Righty-Tighty, Lefty-Loosey

I have a room in my house that use to be my girl's bedroom. When they moved out I intended to turn it into a craft room, but they left behind some stuff that needed to be dealt with first. I started moving all my scrapbook, sewing, needlework projects into the room anyway and quickly it became the home of anything in the house that didn't have a spot. The piles just kept growing higher and higher. Every once in a while I would make an attempt to dig it out, but with little success.

Fast forward a few years and one of the daughters has returned home and would like a bed to sleep on (there were actually two somewhere in the room) and a space to call her own. I became determined to clean out and organize my mess and not just shove it all to one side in a massive mountain. I should be determined to box it up and give it away, but I'm not quite to that point yet. Anyway, I have been working on this never ending project for a while now and am slowly making progress. I am finally ready to start figuring out where to put things away.

Today I decided to use my carpentry skills and assemble the shelves and other storage items that I have collected with the hope of someday being organized. I grabbed my screwdriver and my hammer and went to work. Lots of righty-tighty and a little lefty-loosey, to fix a few missteps, and then some bang, bang, bang with the hammer. I ran into a snag when my 6 cube shelf, that was purchased for $5.00 from a thrift store, was missing the hardware, but I went online and found some assembly instructions and then headed to Lowes for a dowel and some screws.

Now all that's left to do is to determine where to put them in the room and decide which of my choice items will finally have a place to call home.

The grandson thinks all my stuff is pretty exciting. Here he is helping to sort stickers.

Grandma's house may have a lot of "stuff" but tonight it was lacking an extra pair of clothes and a clean diaper. I guess it's time to restock some of the really important items.

Today I am thankful for

online assembly instructions.
our neighborhood Lowes with helpful employees.
a teacher who taught me my ABCs - attach A to B with 2 CCs would make no sense at all if she hadn't.

Empty Schools

The oldest daughter and I were talking the other day about how sad elementary schools appear at the end of the year. All the artwork comes down. All the colorful bulletin boards - gone. The colorful rugs and containers are put away. All that is left are bare white walls - sad, boring, bare white walls. The hallways and classrooms looks so lonely and forlorn to me. The son-in-law, both sons and I spent a lot of the day at the oldest daughter's school helping her get everything taken down, put away and moved to one side today. It was a big job and interesting working around her students. Her classroom has VERY limited storage space and we crammed lots of stuff into her one small, metal cupboard. I'm not looking forward to emptying it and putting everything back up when school starts again.
This year the elementary school behind my house is closing forever. The school district is losing students and money and decided it was time to take drastic measures and shut down a school. It is a very sad thing. None of my children attended this school. We moved into this house with 2 elementary school students, but I was working at the elementary school in our old neighborhood (one neighborhood East) so they just continued attending school there. My youngest daughter started middle school the next year and I was prepared to put my youngest son in the new school, but when I started asking my new neighborhood friends for a 2nd grade teacher recommendation they didn't have one. I dearly loved two of the 2nd grade teachers at the old school and I was still going to be working there so I just kept him there and he stayed until he left for middle school as well.
I think it is always a heart wrenching event when a school closes. Children are quite possessive of "their school" and it seems that many parents are too. From a real estate point of view it is also a negative thing. I have enjoyed hearing the children reciting the pledge over the intercom each morning and listening to the happy voices during recess. Knowing that the children won't be returning in the fall makes me view this empty school differently this summer.
The district has recently decided to rent the school to the High School district to use as an alternative high school. That wouldn't be my first choice for a neighborhood school, but I'm trying to withhold my judgement until I see how it turns out. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. It will definitely be different.

Today I am grateful

for a cool, rainy day in May. What a gift!
that I don't have to consolidate a classroom every day.
for boys to move heavy shelves.

