The Laundry Mat

The pile of clothes that needed to be washed was so intense that I literally moved them all to a different room so I would have a place to sleep.
The roommate took the washer and dryer, so I haven't done laundry in oh, about a month? Pretty yummy, right?

I took a different route than I normally would have to get to the "COIN WASH".
The machines there were a little more expensive than the other mat I went to before, which in comparison to Coin Wash, was open, wet with humidity, still sticky air and loud with Telemundo.
Coin Wash was awesome.
It was closed in and air conditioned, had a classic arcade game machine, and was quiet. The machines were a little more expensive, but I gladly paid the extra dollar for the A/C and comfort.
After loading my towels in a small machine, and a ton of different colored clothing in a large machine, I sat on a bench, by myself in the mat.
I was completely content. I switched on the iPod, and after playing about 15 seconds of a song, i deemed it a really good time to start reading Twilight.
Only after two games of Galaga, which were a quarter each, did i start Twilight. (Galaga is my favorite classic arcade game EVAR)
I ended up reading 43 pages during the duration of my laundry mat stay.
While reading, the part of my mind that wasn't concentrating on the story line was completely impressed with how overly content i was sitting alone in a laundry mat. I was curled up on a wooden bench, sipping on Sunkist and nibbling on stale Green Apple sour punch straws.
And I was happy. Very happy.

The past couple of weeks have gone by so fast. I have a new work schedule (almost fulltime), I am about to start school, and I have a boyfriend. Yeah! I totally do, lol. And I didn't think about any of these while I was in the laundry mat.
My mind was clear and I didn't feel any worries, any anger or anxiety about anything. Because truthfully, I am always hating SOMETHING, complaining about something.. judging something, rating something, comparing something. Just thinking about how something could be better, or how something could get worse.
And for the first time in weeks I felt great, and clear.

Granted this summer is one of the best ones I have had.. ever.
I took control of my own feelings about a past relationship and worked on it.
I worked out a lot and met my goal of buying a pair of new jeans in a smaller size.
I got a hair cut, which.. in a way i'm still getting used to.
And I met Justin, who is pretty damn awesome.
And I didn't run away from home this time. I didn't pool my money to fly across the states to get that one week of 'freedom', I didn't fly to NY to lose myself in the city and feel like i'm contributing to a community, I didn't stay ridiculous amounts of time in Orlando to pretend that Tampa never existed.
I stayed here and toughed it out.
I was really just running away from myself. I'm still learning how to live with myself.




p.s. Regina Spektors "Fidelity" is running in my head like a continuous treadmill.
Right now it's going for marathon status, I just can't get it out. And i don't want it to.