I haven't written in my blog for a while. Recently things in my life have been falling apart on a grand scale.
Really, truly falling apart.
First my computer died and went to the dump. Then the trampoline and everything associated with the safety features began to tear and fall off. Then the hardware came loose which caused the bar that holds the net to sag. Then the USB connection on the headphones that go with our Rosetta Stone software popped off. Then one of my favorite laundry baskets burst its side (yes, I have a favorite laundry basket and its loss is tragic to a degree). Then the front of one of our bathroom drawers popped off and freakishly disintigrated. Then two cabinet doors popped off. Then LMark broke a Japanese screen which separates our living room from our classroom by trying to shove the hamster through the paper.
Then the swing set. This little number we got from Wal-Mart about three years ago. It's an attractive wooden swing set, but uses notably cheaper wood than those one buys from outdoor stores and cost ten or more times our mortgage payment. The paperwork advises the thrifty purchaser that it is not for use by a daycare. I think they need to revise their warranty to exclude large families of monkeys like ours.
Two weeks ago, before I was able to locate the receipt required before they will ship replacement parts, the whole ladder/monkey bar apparatus broke off completely. I wasn't able to find the receipt, but I was delighted to discover that I had actually registered our product after buying it, which made us eligible for the 12-year warranty on the wood, without the receipt. As a result I was able to order the replacement parts.
When they arrived last Saturday, we rebuilt the swingset and attached it the same day. The children like having their swingset back, but they don't seem as excited now about swinging as they were when the bar sagged and the entire jungle gym felt as if it would collapse and flip over with every backward and forward motion. But it's fixed and at the very least it doesn't make my yard look dumpy.
