Leaky Faucet

I dreamed I had brain surgery. It was one of those rare medical dreams where I wasn't afraid and horrified the entire time and it was a rather peaceful experience. I remember waking up from surgery and being completely out of it on meds. But there was never any fear. It was strange.
As I've written many-a-time before, you take on many different new and different roles when your husband is gone for over half a year...whether you like it or not. A few of mine have been electrician, heavy lifter, solo furniture re-arranger (although I did this before I was married too), tight jar opener, you get the picture. This and last week, I added plumber to that list. My kitchen faucet has been leaking around the base for quite some time and I finally decided I had had enough. After getting a quote range from a plumber that was absolutely ridiculous to just LOOK at my faucet, I took it entirely apart twice and located the problem (thank you youtube and many, many, many other home-improvement videos on faucets online...that and a bit of witty common sense). After scouring every local and chain hardware store and being met with blank stares when I produced the part (a ceramic faucet cartridge) I needed, I somehow found one similar online (with no brand name, no part number, NOTHING to go off of...I still have no idea how I found anything similar) and ordered it after using the process of elimination to determine which cartridge best fit my cartridge's description since none of them were an exact match. It arrived yesterday. I installed it today and voila! So far no leakage. Which I am awesomely pleased about. But I am more pleased with the fact that I was able to fix this MYSELF without hiring a professional and saving a BUTTLOAD of money. The part itself was not the cheapest thing in the world but it was definitely a better deal than all the labor charges a plumber would have tacked on.
As much as deployments suck, I've definitely learned a lot from them. And I'm not just talking about how to disassemble and re-assemble a faucet really, really fast. I feel like this whole experience of being on my own has taught me to be a better problem solver, not break under pressure, and not freak out (too loudly) when stuff breaks. I'm still working on the last one but I'm definitely improving.
Only 3 more months and a few odd days and I can have my husband back.
Happy Chinese New Year! Chun Jie Kuai Le!
P.S. Oh yeah and I tenderly lead my "beloved" math class by the hand to the guillotine and HACKED its...okay...I'll cut to the chase. I dropped it! Yay!! I feel SO much better about life in general.

Photo: Meself