Washed With Love

01/02/2026

Happy New Year!
May all your laundry be fresh and all your softener sheets be fragrant!
~Laura

10/30/2025

Now that we're wrapping up, I can start sharing embarrassing stories and Oops! moments that we had. I'll share one of mine first.
I was halfway listening to the radio on my way to a hotel (Inn of the Hills for the locals) that has a nice, covered area to pull up under. All 5 members of a fire department search and rescue crew were standing out front waiting for me. If I remember right, I think it was the Tuscaloosa crew. I stopped the car, pushed the button to open the back, and got out so I could write down their names in my book. As the back fully opened, the lyrics in the song said, "I like whips and chains. I like being tied to things."
They looked at me. I looked at them. We all stood there for a second.
Finally I said, "Well, now you know something about me." We all laughed and I made sure to turn the radio completely OFF on all future pick ups.

10/30/2025

Last pick up this morning! My mascara is still intact! Thankfully Bonnie came with me. We were prepared for an avalanche but it's just a trickle. One last trip out there to drop off!

10/29/2025

We're to the point I've been thinking about since August. How do we wrap up Washed With Love? This post is about how we decided on the date and then our Final Farewell will be Friday when I have some quiet moments to reflect and get our totals together. So, no goodbyes yet!!
I had thought we could make it to the end of the year. Nope. The volunteers don't have enough left in their tanks to carry on for another 2 months. So, how about the end of November? No. We're all out of energy and the fatigue is getting heavy. So, what about getting a fresh batch of volunteers? Possible, but I can't envision doing this without the ladies who helped me get it started and I'd have to have you guys start sending supplies again. That's more energy than any of us have left right now.
After speaking with several volunteers and the great people at the Command Center, we realized the folks here helping our community with clean up now have schedules conducive to them taking over their own laundry. They've been working regular schedules for awhile which is great so we haven't had to be 24-hours anymore. I decided we could autopilot to the end of October. And we have!
The strength and dedication and tenacity and humor of the volunteers has carried us to the last lap. The end of this month has worked out for us to shut down. Tomorrow morning (Thursday) is the last pick up and Friday morning will be the last drop off and the last time I drive away from the Command Center. I'm fairly ok with it but I anticipate Friday is going to hit me hard. I've gotten pretty fond of all of them up there and I can't imagine not having the volunteers coming and going at my house all day. I've already had one job interview and I'm looking forward to getting back to work and finding our new normal. So, that's it. THIS chapter is finishing Friday. More details on that later so stay tuned.
Much love to you all!
~Laura

10/28/2025

Our claim to fame: We washed their clothes. Congratulations and thank you gentlemen for helping our community!

09/30/2025

Today's Recap:
It's not about us today. It's about these bus drivers who drove across a damaged bridge and into unknown circumstances several times to bring 900 kids from the camps in to town. If you missed the original broadcast today, here it is in its entirety.

This is our town. These are our people. These are our heroes.
~Laura

"Our drivers are more than just drivers; they're heroes." A dozen school bus drivers risked their lives to rescue more than 900 kids from deadly Texas floodw...

09/26/2025

Today's Recap:
Lonny and Keila did 5 loads today. These last few days have been light so I have a feeling tomorrow will be busy. It's like waves now. We started off doing so much each day that now these slow days just feel wrong, like I'm forgetting to go pick up somewhere.

The sanitizer you guys ordered for us arrived today. Lisa, our inventory manager, is out for a few days so we'll see if I still remember how to open boxes and put things away. 😁 The more the volunteers do, the more in the way I feel sometimes. Truthfully, I love it because it let's me see how the group can be replicated for the next disaster in the state.

The fabulous people at the command center left me some go go juice this morning. They know the way to my heart. I need to get the cooler full of ice and drinks again so the whole crew can always have a drink handy when they stop by.

~Laura

09/25/2025

09/25/2025

Today's Recap:
Betty, Lonny, Jeri, Stacy, and Kristen did 10 loads of laundry. We're just chugging away and doing our part to keep Kerrville clean.

After spending more time with FEMA today, I have 2 tips for the locals:
1. Get your receipts and estimates in ASAP. You have until Oct 3 but don't procrastinate. They are processing them in the order they come in.
2. It seems they know half the town is drinking these days and it appears that is not a problem, just don't bring it inside!

If you're overwhelmed and haven't gone in to see FEMA yet, I'll go with you. They are not like the negative stories we've all heard. Everyone I've talked to has been kind and helpful. The main lady who has been helping us is the best. She always remembers details about my family and looks for other ways to help us. So, go in if you need to! I've heard way too many people who need help say they don't want to mess with FEMA. Please, get help if you need it. There are several agencies in the building and they also want to help you. I can even just meet you there, show you where you need to go, and then give you a little shove before I leave you to it. Together we'll get through this.

~Laura

09/24/2025

Volunteers and Texas Task Force 1 are still searching for Cile Steward and Jeff Ramsey. They may need your help.

09/24/2025

Today's Recap:
Keila, Betty, and Lonny did 7 loads between them. We have 1 already scheduled for tomorrow and 2 volunteers have said they can help in the morning so that is a great way to end the day. Getting the volunteers lined up each morning is the most time consuming thing I do every day so it always makes me extra happy when I go to bed having a few ready to go the next day. I'm a planner. Planning makes me happy. Planning to plan is fabulous!

Keila sent me a picture of the color catching sheets she uses. These are from a load she just did. To be honest, I've never used them but I think she has convinced me to give it a try. Basically, we use Cold on all the uniforms and then throw in one or three of these depending on your load size.

The other picture is of the dryer sheets that arrived this afternoon. You guys take such great care of us. We do still need a few more bottles of sanitizer. I'll add the Wish List link in the comments. Thank you for keeping us going for 2 months now.

They started moving the memorial wall this afternoon. If you're looking for it, it's all packed up for a little bit. I'll try to do a whole post on the wall tomorrow and what is going on with it.

~Laura

09/23/2025

Two Days Recap:
Sunday, 5 ladies did 11 loads of laundry. Today, 3 people did 7 loads.

I got to the command center this morning and several of them changed out our laundry area a little bit to help us. When we took over, EVERYTHING was going in the giant bin - the dirty and the clean. I got chairs to put the clean laundry on because I didn't want it all mixed together. On days when we have a lot, the chairs aren't quite enough. A few days ago, several people there helped me unload and said I should use a table instead. Well, they took care of it for me. Words are great but actions are golden! I think this will work better.

Today is the 1st day of Fall. I'm ready to not be cooking but not so ready to be freezing. I worked on the porch today and I started trying to figure out what is going to have to come inside when it gets cold. I think most of the supplies will be fine staying outside. I don't know why I'm worried about this yet. We have 2 more months of hot weather.

~Laura