Laundry Confessions

I have a confession to make.

I love to do laundry.

Love it.

I know there are many people out there for whom it's an onerous task, or a secret shame that they don't keep up with. I do get behind, sometimes, and get frustrated then. But generally for some reason the process of doing laundry makes me happy, and even more so when it's nice and hot and I can use my clotheslines, which is at least 75% of the time here. I love it so much that I start looking for things to wash, when I'm done with the regular laundry. Hm, I wonder if I could wash this rug over here? Doesn't the dog's bed need washing?

Three sets of sheets drying, and bedspread hiding in the back.

The clothesline started out as an experiment while our dryer was on the fritz. I loved it. The dryer remained on the fritz. It's not a problem that can be solved by simply purchasing a new one, so it will remain fritzy for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, I've added another clothesline and more than doubled my clothesline space. The clothes - sheets - towels - rugs - bedspreads all dry so fast that I can hardly keep up! I do have, to a degree, the best of both worlds. Since our dryer works a little, once I take things off the line, I throw them in the dryer to finish up. This gets rid of any residual moisture, stray plant or insect material, and softens them up, so we don't have to dry ourselves with the dreaded Crunchy Towels. If they aren't moist enough, I'll throw in a damp washcloth or something to help soften things up. No toxic dryer sheets over here, thank you very much!

By the way, my clotheslines are fully removable, so they are only out when I am actually using them. After a great deal of experimentation, I found the perfect solution. In the two trees which will be the ends of the line, I installed two heavy screw-in hooks. I tied a knot in the end of a piece of clothesline & hooked it on one hook. I ran it across and hooked it to the other one using a heavy plastic tie-down hook that I can cinch up to tighten. Then I screwed a hook into the tree(s) in between the ends, and once I've gotten the line cinched up, I pop it over the middle hook(s) to pull it completely taut, so that it doesn't sag too much when it gets loaded with heavy wet clothes. When all the laundry is done, I just reverse the steps. Pop the line off the middle hook(s), unhook the cinch end, and wind it up as I gather it towards the tied end. Drop it into my clothespin bag, hang it in the laundry room, and it's out of the way until I need it again. Takes two seconds to put up, and is much - MUCH - sturdier than the retractable spool clothesline I had first. Oh, my clothespin bag? It's a cute thin cloth bag hung on a clothes hanger. Before I had that bag, I just had a doubled plastic grocery sack hung on the same hanger, which worked just fine.

Hanging out the laundry has for me the same hands-on satisfaction as making bread from scratch, or fermenting sauerkraut or kombucha on my kitchen counter. Now if only I could find the same satisfaction in cleaning my house... Oh well, you can't win 'em all, I guess!

Reconciliation?

How could these two people ever be friends?

Person A	Person 1
Female	Female
Liberal, Gay Marriage, Social Justice Christian	Fundamentalist Christian
Democrat	Republican
NPR listener	Fox News watcher
PC computer user	Apple computer person
Flexible planner	Routine maker
Home is functional but never spotless	House is spotless at all times
Multiple pet owner	Dislikes pets – they are messy
Rarely wears makeup	Always wears makeup
Occasionally gets manicures	Nails always done
Thinks some tattoos are tasteful	Thinks all tattoos are shameful
Loves Person @	Loves Person @

And that last line is the problem. Person @ is in the middle of these two people, with loyalties torn. If it weren't for Person @, Person A and Person 1 would never need to have anything to do with one another. 

Any ideas?

Saturday Adventures!

I had a little adventure yesterday morning.

I got up, got my coffee and breakfast, got the laundry started, got dressed, and headed out to the Farmer's Market. My main agenda was to get some meat from the pasture-raised beef people. They are not at our FM every week, so it was important to get there. After the FM, I was going to go to my church knitting group (I started a small project 18 months ago and still haven't finished it!), and then in the afternoon a friend or two were coming over to start some lactoferments.