Too Hot to Move

When it first starts to get really hot here in Tempe it takes about a week for me to accept the fact that summer is truly here and that I better get use to it and adjust. Today was our 5th or 6th day of 100+ temperatures and I have not quite gotten to that point of acceptance yet. It is hot! Way too hot for the first half of May. I don't want to move. I don't want to cook. I especially do not want to go outside or get in my car that has been sitting in the sun. I also seem to have a hard time sleeping at night. For the past few days I have been playing "Let's make a Deal" with myself. If I clean the bathroom then I can lay on my bed, under the ceiling fan, and read my library book. If I cook dinner I can lay on my bed and read my library book. If I water the flowers, clean the living room, organize the food storage corner,do the laundry,... I can lay on my bed and read my library book. I have gotten a few jobs done and have read more than a few library books.
I discovered a new author a couple of weeks ago and I have really enjoyed reading all of the books by her that the library owns. Her name is Lorena McCourtney. She is older and apparently started out writing romance novels but then switched to writing christian fiction mysteries. Her books are very light reading with a little suspense and romance thrown in and she does a good job of keeping me guessing "who done it" right up to the end. She has a series called the Julesburg mysteries that includes Whirlpool, Riptide and Undertow. These books are about different characters who live in the same small town. Another series called the Ivy Malone Mysteries are about an older lady and how her curious nature gets her into trouble. The books in this series are called Invisible, In Plain Sight, On the Run and Stranded. If it's too hot to do anything where you live or if you just feel like reading some fluff you might want to check them out.

Today I'm thankful for

air conditioning.
my washing machine.
my dryer.
Family Home Evening with my boys.

On the Inside

Most mornings after all my family members have departed for their respective destinations, I sit in my living room chair and read my scriptures and an Ensign article while the sun streams in my big front window. It is a very pleasant part of my day, except for the fact that this window really needs to be washed. It is covered with dust and smudges and all manner of debris that interferes with my view. Each morning I lament to myself the fact that I live in Arizona with its dust storms that are extremely hard on windows. This morning I finally decided that I needed to quit mentally complaining and do something about the problem. I filled a bucket full of warm water and vinegar and headed outside to tackle the task. I was curious how many times I would have to empty the bucket and refill it with clean water to get rid of all the dirt. I washed and wiped and washed and wiped and washed and wiped some more. I was a little surprised that even though I was working really hard the windows weren't looking that much cleaner and my water really wasn't getting that dirty. Finally I realized that the majority of the problem wasn't on the outside part of the window, but rather on the inside. I finished up outside and went inside to see what I could accomplish. It was amazing how almost immediately the view was so much clearer. I started thinking about how this experience might apply to my life. How often do I perceive my "messes" as being on the outside? Someone else is the problem and if I could just get rid of that outside interference everything would be so much better. However, considering what I realized this morning, I wonder if perhaps the biggest problem might not actually be an internal one. Maybe if I started with myself and got rid of the dust and dirt and smudges on the inside, within myself, my vision and my life would immediately improve. It's something worth thinking about.

Proof Positive

I've always heard it said, probably by my mother, that "housework won't kill you" but I've always been a little skeptical of this idea. I mean, why even bring it up if it isn't a possibility? I don't like to take my chances and that is why I sometimes (OK, often) neglect cleaning. Well, yesterday I was indexing some death records and ...

there it was! This woman died of Asthmatic Bronchitis but written under contributory is the dreaded word - HOUSEWORK. Click on the picture if you aren't sure that's what it really says.

See, I knew it could happen. With this nasty cough I've got right now it really wouldn't be in my best interest to attempt anything remotely related to housework. Oh, and just ignore the fact that this lovely lady was 82 years old when she finally succumbed to the effects of all that housekeeping. It could happen and that's all the proof I need.

Scary Halloween!

