The Charlie Brown Syndrome

Is there someone in your life who is the one who has all the weird stuff happen to them?  Stuff that would never in a million years ever happen to anyone else?  Like Charlie Brown; in fact, we’ll call it the Charlie Brown Syndrome.

In my life...it’s me.

I don’t know why.  Maybe I have bad karma or there are some wee people out there who just take delight in harassing me with this crap.  

I can’t recount all the bizzaro stuff I’ve had happen, but one thing stands out in my mind as worth sharing.  

Years ago, I was driving to Rochester on 75th Street.  That’s the county road that goes east and west through Douglas to Highway 52.  I was heading east and just topped the hill out of Douglas when I saw something out of the corner of my eye and realized it was the wheel from a car.

Not a piece of rubber, or a hubcap, or a lug nut.  It was the ENTIRE freaking wheel...tire, hubcap, and rim.

I had a nanosecond to think, “That’s weird” before my truck abruptly listed to the rear left, and there was a horrible, horrible grinding sound.  

Then I had a longer second to think, “Oh shit!” as I realized that the wheel now quickly rolling down the highway without me was mine and I was sliding sideways down the road with my left rear part-that-holds-the-wheel-on scraping along the asphalt.  

In the five seconds it took me to steer to the side of the road and get stopped, my mind simply went blank.  Then it went to “What the fudge just happened?!”

I got out to look, and sure enough, my truck was sitting lopsided on the side of the road minus a left rear wheel.

Who else in the whole entire universe would have all five lug nuts come loose and disappear while driving?!?!  Nobody, that’s who.  Only me.

Well, not really only me.

 

Captain is also one who only has the weird stuff happen, except most of his bizarre experiences happen at the dentist’s office.  Like when he went to have the post for a dental implant installed and the screw went right through the top of his jaw because he didn’t have enough bone to anchor it to.  He ended up having to have a bone graft before having the implant post finally inserted.  It delayed the whole process by three months.

Then, the other day he needed an urgent dental appointment due to a toothache that had dogged him all weekend.  Upon examination, the dentist said he needed a root canal.  While they were drilling out the tooth to prep for the root canal, the drill bit broke off in his tooth and stuck there.

Not just the tip, the whole drill bit!

Seriously, who has this kind of thing happen?!  I get that accidents happen--and this was completely a freak accident through no fault of anyone--but geez!  They put a temp filling in place to protect the tooth until he can see an oral surgeon to remove the drill bit.

I don’t know where Captain got his information--probably Google--but he claims that this will involve attaching some sort of contraption to his head and vibrating it to shake the drill bit loose.  That sounds dicey to me, but what do I know?  I’m not an oral surgeon.

They say being unique is something to be proud of, but sometimes being dull and ordinary has it’s perks.

Images used:
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Home Is Where the Heart Is

It was an exciting weekend in Brogan World.  Molly bought her first house, and we moved her in over the weekend.  

She always said if she wasn’t married when she was 22, she would buy her own house.  Our girl is one who follows through on promises like that.

She bought a house in Waltham where prices were cheaper.  It’s an older home with a lot of character in its woodwork and architecture.  There is an archway between the living room and dining room.  The stair banister is solid wood with a big square newel post.  The light switches are push buttons!  I’ve never seen that.

The kitchen and both baths have been updated to a modern flair, and a mudroom/laundry room was added off the garage so even with all the character, it has all the newest amenities.  

Moving her into her new home and going to Menards with her to buy all that “new homeowner” stuff brought to mind the days after we were newlyweds and moved into our first house.

It was only days before the wedding before we finalized a deal on a house in Genoa, an unincorporated village about 2 miles from the home farm.  The owner had been renting it to a contractor who gutted it and had gotten sheetrock up and and mudded, but that was it.

The kitchen consisted of a stove and hot/cold water pipes and a faucet coming out of the floor.  No cabinets, no fridge, no sink, no counters.  We arranged for a local cabinet maker to make custom oak cabinets for the kitchen, but it took him four months to get it done.  In that time, I washed my dishes by hand in the bathtub.  

Those were wonderful times when friends would come for painting parties, since every room in the house needed paint.  We would supply the paint, brushes/rollers, food, and beer to anyone who would volunteer to help.

When the cabinets were finally done, I spent more than a week staining, sanding, and varnishing them.  As it was the middle of January, I was doing this in the dining room with little ventilation.  At the same time, Captain and his best buddy were installing bathroom paneling in the shower with some pretty potent adhesive.  We all ended up sitting out on the front step for fresh air after getting loopy on the fumes!

I remember that first Christmas we put our tree in front of the living room window that hadn’t been trimmed yet, and the breeze came in around the window and fluttered the Christmas tree branches.  

This is the house where we installed the drop ceiling by ourselves and nearly ended up divorced over it!  It is also the house where my dad and his buddies delivered an outhouse to us.  

So many good memories!

I remember how proud Molly was when she rented her first apartment, and that pride is increased tenfold now that she has her first house.  

She will be doing all those things that we all have done in our first homes.  Like rearranging the kitchen cupboards after a week or two of using the kitchen.  Or repainting a room to fit her personality.  Or seeing something in a store and thinking, "I really need that in my house."

We are so proud of Molly for taking this next step in her adult life and wish her only happiness under her roof!

Images used:

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