Sunday, October 7, 2007

Murphy's Law: Whatever Can go Wrong, Will go Wrong

Yesterday, the kids asked me, "Mom, why is there water all over the freezer?"

Oh great. I can only imagine why there's water all over! What did you guys do now?

"Let me see," I grumbled expecting to see D.W.'s melting snowball.

I looked in the freezer and sure enough, water was dripping down the walls, off the shelves and onto the floor. It didn't feel quite as cold as it's supposed to feel. "Who was messing around with the freezer?" I demanded.

"Notme!" came the unanimous answer. I checked the dials to make sure the kids hadn't played with them, changing the temperature settings. Nope, the dials were still turned to the same place. I opened the refrigerator door and discovered that the fridge was warm as well. Wonderful. My fridge is broken and it's only a couple years old!

Thankfully, we have a freezer in our garage and we were able to salvage most of the freezer items by moving them to the garage. Even more thankfully, we have a small fridge we use when camping and we were able to move a lot of the food from the fridge into there.

I looked through my paperwork in search of the owner's manual and receipt. Unfortunately I couldn't find the receipt, but according to my manual, the fridge had a one year full warranty and a five year warranty on a few, specific parts. Amazingly, we remembered where we'd bought the refrigerator and called the store. They had a record of when we bought it. October 11, 2002. In just FOUR more days, the warranty would be void. FOUR days! This NEVER happens. Ever. I expected the customer service person on the other end of the phone to tell me that we'd bought the refrigerator on October 4, 2002 and had just missed the warranty by a couple days. That's the way things work for us. That's how they ALWAYS work. I understand this. I've come to accept Murphy's Law as a way of life. The fact that the fridge broke while it was (at least a few specific parts anyway) still under warranty has me lost and confused.

So anyway, the repairman is coming out on Wednesday some time between 6:00 a.m. and midnight, I think. As long as the broken part is one of five parts still under warranty, we'll get it fixed for no charge. If the part that's broken is not under warranty, we'll probably end up spending more to fix it than the price of a new fridge. Ahhh, that's where Murphy's Law will undoubtedly come into play and life will once again make sense.

But seriously, why would a refrigerator break after only five years? Five years! Our old refrigerator, which was a lovely "harvest gold", lasted for thirty years. I can handle having to replace an appliance every thirty years, but five is unacceptable. Are things just made very cheaply today? Is it a conspiracy to make the public go out and buy new items year after year? We're accused of being a "throw-away" society, but it's hard not to be when our major appliances break after only five years and it usually costs more to fix than to replace them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We went to a Scarecrow Festival with some friends on Saturday. It was eighty-something degrees outside. In October. In Chicago. Again, it left me lost and confused. Vendors selling hot chocolate and hot roasted, spiced nuts, stood behind their empty booths looking bored. There was a line around the block for the lemonade stand, however. There's just something not quite right about picking out pumpkins while wearing shorts.


Jack Skellington


Pi CAW so


Yep, this should scare the crows away


Scaryl Crow


Nothing scary about this one! Mmmmm pancakes!


Scary Potter and friends


The gang in front of Scary Potter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to everyone who voted in my latest poll. I've decided to start another blog where I will highlight a different work-at-home mom's website every week. I'm not doing this to make any money. I just want to help out fellow moms who are trying to make a few dollars while staying home with their kids. Come check it out. If the business of the week interests you, visit the featured website. Support fellow work-at-home moms. If the highlighted website doesn't interest you this week, check back next week for a look at another business.

111 comments:

Rick said...

I think the real Elvis was more frigthening then the one in this entry. I enjoyed the photos.

http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/

roseys madhouse said...

Wow scarecrow shows??? Is it normally colder over there now? We are just starting to have our warm weather and the kids can finally get back into the pool.

scottreynolds said...

Count your blessings... Our 7 year old refrigerator suffered from a similar problem a couple of weeks ago -- for the second time. Ugh. Hope you come out okay; our repair turned out to be a lot less than a new fridge, so maybe there's a precedent for you.

