I Love Laundry

I really do, I'm not kidding...stop laughing...stop now...I mean it. It is a chore that doesn't bother me. I love clean, warm piles of folded clothes. I find it rewarding, not like dishes, you finish them, turn around and ten more have appeared...had babies and reproduced again. Sean has added some fun to the mix with various creative stains and bodily fluids (sorry, just reporting the facts) but even with those new challenges, I still love laundry.

Apparently in L.A. it is hard to find an apartment with laundry machines or hook ups in the unit. I told Jason this was of absolute importance when apartment hunting, but to my disappointment there is no private laundry machine for the Brouwers. So today I will take you on my laundry adventure.

First gather your laundry, detergent, apartment key, toddler, and don't forget the backhoe, dump truck and race car.


For those of you with toddlers, you know that toddler speed is much different than regular adult speed. "Please Sean, lets go, come please, follow mom. Stop knocking on doors, no, no, don't sit down, please, lets go!!!" Did I mention in is 90 degrees (yes even in the halls, only the units are air conditioned).



Please don't forget the dump truck, backhoe and race car, they are so important to the task at hand. Also, don't forget to drop them three times, and complain until mom helps you gather them all up again. Very important!
"Ok, I will give you three gummy bears, and some chips if you follow me just a little faster!"


We are on the third floor (hence the sunset pictures) however, our building's elevator doesn't work. Back down the hall and on to the stairs.


"Ok, listen. I will give you five gummy bears, some chips, and some ice cream, stand up lets go!!!!"


Past the garbage cans, I did mention it was 90 degrees, didn't I. Dry heave....dry heave!


Ahh, finally the dungenous basement laundry room.


These machines run with pre paid cards, not coins. To get these cards you need to go to the Clubhouse and put $$ on the card. Remember the post where my son announced to the greater Los Angeles area that his mom had to go potty, that was when we put money on our card.

It is $1.75 to wash, and $1.50 to dry. Every time I use this card I think fondly of my washer and dryer back home, and how I can use them whenever I want, for as long as I want, and they are paid for. Nobody else is using them, and you don't open them and find other people's personals hanging out. I know I am sounding like a pansy princess right now, but I am truly grossed out by sharing laundry machines with strangers.


You know he is wondering if a backhoe will fit through those grates.


Ok, back up the stairs to the air conditioned apartment we go. "Listen, I will give you five gummy bears, some chips, ice cream, and a trip to Lowes, please move faster!!"


I forgot to add that our building doesn't have a laundry room, so we must travel to the building next door. This building does have a working elevator so we are able to go up a few flights then take an elevator to the walkway over to our building.


Sean loves pushing elevator buttons, but it is hard with a backhoe, dump truck and race car in hand to do so. "Here mom, hold this race car."


His pants are falling down again, any advice on where to get toddler pants with adjustable waists?


"Ok, I will give you a real dump truck if you would please just move in a forward direction!!!!!"



The wash cycle takes 31 min. By the time Sean, the dump truck, race car and backhoe made it back to the apartment we had about five minutes before we needed to head back down to transfer the load to the dryer.



There is also the wash-in-the-sink and hang-on-the-porch option. It is so hot that it only takes about an hour to dry stuff. Jason's bike made a great clothes hanger when it was on the porch, there were lots of places to hang things on it.


Well I am happy to report that I have found a much faster route to the laundry room in the building up from us, so I have been using thier machines. Also, I leave my little truck-totting toddler at home with daddy to avoid the frustration and sweat of bringing him along.

Ok if you don't want to hear a gross story stop reading now....

So far the machines have not been too bad, I have dismounted my princess horse and embraced the laundry situation. However, last night I went down to do a load of laundry and I could not find a machine that didn't have hair on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, hairs!!!!!! Other peoples hair!!!!! Strangers I don't know hairs!!!!!! curly and straight!!!!! Aghhhh I was so grossed out that I went back to the apartment and announced to Jason that I was packing and going home, never to return!!

What was I to do? I had toddler pee on shorts that needed to be washed. If I run a bleach load first it will cost me $3.25, what I really want to do is light the machine on fire and roll it off a cliff....ok now I'm just being dramatic.

I had to go back, sanitize the surface of the machine and use it. I do not usually consider myself a germaphobe, but after a few courses in Microbiology in college I did pick up a few germaphobe tendencys. You can wash the top of the machine, but you can't clean the inner drum. Do you know what nastiness can grow in dark damp places?!?! Agh I am just sick over this, and now I've made you sick too.

Go now, run... and hug your laundry machines!!

Thanks for reading!



Sarah