Are we done yet?

They say things happen in threes. Good luck, bad luck, visitors, coincidences. Well, I hope that's so, because if things keep breaking around here I'm going to run away from home.

First our dryer died,  so we immediately called around and found a repair service to come out and look at it. The service call plus the repair, although minor, cost $300. Okay. Well, at least it's working now and we got it done quickly and easily, we said. Haha!

Our washing machine stopped working (mid load, full of water and soap) less than 48 hours later! We couldn't do without a washing machine for long, so we had to go right out and buy one, which meant spending another nice chunk of cash. I prayed to all the gods and saints that nothing else would break, but deep inside I felt that it was just a matter of time before one more thing would happen. I'm not generally a superstitious person, but for some reason the rule of threes (things happening in threes) has always held true for me. So I waited, and watched, and after a week or two went by I forgot about it.

Yesterday Gregg decided it was (past) time to cut the grass. We've had a lot of rain and all of a sudden the grass is getting out of hand. So he went out, filled the machine with gas, and began to mow...

and the lawn mower CAUGHT ON FIRE. As in, flames shooting out of one side, cut off the mower and somebody run for a fire extinguisher (or in Gregg's case, the water hose because it was closer). Luckily the fire went out on its own when the engine shut off. We dare not try to crank it again.

There you go; appliance #3 has broken or died. All three were items that we own, as opposed to most of the appliances in this house. Since we're renting almost anything else would have been the landlord's responsibility. Lucky us! And check this out: we lost our dryer (Air), our washer (Water), and our lawn mower (Earth), and the lawn mower died by way of (Fire). Maybe this means the circle of bad luck and breakage is now complete? I hope so!

Thoughts about the New Year

In just three days, it will be a whole new year! I'm excited about the arrival of 2013. I can't help but feel that the universe owes me some karmic balancing good fortune this year, after what 2012 has been like!

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I love the idea of a whole bright shiny new year, full of possibility and a chance for self improvement. I have a whole list of things I want to do and accomplish in the next 12 months. I'm trying to break the list down into small manageable steps to be spread out throughout the year; I don't want to do the classic resolution thing: a big burst of initial enthusiasm followed by increasing apathy and then finally total abandonment of the goals by mid February! The only changes that stick are the ones born of slow, steady, consistent small steps. So those are the things I plan to concentrate on, small changes that can be easily incorporated into everyday life. I'll let you know how it goes!

In the meantime, with the New Year only 3 days away, I have things to get done to accommodate the superstitions my family implanted in me growing up. Certain tasks need to happen before January 1st: the Christmas tree must come down, the laundry must be done completely (including sheets and towels), and the floors have to be swept, mopped, and vacuumed. Failure to do any of those things could lead to bad luck, according to my crazy superstitious relatives. My mom will call me up without fail on December 31st to make sure I've done the laundry and swept the kitchen. Doing those tasks on New Year's Day, according to her and my late grandma, will "wash away" or "sweep away" a family member in the upcoming year. Then on January 1st, you have to eat black eyed peas (for good luck) and greens (for money) and "whatever you do that day you'll do all year" and so on and so forth. Of course it's all nonsense, but I can't help myself!

Does anyone else have superstitions and rituals about ringing in the New Year? Are you making resolutions? If so I'd love to hear about it!