February 2019 – Imperfection in a Pinterest World

It’s not exactly what you think…..well maybe it is….

Yep…you read that right. I am 35 years old and my mother still comes over and does my laundry.

Go ahead scoff…but my laundry is clean and folded…is yours???

Okay maybe yours is done. Maybe yours isn’t piled on the “laundry couch”, you know the one piece of furniture that gathers all the clean laundry, just waiting for someone to fold it and put it away. Maybe you fold each load as it comes out and put it away immediately. If that is you, then I applaud you. Well done! Seriously, I am jealous.

The “Cycle”

See what I did there??

Laundry is one of those things that ranks somewhere below scrubbing toilets and slightly above cleaning the hair out of old bathtub drains. Excuse me while I gag a minute. Honestly, I don’t know why I despise laundry so much, it’s not like I don’t know how to do it. I suppose because it’s a task that is never done. I can’t check it off the list because as soon as I’m done, someone throws dirty underwear in the hamper or beside the hamper…for heaven sakes put it IN the hamper and the cycle starts all over again. It’s infuriating to me. I like to check things off a list. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something and I can NEVER check it off the list.

I try really I do. Every weekend I tell myself I am going to get it done and I sort and throw in the first load on the way out the door or before bed. My preferred method of washing is throw in a load at night and switch it in the morning. Most of the time I can get through all of it over the weekend. However, it usually ends with an entire couch full of clean clothes that need folded and its late Sunday night and I am exhausted and don’t have the energy to get it done. We end up digging through the pile for what we need for a day or two before I finally get annoyed and get it folded just so it sits in a laundry basket on the floor so we can keep digging through it the rest of the week. Meanwhile, the laundry from this week keeps piling up around the hamper because no one can seem to make a basket around here.

My Cleaning Solution

So where does my mom come into the picture? Did I mention the “cycle” only happens maybe once a month at my house?? Yep. I am a laundry failure, but I have the world’s most amazing mom. My mom retired several years ago. Since then she spends her time visiting her friends at the YMCA three days a week, improving her Candy Crush skills, and taking fussing over me, her baby. A.K.A. “The Favorite” as frequently referred to by wonderful older brothers….enter sarcasm here…

As long as I have lived within 30 miles of her she has been coming over almost weekly to do my laundry. It usually starts with an SOS text or call that things are getting out of hand. She stays all day and finishes the laundry and while she waits, she busies herself by picking up other things. The dishes are usually clean and beds are always made. She is amazing, truly!

When I tell people what she does for me I get all sorts of responses. Things like: “You’re spoiled”, “Must be nice”, “Kind of lazy aren’t you”, “My mom would never do that” are a few that I have heard. I am sure there are others I haven’t heard. Some are good and some are bad. I just let it roll off my shoulders. Why do I let my mom do my laundry? First let me clear up the fact that I CAN do laundry, but with our schedule during the week, it’s hard to keep up.

The answer is simple…BECAUSE SHE CAN!!!!!!

Yep that’s why. That’s it.

She can still do it and I am so grateful for that. She is healthy and gets around better than most women her age. (I would throw the number out there but I still want my laundry done so I better keep quiet on that one…wink wink…) Knowing that she will spend a day at my home doing something that keeps her active gives me peace that she is healthy and isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Why do I let my mom do my laundry…because one day she won’t be here to do it anymore. And I can’t even imagine that world.

Let me repeat….she does it because she still can.

The Fluff

I’m not here to brag about my mom doing my laundry…okay well maybe just a little…I just want to express how lucky I am to have her. I am completely aware that not every daughter has a great mother or even a mother at all. Some have had great mother’s that were taken too soon. I get it and I am so sorry you have to worry about that.

If you need a good mama that will help you out and make you a good sweet treat once in a while. I will share mine! Isn’t she beautiful!!! She’s pretty darn special and I’m so lucky to have her. I pray every day I will be even half the mother she has been. I promise this isn’t the last mama appreciation post you’re going to get!

So do me a favor, if you have a good mama, tell her how much you love and appreciate her. Take her to dinner and give her a hug. Call her on your way home from work to see how her day was. We tend to take people for granted and often times our parents get pushed to the side in our busy lives. One day they wont be there to ask you 1,000 questions about the new job you just got or to remind you that its your Aunts birthday next week AND YOU ARE GOING TO MISS HER!

I’m a laundry failure and that’s okay. Now excuse me I have to call my mom… the laundry is getting out of hand around here.

Thanks for joining me!! I love new adventures especially when I take adventures with friends. So let’s go on a journey together. Let’s talk about life and love, friendships and not so friendships, food and health, and family and infertility. There will be ups and there will be downs in this journey and I hope you want to hang around with me for it.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

The Airport Obsession

I love to travel. Actually I love airports. Airports are filled with people coming and going for all sorts of different reasons. They are busy and active and noisy and each one is different. Every airport is unique to the city it lives in and I love checking out the defining aspects of each one. And the people, oh man. That’s sometimes the best part! I’m from the mid west and things get pretty mundane around here. So, seeing the people in the airports from all over is really the best! I love the fashion and mannerisms of folks from other regions!

I remember the first time I rode on a plane. I was 7 and flying to my grandparents house for a few weeks of the summer. My mom walked me to the gate of the tiny airport and handed me over to a flight attendant. I held my bag close to me and walked across the runway and stepped on the little plane. I was so excited I walked straight to my seat and looked out the window….I FORGOT TO WAVE TO MY MOM. You guys my mom was heartbroken! She eventually forgave me but later told me that was the moment she knew I was going to do something great. For me it was the moment I fell in love with travel.

In a few weeks I am headed to San Diego for the first time and I am over the moon. My husband, John Ryan, gets to travel along with me and it’s going to be his first experience on an airline. So, I have gone over and above to make sure he enjoys to fly as much as I do. I even bought seats with extra leg room so he isn’t cramped. Crossing my fingers it works.
Secret, between you and me I’m not sure if I am more excited to see a new airport I haven’t been to before or go on the actual trip. Either way I know its going to be a fun adventure with him.

The Life Adventure

I have started to look at life like I do airports. It’s like each new big adventure in life is a different airport. There are no two the same and they are filled with people going to all different places.You look at the arrival and departure boards and realize there are so many different paths to take. Each one is going to be full of different experiences. It’s all about how you choose to get to the destination. Some of those people are going to take the plane ride with you and some of them won’t. People come and go in our lives. Sometimes you’ll meet someone on the flight or waiting in the terminal that makes an impact on your life. I know I have had some great conversations with people I have met on the plane or waiting at the terminal. Life is full of choices. You can be the person on the plane that is angry because the seat belt sign is still on and you have to use the restroom or you can be the person who is happy to have a pilot that thinks of your safety along the way. It’s all perspective. I’m fortunate to have the latter perspective in life. I do my best to find the good things. Maybe to a fault. I want everyone to be happy even if I’m not. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but I can rest easy at night knowing I did my best to make someones “flight” the best it could be.

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford

So let’s get on this plane and take this journey together. Let’s share stories during our time together and look out the window at the world below. Be Kind.