Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Stay Inside!

 

Saturday:  We stayed home today.  All the weather sites swore it would rain for the next seven days, that today we'd have heavy showers, etc. and John decided he simply had to go on and mow Sam's yard before it all set in.  

Of course, once he was home again the sun shone to beat the band.  The heat was unbearable.  The skies super clear.  He offered to go out anyway, but I had no desire.  I hunkered down in my chair, and I spent the day coloring, playing games, reading blogs and emails.   I stirred long enough to put meals on the table and that was all I did.  

Last night, Friday, when it was just about time for Shabat lighting, I reminded John it was nearing time.  "Well...I don't really have the heart for it...I'll do it if you want to."  "I'm not prepared, but I don't see why we shouldn't do it."  We then proceeded to have a smallish argument.  "If you wanted to do it, why didn't you just say so?" "And if you didn't, why didn't just you say so?"   The bread I'd baked had already been half eaten.  The table was a sticky mess because no one had wiped down Caleb's spot.  John commented on how low the candles had gotten.  Our attitudes were not the best.  But somehow, even going before God in such a shabby and messy state, the very act of Shabbat was right.  It grounded us.  I was glad we'd taken the time, regardless of our lack of grace.

The truth is our home is not a happy place at the moment.  All the adults have less than stellar attitudes and myriads of worries.  Caleb's behavior has been difficult at best.  Shabat was exactly the place we needed to go last night.  

Sunday:  The tug of covers war started last night.  I'd get chilly and pull up the cover.  John would get chilly, and he'd pull it over his way.  I finally gave up because I am a light sleeper.  Every time he'd flap the covers and pull them his way, I'd immediately wake up.  I got up and got the cotton quilt off the foot of the bed.  Honestly, it's far more comfortable as a coverlet anyway.  I wondered sleepily if our great grandmothers weren't onto something with those cotton quilts which are just right in most temperatures.

Our pastor was on fire in the 9am service this morning.  I told John I don't know what the 11am service was like, but he brought the whole package to the early service.  

We went to Lowe's after service to pick up flooring and the shower fixtures.  I think we are officially done with all the purchases we have to make to get this renovation work done.  Now I'll just have to be the squeaky wheel until the contractor calls me back.

We went to get haircuts and went a little further afield to the more distant shop.  I haven't been happy with my haircut the last two times and told John that I just didn't want to return to the same branch we'd been going to lately.  He knows that if I'm complaining about my haircut that I'm pretty much done.  We went back to the place where I'd noticed that the stylists go a little extra for both customers and in helping one another.  Sure enough, I told the girl who took me exactly why I was unhappy with my previous two haircuts, and she told me what she'd do to fix each problem.  

In the meantime, I could hear John talking to his stylist and he seemed more than happy.  He's been getting his head shaved of late and today the girl who shaved his head massaged his scalp with some oil.  A woman waiting in the lobby laughingly told him, "You were enjoying that!"  He admitted he was.  

We went to Sonic for lunch.  I was so hungry and because I was, I overestimated how much I could eat.  I ended up bringing half my burger home.  It was a bit warm to be sitting in the car with the windows down, but we did it anyway.

Once home, I told Kate I was going to put on the sprinkler this afternoon and water the plants.  I asked her to let Caleb come out to play in it while it was on.  He was reluctant at first, but he soon got in the spirit of the thing and was happily running through the water, or at least standing where the water could pelt him while he was playing.  Every now and then, I got wet, too.  It felt rather nice when the occasional breeze came up.   

Katie went off to go swimming with a friend.  John and I have had the house to ourselves with Caleb and all has been peace.  

Monday:  I wanted to lie abed this morning, but I forced myself to get up anyway.  When I looked at the clock, I saw that I really ought to have been up anyway.  It was 8:30.   I made our breakfast a very simple and quick affair then settled to read three or four chapters of my book, Emilie Loring's, In Times Like These.

Now in mid-afternoon, I can tell you I've read the entire thing, but that book is what kept me going on getting things done all through the day.  I worked and worked and then sat down to read a couple of chapters and got up to go back to work.

I didn't finish my room this morning, but I made a really good start on it. I decided to work on my side of the room this morning, which really was the biggest messy areas.  I dusted and removed clutter and now my side table and dresser are clean and look better.  Yes, there are boxes stacked up but to have the furniture clean makes the room appear far less chaotic.

I worked on the general housework after that and then just before lunch I decided to get to work on the kitchen stuff.  

Sam came in about 1pm with two bags of food from the school lunch program.  I thanked him for them.  I told him I'd pulled a dish he'd made and given me from the freezer to have as my lunch today and we both remarked how good that was.  