Occasionally when we put the key into our car's ignition, it just spins, and doesn't "catch" to crank the engine. This is usually fixed by taking the key out, turning it over, reinserting it, and trying again. Yesterday I put the key in, it spun a bit, but then it caught. It was unusual for it to do that, but the car started just fine, and off I went. I was listening to Car Talk as I drove, and when I got to the FM, I stopped the car, but left it running while I put up the window shade (heat index 104 yesterday!), got my cash in my pocket, stowed my purse, and listened to the tail end of Car Talk.

The program ended, and I went to turn off the car, and the key would. not. budge. In either direction! Wait, that's not true, it wouldn't turn. It would move - it easily pulled right out of the ignition!

There I sat, engine running, key in hand - going, "Um, this is NOT good!"

I was pretty close to our mechanic's shop, and I've been using them long enough to know that they are usually there on Saturday mornings, but being officially "closed", they won't answer the telephone. So, I took down the sun shade, put my seatbelt back on, and drove away to the shop. Thankfully, they were in. The mechanic worked on it, but was also unable to get it to turn off, so he drove it into a bay, and disconnected the battery cable. But of course, once the car is running, it's not running off the battery, so it didn't kill the engine. He finally got it to stop by pulling the fuse to the fuel pump, and it petered out. We were all laughing and shaking our heads.

I called The Daughter to come and get me, which she very kindly did, and we went off back to the Farmer's Market and the natural food store, and back to my house. Thank goodness we recently had our truck fixed up, air conditioning and all!

Needless to say, I didn't make it to the knitting group. Which is really too bad, as I'd hoped to *finally* finish the small project in time for the intended recipient's birthday on Wednesday!

However, my friend Justin did come over as planned, and we started 4 quarts/flavors of kombucha, 4 pint jars of pickle spears, and 3 jars of sauerkraut! I also made some cabbage sauteed with bacon and onions.YUM. And managed to feed us a spot of lunch AND dinner in there, and of course cleaned up & got the dishwasher running. I was exhausted and my feet were killing me when we were done, but so happy to get all that done! It's so much more fun cooking with someone else. Justin and I seem to collaborate well, so that was fun. Maybe Justin is used to that, since he works in commercial kitchens. Husband and I cook together all the time - but usually not working on the same recipe. For example, he grills the steaks and I fix the vegetables, or something like that. So working with someone else on the same recipe was a different sort of adventure!

Why I decided to write this post before showering and getting dressed to go to church, I can't tell you (Procrastination Queen, that's me!), but if I don't get that done NOW I'm going to miss church, and that's just not an option! See y'all!

Happy New Year 2010!

Yesterday was Epiphany, which means that Christmas is officially over. That makes today my New Year's Day! Today we will take down the Christmas decorations, and start back on The McCombs Plan. Actually, it may take us a couple more days to fully rejoin the plan, as we have a lot of dairy in the fridge to use up yet. I am so looking forward to feeling great again! I had so much energy when we were on the plan before, and while I'm not as draggy as I was before it, after all the holiday food, I'm definitely not where I want to be.

Last night at the Epiphany service, Father John had a table with a nativity scene and candles in front of the altar. He told us that he would serve communion off to the side, so that each of us could stop by the Nativity on our way to take communion. He suggested that we study the baby Jesus, and think about what we have to offer him in this new year. I got to thinking about that, and realized that I don't know what I have to offer this year, to church, personally, or professionally. So my prayer as I reached the altar/nativity was to figure out what I will do with 2010.

I'm not really teaching Pilates anymore, although I have had a few requests to teach a class, perhaps at the church. I'm doing my voiceover work, but that's 30 minutes a day, every three weeks. I've thought about getting a job of any sort, but that would hinder our ability to up & travel, which we like to do fairly often.

I really enjoyed what I did through the holidays: I made lists and did a lot of cooking, taking photographs and writing about each recipe as I made it. Everybody seemed so amazed that I made everything myself. Sad, really! And they were only standard recipes, like bread made with yeast & all purpose flour, not even soaked or sprouted or anything.

I'm getting more and more into trying to eat a more "traditional" diet, experiencing and reading about all the health benefits of doing so. I don't feel like I'm advanced enough in that to really start a blog about it yet, though, a la Nourishing Gourmet or Cheeseslave. I will probably blog about it here anyway, as it helps me clarify my thinking to write about it. And maybe someone will find my own babysteps in that direction instructive.

