Love Is . . . a Soapy, Wet Garage

It's sad. I know that somewhere out there are lands where the cars are clean and shiny and beautiful but here? This is more typical. Sure there are people who actually do go out and get their cars washed but within a week you'd never be able to tell who has washed their car since August and who has not.

Usually I'm someone who has to have everything neat and clean, it drives me crazy to have the kids leave their empty sandwich bags and used napkins, pencil stubs and candy wrappers in my car and even worse to have them brush up against the dirty car every time they go through the garage--I hate having it so dirty--and Andrew knows this.

So for Christmas I got an envelope from my husband who said that his gift to me would be to wash my car. However, since we couldn't shell out eight dollars at the car wash he said he had his own "special" way he would get the job done.

Intrigued, I wandered down to the garage to watch him as he hooked up the garden hose to the indoor utility sink, filled up a five gallon bucket with soapy water and began to scrub my car down, right there in the garage. Forget the fancy pre-soak, it was fast and furious as he scrubbed and cleaned until the whole minivan was one big soapy bubble then he had me back the car out into the driveway while he hosed the whole thing off lightning fast. First one side, then I backed out and repositioned for him to get the other side as his teeth chattered.

The steam rose all over as the hot water hit the frozen driveway and the cold air. Even though we only had the car out there for thirty seconds we still managed to see a few neighbors drive past who slowed down to stare at the crazies washing their car in 10 degrees. They knew we were odd before but now they were certain we were certifiable.

It went so well I told him I'd help him with his car and we repeated the whole thing and by the time we were done our driveway was one huge sheet of glacial ice. But . . . we'd saved sixteen dollars and had two clean cars (for at least a week).

Funny thing is it was kind of fun to do something so odd together. And what else are you going to do when a man goes to such great lengths to give you a clean car and a sign of his affections? Cover him in kisses, that's what. It's a mark of true love I tell you when a man volunteers to wash your car in snow and ice--and though I'm joking here I'm serious when I say that it's really the little things that keep you going after so many years of marriage and so many ins and outs.

He's definitely a keeper.

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