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Monday, December 14, 2009

The Answer is 2 1/2 Hours:

The question is: How long does it take for 4 women to do approximately 25 loads of laundry, not counting the 5 or so bed comforters that also got washed?

So, last evening some of my lady friends and I, were sitting around complaining about how much we all hate to do laundry. We each had our own "laundry list" of reasons for disliking it:

My drier takes twice as long, if not more, to dry clothes as it takes to wash them

I hate folding it.

I hate putting it away

I hate folding it and putting it away because it's boring and lonely

No matter how much laundry you do, there is always more.... so it feels helpless and hopeless.... a lost cause....

This conversation led to one where we began comparing how much we were each behind on our laundry, approximating how many loads we had to do all together. Words like "mountain" and "sea" were used a lot. (P.S.- yes, my lady friends and I consider it a good time to sit around drinking wine complaining about laundry... why.... don't you?)

Somehow during all of this, we had this amazing idea to gather up every single stitch of laundry we each had, pile it into the car and meet up at The Soap Opera and just GET IT DONE. For once and for all. I can only imagine what we looked like as we barged in there, carrying in load upon load upon load of laundry: jeans, sweaters, sheets, comforters, pillows, blankets, onesies, socks, towels.... just EVERYTHING. I know that I myself washed 4 loads of colors, 1 load of whites, and 3 loads of towels. That's 8 loads... and I ended up having to do two more at home. My girls had just as much a piece if not more. But we got it done. 2 and 1/2 hours later, every bit of it was washed, dried, and folded. That's the wonder of being able to use 8 washing machines at once rather than just the one I have at home.

Did I mention that the entire time we were carrying out our mission impossible that it was RAINING BUCKETS?! Because it was RAINING BUCKETS ALL DAY. It is STILL raining. Oh my goodness at the FLOODS of RAIN!!!

Everyone gathered over here for dinner afterwards. My COMPLETELY AMAZING hubby watched all four kids (2-4 yr old girls, a 3 yr old boy, and the baby), cooked dinner, and tidied up the house while all of us ladies were doing laundry. Now my entire house is cleaned, the baby is finally moved into the kids room rather than our bedroom, and ALL the laundry is DONE.

The ending of the story?

I'm completely exhausted.

pfffft.

7 comments:

Karen said...

I just wrote a crazy long comment about my laundry feelings but the internet ate it. Now I'm going to have to write a post of my own about the laundry. The short version: I love doing the laundry. This is because I'm crazy.

I'm glad you found something that works for you, but it's so weird to me that not everybody looks forward to doing the laundry.

Theresa said...

I don't think you're crazy for liking the laundry. There are things about it I like.... but remember the comment about the drier... yeah... that's my drier. I can wash a load at home in 20 minutes, but it takes the drier 2 hours and 20 minutes to dry it. That means that in the time it took me to do 8 loads at the Soap Opera, I would have accomplished 1 at home.

I got behind on my laundry about 3 years ago when I started working full time and never got caught back up. So I would do laundry all day and still have mountains of it sitting in the wash room. It had finally gotten to the point where I would just wash each of us a complete outfit in the evening just so we had something to wear the next day.

Now that it is all caught up though, I will probably look forward to it because I can do it and feel like I accomplished something. That is such an important factor for me.

Did I mention I'm OCD? I have to wash things a certain way, the clothes have to be separated just right, and then I have to fold everything a certain way. I wish I could be like the hubby and just throw whatever I find all in the same load and then slop-fold all the towels without bothering to match up corners and smooth them all flat and square... but uh... I just can't. I cringe watching him do laundry. ZOMG. Now that everything is all caught up and I can take the time to do it my way, I will probably get a lot more satisfaction out of doing it. But I hope you post. I'm dying to know why you enjoy the laundry. LOL

Anonymous said...

i love the idea of meeting up with friends to do laundry.

i dont mind the chore but its not my fave. i suppose the one thing about it that frustrates me is that there really is no "getting caught up." well, unless you join a nudist colony.

Theresa said...

It was actually a lot of fun and much more enjoyable to do the laundry with friends. If we get in the habit of meeting up for laundry day I just might not ever use my washer and drier again. LOL

Not Hannah said...

I'd like a laundry party, too, except I don't have anybody to do it with here. Poo.

(Plus, let's be honest. I can't spend the 85 dollars it would take to catch up on my laundry.)

Aleta said...

I'm in total and absolute awe of you! WOW! Now THAT is a way to market going to the laundry mat - 8 machines versus 1. I can't stand doing laundry for all those reasons and you're right - when you have that many machines ready AND good company to do the job, hey... still, though, that is AMAZING what you accomplished!!!

Theresa said...

Not Hannah- yeah.. no kidding! Our new idea is just to put all of our washing machines and driers in the same place so we don't have to pay to do it. LOL