Take THAT, Energy Star!!

Can I just start by telling you how much I love my new dishwasher? I had forgotten what clean dishes actually should look like when they come out of a dishwasher. I gave the new Kenmore a test today with a baking dish crusted in dried, baked-on cinnamon roll goo, and my stockpot with no-bake cookie remainders dried onto the inside. Guess what? The dish and the pot are clean--and so are all the other dishes that were in the dishwasher! It seems like such a silly thing to be excited about, a dishwasher washing dishes, but I really do a happy dance with each item I pull out as I marvel at its sparkly surface.

I was still a little disappointed at the cycle time of the Kenmore. But thanks to Energy Star, there isn't a dishwasher on the market with anything shorter than about a 120 minute cycle time. As all the cycles and options on the Kenmore are a little overwhelming, I decided to read the manual. I came across a section called "One Hour Wash." Hmmmmm.

Basically it says that due to Energy Star regulations, a wash cycle will take anywhere from 2-3 hours on Normal, SmartWash or Pots and Pans. However, if you are limited on time, and don't mind using more water and energy, you can use the One Hour Wash cycle. Sounds good to me. So the last 3 times I have run the dirtiest, most baked-on dishes I could find on the one-hour wash, and they are just as clean as they were in the 2-3 hour cycles. And now I know I have found the perfect dishwasher.

Bad luck charm, part 4

I am not even sure what exactly I did in my life to bring such a curse upon myself. I don't remember ever walking under ladders, spilling salt, or breaking a mirror. But I've blogged before about how I can almost count on things that I order or buy being broken, damaged, or missing parts. That old bad luck fairy has struck again.

My long-awaited dishwasher arrived yesterday. I was so excited after two weeks of doing dishes "like Leave It To Beaver" as Savanna told me. Sears called Monday night to tell me the guys would be here to install it around 2:00 Tuesday. 2:00 came and went, and no word. Finally, around 4:30, I got a call that the guys were running way behind and that they would be at my house around 5:30. I didn't care--at least they were coming.

At 5:40 the delivery van showed up. The guys came in and uninstalled the piece of crap KitchenAid Superba. I was happy to see it leave my house. And then they went out to bring in the new dishwasher. I was watching for it to come through the door, and instead, only the guys came in the door. They told me they had unboxed the new dishwasher and it had 2 big dents in the door. I think they thought I would be upset. I just started laughing. I mean, seriously, why would something I ordered actually arrive without any damage?

They said they could hook up the old one again until a new one arrived. I told them that one was totally broken so that wouldn't be helpful. I was determined to NOT handwash all the dirty dishes I had been saving in the sink all day, so after a phone call to Sears, they decided to install the dented one and then order a new one which will arrive next week and they will swap it out at no charge.

After the installation guys left, (and they were very nice, by the way), we ate dinner and I gave the dishwasher a test. I put in my curry-covered dishes and glasses and pressed start. I had read and heard good things about this dishwasher, and they were all true! Every dish wash clean--even though I had put them in covered in curry and rice. Sparking, beautiful, clean dishes from a dishwasher--what a concept!

Now I just have to wait for my new new dishwasher that doesn't have a dented front.

Committed

I have committed to a dishwasher. It will be here Tuesday, and I'm excited to give it a try. It can't be worse than what I've been fighting for 7 years.

I decided on the Kenmore Elite. Based on family and friend recommendations, and also Consumer Reports, it appears that this machine will actually wash AND dry my dishes. The Bosch was a close 2nd, but its capacity is smaller than what I'm used to and need. It looks tiny inside compared to my old KitchenAid.

I came super close to buying the commercial dishwasher. However, my brother-in-law Mike came to the rescue by giving me some valuable info. He knows someone who actually has one in his house. This person says that the commercial machine does not clean pots and pans, but it is made mainly for quickly cleaning and sanitizing plates and glasses so they can be used again. But it doesn't clean off baked-on or dried-up food. Thanks for saving me lots of money, Mike and Shanna!

In the meantime, I'm catering a dinner at the church tonight for 60 people--with no dishwasher! Dessert, roast beef, gravy, veggies, rolls--it's going to be a messy situation. Thank goodness someone else is doing mashed potatoes and salad. I'd better get busy!

Haircuts

I learned how to cut hair on Abram. He was such a good little subject. I bought a pair of clippers at Costco when he was little, and I watched the video that came with it, and away I went. I was pretty good. Then along came Aubrey. Her hair took a little more effort than clippers. She did not ever like anything in her hair, so I kept it cut in a cute little bob. Basically I developed two haircuts I was a pro at--the buzz and the bob.

