Whenever I do something particularly grown-up, I feel the need to call my mother. You might think, at my age, that I would have outgrown this habit, but, no... actually... I do it more and more as I do more and more grown-up things.
When Mom texted me about getting together for Shabbat dinner, I had to immediately text back that I was at Lowes BUYING A WASHER AND DRYER. All caps to emphasize I was doing something uber mature, not to indicate I was yelling at her.
Our washer AND dryer have been barely working (the washer walked all over the basement and the dryer only fluffed, it didn't actually dry clothes) for about 3 years. It was past time. My husband did a small amount of research, and I reluctantly went along, since I am the once who does ALL the laundry.
We chose Lowes, and the experience was not horrible. I nearly forgot why we were there when the brightly colored yard furniture lured me to the garden area. Spring flowers also nearly made me forget about the laundry room altogether. But my husband remained steadfast. I was heard to say "We're on a mission from God" in my best Chicago accent, as we headed to the large appliance section.
The top of the line washers are so high-tech you can program your iPhone to interact with them. I think they also iron your clothes for you and feed your cat when you're not home. The dryers have so many settings that you can dry each item at a different level of dryness. They're super quiet while running, and they call you on your phone with a jaunty British accent when the load is done.
We went with something a bit more middle-of-the-road. Our new washing machine tells me exactly how many minutes the cycle will take, and how energy efficient the load is. The same with the dryer, and it's SUPPOSED TO turn itself off after everything inside is all the way dry, but after load one, that did not seem to be the case. I may have not used the correct settings, there are so many to choose from. I can't program it from my smart phone, but that's okay. I don't see why I need to program the washing machine from the living room, unless they invent one that sorts the laundry and puts it in the machine by itself. (Oh, they do. It's called hiring a maid to do your laundry.)
So this may be too much information, but I also texted my mom just now to say, yes... I also scheduled my colonoscopy and my breast MRI.* Because even though nothing is wrong, and I haven't even had a cold this winter (poo-poo, spits on the ground) I got those two letters from the two doctors about 4 months ago, and have left them in the middle of the "Juliet pile" for long enough. Whenever they reach the top, I pile other papers on top of them. But today, I thought about all the great things ahead, concerts to see, and Seders to have, and children to hug, and I thought about Warren Zevon (he ignored his health) and I picked up the phone. Whether you are a cancer survivor or a survivor of life there's no sense in not having these tests done. I promise I won't blog the details... I can't promise I won't blog the results.
I think to celebrate my new maturity, It's time to do a little shopping online... I saw a nice tie-dye skirt in a catalog yesterday... and some new sandals to make me feel like spring will be here any minute. But no need to text my mom about that.
Well I gotta go, I have work to do, and besides, I just got a call from an English woman that my laundry's done.
*Mom texted back immediately: proud of u. (She loves doing the abbreviation thing.)
*I had a clear mammogram 6 months ago, but due to my age and cancer/radiation history, they want me to have an MRI.
No comments:
Post a Comment