Day 7: Part 1
More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Laundry at the BWI
No, really, I'm serious
Today, my friends, on Day 7, you will learn what part of my TR title means. Yes! Did I reel you in? I did, didn't I? I'm so mysterious!
I really need to keep up with this TR better, because the more time passes, the more I forget.
And that's forget everything—not even just vacation stuff. For example, yesterday we were at the neighborhood pool. I went into the changing area and someone vaguely familiar comes up to me and smiles broadly. “Hi, Meribeth!” I mean, this person knows me.
I am at a loss for words, because I can't place this person at all. She understands mommy brain, or getting older brain, or hey you're kind of a moron brain, and reminds me of her name. And then of course I remember her, and guys, she's even on my FACEBOOK, so I really have no excuse here.
But back to the matter at hand. We're now at Day 7 of our trip. Day 7 finds our family sleeping in, because we're pretty good at it.
You know what else Day 7 finds? Basically no pictures. WTH, MB!??
Here's one I found of us all getting ready in the morning. Out of desperation that my readers will never return due to wordiness and lack of fun accompanying pictures, I'll post it.
Wait, really, don't go. Look—Perry the Platypus is on the couch next to Liam's backpack! You do not want to skip out on this TR. No, no, you do not.
Actually, Day 7 finds the kids up early as usual, Tim up because the kids are up, and me hiding under the covers due to our late EMH night. But even though we don't have early morning plans today, we do want to make sure we're not left with the dregs of the CL breakfast, so we get dressed and head over there to see the morning offerings. Of course I load up with coffee (BC doesn't stand for what you think it may stands for—around here, it stands for Before Coffee)
and then things start to look up. They have mini chocolate chip muffins which Quinn could apparently live on, because he asks for them every day from now on, croissants, hard boiled eggs, an apple bread, steel cut oatmeal with nuts, fruit and brown sugar, yogurt, cereal, orange juice, and skim and whole milk.
Lots to choose from.
And of course we do! Oatmeal is my breakfast of choice at home, and that's what I have pretty much every day we visit the lounge for breakfast. I also sample the baked goods and they're not bad. That's mainly what the kids eat (sugar—part of a healthy breakfast) though Liam does eat some hard boiled eggs, as does Tim. We nosh, we watch Disney XD, some of us refill our coffee cups more than we should, then we start shaking. Hey, just like home—I've had the right amount of caffeine.
After breakfast, we decide it's a great day for laundry (well, not really—but it's the best day we'll have to do it), so I set out to the room to get that taken care of while Tim takes the kids to explore the resort and the Boardwalk area.
(Someone around here got the bum deal, but I'll let you decide who.)
I get the clothes from the dirty laundry bag, some quarters and cash, pause to take a photo of this cool picture in the room
(Not really—I just found that one and pulled it out to try to keep everyone entertained)
and head past the CL desk with my monstrous bag of dirty laundry (for the first time), and downstairs to the third floor, where the washing machines are.
When I get there, the room is empty. I buy soap, use two washing machines, started the wash and got ready to go.
Except one of the machines isn't working. *&(^%$&#^&* I move the clothes to the open washer and realize I'm getting low on quarters. I take my $20 (the change machine CLEARLY SAYS it'll take $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills) and nothing happens. The machine rejects my money. Repeatedly.
So I use a couple of the dollars I have, and this time it works. Hmmmm. Why won't it take my $20?
(There's some foreshadowing again of fun times to come.)
Whatever. I have the quarters, the clothes are washing, I gather my stuff up and leave. Next stop: CL desk to get change for my $20. I am directed to the lounge, where Anita is hanging out, and I ask her if she'll make change for me. Of course she does, and she is so incredibly funny and friendly, and has a wonderful, contagious laugh. We chat for a while and then I take my smaller denomination bills back to my room, with another coffee
(DON'T JUDGE)
where I sit on the balcony, enjoying the view, Facebooking on my ipad, and sipping my caffeinated water.
After an hour or so I decide my clothes are probably done so it's time to head back downstairs, which I do, and I buy more quarters and move my clothes over to the dryers, which are small and undoubtedly suck, and three of them are out of order. Joy. Whatever, I throw them in, and leave.
But not before I look over at the change machine, see the orange light on, and realize I have depleted it of its quarters. Whoops. Guess that's why it wouldn't accept my $20! Not enough quarters. D'oh.
And then it's back upstairs, wave hello to whoever was at the desk, back to the balcony, which I really am enjoying. And then it's back downstairs, to check the clothes in the dryer, where I find someone has oh so kindly REMOVED A LOAD OF MY CLOTHES AND PLACED THEM ON THE TABLE. Awesome! Wet clothes just waiting for me.
I wait around for a while and finally snag two dryers, which apparently dry about one shirt and one sock at a time, and I sort my clothes into piles: Things That Can Be Hung To Dry in the Room, and Things That Must Have the Assistance of the Dryer. The latter goes in the dryer, the former upstairs with me in the laundry bag (hello again, CL check in desk CM!), where I sort and hang it up in all sorts of interesting places in the room. Sure, on hangers in the closet, but also over the closet rod, on top of the coatrack, on the coatrack, on a folding thing in the closet that I'm honestly not sure is for drying clothes or for storing luggage, in the bathroom, anywhere.
It looks awesome in here.
And now it's time to go back downstairs to start the dryers again, because for $2 you get about thirteen minutes of semi-hot air around your clothes. I take out more shirts and things that can be hung up, feed more quarters into the machine, realize I am low on quarters, go back to the room (hey it's the front desk CL again, how are you?) hang up more clothes in yet more bizarre places, and then I run into Anita who is laughing that I am still doing laundry.
Except I am *really* low on quarters and starting to panic, and frankly I even raided my kids' pressed penny money
<-----one bad mom
but Anita says don't worry, go down to the front desk and they'll make change for you.
By the way, at this point breakfast is long over so I start snacking on chips. I love those housemade Disney chips.
Back downstairs, except this time it's to the front desk for quarters. And the girl is so sweet and doesn't have any more rolls and at this point I'm like GIVE ME ANYTHING YOU'VE GOT IN ANY FORM I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAND ME 75 LOOSE QUARTERS I'LL PUT THEM IN MY SHOES and she gives me $8 in quarters, and I go back up and add more money to the machines, and this time I just stay there and chat with two other women who are in the same boat I am in. And one of them is the lady who took my clothes out of the dryer, and she's actually really nice and so I don't hate her anymore.
I use up the rest of my quarters, FINALLY get the stuff dry enough that I'm satisfied, fold it all, put it in the laundry bag, lament the fact that I seriously just spent thirty dollars on laundry, lugged the bag up for the last dang time (Hi Pete!), put away the clothes, and now it's off to find my family.
That MK storm was downright scary! 
As is your laundry day!!! 
