I've been pretty silent here. I haven't had much free time lately. This is the first Saturday in almost a month that I didn't have to be up and out the door running errands all day long. I told my husband last night that I was "sleeping in" today. I did too ...until all of 5:37 am. For the life of me I couldn't go back to sleep. I tried, until 6 am, to fall back asleep, but once I'm awake, that's it. I compromised, and didn't get my breakfast until 8:30, and I didn't take my shower until almost 10 am. I spent the morning on FB, playing Words with Friends, Bubble Safari Ocean, Solitaire Blitz, and reading my favorite blogs, and a ton of emails. I did manage to throw in a load of laundry.
It's afternoon, now, and I have accomplished a few goals, all from the comfort of my kitchen! My neighbor, a hairdresser by trade, stopped by and cut my hair. What a relief!! It should have been cut 2 weeks ago, but our schedules didn't mesh. While I sometimes have to wait a bit longer than I like to for a trim, I can't beat the convenience of having the hairdresser come to me! I also (drumroll here!!!) ordered the appliances for my new kitchen. After what feels like eons of research - Consumer Reports, websites, talking to repairmen, etc. --- and visiting a few appliance stores, I made my decisions, and got in touch with the salesperson with whom I've been working. With the exception of my washer and dryer, we ended up choosing Bosch appliances. We worked with a locally and family-owned store that provides delivery, installation, and service. We received a volume discount, and we are eligible for a huge rebate from Bosch. And since all our appliances are Energy-Star rated, we will be able to apply for some further rebates from our state! I ended up choosing a Maytag washer and dryer over a similar Whirlpool model. Whirlpool owns the Maytag brand, and the prices were almost identical. I picked the Maytag because it's rated (by Consumer Reports) as gentler on clothes, it has a hand wash cycle as well as delicate cycle (like my current model), and I've never not used a Maytag. My mother only had Maytag washer, and I've owned 2 in my householding career, both of which lasted 15+ years.
The big appliance changes are that we will be using a gas cooktop and an electric wall oven, instead of an electric range. I'm looking forward to "cooking with gas" -- my mom used to say "Now you're cooking with gas" when she wanted to tell us we were finally on the right track.
So now I have to get the kitchen cabinets ordered. I am waiting on some specs from the gas installer so that we can double check the cooktop cabinet dimensions. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of days.
We're still waiting for tile estimates --- we've pretty much picked out the tile, but we're waiting for the labor estimate on one more installer. And I have to finalize the sinks/faucets/shower fixtures. And then . . .. paint colors for the interior have to be decided by midMarch!
Since the house is being built mostly by the building trades program at school, they're hoping to have it done by mid May so that an open house can be scheduled before the end of the school year. The clock is starting to tick!
Now I just have to spend a little more time pondering the children's sermon for tomorrow. The pastor is away tomorrow, so another lay leader and I are leading worship. We've designed a prayer service for our church. We're about to start a visioning project (we've hired a consultant, and everything!), and we felt that a time of concentrated intentional prayer around our hopes and dreams for the future would be in order. We've designed a service of scripture and silent prayer, and I want to talk about different ways of praying with the Sunday school kids. And quite frankly, I want to prepare the adults in the congregation for praying differently from the way we usually pray. There's very little silence in our usual service, and some of us have been missing the time for silent meditation. We've focused the service on reflective prayer: We will read a scripture passage, pose a "challenge" question, and ask the congregation to reflect/pray silently for a few minutes. After the 3rd scripture passage, we will invite the congregation to come forward with their prayer, and light a votive candle on the altar as a way of offering up their prayer. I know that some people will be uncomfortable with the silences, but we're doing it anyway!
That reminds me. I need to gather some candles and a tray!
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I have never had anything but a Maytag either. That could be because my dad used to be a Maytag dealer in his "general" hardware store. My first Maytags, which were used trade-ins, were 28 years old when they gave out. The second set did not last as long, although it did last through cloth diapers and getting the oldest child out of high school. I think the washer actually got damaged in a move. My set at our other house was the presumably "cursed" Maytag Neptune. They were still going strong after 12 years without a single repair call. However, considering their age and my former experience, I was a little afraid to move them. Also, the dryer was gas, and this is an all-electric house. The cost of putting in a gas line just for the dryer seemed excessive. My new set is much more industrial looking. The washer is a front-loader, but the set is a size down from the Maximas. I just don't do that much bulk laundry anymore, particularly now that I'm not working and having to rush at night. So far, I'm pleased, but I haven't used all the bells and whistles yet. My dishwasher is Maytag as well. I've had good luck with them. Where we live, only the big box stores have the Bosch, and I was a little uncertain about their customer service. Perhaps I should have upgraded my range, but it's electric, smooth top, and has a self-cleaning oven. It is the model that just came with the house, so if I don't like it, I can always get another without feeling like I've lost everything. I brought my nearly new, bottom-freezer refrigerator with me.
I'm glad you're getting a little down-time from the stress.
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