Fifty-one

My washing machine has been slowly going for the last few months.  Half the time the clothes just weren't spun out when the load was done.  But the problem was easily fixable, just run another spin cycle.  OK, OK I was treating the symptom and not the problem.  This fact hit home about a month ago when I went to run "another spin cycle" and my washing machine laughed at me.  Actually it was more of a grinding clanging sound.

Not good.

This was a Sunday and the laundry was fairly caught up, I was just doing a "bonus" load to teach Turkey how to operate the washing machine.  Yes, he had reached that magical age where he could start helping with the laundry.

A week went by and after church we went to the laundromat.  I felt prepared and ready.  I had gone to the bank on Friday and had $20 in quarters.

Then, before I could blink that $20 quarters was gone; AND I still wasn't done loading the machines.  I surveyed the piles around us; and somehow everything we owned was dirty.    How was this possible?  We had stopped using our cloth diapers when the machine broke.... OK, ok, cloth diapers really don't make up the bulk of our laundry.  It was nearly 2 weeks worth of clothes, and sheets, and towels, and more towels.

Sigh.  I considered becoming a nudist family.  Me and the boys would have no issue with this, but Husband yeah... not so much.  So $51 and 3 hours later our laundry was done.  You read that right - fifty-one dollars at the laundry mat.

The next week I was able to get away with spending $7.50, by washing everything in one load and drying it all at home.  And I only washed the essentials.

Sure the break from doing laundry every day has been wonderful; but it really is a pain in the butt to schlep to the laundromat not to mention the other small fortune we've spent on disposable diapers, refills for the diaper pain... and the poor rash that Monkey developed from all those disposable diapers.

Our washing machine served us well for nearly 9 years, but it's time had certainly come to an end.  We had considered fixing it; but the repairmen wanted $40 to just come to our house.  So alas we finally broke down and bought a new one. For an added bonus I was able to SELL the broken one, and get someone to haul it's poor tired broken frame out of my basement.

I never thought I would say this, but I cannot wait to get home tonight and do some laundry.  I'm actually looking forward to trying out my new machine.  It's the simple things, isn't it?