Cue Laundrymat

The Thrill! The rush! The feeling of fighting your way through a large crowed all intent on back stabbing you, thrashing you and coming out to be KING (or Queen) OF THE WASHER.

Thats right, I am talking about the laundry mat. Its a dog eat dog world, where you have to stand your ground, be assertive and not be afraid to crush a few souls and dash a few dreams with only a bag of loose change, and smelly fabrics (And maybe a pitch fork).

A white spinning asylum

Other than college communal laundry experiences (Where a freshman prankster decided to steal all the women’s undergarments for a month, causing a gaggle of outraged females to write nasty threats all over the washers and demand their $50 Victoria secret garments back) I really have not ever needed to go to a laundry mat to wash clothes. I have been lucky to always have access to machines in my home.. until now.

Let me explain how I came to this place where I am sitting in a white interrogation room, where the machines spin and whirl around me, the hustle and bustle is fierce and the eye contact is minimal.

As you may have guessed from previous bloggings, we moved across country, and after a long 16 hour drive (from California where we visited family, to Arizona) which was broken down into two toddler traveling days, we finally made it to our final destination in Arizona. We picked up the keys and entered the doors of our cute little home (its all temporary since we are at the mercy of the US Army at all times). I was on a mission to nest, and make this little place a home I could live in for a short period, and not feel like I was a caged laboratory rat.

After a lot of woah is me moments (I popped my thumb out of its socket, and Munch slammed his arm in the car door– ontop of being grumpy from the long road trip and sick to boot) we turned a leaf and embraced the change of scenery and even not gasp in horror when we learned of the record high temperatures we were about to call home (it was 113 degrees when we moved in.. at 7pm). And then.. all our dreams and happy thoughts were dashed because our house hold goods (Which were suppose to be delivered in a matter of 3 days from move in) were in limbo and will not be reaching us for 10 days post move in. #thestruggleisreal

What are we suppose to do? Well, we went out and spent as much money as we could spare on essentials (toilet paper making that list!) and then decided to rough it the rest of the way.

CUE LAUNDRY MAT.

Apart of the bare bone essentials included a laundry basket, laundry pods and a mesh bag to call my make shift deluxe on the go laundry kit. The image I had of laundry mats was souly based off of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog (Don’t know what it is? LOOK IT UP HERE! You’re welcome in advanced) and a few more film depictions of this spinning world.

As I walked in, my eyes almost popped out of my head! There was a line of 10 soldiers clad in uniforms in line at the change machine all with the same thing in mind… FIGHT FOR CLEAN CLOTHES!

I shrugged my shoulders, hefted my full basket up a little higher and yelled “CHAAAARGE” (in my head) and claimed 2 washers before anyone could blink an eye. As soon as the line moved, everyone was throwing bags, water bottles, MRE meals, anything to claim their washers. Thankfully I had raided Munch’s piggy bank before I came (I know.. I am a bad mom) so I didn’t need to wait in line. I popped in a soap pod, my already sorted laundry and what seemed like a million quarters and BOOM. Clean clothes.

Well.. no, the waiting game first. THEN the clean clothes.

Once I was satisfied with my life decisions and holding my own in this cruel world, I sat on a bleach white plastic chair and let the hum-de-dum fill my head, feeling relaxed and at ease… For the next 23 minutes anyway. Then, the rush for dryers was next.

But I am a genius (or a cheap skate) and decided to use the wonderful Arizona heat to naturally dry my laundry for me!

CUE GOOD OLD FASHIONED LINE DRYING! (Judge if you must, but I actually enjoy it, there is something peaceful about clothes blowing in the breeze)

The last load of the day

The job was done. I saved quarters, I survived the war. I folded my laundry very carefully that night (The Kon Mari way of course), taking in the warm smell lingering on the cloth and appreciating a day of love, labor and devotion that I just performed for my whole family. It was nice being able to appreciate something I normally would take for granted.

Then I walked into the bedroom and found a pile of dirty laundry tucked behind the door.

IT. NEVER. ENDS.

❤ Mama Cat.