I didn’t have much fun shopping for laundry machines this week with Mummy and Daddy.
He said
For me the week was a blur of work that was mostly punctuated with trying to solve the problem with our washer and dryer. For the last two or three months Danielle had been progressively using more and more curse words when doing laundry—even more when it came to drying clothes. We had finally arrived at the joint notion that it was time to replace both.
The washer and dryer came with the house fifteen years ago, and about four years ago that dryer went. Being both cheap and equal parts Scottish, Danielle and I refused at that time to buy anything new. Danielle managed to find us a reasonably priced dryer on Kijiji which gave us another year and then it started to fail. When we had it repaired at that point, the service guy at that time said, “basically I have completely rebuilt it – if it stops working again, buy a new one.” With the washer also starting to not be so great either, here we were, at that point.
Monday night after dinner that meant a trip to Sears Outlet to see if we couldn’t find a pair at a more reduced cost. When that exploration didn’t prove fruitful it was off to both London Major Appliances and Lowes to see what they had. Those trips also proved unsuccessful too—the biggest hurdle was that we needed a gas dryer as no one seemed to stock them. Being it was past Emelia’s bedtime we had to call it a night and get her to bed. After, we got her to bed, though, a search of the web turned up some very promising sales at Sears that ended in two days. And the pair that we found ended up being probably more features that we were looking for, but with the savings, cheaper than anything we had seen yet.
That meant the moment I was done work on Tuesday at 7:00pm, I had to haul my butt home, pick up Danielle and Emelia and head across town to the only Sears to see the laundry pair that were on sale and if we were happy with them, how quickly we could get them to the house. In the end, it all worked out for the better and we ending being very happy with the set. Certainly we spent more money than we wanted to, but given the ones we had came free with the house and we got fifteen years of service from them spending a total of about three hundred dollars, I guess, we made out okay. And I am pretty sure we get a good bunch of time from this set too.
Friday was my other day off this week and again offered me the luxury of going to the gym when I wanted to. The only trouble was that halfway through the elliptical machine, my right calf which had been achy all week shot off with a very sudden and painful snapping feeling. After some checking, stretching and trying to continue the workout, I was very acutely aware that was not going to happen. I limped home and got my leg elevated and on ice immediately.
By Saturday morning after it was feeling better enough that I didn’t need to call out of work but definitely not one hundred percent. So, thankfully the likelihood that the injury was that serious and more importantly that whatever it was (a muscle tear, likely) was going to get better. And by the time this morning rolled around, that was even that much more true. I should be able to be back at the gym by the middle of the week.
Today with Emelia actually getting up on her own and heading downstairs to get breakfast and entertain herself on her own and more importantly not needing Mummy or Daddy to chaperone this, Danielle and I were able to sleep in all the way to 9:30am which is pretty much a first. After we got up, still trying to process that we had actually been afforded a sleep-in with Emelia in the house, we eventually were up and quickly onto some yard cleanup that we’d been needing to do.
After that being that we had the rest of the day to ourselves I suggested we walk over to Locomotive Espresso to get some food and more caffeine. Emelia of course being allowed to go on her bike was all for that idea. And Danielle didn’t need too much convincing either. We discovered that our favourite coffee shop – our first time visiting on foot from our house – was a mere eighteen minute walk away which is a great thing to know for days off this summer.
After we got home, we got cleaned up and packed up our laundry for a visit with Poppa and Grandma of course to see them, but to also get our laundry taken care of since we were currently lacking in operable versions of a washer or dryer.
The rest of tonight is focused on getting the last of the laundry done and caught completely back up on Game of Thrones after Emelia goes to bed. We only have a half of last week’s episode as well as the new one tonight and then we have gotten completely caught up on all five seasons since we started our marathon campaign in April this year. I am not sure if I am proud or ashamed of that but in either way it’s been an addictive and very crazy ride—what a show!
Tomorrow I am off again which is great because so is Emelia too with a PD day. And tomorrow is the kickoff of the WWDC and the Keynote which will feature some new announcements for us sure. Can’t wait to see what they are! And to get in some much-needed Emelia & me time!
