All Sanitized Up And No Place To Go

 Remember me saying that Ada had covid?

Well, guess what?

For the record, that's NOT a pregnancy test.

A friend wanted me to come over on Friday night for dinner and I didn't want to get her sick, so instead of waiting for Saturday to do a test, I did the test on Friday. 

c$*p.

So I've been in isolation since Friday, escaping the confines of my bedroom only to get breakfast and some pop/ice at 5:30am (well masked, gloves and dripping in hand sanitizer).  Also after yelling downstairs that I'm coming down, giving them ample time to get the heck out of my way, for the food that either Meri brings over, Jen makes and leaves outside my door or some canned food.  I'm snacking on some canned coleslaw right now. YUM!

Me, waiting for Meri's supper last night.  Just leave it on bench! Thanks!

Other than that, I've been stuck in my room all weekend thru today.  I tested myself again yesterday and yep, still positive.  I was kind of hoping the first test was a false positive.

So far, no symptoms outside of my cold that seems to have hung on.  It's weird.  It's almost like I'm becoming an introvert.  I kind of like it...  and I'm NOT an introvert! But I see it's appeal.

You'd think introverts would have the cleanest houses!  Because every day, I'm looking around my room, thinking, "yuck. how have I lived with that bookshelf/closet/bedside drawers/trunk looking like that?"  And the bathroom floor might even get mopped at this rate.  I'm pretty sure the lines around the tiles aren't supposed to be gray.  We'll see later.

I sorted and cleaned out my (supposedly) walk-in closet, which produced 5 bags of clothes for Leon's half siblings, 5-6 bags of rejected items (sheets/clothing/etc) for donations to either Goodwill or Salvation Army and 3 bags of garbage.  I can WALK into my closet and there's still a lot of stuff in there, but at least now I can get to it without climbing over bags of outgrown clothing.

I sorted out Robb's bedside stand and after a good bout of crying, the drawers are all organized.  He'd have hated the neatness of it.  You can see everything at a glance and that would be terrible for him. It takes away the hope that there is a toenail clipper in there somewhere.  *nope*

On Sunday, I streamed church and then for the entire rest of the day, organized all my jewelry that had been in a wadded up heap for years!  I actually have partnered earrings now!  Maddy said that I have a lot of jewelry.  And I guess I do.  I had a regular Avon lady for a good many years, attended several home jewelry parties including Silpada, Sarah Coventry, and some other MLM parties that I don't remember.  I was invited to them all and if they were serving treats? You bet I was there!  Buying the cheapest thing in the catalog.  After having a Tupperware party AND a lingerie party, both the first week in our last house as kind of a housewarming party.  Robb asked me sincerely to use him as an excuse that we don't do that anymore.  So I did! :)  "My husband says I can't".  But I sure went to the parties!

So yeah, I guess I do have a lot of jewelry.  There are some gifts that the kids made for me too.  If you look closely, there is a Lego necklace that I could NEVER part with.  And Robb bought me a lot too.  The bracelets, rings and watches are in a different area.

Nothing very expensive, but they are steeped in sentimentality.

The kids have been wonderful and concerned.  They insisted that I send out hourly, homemade, BeReal updates to them.  As soon as the hourly alarm on my phone goes off, I have to take a pic of what I can see and what I look like and send to them.  No arranging the photos to make it look good. The thing is to BE REAL.  sigh.  It's like they're going to write a book documenting my demise.  But I'm doing it!

And don't critique my bed making skills, or lack thereof.  Who's going to see it?!  me. and I don't care today.  The bathroom drawers are all lined up for my next organizing stint. Lots of junk in there.

My sister-in-law thought it would be funny to send different pics to throw the kids off.  So one hour I sent them a pic of her pantry, the next hour I sent them this.

Instead of where did all those Golden Retrievers come from or why do you have a pool in your room, it was all, "Who is that man and why is he in your bedroom?"  sigh.  SOMEBODY needs to manage the dogs and the pool!

