~ Not having to go to work. Best part of having your birthday on a Saturday.
~ Sleeping in. Bliss.
~ Coffee. Lots of choices.
~ A beautiful day. Lots of sunshine. Open windows in the house.
~ About 30 notifications on Facebook with lots of friends loving on you.
~ A little get together with friends this evening with brinner to look forward to.
~ Fireworks to blow off later.
~ Free Starbucks for later this afternoon.
~ Feeling loved.
My parents know the way to my heart. Coffee.
My mom asked me last week what I wanted for my birthday. I never have a good answer to that question, not like I used to at the age of eight, where I could provide a mile long list of all my wants. As an adult, I’d simply love a long day off with a foot massage. Hard to wrap that up.
They came up with a great gift despite my lack of help. In my e-mail inbox early this week, I received an e-mail from Keurig. Drew found one of their single cup brewers at Goodwill last year for way cheap, and it looked as if it had never been used.
My parents had bought one of these contraptions a few years back, and I found it quite fun. I enjoyed visiting them so I could browse their k-cup selection and pick the perfect one for my morning. All the flavors were fun, and the thing made a pretty good cup of coffee.
Still being a coffee snob, refined after two years of working in a coffee shop, I enjoy my freshly ground cup of coffee. However, I do enjoy the k-cups and how easy they are. The coffee is pretty tasty too! I’ve bought a few boxes and found some of my favorites. With my Keurig gift card, I was able to buy more k-cups. I found that most of the flavors came in sample sizes, where you could get five k-cups to sample. Perfect! Rather than buying large boxes of maybe two or three kinds of coffee, I was able to buy about thirteen kinds! I had a great time browsing through the selection on the website and salivating over the flavor descriptions.
My big box of cupped coffee arrived yesterday, so this morning I was able to browse through my many choices and pick my morning cup.
I decided on Barista Prima Coffeehouse. Quite tasty.
I think Double Black Diamond might be tomorrow morning. With names like that, you can’t go wrong…
Thanks Mom and Dad!
We bought our washer and dryer yesterday, and I can’t wait for our new front loader stackable washer and dryer to arrive. Unfortunately, it won’t be in until Wednesday, which leaves us three more days with no way to do laundry. It’s possible we could have lasted, but we were scraping the bottom on some of our clothes. Drew was going to drop it all off at a wash dry fold place, but since I had President’s Day off, I decided it was silly for him to do that while trying to get to work. I bagged it all up and headed for the laundromat.
I am a spoiled brat. I have never used a laundromat in my life. I have hand-washed clothes in a bucket in the mud in Uganda, but have never set foot in a laundromat. Since I lived at home for college, I have never lived more than 20 feet from a washer and dryer. I figured now was as good as time as any to have my laundry adventure.
Okay, not the most exciting adventure, but I figured I should make the most of it. Drew informed me of proper laundromat etiquette; if there’s lots of people, don’t use too many washers or dryers. But, if the place is empty, make use of the many washers. That’s what I did. There were about 7 – 8 empty washers and not many people, so I made use of five. I threw all my loads into different washers and was good to go. I took the few minutes I had to walk to the Dollar Tree and buy a bottle of water, then saw a friend on the way back and chatted for a minute. When I returned, I had maybe 10 minutes left on the first load. The rest were done within about 10 minutes after that. Fantastic!
Drying took longer, as it seemed more people showed up. I tried not to hog five dryers, so it took me a bit longer to get it all dry. Even when things were “dry” they still seemed a little damp. But I was tired of waiting and figured I could hang it all up to finish drying once I got home.
I am glad that I haven’t had to use laundromats in the past. Lugging it all out to the car, saving quarters, and sitting on cold folding chairs waiting on it to finish isn’t great fun. Finishing five loads of laundry in an hour and a half was quite nice. Doing that much at home would take all afternoon. But in that afternoon I could be cleaning the rest of the house.
Drew had mentioned that most laundromats probably have wi fi now. I thought about taking my laptop with me, but decided against it when I had to lug five trash bags of dirty clothes, detergent, and bleach with me. Good thing I didn’t. The laundromat I chose wasn’t the most “upscale.” I listened to the Chinese spoken by the employees while staring at the chipped tile floor. The only seating was cheap plastic lawn chairs and metal folding chairs.
I did speak briefly with one of the other customers. A cheap T.V. sat on top of the front loading washers, blaring news from CNN. The black woman folding laundry near me spoke about the bad news happening in Africa and I discovered she had an African accent. She spoke about how all the countries were fighting, including her own. I wish I had thought to say more, like how I love Africa, but all I could think to say was how sad it was. She agreed, then continued with her laundry.
So, even though it was an adventure, I’m thankful that my new washer/dryer set will be here soon.
I have heard from many people that once you buy a house, things start to break, one at a time. I knew it to be truth, and unfortunately, that painful truth is setting in for Drew and I. (Please no comments like I told you so. Yes Mom, I mean you. 🙂 ) The garage door, the A/C, and now our dryer. I was drying some towels the other night when I realized the dryer had been running a really long time. When I checked on, the timer had not moved, and there was no heat when I opened the door. And I still had wet sheets in the washer. Doh!
My handy hubby checked on it and discovered several things wrong with it. Fixable, but costing a couple hundred dollars, and probably taking a couple weeks to get parts in. He began researching new dryers, and we decided we might as well purchase a washer as well, especially after we talked about getting the stackable kind and creating more room in our very cramped laundry area. We’re still looking (okay, Drew’s doing all the work) but will probably purchase a set before the weekend is over.
As we wandered through Sears (and laughed when we saw the same couple that had just been at Best Buy looking at washers and dryers as well), I began thinking back to my time on mission trips. In Uganda, there are very few washers, and probably not a single dryer. Everything is hand washed. During my time in Makindye, at the training academy for the choir children, every Saturday was laundry day. The lawn was covered in bed linens drying in the sun, and the lines were covered end to end in tiny little t-shirts and pants. And these kids were good at washing… and quick. When it came time for me to wash clothes, the children stood off to the side and laughed at this clueless mzungu. One of the girls actually took my laundry from me, declaring, “No Auntie, like this.” I watched in amazement at her quick hands and how she wrung the clothes practically dry. This was an eight year old.
Likewise, when we arrived in America, they were just as amazed at all the machines that did all the washing. When they were told about machines that washed clothes, they laughed. When they saw it actually work, their eyes got bigger and bigger. They were amazed.
However, their amazement soon wore off. Some of the kids complained that their clothes weren’t clean. They claimed that they could get them cleaner with their hands. And they could. I watched them. They’d take it to the sink, and within a few minutes, have that stain completely gone.
My question is, when did these machines become a necessity?
I walked the many aisles at Sears, overwhelmed by steam technology and sanitizing rinses. We are so spoiled by our gadgets. I’m sure the folding robot isn’t too far behind. I say we are spoiled, and I include myself in that. I like my washer. I like throwing clothes in and walking away. I have washed clothes by hand; an entire suitcase full. My back ached from bending over the tub, my hands were raw from rubbing, and my clothes still reeked of B.O. I don’t know how those Ugandans do it, and do it so well. They truly amaze me.
For me, I will stick with my steam technology. And hopefully get the pile of laundry done in my closet. Soon.