I decided that in honor of Halloween today
I wanted to do something really scary.
I thought of various ideas,
but I'm not necessarily into haunted houses
or blood and gore.
I considered calling up complete strangers
on the telephone to discuss controversial topics,
but I had already done that this month.
I finally decided that the scariest activity
I could come up with would be
to spend some time in my own backyard.
Perhaps that doesn't sound all that scary
but just believe me
when I say it is.
I would show you pictures,
but you probably wouldn't
be able to sleep for a week
and I could never look you
in the eye again once you knew
how truly appalling this yard is.
It's that scary.
My back yard is so frightening
that I try to go out there
as little as possible
and unfortunately my neglect shows.
A lot.
However this morning
I decided to face my fears
and armed with clippers,
pruning shears,
a rake,
and a box of black trash bags
I stepped into the "yard of terror".
It is amazing what can happen to vegetation
when you choose to ignore it.
It becomes a horrendous, giant monster
or more accurately
lots of horrendous, giant monsters.
These beasts grabbed me
and attacked me
and took me down a couple of times,
but I stayed strong and brave
and got the better of a few of them.
After 3 hours I had 5 black bags full of weeds
and the entire fence in my alley
lined with branches and palm fronds.
I wish I could say that I now have
a friendly, subdued backyard
but that would definitely be an exaggeration.
If you look really close,
in a few spots though
it does look a little better
and I can truly say that I celebrated Halloween
in a completely frightening fashion.
The sad thing is
that the city workers came and
gathered up all my clippings
right after I got finished.
I don't think anyone in my family
will even believe how brave I was
or how hard I worked
because they avoid the backyard too
and don't know what
it really looked like out there
and the evidence has disappeared.

Random thoughts on dish washing

In our home we have a nightly rotation for washing the dishes. It starts with the oldest, the hubby, and then moves down according to age and then starts over every 4 days. This is not advanced math. Every 4 days it's your night to wash the dishes. However, it seems like this is sometimes a difficult concept for the male members of my household to grasp and they are experts at playing dumb. "I didn't know it was my night." "You didn't tell me it was my night, how was I suppose to know?" "I'm pretty sure I washed them just 2 nights ago." and so on and so on and so on. And then there's the exceptions to the rule such as if we eat out on someones night to wash dishes do they wash the dishes the next night or does that count as their night? This question has a different answer each time it's asked depending on whose night it was to wash the dishes. Also, if one or both of the girls come to dinner should they have to join the dish rotation? The boys say absolutely, the girls say guests don't have to wash dishes. Anyway, for some reason it often seems like the dishes don't get washed according to schedule and no one seems to be able to agree on who should wash them. Since I am apparently the family member who is bothered the most by a kitchen full of dirty dishes it seems like I am found washing LOTS of gross dishes more often than I would like to admit. This gives me time to ponder and reflect on this necessary chore. When I wash dishes I like my water HOT. As hot as I can stand it. This is wonderful in the winter time when my hands are always cold, but not so fun during the Arizona summers. Luckily there is an air conditioning vent that blows directly down on the kitchen sink. I also can not stand floaties in my water. If the water gets dirty I have to empty it out and start again. Hopefully Arizona never has to ration water, because dish washing would be one of the first things to be given up in my household. I don't mind washing cups, plates, bowls, or silverware but I don't like to wash pots and pans, especially if they have sat for any length of time. My hubby would choose to wash every pot in the house before he would agree to wash any type of silverware. You would think we could make this work to our advantage, but we haven't seemed to figure out how yet. I guess we don't understand the idea of teamwork. Speaking of teamwork, I seem to remember washing and/or drying the dishes with my brother a lot when I was growing up. It seems like the rule was if the dryer caught up with the washer the dryer got to stop and the washer had to do both jobs. Maybe that's just what my brother told me whenever he was the dryer. Actually, it seems like he spent more time snapping dish towels at me than drying dishes so he probably never did catch up. We didn't get a dishwasher until I was in high school because my dad always said he didn't need one. He already had 2 dishwashers, my brother and me. My kids think that joke is about as lame as I thought it was when he said it. We have a dishwasher, but it doesn't work and I can always think of things I want more than a new dishwasher. It seems to me that you work just as hard with a dishwasher rinsing all the dishes, loading the dishwasher, washing the stuff that can't go in the dishwasher or doesn't fit and then unloading the dishwasher and drying off all the stuff that's still wet. Maybe when all my kids leave home I'll feel differently and get one. That would really make them mad. A memory my Aunt Ruby used to like to share concerning me involved dish washing. She and my Grandpa were staying with my brother and I while my mom and dad were gone on a trip. She washed the dishes and neatly hung the dish cloth over the faucet to dry. I walked by about that time and told her, "That's not how we do it at our house." I took the cloth, walked back about 15 steps, wadded it up into a ball, and threw it into the sink. I then dusted my hands off and happily walked away. Washing lots of dishes at one time has led to the discovery of one of my greatest talents. I am an amazing dish stacker. I can make dish towers almost as high as the ceiling if the case need be. This one is a very modest tower, but represents some of my balancing skills.

