JOY!!!

Guess what opens in Olympia today!!!!! Trader Joe's!!!!!! I am not ashamed to admit that leaving Trader Joe's behind was one of the sadnesses of leaving Los Angeles. By the time we left California we were pretty much exclusively grocery shopping at TJ's. In fact, when we decided to make the move one of the first things I did was do a search for the nearest Trader Joe's to Winlock. It was an hour away in Vancouver - too far for regular shopping. Before we even left Los Angeles I sent a message pleading for TJ's to put a location in Olympia - not that I am taking credit for this or anything. Olympia is the nearest place to us that makes sense for a Trader Joe's. I am not sure that Chehalis/Centralia could support one. Today is our lucky day. Olympia is only marginally closer than Vancouver but we find ourselves going north more often than south so this is a good thing.

Joe's Os for everyone! ($5 Cheerios can suck it)

Dryer Drama

I lost my cool yesterday.

Last Saturday Sears delivered our washer and dryer. They didn't hook it up. So we called our plumber and the earliest they could get here was yesterday. So, as the laundry piled up, we waited.

Our plumber got all the gas lines and waterlines ready to go but he informed us that he was unable to install the gas to liquid propane kit that came with the dryer because he would have to dismantle the entire dryer and it wasn't something he was comfortable doing.

I called Sears to ask why they didn't do the conversion. I was told that they could do the conversion but only if they did the install too. I said that the install was pretty much complete and all I needed was the conversion. They said they would have to uninstall all the work the plumber did, do the conversion and then reinstall. I said, "that is stupid", hung up and relayed the info to Matt. He said, "that doesn't make any sense because the delivery person said they never install gas dryers".

So, I called Sears back and said, "I feel like you guys are jerking me around. Why did you tell me you could convert my dryer but only if you install it? But you don't install gas dryers so you can't install it and that means you won't convert it, right? But why would you offer the conversion service which is obviously gas related if you won't do it because you won't install?". Sears said "sorry", they couldn't help.

Frustration!

I then called around to a bunch of local appliance repair services. I was told they would be happy to do the conversion and when could I bring the dryer into the shop? Well, I was hoping to have it done on site because, you know, I don't want to be lugging a freaking dryer around. Nope. No go.

I finally got wise and called our propane provider (Amerigas by the way). Do you know what they told me? "Lady, today is your lucky day! Our service technician is on North Military Road and you are only a few miles away. He will be there in a few hours". So, it all worked out in the end and the washer and dryer were put into service last night. Good thing too or else Matt would have headed to Utah with a suitcase full of dirty socks.

To Utah and Back

I took a whirlwind trip to Utah this past week. I left Tuesday after the mail route and returned on Friday. The point of the trip was shopping with Nancy. She has a golden touch when it comes to decorating and so naturally she is the one we turned to now that it is time to furnish the house. The first stop was her storage units. She already has some items picked out that she thought would be right for us and she was correct. After that we hit a consignment store where I bought a rug, a coffee table and a carved deer head! In the picture it looks scary but in reality it is smiling. Tom laughed when he saw it. He says it is a composite of about 3 different animals carved into one. He would know!

Sofa and upholstery shopping followed and it is all a blur now. We managed to fit a ton of shopping into our 2 days. Kate is out of school right now so she was able to join us. She is also furnishing the house she bought with Jason so we are all on the same track right now.

Matt is flying to Utah on Friday and he and Nancy will load up her motor home with our stash and drive it to Winlock over next weekend.

My washer and dryer were delivered yesterday but we still need to hook up to the gas and water lines so I have not taken them for a spin yet.

I don't expect to post for a while because I am feathering my nest. I have so much to do in order to get ready for Nancy's arrival. My mom and Dad will be here in the early part of September. Plus, save the date: we will be having our house-warming/open house on Sunday, Sept. 20th. If you are anywhere nearby or feel like heading to the NW, stop by and say hi.

Fuel for Obsession

Watch Hammerdance videos and dance lessons at DanceJam.com

We Met Some of Our Neighbors

Do you remember this video? I think we saw it way back in our Utah days. The man in the video is Lynn Chestnut. He and his wife stopped by yesterday to check the progress on the house. They saw it get moved and were curious how it turned out. I always love showing the house off. How shocked was I to discover that Lynn was the man in the infamous deer fighting video? His wife is the one filming and as I understand it, she was told to keep filming and not run to the rescue. The Chestnuts have a herd of elk and have "owned" bears in the past. They live in Toledo, not Winlock. Toledo is also the birthplace of Bigfoot. Not sure what is in the water over there.