Easy Come - Easy Go

This morning when I checked the mail there was a letter from my mortgage lender. Apparently I'd overpaid on my 2011 property taxes and included in the correspondence was a refund check. It was such a pleasant surprise! Like always, I called my mom to share the good news. At the end of our conversation, as we were getting caught up on the previous day's happenings, she said that her washing machine was kaput and the cost of repairing it was more than a new one. I'd already thought of a million different ridiculous ways to spend the refund check but I found myself offering to put in for the new washer. Trust me, this was an easy call to make. My parents have sacrificed so much for me over the years and a new washer is the very least I could do to say thank you.