Monday, July 20, 2009

Are we there yet???

Had a quiet day on Saturday, didn't do much. Ended up watching a movie at home. It was an old 80's film that I like so that was nice.
We will go see Harry Potter on Wednesday insha'Allah. It should be at the theater we like by then.

We went out today shopping for appliances and couches.
It was pretty hot today. About 97 or so. The only saving grace to walking from store to store outside, was that most of the stores had decent air conditioning. The one that didn't have a/c, was the one that we had to climb 4 floors to get to. Ouch. I was pretty close to passing out when we reached the 4th floor, as we had been walking in the street in the sun and I was just hot and sweaty and exhausted.

We found a stove that I like and the price is okay.



It is still smaller than the stove sizes we are used to in the States, but bigger than the teensy ones that so many people have here. We found one that was bigger, one of the really wide ones that look all fancy, but the door wasn't hinged nicely and it didn't open so easily and overall I decided on the smaller oven. Insha'Allah the size will be good enough.

We also found a fridge that is alright and big enough, though the color is not quite white. I would have preferred that the appliance colors match, but I think we'll survive. lol

We looked at cabinets for the kitchen, and found some nice ones in a couple of places, but the prices are a little more than we would like. In addition, you have to buy the counter tops separate than the cabinets. I swear they make it as difficult as possible here to furnish an apartment. :D
So, we are still looking around for the kitchen cabinets.

We did look at some washing machines, but I didn't find exactly what I wanted. It seems that to have a "full automatic" washing machine, I need to get a front loader, and I do not want a front loader. I like top loaders. I don't care if I can't see what my wash is doing, I have better things to do than watch my clothes get clean. lol
Also, the washing machines here, while close to the same size on the outside as the ones in the States, are very TINY inside. Like.... what are they doing with all that space inside the darn washer when the bin is only half the size of the ones in the States? I don't get it. Hubby doesn't understand what my problem with this is. He thinks the size is more than enough.
Well, the only machine that I found that was top loading wasn't full automatic. It was half automatic, but with just one compartment. Usually the half automatic machines have one compartment for the wash part, and another small compartment for the spinning. So, the half automatic that I saw was just one compartment (which is nice as you don't have to take the clothes out sopping wet and put them in the second compartment), but it doesn't wash automatically, like you have to manually change when the water will rinse and when it will spin, etc.
It is bigger than the automatic front loaders though.
I'm really torn. If this half automatic was just a full automatic, it would be perfect! Not sure what I will do, it bears thinking on.
I will try to see if there are other places we can look for washing machines.

Although we looked at some couches, we didn't find anything in our budget that screamed at us. Hubby found a leather sofa that he loved, but it was just a little bit too expensive. Plus it was the brown distressed looking leather/suede that I don't like. lol
He needs a man room to buy all the stuff that he likes that I can't stand. :D

So... we still need to buy anything. lol
As soon as we get the a/c's, we can get those installed and then get the painting done.

We have a guy who will be coming to clean out the bathrooms with some special cleaner for the grout that I'm sure I'd have a cow about if I knew what it was. They better wash it down real well after, and even so, I know I will be hosing it all down when I get there to make sure there is no cleaner left anywhere.
We will have him come and do the cleaning after we pick new handles for the sink and tub since he will install those as well.

I still think it will be a couple of weeks (or more) before we are able to move in, though hubby's initial estimate was two weeks from when we signed the contract. One week has already passed and I know we aren't going to be there in another week, though I wish we were. My wonderful husband has a way of being too optimistic when it comes to timelines, and after having been here for a little bit and hearing stories, I am too pessimistic! lol

Hoping to make a mix of lemon bars and apple pie, using the crust from the bars and the filling from the pie.
Hubby is most excited, after tasting the lemon bars, at me having my own kitchen to bake sweets in all the time. hehehe
I will post how it goes after trying the lemon/apple frankenstein.

3 comments:

Hoot Owl Hollow Nursery said...

I think you'll like the front load washer once you try it. I never had one until I was in grad school and one came with my apartment. It used much less water (good if you have to pay by the gallon - how does that work in Egypt?) and got my clothes cleaner than any washer I ever had. Most people I know who have switched to them wouldn't go back to a top loader.
Jane

LONDI said...

my washer is a front loader and I love it! You are going to make your hubby fat with all that baking!

Melissa said...

Water here... hmmm, what little I know is that if you live in an apartment building, you share the water load with everyone else in the building, and so pay an equal share of what gets used. Doesn't sound fair to me if you don't use much water, but I don't know if it works that way everywhere or what.

After 2 comments about loving front loading machines, I did some research online and it seems that there are mostly advantages to the front loaders, so I will consider them after all I suppose. We will see what kind of models we can find and then I will try to research the models online before buying.

And Londi... well... lol
He said he would stop eating so much oily and greasy food if I baked for him all the time, which is fine except I don't want to give him diabetes?
And yeah... don't want him fat either. lol