You know those times in life where you can either chose to cry or laugh?  We are currently having those on a nightly basis.  So far, we’ve had no trouble laughing about all of it – they say laughter makes you live longer, right?  Readers, bear witness to the Great Dryer Affair (of 2012 – I’m sure there will be more to come).

As of Tuesday morning, we didn’t have any appliances in the house.  None, zip, natta – no range, no oven, no dish washer, no microwave, no refrigerator, no washer and dryer.  BUT on Tuesday, thanks to the strong muscles of Chad’s brother, Daniel, and the gracious assistance of Chad’s mom, Dee-Dee, we got a hand-me-down refrigerator, washer, and dryer in place, all ready to be hooked up (we’ll address the refrigerator in a “kitchen” post, soon to come).  The washer and dryer were left-overs from the Logan beach house, and although they are well-loved, they work, and that’s all we can ask for!

First, Chad got the washer hooked up – we gleefully began the first load, hardly believing that we had a real-live washing machine at our disposal (if you can imagine how many disgustingly dirty, wet rags we have, you’d be excited, too).  We stopped to eat dinner and came back to find a floor full of water.  [PANIC ENSUES].  Luckily, it was just a result of worn-out tubing, and we happened to have an extra.  Luck was in our favor!

On to the dryer.  Chad had to climb down into the creepy crawly basement where the dryer vent exits and the circuit breaker lives:

He bravely risked his own life for our cleanliness.

Then, we realized we didn’t have a cord that matched this outlet:

So we ran to Lowe’s in Woodstock, got a cord, and returned to conquer the dryer.  The cord fit the outlet perfectly, but the cord connects to the dryer in three places – and one of the screws for one of these attachments was missing.  Of course.  Luckily there is a truck stop in our driveway (haha), so Chad made a few trips back and forth to find something that would suffice.

(Where’s Chad?)

(There’s Chad!)

Finally, at 11:00 p.m., one screw fit…I hit the “start” button, and…nothing.  Out of sheer frustration, Chad shook the machine and…the light inside the dryer came on.  I hit start, and the machine lurched from its slumber.  Sometimes, a little kick in the shin IS all it takes – I should’ve known that much from rugby (we think the connection point may have oxidized and just needed some of the build-up knocked off)!

We found this obviously brand-new bottle of detergent:

And Chad did a victory dance:

And now we have clean clothing.  Hallelujah.