If you put baking soda and vinegar in the washer....

Expect a problem.  I'm very sensitive to perfumed laundry detergents.  They bother my nose and I can't stand to be around them.   It's typically the only issue I ever have with any kind of hand me down: getting the smell of the flowery detergent out of the clothing.  Usually baking soda does the trick.  It may take a few cycles in the washer, but the smell comes out.

My mother in law recently gave us a Christmas themed woven throw that belonged to Bryan's grandmother who passed away last December.  As soon as she told me that she had washed it, I began to groan.  I can't stand the smell of her detergent.  (Doesn't she know we have a washer and dryer here?)  I've washed this throw a few times and still the perfumed detergent smell lingered.  So last night I decided I was going to give baking soda and vinegar a try.  The result?  The white side of the red and white throw is now dark pink.

I'm washing it again with baking soda and some stain remover.  I wonder how it will look in another hour.

Whew! I've been busy!

We spent the weekend hanging out with our neighbors and getting a few minor things done around the house.  By Sunday night I was totally wiped out.  Who knew socializing could be so exhausting?  The good news in we had a great time with our neighbors.  Bryan and I are just so happy that we have friends that we can hang out with in our neighborhood.  It's been a while since we've had people to hang out with on the weekends. (We're really not as pathetic as I just made us sound.)  The bottom line is we had a great time.  And since I haven't mentioned it lately, I just love my neighbors.  I don't have a single one that I dislike.  That's pretty cool in my book.

Today I took Ellie to get her birthday pictures done.  She acted like a goofball the entire time Erin (our super cool photographer) was shooting her.  Sadly, I only managed to get 4 shots that I liked.  Then the girls decided to fight in the store (FUN!) and totally irritate me.  Ellie made me totally regret buying her the matching purse for her birthday dress.  She fooled around with it for the pictures and then started using it as a weapon against Madeline.  She'll make a mean old lady with a purse some day.  Watch out muggers!  Ellie will take you out before you can blink.

Then, I made a scary decision to take the kids to Wal-Mart.  I don't like to go to Wal-Mart, ever.  I go in the store only when I'm desperate or need to find something that no one else sells.  That said, I probably wind up in that store 2-3 times a year.  I was in there to look at Corelle dishes (I'm tired of the pattern on my current set.  I think it's to be expected with Corelle that you tire of the pattern before the dishes actually need to be replaced--those things last FOREVER!) and I also wanted to see if I could find a palm tree tooth brush holder.  I didn't get new dishes (wasn't planning on making that final decision today), but I did get a toothbrush holder.  I went to a lot of stores over the past two weeks looking for one.

I also managed to get my huge backload of laundry washed and folded.  I had ten loads of wash.  I'm now down to half a load of stragglers.  I'm pretty happy with that.

I even found the time to read some of the book I'll be reviewing soon for The Catholic Company, too.  I'm going to be burnt out by tomorrow after all that I've done over the past few days!

It's Summer. Aren't I supposed to have LESS laundry?

During the Winter months I wistfully yearn for the Summer months when the laundry piles are smaller.  Winter clothes are bulky and often have layered tops.  Not to mention socks and undershirts for the girls.  The pajamas are static nightmares that constantly zap me.  Yes, Winter laundry is one of my least favorite things to do.

Now that Summer is here, I should be enjoying less laundry, right?  We wear less clothing during the Summer.  Sweaters and jeans have been exchanged for sundresses (God's gift to moms of little girls), shorts and tank tops.  In theory, my laundry loads should be cut in half.  I realized that something has gone terribly awry in the laundry department last night.  Instead of having less laundry to do, I seem to have twice the normal amount.  What gives?

I took a few moments to freak out over the mountain range of laundry covering my laundry room floor and part of the basement hallway (yes, it was that bad).  Did I forget to do laundry last week?  No, I remember folding and putting lots of laundry away on Thursday and Friday.  I pondered the situation a little more.  Ellie has been having accidents a couple nights each week.  Right there, I'm looking at 2 extra loads of laundry per accident.  We've had two such incidents in the past 3 days. Ugh!  Then I realized that the beach towel situation was pretty bad, too.  We've gone swimming every day since Friday (or was it Wednesday or Thursday?) and right there that is one load for towels and one for the bathing suits (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the 18 minute "Fast Wash" setting on my new washer? I don't have to hand wash bathing suits after every swim anymore.  Yay!).  Then, upon further inspection of the laundry, I realized that Madeline has been changing her clothes to play outside since we have a rule of no skirts, dresses or sandals while riding bikes.  And, let's add Bryan's two outfits a day during the work week onto the pile.  I'm starting to think that Winter laundry isn't all that bad, but I'd rather have the warm weather. 

It's not a lifestyle I could ever embrace, but sometimes, I'm just a little envious of those who live as nudists.  I wonder if maybe some of them decided to live that lifestyle so they could get a leg up on the epic laundry battles.  Think about it, they probably only have towels and bed linens to wash.  I could take care of all that in a few hours.