Ashlee Marie said...

We thought our refridgerator broke last month after just 3 1/2!! Turned out it was just the breaker, lucky us! Hope you catch a break and it's under warrenty still! Fingers Cross.

Karen said...

The festival looks like fun! I'm sorry about the fridge but hopefully the part is truly under warranty and it won't cost you anything. When we purchased our last TV I was shocked to have the salesman actually admit that they do indeed make them to only last a few years to keep the market going strong. Can you imagine?

Shellie said...

Yes, it is all a capitalist plot to keep us buying and buying stuff. I think it is honestly safer to go aout and buy and antique "ice box" than to buy a new fridge. Of course then there's the problem of the fact that the ice man has probably been dead for years now. I have an old ice cream freezer that is older than me I inherited from my parents after my new one died in less than two years of use. Cast iron metal washer, heavy plastic tub, sometimes the spinning piece on the motor sticks but it's fixable. I bet it outlasts me! Don't get too confused about Murphy's law, the odds of the 5 parts covered being the broken ones are not too good.

Me, Myself and I said...

Dawn, I agree the weather is so weird for Oct! We had a "Fall Fun Day" here in Michigan with out Geocaching organization and normally we are freezing and even seeing snow sometimes! This year our biggest problem was the mosquitoes! Looks like everyone had fun though! Thanks for the new blog also!

Rhonda

brendlyn said...

I was at the Scarecrow Fest Saturday too!! :) I didn't see you and your gang there amongst the thousands (felt like it anyway) of other people, imagine that!
Seriously though, we drove around for a parking spot for like 30 minutes to walk around in the heat while my baby screamed in the dreaded stroller and my toddler whined that she was dying of thirst. Good times! LOL
My favorite was the mechanical Bigfoot. :)

Becky said...

LOL on the Murphy's Law connection. Don't feel bad...we never get in on 'breaks', and are always a day late and a dollar short, too!

You're so right about the freezers! My grandma had a heavy old antique freezer she'd had since well before my mom was born, and was still around until I was 10 or 12. Her microwave, too! Yet we've been through 2 fridges and 4 microwaves in our 14 years of marriage. It does seem that something is amiss in the appliance manufacturing business...well, except my trusty crock-pot. That thing is still going strong after 14 years!

Heather said...

Sorry about the fridge. I agree I would love this warm weather to stop. I planted mums this weekend and then it was 85 degrees here on the east coast yesterday for our daughter's birthday party.

I love the idea for the new blog. I'll be checking it out.

Anonymous said...

I've always thought how sad it was that we have to budget for a new computer ever 4-5 years. At a minimum of a thousand dollars a pop. More, if you need the bells and whistles.

As for my appliances, I'm shocked that my washer and dryer are 17 years old and still running fine. Incredible! 'Course, I probably just jinxed myself.

Jolanthe said...

I can so relate to your fridge. Our stove just broke a few weeks ago - same sitution (thanks to a certain two year old in our house). We were 3 days shy of the 5 year warranty expiring. Of course you have to have an "approved" service person come fix the problem. They cover the parts - not the labor. The parts cost us around $50 and fortunately we had a friend that could put it in for us.

When I talked to the customer service person at the company she said we would definitely have to pay more than if we tried to do it ourselves. Nice. The fireworks display when we turned on our stove was rather lovely though. Added a nice touch to our day.

Hope you can get it fixed soon. :) It's a pain not having a major appliance. I was getting tired of trying to figure out foods to make without a stove or oven - five days is way to long!! :)

Jolanthe
www.erbhouselife.blogspot.com

kimikki said...

My mom and dad bought a water heater in the mid 50's, from Montgomery Ward. It's still going strong, hard water and all! I just hope I didn't jinx it by mentioning it....

Anonymous said...