Cooking and photographing and blogging may be fun for me, but I will also need something that gets me out of the house and with people on a regular basis. Husband travels for a living, and is gone for anywhere from 3 to 10 days at a time. I'm WAY too extraverted to just be at home with the dogs for days on end.

In that vein: as I do seem to be something of a hausfrau these days, one of my resolutions is to be a better one. When Husband is home, we like to just enjoy each other's company, so I try to do the cleaning and organizing while he's gone. I'm going to work on being better at doing the FlyLady system. It really helps me to stay on top of things. Interestingly, it's quite similar to a system I worked out on my own a couple of different times in my life when I was very organized!

Also on the personal improvement side of things, I want to get back into going to yoga and ballet classes to work on my balance and flexibility. There are adult yoga & ballet classes very close to my house, almost walking distance, so it's completely ridiculous that I haven't been going. I also got my bicycle fixed up about a year ago, then never got on it. After my knee surgery, I begged and begged to be allowed to ride it, and still haven't. *Sigh*. So that's another thing I could work on. Heck, I could ride the bike to the yoga classes...

As far as professionally, I could work on getting together a voice resume to try to do more voiceover work, which I quite enjoy.

I love to sing. I was working on getting together a cabaret act, but my accompanist is in Chicago, which makes that pretty hard to do! I would like to get back into voice lessons to improve my singing; breath control in particular. For that matter I would like to take some acting lessons. I don't think I've ever had an actual acting lesson in my life, and I do love doing community theatre. There are a couple of shows coming up later this spring that I'll audition for, so that will be fun.

Husband just reminded me that I've always wanted to take sign language lessons, so that is something else to look into. I've always felt that sign language combines two of my biggest interests: language, and movement.

My friend Cynthia did some aptitude testing last year - I might consider going to the Johnson-O'Connor Research Foundation and do that, too. It was quite interesting to hear her talk about it. What brought it up was I was playing a word game that I'm insanely good at, and I thought, okay, what real world job would use this skill?" I mentioned it to her, and she told me of this testing she did that shows that sort of thing. It's very different from the interest and personality inventories I did years ago in "career counseling". This tests your actual native skills and suggests what career would use those skills.

Ack. Toxic Option Overload. This is the problem! So many things to choose from. Just have to figure out which things are priority, sort the logistics, and get on with it!

Happy New Year 2010!

Checking in

oh my gosh, so much to talk about!

i got my new mini netbook and i looooove her! her name is isadora. i've been waiting for this, now that i can type literally anywhere, the two of you who read this will be hearing from me a lot more now! yay!!!

i drove to houston today to meet my friend susan at the ballet. it was a mixed rep performance by the houston ballet and we just loved it. it sparked some thoughts & desires about dance & movement.

i had to wear three hats (metaphorically) at church today, it was funny and a little frantic. one of the jobs was to serve as lector, and one of the readings had something that made me think, "wait a minute, i always hear that the opposite way around! funny how it's been distorted..."

if you haven't heard/seen, we have a new "baby"! a basset named Lily. she's not really a baby, she's the same age as Suki, 2ish. I'll get a photo of her on the main page of this blog asap.

oh and i've had a post brewing about a wasted life...

and of course i should report in from week seven of the mc combs plan!

okay so teasers for you and reminders for me. talk to you again soon!

PS In case you've ever wondered - Everything really *is* beautiful at the ballet!

**update** i forgot to mention the post that's REALLY burning a hole in my brain, which is about REAL food and restaurant food and etc.

so now that's noted and will be written about later.

Serendipity!

Scene One: Saturday before last, I was walking in Lick Creek with my Giant Puppy, Suki, and my friend Laurie and her smaller, but very solid dog Smorfi. Suki and Smorfi had hung back to sniff something as Laurie and I continued down the path, and then came running full tilt to pass us. Only, Giant Puppy is still a bit clumsy, and ran all 110 pounds of herself, at a full run, smack into the backs of my knees. She kept going, but I lost my balance, twisted sideways, and fell onto my butt on the side of the path. I was fine, but I had twisted my ankle a bit in going down. It swelled up that night, was sore but better the next day. Over the next week and a half, every once in a while I'd do something that would remind me that I'd twisted my ankle.

