The Blog of mamapolo

I won't rehash the last 3+ months. They could have been subtitled "Around the Medical World in 80 Days." It was, as my mother would say, rough. Today, however... This morning as I was preparing breakfast, the nifty refrigerator my husband bought specifically for the purpose of providing easy ice cubes for my daughter (his step-daughter) suddenly began making a startling and dramatic noise. Something like "BRRRRRRRRRRRR-wullah-wullah-WULLAH-BRRRRRRRRRRR!" After I cleaned the oatmeal off the floor, I studied the refrigerator. (I was an English major and never laid claim to any mechanical or engineering skills.) I came to the conclusion that perhaps the ice maker was too full of ice cubes and was making that noise in a determined effort to push out more where there was no room. What I decided was that our ice maker was, er, constipated. So I emptied the storage bucket of ice cubes and dumped them in the kitchen sink. Shortly thereafter my husband Tim came out to the kitchen and eyed the sink full of ice cubes. I said, with a Paris Hilton pout (and believe me, the pout is ALL we have in common!), "Those were old. I wanted FRESH ice cubes." He gave me that eye-rolling look that I have missed, believe it or not. He gave me that look after he installed the dandy new GPS system he bought me in my new blue Yaris. When I turned on the display screen, it showed the network of streets around us, and a little blue compact cartoon car - just like my Yaris. I looked at Tim and said, "How cool is THAT? These satellites are amazing...Let's put it in YOUR car and see if it shows a picture of a white Camry!" (I was kidding, of course, but he's never quite sure.) Then I explained about the refrigerator sounding like a Boeing 707 preparing for takeoff - and then I had to leave for work. I called him from work and asked if the refrigerator was behaving. He said it wasn't the refrigerator - it was the water valve on a pipe in the basement. He said it wasn't open all the way, and the city has the pressure in the water system set high to force the city water through the old dilapidated pipes, and the valve wasn't open enough to admit all that pressure. He said, "That little valve was under so much pressure, it was just FREAKING. I taught it how to open up and relieve some of that pressure. Then I gave it a good talking to, and the phone number of a local counselor, and it is much calmer now." :) :) :) Atsa my Tim! And then when I got home from work, who was waiting on the front steps but my husband? With a smile, he said, "I'll buy you supper." Two of our neighbors were visiting on one of their porches across the street, and actually applauded and yelled, "Look! It's Tim! Out in the sunlight." I wouldn't have cared if we dined at Lutece or Taco Bell. Simply being out with him again, facing him across a dinner table and having a conversation, however ordinary, was a blessing. Dual blessings today. A Tim who can investigate and solve the mystery of the vibrating pipes and one who feels like going out to eat. "Oh, it's the little things - the 'oh, it's really nothing things,' the 'never mind the trouble things' that make life worth the fight. (I didn't write that, apparently 'anonymous' did - but I understand it.) Mamapolo