My laundry room drives me nuts, part 2

Yeah, I'm obsessing about laundry, or rather, my laundry equipment.

My dryer was taking 2 hours and 3 restarts to do a load of towels. A regular load, not an overcrowded one. Other items were taking as long as well.

The general opinion on the message boards was that I needed to have my dryer vents cleaned. I did and it did improve the performance of the dryer. So what's my problem/whine now?

I really want one of those energy efficient, water saving washing machines. My current washer works fine even if it doesn't spin out stuff as dry as my last 3 washers (I've moved some, ok?) but I have washer envy for my sister's new equipment. The washer doesn't have an agitator, you just dump in the stuff and it doesn't do the strangle and stretch dance around the center pole.

So, my old equipment (14 year old dryer and 11 year old washer) works well enough that I don't have to get new ones based on need. Why don't I just buy the new ones while I can? Next month will be cash for appliance clunkers here in Florida. Perfect timing, right? Well you can't always get what you want.

I don't have enough room in this laundry closet for the Maytags like my sister's. I am pretty sure I can't fit them in if they are over 26 inches deep. In the 3 appliance stores I visited, I only saw one model of washing machine that was even remotely like the one I really want. It has a mini agitator which only sticks up about 4 or 5 inches. So close and yet so far.

When the guy was here cleaning the dryer vent I saw what was going on behind the dryer and washer and realized that the washer is on the right because the water hoses are too short to move it to the left. All I need are new hoses. The dryer vent hose, on the other hand is pretty long, but has been kind of mushed up between the dryer and the wall. Not to mention how many twists and turns it takes.

Public Service announcement: If you haven't cleaned your dryer vents in over a year, please do so now. Mine vents to the roof, and there was a big wad of lint near the roof that was starting to turn black. It could have been a fire.

Some of my neighbors have never had their vents cleaned. These houses were built in 1996 and '97. Ugh oh. Most of my neighbors are older, since this is a 55+ community. Oh, and my roofmate doesn't even have a dryer vent in his roof where the machines would be. I don't see any vents on his house except for the toilets. Could he be venting into the attic? Yikes! I confess, I've never looked in my attic so I don't know if they are sealed between the two houses.

If I ignore my desire for new laundry equipment will it go away?

When muffins try to overachieve...

This is what happens when you put in baking powder and realize it should have been baking soda, so you put that in too. They rise up too soon and then cave in, spreading all over the top surface of the muffin tin.

There is a joke in there but I can't tell it.

Anyway I did this with the carrot muffins not just once, but twice. In two weeks. You would think I'd remember my failure and learn from it, right? No, I had to dig out the muffins with a spoon and serve the delicious crumbs in a bowl. Twice in two weeks. They were tasty as all good carrot muffins should be, but more like a dessert than a breakfast food or snack.

Good thing I love dessert for breakfast. Now, where's that cream cheese frosting?

I'm sewing again! Yay!

So, after vacuuming and scrubbing the den I moved my sewing stuff back in there and I am loving it. Friday I sat down and sewed for 20 minutes before I stood up and said, "That chair has got to go".

I was actually using a metal folding chair and it hurt. So Friday night I went to 3 different Office Depots to find an armless task chair. Woo hoo, I am nearly finished with the pants I cut out in November 2008. Really, all I need to do is the hem and waist closure. Really.


Now, this is something I hate to see. I am sewing along and I look up to see I am almost out of thread. NO! NO! A thousand times NO! If I have to stop and make a trip to Jo-Anns for thread I won't get out of there in less than an hour and I am likely to purchase a new project, and when I get home I won't be sewing anymore today. I am easily distracted, I am.

Seriously, I need to finish these pants so I can then sew the skirt and shirt-jacket I cut out on July 4, 2007. After that I can pick a different UFO*. I have enough to keep me busy until Christmas 2013 or so.

*[Unfinished object]

Believe it, I ate the whole thing.

I ate an entire bunch of swiss chard all by myself. I mean, I intended to keep some for another meal, but somehow all of it got eaten. I still haven't figured out how to balance out meals. All veggies or none? I have got to work on that.

Just waffles, I'm not waffling on this!

I'm celebrating the kids moving out by making a big batch of whole wheat waffles. I love having them in the freezer on a weekday morning so I can quickly eat a yummy breakfast. Waffles and cream cheese, anyone?

How can I help you?

Move out, that is?

The kids are 75% moved out now. Their furniture is gone, so is the cat, but lots of stuff they can't take now or even decide about now is still piled up around, unattractively. Yes, that IS three old computer monitors on my dining room table.

I won't punish you, gentle reader, with the picture of the den and it's 10 pounds of cat hair. Or their bathroom with the cat box still there. I am enjoying sleeping with my bedroom door open again. I'm taking back control of the thermostat. And, the refrigerator too.

The "kids" are making their own way in the world now, and at (almost) 26, this is a good thing.

Soon, I'll be back to where I was 2 years ago, planning a garage do-over!

Fresh blood. Well, not that fresh.

Somebody bled on my freshly cleaned driveway. The nerve!

I did so much pressure cleaning on Monday that I blew out my hose reel. Today I went out to run some errands. When I got home there was a stain in the driveway that did not look like it dropped off of a car. Yes, it really does look like someone was bleeding in my driveway, which is disturbing on several levels.

No one was working on the landscaping today, and I'm the only one who drove on that side of the driveway today. Did I hit an animal on my way out to Home Depot? Or did one come along, bleed on the driveway and then mosey on? I'll never know.

The irony of it all is that I went to the HD to buy a new hose & reel. Guess I'll be using it very soon. And bleach.