another busy week

 Over the weekend, I first thought I'd sit and knit, but then Saturday morning I started doing some cleaning, it didn't hurt too much, so I kept going - put a lot of stuff away, did all the floors, cleaned the appliances in the kitchen, did all my laundry

And then - at the end of the last load it the dryer, it quit a bit early. I didn't notice because the sheets were dry, but then I found a couple things from the previous load weren't totally dry, so I went to put them back in

And the dryer made a grunt, and acted like it was going to start, but didn't.

I sighed, pulled the stuff out, and hung it up. Figured I'd call the repair guy I use Monday in case there's a prayer of it being fixable (and if not, I'll know I need a new unit)

I also spent a little time doing this:

I hadn't redressed the Creatable World kids, nor the Barbies that I change the clothes on (the Diana Prince one in the blue dress, and the one in the green and gold dress don't get their clothes changed). Most of the clothes on the Barbies are "Buttercup Dress Up" dresses from Etsy - they're very nicely made. There's also a modern Barbie piece or two in there, and on Ginger (the pale redhead) the blouse is actually a vintage 80s piece. On the Creatable World dolls, it's a mix of the more "juvenile" styled Barbie stuff (the Gary-from SpongeBob dress on Mary-Margaret) and their own clothes that they came with.

I hadn't changed the outfits in a very long time, so it was time. 

Sunday after church there was a Budget Committee meeting but that may actually be not as bad as being on the Nominating Committee - the woman in charge is very organized and it made it easy to figure out a possible budget for next year. (With the nominating committee you also have to call people and ask if they'd be willing to serve). 

I knit a little bit on the enormous blanket, and made a batch of Bolognese sauce in the evening.

Yesterday, after the eclipse, it was CWF meeting. 

This afternoon, I just went home after my classes. I managed to walk without the cane (I brought it but left it in my office) and I was a little tired; I also had to go to the grocery store and I wanted to run to the local appliance store, just to look - the repair guy hadn't called back and I thought "well, if he's retired or can't look at it for weeks and weeks, that might be a signal for me to just buy a new one" - I have the money right now, and I'd rather not deal without a dryer for much longer. 

They do have a couple stacked units (I will have to buy both washer and dryer, I cannot fit side by side units into the space). There's  a decent looking GE one for about $1400 and a more-expensive LG (with a front-loader, and I remember some years back people complained about them smelling musty if you don't scrupulously clean them on a regular basis, and one thing I'm bad at is sticking to a rigorous schedule for scrupulously cleaning something). Also the LG is about $500 more. It's $50 to deliver and haul off the old one, but I can't do it myself and that seems cheap enough. The guy said that at this point, if I bought it this week, they could deliver and set up Friday afternoon.

I didn't buy one then; my plan was to give the repair guy another 24 hours to call back, and I also want to measure the space to be SURE (the clerk gave me printouts of the specs) before I decide. (I also might want to move a little money from savings to checking, so I can just write them a check for the full amount*)

And then the repair guy called. He's coming out tomorrow around 8 - I'm going to have to cancel my office hours, but so be it. He'll tell me either (a) it's something simple and not too expensive to fix - which will buy me at least a few more months, (b) it's something tricky and requiring an expensive part for a 25-year-old washer/dryer to be tracked down - which would tip me over to "thanks for your diagnosis, I think it's time for me to get a new one" and I'm only out the cost of the service call to him, or (c) it's totally dead, which decides it for me.

I explained to him about my plans so I don't think he'll be unhappy if I say 'thanks for the diagnosis but it's probably better for me to replace it at this point,' and anyway, it sounds like he has plenty of work to keep him employed. 

I knit a tiny bit on the socks this evening but yeah, I'm not getting much other than life-maintenance stuff done. I'm also trying to be more aggressive (in terms of scheduling) about the PT stretches because I think that's what's improving my flexibility. I still have SOME pain, especially after walking on hard floors, but I can move more easily now. 

And tomorrow evening is Board Meeting (and maybe a quick run when I get home from campus to order the new washer and dryer if this one doesn't seem fixable).