Why do I have to be contagious in order to carve time to do deep cleaning in areas of the house that no one will see?!  Well, it's getting done.  Maybe once it's all clean, it'll give me the boost I need to hit other problem spots in the house. maybe.

Spring Cleaning Part 652

 Whew!  The week of St. Patrick's Day!  

Got lots going on and did lots.  What's new?!

Meri and I made mints for the upcoming shower instead of working out on Thursday morning.  Then Maddy and I finished up with the molds on Friday night at her house and then played with the dogs.  We've got another batch or two of mints to go and that might be our workouts this week.  The shower is next weekend.  OH and there is so much dye in the mints that I had to brush my teeth 2-3 times before I stopped spitting blue.

I spent several hours on Saturday sewing and got two of the sample bridesmaid dresses ready for sizing. They needed to be done by next weekend because the girls will be in town for the shower.  We also got the fabric sample mailed to us but I haven't heard from Meri yet on what was selected.  And that's ok.  We just need to get the fabric for the bride's dress ordered soon so I can get going on that.  I'll do one more sample dress for another girl before Saturday probably.  

On Sunday, after church, the kids and I went to the theater and saw The Quiet Man.  Wow I love that movie.  I'm so glad the kids came with me!  AND we got some good popcorn and candy!  I look door-knobby in this photo but oh well.

I also shopped a little off of the list for our St. Patrick's Day meal Thursday night.

And just for clarification, the bagels are NOT an integral part of that meal.

After a visit with Ada, I started cleaning above my cabinets in the kitchen.  A little spring cleaning is in order, I think!  So much greasy dust up there!  But it's looking so much better!  

Yes I cropped out my counter space and yeah I still have a lot of stuff up there but it's all sparkly clean now!

In the midst of my deep cleaning and roughed up kitchen, the kids all came over last night for an impromptu visit and dinner.  

I was making leftovers but that's ok!  Maddy and Matthew brought some veggies and garlic bread to round it all out.  

Then we printed out some NCAA bracket sheets and everyone filled in their guesses.  I'm pretty sure mine is right because if I fill out these brackets like Maddy played Sequence as a 2 year old, I should win the pot.

I have lunch with Ada today!  Have a wonderful week!

The Wobbly Bits

I did some much needed deep cleaning my bedroom yesterday before work.  Got a lot done, but still have more to do.  I've got someone coming to measure windows tomorrow for replacements.

I had forgotten about this rack behind Robb's closet door!  I need to figure out what to do with his ties.  He had such a great array of them.  Only used on Sundays!

I sound like a used car salesman...

And so many belts!  I'm actually wearing one of his now.  I poked a new hole in it for my waist and I've been wearing it for several weeks already.  It was the last one he wore.

I hope the kids can use some of these belts or ties too.

The trees bloomed this week but now have the remnants all over everything.  It was beautiful while it lasted!

And my Sunday school group last week.  :)

We were studying about Joseph in Egypt and we didn't really know where this project was going but I finally realized it was an Egyptian wig...  

OOOHHHHHH.....  And she's such a cutie, she could pull off any wig in style.

It's been another busy week.  I was driving last night on the donut tire and felt like things were really wobbly...  So when I got home from my support group, I jacked up the van to switch it back to the actual tire.  As I jacked it up and as soon as the tire cleared the ground it shifted.  I gasped and thought I'd broken something but then just thought I'd finish the job first.

I then realized why the car felt wobbly... 

When Meri and I changed it to the donut on the side of the road, we probably didn't tighten the lug nuts very well before lowering the jack.  So I was doing this for the past 2 days...

Heaven help me...

And He truly is....

Weekend Wampage

The weekend didn't start on time...  All day Friday, at work, was crazy and it lasted until 6:30 whereupon I crashed. Well, after making a quick pizza using hamburger and Bisquick.  Robb had a ton of chauffeuring to do over the weekend and he got back about that time to eat with me.

Oh and hey look!  Leon pulled out a tooth on the bus on Friday!  

We've been humming the All I want for Christmas song all weekend.

On Saturday, Leon and his little brother, Finn, came back to the house and we babysat most of the day while their mom worked.  

