The Mother Hen

Hot Jeff and I bought each other a fancy-schmancy coffee pot for Christmas; it was no Walmart coffee pot like our last one but a shiny, stainless steel Mr. Coffee, complete with a timer so you can have that fresh coffee smell upon waking! It was by far, our favorite thing in the house. Every morning since Christmas we've been drinking a delicious cup of coffee from our lovely coffee maker until one recent morning when it just stopped brewing. Seriously, one morning it brewed, the next it didn't. We tried all sorts of things to fix it and decided that it was still under warranty so we'd just send it back.

I hopped online and found the nearest Mr. Coffee repair/warranty shop: Beaverton. Perfect. Just a 50 minute drive away and I'd be back to coffee heaven. Last week the kids and I, in need of a reason to get out of the house, decided it was a good day to take the coffee pot to Beaverton.

We drove to the little shop off Farmington road and were greeted by 3 narrow aisles of second-hand appliances. Shelves and shelves of toasters, blenders, mixers and yes, coffee pots. I looked around the shop and saw above the cash register a large, carved, wooden sign that said, "Jesus Christ is Lord". This led me to believe only one thing: they don't actually repair appliances they just lay hands on them and pray for a healing. From the back I heard, "I'll be right with ya'." We waited, and waited and waited. Finally a middle aged woman, wearing an over-sized Tweetie Bird shirt appeared and said, "What can I do for ya'?"

I explained the coffee pot had mysteriously stopped brewing and produced a receipt to prove it was purchased less than a year ago. She ignored the receipt and and started writing on a work order. She wrote quickly and pushed it towards me, "Put your name and address on it" she said gruffly. I saw on the explanation line she had written, "don't brew no more". "You'll get a new one in 4-6 weeks; it'll come in the mail." It took every ounce of restraint I had to not write next to it, "Doesn't brew anymore. Happened suddenly and without incident."

So the waiting begins for the new coffee pot. The only thing that could make me happier than the delivery of the coffee pot is if Appliance Lady delivers it herself in her Tweetie Bird t-shirt.

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You all suck when it comes to choosing a sewing machine name... Opal won with an overwhelming percentage of the vote. The name 'Opal' clearly has a mandate with you people. I really wanted to name her Frances but since I left it up to you guys I will respect your votes and name her Opal. Her middle name will be Frances though and we shall always refer to her as Opal Frances, got it? And for the record, I chose the name Frances because that's Baby's name in one of my all time favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. Remember when Johnny (Patrick Swayze) asks Baby what her real name is and she tells him Frances? Then he says, "Frances. That's a real grown up name." Now that is good writing.