Spring Fever?

I know I should be excited the days are getting longer, the temperatures are getting warmer, and there's a hint of summer just around the corner. The truth is, there's something about the onset of Spring that makes me very sad. Or maybe it makes me have SAD, just in a different month than everyone else. I get super tired all the time and I just don't want to really do anything. I start thinking I have chronic fatigue, or some other deadly affliction, and then I remember that I get extra tired every year at this time.

I think the possibility of being able to do things outside reminds me of all the inside projects I never got around to doing over the winter. And then I start down this spiral thinking about everything in my life I didn't finish, or didn't finish well, and then I start thinking that I'm never going to be successful, and everyone hates me and I'm going to end up homeless and alone.

I know it's not rational, but sometimes I'm not rational. Instead, I lay in bed a little longer, I wear my sweatpants a little more often, and I drink a little more coffee. This year I'm trying to be somewhat proactive. I'm working on projects more often, I'm cleaning and getting rid of a LOT of things. I'm making the area around me a little happier in hopes that it will be a reflection of myself. And you know what? I think it's working.

For starters, I'm watching less TV. It is so easy for me to get sucked into sitting on the couch all day, and then the laundry doesn't get folded, the dishes don't get washed, and nothing gets finished. By limiting my TV time, I am able to get a lot more accomplished, and I start feeling like there are more hours in a day, and maybe I'm not quite the failure I thought I was.

I will keep you guys updated, but this is shaping up to be the best Spring ever! Or, at least I'm trying to make it the best Spring ever.

New Dryer!

We have a shiny new dryer!! It was quite the process getting this dryer. We went to every store, looked at all the different functions and styles, reviewed rankings and reports, weighed stackable vs not stackable, and finally I gave up and said, "Honey, just get a dryer." He picked out a Kenmore (honestly, not sure which one) because it was ranked pretty high regarding both value and function, and at the time it was on sale. However, I had to work all weekend and without me around to nag him, Mr. Fabulous didn't get the motivation to go get it til Monday, and it wasn't on sale anymore. *sigh* He's an even worse procrastinator than I am.

The decision to get a new dryer came after the hubs had been gone fishing for a month, I had been doing very little laundry with it being just me home, and our electric bill went down considerably. Our dryer was a hand-me-down from his parents that was probably as old as us, and definitely not the most efficient appliance in our house. We got the new dryer a week ago, and since then it sat in our living room and taunted me with all of its newness covered up by a cardboard box. I decided a good way to get the new dryer installed faster was to boycott doing laundry until I could use it. Like the majority of my household labor boycotts, this did not work. What happened was all the laundry built up in the laundry room and blocked the way for getting dryers in and out. And then I ran out of clean underwear. Well, at least the pairs I prefer to wear.

Last night I finally buckled under the pressure and decided to just do some laundry, and that action somehow prompted hubs to take the new dryer out of its box and put it in! Yay! So far I love it, though we have yet to see if its "fisherman approved". We tend to wash a lot of sweatshirts and jeans in this house, so even when I choose the "bulky" setting, my dryer seems to underestimate how long it will take to dry his stuff. Or maybe now I need a new washing machine with a more powerful spin cycle so my clothes aren't as wet when they go in the dryer (I have no idea if that's a new thing with washing machines, but I will totally use that as my argument for why I need one).

Turns out the real answer was I needed to read the manual and "bulky" is for things like jackets an pillows, and "heavy duty" is for, well, "heavy" items.

Instead of annoyingly beeping when it's done, it plays a happy little song! Yay! The laundry is done! How exciting! It almost makes me hate folding so much. Almost.

Here she is! Pardon my crappy cell phone picture.

I'm really excited to use the sanitize function, and the sweater rack! I'll let you know how it goes :)