Domestic Skills

Basically, when it comes to anything domestic, I suck at it. Oh, I do not feel bad about this, but rather it has been a source of pride. How many people can say they have messed up rice pudding their first four times trying to make it? I have no idea what I did, but each batch has been inedible (and in some cases crunchy). Jeremy has even taken to calling friends and family to get their recipes. I find that very funny since I've messed up the 4 different recipes I found online. I guess he thinks someone will have the magic recipe that I can actually cook.

But anyway, this is about laundry. I have been doing laundry for many years. For all those many years, I also really haven't bothered to figure out how to actually do laundry. In fact, it was only about two years ago that I started separating whites from colored clothes. Over the years, I have turned whites pink, lime green, lavender, and various vomit-like colors. I probably should have figured out the whole separation thing much earlier, but I kind of figured "what's done is done." So yes, it took me over 10 years to think "gee, I could prevent this from happening to the white clothes." You'll also be happy to know that just a few months ago, I figured out I could add bleach to the whites. Unfortunately, at this point, I'm really not sure it's making any of the clothes whiter.

So, a few weeks ago I took a good look at the washer. Suddenly, I realized I had no idea why it had settings for cold/cold, warm/cold, and hot/cold (these may not even being the settings--I really have no idea other than there were a lot of mixes). I have always set the washer on warm/cold. Why? Because it's in the middle. As I looked at the different settings, I realized I had no idea what they were for.

The following week, I was on vacation. I asked my friends and their husbands what these settings were for. Every person I asked, male and female, knew what the settings were for. Unfortunately, it started to get too complicated. They started talking about separating more colors from colors and whites and a different temperature setting for each group.

Sadly, I tuned out. So, I will happily continue my bad laundering skills. The laundry is either colored or white clothes and it's all warm/cold (or is that cold/warm?). I haven't completely destroyed anything for a while.