When we moved to our current city, we were in the middle of starting the practice, building the building it is in, and I was pregnant with Joel. I decided I should start having someone else cut the kids hair. This seemed like it would save me time, but in the end it was much more stressful. While one kid was getting his or her hair cut, the other kids were tearing up the salon. After about a year of this, I realized it would be not only cheaper for me to cut their hair, but also much less stressful, because the other kids were free to run around the house or yard while waiting for their turns on the stool. I haven't had any really bad mess-ups yet. Oh, except for when I accidentally shaved Zack bald about a year ago..... but at least he didn't care. See this post called Loser Mom for that story.

About 8 years ago, I bought the most excellent hair clipper. It's the Wahl Designer. It can buzz through 5 heads of hair without stopping. This past year, I needed some new blades, and I also wanted to buy the Wahl Peanut for getting around the ears and neck. I found the greatest website for buying clippers and other supplies (flat irons, blow dryers, etc.). It is www.beautybasicssupply.com. I was able to get the above-pictured all-star combo with the Peanut and a whole new Wahl Designer for the same price Sally was going to charge for the Peanut and blades only. I also bought a new flat iron recently on this website for much less than my stylist could get it at her "wholesale price." Oh, yeah. And they always have free shipping on orders of $40 or more! I love this website.

I just finished a round of haircuts last night. The boys are all good for another month now.

Perplexed

Here's a little story:

A long time ago Mark and Jill got married and moved to Nebraska. They lived in the projects, where there was no dishwasher. For four years Jill washed dishes by hand, and looked forward to the day that Mark was out of dental school and they could live somewhere with a dishwasher.

And then Mark and Jill moved to Oregon. They rented a brand-new apartment with a dishwasher. The dishwasher was noisy. Very, very noisy. It did a fair job of washing dishes, though. But Jill looked forward to the day they would move somewhere with a quieter dishwasher.

And then Mark and Jill moved again. This time they rented a brand-new house with a dishwasher. This dishwasher did not wash dishes very well AND it was unbelievably loud. Like a jet engine. Jill looked forward to the day they would move somewhere with a dishwasher that could wash dishes AND you could talk to someone in the same room while it was running.

Then Mark and Jill moved again--this time to a rental house near the dental office they were opening. This house had a dishwasher, but it was just as terrible and loud as the last one. Mark and Jill decided to buy their own dishwasher and put the piece of crap one in the garage until they moved out. They bought a KitchenAid. It was very quiet. It washed dishes. It dried dishes. Jill was happy with the dishwasher.

And then Mark and Jill decided that since they had been married for 10 years, they should finally buy a house. So they saved their money and designed and built a house. Jill designed a really cool kitchen. But she didn't want the old dishwasher in the new house because it was white, and the new house had stainless steel appliances. Mark's parents's dishwasher died at about this same time, and so Mark and Jill gave the good KitchenAid dishwasher to them. It is still working fine to this day. Jill picked out the best KitchenAid dishwasher at the appliance store for her new kitchen. She liked all of its features. Jill thought she would be happy.

But then Mark and Jill learned that the KitchenAid Superba was a piece of junk. It didn't wash dishes. It was quiet. It could dry dishes. But it could not clean dishes. If Jill put anything with one speck of food on it into the dishwasher, the food would come off of that dish and end up petrified to another dish. Glasses came out dirtier than they started, with bits of crud crustified onto the insides. Mark and Jill stopped using real glasses and opted for paper or plastic ones. Jill called the appliance store 3 times to have a repairman come look at the dishwasher that didn't wash dishes. He told her that she just needed to figure out a way to make it work because they just didn't make dishwashers like the used to now with all the EnergyStar crap.

Over the next 3 years the dishwasher was repaired 5 times. The heating element went out. The fuse went out. The gasket leaked. The control board went out twice. But Jill had spent a lot of money on this dishwasher, so she wasn't ready to buy another one.

Now we'll jump forward to this week:

Our dishwasher died. Officially dead. I'm not too sad about it, because we were spending 30 minutes with the water at the sink pre-washing the dishes before they went into the dishwasher. I was actually excited to buy a new dishwasher. And then I started shopping.

There is not a dishwasher on the market that I can find that washes and dries the dishes. The KitchenAid isn't an option for me for obvious reasons. The Bosch apparently does an excellent job of cleaning, but it does not dry the dishes. And it takes 2 hours to run a normal load. The Electrolux seems to be the next best option, but many reviews say that you still have to clean your dishes first. But it dries them! Yet it also takes 2 hours. Kenmore? I'm not sure. My mom got one that works well, but other reviews say they don't clean very well.

