That Week Went Fast

The wee summer sock progresses. This really is a disaster project: I don't have enough yarn to finish, the first sock has a textured pattern for the first few rows of the foot which was abandoned and I've forgotten to purl the first and last stitch of the sole of the second sock as I did in the first of the pair. In spite of all of this, I press on. Perhaps this exercise will cure me of my perfectionist tendencies. But I won't think about that, I will instead think about which yarn I will use to finish the foot and toe of my poor wee sock.

Along with my almost cold coffee, my sock and my blog, The Blue Eyed Bandit joins me in my living room this morning. She looks innocent enough, but she is really engaged in a search for spiders. Which she pounces upon before eating. Dogs are weird. 

I've been appliance shopping. It's nearly killed me. But I think we've managed to locate appliances that have the things on our need list, a few from the want list, fit our space and budget and are available locally. I have left a field of appliance salesmen in my wake. Ok, well, just three, really. And a fourth who we're counting on to get me the best deal possible.

I did my research - with Mr. A's excellent help with price comparison - and timed my trip to the store perfectly to take advantage of two sale prices, two price-match deals and maybe a bundling promotion. I've been promised the sale and price-match prices no matter what. And that is a very good price. The holdup to the actual purchase is trying to get approval for the bundling promotion (which will save me two to four hundred dollars) in addition to the price-match deal. Late last night I was re-checking prices online and already they had changed. Looks like I hit the sweet spot. 

I like to wait 24hrs before a big purchase. But sometimes it's hard. Earlier this week we were in one store with a crackerjack sales guy. He had us sold on a fleet of Maytag appliances. I think Mr. A and I would have bought them if we didn't have to call a halt to proceedings and pick up The Boy Child. 

We'd been researching and shopping for days already and we felt prepared. The sales guy was efficient and pleasant and he listened to what we were saying, unlike the previous two sales people. He found a line of appliances for us that we thought fit the bill. The price he gave us was ok - within budget but just. But because we had to leave like responsible parents instead of leaving The Boy to loiter on a sidewalk, starving and destitute in the midst of downtown restaurants at dinner time, we had the evening to do some independent thinking. The deal in the store sounded better in the store than it did at my dining room table. Upon independent research, the prices were just ok, comparable to others. And although all the features we needed were present, the online reviews told us that those features wouldn't impress us. When I'm spending this kind of money, I want to be impressed.

So I started looking again. And here we are, seriously considering our third but best yet set of appliances. I know why people say they only want to have to buy appliances once every twenty five years or so. 

In other news, Mr. A rescued a bumblebee from the pool. The Girl's interview turned out to be next week, not this week. I need a good gardening app to keep track of plants and blooming times and things like that. I've downloaded Evernote but need some serious time to sit down and figure it out. And I think the rescued bumblebee and his buddies may live under the corner of the raised garden bed. More investigation is required. 

Today we're off to a casual homeschoolers meet-up at the library. Then home for lunch before we set off to Mr. A's office. He doesn't usually work there (he works from a home office) but his company is hosting an open house so I'm taking the kids to see their dad's work. I was told a number of times that the open house is sort of for clients and customers, but I figure it's about time the kids got to see the products of their dad's labour. They'll have plc robots set up and the lab will be informative and the kids should come away with a concrete picture of what all dad's button pushing produces besides food and shelter. Then in the evening, it seems teenagers will be coming to my basement. I'd better get the kids up if all this is to be accomplished. Note to self: put chemicals in the pool so it doesn't turn back into a duck pond and mark The Girl's anatomy test so it seems like we are homeschoolers, even just a little bit. 

♥Mrs. A.