What a great festival! I love the pic of the crew. I noticed there are a few extra kids in the picture. Have you taken on a few stragglers? (jk)

So sorry about the fridge. Great that you have a backup. We've been lucky with ours. The icemaker went out within the first year. No problem - making our own ice hasn't been too inconvenient. It's just trying to get the ice trays from the sink to the freezer without spilling half of the water on the floor that challenges me. Now the door is beginning to shred; too much use, I guess!

God Bless.

stlmom

Tara said...

Okay, forgive me if this is insulting to your intelligence, but having read your blog for a while now the first thing that crossed my mind was that you were about to tell a story about how you thought the fridge was broken but actually one of the kids had unplugged it. Could that be it??? Hope it's a cheap and easy fix!!

Anonymous said...

Fun weekend, well, excpet the fridge but 4 days under warranty is amazing.

Unknown said...

Good Luck with the fridge, Dawn. I'm sure the repairman will show up at 11:59 p.m. all ready to fix it. Let's hope Murphy's on vacation in sunny France.

Loved the scarecrow pictures.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Where was the scarecrow festival? I live I'm guessing an hour or so south of you and I would have loved to have gone to that festival! On another note - we've lived in our home for 10 years now and all the appliances were bought brand new. To date - the stove is dying and the door is only hanging on by a hinge - we're using it up till its dead and then will get another one. The fridge has been repaired 3 times, one freezer has been replaced, a second washer and dryer have been bought about 3 years ago because the first set dyed and now this second set - well they've each been serviced once since they've been purchased! What a crock of you know what! My Mom and Dad had the same avodcado green appliance for years - at least 30 years on the stove they just replaced last spring! The freezer is still kicking and I remember them buying that about 20 years ago! Everything today is made to use a couple of years and then it's throw it away time! Be Hum Bug!

Leah said...

My dryer broke yesterday, about 10 days past the one-year warranty. You'd think a brand-new dryer would at least make it a couple of years before it breaks.

Anonymous said...

We actually had a fridge break after only 2 1/2 years! We too couldn't find the receipt but had the same good fortune that the store could help us. But we didn't have a spare fridge or freezer at the time, so we lost about $200 worth of groceries. (of course, the fridge broke on a weekend JUST after I went to the store). Anyway, it sounds like your compressor went, so you should be covered under warranty! Best of luck!
Melissa
PS You crack me up - I have 3 boys age 3 and under and I can totally relate to everything you write about!

Anonymous said...

Dont you just love it when things break down? Our wsher and dryer went at about the same time. I checked into having someone come and look at washer and found that by the time I paid for service call I was already 100.00 in the hole. So I washed clothes in bathtub for a few weeks then my hubby couldnt take it anymore and took a paycheck and bought a new one. The dryer thankfully was only the heating element so he was able to fix it. We just bought a new dishwasher in Feb. the other night I pushed the door to close it and a piece of the front caved in. So now theres a slight hole in the control panel. Our Fridge we bought 2 years ago and a couple of the shelves on the door are cracked because the toddlers climb into it and hang on them. The bottom drawer is cracked because everyone feels they need to push them in at warp speed. You are right they are made CHEAP!!!! Garbage!!!!

We went to our local havest festival and like you we wore shorts and sandles. There is something totally wrong about dressing like this for fall festivities!!!!! Trick or treat the kids may suffer heat stroke since they are going to be Clifford and Scooby Doo. Not right at all.

We I guess the bright side is you are not the only one facing these things.

Take care Dawn and keep your chin up. If you dont who knows what might happen.

Suzy said...

I heard on the news a guy from Michigan died in the Chicago Marathon from heat exhaustion this weekend...that's how hot it is there right now. Same in Michigan, my neck of the woods...I want the leaves to change already and it's ntt happening with 80+ temps!!

Anonymous said...

Murphy's law in my household is know as Nix's law.....our last name. We are one of those families, if it wasn't for bad luck we would have no luck at all!! We had a similar 'fridge issue. Luckily it was just the gasket. Good luck, fingers crossed for you!

