Believe it or not, we have had neither an iron nor an ironing board since the fire. That’s over 10 months of rumpled Heidmanns, and I’m here to tell you, for someone who actually loves ironing, it’s been quite the aggravation. Not that the family minded… kids will wear pretty much anything, and Paul has shared with me on a regular basis for the past 19 years his considered opinion that ironing is a waste of time. I, however, take the greatest delight in the process. It’s therapeutic, or something… I don’t know, I just like doing it.
You might be wondering why they weren’t replaced before now.
Yes, that’s a mystery to me too. With all the more substantial items we’ve had to replace, this “minor detail” somehow never made it to the top of my consciousness during a shopping trip, or even during the making of a shopping list! I typically remembered it on Sunday mornings when I ruefully observed my disheveled crew scurrying out the door for church.
Anyway, over the weekend I finally decided this was getting ridiculous. It helped that I had managed to think of buying an iron while I was actually IN a Wal-mart last week, and it was sitting on top of mom’s little fridge, in it’s box, just waiting to be used. So I hopped on the internet and found out that Bed, Bath and Beyond sold the same ironing board I had before the fire (I’m not a fan of the inexpensive models, I’ve had them tip over too many times, with babies and dogs in the house…not safe!).
I joyfully jumped in my van and took off for the nearest BB&B, 10 miles away in Avondale, and picked one up. Imagine, then my joy and anticipation as I was peeling off the shrink wrap, all a-tingle with pent-up wrinkle-removal-rapture. At last! At Last! AT LAST!!!
I swung it around, pulled the lever, the legs went down, and it wobbled. Not just a little. It was at least a two inch wobble. It was so significant, I knew that I couldn’t pay that much for it and not have it sit solidly. Which meant another drive to Avondale, and another umptidy gallons of gas.
This caused my husband to frown.
When I got there, I explained my problem at the counter, went back to retrieve a different board, and brought it up front and had her open it up so I could make sure it was stable before taking it home.
And that one had the SAME problem! My last ditch hope was the only remaining board they had, which was not even in a wrapper. I went back and grabbed it, noting as I did that it appeared to have been used, as there was a slight water stain on the cloth cover. Then as I was setting it up by the front counter, I noticed the feet were scuffed… this was not boding well.
To my everlasting delight, the legs went down, all four feet sat solidly on the floor at once, and the board didn’t wiggle even a smidge. I said, “Done. I’ll take it.” I didn’t even care about the stain or the scuffs, I was just so glad to find one that worked!
Call me crazy, call it futile, but oh, how I have missed ironing…
Stacey
28 Mar 2012I will bring my ironing right over 😉
Glad you were able to get a good one after all of that and still have the best attitude about it!
Annette Heidmann
28 Mar 2012Lol yes, go right ahead, I’m game for an ironing party. I’ll take a Green Machine smoothie as payment and we’re good to go! 😀
Linda
28 Mar 2012My ironing board is set up in my sewing room all the time. My husband irons his own work shirts and I iron everything else that needs ironing. I can’t say I enjoy it, but then again I can’t stand to wear rumpled clothes–especially if the hems are turned up too. I’m not in the same league with my mother, however. She’s the Queen of Ironing. She’s the lady who used to keep big plastic bags of pre-dampened clothes in the FRIDGE so they’d be ready to iron when she had a few free minutes.
Annette Heidmann
28 Mar 2012Ahh Linda you have the perfect setup with being able to keep it ready at all times. And as much as I love to iron, I clearly must bow the knee to your mother – I could learn a thing or two from her!! 🙂
Pauline Holston
2 Apr 2012That…dampened clothes in a bag….brings back memories for me! Back in the days BEFORE steam irons!
Pauline Holston
2 Apr 2012I too am thankful to have an iron and ironing board in the house again! We managed without but had to be ‘Johnny-on-the-spot” getting things out of the dryer and hanging them up!