She said
This week seemed to be about how to spend money. The week started with the frustration from the weekend. John and I were putting away laundry when he noticed spots on the back of one of his shirts. Add in that the dryer was taking at least 6 hours to barely dry meant that we had no choice to stop putting off the inevitable.
So after spending a bit of time researching we were off to see if we could find any sort of deal on a new set. We exhausted any outlet options and then hit up the bigger box options and still very little success. We figured at this time it was going to take a fair number of trips around to figure things out. It was also at that time when I realized that it was going to prove to be a much more expensive option than I had even dreaded.
Once we got home on Monday and Emelia to bed John and I hit the internet and John found some good deals on Sears Days. After pricing around and being adamant that I didn’t want all the bells and whistles we ended up finding a set that had way more than we will need but for less than a much more basic machine. So we planned the next evening to rush over when John got home to look at the set, about an hour later we pulled out the plastic and paid for the machines. Much to my financial horror we had no choice. We had a delivery date set and the dream of a washer and dryer that actually wash and dry.
The rest of the week was pretty boring: work, working out, taking care of the house and homework. But what we did have was beautiful weather and happy kids. I was able to get things done around the house once and for all and feel that we had things much more in order.
Finally the weekend was upon us. John had to work so I was trying to find what I could do to fill our day. Emelia and her normal weekly swim class, so she and I packed up a bit early so she could hit up the library. She has recently really become interested in reading. This school year she asked to be put on the class reading program and it has made all the difference.
She moved up 5 levels in 2 months and was eager to find some books she loved. We have made it through a few series so far, Ivy and Bean, The Critter Club and now that she is done she wanted to find something new. After looking around we have found the Nevergirls series. It is based on the fairies from Disney. It is a series that has humans who have come into the fairy world. She loves these books and it had really encouraged her to really try reading what is currently a bit above her level.
So with her books almost done that we took from the library out she was anxious to get some more books. We stopped at the library before swim and grabbed the rest of the series and she is excited to read them all. We are so proud how hard she has worked on her reading and she is really enjoying it as well.
Once swim was wrapped up she and I went home to grab some lunch and then were off for our afternoon activity. We decided on Gathering on the Green. Our friends and part of our daycare family Reece and Norma met us for the afternoon. Reece was one of my former daycare boys that Emelia has remained very close to. Reece was like the little brother she never had and she and Reece had a relationship unlike any other daycare family we have ever had. The kids still get together when we can and Emelia loves that we have Reece’s little sister in care so she can be part of their day to day lives.
We arrived in our old neighbourhood of Old South/Wortley Village to see the annual festival. The festival has really grown over the years, we had not been in years. Emelia and Reece and a great time. The vendors were great, the weather was amazing. We even managed to run into a friend of ours from University of Windsor. Allison had been on the west coast for years and we had seen each other a couple of times over the years but she has not moved back to London with her daughters and we got a few minutes to reconnect with her at her booth. She makes her own natural beauty products for children called Earth Princess. Emelia adores her products and I love that they are so natural.
Before we knew it the afternoon was gone and we were ready to start making our way home. Emelia and Reece said their good-byes and Emelia and I headed home. We ended our afternoon with a visit with my friend Maria and then we were off to pick up John for the night. Once we got home we had a nice dinner and got Emelia off to bed. John and I continued our marathon session of Game of Thrones and then crashed for the night.
Today we were able to take today at a nice quiet start of the day. Emelia has finally figured out the world is not going to fall apart if she goes downstairs to make her own cereal and watch some cartoons. So John and I had a blissful sleep in until 9:30. That is unheard of for both of us in the last 8+ years. It was lovely! Once we were up for the day John and I took to taking on some major yard work, 5 green bags later we had much of the yard cleaned up and the front of the house was much nicer. After we got all the clean up done the three of us went for a nice walk/bike ride to our favourite coffee shop for caffeine and lunch. The weather was stunning and it was a great way to spend our Sunday morning.
We spent the afternoon at Poppa and Grandma’s laundromat after their generous offering of their laundry machines for the day. With our machines out of commission we are beyond grateful that we were able to come over for a visit and dinner and now full baskets full of clean laundry. But with a tired girl who needs to get home and the last load of laundry complete we are finally heading home to get our sweet girl to bed.