First trip to the 'Mat

....ok, so three gargantuan bags of Laundry in tow, my husband and I hopped in the car. There was a slight feeling of freedom and mischieviousness about it...like ooooohh laundry! What kind of trouble can we get into... hee hee hee???

The kids stayed at home with my Mom (who lives with us--more on that later), and she plopped a pork roast in the oven with all the glorious sides--a warm feast for when we returned.

The feeling at first was one of dread...how long would we have to pack up and go to the laundry mat before we could purchase a new washing machine? What kind of people would we encounter at the "laundrymat...eeewww?" We didn't even know how many quarters we would need..the last time we washed clothes in a public facility was...(ahem!)....college??

But the sun started to set over the horizon and my husband and I were free...a road trip to the 'mat. At least for the next hour and a half.

We got to the Mega Mat, which was so big and bright and clean, to our surprise. In went load one, then two, then three... $3.25 a pop to wash... BUT... we were getting ALL of the week's laundry done in one load time! Revelation!

There we sat... at first silent, waching the machines soap up and go round and round and round and round... Me, being the analytical one who believes that every single thing happens for a reason was pondering the reason for me being there on this particular day at that particular moment. Why? There had to be a reason. Drew, my husband, on the other hand, was thinking about what snack he was gonna get from the Mexican store next door. (Ofcourse he was.) He said, "I'll be right back, I need to go get change for this $20." He returns with a giant can of cold, coconut milk. I was like, "What is that?" I took a sip hesitantly, when all of a sudden, I felt chunks in my mouth! Chunks of coconut! Not flakes or slivers, but chuncks! I wasn't expecting that and nearly gagged. Drew looked at me and cracked up, and we found ourselves giggling like kids in a quiet classroom. We sat there for the next several minutes, watching people, observing, making comments to each other that no one else could hear. It was the start of something really good. There we were, doing something totally productive for our family, yet goofing off like kids.

We finished that laundry in an hour and a half... washed...dried...folded...home and put away! Tyhat's right...put away! It's one thing to wash and dry...it's a whole 'nother thing to fold and put away. And, we actually enjoyed a chore that would normally cause arguments, unappreciation, and stress in our household. Ofcourse, I had to make my calculations... (I think I get that OCDness from my Dad)... I figured I normally spent 12 hours a week being a slave to a neverending pile of laundry a week... that 's 48 hours a month! More than a full time work week EVERY SINGLE MONTH! Doing it this way, we would spend a mere six hours of silly time talking about stupid things we would never make time to talk about or laugh about.

We got back in the car, cheeks hurting from laughter, stomachs growling for the meal that awaited us. On the way home, I realized my purpose for being there.

The 'mat

There once was a girl... and that girl got married... the girl worked hard... the girl had kids... then one day, the laundry piled up, and the girl became stressed.

Welcome to "Talk Laundry To Me..." I never thought that one of my biggest sources of stress would become one of my biggest blessings...yep, I'm talking about laundry... the time-consuming, never-ending, pile of smelly, dirty clothes that overtook my free time. It didn't occur to me how stressful the laundry was, until I realized I was a slave to it. It seemed to multiply on a daily basis... no matter how much I washed and dryed, it never seemed to get folded, much less, put away. It was a constant reminder of how busy my life had become. And, the girl was not happy.

Backtrack a few years... happily married, proud parent of two, and overly busy with work, but making money out the wazoo... that was us. Sure, my husband and I made a comfy six-figure income, and we had every modern convenience known to man... except a full-time maid to do the laundry. Then, one day, the stress became too much, and something had to give. At about that time, we lost a business, and during the start of the recession in 2006, we struggled to stay afloat financially. Time went by as we quietly pondered our purpose in this life. Long story short... our washing machine broke. It was a goner. What would we do? No money in the account to buy a new washing machine, we stuffed three commercial-grade garbage bags full of laundry, and headed to the 'mat. That night changed my life and my marriage forever.

I invite you to subscribe to this blog...come on a journey with me... watch yourself go in a dirty, wrinkled, and stinky mess, and come out clean on the other side. Watch your marriage or your relationship grow exponentially, as you take my laundr-o-mat challenge in the weeks to come...