These Are My Confessions ... Part 1

I confess. There are some little adjustments to the Bungalow we probably should have covered here and I haven't gotten around to it. Today's adjustment was so huge I had to blog about it immediately.
I confess. We don't usually talk about the "other" side of our basement. There's the adorable room/hallway dad built with a teensy bit of help from the rest of us. But then there is the "other" side. What is to the left of this picture?

I confess. You don't really want to see it.

We inherited a washer/dryer with our Bungalow. It has served us well, but it probably shouldn't take sometimes three cycles to dry a load of clothes. And our laundry probably shouldn't come out of the washer with black marks and holes.  Say hello to the Hotpoint and the Ancient Maytag.

Also say hello to the new 40 gallon hot water tank to the left of good ol Hotpoint that I don't think we ever addressed. The "Other" side is just too ugly to acknowledge ... but yes. We did score a new tank using our home warranty when the 30-year old 30-gallon tank pooped out on us just before having Mike's parents for Easter. It was a lovely transition that involved entertaining a handy man contracted by the warranty company for a few short hours. Nothing to it. And we sleep better knowing the previous 30 year-old-geyser isn't going to erupt at any given time.

Back to Hotpoint and Ancient Maytag ... We were going to wait until the after Thanksgiving sales to shop around for a new guy and gal. But friends of ours bought a new house and were ridding themselves of an extra set they had because they combined households. Queue me jumping up and down in excitment because they wanted to unload 6-year-old Maytags that were barely used. Yes, please.

A lot of sweating, cursing, and tearing up of our kitchen floor and hallway landing later we introduced our "Other" side to Mr. and Mrs. Maytag.

There are so many controls and settings I don't know what to do with myself.

So we borrowed a friend's truck to get these babies from their former owners. Then it took four of us to load them. Then two of us unloaded them. Then two of us and a dog tried to get the Ancient Maytag out of the basement. That was horrific. Thankfully just when I was giving up hope, our friend Jay came and offered a bit more muscle. I gladly played with his son while the men dealt with Ancient Maytag.  When all was said and done, Mr. and Mrs. Maytag were calling out to me. I had to do some laundry.

People, this is when it gets really interesting. I blissfully figured out what setting I wanted and loaded up Mr. Maytag.

THERE ARE TEN TOWELS AND SIX WASHCLOTHES IN THERE! HOLY CRAP! (why did this excite me so much?)

And then I went upstairs. I came back down later to check on our new precious cargo and realized it was no longer running. "Oh no. I broke it" I was heartbroken. I realized I must have crammed too many towels in Mr. Maytag in my ambitious first fling with him. I walked over to him. He wasn't shuddering or shaking like I was accustomed to and he was very quiet. So I opened his lid ... and he was spinning! Good-Glorious-Martha-Stewart, Mr. Maytag was whirring away without a sound or shudder. Could this be real? I gleefully put his top down and admired his silence for a minute. Then the real kicker occurred.

Mr. Maytag is an Energy Star appliance!! In my  haste of snatching up our friends' laundry essentials I didn't even ask or notice this tidbit that was going to be so important to me when we finally purchased a new set. And lo and behold, there it was.

I'm in heaven. If Mike can't find me he should look in the basement where I'll surely be cuddling up next to Mr. Maytag. I'm crushing on him big time right now. (Thank you so much, Tony and Katrina! You have no idea how happy you've made me!)

So you're wondering what happened to Hotpoint and Ancient Maytag, aren't you? They are on their way to scrap metal heaven. Just as soon as Jay's buddy picks them up. In the meantime, they are classin' up the neighborhood.

Now I am inspired to work on the "Other" side a bit more. Mr. and Mrs. Maytag will require a much better residence and I intend to try to give it to them.