I miss my oven!

I take for granted certain things in life. We all do. It's not until we don't have the luxury or use of them that we realize how good we've got it.

Case in point, last week I was without 2 essential appliances. First was my clothes washer. It had developed a small leak and was leaking all over the floor. Finally, I called on the warranty and the man showed up and repaired the inner seal Tuesday. I didn't get a chance to use it until Thursday, at which time it leaked ALL over the floor flooding the entire area. I had watched the repair guy as he fixed it Tuesday. What happened? I thought to myself, that at least before, I could do a load of laundry as long as I mopped up the small puddle afterwards. Now I couldn't risk doing anything! And, because I was behind, I had tons of laundry to do.

So, Saturday I geared myself to go to the local laundry mat. Thankfully, I didn't end up having to because of my handy husband. Once more, sacrificing his time, which he needed to be doing other things, he slowly and methodically checked it out and realized the strap which secures the seal in place had slipped. He was able to fix it! Wahoo! He's my hero! I am so grateful that my husband was willing to tackle this. I secretly feared that he might make more of a mess of it. But, you never know until you try. Thank you, thank you, thank you Peter Gale!

Now on to appliance #2,  my oven. Saturday we got a relatively early start. The kids had had a church activity at 9 am and after attending that we headed over to Costco for groceries. They had a really great deal that day for take'n'bake pizzas. We bought one and Peter graciously allowed me to lay down, I had another sleepless night the night before. He baked the pizza for me and the kids. Well, all of a sudden I hear him yelling the oven had broken. So, I get up and sure enough, while the pizza baked, the interior glass of the oven had cracked. Peter went and asked a neighbor if he could borrow their oven to finish the pizza.  

My oven has been rendered inoperable. After speaking to the appliance center, we will be without the use of it maybe for 2 weeks. They have to order the glass and it has to be delivered to the house, which can take 3-5 days, and then we have to call Sears and schedule a service call which is generally a week's wait. What I am most grateful for is the fact that all these repairs are covered under our service agreement. I can't imagine how much money we would have to spend otherwise. 

I was thinking earlier in the weekend that maybe it would still be alright to use the oven. So, Sunday morning I made a batch of cookies for the little ones in the nursery where I volunteer. I got one batch made and then Peter set me straight. He strongly felt it was unsafe to use the oven in it's broken and cracked state. There was no danger of glass getting on the food. He just didn't want to take any chances. 

So, Sunday afternoon, the repair center called to let us know the glass had to be ordered and it could possibly longer than this Friday, the 23rd to get it fixed. While they were on the phone, Peter asked them if it was OK to use it. The answer was no. It won't hold the heat properly because the double paned glass is broken and it could cause further damage. DRAT!

I use my oven almost everyday. I cook goodies, put dinner in to bake, make bread, etc. So, now it's time to get creative. And, I will have to use the microwave instead of the oven to heat dinners up, depending on the meal. 

Like I said before, you don't know what you've got until it's gone! Appliances like the washer and dryer and stove sure help to make our lives easier. If I'm truly desperate, I know there are people I can call and ask to use their oven. It's just inconvenient for all involved.

   For example, this week is a good friend of ours' birthday. I was planning to make a cake for him. Not now. But wait! Maybe I still can. I think we might have an EZ Bake oven somewhere in the far reaches of the house or maybe I could use the grill to bake a cake (I've never done this before, and to be honest, I don't plan to), I'm just throwing ideas out there. 

Regardless, I need to add a few more things to my gratitude list. I'm sure you can guess what they are. I hope you add them to your gratitude list too!