What's wrong with this picture?

We have had our shower curtain since we got married over six years ago. It was one of my favorite registry selections, even though it was marked "Dry Clean Only." When we got married, we could scarcely afford to dry clean my work clothes, much less our shower curtain. In our old house, it hung in the seldom-used guest bathroom, so I figured it wouldn't get all that dirty anyway. Over the years, however, it has collected some very large water stains toward the bottom, not to mention six years' worth of dust and who-knows-what. I have simply tried to ignore the obvious so that we wouldn't have to pay for dry cleaning a large household item. There are more important things to spend our money on, like credit card debt and student loans. Well, during this "home rejuvenation" phase I seem to be in, I have finally had it with the dirty shower curtain. I took it down last week while I was cleaning the bathroom, not knowing whether I would actually bite the bullet and dry clean the thing, or if I would just take a chance and wash it. It sat there in a wad atop the laundry basket for several days and was finally moved to a random box in the hall outside the bathroom. I walked past the sad lump time and time again, and to my dismay, it did not go away and neither did the need to clean it. So, I finally decided to just take a chance and wash it in the washing machine. "Surely it won't draw up too much," I thought. I nervously sprayed the water stains with Shout as a loud rush of water filled the machine behind me and dropped it in the water with a twinge of fear. But what was done was done, and I'd learn something no matter how it came out. At the very least, I would have a clean shower curtain for a change and not a filthy pile of finished fabric haunting me.

When the dryer stopped, I eagerly collected the curtain and it looked good, except it was obviously no longer crisp. So as not to drag out the chore, I went directly to the bathroom to hang it up and get the job DONE. When I finally had the last curtain ring in place, I dropped the mass of fabric down to hang and laughed aloud at myself as I stepped off the toilet to discover the unfortunate shrinkage!

At least I did something, even if the results were questionable and rather hysterical. It makes me laugh at myself now rather than shudder at the knowledge of its uncleanliness, so that's a positive change anyway. Something in the Pottery Barn catalog last night inspired me to rig it with an old sheet I have laying around, so perhaps I'll have an update to share soon.

I'm sure everyone's heard that old adage "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused." I am definitely amused.