This last month has been a test of my endurance. With no working dishwasher... I have been forced to face life the "old school" way(earlier described as the "little house on the prarie" way). There was a time when the idea of being a housewife and "doing dishes" was just about one of the most revolting ideas in my head. I pictured it in a demeaning way, and was totally turned off by the whole negative connotations surrounding becoming a "betty-crocker-housewife" as I used to call it. These days, as a REAL wife and mother, I still honestly cringe at the word"housewife", yet that's the role I am fulfilling right now. Luckily for me all the negative stuff I dreaded (like getting fat, not caring about my appearance, having to be a slave cooking and cleaning all day long..) have totally not been a problem. It's actually quite fun.

After we returned home from our trip to Florida, which, you can imagine, being without kids allowed us lots of moments for -umm--romance- let's call it. Oddly enough, we've now been back for nearly 3 weeks and my romance switch was completely shut down the minute we cracked open our front door. So, although I felt sorry to be stone cold, I have had absolutely not one drop of interest in- romance. Nada. Zip. And I have seriously wondered why! I mean, except for having more work in the kitchen due to not having a dishwasher... not much has changed here. Not only was I not feeling romantic, I was actually feeling depressed. Pretty badly, too. I sunk for the first 2 weeks home into a short term but deeply felt depressive funk.

And then... the light at the end of my tunnel arrived. My chandelier. I perked up unbelievably with that. I seriously felt like a TON better! No romance, but very much less depressed. And then... after four weeks of waiting... my blessed dishwasher arrives!! It is the right model, not dented, and it got installed yesterday. Soon my whole kitchen was clean. NO dirty stinky dishes in the sink and last night before bed Mark decided to reseal around our sink, which really freshened it up. With each hour I began to feel better and better. And this morning I woke up, happy. Peaceful. And for the first time in 3 weeks. I felt romantic. WHAT? MY clean kitchen has brought romance back into my life? It has. I have no explanation for it but my clean kitchen has spoken peace to my soul. That sounds really weird, I know. BUT it HAS. Somehow, I don't know if it's being a housewife, or just a woman, but having a sparkling kitchen has sparked life back into me after nearly a month long funk. I am left with only one thing to say.

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, KITCHEN AID.