overheard...

"Siah! Look."
"What Racie?" (He calls her Gracie, but can't say his Gs)
"a TRUCK!"
"Yep. I see it Racie. I see the truck!"
"Siah, is that YOUR truck?" (Any truck he sees that's cool enough is "his" truck)
"Yep. That's my truck."

long pause...

"Racie, when you det bigger, are you dunna buy a truck?"
"SI-ah, girls don't buy trucks! well...MOST girls don't buy trucks."

long pause....

"Siah, when I grow up, I think I'm gonna buy.....a MINIVAN. Just like this one! Yep, I'm definitely buying a minivan."

craigslist woes

So, we've been very busy these last few weeks, traveling all over the place, sometimes together, sometimes apart. And this weekend, we got to be together.....at HOME.

Friday night we put the kids to bed and just wanted to hang out together. So what would be better than watching crap tv and falling alseep on the couch???? well, lots of things. But that's what we ended up doing.

So Saturday held lots of promises for us. Get lots done. Have fun just being home. Get lots done.

Rewind a few days.....
On Monday, I was checking craigslist looking for a cheap washer and dryer set. Colin and Corinne's set that we've been using is puttering out. The dryer takes about a whole day to dry one load. And if you're anywhere in the house, you might need earplugs while it works on that one load for the whole day. It's crazy loud and clonky. So I thought, well, by the time we get someone over here and pay them to see what's wrong, even if it's an EASY and CHEAP fix, the total would probably be more than 100 bucks. So when I found a set on craigslist for 100 bucks, I contacted the lady to ask how old they are. She said 4 years old and they work great. I didn't care much what they look like, so I told her we'd take them and asked when we could get them. She siad she'd be home from work at 4 and I could call her. Well, I wasn't home at 4. I got home at like 5:30, but Steve wasn't home yet. He came home for like ten minutes to eat, and by the time he got back and I could ask him when he could get the washer and dryer, it was about 9. So I called the lady.

"Hello?"
"Hi. Is Tina there?"
"May I ask who's calling?"
"Andrea Hydeen. I've been in touch with her over email about the washer and dryer."
"Oh, sorry, hon. She sold them this afternoon."
"Yep, she did. To me, actually. So I was calling about picking them up."
"ahhh, no. They're gone. She sold them to someone else."
"OOOooookay, then. Bye."

oh, and you're a JERK!

So that was bad craigslist experience #1.

Fast forward again to Saturday. Remember? Big plans: get stuff done, etc.

So Saturday morning I hop on craigslist again to see what kind of bargain I can find. I email a lady asking 300 and ask if she'll take 200. She says she'll take 250, no less. I keep looking. I find another set for $100. I'm pumped!!!

Here's the ad (copied and pasted directly):

Washer & Dryer 4 sale - $100 (metro)
Upgreated so I need to get rid of them. A little wear n tear but they both run great. They are whirlpool and waiting for their new home. Email me or call (402)xxx-4201 or (402) xxx-0482 leave a message if no answere.


Okay, so I realize that I should have known by the word "upgreated" that I was in for it. But after getting burned on Monday, I didn't want to lose this deal. For some reason, I can't copy the picture of the washer and dryer, but they looked alright. All white, major gash on upper right corner of the dryer. Nothing too terrible. For 100 bucks, I could handle it.

So I call the number and talk to a guy. He says he's had lots of messages about them, but no one has come to get them yet. He can meet me there if I want. Right then. So I tell Steve as he crawls out of bed to get dressed and go get them!

When Steve comes back I head out there to see. He makes some comment about the smell, and when I see them I say, "That's not the set from the ad. That's not it." So Steve gets totally annoyed, and rightfully so. I never showed him the picture or anything, so he didn't know what he was supposed to get. He thought he was doing what I wanted. So I call the guy and tell him. He says, "oh, well, I'm almost to my girlfirends house, so hold on. I'll ask her. We clean out houses so she may have added another set that I didn't know about."

and sure enough. that's what happened. SO...at this point I think "oh crap. she lied. this isn't from an upgrade, it's someone's junk." But I figured since the guy already had our money, we have to just trade them and be stuck with what we get."

He tells me to call his girlfriend back after he pays the bill and gets her phone back on. great.

a quick summary of the next many hours:

So I call her, no answer. He calls ME. I say her phone is still off. I call her back later. She answers. I make sure that Steve will come home this time with the ones on the craigslist ad. she says yes ma'm. Steve goes to switch them. Steve comes back. We unload. They smell bad. I clean them. I keep cleaning them, just to get it in my head that even though they look a little iffy, they are really clean. We hook them up. This takes a freaking long time. and guess what.....

