It's a Dud

I am referring to 1) my washing machine, and 2) my e-bay store. If you read the last post, you already know that the washing machine bit the dust. We went to the Sears Outlet (fondly referred to as the scratch-n-dent Sears) in Nashville. We are now the proud owners of an imperceptibly scarred Fisher & Paykel washing machine. Never heard of it. Yeah, me neither...but they are FABULOUS! Here's a link to the one we bought: http://usa.fisherpaykel.com/global/laundry-products/clothes-washers/clothes-washer.cfm?productUid=8C4273EB-94C9-5AFE-584EC34AFBF281A0 We told the sales guy that we liked the idea of a front loading one for it's spin speed and efficiency, but that we didn't want to hoark up $900+, nor could we have one on our second story (where the laundry room is...duh). He steered us to this one. Its spin cycle is twice as fast as our old one (1,000 RPM instead of 400 RPM), so it does half of the dryer's work for us. It uses 1/4 the electricity to run it too. The best part is that we got this $600 machine for $350. Not that we wanted to buy a new appliance, mind you, but that was apparently what was placed on our agenda for us. Ok, so I am babbling about a washing machine. I am truly a stay-at-home mom of two kids, can't you tell?

As for the second part of my "Dud List". That would be my e-bay store. Now, I am not faulting e-bay, nor my store itself for any lack of success. I am blaming me. When I can actually get the time to list stuff, I do pretty well. Inventory sells, I make a nice profit, etc. I just don't have the time that it takes to do the shopping, measuring, photography, downloading, listing, yada, yada, yada. (I am already bored talking about this as you can see). The plan for now is to just list stuff when I have time. It's too expensive to keep a store open when I only have a few things in there. I have no emotions about it. I don't feel like I have failed any business adventure or anything. It's just one extra thing that is creating mind-clutter for me. I may revisit this one in the future, but for now I am taking a break.

So what else? Here are a few things:

WE ARE COMING TO CALIFORNIA!!! I just realized that I hadn't mentioned that in my blog yet. So, this may be news to some of you. We'll be out there on April 4th, and then the plan is to go see a Mouse about a Castle in Aneheim somewhere around April 13th. We're still working out details, but it's been over a year since we've been to CA. We can't wait!!!

Brian (my brother) has been hired on with the CHP! (That would be the California Highway Patrol for you Southern folk.) He will now be a CHiP, officially. Congratulations Brian and move over Eric Estrada! **CHiP's theme now running through my head.** He starts the Academy on April 2nd -- one day after my birthday.

Alie and I are on the mend. She has one day of antibiotic left and just a little bit of green goobers coming out of her nose. I have gotten over my strep and flu and am now suffering from seasonal allergies. Tennessee is worse than Sacramento in the allergy department. I guess that's the tradeoff for having such gorgeous weather and so many pollen sources nearby. Mike is suffering from a head cold (allergies in my opinion....life-threatening severe dabilitating head cold in his).

We are finally going to break down and get a home phone. I am so sick of having cell service only. It would be ok if we didn't drop every other call when we are in our house. That, and I am using a lot more airtime now with the Dream Team. I have to have something that won't run my cell phone bill through the roof.

That's it. I am spent. I am trying to be a little better about blogging. We'll see how long this lasts.