It was one of those weeks

Last week was a challenging time for me. After eight days at the fairgrounds the week before, me and my crew were happy to be back home. But it seemed everything decided to break down.

"When it rains, it pours" was the theme of my life for a few days.

ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT
Problem: Monday the microwave started sparking while in use and after a couple of test runs, decided it was unusable and the only food I had in the house at the time were some frozen dinners (I desperately needed to grocery shop but hadn't made time after the fair).
Solution: Fino researched what could have caused this issue and discovered a simple solution - clean the metal shield on the inside top of the microwave. Apparently when that is blocked with food/oil, it can create sparks. Turned out that was the problem and we avoided having to spend $300+ on a new above-the-stove microwave. (And I have to note that I always clean my microwave but the kids make a lot of popcorn in there and it turned out there was a bit of oil built up in just the right place to cause this problem that I missed.)

Problem: Sprayer from sink soaks the person standing in front of the sink whenever the kitchen faucet is turned on. I received a surprised soaking at a most inopportune time (running out the door to work). I had to wear a ratty old shirt to the office because I was in desperate need of doing laundry and didn't have anything else to change into (we had a major laundry pile up after returning from the fairgrounds).
Solution: We need a new kitchen sink sprayer and haven't had a chance to buy one so for now the sprayer lays in the sink all the time so when the faucet is turned on, the water stays in the sink instead of on the person trying to wash the dishes.

Problem: On Tuesday we discovered our female duck was MIA.
Solution: After a search around the woods, the kids and Fino could not find the duck so she was declared officially gone and likely dinner for the wildlife around our house. G. in particular is very sad because the duck eggs were key to many of G.'s baking recipes.

Problem: I started coming down with a head cold (originally thought it was my allergies acting up) and had a major achy headache (thankfully it was not one of my migraines I get a few times a year).
Solution: A trip to the doctor confirmed a cold rather than ineffective allergy medicine but my blood pressure was a bit too high so was told to "relax" over the weekend. A near impossible task given all the catch-up work I had to do at the office from taking some vacation days the week before.

Problem: Dishwasher is leaking every time it is run.
Solution: At first we thought it was the refrigerator, which we know is on its last legs, but it turned out the large water puddle in front of the fridge was actually coming from the dishwasher and working it's way across the kitchen floor. Fino took out the dishwasher to see what the problem was and discovered a faulty pump and hose so he's researching replacement parts to repair it. At the moment the dishwasher is laying on it's side in front of the kitchen sink and has been that way since last night.

ON THE OFFICE FRONT

Problem: I had to go in to the office on Saturday because I had a ton of work to catch up on from my vacation the week before and I thought my blood pressure would get better if I was able to do some things I was feeling stress about getting done. But my computer was acting funky and it kept crashing me out of the publishing system so I could not do what I intended while I was there.
Solution: I was able to do some other tasks on my list that didn't require the software I was having problems with so it wasn't a total wasted day at the office.

ON THE ADVENTURE FRONT
We went biking at Lake Auburn last week for a future Kid Tracks column for the magazine and ran in to a few snafus.

Problem: I discovered 2 flat tires on my bike when L. rolled it out of the shed.
Solution: Since my car's fuel gauge was on empty and I needed gas, decided to fill up the tires at the gas station and hope for the best. Turned out to be OK.

Problem: Got lost getting to Lake Auburn due to detours.
Solution: Found my way after pulling to the side of the road and consulting my Blackberry to look online to figure out a new route to the lake.

Problem: The biking trail at Lake Auburn looked to be about 3 miles long around the part of the lake we wanted to explore but about a mile and a half in to the trail and we ran in to big logging trucks and the trail was impassable at that point in time.
Solution: There wasn't one so we turned around and biked back to the car. The kids were not too disappointed because they were looking forward to donuts and hot apple cider at Wallingford's (about 3 miles away from trail head) and got those treats sooner than originally planned.

I'm hoping this week we don't have any other major appliance break downs at the house and that my computer at the office cooperates. Basically, I'm hoping that my stars get re-aligned for a smoother week of activities (I'll start thanking my lucky stars if they decide to make a reappearance, I promise).

I've always been a glass-half-full type but I'll tell you, my attitude was seriously put to the test last week.