A dryer's view of the world

My dryer could tell a million stories about it's owners, but I like to think of it's life in era's:

The rarely used era
I used to wonder about those people who complained about doing laundry all week long. This was pre-babies, of course and the dryer was used only every other week. It was a sweet life for a dryer (and it's owner).

Spit Up Era
Life got a little more interesting when J came along... but his tiny baby clothes didn't add that much to the now weekly load. He wasn't a particularly messy baby and I didn't mind leaving him in slightly dirty clothes (provided it was only spit up).

Toddler Era
Again, a little more hectic, but not so much more so, just bigger kid clothes and the same adult quantity.

Toddler + Spit Up Era
Here's where the fun begins. What used to be three loads a week has grown to 4, and the kid clothes are adding up.

Sand
J went to a pre-school in Chapel Hill with Sand+Dirt as the playground flooring material. This era has led to about 3 cups of sand sitting in the vent (I can see it, but I can't reach it with any implements which might be able to get it out). The sand even prompted me to ask a repair man how to take the dryer apart to get it out. He has given me instructions but I haven't done it yet.

Dog Hair
In Denver we lived in a a very small house with a very small yard with severe winter weather. All this added up to MASSIVE amounts of dog hair. Brushing only put a dent in the problem. Each time I washed and dried there were black pills of dog hair on everything. I eventually bought these little velcro covered balls which scrubbed the dog hair off of things. They helped, but it was incredible how much she shedded, didn't she need that hair?

Acorns and Rocks
In Austin we are now in the Acorn and Rocks era. Both of them bring these things home in their jeans and the end up in the wash. J and P had an all out war the other day about an acorn one of them had brought home from school. "It's mine!" "What did it look like?" "It was brown and round and pointy on one end" "Just like every other acorn in the world?" "Bwahhhh!" Each load of laundry comes with a load of rocks and acorns which unearth themselves in the washer and dryer. I should start telling people that "stone and nut washed jeans" are back in style.