It's been a while!

Wow!!! 2009 went by like LIGHTENING! So in the past week we have had my mother in law visit, been snowed in, had basketball games cancelled, school cancelled, a Little Gym show, and work, work, work.

The news of the day is that I am a genius. I have diverted TWO crisis this week and it's only Tuesday! I can remeber when a major crisis meant that my white knee high Danceline boots had not been cleaned from the last game or that I didn't have ponytails to use for 50's day Homecoming week. Times they have a changed

FIRST CRISIS!

The BIG BLIZZARD OF 2010 left the Madison area with an astonishing 1/3 inch of snow on the ground. That's right people. School cancelled. Gym cancelled. Roads closed. Basketball cancelled! All for 1/3 inch of snow. Now I am as much a fan of safety as the next but come on! Now I have gotten off subject.

Caleb, 9, is in fourth grade and they are doing a "Vocabulary Parade" Friday. Every student was to choose a word from their "Robust Vocabulry" list. They were to turn in an index card with their word, definition, and sentence on Friday, Jan 8, for the parade that is Jan 15. In the week between students and parents are to design and make a costume that represents the Word they chose. Now, back to the Blizzard of 2010. There was no school on Jan 8 and through the busy weekend I forgot about the Vocabulary Parade (GASP!!!). Not thinking much of it I watched a minute video sent to us Monday evening from Caleb's teacher and said to myself, "You are a genius! Caleb can use the word "fanatic" and dress as an Alabama football fan." I had done it! Found a word and a costume in mere minutes and we were set. That is until I announced my ingenius plan to Caleb Tuesday morning before heading to school. His response to my smarts? "Since I didn't turn in a word Monday my teacher assigned me "fluke".

How on Earth do I come up with a costume for Fluke? No, my brilliant idea was not going to be shut down like that. I got myself and Ryan dressed, Caleb and Drew snacks packed, and with index card detailing "fanatic" we headed out the door to the school. I walked in to Mrs. Whitenacks room and politly asked if the word for the parade had to be from the "Robust Vocabulary" list. She informed me that it did. Now I have never seen this list so holding my breath I asked Mrs. Whitenack if we could change Caleb's word and if "fanatic" , by the Grace of God, was on the list. She said "YES!" Whew! Crisis averted


CRISIS 2

After a very busy weekend and tons of laundry, Sunday Jeremy and I notice that our washing machine is no longer spinning the clothes out. I thought this to be no big deal b/c I have the most amazing husband who was raised by the most amazing father and he had been taught to fix ANYTHING!!! After many different attempts at fixing my 20 month old washing machine Jeremy threw in the white flag. He had surrendered to the washing machine. Jeremy had determined that the motor was the problem. After looking around on line he found that a new motor would be $200. That's half the price of a whole new machine. Outraged I proceeded to find a customer service contact for GE and emailed them to say that our washing machine was a mere 20 months old and that it was absurd that we would have to replace the motor in that short amount of time. I added that I would NEVER buy another GE appliance again!

On Monday we contacted a local appliance parts dealer. We were advised to call GE and explain the situation to them and see if there was any kind of discount they could give us on a new motor. Jeremy called me that evening at work to tell me that GE had agreed to send us a new motor at no cost!!! Woohoo! Now the catch. We would have to pay $70 for a GE certified technician to come to our home and inspect the machine. Then after inspection if he called GE back and verified that it was the motor that was bad they would send out the new one. The entire process would take about 2 weeks. I have 3 children. The idea of having to use our apartment's laundry facilities with a 3 year old in tow in the middle of January was irritating to say the least. I was happy that we had the option and now were going to save $100 by doing the repairs this way, don't get me wrong.

Tuesday morning rolld around and I decide that since there is only one clean towel in the house and the weather had warmed up to a blistering 20 degrees, Ryan and I would head to the Carrington Cove Laundry Care Facility (a.k.a the apartment laundramat). I finally convinced Ryan that if I paused Handy Manny he would not miss the tools singing and I head to the laundramat armed with four quarters, a basket full of towels, my cell phone, my 3 year old, and detergent. Once I've gotten everything out of the car, Ryan decided to help me by shutting the car door. I would have appreciated that help much more if my finger had not still been in the door. (In now have a big blood bllister on my ring finger) This experience is not going well. We get to the door and it wasn't until that moment that I realized I need a key to get into the place. I load everything back into the car and drive back to our apartmetn and get the key to the laundramat. Needless to say we did get that one load of towels washed but I decided no more laundry trips until J got home.

Around 3 p.m. I sat down to check my email and noticed a response from GE. I was fully prepared for one of those "We're are sorry to hear this but your warranty id only good for one year. We would gladly give you a 2% discount on a new GE washing machine. " Instead I get this...

"Your drive system may simply need to be reset. To do this unplug the machine for 60 seconds. After that time plug the macine back in. You now have 30 seconds to begin lifting and lowering the lid. Once you begin lifting and lowering the lid you must do this 6 times up and down in 12 seconds. You must raise the lid at least 2 inches and close it completly to ensure the magnetic reaction is interrupted."

You are kidding right? It sounded like rub your tummy while patting your head upside down in water but I was sure going to try whatever I could to keep from spending $100 and going 2 weeks with no washing machine.

After following the directions to a T I crossed my fingers and put the machine on the spin cycle.

voila!!!!!! It spins!!!!!

Crisis averted!
Now hopefully it won't be another 8 months before I blog again and the next Blog won't be a mile long :) We can all hope right?


Mrs. Fix it