My Favorite Time of Day

I am not a morning person. It takes me quite some time and several cups of coffee before I can face the world. No one should be near me before this process takes place. Yet despite this, my favorite time of day is fast becoming the early morning hours.

Once the family is up, it's noise and rush and insanity. My day no longer feels like my own as we get ready for work and school or weekend activities. Vin and the kids are so active that my slower, quieter self is left feeling bewildered, often overwhelmed.

The real me is a solitary person. I crave peace and quiet, my own schedule, my own space. Social times are enjoyed but in small amounts. Crowds disturb me intensely and their noise overstimulates my ears and head until I can't think straight. It may be a product of my bipolar disorder but when I don't get regular periods of alone time (real alone time, not alone in a crowded room scenarios) I begin to get extremely irritable and unreasonable. I'm more prone to anger and then depression. There is just some trigger inside me that shouts "enough interaction, I need to hide".

So I have made the commitment to get out of bed earlier every morning. I don't have much time, but this time helps give me the solitude I need. It's not perfect. I mean, if I feel the need to belt out show tunes I really can't do that when everyone else sleeps. I can't do any heavy cleaning or rearrange furniture. I still need full days when I can be home with no one to really heal. But these early mornings before the family rises, with a cup of coffee in my hand and the birds singing in the trees, these are the soothing moments that help keep me going strong.

No more laundromat for me!

When we moved into this house, a washer and dryer were part of the deal. With two active children, a husband and my own split wardrobe (work clothes and living clothes), this was a huge bonus for us. Who wants to lug four people's worth of clothing to the laundromat each week?

They were an old pair but worked well for some time. Until the day the washer decided it would start leaking and would not be fixed. Then shortly after, when I washed 6 loads at the laundromat and brought them home to dry and the dryer decided it too had lived its life out. (Lugging 6 heavy wet loads back to the laundromat was no fun task, believe me).

Since then, we have had a useless chunk of metal taking up space in our bathroom. Why did we leave it there? Because we thought we'd be getting a new pair rather quickly and did not want to pay $100 for the propane company to close off the line and then another $100 later to re-install it with the new dryer.

Years later (I thought three but my husband says closer to five) that useless metal was still sitting there. As we researched, we found that our full size stackables with a gas dryer are extremely expensive. Switching to electric would have saved a bit in appliance costs but would require the difference spent in changing out our electrical circuit. We were simply never able to get that money together and make the purchase.

So for all these years I have been running to the laundromat once a week or every other week. It was a big production- basket after basket of laundry sorted (6-10 was typical) and pockets checked for the goodies my son likes to leave in them. Basket after basket loaded into the car, then out of the car and into washers, then out of washers and into dryers, then back to the car and back home. The laundromat was often crowded to overflowing. We would try to run errands in between cycles since time is not an available luxury for us. Sometimes people would take our clothes out of the machines while we were out. Many times, our crazy schedule left me dealing with laundry at 9 or 10 at night. Always, it was exhausting. By the time it was all washed and brought home, there was no energy left to sort and fold and put away. We frequently were living out of baskets rather than drawers and closets, until we'd get a chunk of free time or a burst of energy and get it all dealt with. Our clothes were getting worn from the industrial dryers and wrinkled when we didn't get them folded and hung right away.

I was so sick of it. But we just haven't been in a position to do much about it. Until yesterday, when my new LG All in One Washer/Dryer combo was delivered by Aarons. Aarons found one available new unit at a reasonable price despite the time payments. It's not a propane operated dryer which would be so efficient, but this little unit plugs right into the electric we already have in place. It is high efficiency and low waste, doesn't require outside venting and has a great warranty.

I can't really review the product itself yet as we are just getting used to it, but I will say this. The 2.7 cubic foot washer takes a good amount of clothes. When you switch it to dry, a full washer load needs to be split in half for a proper dry according to the manual. It has a lengthier process than other machines BUT it's really not bad at all. Once I get caught up on what was supposed to be this week's full laundromat load, one load a day or every other day will make this the perfect unit for us.

Other bonuses? I no longer have to spend hours dealing with prepping laundry and lugging laundry and dealing with the laundromat. Once Leahy's comes out and disconnects the old propane hookup and we can get rid of the  old dryer, we will have space for a bathroom cabinet or shelves, giving us some much needed storage. AND- the clothes that I have washed so far? They are all folded and ready to be put in a drawer. No more wrinkled clothes and basket living for us!

Life is good!