Murphy's Law...Or Just Adversity?

It seems like especially during times when I am trying to make a potentially life-changing decision, that everything else goes wrong as well. I don't know if it's part of being tested and tried or if it's just plain bad luck, but it seems to be the case. I have been reading and studying and pondering and praying...a lot. It can be super overwhelming! I guess anything that changes and improves us for good requires hard work and sweat, but everything seems bigger and more dramatic when you're pregnant.

During my time of good intentions (the last couple of weeks or so) Marcos and I have had a few large miscommunications that unfortunately lead to pointless fights. I don't say this to complain because thankfully we are both adult enough to usually get past such things relatively quickly. But still, it adds to the stress. It's the kind of thing where I really feel Satan working against us because a fight should not have taken place based on the discussions we were having at the time.

To make matters worse, EVERYTHING seems to be falling apart in this stupid house. Marcos got up on the roof to set up the swamp cooler Saturday. Saturday evening, I could tell it wasn't as cool as it normally was, but didn't think much of it. I had been at a party at my dad's house while Marcos was stuck here finishing the swamp cooler and attending to stake business (that's a whole other story I won't get into now). Anyway, while I was at my dad's house, I had a major pregnancy moment and was sick and throwing up and just not doing well at all. Like sick enough that I had to have my sister drive me back home...yeah, it was BAD! And now I seem to have caught a blasted summer cold. The worst part about that is it means I could really have this stupid cold until the baby is born and that would really suck! My body just does not fight stuff off very well when I'm pregnant. Anyway, I stayed home from church Sunday still feeling like I could puke again at any moment. Plus the congestion setting in big time by that point. By the time Marcos came home from church, I knew the swamp cooler wasn't working. He told me sorry, but he couldn't get around to it until after work Monday. By 3:00 in the afternoon I was having a sobbing meltdown about the heat and everything being broken. We finally had a major "ox in the meyer" day and Marcos got up there to fix it. The air was blowing, but it wouldn't cool. We bought a new pump, a net cover so stuff wouldn't get caught in the pump and bought new grass stuff (even though he'd bought the sponge kind already this season - we heard the other kind works better). We had success! Cool air was blowing, but it was already over 85 in the house so I knew it would take a while to cool everything down. I went to work on a couple things in the office (where it was a little cooler) while Marcos took the boys to see his mom. I still hadn't showered, was a gross sweaty mess and needed to rest since I felt so sick. But I thought I would sort papers (my absolute LEAST favorite job in the universe) while I tried to stay cool. I went upstairs an hour and a half later to get something and realized the cold air was no longer blowing. CRAP! I called Marcos and he came home. Sure enough, the fan belt was going out so the motor wasn't turning as quickly anymore. He went back to the store, got a new fan belt and replaced that. He came in, exhausted and frustrated and faint from fasting all day. Poor man! We were both having a really rough day. Our neighbor stopped by to check on the process and gave us some pointers. But at least the machine was now cooling!

About 11:00 p.m. the stupid fire alarms start going off. For better or worse, it didn't wake the kids. Now I know if there's a fire, it'll be my job to wake everyone. We have some serious deep sleepers in this family! :) Anyway, we pushed reset buttons and messed with it for awhile and finally it stopped. But I could hear a weird faint beeping/buzzing upstairs. Marcos swore it was the swamp cooler, but I couldn't ignore it. So I followed the noise upstairs and it was the fire alarm in my bedroom. I thought it was broken for a minute and figured that was what had caused the alarms to go off in the first place and then I realized it was leaking water. SUCK! There was a big puddle on the carpet already and a pretty good sized water spot on the ceiling. I called to Marcos and then called my brother-in-law who told me to turn the swamp cooler to vent and go turn the water off downstairs. He walked us through a few things to try to figure out what it was. Is the water line broken or is it something leaking from the swamp cooler/duct itself? We were both up in the attic trying to figure out what was leaking from where (you should have seen me try to get back onto the ladder to get down...this belly is definitely in the way at this point!) We think it's probably the swamp cooler. Something about the tray and duct and there probably being a leak somewhere in that area. So for now, we basically have a glorified fan in the house until we get all these problems figured out. Grrr....

I hate complaining and wanting more or "coveting" (especially when things are so tight already) but I swear to you, if I do not get central air sooner than later, I may lose it completely. I know it's way more expensive to run and then I'll have yet another thing to gripe about, but honestly, this is ridiculous! I'm pretty sure we've spent quite a sum of money just to get this thing up and running this year...and it's still not doing that yet. I tell you, when it rains, it pours. The same thing happened last year when the water heater went out, and then the car died. It's never good timing and it seems to always be when you're already stressed or strapped or trying to learn and grow anyway. There's nothing like really testing you when you're already feeling pushed to the limit. So in case you've been wondering where I've been. I've been reading, studying, praying...and now doing major damage control to make sure our house doesn't fall down. Good times!