Upgrades

We've had a couple little...okay, not so little upgrades happening at the ol' homestead lately. Without further ado, here's my old kitchen sink.

Fun, right? Just a cruddy old not-horrible-but-not-pretty sink. As a pre-baby/birthday present last year, my mom purchased and painted (and painted and painted and painted) the new base cabinet, so this year she and my stepdad insisted on getting a new sink to accompany it. Wasn't that sweet?

Free strainer? Don't mind if I do.

That last picture there (don't worry; I strategically cropped) is the main reason we went with a nice, deep one versus the 6 incher we had before. #that'swhatshesaid Good, ol'-fashioned sink baths! Of course, he's been getting bothersome during them lately, so I foresee a jump to big-boy-baths soon *tear wipe* but it's just as good for shoving lots of dishes and pots and pans into. It's all good.

Oh, and yes, we have a dishwasher. Two, actually. They're called Meg and Dave. ;-)


They also gave us some cash to go towards our new washer/dryer. I think that was mostly to calm Mom's worrying mind (okay, and mine, too); the dryer took FOREVER to dry and got extremely hot, and the washer was starting to leave black (grease?) marks on clothes. Oh, and it also had gotten into the nasty habit of...y'know...STOPPING. Mid-cycle. Full of dirty, soapy water and our awesome, awesome clothes. (Our clothes aren't awesome. I just felt like they were when I saw them sitting in the untouchable washer. And, okay, Hadley's clothes are pretty darn awesome on their own.)

We originally wanted to include all appliances with our house when we leave one day (they were all hand-me-downs; we were very lucky), but since we're not seeing that in our future anytime soon, we had to take the plunge...so to speak.

I don't have a "before" shot of the washer and dryer that went to live with all the other well-used washers and dryers in the sky. They were both Hotpoint...which makes me wonder how they'd lasted as long as they had, anyway. Hotpoint?! I dunno. Maybe the brand's okay, but it makes me think of a toaster or cooking implement; not a device for cleaning and drying highly-flammable stuff like clothes. Can't wrap my head around it.

So, anyhoo, this is what we ended up selecting.

Chicka bow wow. I love 'em. While I'm sure a fancier kind would cut it down to just a one-trip thing, I now only need to take two glorious trips to the basement (our horrible, ugly basement; we've got problems down there, y'all, and I'm not even Southern) to do Hadman's diapers. The washer has an extra rinse cycle that lets me work on other stuff sit on my butt a little longer. They also cut everything in half, time-wise, and get the job done wonderfully. #hoorayforwrinklecare I also had lived without an obnoxious buzzer reminding me that there's work to be done and pants to be folded. In all seriousness, I appreciate the reminder.

They're GE. #JackDonaghyFTW! They're relatively energy efficient (we got a gas dryer, which my stepdad -- master of all things handy -- hooked up for us; and the washer is Energy Star rated) and, no, they're not front-loading. I have enough fears when we one day move that my INTO EVERYTHING son will find a way to shove a younger sibling (or dare I say a cat?!) into the washer. Plus, I've heard and read a lot about the smells and stuff, and nobody got time for that. Maybe one day I'll grow up and find an awesome deal on a fancy schmancy front-loader that smells like french lavender all day, everyday, but for the time being this suits our needs.

Oh, and we also purchased from a local store (Robinson Brothers in Mohawk; how shocked was I that they had a website, albeit a tad outdated); the price was comparable to Lowe's, plus there was free set-up and removal, plus they service your appliances for years to come. It was the only stipulation my mom had throwing money into the pot, and I'm totally cool with it. Buy local! (And is it weird that it's still eerie to drive and park and spend time so closely to where the shootings happened? Okay, I said it. That is all.)

So, what do you think? Are you pro-front loader? Or do you go against the flow of traffic and reside in the top-loader camp?