It’s 8:00 in the morning and the day stretches out before me, broad and full of possibility.
Only one other member of my family is awake besides me—Felicity—who is quietly working on her coloring and cutting at the kitchen table. The house is still. My mind is calm.
Now’s the time to make my list. Now’s the time for planning! I simply have to do my outline while the day (and the coffee) are fresh. Like that I remember the first item on my list, which is…
- Pick up another pound of decaf at Caribou! If I have to drink decaf, I have to drink the good stuff. Enough said? No, because one can never say enough about good coffee. If you’re going to drink decaf for its health-related properties, then you should make sure that it’s decaffeinated using the Swiss Water process. Caribou Coffee is one such retailer.
Here are the rest of my Saturday ambitions:
- Plan our next week’s menu using my new favorite cookbook. I must be pregnant; there’s a lot of comfort food on the list! (Do I really need to keep making pie for dessert? Yes, I do.)
- Run the usual Saturday errands: Rainbow Foods, MalWart, and Sam’s Club. I also like to stop by the library just to break up the monotony. (You’ll never guess which book I’ve nearly finished, by the way. Jenn knows.)
- Stop by the post office to mail an Easter package to Auntie Colleen the Ex-Pat. (Thank goodness for the gift of a 50-day season!)
- Noon Mass for First Saturday at that cute little French chapel downtown.
- The omnitheater after? We’ll see what Daddy thinks.
- Spend 15 minutes in the classroom (a là Flylady) tidying up.
- Spend 15 minutes in the basement (do I dare?) tidying up.
- Simultaneously bless and curse Elizabeth for her “Why Bother?” post.
- Research our options for a new washer and dryer. This prospect both excites and overwhelms me. My husband insists that we could buy two different brands in order to save money. I find his idea to be unthinkable! “Well, ask your blog readers what they think,” John responded. Do I dare solicit your opinion for such a silly spousal issue? I do dare, because we are talking not only about restoring peace in my marriage but also about the successful union of two appliances. They…must…be…the…same…brand.
And so it goes. It is now nearing 9:30 and I have three little hens in my kitchen. The farmyard is getting noisy and I must tend to my duties. Thank heavens I got that list done!
How about you, my internet friend? Care to share your hopes? Your dreams? Your plans for this fair Saturday?
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
My washer and dryer are different brands because the matching sets didn’t have the features I wanted: a soak cycle on the washer and a moisture sensor on the dryer. All of my kitchen appliances are different brands, too. We’ve replaced the fridge and the oven since we’ve been here, and the dishwasher is next. They’ve all been purchased for their individual usefulness.
So there you go. I’m with your husband. 🙂
And thanks for pointing me to that post of Elizabeth’s. Now I have guilt, too. It’s not too bad here by other peoples standards, I’ve been told, but I’m going to go tidy my kitchen now, thank you very much.
Have a lovely day, Margaret!
Dear Margaret,
I’ve had to buy several washer/dryer sets. Our latest was purchased @ two years ago when we moved. Yes, it is fun and yes, it can be overwhelming. And I have to say as pretty as a matching set can be, it isn’t necessary. I bought a front loading washing machine. And then a “regular”, non-matching heavy duty dryer that can handle what the fancy front loader washes. Saved several hundred dollars.
Peace, Katie
My spouse is of the same mindset as you…when we bought our new washer and dryer, he was looking at sets only. I’m of the “as long as they do what I want, who cares” mentality.
I am off to the grocery store and, God willing, a power nap. That might be hard to sneak in with hubby working all day…wish me luck!
I can’t believe you are actually reading it!!!Ha! I’m positively giddy!! So, does the library trip mean you are off to get the next one??
And the washer and dryer issue: but…they won’t MATCH if they aren’t the same brand, right? so…they have to MATCH, right? Isn’t there some sort of law about that somewhere?
Blessing and cursing Elizabeth here too, LOL!! But… my house does look better for it. Happy Social Saturday!
Feeling the same way about Elizabeth’s post, but I’ll take the “mom with two toddlers and a baby who is struggling to keep up and feels like she’s losing the fight” exemption for now…keeping in mind that this is a season of growth.
I have matching washer/dryer – handed down from my mother in law. I don’t love everything about the way they work, but they look nice (especially being side by side and in a ‘public’ space: the bathroom on our main floor). Perhaps different brands that look good together might be a compromise?
Still inspired by Elizabeth’s post (sorry!) but, have TONS to do! Will try not to stress out.
🙂
Happiness… we bought a(severely used) piano!
Much noise here.
Blessings…
No dreams today, we are going this afternoon to an associate of my husbands’ home and they only have one child…I hope they know what they are in for! (theirs is only 2 years old) So baths have to be done by 3:30, which is a long process in itself! 🙂
Wow, you have a busy day though!
Get what YOU want, unless of course HE is going to do the laundry, then let HIM pick whatever he wants!! When we moved her though, this home had 2 front loaders (washer/dryer) I do NOT like the front loader washer. I keep thinking…”how will I empty this when I’m pregnant?” I just like the old fashioned top loader washer!!
Margaret! Are you reading…gasp…HARRY POTTER?!?!
🙂
My washer and dryer do NOT match, a point which bothers my husband more than me. We, just last week, moved the washer and dryer to the 1st floor. It doesn’t matter to me as long as they work, and work they do! My washer (LG Front loader) handles 20 prs of kids jeans and my maytag keeps up on the drying end just fine.
Oh, and I really should not have read Elizabeth’s post. Now I feel, well, guilty. I have 5 under 10. Does that disqualify me?
Hope your day was wonderful!
Cathie B
Washer and dryer match only because they stack– my old washer is still lookingh for a home.
Elizabeth is right but I just am not that good right now.
I spent me day at the secular state college that offered my daughter an amazing package. Tomorrow we visit the Catholic one we can’t really afford. I keep wanting to ask Fr. Aimee for a miracle but I don’t think its God’s will.
Oh well.
We have the stackable front loaders, except we didn’t stack them. An unexpected bonus — the kids can move the laundry between the washer and the dryer as a result! What a nice “break” they get from their homeschooling to run upstairs and move the laundry for Mom! The boys are my laundry angels – even the baby loves to load the washer with me. They seem to hold a ton of towels and work really nicely too.
Enjoy the process of making a great new purchase for your household! I was nearly giddy last year when I got a new vaccuum 🙂
Of course, they HAVE to match! You need the same brand.
Happy Saturday.
I think you should explain that two things next to each other should at least compliment one another if not match (I am envisioning a cream top-load washer and a blue front-load dryer). If John insists on getting two different brands, ask him where in the back yard he want to put the clothes line.
I wasn’t on the computer yesterday, but my plans were: have our baby baptized! And we did 🙂
Belated congrats btw on your wonderful news.
I’ve read Elizabeth’s post as well. Blessing and cursing on this side as well!!
Our Saturday was spent running. Soccer games galore.
We also worked on our garden, so all was not lost.
I love your blog!! If you don’t mind I’d like to add it to my blogroll.
Peace
Thought I’d share this link I found. Catholic and Coffee–I thought of you immediately! 🙂
http://www.mysticmonkcoffee.com/index.html
Good heavens! Your list was almost identical to my list ~ right down to the not wanting to tidy the basement part. But we did some pre-planting work in our garden, too. And instead of the library, I got to splurge at B&N. (contended sigh….) Saw “Horton” with the kiddies, and packed but did not send a box to my far-away loved ones. On washers and driers: ours don’t match because we had breakdowns at different times, and bought the best brands at the best sale prices, which worked fine. But, if I were going to replace them both at the same time, I’d have a hard time not matching them! (Love Caribou, too, btw!)