Scene Two: A week or so ago, I thought of an old friend that I used to hang out with when I was finishing my first undergraduate degree at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. This would have been 1988-89. I could not remember her name, but I wondered what had ever happened to her.

Scene Three: Yesterday, Husband and I were enjoying the lovely weather with a little break at Starbuck's, sitting outside. The dry spell had broken, we'd had some rain, and now it was clear and pleasant temperature. Between the weather change and my wearing boots I had not worn in a couple of weeks, my ankle was talking to me again. I mentioned this, and he said, well, let's go get it looked at and make sure it doesn't have a stress fracture or anything. He called our primary doc, whose voicemail told us he was out of the office attending to an emergency. I called my chiropractor, who can xray and treat the ankle, but was unsure if my insurance would cover it. So we decided that the most expedient way to get it looked at, and paid for by insurance, was to go to the Emergency Room. We'd had a really good experience with The Daughter at the newest hospital in our area, The Physician's Centre, which is also doctor-owned. It's a bit off the beaten path, and is quite small, so we figured their ER would be the best choice, and the least busy. We finished our errands, went home and had a bite to eat, ran another errand, and headed to the PC's ER.

Scene Four: The attending nurse buzzed us into the tiny ER, took one look at me and said, "You look very very familiar to me. [pause] Sam Houston. And Houston." and I took one look at her and said, "Oh my God. Laura. Laura Peacock!" This was the very friend from SHSU I'd been thinking of a week or so ago. Turns out she's been an RN for 11 years and has lived in the area for 17 years, and somehow we had *never* run into each other!

I told her I'd thought of her just a week or so ago, couldn't think of her name, but as soon as I looked at her the name came to me.

She told me that a week or so ago, she was going through some stuff and found a book I'd given her when she got her first puppy, a black lab named Hassan. I'd inscribed the book, so she looked at it and thought, "Huh. I wonder what ever happened to Gigi?"

And I said, "Well, that must have been why I was thinking of you, because you found that book and thought of me!"

How's THAT for serendipity!?!

Oh, my ankle? It's fine. The xrays didn't show any fractures, the range of motion is good, the pain is minimal. The doc said there is a little ligament that runs from *here* to *here* (the exact two spots that hurt) and it is the most commonly torn or pulled thing when people twist their ankles. So he told me to take ibuprofen and gave me an aircast to compress it, and told me to stay off it for three days, no long dog walks or whatnot. And still hurting after a week and a half is normal, strains take 4-6 weeks to completely heal. So no worries!

Addicted??

So this morning, my coffepot is set to go off at 8:00 a.m., and the alarm clock next to the bed at 8:05. I've raved about the coffeepot before - but it's the best coffepot *ever* ! You put in the beans and water, and set the timer. In the morning, you wake up smiling to the sound of the grinder going off downstairs. In 5 or 10 minutes, there is fresh coffee!

[OMG!! I just went to Melitta.com to find the link to the coffeemaker, and they don't have it listed anymore! Crisis! I was just about to buy a new one, too, becuase some parts are broken on our well-loved one!]

Anyway. I woke up about 6:30, and soon after, the dog barked at the back door to go out. And boy, did she need to... Business accomplished, I let her back in, and headed back to bed. Hm. It's 7:00, alarm set for 8:00, maybe I should just stay up. But I was still sleepy. So, I went back to sleep, even though there would not be enough time for a full sleep cycle & I might be groggy when the alarm went off. I don't know if you do this, but when I nap or fall back asleep like this, I have crazy dreams.

