Did you know there’s such a thing as a portable dishwasher that doubles as a butcher’s block-style kitchen island? The whole thing’s on rollers with, like, retractable hoses and a power cable. My mom told me about them when I was in the Tri-Cities last weekend and now it’s all I can think about whenever I walk into my kitchen (where 90% of the counter space is occupied by dirty dishes). We’d been using my sister’s dishwasher upstairs, but it stopped working; keeps flashing the “clean” LED and won’t respond to button pushing. She says it does it all the time and she doesn’t know how to fix it. We tried cutting its power to reset it, but it went right back to the LED flashing (which is apparently some kind of error message for that model).

Anyway, one of these portable/island dishwashers would be perfect down here. The kitchen is weirdly large, but the layout doesn’t really lend itself to a table (assuming you actually want access to the fridge). An island would be ideal, however.

My parents (with help from my sister and her boyfriend, I guess) remodeled the old TV room at their house in Pasco. Took out the huge sectional sofa, ripped out the carpet, put down hardwood floors, did some kind of drape stuff, moved in some Amish-built furniture. Looks a million times nicer. I still find it hilarious that, at some point in the 1990s, my mom thought teal carpet and mauve walls was an appealing combination. I’d totally sleep there during my stays if it wasn’t for my allergies and their sixty-three cats.

I wish I had a “before” picture — you wouldn’t believe what an improvement this is.

I made pancakes for dinner last night. Dead simple: Krusteaz mix, water, cook, slather with Country Crock, pour on syrup, eat. I don’t think there’s really any room for improvement… I don’t like my hotcakes with stuff in ‘em. Chocolate chips, blueberries, etc. just detract from the integral flapjackness. Crêpes, OTOH, are really versatile. Have to try those next time I’m in a breakfasty mood (which isn’t often).

This week I discovered I can give myself heatburn by burping a certain way. Isn’t life grand?

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