Irony....

I am so amused.... at the time, I could barely contain myself. My poor friend. God love her!

I woke up with a strong desire to spend the day cleaning my house. Trust me when I say, that is not a common occurrence, so I grab it and run when it hits me. It wasn't one of those "overwhelmed with the chaos" feelings; it was an inspiration to clear out the stuff that we don't use and sift through the stacks of paper that have taken over my desk. I WANTED to clean....joyfully!

The kids had friends coming over for the day, so housework was an ideal project for me. I stuck in a load of laundry as prepared breakfast. Not too long after that, my phone rang. It was a friend of mine whose washing machine had died upon their return from their spring break vacation. She wanted to know if she could haul some of their laundry over and use mine. "SURE! bring the kids, the more the merrier!"

So, she did. The kids played, I sorted through stacks of paper, and then she and I did a couple of the "two adult" jobs I have here. Suffice it to say that it takes two adults and an extension ladder (used as a bridge!) to change a light bulb at my house!

Long story short, as she pulled her last load of clothes out of the washer, they were damp - REALLY damp. We had just returned from taking the kids and the dog on a walk around the block, or we probably would have heard the "CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK" that happened during the spin cycle... without the spin, of course.

"NO WAY!" she said. "What?" "I just broke YOUR washing machine". That's when I lost it. I laughed and I laughed and I laughed. "It's not funny....", she said. Oh... but it is.

It's not like the thing is new... I mean after 15 years of use, it's pretty much been living on borrowed time. I knew I'd replace it one day. As I told her, if it hadn't been her load of clothes, it would have been mine... and honestly, being able to laugh at the irony of the situation, kept me from feeling the frustration that would have hit me if *I* had broken it!

I belly-laughed from time to time, long after she and her kids had returned home.

Thank you God for the gift of laughter.... and the twists and turns that irony brings that keeps life from being just straight out boring.