My Blog: www.rebutler.wordpress.com
Tweet with me: @rebutlerauthor
My Amazon Page: Click here
R.E. Butler has called Southern New Jersey home for the past three years, and lives there with her husband, two young children, and two dogs. She retired from her executive assistant job at 27 to become a stay-at-home mom, and took the plunge into self-publishing in 2011, with the first in her wiccan-were-bear novella series. When she's not busy chasing her kids and dogs around, you'll find her working at her laptop, arguing with her characters, and avoiding housework as much as possible.
My Best Friend the Dishwasher
by R.E. Butler
There isn't a whole lot that it takes to make me happy. A few quiet minutes in the morning with a hot
cup of tea. The smiles on my kids' faces. A good book.
And, oh yeah, my dishwasher.
I'm a child of the 80s.
I remember when my father installed our first dishwasher. No longer would I be shackled to the kitchen
sink after dinner, elbow deep in suds while my brother dried. Since then, I haven't hand washed a dish
unless it was imperative to keeping the dish in top shape. Like the set of pans my husband got me last
year. They all have to be hand washed,
damn him. I love the pans, hate to wash
them, and I'm lazy enough to debate the need for a non-stick surface every time
I use them and consider shoving them carelessly into the dishwasher. And then there's my Great Grandmother's
hundred year-old dishes. They didn't
even have dishwashers back then, so guess what?
Hand washing. Every time. Which is why they're tucked away in the
cabinet except for holidays.
I didn't realize how much I really loved my dishwasher until
it broke on Monday. For some reason,
right when it was full to the brim with dishes, it wouldn't start. I had to empty everything out for my
handy-man husband so he could figure out what was wrong with it. Turns out it needs a new control panel. $150 later, I'm a week out from delivery
which means - horror of horrors! - I have to hand wash my dishes for the next
week.
I know what you're thinking.
Hey, you're a woman of the 21st century. You can wash dishes. Well, of course I can, but the truth is, I don't want to. My husband said the way I was carrying on
about washing dishes, that it sounded as if I'd gone back into the stone ages
with the loss of one modern convenience.
I have to say, it kind of felt that way.
When I wrote The Tribe's Bride, I set the majority of the
story in the late 1600s, with a fictional Native American tribe that set up
residence in a mountainous region. I did
extensive research about what life was like back then; how people hunted,
cooked, sewed and lived. The heroine,
Carrie, is dropped from modern times back into the 1600s. Writing about her coping with the abrupt
changes to her life as she learns to live without any modern conveniences
taught me a lot. The main thing...that
I'd make a lousy pioneer.
There are a lot of things I could live without. The
television, my Jacuzzi tub, and even my Kindle because I could always go back
to reading books from the library. But
in all honesty, I don't think I could live without my dishwasher. I crave the time saving that comes with
pouring in some soap, shutting the door and pushing the 'start' button. Call me lazy if you will, but if washing the
dinner dishes by hand means I can't cuddle with my kids and watch SpongeBob
(who, by the way I could definitely live without), then I'll take my
dishwasher, thank you very much.
My dishwasher. How I
miss you.
If there was one
modern convenience you absolutely couldn't live without, what would it be? Comment (and leave your email address) for a chance to win one ebook from
R.E.'s backlist. A winner will be drawn in ONE week, on 9/17/12.
I have to totally agree with this! I was fooled into doing dishes as a 6 yrs old by my evil teenage sister, who didn't want to do them alone. When I became a teen, I was lucky enough to have a dishwasher to use. Yay! Now, I am lucky enough to have my own teenagers to scrub what needs to be hand scrubbed. And if all else fails, paper plates are recyclable =)
ReplyDeleteYes, my older brother assured me that "washing was far more fun than drying". Liar! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to do the scrubbing, too!
DeleteI have to totally agree with this! I was fooled into doing dishes as a 6 yrs old by my evil teenage sister, who didn't want to do them alone. When I became a teen, I was lucky enough to have a dishwasher to use. Yay! Now, I am lucky enough to have my own teenagers to scrub what needs to be hand scrubbed. And if all else fails, paper plates are recyclable =)
ReplyDeleteGrowing up we all had regular tasks. My sister did all the laundry for our house of seven and I was in charge of dishes. Our younger brothers "helped". Our dishwasher broke and after two days of handwashing, I broke out in a rash from hand to elbow and my mom had to take over.
ReplyDeleteTo this day, at my house, we still have to fight over who empties and who fills, with filling being the preferred job. But both are preferred over the dreaded handwashing.
Oh my! I was thrilled when my daughter was tall enough to put the silverware away in the high drawers. I would say I prefer filling to emptying now, but filling also involves hunting out all the cups my husband leaves around the house so it's a scavenger hunt as well.
