Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

There is something about the near birth of a newborn baby that causes things to break in our household. Before Annabelle, I probably would have adjusted the above sentence to say "that brings bad luck our way." But, slowly, very slowly I must add, I am learning to not sweat the small stuff. Maybe it is knowing that we have been very fortunate and very blessed in our almost 10 years of marriage. Or maybe it has been watching our economy crumble around us over the past few years and still knowing that we are going to be alright because we have planned accordingly. Or perhaps it is the simple joy that a child brings that makes you realize that money is just that, only money.

Before Annabelle was born, I remember specifically telling hubby, "We just cannot get ahead! Every time we are doing well, something else happens!" Those things that happened seemed to be big ticket items such as a new transmission for my lovely first car, a 1998 Mazda 626. Or a new roof required by our homeowners' insurance policy. But now I laugh at that comment. We were living very comfortably on two incomes. I should be making that comment now instead of 5 years ago!

Within a week before Annabelle was born, we realized that our furnace was not working after we turned it on for the first cold wave. It was supposed to be a $500 fix, if I'm recalling correctly. Of course, that freaked me out as we were attempting to live on just one income in a few short months when my maternity leave ran out. But, I think I was more freaked out about bringing home a newborn into a very cold house. It turns out that the part was actually covered under warranty (after hubby demanded more information), and the company acted fast and got the furnace working again the day before Annabelle was brought home from the hospital.

And now we have another newborn baby due in 4 short weeks, and within the last week, our television and vacuum cleaner completely died!

I am blaming Pigs' Tales for the television. Only kidding Pigs! But, perhaps I shouldn't have commented on that blog post or maybe the television would have lasted just a little bit longer.

As for the vacuum cleaner, I am sure I can find someone to blame. Hubby! Aren't men to blame for most everything anyway? Again, only kidding hubby!

So, I have spent this week reading up on televisions and vacuum cleaners in Consumer Reports as well as shopping online.

And along with those big purchases, I have also been desperately pricing twin size mattresses and box springs (aka foundations now) for the best deal. Let me tell you people, shopping for mattresses is like shopping for cars. Perhaps worse! The choices are endless, and there really is no ability to compare properly. Thank goodness we are only looking for a twin mattress for a 34 lb toddler right now. I'm not looking forward to replacing our queen mattress that needed replacing 5 years ago!

As for having another baby, I think we'll hold off another 3.5-4 years as the expense seems to get bigger each time! Oh wait, I probably shouldn't have made that comment either!