A Few of My Favorite Things ~ A Comedy of Errors Version 1.2021

While 2020 could be summed up as "fell down the stairs while carrying the chamber pot," so far 2021 has been "tripped on the stairs but caught myself." Personally at least. I can't speak for the rest of the world.

Innovation

Necessity is the mother of invention. And think of all the time and money we save in finding alternative solutions for fixing things!

As a "part two" for this favorite, we have inadvertently added another member to our family. Whenever something strange or not quite pleasant happens around the house and I either didn't see what happened or no one fesses up to it, we say it was "the ghost who hates me." It's become a catch phrase for our family. Example:

"Who cracked this plate? No one? Hmm, must be the ghost who hates me!"

"Who ate all the frosting from the fridge? Not you? Must be the ghost who hates me!"

The dryer is particularly admired by this ghost, and in the last couple months it has been turning itself off and on. Also, the dryer door randomly pops open mid-cycle, spurring me to comment, "AH, the ghost is checking on the laundry again." Addie asked me recently if the ghost lives in the dryer, squinting her eyes to maybe spy some evidence of her (because, of course, a male ghost couldn't care less if the laundry was dry).

Childlike Adults

Snow has the magical ability to turn adult men into little children, of whom I can never get enough. Children, that is. While I was lost in the romance of swirling snow and relishing our on-the-road-date meal of a gourmet Hardees burger, my husband made abundant use of the lack of traction and negotiated every corner we turned with the rear end of his truck swinging wide and fish-tailing back into place. It was so romantic it made my heart pitter-pat.

DIY Home Improvement Projects on a Budget

Little beats the satisfaction of knowing with a bit of duct tape and maybe a few screws you can completely remake your living spaces. Take this computer chair, for example. For some people it would have long ago joined thousands of its comrades in the dump, but in the Berst home it has enjoyed several new lives. 

Same with our 3 year old sectional, part of which ceased to function several months ago when certain children mistook it for a trampoline and diving board. Along with going sledding in a Silverado, watching your husband go at a metal couch frame while the sparks fly with a Sawzall also makes the heart pitter-patter. 

He even Sawzalled (because that's a word in our house) the arm off the old reclining section and screwed it back onto the raw section that was left (after I sewed up a rip in the fabric) on the left side of the sectional. I'm not sure if we should call this procedure a sectionectomy or a furniturplasty? Couchopsy?

My Children's Flair For the Dramatic

My children have been talking like Smeagle from The Lord of the Rings movie for the past three weeks. It has been quite entertaining and a pleasant deviation from the British accent they had been using for the past several months.

Having a Shoebox Bathroom

I can't stress enough how convenient it is to have a bathroom so small that everything is literally at your fingertips.