Lord have mercy

A conversation on someone else's livejournal about being the recipients of second-hand crap and the mind-set of those who can't stand waste but want to give crappy crap to someone else (especially people who don't want/need their awful attempts at "charity") does make me reflect on what one does with things they don't want.
My husband's Aunt gave us one Christmas, this god-awful ugly nativity scene-like thing. Yes I might be Catholic and have a pre-disposed inclination toward the gaudy (please see Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, anything with sacred hearts and last supper clocks) but for the love of God don't just give me any old nativity scene. This one in particular has turned the holy family into a singular blob. The kind of thing that could be described as looking a bit like outsider art as done by highly disturbed yet kind of lazy people who live in a non-accredited institution; with just a touch of influence from Sam Butcher of Precious Moments.
I could offer it on Freecycle but it would almost be a waste of typing wouldn't it.
OFFERED: Ugly-ass nativity scene
Just the Holy Family. No sheep, shepherds or angel adoring baby Jesus. Would make a lovely doorstop if you like to accidentally stub your toe against Mary's sharp head in the middle of the night on your way to the bathroom.

For now it sits in its original box in our guest room. As I try to ignore its existence. I just need to throw the damn thing out. Or Pray that someone wants to rob of us ugly nativity scenes and not computers and Kitchen-Aid mixers.

upson-downs continued

The Bad: The slow leak at the bottom of the stairs continued to grow. We finally got a guy to come in and have a look at it. We need a new water heater. *closes eyes for a moment*

The Good: It will cost half of what we originally thought it would. It isn't cheap but we don't have to sell any significant organs we were attached to.

The Bad: We now have no hot water. Fine. We will just pretend we live in Victorian England. Everyone is dirty.

The Good: They are arriving bright and early tomorrow to remove the old water heater and installing the brand-spanking new one.

I made some oatmeal cookies today that are pretty delicious and for dinner I have made an Irish stew with dumplings. We plan on watching television and ignoring the fact that our house is trying to break now that we are paying attention to it.

Dear Beloved House,
Enough already. It isn't hip or clever.

Love,
Moi