A little ditty about bleach...

So I know I promised I would avoid the blow by blows on cleaning products, but it must be said that my laundry day today warrants being talked about. If for no other purpose than to make all feel relieved, nay-- scratch that-- over come, with joy that they do not live in my house.
Today is laundry day. It is one of the chores that I frequently try to avoid until my OCD kicks in. The sorting, the changing loads, folding, putting away.. all trivial bits that annoy me. However, of them all-- the one that takes the place in the prime spot for me is the actually washing of the Whites. I detest the Whites. I have actually, in desperate times, been known to simply run up to Target with my friend in tow (and laughing) to BUY more socks rather than actually placing a load of whites socks and such in the washer. (and to clarify.. I actually have done this for jeans as well-- which ranks in 2nd place of least favorite load to wash)
Anyhow-- back to the whites. So, today-- I was inspired to do them without a fuss. So, I got the water going and started to put them in to the wash, when suddenly, I felt a vibration JUST as I was letting them fall into the water. A sickening feeling overcame me-- was that my cell phone laying in the soapy abyss? I start panicking on this one.. I mean.. its my phone! I have all the numbers saved into it!! And while there is some discussion about how I don't ever answer my phone.. I still have the option to if I have it!! So I do the natural thing here.. I reached in and started pulling out the whites in a mad scramble to save the cell phone. I am tearing at these things, feeling deep into the basin for the metal of the phone. But the water keeps adding in and right about now seemed a good spot for the bleach to enter into the picture. So from this side is the bleach pouring out-- the other side, the water is still going full force and I am screaming words that my mother would blush at the thought of; all the while, yanking and pulling wet, thick, heavy items of soiled clothing. Here might be a good place to let you all know that I keep my laundry room in the garage... my car and the washer live happily in there together on most days. Today however, I had pulled in too close to the washer side with my car and so it made actually getting IN to the washer more difficult. Hence making my next decision seem sensible at the time. This is where I decided to grab the clothes in the washer and pull them OUT of the washer -- all in my quest to find my phone. So, I am pulling out my wet, bleach watered clothes and throwing them sopping wet on to the floor of the garage.. and still, cant find this tiny little phone... and I am looking. I am in tears with frustration. And NOW, the front of my pretty blue shirt and jeans are soaking wet-- and turning a brilliant shade of white.
I now have all the clothes out of the washer, still no phone.. and I am rifling thru the heap on the ground and my kids are staring at me like I am some sort of reality show reject.. and that is when.. I heard the soft sound of the ring tone of my cell-- INSIDE the house. I get up and look, and there is my pretty bright pink razor-- sitting dryly on the table.
And this is why I am just going to go to Target for the blasted socks next time.

The Grass is always greener..

I have a lawn boy. It sort of just happened. Up until now-- my way of doing the lawn and keeping it trimmed was to NOT water it so it didn't grow. This proved to be nothing less than making my house look like it belonged in a land far far away-- in a vortex of its own-- one I like to call Winslow. (sorry C.)
So my lawn boy appeared. He is the husband of my shortest friend. He showed up one day with a hedge trimmer, and started doing the front walk. I had not even met him at this point. I walked out with my hands in my back pockets and made mumbling noises about how I had no idea who he was and why he was whacking my dry, dead weeds.. but I loved him. Lucky for me, he is blessed with a sense of humor.
He trimmed, and cut both lawns. Then he came back the week after, did the same thing.. AND pulled all the weeds out of every place a weed thought about growing on my property.. all while still in uniform. Yesterday.. after the ball game, (see future blog) I came home to a tall man standing in my back yard, moving the swing set around to mow back there.
Right about here, my catholic guilt kicked in. I mean, I am not invalid.. I CAN actually do my lawn-- I just despise it with all the passion I can muster. So, I walked out, looked up (because my lawn boy is, in fact, a 6'4" Texan) and said- - "now-- you know I appreciate this more than words can say-- but you don't have to do it.".
Without a blink of an eye.. he said-- "we take care of our own".
I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I felt like I wanted to lay down and cry right there on the pavement. I still get tears in my eyes.
We Take Care of Our Own.
I am in a special group-- the one that refuses to ask for help-- but needs it desperately. And I guess, without knowing it-- my group attracts a different group-- the ones who don't need asking. I had the king of the 'don't need asking' standing in my yard, cutting my grass happily. With a smile on his face. And it occurred to me, that is one of the perks of being a deployed spouse. You get to see people in their truest colors. You cant hide it. Here stood a man, who up until a few months ago, couldn't pick me out of a line up. And now, he is one of my most trusted friends. In that sentence, he opened up a world where I finally don't have to be afraid to ask for help. His wife sends me over dinner, and calls to make sure I am ok when she doesn't see me at morning drop off. I should add here, these people don't know Rob-- have barely seen pictures of him..aren't even in the same branch. But what matters to them is that, we take care of our own.