The festival looks like fun!!! We don't have much in Florida for fall festivals, maybe because we don't really have a "fall"? It's just hot 24/7!!! I especially loved the photo of Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I made my children Jack and Sally costumes last year for Halloween. And my son's room is all "Nightmare" stuff. Halloween is the one time of year I get out the old sewing machine and get to work. It is also the one time of year that I feel like I have actually done something to make my kids proud of me. They love the costumes I make. Whenever someone comments about their costumes they always say "my mom made it!!!" It gives me the warm fuzzies. I need more of those. Don't we all?

Anonymous said...

I hope the fridge repair doesn't cost you anything.

"Are things just made very cheaply today? Is it a conspiracy to make the public go out and buy new items year after year?"

You took the words right out of my mouth. My mother STILL has the blender she used when we were kids (I'm now 31) and it still works great. I've been married 6 years and am on my 3rd blender!

Loved the scarecrows, that s a cool festival. And yes, this autumn us uncharacteristically WARM! No fun. How can I enjoy hot apple cider in this weather?

Anonymous said...

We just had the same fridge dilemma, but ours was 1 month past the 5 year warranty! Thankfully, we were able to save most of the food, thanks to the 20 year old fridge left in our basement by the previous owners. They definitely do make them more cheaply these days!

Unknown said...

Your fridge made it five years? Must not be an LG...ours made it all of eight months. Some days we get no water and other days the water just keeps spewing even after releasing the button.

It's like a box of chocolates 'round here.

littlemissattitude said...

Two words for you, kiddo: planned obsolescence. I think they have timers in durable goods like that; the timer on your fridge just was a bit off, that's all, and the thing broke a few days before it was scheduled to.

Anyway, I spent nearly $700 getting my car fixed last week, so I feel your pain.

Elaine

SubWife said...

My husband claims that big companies employ people whose sole job responsibility is to figure out how to build things so that they would break very soon after the warranty expires (so that instead of fixing old appliances,ppl would buy new). At the time when he told me this, I scoffed, but I was married for only a few months and barely dealt with appliances. Now that I am the proud owner of many major and minor appliances and electronic devices, I am slowly starting to accept that there could be some truth to what he says. Is this really a coincidence that many appliances break right around the end of their warranty? Or is this a plot against us, unsuspecting consumers? At any rate, can't spend too much time thinking about this conspiracy since there are so many out there...

Veggiemomof2 said...

I believe things just aren't made to last as long anymore.

We've had 90° weather..this is insane. My DD could be a swimmer for Halloween! LOL

Nicki said...

I have to agree with you that things aren't made the way they use to be. It seems we are always replacing something--from poorly made clothes to new appliances. My husband and I went to a country fair this weekend and experienced the same things. Everyone was going for cold pop, beer and ice cream. No one went near the hot chocolate and hot apple cider.

Anonymous said...

OMG--it must be the weekend for fridges to die. Ours died Friday--but at least it was 11.5 years old.

God Bless Lowe's and the next morning delivery they have available!

Moi said...

Good luck with the fridge. We just had to replace ours because the freezer CAUGHT FIRE. I can't like that.

That festival looked like fun. It's still 90 degrees outside here, so there's no way something that fun will happen.

Anonymous said...

Growing up, we had the same refrigerator and the same stove for umpteen gawdzillion years. The stove was as old as my brother; the refrigerator as old as I was. The stove was a 36" with a built-in rotissary. They brought it with them from Minnesota to Illinois in the early 60s. My mother cried when that stove died after 30 years.

Khi D'hala said...

Just a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were shopping for new appliances, and we asked the salesman how long we could expect our refridgerator to last. An honest and straight-forward young man, he said, "When did you buy it?" We told him that we'd bought it when we built our house, about 17 years ago, and he said, "Oh, then it'll be good for another 10 or 15 years. If you'd bought it in the past decade, it would probably be time to replace it already."

