Expensive Gifts

Many of you are knee deep in Christmas festivities including food, relatives and gifts. For a number of reasons, my week has been relatively quiet. I have no complaints as I have never been one for a lot of holiday hoopla. My dear husband felt the need to decorate a little and frankly, he is far better at that task. When my tolerance for said decorations wanes, I will pack up the goods and put them in the garage. I am not sure where he stores all the doo-dahs but I leave that to him.

We gave ourselves a fairly significant gift this year, however. It wasn't planned but I suppose that means it was necessary. Two weeks ago, I noticed my nose was feeling very cold while I worked on my crossword puzzles one evening. I also heard my husband clanging and banging in the basement. I should have connected the dots but it wasn't until my husband made a somber announcement that I became fully aware of our plight, "The furnace is dead."

Winter is not a good time for one's furnace to die but, of course, that is the only time it is going to show its true colors. To be perfectly honest, we were living on borrowed time with the beast so its demise was not surprising. It just felt inconvenient. HVAC was called first thing in the morning and they were able to send a technician out later in the day. The knowledgeable gentleman checked the furnace and proclaimed, "It's toast."

It would be a week before installation could happen. Fortunately, a gas fireplace in the basement and a string of space heaters kept us from frostbite. We were also blessed to have relatively moderate temperatures outside. As is usually the case, one calamity leads to another. During that week we lost water pressure due to a water main break in the neighborhood. That meant we would be on a boil water notice for 24 hours due to the loss of pressure. In addition, our area was put on high alert for severe weather near the end of the week. Predictions included 70 mph winds, snow, freezing rain, thunderstorms and a possible tornado. Blessedly, we only experienced the freezing rain and high winds.

By the time the technicians arrived to install the new furnace, we were more than ready. We also made the decision to replace our air conditioner. We felt it behooved us to not wait until the dog days of summer for another surprise. The technicians were hard working guys who grunted their way through a lot of lifting, moving, repositioning and installing. As they hauled a particularly heavy piece of equipment down the staircase, I heard the burlier gentleman say to the smaller one, "It's good to have a big belly so you can rest stuff on it while your are moving things." Good advice.

Our new furnace is keeping us cozy now. The water pressure has stayed strong and we have no need for the air conditioner, yet. None of these things came with wrapping paper or a glitzy bow but all of them are worthy gifts.

Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope you feel warmth and peace.