And the "Wife of the Year Award" goes to...

....ANYBODY but me!!

Oh ladies, do I have a story for you! (I say ladies---because I don't think many men read this blog.) Before I get into all the details of the story--I need you to FEEL what I was feeling, and try and see my point of view! Believe me when I say this is obnoxious and packed full of drama! While reading... try to imagine these things: that your husband had been out of work for over a month. You are picking up extra hours in hopes to bring in extra income. Saving, being frugal, and spending the bare minimal! Worried that NOTHING is going to work out. Now imagine your tax refund coming. What would you do if you were in my situation? Well, I, of course stuck it in savings--with no intention to touch it!! Keep these things in mind...

Here is the story of our new washer and dryer.

I come home from work on Tuesday to do some household things, one of those being checking our bank account. Where I noticed that part of our savings had been withdrawn. Naturally I am freaking out!! I wanted to know what happened. Before calling the bank in a panic, I asked Clint if he knew what happened. He smiles and says, "I bought you something." I knew right then and there what he had bought! Most women would be overjoyed. Especially if their husband had said, "I can't always get you what you deserve, and you deserve these. I love you and want to treat you like you are a "Princess". You work so hard for our family, and I know these will help take some of the burden. Plus, this is the first time in years we haven't had medical bills or other things that have needed to be paid...so I wanted to surprise you. Since I just got my new job--I didn't think you would mind. And we need a new dryer, I can't fix the one downstairs." Very sweet-huh?! But what do I do? I FLIPPED!! I will admit it. I freaked out! I was upset and frustrated. I demanded that he take them back!! It caused a pretty big argument. He went on to school and I started to think about things a little more rationally. These were my thoughts: We do a LOT of laundry, I can't keep up waiting for 3 cycles of drying for the clothes to get dry, it is energy efficient, and the features are cool, plus I can do bigger loads of laundry, Clint is right they will last a long time, but the MONEY!! I called to apologize and tell him I was sorry and would rethink things...BUT it was too late. He cancelled the washer and dryer and re-deposited our money. :( After all that freaking out--now I was sad. Which then caused another argument. Where I was the one saying the "I'm sorry". The next day was a rough one. I wasn't feeling well--I even stayed home from work. We still hadn't solved the "what are we going to do about our broken dryer?" issue. After some much needed rest I got online to search for the cheapest dryer I could find. Ladies, dryers aren't cheap! Even the crappy ones. I would have still paid close to $400 for the end of the line dryer. I debated KSL and refurbished shops...but you just never know what you are getting. I did some other research and seriously rethought about Clint's argument. Re-visited our finances. Then I did the worst thing ever!!! I asked him to call the salesman and see if we could still get the same deal on the nice ones. (I know ladies, I give wives everywhere a bad name!) Clint wasn't happy! The salesman was very nice, he said he had been married for 35 yrs, and he understood! He was able to still get Clint the sale price on a new set of Energy Efficient, front loading, Whirlpool washer and dryers, with a few freebies, and around $200 in mail in rebates. So even though I had a crazy wife moment--I am looking forward to catching up on this mess....using these....

I am also very grateful for Clint. That he puts up with my wacky mood swings, my frugality, my anxieties! That even after all of that "making him look like an idiot" stuff that he would go out of his way to try and please me. I haven't felt in years that he really understood how much laundry I do. I mean I HATE, LOATHE laundry! It was very nice to see that he does get it and that he is willing to try and lift some of that load! I love you, Clint. Thank you for letting me have such a great gift!