Hi there! Let’s take a moment to catch up on life. How was your week? Mine had some pretty crappy things… let’s get those out of the way first.
On Tuesday I was making dinner and my oven literally FELL TO PIECES. The handle came off in my hand, which caused the front of the oven to separate into two pieces and fall on the floor. Since I was roasting vegetables at 425 degrees, why yes, this WAS kind of dangerous!
We tried to fix it, but we couldn’t get the handle back on, and without that the oven door won’t stay together. We talked about getting a new oven- could we wait until Black Friday? Oh wait. That won’t work, because how would we cook Thanksgiving dinner. SIGH.
My husband discovered that we can get a replacement handle for this oven, and it arrives Saturday! So we’ll see if we can fix it. I mean- other than this (ahem, this teensy) snafu, the oven itself works just fine. In the meantime- luckily we have a microwave.
In other news, Charlotte, our black cat, is now ill. YES. It was just weeks ago that we had a scare with Muffin. Luckily Muffin is fine, but it’s come to our attention that Charlotte has lost a LOT of weight. Too much. She needs to see a vet. The problem is, we recently decided to get pet insurance (my husband can get it through his work). It doesn’t kick in for another week, and we’re trying to wait until then to take Charlotte in.
Charlotte is… old? We don’t really know how old she is. We’ve had her for nine years, but she was already an adult when we adopted her and no one knew how old she was then. We’re afraid that she may have something too expensive for us to treat, so we’d like to wait until this insurance kicks in. But we’re worried.
However! The week wasn’t all bad. Our weather really cooled down, which feels AMAZING. Wednesday I had a day off with no appointments scheduled, and I had an incredible trail run in the morning.
It was 52 degrees when I started! This is why we live in Florida! I have to remind myself of this next summer when I’m complaining bitterly about the heat and humidity.
After my run, I settled myself on the couch with a big bowl of oatmeal, and tea.
I ate, read blogs, and eventually drifted off into a nap, and Muffin snuggled up to me. This is my favorite way to spend time alone at home.
More good things this week (in the spirit of Elisabeth’s HAPPY THINGS FRIDAY posts):
-I found my Christmas cards- no easy feat, since they were stuffed haphazardly into one of the Christmas bins last January- and started addressing them!
-Pumpkin spice everything:
-Well, not everything… I started this carton of creamer!
-High school football playoff season is here! Our first playoff game is tonight.
-End of the government shutdown? I know this is a controversial outcome, but I’m happy for people to return to work. And, selfishly, we’re hoping that my son can get home for Thanksgiving without any issues.
That’s it for me! How was your week? Any big problems? Any happy things? Are you enjoying a festive hot beverage right now???
25 Responses
OH MY GOODNESS. That oven incident is terrifying and I am so sorry you were injured. I hope it’s healing okay?
And another cat is sick; you poor thing. There has been a lot of pet stress the last few months. I hope that she feels better soon and I’m so curious to learn more about pet insurance and how it works out for you.
In less dangerous news, our washing machine stopped working…and then it started working again much to my relief. It is OLD but I don’t want to replace it and my husband was out of the country (as he always is when something goes wrong) and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. While it does seem to be working again, I am side-eyeing it cautiously each time and figuring it might be on borrowed time.
I love your Happy Things!! My list will be up in a few hours. I had a coffee with Peppermint Mocha creamer earlier today and it was delish and very festive. And we put up our tree this week and I am loving the twinkle lights.
I read your post! I love the tree and all the Christmas decs. Saying a little prayer for your washing machine!!!
Oh no! The oven door, your arm, and your beautiful Charlotte! Ack! I wouldn’t know what to do about the pet insurance either. 1 week? Can you make an appointment now for the day it becomes effective, so you won’t have to wait? Crap. Poor thing. I hope she miraculously starts eating again. Is it stress from Muffin? I wish we knew. I hate not knowing.
Your run sounds wonderful, and you are reminding me that I need to start on my Christmas cards. It felt like too soon, and now suddenly it does not. How am I going to get that done and read blogs too???
Julie, that is the irony of Christmas. It ALWAYS feels too soon, until suddenly it’s too late and I’m rushed and frantic. Getting my cards addressed now, at least, should be a big help.
