I battle with money often. Okay, honestly? Most of my life I have battled with money. Not necessarily a lack of but moreover a must have.
The fundamental question? What do we actually NEED to survive, to live, to be? My needs list is quite small, believe it or not. I have it down to the basic tenants: sustenance (food and water), shelter (clothes, house, transportation) and most important (for me), love.
Yep, that's about it for my needs list.
Suffice it to say that doesn't make me a very good homeowner... at least in my current home. When hubs and I built FIVE years ago (holy cow it doesn't seem that long!) we upgraded everything we could within our budget. We put in the fancy stainless steel appliances, whole house audio, blah, blah, blah. We didn't actually need any of it, quite frankly. But we did it.
As soon as our 1 year warranty was up on our appliances, everything went wrong. Our ice maker straight out died. Not repairable. The water dispenser on our fridge also died with no warning. And another year later, our dishwasher followed suit. I was furious. I still am, quite frankly. I had not yet in my life owned brand new kitchen appliances. These were the first. And they lasted 8 seconds.
In my mixed bag of emotions, I think I reached for one I tend to use a lot. My mother's cynicism. Hence the Martyr was born.
I wouldn't replace the dishwasher. I had three different guys out to give me bids on it. It was deemed the "computer" went out. Why American's think we have to have a computer in a dishwasher anyway just kills me. What the hell was wrong with the turn dial? Are we so freakin' lazy that we can't just turn a knob?
So I just left it alone. I washed every single dish in my house by hand. Every day. Every night. Hubs did, too. For two years.
Yes, friends. Two years.
Why?
I have the money. That's not my battle. It's pure principal. I'm stubborn, I'm angry at the dishwasher for breaking and I have categorized this as a "non-essential". It's not a NEED. My life continues on with or without it. Sure, it's altered. I don't like washing dishes. That's not my fave thing to do, especially after a party.
But I did it.
As we are prepping the house for sale, I knew we had to replace the dishwasher. We couldn't sell the house with an ornamental dishwasher that looked fab but didn't operate. So I became responsible, pulled up my big girl panties and went and bought one.
Hubs says he will take over the dishes from now on. I think I'm going to let him. I'm done with the washing of the dishes.
Now that the new unit is in, I feel a bit stupid. I'm sure my time was worth more than the dishwasher itself over the past two years. Someday I'll figure out why I get so angry about spending money on these types of things.
For now, I'll just enjoy the dishwasher. And call the fridge guy one more time and have him fix it. At least that appliance will most likely come with us if we move. Or maybe not... I don't really NEED a giant, double door/freezer bottom stainless steel refrigerator.
And thus the cycle continues.
Have a great Saturday, friends! Tend to your needs today! :)
Jen
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