Easy come, easy go

I changed my settings to no longer allow anonymous comments. While I love getting comments on my posts, I've found that anonymous ones stress me out unduly. So now you have to sign into your Blogger account to leave me a comment, but I hope you will take the time to do that, because I like hearing from you.

Last night our washing machine kicked the bucket. It was one of the original Maytag Neptune front-loaders. Yes, the one with all the complaints and the class action lawsuit. We seem to have gotten a couple more years out of ours than most people, so I guess we can't complain too much. I just didn't want to have to spend so much time today researching washing machines and finding a suitable replacement. We ended up going with another front loader (I'm never going back to a top-loading machine) that is pretty much the same model (slightly fewer temperature settings and spin RPM) as one of the Consumer Reports top-rated machines. And not only did Lowe's have EXCELLENT customer service, but they can get the machine to us tomorrow morning for a cheaper price than anyone around. I'm very impressed with Lowe's today. Not so much with Maytag. Here is a photo of our new washer:
The Deac also called and asked (I didn't even think to ask this when I called and ordered it) if it will be going on sale for Labor Day and it is! That means we get an extra 10% because of Lowe's 30-day price-match guarantee. And because it's an energy efficient unit, we get a $50 rebate from the City. So, all-in-all, a good deal for an unexpected expenditure of funds.

Emmelia is doing wonderfully in kindergarten - she really loves it and seems to be more mature already. I am volunteering in her classroom on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to meeting her classmates and seeing how they all interrelate. Karate went well today. Since last week, she's talked a lot on her own about doing a better job with focusing and paying attention. Even though she was tired today, she did a great job at both of those. Sensei told her she would earn a stripe if she'd participate more in class - volunteer to show him what she knows, instead of waiting until the group does it. I am kind of in awe of how he gets kids to be focused and motivated. He's a good read of how children operate.

Maura had her first full day of Preschool today. Last week they transitioned from the Toddler II room into Preschool by spending an increasing number of hours there each day. Today was the first day she was completely in Preschool and not in Toddler II. We've been talking for a while now about giving up her pacifier when she goes to Preschool. She didn't seem to really want to do it, though, so I haven't pushed it. This morning when I was dropping her off, she took her pacifier out of her mouth and insisted on taking it and giving it to her Toddler II teacher before gong back to the Preschool room. We were both sort of amazed that she'd come up with this on her own... This evening, she never asked for it, even when going to sleep. We'll see what happens in coming days - I'll be interested to see if she really has decided she's outgrown the plug or not.

We had a good weekend until the washer died. There will be a few photos of the weekend in my Flickr account soon, I hope. We didn't get the things done around the house that we needed to, but we visited with friends and relaxed a bit. Friday I took the girls to a local end-of-summer festival. It was less fun than we hoped. On Saturday we went to a co-workers house in the mountains to help her celebrate her newly-earned Master's degree. It was a lovely day for spending time relaxing in the mountains. That evening we had a cook-out with a few other friends and played a different variant of our favorite game, Munchkin Fu. It was a blast! Yesterday we invited some folks over for dinner as they are about to have a baby and their time for socializing will be gone for a while. It was good to see them. I'm invited to the birth when it happens and I'm excited to go. It will be my 4th or 5th birth, not counting my own two. She is so ready to have this baby! He should make his debut in the next couple of weeks, for sure.