Oh, lawdamercy, can we talk about Thursday? I think I may have finally wrapped my head around Thursday.

This past Thursday started like any other alternate Thursday – Dearest Will and I got up early with Our Man Cub and got him out the door to catch the school bus. We were both pretty happy that it was payday, and I was working on getting shiny because I needed to go to the printer before work to set up the covers for the lovely Zilla McCue’s brand new book* (the interior was already there and would be picked up that afternoon). We went and got the covers printed, and then had a pretty much regular kind of workday.

Being payday, Dearest Will & I hit up the grocery store on the way home. The plan was that we would put away the groceries (we got peach popsicles!) and head over to the printer to pick up the interior of Zilla’s books, and then my biggest intentions were to stick dinner in the oven and get some yoga in while it cooked, put Zilla’s books together, and wash my hair  before going to bed. Instead what happened was that I went to put the popsicles in the freezer, realized I was standing in a pool of water, opened the freezer, and got splashed in the chest with that had previously been frozen business. Whut. I blinked a few times, and then ran downstairs to stick the popsicles in Jaquelyn’s freezer, and my medicine in her fridge, and returned upstairs to seek a solution to the pond in my kitchen.

Look, the fridge had been making ice maker noises for eleven years** in spite of the fact that it did not actually have an ice maker. So we figured hoped this must just be another quirk. Dearest Will got back behind there and vacuumed a cat’s worth of fur out of the workings, and stuck a thermometer in the freezer while we hoped for the best. An hour later it was clear that all was lost – the freezer went down to 44 degrees, and then the temp began to climb. When it hit 47, we knew the fridge was a goner. I said to Will, “Here’s what I’m thinking: I’m going to go pick up Zilla’s books, and then I’m going to go and find us a refrigerator.” He nodded in agreement, spent a few careful minutes on the internets comparing refrigerator prices, and so by 4:30 in the afternoon, we were fed, we had a Plan, we were in the car together, and we were ready to fix some things but good.

Which is right about when everything went a little more pear-shaped.

Handmade by Doublebunny Press

In answering a quick email to Zilla before we left, I realized that the file name of the most recent edits didn’t match the name of the file I dropped off at the printer. A cold chill went up my spine, and I began to furiously paw through pdfs in a sweat. By the time I realized that I had actually just renamed the file before dropping it off at the printer (for clarity, natch >.<), and that it was indeed the most recent edit, I had found a huge typo that I had missed. Right. In. The. First. Poem. Twenty minutes later I had determined that it was just the one typo, and made a revision file to bring to the printer.

The printer. Omigod, the printer. So I brought him the revision file and picked up the prints he had already made. He told me to pull the typo’d page from the original prints, and that he wouldn’t charge me for the revision. I thanked him up one side and down the other, took a deep breath of gratitude, and knew somehow that really, everything was going to be ok. We tucked the prints in the car and went to Best Buy.

I was prepared to max my credit card. Instead, they gave us financing. We paid for the fridge at one store and it was held for us at another store that had it in immediate stock. Dearest Will’s parents loaned us their truck (and some rope! What does it say about me that I couldn’t help but think of Boondock Saints and giggle? xD) . Will told me he was sure we could get it into the house.*** Man Cub was on board and willing to help. 1, 2, 3, GO.

And you know what? By ten o’clock Thursday night we had the new fridge installed and the old fridge outside. We had disposed of the food that had spoiled, and had the kitchen relatively pieced back together. Will and I had handled the situation like grownups, without tears, and with a minimum of swearing. Our Man Cub had stepped up to the plate in a superhero kind of way,† and we, together as a family, kicked the problem in the pants.

Zilla’s books got done on Friday instead of Thursday, but that’s cool too – I had told her that I would mail them on Saturday, and that’s just what happened. And as I put the books together Friday night, I drank a nice cold soda, right out of the brand new fridge, and grinned a little =)

I am so grateful, I could burst. The Universe came together for us by presenting kind people into our path, and circumstances that could be handled. Will’s parents stepped in and helped us with the logistics, Jaquelyn loaned us space in her fridge and encouraged us along the way. The three of us Moskowitzes pulled together to have less of a Hassle and more of an Adventure of Sorts. And things, well, they just worked out. I am so proud of the three of us, and so thankful that we have surrounded ourselves with kind people – for real: so full of gratitude.

***

*The night before I had tried to get them set up, but it turns out that legal-sized cover-stock is a real beast to track down. I left Staples with half a ream of oversized paper and hit up the craft store for a big self-healing mat (a Martha mat, even! I had a 40% off coupon – YES!), a delicious steel ruler, and a set of sharp x-acto blades. And rocking some old school skillz, I got that paper down to size in time to watch Game of Thrones with Jaquelyn  that night. But that meant another trip to the printer in the morning.
**Yes, that fridge went eleven years. What a trooper!
***When we moved in at Number 208, we had the luxury of an engineer helping us move. Said engineer, most adored Eric Darby, now resides in California (where he writes outstanding poetry, btw); we were on our own for this business, and I was a little nervous. On Friday Will confessed to me that he had no idea if we would be able to get the refrigerator into the apartment until it was actually in the apartment. Of course, I told him that I had known it would fit all the time, lololol.
†This kid – omigod, this kid. He totally blew my mind with all the fridge moving. He totally stepped up to the plate, did I mention? He got right in there, willing to help, and only freaked out for a moment when he thought he wasn’t physically strong enough to hold up his end of the refrigerator. Once he was on the other side of it tho’, doing more pushing than pulling, he got all intuitive about the process and made it happen in minutes. He didn’t complain, kept volunteering to help be part of the solution, and was even cheerful about it. I could not be prouder. For serious.
And him and Dearest Will? Holy carp – they worked so well together. Will led him through the whole process in the kindest and most patient way I have ever seen someone get down to business. I cannot express well enough how honored and full of gratitude I am to live with these people for whom I have nothing but deepest respect and love.