Sunday, June 17, 2018

DOMESTICITY

NOTE: I was an extraordinarily lazy person this week. I did not write in my journal, which is where I get the information for my blog. So now (Sunday) I am stuck trying to pull things from memory. Some days, you get what you GET!

Monday, June 11, 2018
Ken spent a good bit of the morning getting the tire on the Honda fixed. Well, that was actually the easy part; Walmart found a nail in the tire. The hard part was getting the spare on the Honda so he could drive it to Walmart. Nice for his day off, huh?

We also had to return the rental car. It was sweet, but expensive. Fun time's over, time to get back to work! We saw the registration was almost up on the van, so we went to the Tag Agency (DMV) to get that fixed before Ken did a quick visit to TB and we went grocery shopping.

The sister missionaries came to dinner tonight. I fixed taco salad, a nice meal for a warm day. I don't assemble it, though, and let everyone choose what they want. Some of the pickier members of my family like it better that way.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018
I've been putting it off, using Girls' Camp as an excuse, but I've run out of time. I HAVE to finish Analiese's skirt for Trek. She leaves on Thursday!

Why the procrastination & trepidation?  I'm am not the world's best seamstress, not even close. I sew very little and haven't touched a machine in a couple of years. Plus, to make this more difficult, I am working without a pattern...even without Pinterest instructions! I saw this pattern to make a pioneer skirt out of a bedsheet on Pinterest, but I couldn't access the website! So I fudged it. I found a flat sheet on clearance at Walmart, did some serious cog-turning thinking, and hobbled together a skirt. How hard could it be?

I had decided that I would use shirring tape instead of elastic for the waistband. In retrospect, that was not a good decision and she had difficulty keeping her skirt up, even with the waist ties. Luckily, she had a second skirt she'd borrowed from someone else and dealt with the one I made the best I could. I managed to get the cutting and the waist and the side seam taken care of today. But it HAS to be done tomorrow!

Tonight was a TB family affair! Ken had the kids inventory the stuff in our back area (now nearly filled to the ceiling with cups, lids, straws, napkins, etc.) while he and I put price stickers on signs for new items coming out this week. He can't pay us for it (well, Analiese could be), but we were promised a free meal.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018
So you know what I did today. I finished the skirt, the ties and the bag for hanging off the waists of the skirt. The ties weren't easy, at least, the turning right side out. But they weren't not as bad as the loop I made for the bag to hang off of a button I sewed on each waistband. It was so tiny, it was nearly impossible to turn right side out. In fact, I redid it once, making it a little wider. As it was, I sat in front of the TV with the fabric in my lap, working it right side out. My hands ached after that!

For the record, I got it done. Not even close to perfect. But I got it done and it fit, sort of. Enough for her to use for one day, I suppose. Not a masterpiece.

Thursday, June 14, 2018
I got up around 6:15 to take Analiese to the TB parking lot where we were meeting with the Altus ward people going on Trek. I am not sure she even gave me a goodbye, just packed her stuff up in their van and left. Sigh. What's the big deal about mothers anyway?

Ken went to work at ten; Jonathan was supposed to be off work but got called in. What was I supposed to do? I drowned my sorrows in housework: I sanitized and cleaned the kitchen sink, swept and mopped the office area, dining room and kitchen, and vacuumed the house. The Queen of Domesticity, I am!

Actually, Jonathan came home about five hours later and we watched a movie and ate TB. Yeah, our payment for Tuesday night. Jonathan tried a couple of the new things; I just stuck with some personal favorites. Though TB gets old...fast.

Friday, June 15, 2018
Another thing to do today that I've been procrastinating - the bathtub needed recaulking. It was coming off and the mildew level was rising...gross! So one of my "while-Analiese-is-at-Trek" plans was to recaulk the tub. Jonathan took off the old caulking and left the rest to me.

That was more "fun" than I expected. For one, I had to clear away extra bits of caulking left behind. And then, the mildew. I was rinsing underneath the edges of the siding over and over just flushing the stuff out. It was really nasty. You'll have to take my word for it because I did not take a picture.

I also decided to use a bleach-and-water mix to spray in those cracks really good to get everything. I don't want to just cover up mildew. I sprayed several times, leaving the bathroom clear for hours to sit (no ventilation, so I wasn't going to stay in there). I eventually decided to leave it overnight to completely dry before caulking it in the morning. 

I made a lemon-blueberry oven pancake for Jonathan and I for dinner tonight. Easy and tasty. After all my bathtub work, I really didn't feel like cooking dinner.

Saturday, June 16, 2018
After breakfast, after my shots, I bearded the lion in it's den. Okay, I caulked the tub. For the first time. In my life.

Of course, I'd read up all about it on Pinterest on several sites. I don't go into new ventures uneducated. I had my gloves, my caulking gun, a damp rag, and a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol (so caulk won't stick to unwanted areas). What a mess! (Good thing I put on my yucky paint clothes.) I put the bead (their terminology) on fairly straight then, with the gloves on, I smoothed it down the best I could. I did pretty well, I think. There was only one tough area, where the siding didn't sit flush with the wall; that took a little creative maneuvering and extra caulk. It's not a professional job, but I don't think it's bad for an amateur. The most important think was that everything was sealed tight. 

It was supposed to only need to set for thirty minutes, but I gave it a couple of hours before Jonathan took a shower for work. It seemed to hold.

Analiese came home (with Ken, they dropped her off at TB and he was still at work) around four-thirty. She was red and tired, but supremely satisfied. She sat down and took off her shoes...and socks. When those came off, a cloud of reddish dust floated up!

Then she remembered...she forgot her trash bag of dirty clothes in the van. That meant a hurried call to the couple and arranged to meet them at a stop on the freeway to collect it. Ken and I left Analiese home to get a shower in my newly caulked tub. It was a twenty minute drive out and back and then a stop to get pizza for dinner. Because there's no energy left in anyone to make dinner. As it was, I still had to go to the kitchen and make dessert for Ken for Fathers' Day: A chocolate-chocolate-chocolate-chocolate-chocolate-chocolate dessert. Seriously. Can't celebrate anything for him without some chocolate; I may have overdone it this time.

Sunday, June 17, 2018
So I told Ken that his Fathers' Day presents were 1) the chocolate dessert and 2) I caulked the tub (so he didn't have to). Well, there was a third: I spoke today in church.

Ken was conducting the meetings for June. He wanted me to speak along with himself. I thought I was going to get out of it because of Stake Conference until he realized he didn't have anyone for Fathers' Day. Lucky me. I haven't spoken in the Branch to date and hadn't minded a bit. But he got me for today and asked me to talk a little bit about our family in way of introduction as well.  So I did, but tried to emphasize Fathers' Day more. I spoke about the need for fathers and how our Father in Heaven is our best example of fatherhood. I think it went okay.

Other than giving him a card, though, we didn't do much celebrating at home, though we got to Skype with my Dad and Mom in California. Ken had some branch ministry errands to do after church and Jonathan had to work this afternoon. Tomorrow, for lunch, we're grilling steaks and potatoes, I'll oven roast broccoli, and we'll have that rich dessert.  It'll be midday because Jonathan has to work again in the afternoon.

Though, Ken did have fun this evening with a snow cone machine that Jonathan purchased for him for Fathers' Day. It's just the goofy, childlike, fun sort of thing that Ken loves. He works so hard, he's due a little fun !

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