So, I don't know what's change since 1990 in refridgerator manufacturing, but there does seem to be something about modern fridges that require them to break down sooner! Strange.

~* W *~ said...

OMG! Thanks for the website... I've been looking for the nuby replacements!!

bigwhitehat said...

If you want a refrigerator to last 30 years, buy an ugly one.

Shelley said...

Scary Potter...heh! Cute pictures! I know what you mean about the weather. Here in AZ, it's always warm when we're seeing pictures of changing leaves and having harvest festivals. Even though I grew up here, it's never seemed right to me. It should be brisk and ... autumn-y!

AutoSysGene said...

We haven't bought pumpkins yet. I just can't see going to the pumpkin patch when it's 80 some degrees and I still have the a/c on.

I've got my fingers crossed that one of the 5 parts still covered are the ones broken...what do you suppose the odds are?

Anonymous said...

This exact thing happened to my fridge this last summer, except we missed the warranty by a few months. And yes, the part that broke was gonna cost over $800 to fix. So I had to go shopping for a fridge in one day. I'm a "shop around for the best price" kind of girl. It was stressful. So, you might start looking, just in case. My parents had that lovely gold frig for 30 years also. After this last one broke on us, I was actually wishing I could find one of those to buy.

Oh, and I agree about the shorts in October. I'm tired of the hot!

Anonymous said...

I bought a new microwave in April and it broke 3 weeks ago. I called the manufacturer and had to send the cord to them and they will send me a new one in about 3 months. they didn't say this I am just guessing. It would probably be easier to just go buy a new one but I already bought a new one and it only lasted 5 months!

Snoopyfan said...

We were at the festival on Sunday and good grief it just Wizard of Oz scarecrows too!

Heather S. said...

Just thought you might want to check and see if it didn't accidentally get unplugged. Sometimes I forget to check the most obvious things like that.

Annalea said...

My grandmother has a nearly-harvest-gold side-by-side that's still going strong, and it's at least 25 years old. They don't make 'em like they used to. Most products today are engineered to fail just after the warranty period. That's why we buy Kenmore. We've got a medium-sized Kenmore fridge that we've had for seven years, and it has run without a hiccup. I actually keep waiting for it to break so I can buy a bigger fridge! lol (A 36" wide, counter-depth model. ;o)

If the fridge is DOA, just remember that Sears is serious about their Kenmore brand, and that it's usually a pretty good bet. (Stay far, Far, FAR away from Maytag!!!)

Best of luck surviving until Wednesday . . .

Heidi said...

Stevens girl--That's exactly what I was thinking! I kept expecting Dawn to say, "And then we realized it was just unplugged--ha, ha!" Whatever it is, I hope it's easy to fix and covered by your warrantee!

That's very kind of you to support work-at-home moms, Dawn! I hope your website goes well.

Anonymous said...

i agree with pumpkin picking. i will not go pumpkin picking unless it's semi cold out, or halloween is in a week and we still have no pumpkins. i live in new jersey for crying out loud and we've been wearing shorts for a week!
oh and as for murphy's law, in my house we just call it casey's law!

Heidi said...

Oh, and cute pictures!

Claire said...

the goods & services blog is a great idea - how about some sites in the UK? :)

Lesley said...

I bought a used mini-van that had a 3-day warranty. On day 3 the transmission blew! They had to fix it for me, and since it was 4wd it cost $3500. It still makes me shudder to think what we would've done had it blown on day 4 instead. Murphy's Law has since caught up with me on other vehicles however. I have a dandy story about a Suburban we owned...

Our Unique Family said...

Sorry to hear about your frig...sounds like our luck! I agree with you about the weather we were at The County Fair here in Eastern North Carolina this weekend..and we are sweating...UHHH where is the cool weather?? We are hoping that the weather is much cooler for the State Fair next week...There is a Scarecrow Festival going on in our area soon...looks like fun also! Love reading your blog!

Shannon said...

