DISHWASHER!

Have I not mentioned that I bought a dishwasher? I didn't? Good, I get to go over the whole story again.

For many months now, especially with all this cooking I've been doing, I've been bemoaning my lack of a dishwasher. It seems like I have a never-ending array of plates, silverware, and glasses, all of which could be washed in a dishwasher (seemingly) faster and easier than I could do it myself. And because my sink is very small, if I stack a few glasses and plates in it, then when a big thing comes along like a cast iron pan, and it can't go into the sink, it sits out, dirty, on the stove. Forever. And then the dishes pile up around it and I can't use the cutting board because that's where the dishes are, and really, I start to go crazy. And that's no good. I did some research and read a lot of reviews. I learned several important things:

1. The place that I had set aside for my portable dishwasher wasn't tall enough for even the smallest "portable" dishwashers. I'd have to get a countertop version.

2. There's about three brands of countertop dishwashers available on the market, all about the same price.

3. There's none available on freecycle or craigslist, and they don't seem to become available. Countertop dishwashers are apparently a niche market.

4. There are some on Ebay!

5. Made a purchase!

I got the Edgestar Countertop Dishwasher, featured in Apartment Therapy. My Christmas money went for it. (Thanks, Grandma.)

So far, it takes longer to wash dishes--especially big ones, because only a few fit in at once--but that's because I've been letting the dishes pile up for several days and so I'm running a lot of loads. I hope that after this I'll run the washer once or maybe twice a day, wash everything, and keep my kitchen cleaned of dirty dishes and crumbs. Hey, I can hope!

The problem is, neither will THIS dishwasher fit in the space I've provided for it, mainly because it has to be a maximum of six inches below the drain source (my sink, so it can't go on the floor.) Right now my kitchen is taken up by huge appliances. I will have to rearrange.

And I will keep y'all posted on the status of the dishwasher.