the misadventures of the domestically inept

I walked into our laundry room/walk-in-closet last night and gasped at the laundry covering the floor. All the baskets were taken up with other things, leaving the dirty laundry all over the floor. "It's only about two loads . . . " I said optimistically to Tuan.

This morning, I put a load in and started hemming a dress for a friend. I put another load in this afternoon. (It was more than two loads, but not more than four).

Tonight, after company, and some blog reading indulgence, I decided to start one more load before bed. As I was putting the laundry in, I felt a bite. Looking down, I discovered that underneath the laundry, our floor was covered with ants. Hundreds of ants. I grabbed the vacuum and got to work with my hose attatchment, alternatively moving laundry and vacuming up the little buggers. After twice sucking up two socks and disassembling the vacuum to remove them, I made a lot of progress. There is one more load left to tackle, then I'm going to vacuum once more and go to bed.

I'm not sure what lured the beasties in, except the dress Aubrey wore at lunch--she had a lot of crumbs on it and I just tossed it into the room. Whatever the cause, I am so thankful for my vacuum. It is one of my favorite blessings in this life. Really and truly. I love that it tackles bare floors and carpet. I am thankful for its brush and crevice tools and for the way it can take my rough handling and J and A's as well! After Katrina, I was filled with nervous energy and tried to clean our house without electricity. I actually swept the carpet in my fervor. When the power came on, I was glad for the super suction skills of our former vacuum.

We take so many things for granted, but consider the amazing gifts God has given us even in the realm of appliances! Such wonders like my Kitchen-Aid, Cuisinart, and Vacuum make this pilgrim journey much smoother.