marshmallows, raw meat and victory . . .

wednesday morning, about fifteen minutes after Kidlet had turned on the heat to get the chill out of the house, i was lazing in bed when Pip put one paw on my shoulder and pointed her little snoot in the air and sniffed . . . like a pig hunting truffles.  busy little nose.  while i was fascinated with her newest behavior, i realized as i inhaled, there was a particularly acrid smell to the air.  i sniffed again.  Pip looked at me perplexedly.  i jumped off the bed and sniffed some more.  definitely an burning electric type smell.  i called kidlet.  as she sniffed, her eyebrows raised.  something was afoot.   

after checking all the outlets and various electronics, i popped my head into the attic.  nothing.  the obvious thing to do was to turn off the heat and wait and see.  the smell wafted away but my worry didn't.  i called the a/c company.

yesterday the tech appeared and i explained the dilemma.  after my bout with the alarm guy, i was certain he was going to tell me there was nothing wrong . . . but there was.  the emergency heat strips had shorted and burned out.  yikes.  thankfully, since the system is less than a year old, parts and labor are all covered.  more importantly, it did not start a fire.  i repacked the marshmallows.  the new parts will be in next week.

                                                                     *******

the 9TS was in charge of both the pool and the grill.  he refused to share responsibility.  the pool being the more urgent of the two, i promptly called a local company and arranged for a pool care class.  except for a few unexpected algae 'blooms', things have been going swimmingly . . . .  sorry, i couldn't resist.  but for the last few months, i have been telling Kidlet, one of these days we are going to end up with a half cooked dinner.  tonight was the night.  the gas sputtered and died halfway through the flank steak.  i slapped that puppy on a quickly heated cast iron skillet and plopped it into the oven to finish it off.  now i need a 'how to change the gas tank' class.  oh Joanie!?!?!?   is Eddie available????

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as you may recall, Kidlet has temporarily moved back home to do battle with some mental health issues  . . . mainly depression.  it's a mine field and tricky.  the meds that may have worked for months or years, can all of a sudden fail . . .  as in one day they work and the next they don't.  a new protocol is required.  after six weeks, this newest round of meds is finally taking hold and she has drawn her own battle lines.

she will not allow any nicknames for depression.  she refuses to trivialize it and give it strength.  it is what it is . . . a disease that lies.  it tells you things that aren't true.  it tells you, you are not loveable. it tells you, you are stupid and ugly and undeserving.

Kidlet has come up with a strategy.  remember the old children's game:  Simon Says?  when depression tells her a lie, she turns to Simon  . . . and Simon, that little pillar of inner strength, says, "not true. fight."  so this morning depression told her to roll over and go back to bed.  in turn, Simon said, "get up, get dressed and run."  so for the first time in a very long time, Kidlet not only left the house of her own accord, but took off running, jogging, walking and sprinting and four miles later, returned home triumphant.  yay for the human spirit.  i am so proud of Kidlet.