two things, I mean a whole laundry list of things that seems to be added onto every couple of days!

First the blinds in the master bedroom broke. Not just 'oh gee, it fell off ', but 'huh... how did that happen?'. They are accordion style blinds that were in the down position and it looks like it just fell out of the casing at the top. No tears, no marks, it's just empty for the top half of the window. Next it was the oven. Right in the middle of cooking a wonderful chicken dish it started beeping that kind of annoying microwave-timer-going-off type of beeping. It took me a while to figure out where the sound was coming from and it stopped as soon as I hit the 'End' button. Well, okay, by 'stopped' I mean that at least it stopped long enough for me to cross the room and get comfortable on the couch again before it started the beeping again. This continued for about 20 minutes, and then I resorted to the 'maybe if I bang it just right it'll stop' theory. Oooh, then sometimes it stopped it for 2 minutes! I finally got to the point that I decided that the whole thing was going to need to be replaced anyways so what harm could I do in pulling it apart to at least disconnect the beeping sound. Thanks to a nearby handy dandy prettily flowered screwdriver that Mom kept in the kitchen, I had it pulled apart in about 10 minutes and I jiggled wires and so far it's stayed fixed.

The next thing to go was noticed last week when Shaun heard dripping in the kitchen and realized that it was coming from the ceiling while Mikale was showering in the upstairs shower. Yeah, that can't be good. The ceiling above the sink now looks like it's been through some sort of frankenstein experiment. Next the TV went. The beautiful HD TV that Dad's had since 2001 and had a custom cabinet built around went on the blink and the repair is not worth the cost. Of course, now the cabinet is no longer custom built for whichever TV replaces it. I swear to you that two days after that the downstairs toilet wouldn't shut off and Shaun realized it's because the big float in the tank had just snapped off. Not even anything normal, but it seriously looked like someone had reached in and just snapped it off. And this is all without counting the bulbs burning and fuses being blown that happens in the normal use of a house!

We're now walking gingerly around trying not to breathe on things too hard for fear of what's next to go! It's honestly becoming 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Okay, that's my rant for the evening. If I don't blog again before the 4th of July then please, everyone, have a fun and safe Independance Day and keep the troops in your prayers.

-Kristy

Update: the air conditioning broke as well... to the tune of $2400. Yep, it's official. The house hates us.