I love what you said about "We're accused of being a "throw-away" society, but it's hard not to be when our major appliances break after only five years and it usually costs more to fix than to replace them."

I find that I'm often tempted to buy the latest printer of the brand I use, because there's usually only an extra 10 bucks difference between ink cartridges and a new printer. Geesh!

Thanks for the laughs. :)

Michelle said...

Dear Dawn,

I am afraid that you missing that what has actually happened is quite possibly Murphy throwing you a bone of good timing given the cancellations and let downs recently. The fact is that the fridge is still under warranty and the part may be covered. I personally am keeping my fingers crossed that all will be made well with a minimum, if any, expense.

I am looking forward to the release of your book. I shall now go back into lurker mode. ;)

Anonymous said...

its hot in chicago?!?! its freezing in southurn utah!!

Anonymous said...

We had a problem with our fridge a few years ago. Sometimes when it is really humid the condenser coils (or something) freeze up. We unplugged it and let it sit overnight then plugged it back in. It worked!

Anonymous said...

Gee, how did you get all the warm weather in IL? Western WA is trying to go for another record for consecutive rainy days and temperatures in the low 50's.

I don't think I could pick pumpkins in too warm a temperature either. There is something about the dirt and mud that must attract itself to my child in order to be a proper pumpkin picking experience. There just isn't enough mud in the warm weather.

Becky said...

Something I was just reading about in our newspaper here a few days ago was that a lot of people lose their appliances after a thunderstorm rolls through their area, because these often cause power surges which are deadly to most appliances, stereos, computers, TV's, etc.

I've noticed a lot of newer homes or remodels on the home shows on TV are now getting surge protection installed on the electrical box (or maybe it's the breaker box) to guard against this. It's costly, but if you've lost a few $500 appliances for this reason, it might be worth looking into.

Rae said...

Out of curiosity, when my washer (Whirlpool) went after just 5 little years, I e-mail Whirlpool and asked them how long a washer was supposed to last. They told me that depending on usage, a good 10 - 15yrs. Then why, may I ask, does the warrenty only cover half the time? And, like you said, why does it always manage to go "the day after it expires"?

LOVE the drawing by "Green"... It's wonderful

Michelle said...

Love the new look!!! Fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Hey, remember when grocery stores used to give "green stamps" that could be redeemed for merchandise? Long, long ago? Well, I am still using my mixer that I got with my stamps. The on/off switch is orange if that helps you with the age. And mine. :):)

monica said...

LOVING the new layout!

Anonymous said...

Cool new design! Like it =)

Mommy Brain said...

Love the new look...at first it scared me! Where am I?

We went to a bonfire on Saturday night and had to leave because it was so terribly hot we were sweating...no one wanted to get near the fire! Funny thing is my friend begged her husband to move the date up because it's usually too cold...this wasn't what she had in mind.

Carla said...

I have the Harvest Gold refrigerator. It is chugging along after 30 years even though I have only known and loved it for 13. The gold color is back in. Right?

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say I love the new look of the blog!

We're still hitting the 80's here in Moorpark, CA, but it's pretty normal for this time of year. It starts to cool off, then heats up again before really cooling off in November.

Anonymous said...

Love the blog, not a fan of the new layout.

Good luck with the fridge!

Cheryl said...

Love the new look of your blog!!

Mommy's Boot Camp said...

LOVE the new LOOK..

Unknown said...

hope that the part that broke on the fridge is covered. and i love what you did with your page. looks great. you always make me laugh.

maggiebsmocks said...

~LOVE~ the new digs! Looks great!
maggieb!

Anonymous said...

Love the new look of your blog! It's so bright and fun.
** Nichoel - ps it is super hot in Kansas City too!

halimah said...

Love the new layout! Soory about the fridge.

Erin said...