The vacation is definitely over

Well, it's a good thing I enjoyed my get away because real life was more than ready to welcome me home today. I was suppose to have a salad made and delivered to the church before 10:00 this morning for a funeral. This doesn't sound so difficult except that every single piece of clothing that I own, that fits, except for a muu-muu looking dress and two pair of sweat pants was in the laundry. I sorted the clothes and started the wash and thought I could get some clothes clean in time to run to the store and still get the salad made, but it just seemed to take longer than it should. I finally put on the dress, since it was already close to 100 degrees outside, and went to the store, made the salad and got it to the church at 9:59. At least I wasn't the last person to show up. Then I spent most of the rest of the day trying to convince my teenage son to do his online health or assisting said son with said health in between loads of laundry, sorting mail and newspapers and picking up the house. I don't know why keeping a clean house is so difficult for me, but it seems like there is so much that needs done that I can't decide where to even begin and get discouraged before I get started. I need to just do something everyday and hopefully eventually I will notice a difference. I sure do miss the cool breezes of California. This hot weather is yucky!

Not just all fun and games

Lest you all think that I'm just spending all my time this week basking in the sun I will share with you some of my less fun activities. I have appointed myself the official trash woman of the group. I carry the full bag down the stairs and to the dumpster on a pretty regular basis. I don't want you to think that I am too noble though. I have an ulterior motive. We have a big bowl full of miniature candy bars sitting on the counter. Every time I take the trash out I reward myself with a candy bar. I wish that was the only time I stuck my hand in that bowl! I also have another job that I am responsible for. Perhaps all of you middle age women can relate with me when I say that sometimes getting my bathroom needs met on a vacation is difficult. The other morning I was very grateful to finally get some much needed relief. However, when I flushed the toilet things didn't go so well. No problem, I thought, there's a plunger right here. Well,I plunged and flushed and pailed and plunged and flushed until I was sure there was a line outside the door waiting for the bathroom. Finally I had to admit defeat and share my problem. The plumbers, apparently in CA they travel in teams, arrived pretty quickly and dispatched the plug along with some unsolicited advice on what to flush and what not to. What I flushed definitely needed to be flushed. The toilet must hate me for the pain I caused it because it works fine for everyone else, but when I use it it plugs up every time! And yes, I do know how much toilet paper to use. The plunger and I are developing a very close relationship. Don't tell my hubby. Then today the whole lid just jumped off the toilet when I got close to it. I think it has it in for me.


From the picture you can see that the trash needs taken out. It's candy bar time!

At the beach a pair of us are responsible to cook and clean up one night while we are here. Tonight was our night. We decided to make Pima Tacos. The aunties would have been proud of my daughter. She did an amazing job. I was in charge of the Fruit Pizza which turned out pretty darn good as well. I love only having to cook once this whole week. What a vacation!


Perhaps we should have put an elastic in the cook's hair before she started. What do you think?