Force Out

When there is a runner on first and the batter hits the ball, and the defense can get to the ball and get it to second before the first baserunner arrives, the defensive player can tag the base and get an out. That is called a force out. 

I am going to talk about a different kind of force out. Clearly, I am just always looking for an excuse to talk about baseball. 

I am going to force out thankfulness. I have had a few sad days. I do not know why. There is no logical reason, and if anyone were looking at me from the outside, they would not notice any thing that would make them think,"No wonder she is so down!"

Maybe if they looked in my windows, though. They might think then,"Oh my wow! Who let off some bombs in her house, poor dear?!" 

But really, I should not be sad. Christian is doing well in school. Michaela and Eliana are off to a decent start too, and are very excited about their weekly program. I feel fairly organized as far as homeschool stuff goes (there are a couple of loose ends, but hopefully they will be tied up very soon). 

Part of my sadness is loneliness. I am missing some ladies that are gone now. I wrote about our friends who moved back to Africa a year and a half ago (we met them as Christian's second grade year started, and the mom and I really clicked). Then another family left this past spring, and I miss that mom too. We were not best friends, and in fact, I was very sad for the woman who was her best friend here, because I knew how painful their parting was. But this friend was someone I ran into periodically, had pretty meaningful conversations with, and just liked to be around. 

You know what? I feel like all the friends here are already taken. The ladies I know already have really good friends. They already have the girls that they call to go out for Mom's Night, or have mid-day fun meetings with. I know I sound all Let's Have a Pity Party! I don't mean to sound like that! I just often wonder if there is someone out there (but nearby!) with whom I could have fun, laugh, cry, shop, share recipes, and go to the park. 

Blah! 

Okay. So...the thankfulness! I am sososososososososososososososososo thankful that I have a dishwasher that has wheels that are (partially) (and much more than they used to be) functional. Not too long ago, I almost took a picture of the lower drawer as it hung off one side of the open door, looking like a failed attempt to put itself out of its misery. And trust me, I wanted to get a shotgun and finish the job. The drawer had only four wheels on it, and they never stayed on all at the same time. Picture this: 

I get four wheels on. I set the drawer gingerly on the track, half in the machine, half out. It's a balancing act. If I put too heavy an item in the drawer, it slips to one side, much like an obstreperous toilet seat that needs tightening, surprising its sitter with an impudently unnecessary side trip. Fortunately I'm not sitting in the dishwasher drawer. However, when it slips, one wheel falls off. I pick up that wheel and get it back on, and carefully place the drawer back on the open door. But not carefully enough! The drawer shoots the other way, and two wheels fall off! The wheel I just put on is now caddywanked, twisted up under the tiny rod that it slips onto. Only one wheel is behaving at the moment. I feel as though I'm headed for the fifth circle of Hell. Or maybe the seventh. I hear the dishwasher taunt me,"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here..."
I groan as I lift the dishwasher drawer up so that I can get the unruly wheels (Two wheels! That I had to finnagle between the open door and the cabinet it butts up against! Madness!) back on that side. I am now sweating. This will count towards my cardio for the day, surely; it must! I set the drawer back on the track warily, painstakingly, cautiously. I realize I am not breathing. I take a breath, reticently, lest I myself cause the drawer to malalign. I place the drawer a little further in than it was before, with the hope that it will not be able to slide off to the side anymore. I continue to load. The wheel that is closest to me slips under the drawer one more time! Now it is heavier to lift in order to twist the wheel out and up.
I am very close to cursing out loud. In fact, I may have already done it.
I remove the wheel altogether and think about throwing it across the room so that it smashes through the window. I refrain.
I slowly and very determinedly slip the wheel back onto its small rod. I ask the Lord to please help this dishwasher wheel to stay put, and also to give me patience. I get the rest of the dishes into the dishwasher and calmly, gently, guardedly shimmy the drawer into its proper place for the washing cycle. I wipe the sweat from my brow with my forearm.
The dishwasher has been loaded.

And that was the short version. That scene could have gone on for twenty minutes. I actually broke a couple of dishes once because I ran out of patience a wee bit early and slammed the dishwasher door shut while the drawer was still out. Oops.

However! Mike found some clips online (Oh, the wonderful things one can find on the Internet!) that attached through the wheels and onto those tiny rods on the drawer. The wheels will be hard-pressed to escape now! Although I know they will try! Insolent roundlings with their unmitigated audacity and depravity! And, oh, the delight and absolute giddiness I feel when I can rest assured knowing that the drawer will not slip this way or that, clanging and banging and making like a runaway roller coaster car! No more threatening to smash my ankles! I can't tell you how grateful I am for a simple thing like a wheel that works!

Four, to be exact. 

So, in the midst of my sadness, I am forcing out a thankful attitude, because there are many things to be thankful for. And even though I don't have a gal to call and tell this story to one afternoon, I had fun telling the story to a few of my friends this way. What are you thankful for as we head into fall?

Comments

[Mindee@ourfrontdoor]

I had that same issue! Since my dishwasher was less than a year old though I got some overpaid repairman to come out and put them on at no cost to me.

Since they will inevitable wear out, I'll keep Mike's approach in mind.

Life is full of things to be thankful for. I'm sorry you're feeling lonely though. :(