I'm Amazing.

I held off writing this post, because I was thinking maybe it would become less awesome over time. It didn't. I try to remember to blog about things that are important for my girls to know about. I want them to see a little piece of who their mother is and what their childhood was like. (This way they can have an accurate set of notes when they enter therapy later :). Anyway this post is written mainly to show them that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. Also, that I'm amazing. (My MOPS friends will get this. Honestly I say this all the time when I do something slightly idiotic, or really awesome. I think Corey is not impressed :)

It was a Monday in early December, Corey was still in school and was working toward his final exam or paper or whatever it was. The girls were asleep and he was busy at the computer. Like any other week night, I was doing laundry, and about to transfer the wet clothes from the washer to the dryer. I popped open the lid to the washer, only to discover the basin full of soapy water and wet clothes. I didn't think much of it as I shut the lid and restarted the cycle. 20 minutes later I came back into the laundry room to once again move the wet clothes to the washer. To my surprise, the basin was still full of wet soapy laundry. I started the agitation again and watched it, 5 minutes later the dial clicked to spin and nothing. No draining, no spinning. I set the dial to agitation again, and click, nothing. I turned the dial to spin, and click. nothing. Uh-oh. I went to the office to tell Corey.

Me: "The washing machine is broken. I have a full load in it and it won't drain or spin"
Corey: "Hmmm, maybe I can take a look when I'm done studying"
Me: "But there is a full basin of water in it, and my clothes are just sitting there."

Corey sort of shrugged his shoulders and went back to his studies. I sighed and returned to the laundry room. I tried the spin cycle once more. click. nothing. I returned to the office to talk to Corey again.

Me: "When can you go shopping for a new washer?
Corey: "Ummm, I don't know, maybe next Friday"
Me: "That's two weeks away, I have a whole basin of water and wet clothes"

Another shrug from Corey. I decided at that point to break out the iPad. I googled "washer doesn't drain or spin". The first article suggested that the mechanism on the lid was malfunctioning and the washer wasn't aware that the lid was down, and wouldn't start the spin cycle. I took the iPad into the laundry room and looked at the lid. I pushed my finger into the lid latch and heard a click. It didn't appear to be the lid, besides, mine wouldn't even agitate now. I moved on to the next article, and included a step by step instructional video. It concluded that I probably had a broken coupler. (Let me just get off on a little side tangent here about me, and fixing things. I don't like it. I would rather just buy a new one and forget it. I know that's materialistic and totally un-environmentally friendly, but from my previous experience, fixing things only helps for a short time, before it breaks again. So normally I would not be sitting in my utility room watching a you tube video about washing machine repair, however I think I was probably bored and a little belligerent from the response from my other half. If you know me, this situation is quite bizarre.) Anyway, the broken coupler sounded like a good idea, I mean, it sounded you know, like something that probably happens. Problem is I don't know what coupler looks like, I don't know where it is, or what it does. Luckily the step by step instructional was going to solve that. It started by showing me how to flip the top cover to the knobs up, to expose the electrical panel and the inside of the knobs. I followed the instructions and flipped the panel up. Nothing looked obviously burnt or broken, so I continued on. Next the video instructed me to remove the cabinet from the washer. That was kind of a big deal, because our laundry room is tiny, and that big cabinet was going to have to go somewhere. I proceeded to take the cabinet off and lay it on a pile of clothes. Now things were getting serious. The entire basin (I don't even know if that is what is is called) was exposed. Whew, there was no turning back now. Next it instructed me to remove the motor at the base of the machine. I crouched down to inspect it. I soon discovered that the motor was attached by screws (or bolts? I don't even know) that I did not have a tool to remove. I deducted that I needed a socket wrench. So at that point I did what anyone does in a situation like this. I called my dad.

Me: "Hey Dad, my washing machine has a broken coupler, and I can't get the motor off to fix it because I don't have a socket wrench."
Dad: (pausing for only a second, which was quite amazing- I think its because these type of conversations are no longer a surprise for him) I have a socket wrench you can borrow, I'll put it outside for you"

After a short road trip, I returned to the washer with the socket wrench. After trying what seemed like a bazillion sockets because I have no ability to guesstimate, I started getting the motor off. In the middle of this endeavor, Corey appeared. He opened the door to the laundry room and sort of just took in the chaos that I had created. He quietly asked "Do you need anything?". I am pretty sure he expected me to start crying, but I held it in and said "Yeah. You can get me a beer." (I didn't even really want a beer, but it just seemed like the thing to say.) I continued to remove the motor and finally wiggled it free. I pulled out what the video called a coupler. (In my world it was a plastic rotator thing. It sort of looked like part of a pencil sharpener). It did not look broken. In fact it was in pristine shape, not even discolored :(.
Holy. Crap. I just completely dismantled and tore apart the washing machine for nothing. And its still full of water. Ugh.

yep.

At that point, I was just tired and disappointed. Part of me though it would be worth it just to leave it as is and call a repairman. I mean maybe he'd give me a discount for effort, or for removing the cabinet or something. Then Corey came in with my beer and I had renewed motivation. I could do this. I had been holding our little family together for 2.5 years while he was in school and darn it, I was going to finish what I started. or something. I got the coupler back in place and screwed the motor back on. I asked Corey if he would help me empty the water out of the basin. I just didn't feel right about it being full. Maybe I could start from scratch and re run the cycle completely and it would work. or something. We bailed out the water as best we could with cups and put the sopping wet laundry in the utility sink. I unhooked the drain tubing from the pump to get the remaining water out, into a bucket. The first tube gushed water successfully into the bucket. I unhooked the second tube and a trickle came out. I was puzzled. That wasn't right, there should at least be a cupful of water sitting in the tube. I turned the tube upward to inspect. My heart leaped. A baby sock. Stuck in the tube. Aghhh!!! I screamed! A BABY SOCK! I yelled to Corey, a baby sock was blocking the tube, THAT'S why it wouldn't drain or spin!!! I wedged the sock out triumphantly. I did a little happy dance, then proceeded to try to piece the machine back together. About 15 minutes later, Corey shook his head and said he was going to bed. I struggled and struggled but I got the pieces back together. The final part was putting the cabinet back on the machine. I underestimated its difficulty. That cabinet was huge, and I was tired and ready for bed. After lots of struggle I placed the cabinet back on the machine and flipped the top back down. Cautiously I turned the dial to spin. I heard the dreaded click. and then,,,,SPIN! Success!!

So, the moral of the story here, is obviously, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING ...with an internet connection and your daddy's tools :)