Post-Wedding Madness

Wow. It's been awhile since I last blogged. I thought my life would stop being crazy once the wedding was over. It's still crazy. But I am glad the wedding's over. Any time I see the word "bridal" now, I shudder.

We've been cleaning our house up before we look into re-financing it. I'm beginning to wonder if we're ever going to get done! Wish I could quit my job and focus on other stuff, but that's not gonna happen, is it?

I've been debating what I really need/want to keep and what I won't really care (in the long run) if I get rid of. David brought the movie "Cast Away" home from the library. After watching it again, I started wondering how much stuff I really need. But then I don't want to get rid of a bunch of stuff and then regret it - like half of my clothes. Then again, maybe I won't even miss them? Decisions, decisions.

David and I have been watching the X Factor this season. I don't know why I even care about it. I used to loathe reality tv. For some reason, Master Chef (I know, I don't even like Gordon Ramsey, he makes Simon Cowell look nice!) sucked me in to reality tv. Maybe it's just an escape?

So, from the beginning, I've liked Marcus Canty. Ever since he sang the Stevie Wonder song "I Wish." I love that song and Marcus sang it so well. And I've like Melanie Amaro. Those two have been my favorite all along. But taco-maker Josh was amazing last week. Sometimes I really have to wonder about song choices. Why didn't they have Marcus sing "Thriller" instead of "PYT" last night. And Drew singing "Billie Jean"? That was strange. The judges are all goofy and famous acts they have performing? I don't think I've liked any of them. Of course, I am old school and I have a hard time getting into some hip-hop and an even harder time getting into rap.

David is more into X Factor than I am now. We started voting a couple of weeks ago. Can you believe it? I know, but oddly, it doesn't take off much time from our tracfones. I sometimes wonder if our votes even really registered. Of course, David Jason says the whole thing is rigged from the start. I don't doubt it. The voting isn't very transparent, they don't post it on the internet and won't even reveal the rankings.

Jarom is asleep on the couch. That's what I feel like doing. Maybe not on the couch, but sleep sounds really good right now.

Amber went to Anime Club at the library yesterday and came home with about 20 buttons she'd made. They made shrinky-dinks, too, but apparently those didn't get all the way done.

Cameron is now a permanent sweeper at the elementary school, so he has a regular shift he works. So that's good. Jarom might apply for a job there. Cameron's going to take Calculus next semester, can you believe it?

Meagan and I went and bought her and Zac a used washer and dryer that were delivered last Saturday. The washer worked great. The dryer spun, but wouldn't warm up. Meagan called the company that sold us the set. They told her to check the lint vent, because it was probably clogged. Sure enough it was. I guess their dryer is working fine now. I haven't heard that it's not.

A Good Service Man is Worth His Weight in Gold

Our washing machine started making a horrible, metallic noise last Saturday. I thought that it was a belt or chain going out. Not sure what to do about it, I went online to see if I could find anything about d.y.i. washing machine repairs. I found an exploded drawing of our washing machine model. After looking at the pictures and the machine, we decided it was probably the bearings going out. It looked like it would be difficult to get to.

We were wondering if we should call in a repair person or just get a new machine. I went on-line again, this time to try to find a repair person to talk to. I found the Service Magic(tm?) website. They found me 3 repair companies in SLC. The first one called and said it would be $55 for someone to come out and look at the machine. From what I described, they said it was either the pump or the bearings. If it was the pump, it would cost about $140 to repair; if it was the bearings, it wasn't worth fixing. The second company said they would come out and look at my machine for $29.99. I went with the 2nd company, because if it wasn't worth fixing, I didn't want to spend $55 finding that out.

The service man was great! He showed up 5 minutes early, answered all my questions, had my washing machine fixed in less than 30 minutes and only charged me $100 to replace the pump in my washing machine - service call, parts and everything. That was $40 less than the other place! Thank goodness it was only the pump, and thank goodness I DID decide to get my washing machine checked instead of giving up on it! Meagan was happy, too, because she hadn't been able to wash any clothes in 4 days.

Oh, yeah - and word of advice - don't overload your washing machine or the bearings on it will wear out faster than they should. I asked about front load washers, because I've heard they're better for the environment (take less water, etc). Joe (the service guy) said they are really good at getting clothes clean, but very tempermental. Once you start a load, don't open the door! And if they break down, they're much more expensive to repair.