Hello Bucket My Old Friend

This evening (if you consider 11:00 pm the evening) I went upstairs to put the Monday morning laundry in the washer. This is a terrible habit I have had for about six years. Occasionally it backfires on me, as it did tonight. At about 11:15 I realized that while my washer was going through the cycle, it wasn't spinning at all. The washer would fill up, then 15 minutes later it would drain. Then it would fill up, then 15 minutes later it would drain again. With our vast combined mechanical knowledge, Mr. Smith and I figured it must be a broken belt. Good grief!

Out came the bucket we used for the first couple of months we lived here. As I sat down to do the laundry, India style, my sweet husband came in at sat down on the opposite side of the tub and prepared to rinse. Is he a keeper or what? So we sat there washing and complaining to each other. Luckily complaining to each other is one of our favorite pastimes. A few minutes later we were joined by Skater Girl, our six year old daughter. Of course I told her to go get back in bed and of course she ignored me completely. Right then I didn't care much. After a few minutes of quiet observation she commented, "I can't wait to be a mom, being a mom is fun, huh mom." Mr. Smith and I looked at the laundry bucket and at each other and laughed. "It sure is sweetheart, would you like to help?" So Skater Girl grabbed the front edge of the tub (it is a large round tub) and helped us finish up. As we were cleaning up the mess that doing laundry in a bucket makes, Mr. Smith said, "Now don't think I'm weird or stupid, but this is a nice way to end the day." I have to admit that I agree. It was nice to talk to him relatively uninterrupted. That doesn't happen much. Plus, Mr. Smith is always in a good mood when he is working, which makes him an excellent partner for projects.

I can see the appeal of going to the stream with your daughters and meeting the other women doing their laundry with their daughters. It is the perfect mindless work for conversation. I imagine a lot of gossip was passed around at the laundry spot. Don't worry though, I won't be making any trips to the river anytime soon. It's much dirtier than our illegal well water. I am sure that we will have our washer repaired and running sometime in the next week or so. In the mean time, I've got my bucket!