Affairs

I'm having a love affair.  It's fine though, my husband knows all about it. 

I'm crazy in love with my clothesline.  Laundry is the one household chore I've always liked to do.  Although sometimes I falter with the "final stage" of laundry (the putting-the-stuff-away step), I don't mind the actual washing/drying/folding part.  But there is something about my clothesline that makes me want to do laundry EVERY day.  When I decided to use cloth diapers with our second child, the most common comment I got was "oh man, what a lot of work!  Won't that make so much more laundry for you?".  My response was "yes, but I don't mind!".  And it's true, I don't!  If I'm already doing laundry for 4 people, what's an extra load here and there? 

Fortunately, we've had a stretch of nice weather, so I have been doing laundry quite frequently.  When using the clothesline, I have a little system for removing things, and I find the final step in the laundry process is no longer an issue.  I love the smell of air-dried sheets on my bed.  I am constantly amazed by the bleaching quality of the sun.  My diapers are pristine, and even outfits I thought the baby had ruined with his poopsplosions are now perfect again.  I live for the nice-days-in-March to the it's-finally-too-cold days in November -- our dryer never gets used.  I even love taking the clothes off the line.  That 10 minutes of quiet outside at the end of the day....well, it seems doing laundry is relaxing for me. 

I spend my days figuring out how to best configure our laundry room so I get maximum storage, a counter for folding and room for my we-can't-afford-them-yet front loaders.  I long for front loaders.  I can't seem to convince my husband that we NEED them.  And of course, I NEED them to be a pretty colour too.  He figures what we have is good enough for now.  Yes, they work....but front loaders are so much more energy efficient and use less water!  At the rate I'm doing laundry these days, those have to be valid reasons for shelling out money for appliances, right? 

Of course, my mother recently burst my bubble by reminding me that we recently had our smart meter installed, and therefore we're going to get dinged huge on our next hydro bill because I'm doing many loads during peak hours.    So I think I'm going to have to come up with a new system (or just work harder for my dream machines that use less water...).  Of course, I'm not thinking of that new system right now as I watch my sheets blowing in the breeze.  I'm just thinking about how great my bed is going to smell tonight. 

Am I the only one having an affair with a household chore?