My hands hurt.

My washing machine stopped working on Saturday. It wouldn't drain or spin. This is a SERIOUS problem when you have a family of 9 and you are already two days behind on laundry. We now have a two car garage that is half car and half laundry piles. Ugh. Jason started flipping through his mental Rolodex of repairmen, but I stopped him from calling anyone. I am not paying $200 for someone to look at my awesome garage sale appliance. (granted it was only 2 years old when I bought it) So, I took it upon myself to disassemble our washer.

One hour and 47 curse words later I found the culprit. The piece should cost less than $5, so that makes me very happy. There was not a parts store open on a Sunday afternoon, so I will stop myself from celebrating this momentous achievement prematurely. (I will celebrate tomorrow when the washer is back together.) However, there is still much to raise a glass to.

1) My children are learning that clean underwear and socks is a luxury. We were all thankful that it was warm enough this weekend to wear flip flops and sandals.

2) Jason is awesome. He made lunch for the kiddos and kept them out of my hair while I worked on the washer. He is highly capable of working on an appliance, but he didn't assume that I couldn't just because I was born with ovaries. He offered assistance if needed, brought me a few tools and then proudly bragged to our neighbors about my handiwork. Love that man... and he looks hot in an apron.

3) I have a new respect for my washer. It works hard. It dutifully washes a LARGE amount of items without much of a squeak or even a burning smell. It is large capacity. These are wonderful words. Lets say it again "LARGE CAPACITY."

4) We made laundry fun. By evening, I was exhausted and we were still without socks. So Jason and I bathed and tucked in kids, then we snuck off to the laundromat. It was empty! We loaded up four (small capacity) washing machines and proceeded to read celebrity gossip magazines to each other. We ate some convenient store snacks and enjoyed each others company. A date night on a Sunday.

My life is good and I'm wearing clean underwear.