Currently, I'm seriously considering a commercial undercounter dishwasher. It's about twice as much as the Bosch, but it washes dishes (yes, even dirty dishes) in 2-3 minutes. Can you imagine what a happy life it would be to be done with all the dishes--even the pots and pans--in 10 minutes or so?

In the meantime, we're using paper products and washing by hand until I can figure out what to do. I hate to spent $1000 for something that either doesn't work, or only does 1/2 the job. There's got to be something out there that works like it is supposed to. Any suggestions?

Animals

I'm not an animal hater. It's just that if I could go the rest of my life without touching an animal, I would be very happy.

I never ever wanted a pet growing up. In fact, when I would go to people's houses where there was a dog or cat, I would do my best to avoid the creature. We were pretty much a pet-free house growing up. Except for a short time when my brother Jeff got a parakeet when he was about 8. Well, there were 2 birds. Megan pointed out to me that I have the two mixed up--it's just one big yucky memory of having the bird in the house to me. One bird was named Houdini who came to an early end when a curious little sister tried to get him out of his cage, and another bird was named Pee Wee. I'm not sure which came first. Anyway, Pee Wee was a good and smart bird. He would sit on Jeff's shoulder all the time, and he would sit and crap all over the piano while Jeff practiced. Pee Wee loved Jeff. But the bird grossed me out. It's just a fact that I cannot deny.

My family got a dog after I got married. Misty was a cute little maltese, and a very good and very cute dog. She recently died after my family had had her for more than 16 years. I admit I got teary when I heard the news. While I never wanted to touch her, I did understand how much she meant to my family, and I thought she was the best dog a family could have. As Nancy said, "R.I.P. our 900 year old dog."

I know that I don't hate animals. I think most of them are beautiful. The majesty of the horse is incredible, and I think dogs are cute. Just don't make me go near one. My heart breaks for dogs that are kept in yards and are never played with. Our neighbors have 2 dogs that spend all year in the back yard, and I have not once in the 6 years they have lived there EVER seen the dogs go for a walk or be played with in the yard. It makes me sad. See, I'm not heartless.

Our kids will never have a pet. I know the old adage "Never say never," but I can guarantee we will not have a pet in our house. I have too many things to take care of with 7 kids without having to worry about if the dog got walked or fed today. I think they all know this deep down, because not once has one of them ever asked for a pet.

25 random things

I got tagged by this a bunch of times over the weekend on Facebook. I though I'd post it here, too. Here we go:

1. I never had the chickenpox. I have had a blood test and somehow I am immune to it. My brother Jeff also avoided it while Scott, Nancy and Megan suffered.

2. I have gained AND lost 350 pounds between my 7 babies. Which leads into my next one:

3. I think anyone who says she enjoyed being pregnant is lying.

4. I think I have mild claustrophobia. I cannot wear nylons or too many layers, and I cannot sleep with anything touching my face.

5. I can't sleep without socks on. My feet are always freezing. I'm always freezing. I decided I am an exothermic person, selflessly giving away my warmth to others.

6. I don't like it when people leave stuff on the kitchen counter. I like to see the counters, and if you leave your homework, book, or valuable item on the counter, it's not my problem if you can't find it when you need it.

7. I love to bake. I am a pastry snob, and usually don't eat store-bought (or other people's) cookies or pies. It has to be worth the calories to eat it. My kids usually won't eat other people's cookies, either. One exception to this is Trader Joe's Peppermint Joes. I devour those like crazy during the holidays.

8. I have a commercial laundromat in my basement. Seriously. 2 commerical washers, 2 commercial dryers. How else could I keep up with the laundry for 9 people? It gives me time to do more important things, like write 25 random things about myself. It used to take me 16 hours to do the laundry--which means it rarely ever all got done. Now it takes me under 2 hours. No quarters necessary, though. Bring your blankets and sleeping bags over anytime.

9. I stink at almost every sport. Except for bowling. But that's not really a sport.

10. I have a degree in teaching middle school/jr high science. Never used it. I was pregnant with Abram when I graduated and found I could make a lot more money with my computer skills than I could teaching for those 5 months between graduation and his birth.

11. When I was in 6th grade the school librarian (Mrs. Turpin who seemed 90 years old) would come get me out of class to type the new cards for library books because I could type a lot faster than she could. I could type 80 wpm in 6th grade.

12. When I was little I was so afraid that our house would burn down. I blame this directly on a Jimminy Cricket movie we saw at school about how to prevent house fires (I'm no fool...No siree...Do you remember this movie?) and also how to escape from a burning house. I terrified me. I used to be afraid every time we had been away that I would come around the corner and see the house burning. I'm over it.

