I'll Take My Smoothie With Extra Shards Please

With Caroline's current mouth situation, I've been making a lot of smoothies.
I'm not one to brag, but I'm a competent smoothie maker. They're sweet, refreshing and mighty tasty.
Even without a recipe.
I just throw some stuff in the blender and blend.
No rhyme or reason. And they always turn out well.

We even had a smoothie maker at one time. I think I broke it.

I broke my blender today.
I've always had a rocky relationship with the blenders I've owned. Sometimes they sit in the cupboard for years, collecting a one inch layer of dust, feeling neglected and unproductive. Other times I use them with vigor, only to burn out the motor. Or let them drop from the top shelf of our pantry, leading them to an untimely demise.

This week of smoothie making has encouraged my ego a bit and I think I just got too cocky. Caroline and her two friends put in their fruit request (pineapple, banana, peach, strawberry) and I got to work. I over confidently added the ingredients and blitzed them to an icy yet creamy consistency. The flavor was a little off. It needed more punch.
I added some more banana and a few more frozen strawberries.
And blended away.
But what was that sound? At first I thought it was the icy frozen strawberries.
But what was that smell? Nope, not strawberries.

No, the removable plastic knob on the top of the blender fell through the hole and found itself inside the swirling smoothie concoction. It took me WAY TOO LONG to shut off the blender. When I did, I fished out the mangled plastic knobby thing and sighed a long sigh and laughed a hearty, yet self loathing laugh.
It's not a surprise. We've had this blender for nine months.
It's day was coming.
Coming at the hands of an overconfident smoothie making ding bat.

That wasn't a fun way to waste half of a fresh pineapple, two bananas, half a bag of frozen fruit and a perfectly acceptable blender.
I sniffed and pouted as I poured the plastic shard laced smoothie into a big baggie to throw away. I couldn't pour it down the sink because the plastic bits would ruin the garbage disposal.

At least I had the wits to remember that important piece of information.