Saturday Things

So our good friend, Karl, is here, "de-ice-damming" our roof. He just showed me the inside of our roof and how he is fixing it. It is so so cool. But it is FREEZING outside. Did I mention he is awesome? He is. He and his awesome fiancee, Britney, are getting married in May and we are so happy for them!

David just left to go to the doctor. His throat swelled up last night and it seems as though he's never really recovered from whatever we got before/after the wedding. He's also off for a haircut. Which leaves me to clean and unpack our piles and boxes from the past two weeks, and I am a very happy girl. I LOVE organizing and I have the house all to myself to do it in my very own OCD way!! I laughed the other day when David was looking for his spackle thing and I knew right where it was. I might not have known what it's called but I sure know where I organized it! LOL. David turned on Christmas music for me before he left and I'm good to go!

But before I'm in all my glory organizing our home, I promised a horse story. It is more a story of public washing facilities, but it does, indeed, involve a horse.

This past Monday, David packed up the laundry for me in the morning and I dutifully headed to the laundromat that night after an appointment. Anticipating some issues, I purposefully chose a laundromat in a very nice town, hoping that would make a difference in the cleanliness factor. Notsomuch. From the beginning, it was clear I was different from the other users. I carefully inspected every machine to find the one with the least amount of mold. I loaded clothes into those washers, working quickly to beat the others in line, only to decide that I found a better, cleaner washer just a few washers down. So, I'd move the clothes, carefully avoiding the machines that smelled like urine. Other people came in and simply shoved clothes into a machine. I marvelled at their ability to be so flexible! As my clothes finished washing, I patrolled the washers to make sure I could time the release of my clothes with an open dryer. The washers hit "zero" to signal the end of the wash cycle, and I performed acrobatics with my arms as to not let my newly washed clothes touch the inside/outside of the machines or the floors. Eww. I loaded the clothes into dryers and as I fed the dryers quarter by quarter (I did not want to overpay) I got the WORST itching sensation. My eyes itched, my throat itched, my HAIR itched. I was so itchy and miserable, but of course, I thought it was from the mold of the washers so I didn't obsess much. However, as I pulled my dry, clean victories from the dryer and folded them into baskets, the man with the dryer next to me opened HIS dryer, looked at me with a smile and said,

"Washin' my horse blanket. That horse sure does like to roll around in the mud."

HORSE BLANKET!!??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!???

As the clothes I had taken SO much care of this entire experience were getting horsie all over them, I pathetically prayed, "Please please please quit shaking that horse blanket and put it back in the dryer." He opened his dryer and shook that horse blanket three more times. Such defeat.

All I could do was smile, move my freshly folded clothes farther away from the horse blanket and time my trips to my dryer when his dryer was closed and controlling the horse. Oh. My. Goodness. At least his announcement explained the smell of urine in the washer and my uncontrollable itching, so those mysteries were solved.

I learned some valuable lessons that fateful night:

1. Always let your husband buy you a washer and dryer when he offers.
2. Laundromats are wonderful but most people use them for their dirtiest jobs.
3. Horses are itchy.

Yesterday we went to Uncle Steve and Aunt Carol's for dinner. They were gracious enough to also let us bring our laundry. Bless them.

Have a GREAT Saturday!