DeleteThank you so much for having me on today, Mysti, to share my dishwasher-less misery. All the best, R
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a dishwasher in over 7 years..ever since my husband and I moved in.I don't miss it either..my would die without my tankless hot water heater..I love having an endless supply of hot water..it helps with my hour long showers and 2 hour long baths
ReplyDeleteWow! I suppose after 7 years, you really don't miss a dishwasher at all! I've heard of those kinds of water heaters, how cool!
DeleteI always hating washing dishes because my parents have a sink that you had to lean way over to use, and it always made my back hurt.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I think the appliance I really can't live without is my washing machine. If I had to wash my clothes by hand (or dry clean), I'd be forced to move somewhere warm and just be naked.
I like the alternative to no washing machine as becoming a nudist!
DeleteHey peeps!! Don't forget to leave your email address if you want a chance to win one of R.E.'s Books! That way, I'll be able to contact you. You can leave it like this: mystiparker (at) yahoo (dot) com to avoid spam bots.
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth? You don't know how much you miss something until it's gone. I love my dishwasher, but at least I have the sink if necessary. I just cannot go without my washing machine though. Wish my family of five, laundry is an every-day thing. I had to drag our clothes to the laundrymat for a while when it broke down and was SOOOO thankful when we got the new one. :)
I think we don't miss a lot of things until they break suddenly. For a large family, a washing machine is a definite must-have!
DeleteOoops! I knew I forgot something. My e-mail is wordvagabond (at) gmail (dot) com.
DeleteThe internet. That is all. :)
ReplyDeletepyrosama at comcast dot net
Hear hear! I definitely feel the pinch if I can't get online during the day!
DeleteHail the dishwasher :)
ReplyDeleteSomeone ought to write an ode to it!
DeleteI would miss my camera. I love taking photographs. I can always pick up a physical copy of a book and if I had to I could reread the ones I have. The written word has been around for a long time, so there would always be something to read.
ReplyDeleteSo cool! I love really love photography and capturing special moments.
DeleteIt would be a washer/dryer. I couldn't live without either of those! My kids would definitely say dishwasher though. LOL
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about the washer/dryer, I'm thinking I'd like to lump it in with the dishwasher as something else I'd rather not live without!
DeleteUgh...I actually really hate using the dishwasher...it's used as storage for plastic bags, aluminum foil, and ziploc bags in my house. I never had one growing up and as a teenager my mom got one and I even hated it when she used it...don't know really why. I could not go without the internet! There's just way too many things I use the internet for. :-)
ReplyDeletealexandra (dot) gregory (at) live (dot) com
So funny! I have a double oven and I store stuff in the bottom (usually pots and pans) because I don't use it, but it never fails that at least once a month I turn it on accidentally and start baking all my stuff!
DeleteCongratz Alexandra! You're the winner! RE will contact you shortly to arrange prize delivery. Thanks for visiting!!
DeleteAfter reading all the comments, my mind changed with each item. I think I could go naked, use paper plates, plastic ware etc, but do without the mighty Internet - No Way!
ReplyDeleteBut since going naked isn't a good idea, I'd sure miss permanent press fabric too. Boy did ironing suck bug time.
leona59(at)msn(dot)com
:-) I hate ironing. Thank goodness for a drycleaner who delivers in my town! That is definitely a modern "convenience" I could live without. But yes, I do love my internet.
DeleteI forgot email to megheanalejandro1987(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI would miss the shower and toilet. I need a modern bathroom. I can't even image how the people in histiry survived without it. I need a hot shower and flushing toilets.
ReplyDeletemythic021@gmail.com
I don't know how they did, either. It's why I don't camp.
DeleteYes, indoor plumbing!! I'm so not a camping girl. The closest I'll come is a furnished cabin in the woods...with plumbing! :D
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, I COULD do without the internet, though I'd sulk royally for a long while.
Poor Jeannie's posts never seem to work here. I found it in my inbox, so here's another one for ya, R.E. :)
ReplyDeleteFrom Jeannie Langston:
I think my can't-live-without modern convenience would be the Air Conditioner. I live in Texas and it is a literally can't live without item. With temperatures in the triple digits for at least three full months out of the year, not to mention all the months in the 90's...I couldn't imagine living without AC. I know they used to do it, but I still can't imagine it. Like you guys I was tricked into washing dishes at around 6 years old. It just looked so fun then. In my mind I was just playing in the water. I did dishes all the way up til I moved out, then I made sure that I had roommates who didn't mind doing dishes (I would trade just about any chore for doing dishes) and Now, I am lucky to have married a man who does dishes. We made the understood agreement that I cook and he does dishes, so I rarely have to do dishes any more (only when he is away for business, which isn't often). As for the internet, I wouldn't want to, but if it came down to it, I could live without it. In fact it would probably be better for my writing...lol...too many distractions on the internet takes away from valuable writing time.
illbeyoureverything2001@yahoo.com
Jeannie, it must have been a right of passage to be tricked into washing dishes for many of us. My husband and I had the same agreement and then we got married and suddenly, he stopped doing dishes. Tricky!
DeleteForgot my email when I posted first time. Filadog@gmail.com =)
ReplyDelete