Further evidence that the Grass Really is Not Greener on the Other Side

Ok, so for the last several months I've been using a washing machine that is technically broken: one of the spinning things is not connected to the other spinning thing anymore. But, we realized that if I just did smaller loads, the clothes still got clean, so we decided to not pay for someone to fix it. For the last several months I've been doing laundry pretty much constantly due to the smaller load size, but it's been fine.

Then my parents bought a new washer-dryer set and told us we could have their old washer. We thought this was so exciting -- especially because they were going to bring it down with Dad's truck on Saturday on their way to my brother's house. So on Friday Pete asked me if he could sell our old machine, which I said was fine as long as the buyer knew it was broken. Well, an hour later the machine was out of our house -- GONE! Two men came and picked it up for $45. I hadn't been planning on suddenly not having a washer, but figured I could survive until the next night when my parents were coming.

Only they couldn't come because it was raining when they needed to load it up. So, recognizing that we needed to get some clothes washed sooner than later, Pete spent all Sunday afternoon going up to get it, bringing it back, and cleaning it thoroughly. Then my brother Dan came over and they huffed and puffed to get it upstairs and installed that night.

Monday morning I ran my first load of clothes through this "new" washer... and that's when it flooded all through our kitchen and living room ceilings. After further investigation, we realized it was not simply a hose issue; after taking apart the machine, we saw it was leaking in multiple places.

So, yesterday we combed through Craigslist to find a newer/used one. Our dryer is also performing on a sub-par level these days, so we decided we could maybe get a whole set (used). We had been saving up some money for furniture this summer, and I had been eager to buy a new couch (our old one is VERY old).... but now it looks like a big chunk of that money is going to have pay for appliances.

Anyway, Pete found some that sounded like a really good deal, so Dan graciously offered to go with him with a borrowed truck -- to a place about 45 minutes away -- to pick them up. Well, as they tell the story, the place ended up being something "like a meth or crack house" and the whole situation was extremely shady. Needless to say, they left empty-handed (before they could get "shot at.") Then they tried another listing... also a yucky place. They came home with no machines last night.

Soooo.... last week I had a machine that worked reasonably fine. This week I have a machine that does not work fine, several HUGE mountains of dirty clothes and towels (especially after the flood and the kids' weekend water war), ruined ceilings, probably mold growing below the floor, and the dashed hopes for a new couch.

On the plus side of the ledger, though, I got to have a laundry vacation for the last 4 days! And, I'm very blessed to have my neighbor who is letting me use her machines today, since we have gotten a little desperate for clean clothes (Colsen is wearing a swimsuit today because he has no more shorts) (OK, cancel that. I just went upstairs and found Colsen soaked because he was helping me "clean" which meant using a wet towel to wipe all kinds of things, including himself. Now he's wearing just underwear.)

Guess I'm done here.