8/20/11

Tis the week before school starts

And, all through the house,
Not a creature is stirring
Thank God there's no mouse.

I am not a poet and I really do know it.

This has been the most stressful week. Work has been crazy for both of us. Sydney is excited to get back to school and we are frequently talking about what went wrong with last year's school plan and what we're going to try different this year. We pulled out her first Spanish vocabulary list from last year. Ninety words. She started a dictionary for herself in her laptop and studied them...sorta. She had a test last night and did pretty good. Hey...there were congratulations because you gotta start somewhere and there was no need to start in a negative place.

Poor thing. She's decided she's interested in baking cakes. She watches cake TV (who knew there was such a thing) and tells us about 8 foot tall cakes and cakes that look like a colliseum. So, this week, it was carrot cake; Rob's fave. She has to get up early to bake so it's done before it gets too hot outside. If it wasn't for this baking, we wouldn't turn on the oven between July 4th and Labor day. She started before I left and I told her to wait to frost it til I got home and I'd teach her to frost a cake. But, she couldn't wait. When I got home, she said there was something wrong with the frosting and showed me her cake. There was indeed something wrong. So, we started through it. Was the cake cool, did you soften the cheese and butter in the micro, tell me the recipe...
One stick butter, one block cream cheese, three and three-quarters cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon...
What kind of sugar?
White sugar.
Show me the sugar.

Wrong sugar. That frosting was so sweet that the first night we ate it, none of us could get to sleep for having the sugar shakes. And, it was crunchy. We ate the cake, but each of us scraped off most of the frosting before we did. Lesson learned and we all had a good laugh about it.

And, our washer died on Monday. We haven't decided where to hold services. She's been with us for 17 years. She was here before Rob or Sydney. She's been a workhorse, only complaining when Sydney tried to pack her whole wardrobe in, to save time (lesson learned). Rob and I have spent much of the week studying washers and dryers and grieving the loss of a good and faithful friend.

Rob is a studyer. I am not. Decisions make us insane. Arguments have ensued. We nearly had to call a lawyer to pick a color to paint the living room. On the other hand, we went in for 12" square, peel and stick tile, just like the kitchen, to tile the laundry room and, on the spot, bought enough tile to retile the kitchen...a project we still haven't completed.

This time, I decided to try studying with him. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I know more about washing machines and dryers than I ever wanted to know. I can only hope that once the new unit is hooked up and in the laundry room, I will be able to un-know it. Anyway, I got lucky and our independent studying resulted in both of us drawing the same conclusion, so we're off to begin our final shopping this morning.

Oh, if you're a washing machine salesperson in Austin, take this hint if you see us. The perfect salesman will introduce himself, thus locking in his commission, and then go stand over there and only come over here again when we motion to you. We probably know more about the machine we're looking at than you want to know and you won't be able to "un-know" it like we will, so just leave us alone and when we motion to you, bring your sales book and pray it's in stock, because that means you've just earned your easiest commission all day!

Okay, so I must have a really mild case of Plantar Fasciitis based on some of the comments I got. Turns out my sister has it, too...who knew? Hers is worse than mine. Most of my pain has stopped. But, it had been getting better since I started yoga again. And, I'm not walking around barefoot anymore and I got more inserts for my shoes. We'll see how it goes. My thoughts are with all of you that are still in pain. That really makes it hard to get around.

Take care. Have a great Saturday. If Rob and I are still speaking, we're having dinner with my boss and his wife tonight. We're going to introduce Rob to Thai food.

Lane

p.s. We have conquered the washing machine beast. We had it narrowed down to electronic or manual control, maytag or whirlpool, in stock or delivered next week. We ended up with manual, Maytag, in stock washer with dryer delivered next Friday afternoon. All is well in the world of the cleanly clothed. Nary a cross word was said. He's installing. I'm cleaning in the sewing room. Hey,we can shop together, but that doesn't mean we can work on a project in a limited amount of space together.

lw



6 comments:

qltmom9 said...

Dh and I spent 4 months buying the washer we have now. He is an engineer. I HATED the 1st one, sent it back. Realized on the 2nd washer that the first washed clothing better, but I had just hated that I couldn't get the door shut (it was a floor model and I HAD tried to get the door fixed...new mechanism didn't do the job). The 3rd (!!!) washer is exactly the same as the 1st, but a new ($$$) one and we are ALL happy. If you don't like it, send it back. Electrolux front loader here.~
Lucy (FINALLY happy with washer)

vivian said...

HaHA-Sounds like me and DH shopping for bikes last week. After 30 minutes of him asking technical questions with words I had never heard he turned to me and asked if I had any questions. Yes- does it come in blue? I think we will be buying a blue bike!

Becky said...

I learned when we redid the kitchen a few years ago it was just a lot less stress for me to tell Rick to get what he wanted.....which is what he would have done anyway.

JoAnne said...

Ok, the only mistake I see that you made was to not buy a Whirlpool--my Dad was a engineer there. But, your Maytag will probably do, LOL. I totally agree with your definition of a good salesperson, though. It is also similar to my version of a good waiter/waitress. Attentive w/o hovering, and my glass better not get empty! Have a great weekend.

lw said...

The washing machine in my house is a Maytag I bought in 1988 (23 years.) We just keep repairing it, and I dread the day that it can't be repaired any more. I looked at washing machines to see if I could find one with a larger capacity, but the repair records for the new ones made me stick with my old one. Let us know how you like the new Maytags.

Shay said...

I'm glad you got this sorted with minimal fuss. There is nothing like not having a washing machine. It's a complete pain.

Im the studyer in my house too. Mr. P is quite happy for me to do all the leg work and then tell him which one I think we should buy. Then we look for best price. I'm like you when it comes to the salespeople . Tell me your best price and then let me make up my mind. I cant stand being fawned over or they trying to convince me to change my mind!

If they are the worst cooking mistakes Sydney ever makes you're doing OK!