"All Right . . . who threw the fish in the washer?"

Did I get your attention? More on the fishy washing machine in a minute...

I am already regretting that I told my children about vacation two weeks ahead of time. They are acting like they do when they're all hopped up on sugar – running around, jumping off of the furniture, yelling and screaming – ALL DAY LONG! I should have waited until the day we were leaving and just loaded up the car and said, "Hey, guess what? We're going to Florida!" But I had to go and open my big mouth (because I'm just as excited as they are – in fact, last night I could hardly sleep).

Yesterday evening, they were driving me so crazy that I couldn't even have a conversation with Michael about the plans. I finally told them to go and make a waiting chain. (See photo). It was Jonah's idea. He made a link for every day from now (actually yesterday) until we leave, so there were 14 links in all. Each morning, he and Sadie remove a link as a visual reminder of how many more days we have remaining until vacation. It kept them busy for a good 20 minutes! We do the same thing at Christmas.

Today, we went shopping for things to take on vacation with us. I am obsessed with all things travel sized! Deodorant, lotion, wipes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, you name it. They even have mini laundry detergent and rolls of toilet paper – which I was able to restrain myself from purchasing, although I may have to rethink that one. They're just so darn cute. The kids each picked out a few travel activities to keep them occupied in the car. Have I mentioned it's a 10 hour drive?!?

Now, on to the fishy washer. So the night before last, when I was doing the laundry, I noticed a putrid odor coming from the dirty clothes. I mean a really foul odor, not just the normal stench of dirty laundry – it smelled like someone (Michael) had put one of Violet's poopy diapers into the dirty clothes basket by mistake (which wouldn't be a first). I searched and searched for said diaper. It wasn't there. So I proceeded to go about washing the laundry as usual. When I went back to transfer the clothes to the dryer the next day, it smelled like I had left the wet clothes in there for a month. I washed them again and thankfully the smell was gone.

I realized something though. It wasn't the clothes. It was the washing machine itself! I have been washing cloth diapers in there two to three times a week for 15 months. It was bound to catch up with me. I did a search online and this is what I found:

http://www.thediaperhyena.com/washingmachinecare.htm

So I did the prescribed vinegar/baking soda voodoo and voila...no more stinky washing machine!!! Now I just hope my clothes don't smell like vinegar.

Oops, almost forgot the word of the day. Sadie is such a gamine. (Lame, I know, but I want to go to bed)!