The Story on Morning Glory

I have to take a moment to welcome the newest member of the Jamison family....no, not Jack, it's our new refrigerator! Who would have thought I'd get sooooooo excited about a new fridge! But alas, I am. Our old fridge was pretty old...not quite sure how old...when Jeff bought a house in Shreveport, the house came with a fridge. And that fridge came with Jeff from there. It wasn't a bad fridge, the ice kinda tasted funky (who knows what was growing in there) and the water filter hadn't ever been changed, but it worked...at least for the moment.

See, for the past, oh, 6 months or so, it's been making this crazy noise when the motor started up. Like it was shuttering into action, ready (or not quite so ready) to tackle it's monstrous job of cooling all of our cool and frozen goods. It usually didn't shutter long, maybe 5 seconds, 10 at the most. No big deal, it wasn't super loud, and just slightly concerning. Well, lately, it's been shuttering for pretty much 30-45 seconds. Ok, fine, when Jeff reads this, he'll remind me that it was probably 20 seconds at the most, but it felt like it went on forever! The worst thing that can happen, foodwise, is for the fridge to go out. You loose all the food, every thing's a mess, yadda yadda. So we decided it was time. Time to venture out to find a new fridge.

One of the great things that my mom passed down, is the excitement of getting a deal. A deal on a shirt or a bucket of ice cream evokes the same amount of excitement as getting a good deal on a house or a car! It's really kinda crazy...there are many times I go on a shopping spree, only to come home and not brag about the clothes I bought, but on what a good deal I got and how I should have payed this much, but really, I only paid this much! And that's probably the only thing that can get me out of bed at 8am Saturday morning to go to WalMart. I don't like WalMart...there are millions of people, all walking slowly (which is why Jeff won't go with me anymore), and although there are literally 40 checkout lanes, only 2 of them are open. And let me warn you, just because there are only 3 people in front of you doesn't mean that you'll be checking out anytime soon. There is very little respect for time at WalMart. But........once you've braved the people, walked the store a few times searching high and low for everything on your list, and waited for what seems like 9 years just to check out, you get to come home and make your husband guess how much you paid for ALL THIS! And THAT is rewarding. Just one other good thing about WalMart, putting on make up or anything other than your pajamas makes you one of the ones who "dressed up" for your trip out. And sometimes, that's a good feeling.

I truly diverge, but all that to say, I was determined to get a good deal on our fridge. I think all of our new appliances growing up (there weren't many, but there were a few) were bought at the "scratch and dent" place in downtown Palestine. It was a little defeating to think that I didn't have that option, and would have to shop at Lowes or something and not get that great deal that I knew was out there somewhere. Until a friend of mine mentioned that when they redid their kitchen, they got their appliances at the "scratch and dent place". As you can imagine, my ears perked and I did the 20 questions thing to get the info. So exciting!!!!!

So Jeff and I head out to Arlington to the "scratch and dent" place. The excitement's building, isn't it? We get there, and head to the back where they keep the goods. When I say "head to the back" I really mean that we head to the unair-conditioned warehouse behind the showroom. Nothing can stop me from that deal...even being 8 months pregnant isn't enough to stop me from walking that warehouse 6-7 times in the 104 degree heat! It's like heaven (and a little like hell) back there, we walk through the ovens (and of course I stop to look...can't wait for that new appliance!) and dishwashers (again, so exciting) and through one more door and there are rows and rows of fridges! My favorite thing about scratch and dent is that you truly have to look for that scratch or dent. They're not beat up beyond recognition, to the naked eye, it's like they're good as new! Perhaps a little of my "It's good enough, nobody will notice but me" comes out, but this time it's perfectly fine with me!

We walk around for ever, sweating like we're in Africa, until we find that perfect fridge. Jeff brought the tape measure and we've measured pretty much every fridge in the place, and decide on this one. You might want to imagine us walking around, sweat soaking through our clothes, me big as a house, Jeff bending down to measure the height of each and every fridge in our price range. Priceless, really.

Once the fridge is chosen, I'm so super excited. It's perfect! I can just picture it in my kitchen. We pay and head out. And did I mention the deal we got? We saved about $700! Um, that's amazing. If I do say so myself. And to this day, I don't see the scratch or dent. So when you come over, don't look too closely (like pretty much everything in our house) and if you do happen to see the scratch or dent, keep it to yourself, ok?

The fridge was delivered last Tuesday and with some mild construction (picture Jeff with a jig saw) the fridge fits and it is fabulous. No shuttering to get started, no ice that has a kinda funky smell and taste, just a nice, quiet fridge, fresh filtered water and clean ice. What more could I ask for?

For a week, I did think it had one small flaw. The freezer just wasn't wide enough to fit a frozen pizza. But today, I found this sweet little frozen pizza space beside the ice bin! I'm beyond excited. That was the one downside to my new fridge and it is no more! Yay!

As I posted on my facebook status on the way home from the store...does it mean you're getting old when you get this excited about a new fridge and dream of the day when you can get a new oven and dishwasher? And the consensus was yes. But every time I walk into my kitchen, I love my fridge more and more! So that must mean getting old is pretty much ok.