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Friday, October 23, 2009

The last scoop of sand . . .

Remember how I wanted a pair of shiny, new, red front loaders when I moved?


And remember how I pouted because my hub said it wasn't a priority?  

And remember how ticked I was when he ran after the movers as they were backing out of the driveway to tell them they forgot to pack our old, rusty, beat-to-helk washer/dryer? 

What was I thinking?

Why would I want something brand-spankin' new when I could have something beat up and sentimental?

This is how I felt yesterday when we finally unwrapped our old washer/dryer and hooked them up. 

((Stop judging me.  FYI, it takes A LOT of time, energy, gumption and sanity, not to mention apple pie, to set up a new house and hunker down for winter.  And $$$, too--tons and tons of $$$.) (Anyone who says Utah is cheaper than Hawaii is living in La La Land--(Granted, Macey's is insane and I just bought five boxes of Life cereal for $5 and a gallon of apple juice for $1.58), it's uber expensive to keep six people warm.)  You have to keep warm on various occasions--when you're in bed and in church and in school and in a tent camping--and there are various levels of warmth required for each of these various occasions at various times and temperatures.)  

Let's just say the art of staying warm is like an onion--it's layered and complex and multi-dimensional. And sometimes it makes you cry spontaneously. 

But back to my washer/dryer:

How can I describe the flashback I had when I laid eyes upon my old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Kenmore? 

They were exactly as I remembered them two months ago sitting in my bathroom on Kulanui street in townhouse 10-A.  They haven't changed a bit.  

Kinda choked me up to see that rusty ole' dryer and that cruddy ole' washer staring up at me awkwardly, as if to say, "we don't belong in this world, do we?" 


But I assured them that they do belong, and that their ole' rattle and hum is the most comforting sound in the history of the world. 

But when I lifted the lid I got whiplash.

BAM!

There were clothes!  Little boys clothes--shorts and t-shirts--that have been lying dormant inside my washer for 2 months. 

That's when I remembered that the day we left Hawaii, my X-door neighbor, Martha, took my boys to the beach one last time.  We must have thrown their clothes in the washer and forgotten them. 

And so I pulled them out, one by one, and opened them up and hugged them like they were old, dear friends.  Old, stinky, dear friends. But I didn't care because they were the last things my boys wore on our island far far away.  

And they were covered in sand.  

Sand everywhere.  

The washer was full of sand. 


WAAAAAHHHH!!! 

Do you realize what this means?  This means it wasn't a dream.  We really did used to live in Hawaii.  

And now we don't. 

WAAAAAAAAAH!!!! 


You know how they say a straw can break a camels back.  If it's the last straw. 

Well a scoop of sand can break a dummies heart.  If it's the last scoop of sand.

15 comments:

The Songer said...

Is it too much to say.. that we all miss you too?

BTW... i've been loving your post but just havent had the time to respond!

Happy b-lated to T! You still havent given me your guys t shirt sizes!

I see remains of you guys everywhere and think... aww how it must be to move away and start a new life! but it's nice to hear that you still think about hawaii....

In the words of #25 on your playlist... Hug Hug Kiss kiss hugg hug big kiss, little hug kiss kiss, little kiss.. and a Happy Furlough Friday all the way from hawaii!

The Songer said...

ps. I have a new song for your play list...a snippit of it was on ugly betty....

Circle: Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.. It's a way old song, but it's pretty awesome!

Sue said...

I hope you are scooping out that sand and keeping it 4-ever,and when your lawn is covered in s-n-o-w you can sneak into a closet and run your fingers through the beach.

It will be just like old times.

DeNae said...

You're killing me, Smalls! There are, framed in a shadow box over my linen cupboard, three sand dollars from a place in PR called (appropriately) sand dollar beach. Every now and then I take them out, and no matter how long we've been away, they always drop a little of that Caribbean sand on the counter. Whea the "helk" amd I doing in Las Vegas???

The Crash Test Dummy said...

OMGOSH DeNae, I know. I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I'm sentimental today. I'm happy though. Just a little sad too. I know exactly what you mean. We still have sand on our fold up soccer chairs and every time I open them it pricks at my heart. I still haven't swept it off. And I won't let anyone else sweep it off. We just sit on it and think warm thoughts. ;)

Wesley's mom. LOL that's a great idea. It took me three hours before I could face even scooping that sand up and cleaning my washer.

Iwa!!!! I'm so happy to see you. MAHALO! I needed a note from you today. Thank you for the Nacho Libre hug. I added it as number 2 and then put Circles as number 3 on my playlist. Then I switched a few more around to compliment my mood and I'm letting it play straight through.

LY everyone! MISS YOU!

Sue said...

I came back to say, I know it won't really be just like old times, I mean how could a little jar of sand be just like living the good life in Hawaii?

Sorry you are missing it so much. Moving is hard.

But at least you are getting some really great deals on cereal now.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

ha ha Sue! That's true. Bright side. And there are other really awesome things about Utah too. The list goes on and on and on. But it's a two steps forward, one step back process.

Margaret said...

I wish that I lived in Hawaii. I would never want to come back to Utah again!

Martha said...

NO WAY! That is too funny. That last day you were no where to be found because I guess you were hiding under your bed so you wouldn't have to leave. The kids were all pouting on our front porch swing so I said, "Come on lets go for a "Sunday Stroll" on the beach. Of course you can't swim on Sunday so we were just going for a little walk.

Then Zach grabbed a football and the Ho Chings showed up. We started walking, but pretty soon they were tackling each other. (You'll have to post some pics of that last day. Download them from my picasa album.)

I kept thinking that you'd be a little upset that now they all needed to shower and change, but what the helk, they were having so much fun and it was their last day in Hawaii.

Don said...

Finding the dead cockroaches in our electronics was a little bit like that, but not exactly.

Martha said...

It's finally happeing. BYU ripped out both our upstairs bathrooms and has retiled it. Today the new carpet is coming. We have just moved everything into the kids' rooms and the living room.

Everyone who is buying their townhouse is going to be mad because we got new stuff and they didn't, but oh well.

Shantel said...

I do own a pair of those Fancy Pants washers and dryers. They are great! most days I love them more than my husband. Mine get Mud inside them though. Sand is so much more romantic. But then so is getting laundry done.

Sandi said...

just wait til the first time you wear your hawaii swimsuit. there will still be sand in all the wrong places and then you might REALLY have a melt down!

Mariko said...

Oh no, that's not the last scoop of sand. We have lots more of it. I could probably get you at least 2 scoops of it from the pipe draining my bathtub (or should I say, not draining).

You bought FIVE boxes of Life cereal for FIVE dollars?

Now that's just bribery.

TisforTonya said...

I had a similar experience after leaving Seattle - the last thing we did there was vacuum the Christmas tree needles (we moved the day after Christmas - crazy) - I cried when I finally had to change the vacuum bag in dry and red Southern Utah... no more beautiful piney scent every time I vacuumed :(

and I bought about 50 boxes of Life and Cap'n Crunch at Albertsons (ten boxes at a time) for a buck each... my kids are SICK of both cereals so they were excited when I picked up generic Marshmallow Mateys today :)