Moving On

By Stacy Johnson

My dryer has been dying a slow death. You know when it takes almost two hours for anything to dry, there is something wrong. Yes, I’ve cleaned the lint screen to remove the dryer sheet buildup that is invisible. But this isn’t about my dryer, this is about my washing machine. My washer actually gave up on one load this weekend, she stopped right in the middle of draining. I had to go into the laundry room and cheer her on to drain, rinse, then spin the load. I put in two smaller loads to end the day then I gave her a break on Sunday and didn’t ask her to do any work. I got up early this morning to catch up on what didn’t get done on Saturday and she did it to me again. I had to stand there and jimi-rig her with a screwdriver to finish the load. She made me mad, but then I stopped to think about my sweet machine.
She was the first large purchase we made after moving into our first home. I was so proud of her. She sat there at the back of my laundry room, gleaming white, her sticker touting “extra large capacity” made me so excited to do my first load. I only had 3 kids then and I could get the laundry done in one day, easy. There are seven children now, and she is hard at work at least 5 days a week. She’s moved with me five times since that first house and she has rarely given me any problems. I’ve tried to reward her with a new hose every move, I give her a good cleaning regularly and I’ve even bought her some new parts over the years. I even wrote a paper for school about her, you can read it here. http://johnsonteammom.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-am-sicko-who-loves-to-do-laundry.html I’ve been good to her and she’s been good to me.
That is why I feel a little guilty today. For family night, we will go and purchase a new set. A new washer and dryer that will make my old ones look like they belong in a doll house. A new set that will wash and dry in half the time and do twice the amount in one load. I’m already feeling less guilty about it. And, I think with a newer, more efficient washer and dryer, this will surely free up some more time for writing, right? Guilt gone.