Tuesday, Dec. 1

We made it home last night about 8 p.m. A day later than we planned. We spent a day longer at Disneyland than we had planned, but we're home! Mother did not come home in a coffin!! Woo hoo!! She's awfully tired, but you can't keep her down.

She almost had all of their laundry, hers & Don-Mike's, done & stuff put away when I got to her place this afternoon about 2:30. I, on the other hand, unpacked a suitcase. Before we could wash anything we had to get a bag of laundry soap.

I've caught up on Jonah, Sheila, Angela & Gwendolyn. It didn't look like anyone else had posted on their blogs in the last week. I also caught up on Facebook, but that wasn't horrendous, as I've been doing that sporadically this week.

I took my laptop with us, but the internet was always SOOOOOO slow. The only thing I could access was Facebook, so I was glad to check on that every day. Sunday night Nick & Don hogged the laptop. I was too tired & upset to fight for any time. I read.

Trip to Logan

I did remember to dry my clothes & hang them up. This time I hung them up in the closet instead of in the hallway for the cats to lay on. I think the cat poop was from Astro. But he's been dead over a year now. Can you tell when the last time I wore that outfit was??

I also took the towels out of the bath tub & washed them. They were stinky. I was going to put vinegar in the wash, but didn't. They were still sitting in the washer when Don got home. He asked if it was ok to start the washer. I said yes, totally forgetting why I had not washed them earlier.

I had to take Mother to Logan to get her pro-time checked. It was 2.7. We bummed a ride down with Don-Mike & Nick.

Wednesday, Aug. 5

I posted this on Facebook earlier today:

Did 3 batches of laundry - Don-Mike's work uniforms. The dryer at their house doesn't work. Holli, tell your grandma her rental has a dryer problem. Mother doesn't dare. And those stupid apron ties wrapped around the drum & I was ready to commit Hari Kari, & rip their guts out.

It took almost half an hour to get that batch of clothes out of the washer. I wondered if I was going to break the agitator fins trying to get the clothes out. I even folded or hung those 3 batches of laundry, w00t w00t

Nick couldn't figure out how come it took so long to get lunch in the oven. I started explaining to him & Don-Mike came in & said the ties from the aprons wrapped around the agitator & the pants. Yup!!! He's been there, done that. I wondered how Mother gets them out of the washer when they do that. They're black & she can't see anyway. I was ready to come in, get a knife & just hack those darned aprons right up.

When I started this morning, there was a batch of my garments in the dryer that I took out & put on the bed. Now, before I can go to bed, I need to fold them. I also need to go to bed before Don does, so I can do that, or they'll get thrown in the chair or the hall, sigh.

I folded Nick's clothes & put them on his bed, along with a pair of denim shorts that are too big for me. I told him I only buy men's denim pants. They're the same size as the pants we are washing tonight. I folded mine & Don's shirts & pants & put them on our bed. But, I hung Don-Mike's clothes on a couple of pant hangers, took them out & laid them on the passenger seat of his truck. I hope he takes them in.

We have another batch of clothes in the washer tonight. Nick wanted his clothes washed. He told me when he found out I had washed blacks & reds (a red batch at my house includes pink & orange), I should've gone out & told him I needed his clothes. He was wearing a fluorescent orange shirt & black pants. I can just imagine the reaction I would have received. And believe me, it isn't pretty.

I also did a pretty thorough job of swishing & swiping the toilet. How can a toilet seat get so dirty in less than 24 hours??? I can understand the wash basin. That needs to be swiped every time the guys wash their hands. And how do they get black gunk on the mirror or the window over the sinks??? There's the floor too.

All, in all, it was a pretty productive day, for me. I didn't feel good this afternoon, kind of wobbly, but I knew if I gave up & laid down, I'd be down for hours, so I just kept plugging along. Don cooked supper tonight. I'm so glad. I don't think I could have done it.

