Well, things are starting to come together, little by little. It's been a long, slow process, but it seems like things are looking up.

First of all. Tuesday I was home when maintenance at our apartment finally came by to look at the dishwasher. Although he blamed it all on our soap, he decided he'd replace our dishwasher "just in case." Uh-huh. Just in case you're wrong and the dishwasher actually does suck, you mean?

We arrived home yesterday afternoon to a hand-written note on our door that said, "I came to install dishwasher. -Ed" There was no indication as to whether or not he actually did install it, but we knew he had come by! Thankfully, as we soon ascertained by the bike in the middle of the living room (why there? We don't know. It wasn't blocking the dishwasher) he had actually installed a new one. We haven't run it yet to see if it works, but my hopes are high.

Also, after several more conversations with incompetent Sam's employees (and one competent one) our bed is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. TOMORROW. That is super exciting for us :) Here's to our backs and our bodies waking up pain-free and refreshed! Although, the process included another several e-mails from Sam's saying our order was about to be canceled again, A talked to the one helpful supervisor, who assured us we were on schedule for delivery tomorrow. However, when we then called back (because of the order-threatening emails), we were told our order was for "a twin bed to be delivered to Illinois, right?" Uh......WRONG.

My hopes are a little less high for the ease of the bed transition than they are for a working dishwasher. Sam's has proven to be a slippery little sucker to pin-down, and to have horrible customer service, to boot. We shall see.

In other news: Thrifty Thursday! I'm all about finding some deals, so whenever I can find things I think would be helpful or of interest to thrifty people, I'll share. So, here's your Thrifty Thursday tips:

Next Thursday (7/29/2010) McAlister's is giving away free tea. Now, I don't care for tea myself - I think the stuff is nasty - but I have been told numerous times how magnificent McAlister's tea is. For my Raleigh peeps - the McAlister's I know of is in North Hills. Plus, on Thursday evenings, they have live music and shag dancing in the square at North Hills, so go get some sweet tea and then head over to the square for some dancing. What a lovely summer evening :)

Next Friday (7/30/2010) is National Cheesecake Day. Thus, the Cheesecake Factory is doing 1/2 price cheesecake all day. I CAN attest to the deliciousness of CF's cheesecake! Every flavor I have ever tried, in addition to their incredible whipped cream, is FANTASTIC. Anyone want to make it a date and hit up CF at Crabtree with me next Friday? I'm game!