Remember this?

Yes.  That’s the floor of the laundry room.  Granted, you can’t actually see the floor, but it’s under there.  I promise.

We have been using a washing machine that we inherited when we purchased our last house.  It was a real pretty set with a lot of bells and whistles – and I hated it.  It had a capacity suited for empty-nesters who use the same towel all week – not a family of 7 who washes articles laced with one body fluid or another every few days.

So, what’s a mom to do?  Craigslist!  (In its verb form, of course.)  That’s right.  I dug through everything we own and found all of the things that we didn’t need or use any more.  Most items were things my husband has been threatening to throw away for over a year at least.  His threats were always met with, “but I can sell that!”  Well, I finally followed through with my promises and made enough money to buy a new washer and dryer.  This time with a 4.7 Super Capacity!  The set is getting delivered on Tuesday, and I am SO excited!  Apparently, it doesn’t take diamonds to make my heart leap anymore, just large appliances.

While we’re on the subject of laundry, I thought I would share a little bit about the laundry system that I instituted about 6 months ago. It consists of me sorting, washing and drying our clothes, and then unloading them into personal laundry baskets.  Each person has a basket, and he or she is responsible for taking it from the laundry room to her room and putting away their clothes.  Undies, pajamas, shorts, pants and skirts get put in drawers, and dresses and shirts are hung up.  I will say that the ‘drawered’ items are rarely folded in any sort of recognizable fashion, but you know what?  I don’t really care. It’s either that, or everyone just has to get dressed in the laundry room.  I mean, in light of eternity, I’m thinking it’s just not that big of a deal.

Now, I am intending to have the kids start helping with laundry at some point in the near future, but the control freak in me is having a bit of a hard time with that.  I mean, I’ve let go of the need for pretty, organized drawers of clothes and closets with hangers facing the same direction.  I think that’s real progress.  It’s all about baby steps, people.

And for my sweet husband – I in no way meant to insinuate that I don’t like diamonds or don’t want any new ones.  I’m sure you can appreciate that that comment was really just for humor’s sake.  Just thought I should clarify that to eliminate any future confusion.