WTF is wrong with my appliances?!?

"Hey, the TV in the basement isn't working!"
"Are you just saying that so we can get a bigger tv?"
"No, it's completely dead."
"Alright, let's go shopping."

And with that the summer of high costs began. Summer is a bad time in general for things to go in this house because as an elementary school office administrator, I'm not paid during the summer months, so additional expenses are not welcome. However, this summer I'm on mat leave, so there are funds coming in but not a lot and not a lot for awhile now.

Luckily there are "don't pay until" plans which were saving our butts so far this summer. After the basement TV went, so did the BBQ. The BBQ really upset me because I hate to throw out such a large item, but it rusted right through all the important stuff in the guts, and the exterior isn't worth the scrap metal. So we "didn't pay until" again and invested in a good quality, better last me more than 4 years, new BBQ. Reduce, reuse, recycle? Yeah right! Things aren't meant to last anymore. We got 7 years out of the TV and only 4 out of the BBQ (which is apparently fantastic for a low end BBQ...which is RIDICULOUS!).

And then the storm hit. No litterally, there was a rain storm yesterday and the power went out in Kanata. We weren't home when it happened but we were in the area and there were lights out around the corner, so we assume our power went out, or at least something bad happened to our house electronically.

We got home around dinner time last night, and SuperFox reported that the TV in the basement wasn't working, actually none of the electronics were. You know...the BRAND NEW TV we bought! *gack* Luckily we had insured our tv with a high end surge protector power bar and all of our basement electronics were plugged into that. We lost the power bar, but all of our electronics plugged into it were spared. (piece of advice...invest in these...worth every penny)

Then SuperFox notified me that the oven wasn't working. It appears whatever happened blew out the digital display on our oven. Our stove top works but cooking in the oven is out the window for the time being. It's not longer under warrantee and we're reluctant to have a repairman in and pay $81 for the first 15 minutes for him to tell us...we need a new unit. Luckily it's summer and we have a brand new good quality BBQ so TECHNICALLY we can survive with our BBQ and stove top for a little while until we figure out what we want to do (hopefully not more "don't pay untils"). I might have to learn how to bake on the BBQ. Guess what we're going to want for Christmas this year?

Nope...not an oven...a TV. With the power issue yesterday, the little 4 year old TVin our living room died. It was also plugged into a surge protector power bar, and everything else plugged into that power bar is fine, but the TV. Dead. Now technically we don't NEED two TVs. There are only two of us, and we have two iPads, two iPhones, a laptop and a desktop computer. A second TV isn't a NEED. However, it is the TV hooked up to our Apple TV where we do 80% of our TV watching. So yeah, we'd love a new TV for Christmas...but a little before that because I love watching Chritmas movies in the living room with a fire going in the fireplace. Or I could just rediscover my love of reading? Oh wait...I have a 6 month old. I need a TV :)

And then our thermostat didn't seem to be working properly either. Luckily we'd just recently enrolled to pay for a service plan monthly on our furnace. So this morning the furnace guy came out to our place. He started by looking at the furnace and found a crack in the heat exchange. I know nothing about furnaces and their components...but it was describe as "This is bad." and when I asked "how bad" the answer was "kaboom bad". So on top of the two "we should probably replace" items that have just gone kaput, we have a "YOU MUST REPLACE" item at the top of that list. You know, the most expensive one...yay!

So, what have we discovered? Mother nature hates my home appliances? Nature is stronger than mankind? We have too many things? Electricity is bad? Yup, probably all of those things, but mostly...we're lucky and blessed. These are easy problems that are facing us, expensive ones possibly but not life threatening. Our house didn't go kaboom. There are financial plans to help us out in this situation. We will replace what we need most and work from there. I was upset last night with all of this "happening all at the same time", but we are healthy, we are not destitute, we are fine.

And really at the end of all of this...I'm exstatic because TNG just slept. In her crib. For a nap. For 1 hour and 10 minutes!!!! Seriously, THIS is huge, THIS is what I'm focusing on, THIS is...AWESOME!

For me, not for you

Late Saturday, June 15, 2013

Two things happened this week, one today and one yesterday.

Yesterday a friend who blogs said she didn't do it for the fame, she does it because she loves to write. Then this evening someone said that this time with TNG goes by so fast and that I am good with my words so I should document this time of her life with my words. 

I think I have always blogged from the wrong perspective. I have written from the standpoint of what will other people read instead of what is it that I want to say.

I am afraid of offending, of looking stupid, of not being funny enough, or deep enough, or smart enough. But I'm not sure blogging really needs to be about any of those. Clearly if I want fame blogging is not the way I'm going to get it, so I should stop thinking in my head that it's what will happen if I just do it "right" and instead actually just do it.

Even now I can feel myself over thinking "my next post", so I will try in moments like this to talk myself out of it and just write.

I always end these "the future of my blog" posts the same "I will blog every day" and I never do. So all I can say is, I would like to document these early days with TNG in a way that I can use to look back and remember them as she turns 4 and starts school, turns 17 and graduates from high school,  and that's as far as I can think because other than that I will not even imagine what steps lie in store for her, I look forward to her amazing and surprising me at every turn :)

At 5.5 months she's almost crawling and there is so much of this early journey that I could have recounted but for my pride and delusions :)

So I will try to stop writing for anyone other than me and I hope I will thank myself for it later.

With love,

~sarah~

Requested recipe - Peppercorn Brandy Cream Chicken (or Chicken Madagascar)

@GraceInTheKitchen tweeted the other day and asked what special dish we would like to have cooked tonight. I immediately replied "Chicken in a peppercorn brandy cream sauce". It's a delicious dish my Mum makes.

When I tweeted that I had a couple requests for the recipe. So I emailed my Mum and here it is. It is not an original family recipe but rather from a cookbook. I'm not sure what recipe posting rules are but the cookbook is credited. It's AMAZINGLY delicious and I highly recommend it. I could live on the sauce alone.

Please note: if you know where in Ottawa I can find green peppercorns please post in the comments or tweet me...my Mum can't find them at Bulk Barn anymore and they really make the recipe :)

Chicken Madagascar from Harrowsmith Cookbook Volume Two

INGREDIENTS
2 chicken breasts
Worcestershire sauce.
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 oz brandy
2 cloves garlic
1 oz strong chicken stock
2 Tbsp minced shallots
1/2 c whipping cream
1/2 Tbsp green peppercorns

DIRECTIONS
- Debone and skin chicken breasts (or just use boneless/skinless)
- Pound between wax paper until meat is of even thickness.
- Melt butter and saute garlic and shallots.
- Add chicken and brown lightly, but do not overcook.
- Remove meat and keep warm.
- Add peppercorns and Worcestershire sauce and mash peppercorns.
- Add brandy and chicken stock and cook over high heat to reduce liquid and deglaze pan.
- Reduce heat, add cream and salt and simmer, stirring constantly, until cream begins to thicken.
- Return chicken and continue to simmer until chicken is heated through.
Serves 2

We usually serve it over rice so that it absorbs the extra sauce, basically the rice becomes a sauce delivery system :) :) :)

ENJOY!

Location:Jackson Crt,Ottawa,Canada