Leon and I played Battleship and Finn wanted to join in.  He wasn't too accurate with putting the pins into the holes I pointed at, so luckily we had a spare Battleship board and he took over that one.  He had a lot of fun until he spilled it.  But then he was meticulous on picking up all the little pieces, so that was ok.

The  game was fun for Leon and me tho.  Well, until I got a HIT!  So I guessed the spot after the hit and it was a miss.  Then quessed the spot before the hit and IT was a miss.  Then guessed the spot ABOVE the hit and IT was a miss too.  ummmm Leon?  Come here for a minute...

I covered up the bottom of my board and asked him if he could explain this...

Oh....  hmmm...

When he got back to his board, which he left on the floor under the desk, Finn had already found it and had moved some pins for him.  Yeah - this wasn't going to end well...  So we broke for lunch.

AND while Finn took a 2.5 hour nap, I got to sew.  Still on that top that I made a leggings out of a while back.  

I don't know what it is about this fabric, but it sucks to do a seam with my standard sewing machine.  The stitches pop and ploop all over the place.  So much so that I was kicking myself for not going with my initial decision of handstitching the hems into place.  So I serged the hems off and used up all of my hem tape to tack a new hem in place and then started handstitching it.  SO much better!  But taking forever.  

I'm about 90% done with the sleeve hems and I'm sure the hem hem will take all week with the amount of down time I have to actually sit...

After the boys went back to their mom's we had a nice birthday dinner for Robb's mom and Meri and Ryan were able to come.  And because my camera was too slow to come up on my phone, this photo is staged.  

I had HyVee make up some gorgeous little cupcakes, because WHO needs three leftover cakes in a two week span?  NOT THIS CHICK!

I'm just rather relieved there aren't any birthdays in our household NEXT weekend.  

I found the Last Supper pic on the right at a garage sale years ago and it's been there almost since we moved in here, 21 years ago.  But moved it a bit and added the Jesus knocking picture over the weekend.  This pic used to hang in our old church, then in Mom and Dad's home and THEN in her nursing home room up until the end.

And now it's mine.

My dad likes to think of it as, "What if Jesus came to visit your home?  What would you cover up quick that you would be ashamed if he saw? or would you even look up from your phone to answer the door?"

I love it.

Leon says that it looks like it's always been there.  And it fits the space well.

On Sunday, I started feeling like my old busy self.  After a taco potluck at church and picking up Leon from his mom's again, I did some housework and made a 5 gallon bucket of laundry detergent based on the Duggar recipe that I found many years ago.  I'd gotten lazy lately and been using store bought.  *GASP*

And while I'm at it, here is my favorite homemade salad dressing recipe.  Matthew asked if I had any made when they were here last weekend and that inspired me to make some this weekend.  

I always use Splenda instead of sugar so it's sugar free!

Sorry you missed it Matthew!

Spent some time visiting my bestie and will have lunch with her today.  I don't know what I'm going to take, (it's my treat today) but it will probably be pepperoni pizza from Casey's...  

Leftovers for supper.  And the chicken taco mixture is all gone...

I am very envious of my bloggy friends who have a menu planned for the week.  In my house, if I did that, someone would eat all of a main ingredient and I'd be stuck making some exotic dish using hotdogs instead...  really...?...

Oh!  We're down to just one dog now.  And he's depressed.  

pre-cone of shame.

Altho he has the run of the house now since the bladder challenged one has finally left.  Reedus has had some issues with chewing on his legs and it's only gotten worse.  The vet has chimed in, so has an old 4H friend who specialized in dogs.  Well, after I asked their advice.  

We found that if you baste lemon juice on the bandage (it was recommended) that Reedus loves it.  He also loves the Hot Spot spray from Petco.

Meri and I made a pepper flake puree mixture that we're smearing all over the dog bandages and dang it..  Reedus sort of likes it...  After a little while of licking it, he goes and drinks a LOT of water. 

So this MIGHT work...

But he's laying at my feet today all bandaged up so if his cone of shame head even goes near his hurt legs, I'm grunting the "ET" command and he leaves it alone.  At least until I'm out of the room.  I guess I'll be programming from the dining room until he's healed...  Silly dog...