13. I used to want to travel the world. Now all I want to do is go back to Belize. Europe Shmerope. I'll take La Isla Bonita.

14. I took piano lessons for a million years. I can still play. I am a closet organist, too. I bought an organ on craigslist a couple of years ago, bought BYU's organ class materials and taught myself the basics. I secretly wish for my friend to be sick every Sunday so I can play the organ at church.

15. I love to sew. My mom taught me how to sew the summer after 8th grade. I was too young to get a job, and just old enough to be annoying without anything to do. So I learned to sew. I made some sweet moolah in high school making lycra biking shorts with fluorescent colored side insets for people.

16. I love Barry Manilow. Well, not him, but I love his voice. Scott and I used to stack up the Barry records 3 or 4 at a timeon the record player and sing along at the top of our lungs. Barry gives one heckuva concert. I've been twice. Next year when I fly to Vegas for Bradley girls weekend, I want to go to Barry's show before we head to St. George. Luckily, Mark likes Barry also.

17. I love big cities. I love to go somewhere I've never been and figure out the streets and directions and how to get around. I've got to get to NY to stay with Emilee. I've always wanted to go to NYC, just for the city experience. Not for shopping or shows. Just to see the cool buildlings and museums. Mostly, I want to go watch Em play at Peacock Alley in the Waldorf. I'm so proud of her!

18. Sometimes I dream that I cannot keep my eyes open and they blink and blink and I need them to be open because I'm trying to run away or do something. Emilee is the only other person I've know who had the same sort of dream. I also dream that I can fly, and the usual dream that I need to run but I cannot move or need to scream and can't make a sound. Before I cater something (feeding 9 peope 3 times a day isn't catering) I have dreams that I cannot get all the food ready or onto the table it needs to be on.

17. I also love Neil Diamond. I love his voice. My brother Jeff can sing exactly like him.

18. I love to sing. I never realized I actually had a singing voice until I haphazardly tried out for concert choir in high school. I made it, and had no idea if I was a soprano or alto so I sat by the sopranos to sit by my friend. I found out later I was supposed to be an alto, but I never moved to the other side of the room. I do prefer to sing alto now, and the smallest group I've sung in public with (other than my excellent duets with Betsy at girls camp) is 4.

19. Our kids are named in alphabetical order purely by random coincidence--until Zachary. Abram, Aubrey, Jacob, Joel, Noah, Savanna, Zachary. Mark liked the name Elijah before Zack was born, and I liked something else. The night before I was to be induced, we were discussing names, and it occured to me that as Mark was a logical person, I would try the ABC argument. I told him it would be a shame to mess up our alphabet by jumping backward and that we had to pick something that came after S. Muah-ah-ah..... I totally pulled the name Zachary out of the air, and we both knew it was perfect for him. We should have started on the last page of the baby name book to being with!

20. I have given birth 7 times, but I have never gone into labor on my own. Each week at my appointment the doctor would tell me that he likely wouldn't see me the next week, and yet there I was defying the odds in my own special way that someone could actually walk around dialated to a 5 and not be in labor. I have been induced at 37-38 weeks each time (except with Aubrey when I had to go to my due date). I had huge babies, and if I had gone to term with any of the last 5, they would have weighed 11 pounds. So glad to be done with that.

21. My dad has been battling colon and now liver cancer for the past couple of years. He has 2 chemo treatments left, and we are so excited for that to be done. He is a huge example of love, endurance, positive attitude, happiness, and doing hard things. He is Mark's inspiration for staying fit, because he admires so much that my dad is still so active (when not being poisoned by chemo) into his 60s. My dad tells the BEST bedtime stories.

22. My entire family (excluding me) graduated from the University of Utah. Mom, Dad, Scott, Jeff, Nancy, Megan--and their spouses. I think I nearly killed my mom when I came home my junior year from Skyline one day and told her I wanted to go to BYU. I didn't even apply to the U. I knew I needed to be there, although I had grown up hating BYU. It ended up that I graduated from the University of Nebraska in the end . I got married and moved to Nebraska where Mark was going to dental school.

23. I play the guitar--sort of. I took lessons for a while in high school, and I can sort of pick out songs. Mostly just enough to play around the campfire. I want to buy a 12-string guitar to take to girls camp this year. Get ready, Betsy!

24. I took 5 years of French in jr high and high school, and 1 year of spanish in high school. I speak Spanish better than I do french. But I can read french--at least enough to get by.

25. Mark and I have survived 3 building projects together. First the dental building 10 years ago, our house 7 years ago, and now the basement. I've heard that building/remodeling is the true test of a relationship. It actually was fun every time. Lots and lots of work, but very fun.