New Year...Same Ol', Same Ol'

On the cover of just about every magazine and at least two segments of every newscast is a little feature called "New Year, New You!!!" Probably the least creative title in the history of January publications, it's dramatically overused and really getting old only 10 days into the month.

It's kind of sad that the evil media empire tries to convince the unassuming public that just because the calendar turns, their lives will be TOTALLY TRANSFORMED and COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and we will also lose 30 pounds!

Right.

But Good News! Around our house, there is really nothing new and 2008 is continuing right where 2007 left off.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a VERY damp carpet in the family room. "Soaking wet" is probably a better explanation but SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE! We are having issues with our house that they apparently built using blind contractors who were unfamiliar with power tools and home construction!

(I can't find my previous post about the seventy million issues we've had with our house that is only 8 months old because it is 4:12 a.m. and I've been up for 3 hours with insomnia, but if you are put on bed rest you might scroll through the entire blog and try to find it.)

And of course, when we came home from our trip, there was water in the basement. Not the sewer kind, at least (been there, done that) but, you know, just a standing pool of water. Where we didn't want it. Grrrrrrreat!

On the automotive front...our Suburban is still in the shop after about a month. I'm starting to get the feeling that they're joy-riding around like in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and not actually trying to FIX the car.

When I talked to the parts manager yesterday, he said the part they're looking for is unavailable NATIONWIDE and they will have to fire up the plant in Detroit to make it.

I'm really trying to be cynical, but COME ON, PEOPLE. It's just so hard to understand that GM would just not have any hinge/door/quarter-panel/whatevers that they're looking for.

It's not like I'm trying to order a flux-capactitor for my Delorean or anything.

So of course, the moral of the story here is: Never hit a light pole in a snowstorm unless you don't actually need to DRIVE the car.

(I realize this is turning into a bit of a rant, which isn't my intention, but I am trying to laugh at our misfortune instead of crying my eyes out. Which also works from time to time.)

And then there's our mail. Which apparently, the USPS has decided to stop delivering to our address. Just because.

There isn't really anything to say except that it's becoming frustrating to call the post office and try to find our mail. I just didn't realize that was my responsibility as a citizen. But now I know.

Luckily, we have great neighbors and they deliver letters to us here and there when our mail winds up a their houses. I will not scare you by sharing with frequency with which that occurs.

And lastly, just to prove that I have most definitely not turned over any new leaves this year, I forgot to bring snack on my assigned day, which happened to be Lilly's first day back at preschool.

It probably would have shocked and scared the teachers if I'd shown up promptly with carrot sticks, so maybe the forgetful bit worked out okay in the end.

But I blessed her class (and most definitely the teachers) by running to La Food City and grabbing some glazed donuts to demonstrate healthy eating habits and restraint to a bunch of 4 year-olds.

I didn't get chocolate because that might stain their new clothes, whereas glazed donuts might only make them hyper and uncontrollable. But happy!

The great news is that things can only look up from here. I take that back...less true words have never been spoken. But at least we're all laughing.

I'm going to go hook-up my coffee IV and start the day.