Just had to say I love the new look! I just cracked up laughing at the cartoon hubby running away to do repairs!! LOL

Weather wise I can feel your pain, the conversion of 80 something to celsius is about 26. We had 34celcius the other day (Sydney) which equates to about 93 fahrenheit ...
...And it ain't even near summer yet!!

Definately forget the meat pies and just keep the beer on ice!

Jennwith4 said...

I LOVE the new layout! Very cute! Who did that cartoon? So funny!

Lucinda Naia said...

WOW! I love the new format! I've been reading your blog on my BlackBerry so I have no idea when you actually added the mom in the shoe, but it's GREAT!

LOVE product blog idea... will visit it next.

As for the fridge, I agree that they don't make them like they used to make them. My parents had a fridge that made it past 35. I doubt anything bought today will last longer than 10.

Anonymous said...

Love the new look of your blog!! Who did the artwork?

Mary said...

Love the new layout! Especially the header - great drawing!!!

Shan said...

I am loving the new lay out! Wow! Totally awesome!

Anonymous said...

I love the new header!

Anonymous said...

I love your new layout! thats so cool with you and all your kids and your husband in the shoe.

mindgame said...

I was actually told from someone who works in appliances, that refrigerators WERE made, in the past, to last 20-30 years and they changed that since these companies needed to make money so that they now only DO last about 10-11 years max. Pretty crappy of them. You still got the short end of the stick at 5 years, but that really bugs me that they went out of their way to make a product NOT last as long, just so they can sell more of them.

Lisa C. said...

I love the new layout and that picture is tooo cute! you have to tell us who did it for you!

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your new layout!! Who did the artwork? It is awesome! I especially love your husband running away with garden tools. haha too funny!

Stacy said...

I love you new site design. It looks great.

I lived in Champaign for two and a half years and I never knew about the scarecrow festival. I would have loved to go to that.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, my hot water heater decided to break last night. So, I am with you on the frustration of those types of issues. My old hot water heater is gone, the new one is here, but not installed. The heat will be over soon (I am in Michigan).

Sara

Oh yeah, the new layout is very fun!

Kandy Seaton Smith said...

Great pictures...it looks like ya'll had a lot of fun :) I LOVE the new format...but I kinda miss seeing chocolate Brooklyn ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry but I don't really like your new look. Not that it even matters what I think but it't kind of freaky. But, I'm still gonna visit alot because you are so funny and real and who really cares what it looks like? Even though it's a litte weird.

Anonymous said...

EEK. The new look is throwing me for a major loop. It's drawing too much attention AWAY from the title of the posts. It's enormous. I spent more time gawking at it than I did reading the post.

Why not keep it simple? Us Moms are already short on reading time.....

:o) mg said...

This is odd. I just sat down at the computer and checked your blog (love the new design by the way) just AFTER I took the grate off of the bottom of the fridge and vacuumed 6 years worth of dust off of the coils.
EW!!!!!!!!!!!
I can see how a fridge would break and am surprised that ours hasn't yet (the washing machine beat the fridge to the punch two weeks ago!)
I am embarassed to say how much dust was caked on those things.
I expect our power bill will come down by $40-$50 or so next month.

Anonymous said...

You have to check out this lady on youtube - it is totally funny and reminded me of your blog...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU

Oh - and I was a bit freaked out by the new look, but after scrolling through it for a minute, I like it! Thanks for making me laugh!

Jackie said...

Great recall on DW's snowball! You totally crack me up.

My husband installs appliances and his first line of defense on a fridge not working is to vacuum behind it. It's amazing the build-up that happens back there! Good luck!

Sharon G said...

Love the new look. I almost thought I was on the wrong site to begin with. Being in Australia I read it before I went to bed but this morning its changed. Its very bright and Happy. You ROCK Dawn.

Sharon G

Anonymous said...

Wow, you work fast! Last time I checked, you only had six kids! (just kidding!)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Just came on tonight to see if you've updated and here is the new look! I love it! The illustration is perfect, just adorable!

Anonymous said...

I really like your new format but I'm missing that chocolate faced angel of yours!