So, I dreamed one of those crazy dreams: I'm in a house that is four stories tall. I'm in the basement/ground floor, in bed, just waking up and, as I recall, petting my dog. There are other people in the house, but they are all already up. I decide it's time for some coffee & pad into the kitchen, to find that the coffepot has gone off, but someone removed the carafe, so the hot coffee & grounds are spilling out of the filter basket and making a huge mess! I'm frustrated and angry and I start yelling, "WHO MOVED THE COFFEEPOT?!?!?!!!" and I start up the stairs to yell at the other people in the house. I finally find them all in the top (fourth) floor, just sitting around reading and being sociable. Husband is there, and our BFF Theo, and a couple other people. One of them was a blonde chick that I didn't like. I think she was based on this cousin of mine, who I like just fine, so, Sorry, Cousin! Anyway, I get to the top of the stairs and I'm screaming bloody murder, "WHO MOVED THE COFFEEPOT?!?!?!!!" and of course, they all just looked at me like I was completely insane, which of course, I was. They were entirely mystified about why I was so upset and screaming. So I head back downstairs to the kitchen to clean up the mess and make a new pot of coffee. I was calming down a bit and thinking, "okay, it's a mess, but it's not that big of a deal, I just need to rinse all the stuff off and make a new pot. It's going to be okay."

And then I heard the coffeepot go off downstairs.

Which confused the heck out of me for a second, I mean, I was just headed to make coffee, right? And then I realized, the mess was just a dream, and that was my real coffee going off, and would be ready for me to drink in 5 minutes or so. Such a wave of relief washed over me! And then I thought, oh my, I am SO addicted to my coffee!!!

More Saturday Blogthings

As usual, inspired by Susan!

Your Dosha is Pitta

You have a quick mind, a gift for persuasion, and a sharp sense of humor. You have both the drive and people skills to be a very successful leader. Argumentative and a bit stubborn, you have been known to be a little too set in your ways. But while you may be biased toward your own point of view, you are always honest, fair, and ethical. With friends: You are outgoing and open to anyone who might want to talk to you In love: You are picky but passionate To achieve more balance: Be less judgmental of those around you, and take cool walks in the moonlight.

What's Your Dosha?

You Should Visit Peru

Peru is ideal for your "off the beaten path" traveling style. Head out to an ancient Incan city, visit a volcano, and don't forget to pet a llama.

What Latin American Country Should You Visit?

You Are Trinity

"Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again."

What Superheroine Are You?

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Okay, this is interesting, I'd never even heard this name before!:

You Are a Monroe Piercing

You are glamourous, sophisticated, and very classy. You're the type to think carefully before getting any sort piercing or tattoo. You are naturally charming. People find you to be very alluring. Your manners are impeccable, and you always have something witty to say. While you look like you're high maintenance, you have simple tastes. You're a homebody who'd often rather curl up with a book than go out.

What Piercing Are You?

And a bonus quiz:

The PJ's You Are Most Like: His Shirt

You're a loyal and caring girlfriend who can't get enough of her man So much so that you love to have him with you 24-7 And when he's gone, wearing his shirt is the next best thing

What Kind of PJ's Girl Are You?

Sundry Sundered Saturday Silliness

What Your Bed Says About You

What Your Bed Says About You

Outward appearances are very important to you. You do your best to look good and have an attractive home. You are an organized and disciplined person. You do the right thing because you want to, not because people expect you to. You are very high maintenance. You like everything a certain way, and you're grumpy if things aren't the way you like them. In relationships, you tend to kick back and let the other person be in charge. You tend to be a down to earth, practical person. You think in terms of what is actual. You are a bit of a homebody, but you can also make yourself at home anywhere.

What Does Your Bed Say About You?

Which Olympic Sport Are You

You Are Gymnastics

You are agile, expressive, and precise. You have the drive to practice until you get something perfectly right. And you have the confidence to perform difficult moves when under pressure.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

Lots to say, not much time!

I frequently have thoughts that I think, hey, this would make a great blog entry, so I could flesh out what I'm thinking about this. But I rarely sit down and actually do it.

I had one yesterday - something happened with regard to my Mom and it got me thinking about "neediness" versus actual NEED.

Then today a friend wrote and asked me about the story of my precious cat named Turtle that died a few years back. So rather than just write the story to her, I thought I'd make an entry for that, too.

About a year ago, I had one that I actually wrote down on paper (I know, right?!?) on my thoughts on modern art, and I've always meant to turn it into a blog entry, too.

So, there are three teasers for anyone who actually happens to read this, to encourage me to actually sit down and write these things in the next few days.

Happy Thursday!