From Cooling to Heating

In an attempt to remind us that our "black cloud" is never far away our oven exploded last night. Now I 'm sure that those of you who know me think I am exaggerating but alas no, not this time anyway. As I was getting ready to put dinner in the oven I noticed a spark and then a flash of light when I opened the oven I realized that the heating element was on fire. We turned it off and unplugged it and still it smoldered, off Michele goes to get the fire extinguisher......after several sprays the fire was out but my kitchen looked like a crime scene. Who knew a fire extinguisher was nothing more than a very fine, sticky powder? We're still cleaning up the residue this morning. We had to coax the kids back into the house after this exciting event and Max still needs convincing that his house isn't about to burn down. So we've gone from the inability to cool to the inability to heat....never a dull (or inexpensive) moment at the Marangella residence......

On a very happy and touching note, the little boy who lives around the corner came knocking on our front door last night with a championship metal in his hand. He explained to me that his team, coached by his father, had won the state championship and that they had dedicated the game to Max. While this little boy goes to school with Max and we know his family from around the neighborhood the rest of the team doesn't even know Max. We were all surprised and touched by this incredibly sweet gesture. Max hasn't taken the metal off and I have once again been moved by how my son, just one little boy with a very special gift, has touched so many lives. It confirms to me that Max has so much to teach to so many.

Good News/Bad News

I don’t really know how to best classify any of this news so I’m going to break it up into the following categories:

The "No Duh!"

Our most immediate issue with our AC unit truly is the compressor, this was just confirmed for us by another contractor (the second in the last five days, the umpteenth in the last five years).

The Good

There are folks out there that will do anything to shut me up and get me off the phone. One such person would be the Phoenix area rep for Carrier. After many, many phone calls and me sobbing about how we cannot live this way anymore, my ill son, etc. etc. this gentleman was gracious enough to do “what’s right” as he put it and give me a new compressor although my warranty was up six months ago (typical). Thank God for all those years of Catholic school where I learned from the best that guilt is your strongest weapon…thank you Sister Mary Catherine wherever you are!

The Bad

Although the compressor is being covered under warranty it is our responsibility to pay labor….to the tune of $880.

The Insanely Bad

All in all we have put in well over $2,500 into our AC just this season alone….I’m praying we’re not about to throw good money after bad!

As I write this I have Michele shaking out the sofa cushions in hopes of finding $880….if not is anyone interested in purchasing two kids and a dog? Cash and credit cards accepted and shipping is free!

Hopefully, I’m done talking about air conditioning for a while although our track history tells me not to hold my breath.

Deja Vu....Again

I am writing this while sitting in the fires of Hell, one guess what isn't working at our house and for the first time ever I am not referring to the rest of my family! As of late this afternoon we are without AC again, it only took another $185 to confirm this diagnosis. So as of now it seems our unit has taken its last breath, according to the repairman we have little hope of reviving it. It amazes me that it's actually possible to spend this much money on mechanical equipment that does not work.

In other news, it was really a rather dull weekend, if you discount the fact that the kids' fish decided to leap to its own death on Saturday evening. Seems we're having a rash of untimely deaths at our house....this time I can only pray that these things don't always come in threes. The next thing that breaks is on its own, I (and my credit cards) refuse to rescue anything else. Did I mention my dryer only starts when it feels like it?

Praying for a better week for everyone.

Deja Vu

In the words of the great Yogi Berra, tonight was "Like deja vu all over again." After a very long afternoon of doctors' appointments we came home to find that the air conditioning was not working AGAIN! In fact, you know it's bad when you call the AC guy and all you have to say is "this is Patricia..." and he knows exactly who you are. Evidently, my address is stored in his GPS.....none of this is a good thing.

We were lucky in that although we had record heat today (it's all relative in Arizona) the repairman came right out. That's where our luck ended. It seems our unit needs at a minimum a new compressor which could act as a band aid for what we really need.....a NEW UNIT. None of these options are inexpensive, so this evening we took the cheap route (again it's all relative) and spent several hundred dollars on compressor tubes, pea traps (I think that's what he called it), and some ungodly amount of Freon....I expect to be calling my AC friend sooner rather than later.....

Happy weekend all!

The Weekend in Pictures

What do you do with kids on a hot summer day in Arizona? You send them to the Science Museum and if you’re really, really lucky you can send them with someone else! It was a blistering 116 degrees on Saturday, the sort of day you can’t walk outside without feeling as though your skin is melting. On a day like this we would typically be stuck at home with whining kids who claim to be bored although they possess laptops, video games, piles of library books, and every other diversion known to man.

In light of this looming reality, you can imagine my glee when Christie offered to take Ellie and Max to the museum for the day. Just one more win-win situation resulting from this girl’s ability to put up with my children for extended periods of time, no easy feat believe me! The kids were entertained and I was able to enjoy the peace and quiet of no kids and the ability to get housework done without interference (what an exciting life I lead).

These are photos snapped by Christie of the big outing; it seems the kids had a blast. I’m not brave enough to ask Christie if she was as thrilled to be there as they were…

How we spent our holiday weekend.....

Just when I thought we would spend a quiet holiday weekend hanging out at home, sh** happens:

Max had been complaining (very unusual for Max) for days that his right foot was hurting so after watching him hobble around the house I realized it was time for our semi-annual staycation at the Phoenix Children's Spa and Resort.....off to the ER we went! I decided to brave it alone so just Max and I went giving me the added bonus of being able to play the martyr with Michele. After many, many hours of sitting behind a curtain, my son on a gurney, I on the standard issue folding chair, I realized that in Max's eight years of life I have spent exactly one half of his 4th of Julys with him in one hospital or another. We'll have none of those boring BBQs, parades or fireworks -- nope, we go straight for our own special brand of fireworks!

For once Max was among the least seriously ill, this I know not because a nurse or doctor really ever wandered into Max's room and told me so but by the shear number of police (taking criminal reports -- ouch!), paramedics and security guards coming in and out of the ER it was clear that Max was low man on the totem pole. So after a series of x-rays which had to be read by no less than half a dozen doctors, we received the diagnosis of "Kohler's Syndrome", simply put the bones and joints in Max's foot have somehow been injured as a result of a vein being cut off and not sending enough oxygen to the boney areas of his feet. (Sorry, that's my best shot at a layman's translation of what I could squeeze out of the ER doc who seemed to understand little of what the orthopedist had just told him by phone or his Internet search...you pick). So after nearly eight hours we were sent home with a temporary cast, strict instructions to not allow Max to walk or otherwise put any weight on his foot, and to see the ortho doc on Monday for a permanent cast.

Now many of you might be asking the question, "How is Max to get around without walking?" Because the doctor in the ER felt crutches were not a great option for Max they just wheeled us to the door with a smile and a "good luck". I must let you know that after lugging Max's 62 pounds around all day and my inability to get anyone at a DME supplier, pediatrician's on-call service or even the ER itself to see the wisdom in providing Max with a wheelchair, we as desperate parents came through once again. Exhibit A, Michele's soon to be patented "zoombuggie":

Not pretty but it does get a kid from kitchen to potty in under 60 seconds. Necessity is without doubt the mother of invention!

And so we have arrived at the end of another star-spangled, spectacular 4th of July!

How do kids keep busy during summer break?

They teach themselves new computer programs of course! This is Max's newest work of computer art that he sent me at work today. What I'm trying to figure out is if Max is admitting to his present crimes or if he is prophesizing about his future. Either way nothing good can come of this, he might want to Google a good lawyer this afternoon while he’s on the computer!