What a weekend

OK so it's already been one of those weekends and it's only Saturday afternoon. Seriously I feel like I have been hit by a freight truck. It all started yesterday when I went to take the clothes out of our ten year old washing machine. can you guess.........yup you guessed it! Even though the cycle was finished the clothes were drenched and water sat at the bottom of the machine. I called Quinn, because that is what a dutiful wife would do right? Bother her husband at work to complain that the modern appliance employed to make her domestic life easier is not working and what is he going to do about it. Well....Quinn is great at taking things apart but um not so great at putting them back together so his answer is, "just go out and buy a new one". Great answer hah? Only two things wrong with that.
1. I can't just go buy a new one. First I will have to spend hours and hours researching and comparing models to ensure that I purchase the BEST one. This will prove to be a daunting task as my annoying perfectionistic tendencies will seep out. Once I have determined the best machine I will have to spend yet more time finding the cheapest place to purchase it. Quinn doesn't understand this.
2. I don't want to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a new machine- not yet. We still have our fence to build, our landscaping to finish and some additional food storage to buy. I don't want to put money towards a stupid washing machine.
So I try to think outside my box. I call my friends for advice. Look on craigs list they say, try yardsales on Saturday (yeah right, not with 3 kids- NO THANKS) and call so&so, he's a handyman. I ended up calling Selina's husband and asking him to come take a look at it (he was able to fix a similar problem in their machine). Maybe between him and Quinn they could figure it out. Long story short- after many hours of searching on the internet, much pulling, banging, some swearing, this is what we ended up with.





A mess that we had no idea how to fix. Some might say, why not call a repair man? I just can't. For some reason, unless I know them personally, I don't trust repair people. I don't know why it's just a feeling I've always harbored. I realize this machine is not getting fixed. It's Friday, early evening, and I search craigs list, find one interesting ad, check it out (pack 3 kids into the car and drive 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back) and no good- the machine was too small.
Saturday arrives and I feel confident that I have exhausted my available options. Now I'll enlist the help of Heavenly Father. He knows I need a washing machine. He also knows the other places my limited funds must travel. After my Saturday morning prayer I check craigs list again. SEAR'S WAREHOUSE SALE. TODAY 8:00 a.m-8:00 p.m. Ok it's 10 o'clock and I just know I have missed all the great deals. Nevertheless, the kids and I jump in the car and head to Sears' warehouse. After much debating (afterall I didn't have all my consumer guide information with me and I wasn't even sure I had compared this particular brand and model) I purchased a front loading, energy efficient machine. I got a great deal and after three loads of laundry it seems to be meeting our needs. Yes that's right- I enlisted help to bring the old washer out and the new washer in. All in an afternoon's work. I hope Quinn is pleased when he get's home.


During this ordeal my neighbors brought me some peonies. I love these flowers. I couldn't capture their beauty or their smell. This will have to do.

And then there is Trey. He must think the computer is so interesting- he sees me on it all the time. I leave for one second and come back to find that he had climbed up onto the desk and was randomly hitting buttons.