Monday, September 6, 2010

I might be...laboring on Labor Day

We seem to have developed a tradition of laboring on Labor Day.  Years ago, when we lived elsewhere, friends dropped by to see us on Labor Day, while they were out house-shopping.  We had spent the day pulling muscadine vines out of  trees, sawing overgrown limbs, trimming hedges, raking and mowing our 1/2-acre lot. They took one look at us and decided to narrow their search to houses with a postage-stamp sized yard.

Our last week was a bit disrupted by a flood in the laundry room.

I thought I'd have to buy a washer, the old one being maybe 10-12 years old, but Pluto Boy saved the day.  He stayed home Friday so he could haul appliances if needed, but first he pulled the old one out to the driveway, hooked it to the hose, and tried to recreate the flood.  As long as he was running water, I tossed in detergent and clothes (after all, who knew how long it would be before I'd have a working machine?), and we looked like the answer to, "You might be a redneck if...your laundry room floods, so you haul the warshin' machine out to the front yard, hook up the hose, and do your warsh as usual."

I have misplaced my camera (left it somewhere?),  so I don't have a picture (Mama is probably relieved to hear that), though I'm sure it was an entertaining sight. 

After 3 loads of laundry, we had no flood, so in went the machine, where it promptly flooded.  PB, though, figured this one out - a hose had a split that only manifested itself when the hose was curved  - YAY!  Way less than $400 later, the floor is clean (6 moppings-worth of clean!) and dry, and so is all the laundry.

Well, as long as we had pulled both appliances away from the wall, it seemed like a good time to paint behind them.  I have had paint for a while, just waiting for a good time.  Since we were painting Earthgirl's room over the weekend, we even had brushes and rollers out. 

So as long as I had already painted behind the appliances, we decided it was a good time to take the wire shelving down (and, of course, everything on the shelves) and paint the whole laundry room. 

And as long as we were moving the little rolling cart out, it seemed like a good time to sweep it off and spray paint it - red!

And as long as we were painting the laundry room, it seemed like a good time to paint the base of the island in the kitchen the same color as the laundry room...

Now, mind you, the project of the Labor Day weekend was supposed to be ONLY Earthgirl's room. 

Do you relax or labor on Labor Day?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You told this story so delightfully! I can just see it all now and I love the term "warsh." I know it wasn't funny then but your sense of humor about the event is priceless. John and I have a saying around our house...."one thing leads to another!" I think that's what happened to you.
Thankfully, we took it easy this Labor Day. Hoping you have a non-eventful Tuesday!!!

Becky Garrison said...

For many years we have labored on Labor Day, but this year, we were just pretty lazy! Hubby watched football/sports ALL DAY LONG! I played in my 'studio' for a while and we pulled the camper out of the garage so I can get it cleaned up and ready for an upcoming trip. But nothing too strenuous! Enjoy the fruits of your 'labors'!!! Becky

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!! What a productive weekend you all had. I'm impressed, and can't wait to see it all!

What I REALLY wish I could have seen was you doing laundry in the driveway!

amy @ Life in Pink Hi-Tops said...

I told the kids we were supposed to do double labor on Labor Day....I'm the only one who did any laboring! Laundry. Your laundry room story sounds like something I would do, so Hubby says! A small job always turns into more....."We might as well..." I always say!

randi said...

labor day is a great day for labor! i lucked out and got to play all day, but generally we still do school and chores like normal.

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