THEY DON'T WORK! (how'd you know???) :)

oh, and they are NOT whirpool either, like the add said.

Okay, so I'm ticked. I call the lady back and she acts all confused and says, "Let me call my man. Let me call my man."

And that's the last I heard. You better believe she'll hear from me tomorrow. I gave her a day off to take care of it. So tomorrow means business. If this is something that they do often (selling these sets from houses they clean) then they probably don't want a warning posted on craigslist about thier phone numbers and DISHONEST ads. Hopefully they'll give us our money back. I am 100% sure they won't. But I still want them to know I"m so mad.

so THEN I called the lady with the great set for 250, and tell her we want to come and see them. We ALL head over there, bc I don't want to get screwed again. They are only a year and a half old and they work perfectly. She ran each of them for me to see that they work. And she had them in her house, in her laundry room, so I knew they were really hers. And just as I"m about to agree to buy them, I turn around and see a CAT. Lillian is allergic to cats, so I tell her I really want to buy hers, but we can't bring something into our house that could possibly have cat dander and hair in it. I"m SO bummed. and more time wasted on a freaking washer and dryer. ugh...

so NOW, here are our options:

fix the dryer we have, but we aren't sure we want to put money into something that's been slowly dying for the year and a half we've lived here, and then still have an old set when we're done and it will probably still be crazy loud.

buy a brand new set ($600 (for the cheapest set) we DON'T want to spend right as we're trying to buy a house and have other expenses)

buy a "good" set off craigslist (most poeple are honest, and we could get a $1200 set for $500 or less, for example. but then do we risk wasting another 500 bucks? Wouldn't it be better to spend $600 on a brand new set? but then it's a $600 set, not the quality of a $1200 set. but we're a little skeptical of craigslist right now, even though we've had other very successful purchases off there.)

buy a "crappy" set, or just a dryer off craigslist (but if we get a dryer for 50 bucks and it doesn't work, then we're still out another 50 bucks and back to square one. but if it WORKS, then it's a great bargain!)

see the dilemma????

advice is welcome.

O.N.E.

It's only when you're ONE that you can get away with making a huge mess out of your cake(s). Not when you're 2, or 3, or 27 (ahem, Erika).

So, in honor of her special day, Brielle got 3 celebrations where she ingested way more sugar than any person should in one week, no matter how old you are. Here are a few pictures to prove it. :)

PARTY ONE (Winetka, IL):

PARTY TWO (Omaha, NE): (signing for more)

PARTY THREE (Orange City, IA):


Happy first birthday, Brielle. Hope you enjoyed your cakes as much as mommy enjoyed taking pictures of you eating them. :)

too fast. way too fast.

Brielle is ONE.

One year ago, she was born. Remember all THESE pictures? you know, the ones I JUST posted, already a year ago? I cannot believe it.

I don't even know what to say. I've never been this sad about a birthday. It might have something to do with the fact that we might be done having kids. We don't know yet. But we really love this. We feel like this might be right. So this is my BABY, possibly forever my baby. But she's not a baby anymore.

It's funny, too, because this morning when we went to wake her up by singing "happy birthday," Lillian looked at me and said, "but Mom! She doesn't LOOK one!" I guess no matter how many conversations we have about growing a tiny bit every day, she still doesn't get it. :) But the funny thing is, when I saw Brielle this morning, MY first thought was "oh my goodness. she looks older." So I guess I don't get it either. :)

I have lots to post about. a camping trip, a wedding trip, and a few little things.

But today I just want to focus my thoughts on something "bigger."

Happy Birthday, Miss B. You are so loved.

the result:

After:

2 last minute trips to Orange City
17 van loads to Bibles for Missions
9 van loads to the Justice For All trailer
2 major child tempertantrums
1763 trips up and down the stairs
1 trip to Butlers for a treat
3 wonderful families caring for my little ones
1 emotional meltdown
5 nights of sleeping with my boy digging his chin into my chest just to be close
6 days of seeing Maria and Hazel for MOST of the day
1 trip to the goat farm
3 two liters of Diet Coke (thanks, Dad!)
1 bonfire with marshmallows and s'mores
8 trailers-full of stuff to haul to the storage garage
35 trash bags full of really old stuff that no one used in the last ten years or more
1 grateful dad working his butt off
2 hardworking daughters :) and
a WHOLE bunch of other people helping clean and do yard work...

The result:
a slightly more organized house and one VERY tired mama.

now, somebody go buy that house. :)