Here at Casa de Sipps, we’re kinda used to change, and we try to make lemonade out of lemons whenever possible. I think we have so much lemonade at this point I could bottle it and sell it by the gallon.
There’s this stove in our new house. It’s a gas stove. Well, it’s more like a stove-shaped giant paperweight in the middle of the floor.
This is me, three weeks ago:
Me: “Hello, I would like to have service started at our new house.”
Gas company: “Sure! What’s your address… oh wait. I’m sorry, we can’t give you service. It seems you have no meter.”
Me: “Mmmm hmmm. Is there a reason why? Should we have a meter?”
Gas company: “Well, when no one lives in a home for awhile, we take our meter back. So you’ll have to call a plumber, he’ll check the lines, send a letter to the electric company who will call us and send the letter to us, and then we’ll bring the meter and set you up.”
Gas company: “Sure! What’s your address… oh wait. I’m sorry, we can’t give you service. It seems you have no meter.”
Me: “Mmmm hmmm. Is there a reason why? Should we have a meter?”
Gas company: “Well, when no one lives in a home for awhile, we take our meter back. So you’ll have to call a plumber, he’ll check the lines, send a letter to the electric company who will call us and send the letter to us, and then we’ll bring the meter and set you up.”
Again, that was 3 weeks ago. Step one was “have a plumber come out.” I have yet to see a plumber. I give them our address and it’s like they immediately get sucked into a plumber black hole, never to be heard from again.
It’s okay. We haven’t starved to death yet. But here’s what we have done:
1) Made the world’s worst spaghetti on the planet in the crock pot when N took the lid off so he could stir it and didn’t know to put it back on.
2) Perfected a chocolate lava cake in the crock pot.
3) Last week we broke down and bought this great hot plate for on top of the stove. The burners are tiny, and normal family-sized cookware doesn’t quite fit. It’s made a great conversation piece however, and it only takes 44 minutes to boil water. (Not kidding. So. Not. Kidding.)
2) Perfected a chocolate lava cake in the crock pot.
3) Last week we broke down and bought this great hot plate for on top of the stove. The burners are tiny, and normal family-sized cookware doesn’t quite fit. It’s made a great conversation piece however, and it only takes 44 minutes to boil water. (Not kidding. So. Not. Kidding.)
4) Discovered 10 different meals that can be made out of toast. Or rather, ate 10 meals of toast in a row.
5) Made an entire meal out of pudding and chip dip. Don’t ask.
Of course, we could go out to eat but there are only two restaurants in town (four but two of those are only open a few days a week). And let’s face it, feeding a family of four at a restaurant is just shy of $50 for a sit-down restaurant and nearly $30 for fast food. Needless to say, there’s a whole lot of toast that can be made out of $300 a week to eat out
So, we get creative with both our meals and our patience. We make lemonade out of lemons. By the gallon. And we’ll enjoy our toast and single-saucepot meals without too much grumbling until that day somewhere in the distance when the Hebrews 11:1 plumber finally comes. (You know, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Yeah. That’s right. I’m still not sure he exists. I’ll keep you posted.)
XOXO,
Karen
Yes, it’s all fun and games until the giant pot of saucy chicken falls off the doll-house sized burner that it was precariously perched on. Onto the floor. Where’s that loaf of bread, again?
Oh, and my mother says “you know, there are lots of wonderful frozen meals out there that could be microwaved.” Bless her heart. There’s no microwave here. We’re only allowed one kitchen appliance at a time…
oh honey… At least it makes for a funny post
Ha!