We moved into our current house 6 years ago this spring. We've made a lot of updates and changes to it over the years, including one crazy summer where we renovated our kitchen, built a mudroom, got a new roof with solar panels, repaved our driveway, got a new backyard fence, got air conditioning, and stayed home every single night and day for a year because do you know how expensive all of that stuff is? The most recent update we've made is our fireplace rejuvenation. I know that makes it sound like our fireplace got a face lift, and it sort of did. For 5+ years we left our fireplace completely untouched, like it didn't even exist. Both Irv and I were terrified to even look at it, never mind start a fire in it. Between the two little kids and one tiny dog living in this house with us, we never felt safe using it. But this winter we realized the kids were old enough to understand fire safety, and our sweet dog is 11 and sleeps on the couch for 21 hours a day. So, we invested in a gas fireplace insert and it has changed my life. It's also changed our gas bill tremendously, but that is neither here nor there. All we have to do is press a button on a remote and it starts up. I just can't get enough of that beautiful fire, always setting the tone for a cozy night inside while the four of us sit around the dining room table and I get yelled at by two little people for not making the right type of mac and cheese or cutting a cucumber the way they were expecting it to be cut. It's just magical.
On either side of our fireplace were two beautiful orchids. I say "were" because though they are technically still there, they are completely bare and I'm not sure why. I put the recommended amount of two ice cubes in the pots once a week (thereabouts- I mean who can remember if a week or 6 have passed, honestly), and yet they look very dead. Like, Kirk Douglas dead. I really should throw them out, but I keep thinking maybe one day they will bloom again. I was also told that Orchids are easy to keep alive, so I'd like to talk to the person who started that blatant lie. I've asked Siri countless times how long orchids can lay dormant for, and shocker of all shockers she "found something on the web" for me that leaves me more confused than I was before I asked her. It's been about 4 months now, so I'll give them another month to start blooming again and then I'll have to admit defeat. And then our beautiful fireplace will be set between two lovely and very fake orchids, and I'll be able to stop pretending that I remembered to put ice in them when I know damn well it's been about a month since I have. What a weight off my shoulders that day will be.
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