Look what Dave found while we were sitting on the patio the other night?
My first two gray hairs! How special.
The funny thing is that I've been DREADING the day I would find my first gray hair and yet, it didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would. You wanna know what bothered me?
Having to buy this:
Because I love spending our hard-earned money on LAUNDRY! I tried REALLY HARD to salvage our old washer. It was a good machine! And the repair guy was going to fix it! But then he tried to take the basin off and discovered it was rusted to the motor, which meant that another part had to replaced too. The total cost to salvage it would've been over $400. I wanted to be all green and RE-USE! REPAIR! (read: spend as little money as possible), but I couldn't justify spending that much to fix a machine that was already 11 years old. So I bought a new one.
No, I didn't get a front-loader. I spent FAR, FAR less on this machine and it will suit my purposes just fine. (I actually used my mom's front loader while we were visiting her and it took TWICE as long per load as my top-loader. It looks a lot prettier, but I couldn't justify spending twice as much to do half the laundry in the same amount of time).
I also FINALLY got around to working on some other household projects yesterday. Like this one:
The fireplace grates aren't BRASS anymore! It only took me ten months to finally finish ridding our house of the brass hardware. (I replaced the drawer/cabinet pulls, the door knobs and the door hinges before we moved in). This project took me all of five minutes, too. The only casualty was a cut to my right ring finger, the first of THREE I got yesterday.
While we waited for the washing machine to get delivered, I also did some work in the garden! It's coming right along:
Yesterday I added the netting for the beans to climb, a couple of tomato cages and some copper tape to (hopefully!) keep out the slugs/snails:
This is where cuts two and three came into play. Apparently, copper tape has sharp edges.
Also, lettuce!
I see some killer salads in our future.
Dave came home a little early and was EVER SO disappointed that his chicken wasn't in the oven. For the first time ever, he had checked my sidebar to see what was for dinner and his mouth was all watered for Quick Chicken and rice, but I totally had forgotten to defrost any chicken, so I made Angel hair carbonara instead. (Nobody liked it, not even me!)
After dinner, I summoned the energy to finish delivering the fliers for the 4th of July parade around the neighborhood. My feet still haven't forgiven me. I see us taking it easy this weekend (while I catch up on laundry!). Maybe I'll even get around to filing our tax return!
I have a front-loading washing machine and I haaate it. I was ecstatic when I heard that the people buying our house wanted our washer & dryer. Fine! Take it! Good riddance!
Seriously, it's such a pain to have to either bend over or squat while unloading heavy, wet clothes. Either your back or your thighs hate you for it. The washer became my nemesis when I was pregnant, and I've never forgiven it. I will be so happy to get a top-loader after we move.
Point being: congrats on the new appliance. I think you made a good choice.
Also, I got my first gray hair when I was 29, so I think you're doing ok.
Posted by: cindy w | June 20, 2008 at 10:53 AM
What all did the fireplace entail? Five minutes? I'm intrigued! And it looks so nice. :)
Posted by: alison | June 20, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Don't look for sympathy here. I seem to recall that my first gray hairs appeared when I was about 15 or 16.
Posted by: David | June 20, 2008 at 11:45 AM
I don't remember when I got my first gray hair...it was just a few years ago. But, it was really nothing too noticeable. But, now..my goodness. The gray hairs I have are multiplying and they are right in the front!! Lovely, because now I truly need to dye my hair ever 2 months.
I suppose the saying goes, "The more gray hairs you have the wiser you are"!!!
Posted by: Tana | June 20, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I too am interested in how you changed the fireplace grates. I have a brass insert on my wood burning fireplace, that I would like to change to a matte black. I am not sure what products to buy, and/or how to go about preparing the brass. Yours looks beautiful by the way. Thanks for any info you have.
Posted by: Kelly | June 20, 2008 at 03:14 PM
I have my second grey hair sitting on my head right now. I refuse to pull it out for fear that the others sitting under my scalp (I know they're there!) will revolt and spring up to defend their friend's honour (yes, my imagination is a little overactive, why do you ask?). I'm 36 and I just got my first two this year. I'm a redhead like you and I've heard before that we get grey hair later than others and we don't actually go "grey", we go WHITE.
Posted by: Procrastamom | June 20, 2008 at 03:19 PM
I wish you would have asked about other folks experiences with front loaders. . . . I started coloring regularly at 28 and i see my stylist every 4 weeks now. I can't embrace that look yet.
Posted by: PatP | June 20, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Dude, I got you beat with the grey hair. I am only 26 and I have had them for 2 years or more already!
Posted by: SK | June 21, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Ok, make me #3 in line to find out how to rid myself of the ugly brass on the fireplace. Thanks!
Posted by: clearlydistracted | June 21, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Love your blog.
Could you please post the recipes for the taco pie, white lasagna and porcupines.
Thanks!
Angela
Posted by: Angela Langowski | June 23, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Yay! No more brass!! This is why I insisted on brushed nickel doorknobs in our new house. Just say no to gold!
I must say, your garden looks awesome. Small, manageable, just the right size for a family. I love it.
Posted by: Elizabeth | June 23, 2008 at 06:34 PM