My mother-in-law just left after a ten day visit. The usual thing for me to tell you about now would be which room got renovated/painted/completely redone/stripped to the studs. In past visits, we’ve redone the bathroom, repainted several rooms, removed the carpeting in the entryway, painted the basement floor, added a psuedo closet to my bedroom, and indubitably a few other home improvements I’ve forgotten about. In fact, this might be just about the first trip she’s made here where nothing has gotten painted.
We did, however, buy new curtains, a new bookshelf (as yet unassembled), throw pillows, remove the living room carpet, and make plans for the complete annexation of the living room and dining room walls. Also, I have been excoriated on the color in the living room which my husband TOLD me wouldn’t work and doesn’t work. I was going for restful green and got off-puce. Ah well.
In other thrilling news, my generation of appliances is failing. My theory is this… you build a new house and you buy all new appliances. All your appliances last a multiple of ten years. Washer and dryer: 10 years. Oven: 20 year. Furnace: 40 years. Etc. You can tell which multiple by finding the 10 year increment after the warranty runs out for. Example: if you have a 10 year warranty, your appliance will likely last 10 years and 2 days. That means that, for the most part, you have 10 years of appliance peace and happiness. Then, in a 3 month period, the majority of your appliances will fail. Here’s a rundown on my appliance health as of three weeks ago:
Hot water heater: bought last year with 11 year warranty to try to outsmart 10 year issue
Fridge: too small, light broken, need to replace load bearing wall to upgrade
Oven: beeps and flashes F10 error message after it is turned off
Washing machine: would not agitate unless you thump on the lid after it fills up – declines to spin
Dryer: Not bad
Standup freezer: ancient and running perfectly, thanks
Dishwasher: older than me and does not actually clean dishes. Effective for spreading grease evenly between glasses.
Furnace: lalalal! I can’t hear you! I’m sure it will be fine for another 30 years! (Thanks, not going to worry about it. I spend all my time worrying about the roof instead.)
Anyway, I finally hit the boiling point with greasy dishes and soggy clothes. I spent one weekend researching and buying, and my husband spent the next weekend installing.
I bought a new washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher. I do wonder if I should have bought the dryer, but it seemed foolhardy to buy just the new washing machine and leave the old dryer. So far I’m pleased. Actually, of the three I’m least pleased with the dryer, which I feel does an inadequate job of, you know, drying. And also does not have an “earshattering” setting for the buzzer, which is convenient when you’re a floor away. Also, I had to buy completely and 100% new soap for all of them, since they are clearly too good, to modern and too important to use my old, lousy soap. So there.
The dishes are done. The laundry is done. The shopping is done. The boys rooms are clean. I can finally relax! And it’s only 9:45 on a Sunday – that’s early for relax time! I might actually, you know, read a book!
This thesis-less post brought to you by the day “Sunday”, Ikea, and the appliance department at Best Buy.
My Truant Pen 
Oh! I LOVE those curtains! I I wonder if there’s anywhere in my house that needs them….
LikeLike
The wall color is actually much more of a pale chartreuse yellow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartreuse_(color)). Puce is “defined as ranging from light grayish red-violet (the version shown at right) to medium to dark purplish-brown”. I had top check Wikipedia, because I didn’t know myself 😉
LikeLike