Breeding laundry baskets and other weekend tales

Now I have to remind all of you that last week was inventory. I know that I don't do physical labor that week, but boy I come out as a wet rag.

The laundry in the baskets was washed. The laundry in the baskets (yes, three) was almost all folded. I had laundry on the lines to fold, though. I had a load in the dryer that didn't quite make it to dry on the line, was half dried and needed the rest of the way in the dryer to knock out some of the wrinkles that I was afraid had become permanent.

I put the three baskets of laundry away, folded the load from the dryer, hung the load from the washer and washed two more loads of clothes. Though K- only needs three uniforms this week (MLK day Monday and Friday is street clothes), I still ironed all of her clean uniform pieces, put them all together with tights and necklaces and they are now hung and ready to be worn. I had to do it eventually.

So, while I was at putting the laundry away, I cleaned the computer desk. I freed it of the stacks of papers that I had on it and I forgot how big it is!

Okay, I have to admit something. I skipped Sunday school so that I could tidy the desk and work on laundry because I knew that my neighbor was going to be coming over to work on the computer. I didn't want him to see laundry baskets of clothes needing to be put away and my desk needing cleaned. I got everything tidied and he never showed up. That's okay. It needed done and now it is done. I shall not pig it up with paper piles again.

I've actually been on a de-piling mission this weekend. I went through somethings we had on the kitchen table. I have a homework basket for K- that was beginning to look as if it was housing back stock for a paper mill. When the year started, I had a glorious one-time-only parent idea that I would save the papers, bind them and keep them for her.

Then I realized the mass amount of paper that Kindergarten takes up.

So, I went through the basket the other day. I kept a few papers (5 or less) and projects that she had done (not them all, but some) and ditched the rest.

K- had gotten comfortable in pulling things out and depositing them on the kitchen table or in the homework basket. I cleared all the little tiny schnibby things that she had left behind and placed them in a pile on a chair. I made it her job to put everything back in it's proper creature home.

Would you know, she did. Every. last. piece.

Ah, I almost forgot. We went ice skating with friends on Friday. I'll start by saying that K- has officially retired from the sport. She has hung up her skates and has decided that roller skating is more her speed, regardless to the fact that she spent less time on her behind ice skating than she did roller skating. Oh, and with ice skating, you can wear obnoxiously thick snow pants and have your mama dork you out by making you wear a bike helmet and it's okay. With roller skating, you can't do that.

Hmmm. Another thing! So, I made creamed chicken in the crock-pot using my friend Kim's recipe. She ends up cooking the noodles in the crock-pot, but I decided to make dumplings.

The dumplings failed.

I was so sad. I've made them before with the same recipe. They were gross. I wanted to have K- deliver dinner to our nice neighbor that will be hooking me up with FREE! virus protection through his internet, he gave us the Blu-Ray player, the cable to hook it up with and dropped in last night to bring a 50 foot air hose and attachments for the air compressor that he gave to Hubs for Christmas. The least I could do was to have K- take a dinner over that didn't taste like mooshy toilet paper. I decided that noodles would have to work.

For whatever it's worth, it was good, but I'm still tasting dumplings. (If you have a good recipe, e-mail it to me. Apparently mine is having issues. They plumped, but they were spongy and never fully firmed, regardless to the rolling boil that I had the broth up to.) We bought a loaf of bakery Italian bread from the grocery when we were there, so it was mighty tasty.

I was able to take full advantage of the 75% off Target toy sales on Friday. It was right after -- hold on . . .
A side note, what on earth is Chloe Sevigny from Big L*ove wearing on the Golden Globes? (Credit to the Daily Mail and Reuters for the photo.) She's upset that the guy stepped on her dress and may have ripped it? I believe he may have done her a big favor. Wow, and not in a good way.

Okay, back to you. We went to Target right after the ice skating date where K- earned three blisters on her hard-to-fit feet (very narrow), so I promised that I would have her ride in the cart. (Insert light bulb coming on right here. No wonder why my back hurts!) At any rate, I saved so much money and I nearly got all of Christmas 2010 bought for. I have now 28 children to purchase for, so we set money aside knowing that January clearance racks are where it is at for us.

I sit writing this evening so happy that I've done much organizing this weekend. I'm blessed to have the house that we are in. My people are with me. I know that they are safe. We have running water, phones, electricity, gas for heat, food on the shelf and in the refrigerator. I can hop in the car, know that the road is clear and gas stations with fuel are plenty. The grocery is well stocked, and there is no looting. Haitians do not have such things. Utility service prior to the earthquake was spotty as it was. Now there is nothing. I pray that they have hope. I pray that the services and goods that nations are trying to get to them are able to make it through the ports and airports and into the hands of people who need it. I want people to share. I don't want people beating on each other. I want clean water to be anywhere they need it, but such a wish is not possible. Prayers are what I can offer. Prayers are what I give. They are on my mind.

Have a good day, my friends.