Monday

Well, here it is Aug. 3 & the calendar still says July. Still have 4 pages to do tomorrow on this week's paper, but that's because I took an hour for lunch. I ran over to the DUP training seminar, stood in the doorway of the chapel long enough to hear Carolyn (Smart, president of the Franklin Company) talk about writing our own family history, got a peek at her father's diary on the table in the foyer & picked up a handout she had laying on the table. Knowing I had errands to run & they were going to have a musical program, I left. When I got back, they had broken out into departments & Beth Gunnell, from our camp, had picked up my secretarial packet. I tracked her down, in Carolyn's class. I wanted my packet sooner, not later, LOL. I'm going to hit the ground running this year in DUP.

After the meeting, Debra Baldwin came over to The Citizen. She wants to do a historical column each month in The Citizen. Rod was getting ready to turn her down, I could tell. My computer is just to the side of Rod's desk. His desk faces the door, my desk faces the wall. I turned around & said we already had the 3rd week of the month set aside for DUP & she could have it. They had told me that I could only have 350 words, but I didn't remind him of that. I suggested keeping it within 500 words. I asked Debra if she was outreach for the county, but she said she is outreach for the LoPine Camp & works for USU teaching Islamic history or something like that.

I'm excited that she did. It wasn't the best timing because Monday is a production day. But if she'd have waited & come in or call, he'd have turned her down out of hand. This area is so rich in history & it's being lost. He suggested pictures to go with it!! How cool is that?

As far as laundry goes, nothing happened on that front. I did get some errands run during my lunch hour. Yes, I took an hour. I don't know how long it has been since I did that. Picked up the rabies tag for Mufasa, paid McKenzie Law Office, got a sandwich at Subway & ran a couple of empty pill bottles over to Preston Drug to have refilled.

According to the computer clock, I have 1 minute before the witching hour.

Mt. Washmore

Ugh! Fly Lady's habit for August is laundry!!!!! OK, I have to admit that laundry is not one of my favorite activities. I have a batch of laundry that got left in the washer & soured. These clothes are still sour-smelling several washings later.

I do better with the washer & dryer on the same level. When we lived in Woodruff, Utah, near Evanston, Wyo., it would be days before I'd remember the laundry because the laundry "room" was in the basement. But, I still have a hard time with laundry. Out of sight, out of mind, until, of course, I've run out of pants &/or underwear.

So, for August I will try to get on top of Mt. Washmore & stay on top. Rebooting is my big problem. Wish the washer had a buzzer button on it, like the dryer does. Buzzzzzzz, your load is finished, time to take it out.

A quick recap of July's habit, swishing & swiping. Started out great & slipped quite a bit, but I'm aware of it & I swish & swipe more than I don't, LOL.

On another note, a few entries ago, I talked about reverse SAD here and here. In reading a friend's blog I found an interesting e-book, Brighten Your Life. Never knew too much light could cause mania. See Chapter 7, "Side Effects of Bright Light." Maybe that's why in June I was so depressed. Not enough sunlight. Flashing lights will give me a headache faster than anything, but causing mania???

Lent, Day 3

Who would have thought that giving up something for Lent would be so hard!! Last night, I got off the computer at 11 p.m. So far, so good. But ... I didn't turn the computer off because I wanted a picture of MIL's gorgeous towels. All that handwork on TOWELS!!! I swear they must have come out of her cedar chest.

I got to bed at 12:30, still earlier than I have been getting to bed, but I didn't meet my goal of 11:30 p.m. I didn't declutter today either, but, on a positive note, I did take the mail basket over to Mother's & we went through the mail together. I threw away a lot of junk mail. Sorted through Mother's mail & put it away. Opened mail & put stuff back in the basket to bring home to either pay or file.

I also took the clothes out of the dryer & folded every single one of them, whether they were mine, Nick's or Don's. They, of course, are still on the bed, but ... it shouldn't take long to put them where they belong. Nick's clothes will have to wait until morning. He gets to bed at a decent hour, usually before 10:30. Tonight when I got home a little after 10, he was already in bed & asleep.