ShortandSweet said...

Ah, i had the same problem with my refridgerator 5 months ago. We bought our new house with "new appliances already in the house" and within a year of living here, the fridge stopped running. Sigh, no fun trying to find coolers and neighbor's fridge/freezer space while you wait to have it fixed!
Love your site and i look forward to reading your blog!
You have adorable children too!

ShortandSweet said...

I had a similar problem happen with our refridgerator and it was only 4 years old. Get all excited about buying a new house with newer appliances (our old house in Chicago had a mustard yellow fridge that was at least 30 years) and it goes out with in a year of living there!

I very much enjoy reading your blog. Who knew being witty on ebay would get you this far?!
Keep up the good work!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawn
Since I read your Ebay thing I have put you on my faves and read you every night! LOVE IT!!

I have a bumper sticker on my fridge that I thought you'd like. Yes, a bumper sticker on my fridge. Seemed to make more sense there.

It says--

I child-proofed my house
BUT THEY STILL GET IN!!

Love ya!

Anonymous said...

I've never commented before but I just had to say something about a broken fridge! Our fridge broke 2 months and two days ago! It was finally fixed today! We had a warranty that was the problem, we had to wait for servive, then wait for backordered parts. I have 4 children 6 and under and we were living out of a cooler for 3 weeks until we really started complaining and they gave us money for a bar fridge. NO Fun! Your blog was like reading my life! I was actually excited to go to the grocery store, I could buy stuff! I had a place to put it! I have been going to the store almost everyday! You know the pain that can cause! Anyway I'm rambling. Thanks for the laugh I needed it!

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain on the freezer! Mine broke this past summer, after only 2 years!!! It was the compressor so it was under warranty (thank goodness!) but I hope it's fixed soon! Ours took 2 weeks from start to finish because they had to order the part.

Unknown said...

Love the new look - it startled me at first. I thought I'd gone to the wrong blog. But that's a great picture. Do miss your chocolate baby though.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic new blog design, Dawn! Really love it.

Barb

Unknown said...

I love your new layout but I can't find where I can read previous days' blogs. Is that area gone or am I just blind?

Anonymous said...

Okay, where did you steal that extra kid from in the picture of the family in front of scary Harry?

Korkie

Katie said...

Your weather comments make me laugh. I live about 30 miles east of San Antonio, TX, and, not only is it still in the 80s here, it is not entirely unusual for us to be going to Christmas program practice in shorts and Tshirts. In fact, I have distinct memories of doing so.

Kristi said...

I'm a total "Because I said so" junkie!! Love your new blog -- you are tooo funny!!

Anonymous said...

My husband's transmission went out on his car just 25 miles BEFORE his warranty would have expired. I've never felt so lucky in my life!

KnittWitt said...

it was crazy hot this weekend in the chicago area. i live sw of the city and after it hit 90 degrees out she decalred it was no longer october and now it is "octojuly"

Anonymous said...

wow i thot u only had 6 kids

HopScotch said...

Oh my gosh! I know all about D.W.'s Snowball. That scares me.

Anonymous said...

I love Costco, though they only have a few choices in fridges. I bought my microwave there, last year,and it only lasted for 9 months. I brought it back in and even though the warrantee had expired, they refunded all my money. They guarantee you will be satisfied-no time limit, as far as I can tell.

You may be lucky and have a problem with ice building up on the freezer coils, inside the back of the freezer. That can cause it to not cool properly. The ice is usually caused by a door seal or ice dispenser door not closing all the way.

Annie-Savor This Moment said...

Are you taking positive comments on your new blog design? {lol}
Glad you have the new blog, too.

Unknown said...

I saw the picture of the Jack Skelington and thought, hey they had one of those at our Scarecrow Fest! LOL, I had no clue you were from the Chicago Burbs. I'm the next town over from where that was held, nice to know we have someone "famous" from our area! Love your blog, and love the new look VERY cool!

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