He's got a meaty bone that I got from the store but he's leaving it alone today.  sigh.

Anyway, back to work.  Have a good week!!!

Dragging a body

Still no camera.  Did I accidentally throw it away??  The person that's been gone for a week is back as of last night, so I'll ask them in a little while.

Crossing my fingers!

No sewing last night...  I spent the evening working on Meri's old room, (she was gone) moving everything out into the hall and dining room.  Vacuumed every nook and cranny and let Ryan cut loose on moving his things in.  Then when Meri came home and Ryan had all his things moved, I did the same cleaning job on Ryan's Maddy's old room and let Meri move her things in. 

She was a little depressed at first because it still looked like a boys room even though it still had all Maddy's things decorating the walls.  But I vacuumed the schnoz out of every nook and crinky and then vacuumed down all the cobwebs (keep in mind a boy had lived here for the past 6 months...) and after the bed was made, she seemed cheerier.  In fact happy!  Until this morning when she realized and I emphasized, that a lot of what came out of her room will not, in fact, be going IN this one. 

You just can't cram a whole lifetime of collections and memories into an itty bitty living space.

She only gets half the room because Maddy will be her roommate over the summer...

We'll sort through things tonight and decide what gets to stay, what needs to go and what needs to be packed away for when she can be a cat lady in her own house.

So no sewing tonight either OR over lunch as I've been called a hoarder by someone that will remain anonymous.  I have to prove that I'm not apparently...  and will be taking notes on how many clothes they drop on the floor in their new room as ammo for later.

A few things stacked in the dining room during a bedroom move does NOT a hoarder make!

There's always the weekend for sewing...  I hope.

Maddy's Drill Master Madness

You know how everyone says that when you're looking for something, it's in the last place you look?

Because why would you keep on looking... right??

Well, last night when I got home from Taekwondo, Maddy was in a quandary... That was not a miss type... No one gets in the laundry except for me unfortunately.

She was in a quandary. She was getting her band stuff together for a big marching band performance coming up on Friday and couldn't find her Drill Master shoes. These are expensive special shoes with roll heels so marching will be less stressful for your feet. The last time she'd used them she brought them home in a red mesh bag about 3-4 months ago. She found the bag, but it was empty.

I looked on the top shelf of the front hall closet where I always tuck them for safe keeping. You never know what the dogs are going to think is a chew toy for them.. I put our taekwondo belts and Maddy's prom shoes there too.

Her Drill Masters were not there. So I got into my spring cleaning mode. Why not?! I hadn't been in that mode yet this spring and there were things to find!I cleaned the laundry room, my bedroom (she leaves things in there), my bathroom and various closets. I even had Tiffany worried that Robb and I had gotten into an argument when she saw me tearing apart the shoe closet... *because she had heard that that's what I do when I'm upset... I clean a closet...* and our closets have been a mess for a good number of months... Yep - we're THAT happy!

Maddy and I even hunted through car trunks and under car seats. No luck. She started texting friends who had been in marching band in the past that may have shoes for her to borrow.

So I went back to the top closet of that front hall closet. Got a chair so I could get up there and take a good look around. There is a basket of hats and miscellaneous baseball gloves, etc that is tucked to the right. I pulled it over and went thru it. After pulling out various articles including a Rastafarian type hat with dread locks, I pulled out a red mesh bag...

It felt like shoes.

I tossed it to the floor and climbed down off the chair as Maddy came down the steps. I told her, "I have officially stopped the search for your shoes."

Thinking I was giving up, she said that she could probably get a pair from one of her friends and started to text again. I looked over to the front door where the bag was sitting and looked back to her. She was still looking sad but said, Thanks for looking Mom! I furtively glanced at the bag again. She STILL didn't get the hint, so I did again and again until she happened to look where I was looking and said, "Hey! There's a red bag!"

It was her shoes...

So the moral of the story is simple. Your missing item will always be in the last place you looked, but that place is typically the first place also...