Yes, we’re making an apointment for Charlotte one week from now. The thing is- she is eating which is good- but still losing weight, which seems to indicate that something is very wrong. Sigh.
Ahhhh, the oven door incident is so scary! And sorry about Charlotte being sick now. I’m glad you had some good things going on to balance it out, like that run with cooler temps! We have had morning lows in the 50s for a few weeks now, but the high temps have still been in the 80s which I don’t mind but I’m ready for more “fall-like” weather, which we’re apparently gonna get this weekend with some rain (we don’t typically get rain in November but we need it!)
I’m planning to go to Sprouts & Trader Joe’s this weekend to stock up on all the festive things!
Ooh! Cooler temps, rain, and a festive grocery haul- that sounds like a fun weekend. Our temps are coming back up into the 60s overnight, which is a little sad, but it’s still better than a low of 80 degrees. Now I’m looking forward to our next cold front.
OMG JENNY! Usually when people say their oven broke, they mean it stopped working – not that it literally broke into pieces! That is kind of terrifying, honestly! I hope you can get a new oven on Black Friday and that the new handle works up until then.
Sorry to hear about your cat. It’s hard to have a sick pet. Especially when you don’t know her age…well, let’s hope it’s something minor and fixable.
No big problems for me this week, knock wood.
Yes, I really meant it when I said the oven broke into pieces! It was… bizarre.
Glad you avoided big problems this week… sometimes it feels like it’s always something.
Same as you, I’m glad that the shutdown is over. It hurts no one in congress/White house and everyone outside of those spheres. And yes I want your son to have a smooth flight both ways for Thanksgiving!
I hope Charlotte is OK. It’s so rough when the fur babies get sick. It sounds like waiting until the pet insurance kicks in is a good move – as long as she hasn’t stopped eating completely I’m sure that she’ll be fine. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the oven handle fix works.
I’ve got no big dramas going on other than I’ve fallen behind in blogging and it feels like a chore to catch up. But there’s an easy solution! I’m not going to catch up and I’ll just let the past two weeks of my life be a mystery! Mwah ha ha! My bonus happy thing is that I’m not a Starbucks regular but over the weekend I went out with family and we stopped by Starbucks. If you hadn’t written about the holiday cups I wouldn’t even have noticed, but since you pointed it out the cup did make me enjoy the drink a little bit more.
Oh good! That’s my mission, bringing small joys to people’s lives.
Yes- Charlotte is eating, which makes it even more baffling that she’s lost so much weight. But it does seem like we can make it through another week.
I hope that Paul’s flight home for Thanksgiving goes smoothly! I am glad the shutdown is over with, too. I know Dems did not get what they hoped for, but now when people’s premiums go up in 2026, they know who went to bat for them and who did not care… I think that will be a big bargaining piece for mid-terms. But to be clear, I don’t want people on ACA to be the pawns in an election cycle. It’s all very very frustrating.
The oven situation is awful! Yikes! That burn looks painful. Burns – gah! I am glad there is a fairly easy solution to this issue but sheesh, that is not an issue I’d expect someone to encounter!
And poor Charlotte! I hope she has something treatable. You really had a doosey of a week, Jenny! I am glad you were able to find some bright spots.
Yes, I thought of you Lisa when I posted the photo of that burn- sorry.
Yes, it’s VERY frustrating because the people in power couldn’t care less about ACA, because it doesn’t affect them. The whole shutdown didn’t affect them! They should all be fired : )
The oven thing is terrifying! Especially since you were actively using it! Hopefully the handle is a good fix and your arm heals nicely.
We had a wacky oven scare when we first got married – I’d made a coffee cake, and it wasn’t quite all the way done but we had to get to church. So we turned the oven OFF and left it in there as it cooled off to finish. When we got home: the oven was still hot and the coffee cake was black. But the oven was STILL OFF. We unplugged that puppy and ordered a new one as fast as Lowe’s could deliver, LOL (We had replaced the fridge, washer and dryer before we moved in).
