Saturday, June 28, 2008

That's what friends are for

It's Saturday night. So, of course, I have to do the dreaded Sunday ironing before I go to bed.
There is not one chore in the whole world that I detest more than ironing.


So, while the iron heats up, I am looking at the pictures on my hard drive.
Here is a picture from last week when LG's shirts were ironed.

I am sure that none of these shirts are in the closet now.
They have all joined new phases of the laundry cycle.

The phases are:

One - the first dirty laundry basket in the bedroom.
Two - the second laundry basket in the laundry room.
Three - pretreated or soaked.
Four - Being washed (at least I have a machine that does this, unlike my dishes)
Five - in the dryer.
Six - within the pile in front of the dryer.
Seven - being folded.
Eight - being put away or hung up. (Phase Seven and eight can differ on an average of two days)
Nine - Being taken from the hanger and worn (and ironed if necessary).

It doesn't really matter what phase these shirts are in right this second. All we need to know, for the story's sake is that these shirts are most certainly not still ironed.

LG wore one to work every day this week.
And he was a very happy man when he didn't have to iron every morning, like usual.

I was not the woman who ironed these shirts.
This is where my post title comes in.
I have every reason to be worried because
my friend Valerie was.

How do you get a Valerie, you wonder?
So have I.

So, is "ironing shirts" what friends are for? I don't recall those lyrics from the song.

I have pondered this question. What are friends for?
I will post about my answer another day.

Right now, I need to sleep so I can stay away (ha ha, just caught this typo when editing - this is supposed to say awake) at church tomorrow.

But, I will not sleep without telling Valerie THANKS.

And without leaving you this funny story.

A few years back Abigail received a shirt from one of her friends for a birthday present.
She sat down to write her thank you cards.

I was glad that I caught this spelling error before I mailed the note:

Dear ________,

Thank you so much for the S-H-I-R-T. (but the R was left out)
I loved it.

Abigail.

So, maybe friends aren't made for interesting birthday gifts or even for misspelled thank you cards.

Maybe they are made for doing the chores you hate most.

What do you think?

10 comments:

Rita said...

Thank goodness for friends is all I can say. Mine keep me sane when nothing else does!

And the Abigail story is CRACKING me up! How horrible if you had sent it out (but oh so funny! LOL).

Okay -- I'll catch up on the rest of your blog later -- must have coffee so I can stay away -- I mean AWAKE when we head to church! ;)

Yvonne said...

I hate ironing, too, and I'm fortunate enough to have a good friend like your Valerie. In fact, as much as I hate humidity, after hanging my clothes up here in Hawaii and noticing what a beautiful job the humidity does of getting rid of all the wrinkles, I decided if we had enough humidity I could get rid of my iron!!!

Loved the Abigail story.

ShEiLa said...

I don't IRON... oK maybe when it is absolutely necessary... but yep I don't mind ironing. If the area is all set up (which not here... I have to take out my ironing board & iron everytime... mostly cause I went through a phase where I never took it down... it was a major attractor of clutter... hated it) and if I have some good spray starch, or magic sizing... or great steam... but rarely can steam get out the set in creases. You are so lucky to have a friend that will iron for you. I need to find my friend that loves to wash windows. ToOdLeS, ShEiLA

AnnCP said...

How do I sign up for a Valerie? When I iron I do it in my cave, and talk to myself. It isn't pretty, because I share with myself every reason why the significant other should be ironing his own clothes. You would think that after 33 years of marriage he would get the hint? NO. He feels that if I iron his clothes - I am expressing my LOVE for him, when during the act it is the farthest thing from my brain!!!

Jenn C said...

The story about Abigail almost made me wet my pants I was laughing so hard! I can just see that being mailed at my house without me looking at it.

Happy Ironing!

a wynn wynn situation said...

I HATE IRONING and I NEED a Valerie for sure!
And the "shirt" misspelling was great! We had a cute sister in our ward send out a cub scout calendar that said, "Be sure to bring your scout shi*" and we all laughed our butts off. And then the counselor in the bishopric said that's what he always calls scout stuff.
Hope you were able to stay away at church...

Mia said...

Oh man what a great Abigail story. I will admit that I am not a big fan of the iron. I need a Valerie too, what a great gal!

Lindsey Rose said...

That is really funny! Abigail is so sweet. How nice of Valerie! I don't know if I could have done it, ironing is a thing of the past in this house!

The P*dunc's said...

Laundry is my enemy!!! I put it off until I have no clean underwear! Most of the time I don't even bother ironing. It's nice to know that other people have laundry whoes and good friends to the rescue!

Anonymous said...

We don't iron in my house. . .you should buy some of those shirts that don't wrinkle very easy.

http://www.menswearhouse.com/menswear/browse.jsp?n1=Menswear&n2=Category&n3=Dress+Shirts&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395560209&bmUID=1215436249158

The website shows them kinda pricey, but they are usually cheaper in the store, cuz they do buy one get one free and stuff.