I think we are all put in situations where we think they may need help but are unsure just how to do it. We might think they will find it offensive, or simply they might not want it. I know I have. But from right this second, I am going to follow the lead of my lawn boy-- and just do it. Because in the end, taking care of our own isn't about being a military person, a co worker, a church parishioner. Our own is all of us here. Our own walks among us day in and day out. And knowing what I know now-- I can't go back. I only hope I helped open up a window that others can see through as well.
So now, under orders of my friend, I am off to water my lawn-- because if he is going to keep showing up to cut it, it's only right I make sure it is bright and green and desperately needs it.

Where has the time gone?

Here we are-- in May. And while I am glad that the year is slipping away-- I still am a bit taken aback by the fact that it is MAY! Tomorrow my youngest child "graduates" from preschool. They do the whole performance, dance skit and ceremony thing. I know it is ridiculous, but I pay a lot of money for that preschool so I am happy to have a big bash at the end of it all. And while all the planning, the buying, the preparing is happening.. I still can't believe it..... he is going into kindergarten.
I am there. I did it.
All those times I laid down at night over stressed, over tired, over weight (lol) only to get back up in less than an hour to feed a hungry baby yet again.. it all paid off. All the food I gave up to breast feed two kids back to back. For the wonderful job I gave up so I could be at home to care for my kids in their infant stage b/c "we" wanted me to. It all is over. It paid off. Now, here I stand with two school age kids. It kinda blows my mind a bit.
(enter nostalgic music and glossy memories)
Well enough of that-- now those two school age kids I was misty eyed over are battling it out for the last go-gurt.
So ends the reminiscent moment.

The day the rude people came out..

Tell me Rude People.. how do you all synchronize the day that you will all come out? Is there some special Bat Signal which shows itself only to those who wear the red badge of R on their chests? Do you have a special date set aside of every month where you all trollop through the world together.. reaping havoc? There has to be something.. it seems too coincidental that you all just decide TODAY is the day I want to piss off the world.
Today is that day here. Take for instance, the woman in the supermarket today-- who -- with two very good eyes -- saw me holding my hand out for my 5 year old son to grab hold of and assumed that in fact I had created the prefect area for her to push her way through. Never mind the 5 year old pushed to the side. What is more important is that you, dear woman, got to get to the rows and rows of shopping carts before I did. There was such a danger that I might take all of them to shop with, leaving you to walk around and hold your own items.
And then there is that man at my 6 year old's school, we can't leave him out. Although.. frankly, he is wicked rude everyday-- no special days set aside for him. He must be the grand poobah of rudeness. I bet if we asked him, he would show us his R badge. The Grand Poobah was in front of me driving into the parking lot. He passed a parking spot and decided he wanted it, so he put it in reverse.. and proceeded to floor it backwards PAST the parking spot and two others to pull into the one closest to me. Why? Grand Poobah, I suppose there was a reason for you to create a dangerous circumstance at an elementary school.. I am sure you were perfectly justified in starting a traffic jam that went on to annoy a huge scale of mothers. Those of us damned with manners just cant seem to see it. Could you enlighten us?
I suppose it is no far fetched surprise that today in the paper a list of the rudest cities came out. Ours hit number 10. ( I have been to number 2. I quickly ran home to my humble number 10 home. ) I wonder if people read it and in a surge to rise us higher on the list, came out in full force today-- trying desperately for a recount. Obviously, my sarcasm that drips in cynicism directly derives from this. So perhaps I am doing my part to push us up on the list.. but after encountering the many card carrying members today.. I don't think they are going to ask me into their secret club anytime soon. So, for now, I will keep my eyes focused upwards in search of a bat signal... and my sarcastic comments at the edge of my tongue.

In the Beginning...

When I was first approached with the idea about starting a blog, I was fearful. (ok, really I was in a fit of hysterical laughter first-- THEN came fearful). Beyond fearful really.. I kept thinking-- what would I ever talk about? I kept thinking that all my posts would consist of what dish soap I used today-- the fresh apple one or the lavendar. And so I put it on the far back burner. But I kept thinking about it. I thought about it even more.. and the more I thought, the more I discovered that hidden beneath all the various layers of wife, mommy, daughter, sister, friend..I was a brilliant author yearning to escape. Ok.. so a bit much of overly dramatic there, but I have things to say darn it!! There are things happening in my day to days that are thought provoking, or plain funny and my children have little interest to hear about it, and my friends have little TIME to hear about it.. and thus, a blogger was born.
I vow to do my best to not include a blow by blow of my daily chores. Hang in there with me-- somewhere amongst all the words, I know we can find Zen.