" The Weekend "

" The Shower "

Saturday morning started out much more hectic than usual. My lovely Daughter-In-law had a baby shower planned for her younger sister, Laura and Laura's beautiful new baby girl "Willow".

We had the shower at my church because of the size of the hall. So I had to be there all day to oversee things and of coarse enjoy all of the good company and good food. I wanted to take more photos but for some reason my camera wasn't cooperating. But I did manage to get a photo of the two girls of honor. Laura, Amy's sister, and beautiful baby Willow....

Every other photo I took came out dark and it didn't matter what setting I tried. Anyway the shower went well and my husband got home as we were wrapping up in the late afternoon. Katie went to go pick him up from his truck and brought him to the church. After that we took Katie and her friend Natasha to spend the night at Natasha's house. Then my husband and I went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Some much needed alone time. Sunday was to be the day that we would hook up the new washer and dryer.


"The Washing Machine Debacle" 

After we picked the girls up and brought them back here on Sunday to get ready for church, Jake and I were all prepared to go work in the basement to hook up the new washer and dryer! 

I ultimately decided against the new HE washer and dryer. I opted for a pair of standard Maytag's as I have had in the past. They were good machines that lasted me over twenty years. I researched this issue very thoroughly and decided that the basic machines would be a better fit for us.

We first hooked up the gas dryer and leveled it. Tested it and all seemed well. Alright now onto the washer. We hooked it up, leveled it and put the drain hose into the standing drain floor pipe.

Lets test it, shall we? Small load first. Everything seems fine. Then it starts to drain. Water goes splashing over and out the drain pipe everywhere!!! We did read in the installation book that this new washer, even though it's not a high efficiency model, spews out ninety thousand gallons a minute, I am exaggerating here folks, but it certainly seemed like it at the time.

We had water everywhere! What to do what to do. Well my husband decides to try it again and again. Our sixty plus year old plumbing just won't handle it. I am in tears saying that we should just take it back and I will use the old one. My husband reminds me that eventually we'd have to get a new one and they aren't going to make them any slower as the years go by!




We have a main drain hole in our basement floor. The basement floor slants slightly towards it. All of a sudden I had a thought. What about a washtub? We always had washtubs when I was growing up. The washer would drain into the washtub directly. So off we went once again to Lowes to purchase a washtub and several feet of PVC pipe and an elbow. It didn't take my husband long to hook all of this up and he was sure that it would work. 

Hallelujah! It worked!!!!!! Two heads are better than one so they say.
So about six hours after we started, we were finally doing laundry once again in our own basement. Both machines worked so well and we couldn't believe how much cleaner our clothes turned out.


Having my own dryer again was just wonderful. Last night after catching up on several loads of laundry that day, Katie yelled "MOM!!". I ran into her room thinking that something was wrong only to find her laying on her sheet on her bed saying " Come feel my sheets, they are so soft!".


Jake and I didn't expect to spend so much of our day together in the basement working but I guess it was very much worth it. I spent all day Tuesday catching up on laundry.


"Monday, Jake's last day off."

Since we were so busy most of the weekend, we had to spend Monday catching up on other errands. Jake had to do his grocery shopping, we had to pick up some medications for him and Katie as she has been sick and I had to stop and pay some bills. After which our son stopped by with his pick-up so that he and Jake could go to Lowes to pick up some fencing we bought. 


We will finally be able to close our back yard in once again. Several years ago straight line winds blew our fence over. I don't like having our yard exposed to the alley. So now we can close it in once again. Although with as little as my husband gets home anymore, it could take all summer long! 


Monday evening I cooked my husbands favorite dinner. Fried chicken. He was so happy and took all of the leftovers with him when he left Tuesday morning. This is a real treat for him as I can't stand very long anymore. Cooking is something that gets to be very painful for me. But I know how much he loves my fried chicken and I wanted to do something special for him since he had to work almost the entire time that he was home.


" The Elephant in the Room "


My husband is still unsure of what to do about his job. I think that he is getting closer to leaving but I know that he is struggling with this after being there for so long.


We did talk about it. I won't push him. I do believe that he is really leaning towards leaving. But I am as unsure as he is. He received a call from another company that wants him to come and work for them. It doesn't really matter what company he chooses as he would still be taking a pay cut and losing three weeks paid vacation every year. Although some of them do pay more on the insurance. One even pays all of the insurance. But again the decision is ultimately his.




I really want to thank all of you, my friends, for your sincere concern and prayers. It means a lot to me and when I read your comments to my husband he was very moved.




For now I will keep praying for the right answer to come along. I know that God is listening and will ultimately guide us to the right decision. Please accept our sincere "Thank You".




" Wrapping it Up "


As you can imagine I have been having much fun doing laundry in my own home again. And since we have been busy the last few days, I haven't been able to visit all of you as I should. But I promise that I will catch up within the next couple of days.




In the meantime, bless you all for your kindness. You are all the reason that I keep on blogging!