Also: I haven’t gotten my fancy holiday creamer yet but I did spy – and snag – a 5 ingredient almond based “holiday nog” that I am SUPER excited to try! 😀
Ha, that’s kind of like what I did once- except in my case it was all my fault. I had some tortilla chips in the oven, turned the oven “off”- except I accidentally turned it to BROIL, then walked away for a while. It started a fire in the oven- can’t remember what I did then, I think just turned it off properly this time, and the fire went out on its own. But we had to get a new oven after that!
That burn looks BAD. Did you have anyone take a look at it?
Oh, I’m way too familiar with cats losing weight too quickly. In Zelda’s case it was a pricey thyroid treatment only to be told once we paid $$$ for it that she has a probably slow-growing cancer. Now we weigh her with a fancy scale every three or four weeks. It’s not a fancy scale. It’s an infant scale we bought for $30 on Amazon – the same brand the vet office uses (Beurer BY80). It took surprisingly little time to get her trained to go on it when we pull it out because it’s the only time she gets chicken. Anyway. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Charlotte. Kitties are so stressful when they get older.
Yes, we’re wondering if it’s her thyroid. And… oh no, really? It wasn’t the thyroid after all for Zelda??? I could imagine it being the thyroid or cancer in Charlotte’s case- but maybe it’s something simple like a parasite? I guess we’ll find out SOON.
Gosh, you really did have a lot of upsetting things happen this week. I hope the cat is OK. The oven falling apart – so scary. Ouch. That looks like it hurt. Right before Thanksgiving. Oh, brother.
Not my favorite week, but it’s warm out and I got to go for a run on my day off and I had one baby cancel yesterday so I got to take the other 4 for a walk. We have an upsetting situation with Rae, Kay ignored a major homework assignment last weekend and then forgot her book at school Monday and it was due Tuesday- this would be a bummer except she is getting to be less responsible and we’re already wondering what to do about high school for her as we don’t think she’s ready, and then Mini found out she didn’t get the job she interviewed for a few weeks ago. So bummed for her. She really wanted that job. On the flip side, I told her now she know that that is the sort of job she’s looking for. Coach flew to NC till late tomorrow night and I get to manage Rae’s family therapy session solo. Good times.
Oh… your week DOES sound stressful! Poor Minnie- and we get so sad when our kids are sad, right? The good thing is- Coach returns tomorrow! At least you’ll have some support.
Oh no! Your oven snafu sounds scary and frustrating! Hopefully the new handle does the trick. And poor Charlotte! Hang in there, kitty!
Yes, I’m telling her to hang in there every day! And… we’re getting along pretty well without an oven, but we’ll need to get this situation resolved before Thanksgiving.
Oh, that peppermint mocha creamer might be the solution ,if we cannot get the Silk version that Elisabeth keeps raving about! Must find in store.
Ugh, I am sorry about the burn (hope it doesn’t hurt too much) and I am sorry that Charlotte is sick. I hope you can hold out until you can see the vet!
I had no idea there was pumpkin spice GU! WHAT??
Oh no! A sick cat is so stressful. I’m really sorry. I am glad you got pet insurance though. Please let us know how useful it is in terms of actually covering the expenses. And yes to pumpkin everything and fun holiday flavors. I love that. Its the special seasonal treats that make this part of the year so magical!
Also, that is crazy what happened to your oven. I have never heard of such a thing! The door just came apart? I hope the new handle fixes the issue and you have your oven for the holidays. I’m trying to think of a worse holiday to lose your oven right before. Maybe there are early Black Friday deals you can take advantage of if it doesn’t? A lot of places have already started their sales.
The oven incident doesn’t sound too fun. Hope you can get it fixed. And all the best to the cat.
Thanks for reminding me on Christmas cards. I was going to order some this weekend. I decided to bite the bullet and not make them this year. I just dont have time even though my crafty heart is sad.
That oven door situation sounds terrifying! I’m glad you weren’t hurt worse, but oof. Not fun at all! I hope the handle is the solution because how annoying would it be to need to get a whole new oven right now? Ack!
Poor Charlotte. My tuxedo is very slim, too. She seems to eat enough, but she was 7.8 lbs at her last appointment and I’m hoping she doesn’t get any slimmer. I hope Charlotte is okay!
Oh my gosh! The oven door! I hope the new handle means it is fixed, and I hope Charlotte is ok.