Lessons in the School of Kitchen Remodeling, Part 3
When I tell my husband I never mind doing the laundry I truly mean it. Doing six or seven loads in a day when I’m home and tending to things there doesn’t bother me in the least. We have been married almost 38 years and, except for the first couple of months of our marriage, have had our own washer and dryer. Thus, when we began our kitchen remodeling project which led to redoing the adjoining powder room and laundry room, I was brought face to face with the reality of NOT having access to laundry facilities in our house!
Not having done this for quite a few years, I searched for a laundromat close to our house, of which there were not many… Once located, I loaded up almost 2 weeks of laundry, the laundry products, hangers and change. I managed to get things figured out (how hard could this really be, after all??!!), and proceeded to get the job done. I hadn’t counted on the prices having gone up drastically in 38 years($3.00 for a large load??), but soldiered on. Within a few minutes of arriving, I was startled by a strong odor. I looked up to see a young man coming down the aisle where I had just started my laundry, and of course he proceeded to use the machine right next to mine to wash his not so lovely smelling sleeping bag. He got it started and then went back outside to his grocery cart. He had a friend there who also had a grocery cart. Sadly, these were two young men who were in a bad place in life but they were not inclined to talk to anyone but each other. He came back in just long enough to take care of the sleeping bag and was gone again.
A little later, I looked up at the sound of two teenage girls who began arguing rather loudly. One threw something at the other and I was just praying I would get out of there alive and uninjured!
By the time I needed to dry the laundry, I had run out of quarters. I looked into my purse and all I had left was a $20. Great. I went to the change machine to get my quarters and they came out like it was a Vegas slot machine. I managed to catch them before too many rolled away. The whole process took about 2 hours. I was relieved to be done, but a little depressed thinking I would have to repeat this process until the laundry room was put back together.
The good news is that, after three tries at the laundry hauling process, I found a better laundromat and figured out that going early in the day is best. This is one more thing for which I will be thankful when the remodeling process is complete. I don’t want to forget about these simple yet essential things I have taken for granted when they’ve been readily available to me to use for so many years. I’ve certainly gotten lots of exercise going up and down the stairs to do all the things we CAN’T do on the first floor, and lifting the garage door up and down to gather things from the refrigerator we have in there…although the end isn’t yet in sight, trying to see this as a learning experience that stretches us out of our comfort zone is definitely a worthwhile exercise!
Faith Through the Journey 