spending season
We got new couches today. I was a little sad to see the old ones go—I like things that I'm used to!—but the old ones were pretty broken, and the old ones are very nice, so it's really all for the best. And they fit great, and even give us a little more seating. The only problem with them really is that they still have that new furniture smell, which is not at all pleasant. I was looking forward to showing the couches off to our friends who came over this evening, and planning to mask the smell with the delicious aromas of pizza and yet more rocky road bars... but then our oven wouldn't turn on.
I'm not particularly extravagant, but doing Christmas right takes some money even at the best of times—so it's tough to think of adding another couple thousand dollars to our December bills. Leah is interested in fixing problems, so she's already scoping out the pre-Christmas sales at Lowes. I'm inclined to wait—"maybe it'll start working again!" I say. And in fact, in this instance it did. Once everyone had gone home we were talking about next steps; I turned it on to check one more time and it started right up. Leah cooked some tofu, and the pizza is in there now (a lot of good it'll do anyone at this point, but I didn't want to just throw away all that dough!). But it doesn't inspire confidence, having an oven that only works when it feels like it. I just wonder how much we're able to spend on confidence?