Tuesday, February 5, 2008

my evening at the laundromat

so once in a while we save up all our laundry and head to the local laundromat. this is beneficial to us because not only can we do multiple loads at one time (tonight i had four loads plus a comforter to wash), but it is cheaper than doing it at home where it costs $1.25 per washer load and $1.25 per dryer load. FREAKING RIP.

i used to be scared of our laundromat because we are usually the only white people there and they play spanish TV really loud and people are usually either coughing their lungs out or begging for money. lately i have come to enjoy it though because with three years of high school spanish under my belt i've become friends with the little owner man, and also because when i am at the folding table, folding jeans and underwear next to the short latino moms folding jeans and underwear i think hey, we are all a little more alike than i usually realize.

i also tend to run into interesting characters while there. tonight as i was walking out to the car i walked by an african-american woman and her young son. i unfortunately didn't hear the beginning of their conversation but i'm sure it was awesome, because all i heard was:

mom: "hilary rodman clinton."
son: "who?"
mom: "hilary RODMAN clinton."
son: "that's a stupid name."
mom: "shut up."

then they walked inside.

brandon came with me tonight and helped with the washing portion but then i graciously allowed him to go home so he could go to his precious basketball practice. i wasn't really happy about this because that meant i had to fold ALL the clothes by myself and then carry them all out to the car and home. this also meant i had to fold all the socks.

i HATE folding socks. hate hate hate. i remember reading in real simple or something about these little sock clips you use to clip socks together so they don't get separated in the washer, and i think i could really use some of those. i don't wear socks that often because i mostly wear flats or heels, and if i do they are usually the black plain ones i've worn since my punk rock days so they're easy to identify, but brandon is another story. he has a million and they are all different. and because he used to be a bachelor, even the pairs don't match each other because at some point they had bleach spilled on them or were torn apart by a rabid dog so it's all basically a guessing game to find the matches.



tonight i stopped counting pairs of socks at 32. that was just the colored ones, i don't know how many white ones there were but i'm guessing i was up in the 50s by the time i was done. i spent two hours, start to finish, doing the laundry tonight and by the time i was done it was too late to go to the gym. so now i will enjoy my unfit body and watch another episode of jon & kate. the end.

6 comments:

Ashley said...

I have the solution to your sock problem! I, too, used to have this unfortunate problem, but at some point during my college career I was introduced to safety pins. Okay. First you have to safety pin all the pairs together (this is kind of a pain, but it's worth it). From then on, it's easy. When you get a pair of socks out in the morning, take the safety pin out and set it on your dresser. When you take your socks off, safety pin them back together and throw them in the dirty clothes pile. It takes a total of 2 seconds a day. It's great I promise. You'll never have to find pairs of socks again!

Brandon and Erica said...

haha....so funny, Lynds.
And, I seriously had no idea that Dennis Rodman and Hillary were related, but now that you mention it: I can see it.

As far as the socks go, "Ash & Jon" must be some incredibly organized and patient people to use safety pins for their socks.

I am still searching for a sock solution too, because, like you..I probably have only 5 pair of socks (all stripe and flowery, unless they're the typical GYM socks). BRANDON, on the other hand has socks everywhere. And, I will find one under our couch...one next to our bed. And, if you can believe this...even one in our kitchen sink. Eeww.

So, my theory: put all of the lonely socks in a "needs-the-match" drawer, and never actually get around to matching all the socks together. It works great...promise. (and I DO make hollow promises :-).

Angela and Mike said...

haha, I love the "Hillary Rodman Clinton" story. That's a stupid name. haha. Yeah, about the socks. Boys go through SO many socks. I agree. You are such a good wife to do all the folding! Be careful at the laundromat!

Megan said...

I love jon and kate!!! Here's my email...
megantanner2404@hotmail.com
email me and I'll send you all my info. I didn't want to post it... what if bad guys got it?

Jennifer said...

I have one husband and 2 boys who regularly dirty socks + mine because I always have cold feet. Here's my sock solution. You eliminate the variety. You need at least two pair of like socks. You might need to throw out a few pairs to get you started. Then you buy socks in bundles, so you have multiple pairs of the same style. Brands like Hanes (for the boys) have the word Hanes printed on the toe in either blue, green, or yellow ink to help you sort the different sizes and helps me know which drawer they go in. I usually have unmatched socks in each load because my guys aren't always good about putting BOTH socks into the laundry at the same time. Anyway, I have a little sock box - the hope is that a match will come through next laundry day. After a while I just throw out all the socks without matches. I throw out any sock with a hole. And when flip flop season comes around, I throw out socks that can't be saved with any amount of bleach. Next fall we buy new sock bundles so I have lots of the same socks to match with.

Option #2 - I haven't gotten myself to do this because apparently I believe in folding. BUT, I have heard of good people who don't even fold socks or underwear. They just throw all of the socks in a drawer and the wearer of socks can find two that he thinks he can wear together.

Good luck!

Emily said...

So funny! I remember laundry mat days. Maybe in your new apartment you won't have to worry and will have a washer and dryer!