Good News to End the Week

When Friday morning comes, I always think of it as the start of the weekend (even with a day of work ahead of me), and who doesn't like starting off the weekend with good news for a change? I've got three items of that sort to share today.

Good Thing #1: I finished up my sister-in-law's socks Wednesday evening and blocked them yesterday, so they'll be ready to go to her tomorrow.

I'm a little miffed that the stripes matched all the way until the end, when they didn't, but I suppose that's down to how the yarn is dyed (they're knit from Knit Picks Felici, which is dyed by machine, as opposed to the hand-dyed self-striping yarn I use a lot). They're the same stitch count and the same length, maybe off a round or two, but that alone wouldn't have caused such a discrepancy. Oh well! She's a gracious recipient and if it bothers her, I doubt she'll tell me about it.

Good Thing #2: We are getting new ovens. I've already mentioned this in replies to some comments to my last post, but I'll share the whole story here for everyone. We have double wall ovens, and we're on our second set from the same company (JennAir) since we redid our kitchen in 2009. The first set lasted longer than the second, which had only just gone out of warranty at the end of February. The Mister called the appliance store where we bought them, and the store then directed him to JennAir, which told him the particular ovens we have are discontinued, so there's no way to fix them. But he then got directed to some alternate resolution group that JennAir has, and initially they offered to replace the ovens with different models at cost -- but when he mentioned to them that this is the second time we've had to replace both ovens in about five years, they said they'd replace them at about 1/4 of what we paid for the most recent set! I'd say that's just about the best outcome we could have gotten. The new ovens are on their way, to be installed by the local appliance store, and it's possible we could have them in time for the first Passover seder next Saturday, which we are supposed to be hosting (and for which we'd very much need functional ovens!). In the interim, we're planning meals that require cooking on the stove, in the microwave, or using a toaster oven -- did you know that you can bake a decent potato in a toaster oven? And if the ovens don't arrive in time, we'll just be extra cozy having seder at my parents' place.

Good Thing #3: Last weekend, the Mister bought a new car. That is not the good thing, but it's the impetus for what comes next. His previous car was still in good shape but was likely going to require some transmission work soon, and he decided he'd rather spend his money on something new. He's notorious for taking a long time to make up his mind about something, but the tariffs that just went into effect finally convinced him. He bought a plug-in hybrid, which I was quite happy about, but also a much fancier car than I would choose. When he was at the dealership, he texted to ask me if I wanted to talk it over with him before he made the deal, and I told him it was his decision because it would be his car -- and that if he got it, I felt it was time that I got a dog.

You see where this is going, right?

This sweet girl, an almost 4-month-old Jack Russell Terrier mix, will be coming to live with us next weekend. She's coming from a organization in Kentucky that rescues dogs from high-kill shelters; they have her mother and her four siblings. Their post for her describes her as "sweet, snuggly, and always looking for love and affection," which is pretty much exactly what we wanted in a dog. Her mother weighs less than 20 pounds, so we expect her to stay on the small side, too. The rescue organization named her Kitty (what a silly name for puppy!), but we will be calling her Ruthie -- full name, Ruth Barker Digsburg. 

Molly and I are ecstatic; the Mister seems to be accepting it. We girls will be going shopping this weekend to get everything we need to welcome her, and I've already read a book on puppy training. Although I grew up with a dog, she was about a year old and already housebroken when we got her (not to mention very meek and well behaved because she'd been adopted once before and then returned to the shelter when that family couldn't afford to keep her), so this is a whole new ball of wax. I'm hoping my boss will be amenable to cutting back my time in the office, at least for the first few weeks while we get her settled. Expect lots of puppy pictures and probably less knitting and reading than usual in the months ahead! And I welcome any advice those of you who have experience with puppies have to offer!

That's it from me for now. I hope you have some good things in your life this weekend!