First the adoption related big news since that is the point of this whole blog (and drives some of the other big news later). Tomorrow, we have an InfoPass appointment at our local USCIS office. We will also get our digital fingerprints done. A woman on the adoption message board I visit lives in my city and got her I171H in 11 days! We are closing in on the finish line for the paperwork portion of this process. WOOHOO! (I know I already mentioned all of this in my update…but I spent time copying everything they require and filling out the I600A today so it’s on my mind.)

Ok, on to the new big news. Our kitchen is straight out of the 1950’s. Metal cabinets, red and white checked linoleum, awful red (but indestructible) countertops – it’s loverly. The big plan is to not do much with it until we can afford to just gut it and start over. The adoption has pushed that plan back another 10 years. We have no dishwasher and originally said we would live with it until we could afford the remodel of the kitchen…that was when we were childless and figured we could do it in 5 years. Now that it is more likely 10 years in the future and we will soon have bottles and things to deal with, it kind of sucks. I mentioned in the car that we could always just get a portable dishwasher. Steve didn’t know what that was so I explained. He said “And you never thought to mention this was option before now?” I didn’t know that he wasn’t aware they existed.

At Se@rs, he immediately heads for the dishwashers. We find one on sale and he declares that we are buying it on the spot. We’ve been living frugally since deciding to adopt and he decides this is a necessity. We pick it up tonight. I’m quite excited to have a dishwasher again. Is it sad that one of my biggest thrills is a new appliance?

We also replaced our microwave. Long story – I won’t go into it. Let’s just say, I was right and he was wrong. Anyway, my husband fell in love with the idea of a microwave/convection oven combo. I know nothing about this new fangled contraption but he would not be dissuaded. I’m suspicious of this thing…you can put metal in it (on the convection setting). That’s just crazy talk – you can’t put metal in a microwave. It doesn’t even have buttons like my old microwave – it has a few buttons and this big knob in the middle. The knob does everything. I don’t like the knob…I liked the buttons with numbers on them. I understood the buttons. The knob just sits there mocking me.