laundry and bugs

Clothes are the bane of my existence. Especially when we have too many. Especially when you take that 'too many' and multiply it times 10. Take a week off from doing laundry and this place looks like a refugee camp. Break the dryer on the first load while trying to get it back under control and it's a nightmare. I know this for a fact.

I hate doing laundry. I would rather do windows than laundry...and I hate doing windows. I don't mind washing too much. That's good because no one else in the house is allowed to start the washer. We have been without a washer twice before I figured out that when the teens do laundry they are actually not interested in clean clothes as much as winning the 'how many clothes can you fit in the washer' contest. After numerous lessons and lectures and temper tantrums (mine) we finally had to create a rule that when the washer is empty you may put your clothes in it and then find me to come and start it. I start it (after removing a sizable amount of clothes) and then they put the clothes in the dryer, take the clothes out of the dryer, fold them and put them away (sometimes :D). Although it is asked that anyone who takes their clothes out of the dryer also clean out the lint trap, that seldom happens.

I realized that the towels weren't drying as fast as they should so I pulled out the lint trap and, yup, it was full. As I pulled it out I heard a little metallic clink and thought to myself, oh well...probably nothing. Until I tried to put the lint trap back. A bead or something had fallen in to the trap guide and jammed when I tried to put it back. Me, not wanting to bother grumpy, decided I could fix it myself. Common sense, right? I needed something flexible to fit down the narrow curved chute and I don't have metal hangers but I did find grumpy's comb in the bathroom. It's long and narrow and should have been perfect to swipe the tracks and knock the glass bead loose. It probably would have worked perfect too, if I hadn't of dropped it down the chute.

This is Fall. Grumpy is all about packing the travel trailer, finishing a couple projects an hour away at his mom's, doing the winterizing around here and still working full time. He leaves in 6 days for hunt camp and will be gone for 2 weeks. Meanwhile I have mountains of laundry with more adding to problem every hour. hmm. Problem. Mostly because I'm out of underclothes and too lazy to just go and buy more ;) I could wait for 3 weeks. I could try to take the back off the dryer and do it myself. I have laundry in every room of the house, including all the pool towels sitting on the kitchen floor.

No, I can't hang my clothes out on the line. That would be an easy solution, wouldn't it? I can't have a clothes line because I have this weird flock of little birds that move in sync like pigeons but they're not. They land by the dozens on every pole, rope, tree, swing set or any other narrow surface they can. I go out and clap when the chittering gets louder than the tv but other than that I ignore them. Even though they drive me bonkers by pooping all over they have a ravenous appetite for stupid little white moths that are trying to eat up my garden.

So really, if I think about it, I can blame those stupid white moths for the fact that I have mountains of laundry all over my house. How cool is that?! It's not my fault...it's a bug's fault. I can live with that. I hate bugs. Now I'm off to take the back off the dryer and try to fix it while not electrocuting myself. It may be the moth's fault I don't have a pair of clean underwear left but I'd like to shower today anyway. That and if Grumpy finds out that I was using his comb as a tool.... Wish me luck!