Christmas has come and gone. All through my house, we are spent.
Christmas Eve started with our clothes washer repair project at hand. The forty dollars bearing kit had been purchased. YouTube videos had been watched. It was a lovely rainy day which didn't make you want to venture outside. Into the basement, Hubby went with a kiss and a 'Good Luck.' I waited in my kitchen with one ear open if he called for help.
No swearing could be heard or loud banging. This meant nothing else had broken yet.
I was called to lend a hand a few times. The first time to clean the disgusting door seal full of leftover slime and mold. I guess this comes with buying a machine that lasts more than a few years.
With the seal soaking in the sink full of bleach, I opened a few windows when I became lightheaded. Sitting in the kitchen, I was being bombarded with fumes from the basement too. With a few scrubs and dubs, the seal was nice and clean. Little did I know I would see that seal again.
The rain and another sleepless night already had my body on shutdown. With his bionic hip and two bad shoulders, Hubby was also feeling it. One nice thing about being married for twenty-five years is you do not have to hide your groans when standing up. You just look at each other and laugh.
On one of Hubby's trek out to the garage for the right tool, he mentioned that the old bearing was terrible. This meant we had found the correct problem, and he wasn't just dismantling the whole washing machine for grins and giggles. I was more than happy when I heard this bit of news.
The hours went by, and my mind started thinking about dinner. We had planned for Hubby to make his exceptional deer steaks that are delicious. I did not see this happening when I glanced at the clock and how many parts were still strewn all over the basement floor. Plan B was now called into action. It was Christmas Eve, after all.
We had purchased a case of Italian sliced beef from the butcher that Hubbies company gets their hams from each year. The meat comes frozen in two bags. One filled with au jus, the other with sliced beef. Looking at the two solid blocks of frozenness, I did the calculations in my head and decided I should be able to jam it all in my large slow cooker.
I looked at my kitchen counter and sighed. Hubby had already been home a day. Those who know, know the state my kitchen counters were now in. I was too tired to care. Piling more dishes into the sink, I made room for the slow cooker. I grabbed the bag with the frozen au jus in and clunked it into the bottom of the pot.
Next came the frozen meat the size of a basketball. I shoved it on top of the sauce and, shrugging my shoulders, stuck the lid on top with a nice one-inch gap between the cover and the pot.
I got up about every ten minutes for the first hour and chipped away at the frozen liquid on the bottom. This also brought the lid closer to the pot. This made me happy. When you get old, and it's just you and your spouse on Christmas Eve, it really doesn't take much to make you rejoice and thank the Lord for blessings.
I was called down to the basement a while later. Someone needed my help. I was to stand here and hold a bar so Hubby could tighten the washer drum to some other doohicky. The first few tries did not work out so well. The minute he went to crank down, the bar moved along with me, and we had to start all over again.
Finally, we found the proper placement for the rebar, so it was secure while he torqued down on the screw. Mission accomplished. Yeahhh us! I went back upstairs.
In the middle of a great game of Hearthstone Battlegrounds, I received another call to the basement. I looked at the game I was winning with a sigh. I walked down into the dungeon and met the rubber seal again.
A wire with open loops at the ends and a hardened metal spring holds the seal onto the washer's drum. Right. To make this short and sweet, I will say that the pliers bit me twice. By the time Hubby and I finally figured out a way to stretch the hardened spring and hook it into the loop, He ended up getting a huge kiss! Back upstairs, I cleaned out the new scar I had received.
Hubby walked up the basement stairs at eleven PM and declared he was finally done. Done with the washer and done for the night. I have never seen a man so tired. Jumping up, I got his dinner ready while he jumped into the shower. He ate and promptly fell asleep in his chair while watching TV.
That, my friends, was my wonderful Christmas Eve. My clothes washer is now fixed, and there will be no going to the laundry mat while we look for a new washer. I, personally, could not have asked for a better present than that on Christmas Eve.
Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.
Snook
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.