I'll be back in business tomorrow.

The laundry business that is.

We went to Lowes this morning and brought a new washer and dryer.  I've been eyeing up the Electrolux product line for close to a year now, but I didn't want to spend the money on them.  They're pricey and buying them when I had functioning machines didn't exactly make sense.  Since our washer decided to bite the dust yesterday, we had no choice but to buy a new one.  It didn't make sense to me to get a fancy new washer and keep the dryer that has seen better days (I think it's been leaking gas since we moved here 23 months ago--not good, I know).  So off we went to Lowes to buy a new washer and dryer.  Bryan decided to spring for the pedestals, too.  I'll get to put all my laundry stuff in one area instead of having to use my Ikea shelving for laundry stuff.  

While I got the washer and dryer that I wanted, I did have to sacrifice aesthetics to save some money.  I really wanted a blue or aqua washer and dryer, but it's not worth accruing debt to get a cool color.  So I got plain old boring white, but the folks at Electrolux gave their white a cool name.  It's "Island White".  I would have loved to have had the Mediterranean Blue appliances, but it wasn't worth spending over $300 for a cool color.  No one ever goes in my laundry room so I guess the color doesn't matter.  And really, it's not like I'm going to start showing off my unfinished basement laundry room to everyone that stops by.  So even if I did have the cool color, no one would see it.

Since we have a bad track record with washers, we opted to buy the extended warranty.  So we should be good for the next 5 years.  I'm hoping that the new machines will last me at least 10 years.  That would be really nice and would make the price a little easier to swallow.

Why now?

Bryan is getting ready to head out to California for the week on a business trip.  So I'm going to be doing the single parent thing from Monday until Saturday morning.  The week is already filled with obligations, so I'm going to be busy.  The last thing I need is a broken appliance.

I went downstairs to do some laundry this morning and I noticed that the clothes in the washer were awfully wet (insert unenthusiastic "Yay!" with sarcastic inflection here).  So I figured I should do another spin cycle and see if that helped.  It didn't.  Another washer bites the dust.  This is our second washing machine in 9 years.  What on Earth are we doing to these things?  Both of my girls had pretty bad reflux as babies so we have used our washers more than the average consumer.  Each washer did 1-2 loads a day at a minimum for a full year before going back to normal levels of use, and each endured a round of potty training.  The dryer has been a trooper.  The faithful dryer has been serving us without fail for over 8 years.  Thanks to onesie snaps, the pain has worn off the inside of the dryer in many places.

Tomorrow, Bryan and I will have to go to Lowes and pick out a new washer and dryer.  I'm praying that they can have them delivered on Sunday.  I have laundry piling up and I need to wash Bryan's clothes for his trip.  This seriously could not have happened at a worse time.  And worst of all, I still haven't decided what type of washer I want.  I've been trying to decide what I want for nearly 2 years.  I can't decide between a front loader or an agitator free HE machine that is a top loader.  I just know that I need a machine that can accommodate my king-sized comforter. 

So now I get to stress out about a washer and dryer as well as Bryan's upcoming travel. Ugh.

They're done!

I just finished painting all the doors on the main level. Inside I'm really happy that I'm done, but my body isn't feeling as enthusiastic about this job being completed.  My back, neck, arms and hands hurt.  I guess I pushed myself a little too far this week.  And since I spent too many hours breathing in paint fumes I now have a massive headache, but it's only on the right side.  

I need a Margherita pizza from Rustico.  They make my version of pizza heaven.  The pizza may not make my headache go away but it will make me feel better.  Pizza and candy are my ultimate comfort foods.  I have to wait another 40 minutes before I can order my delightful pizza since I want Madeline's slice of run of the mill pepperoni pizza to still be hot when she gets home from school. Her school has had half days most of this week and they don't let the poor kids have lunch at school on half days.  She's been coming home famished the past 3 days.

I think Ellie is happy that I'm done with the painting.  She did a little dance where she was shaking her tush when I told her I was done.  It's nice to see that someone is happy to see that I'm done running myself into the ground for a little bit.  She wanted to pose in front of the door when I was taking a picture of my work.  See how the door and woodwork match?  I'm very happy that I will be looking at a  nicely painted doorway when I'm eating from now on.  I love how Ellie just had to put her hands on the freshly painted door.  I give it less than a week before it is covered in dirty fingerprints.

I have a mountain of laundry that I need to tackle sometime today.  Bryan hasn't had any clean jeans for a few days now.  He thinks its my evil plot to make him wear khakis.  If I recall correctly, he didn't have any jeans for Mass on Sunday, so he had to dress nicely (poor guy). And yesterday I noticed he wore nice pants to work.  I asked him if he was dressing nicely for me, but apparently he was dressed in khakis because his lazy wife who's been playing with paint and pulling weeds never got around to washing his clothes.  Now I know what I have to do to get him to dress nicer (insert maniacal laughter here).