He and Katie and I sat and talked for about 40 minutes and then he went off to go back to work.  John had been outdoors all morning working on getting our yard mowed.  It looks just wonderful.  I was cleaning up the dishes I'd messed up this morning, when Katie left for her job interview.  She turned at the door and said, "Mama fix Dad some iced water or Gatorade or something.  He looks like he's about to keel over."  I'd been so busy myself I'd failed to make him stop for water this morning.  I mixed up some Gatorade and took it out to him.  I noted he looked fine, not quite as dire as Katie thought. He was appreciative of the Gatorade anyway.

I've decided that I'm done for the day.  I put in a full morning's work, despite my late start and chronic habit of stopping to read a chapter.  Time to choose a new book...

Tuesday:  Dang if you do, Dang if you don't.  That's been my day.  And that's just the way it is.

I had one of those weird nights where I could go to sleep easily enough but would suddenly awake.  I told John I could feel adrenaline coursing through my body, the way it does when you've been badly startled.  No clue why this went on, but it did.  Eventually I went to sleep, stayed asleep until nearly 10am.  That's mighty late hours for me!

Because of this I didn't make breakfast this morning.  And lunch lagged behind.  I started supper prep and then settled in my chair to try to write.  No such luck.  Instead, I kept dozing off and waking and dozing off and waking.  I got up and dragged myself off to bed, where I did finally get to sleep only to jerk awake.  Back to sleep and I was awakened by John coming in the room.  When he went out again, I dozed off one more time, and woke immediately when Caleb started playing outside my door.  

I got up and finished my supper preparation.  I was grateful when Katie offered me a cup of coffee.  I brought it to my chair to sip.  I'd located John earlier.  He was on the back porch putting together my birthday planters.  

My heart was heavy tonight.  Lots of reasons for it.  Sometimes we just can't seem to find the right way to do things.  We think we're doing something better, but another is less than satisfied.  What is being asked is impossible to find the balance.  John took me for a long, long car ride this evening and we talked it over.  No solutions but we do see the inevitable outcome.  It's the right outcome but one hates it to be for all the wrong reasons.

At any rate, this day is done. 

Wednesday:  Long wearing day.  I left home early this morning to go visit Mama.  It was already hot. I tried to think of easy access restaurants where it would be cool to eat today.  Arrived at a restaurant after trying hard to get Mama to choose a place only to have her refuse to go in.  She wanted to eat in the car!  It was 98F outdoors.  So, I had to drive to another restaurant that had a drive through window, and we ate lunch in the car.  It was necessary to eat with the car and AC running.  Still got hot and sticky, and I wasn't pleased at having to juggle sub-par fast food on top of all that.  No, I'm not being gracious about it.  The theory is that if it's my turn to pay I get to choose where we eat.  Only I didn't and point of fact, I never seem to get to, but that's all beside the point.  The point is that it's terribly hot and too dang hot to be sitting in a car eating, even if the AC is running.

When I got back to Mama's I stopped at the Free Library near her postal boxes and found a book for Caleb, one I thought Josh might enjoy and a paperback Nancy Drew for me.  It's good to know Nancy Drew is still being read by kiddos these days.

At her house, I put our trash into her trash can and dropped my keys right down to the bottom of the thing.  I was not well pleased but told her I'd get them out when I'd gotten her indoors out of the heat.  Her neighbor was sitting on his front porch and went indoors, then came out again.  He had one of those long grabby things.  I know they have a proper name, but I can't think what it is at the moment.  I was able to easily reach my keys and didn't have to turn the can over and then pick up all the messy trash.

Drove over to Kroger.  I really just wanted to come home, but I knew the children were coming tomorrow and I had to have some things.  I thought about running into Cato...then I saw they'd just put a Ross for Less in that shopping center.  I went in to look around.  Sweat trickled down my back and off my head into my ears.  At the register when I checked out after spending about five minutes looking for very specific items and nothing else, the clerk said, "Excuse me," walked away, ripped a box top off and started fanning herself.  I laughed and said, "My Granny used to cut up cereal boxes to use as fans."  "You use what you have to," she laughed.  "I'm from Florida, so I know you grab what you can!"  

In the supermarket I tried hard to limit my spending.  Still was shocked at total especially when I realized I could easily carry it out myself.  I didn't even pick up the things we're out of, like paper towels and waxed paper.  Just produce, dairy and luncheon meat.  Sheesh.

All in all, I found the day miserable and dissatisfying on many fronts.  I think I want to head off to bed early tonight and just let the world go.

Thursday:  John asked me last night if I was planning to go to sleep when I went off to bed shortly after 9pm.  "Of course not.  I'm just done with the day, and this is my sign to it that I'm through with it."   John told me he'd barely left the room when I began snoring.  He woke me removing my glasses and then puttered around the room, but I was asleep again before too much longer.

Loathed the alarm when it went off today, but it was Zoo Day at Gramma's.  John and I were up before Caleb this morning.  All the adults got a cup of coffee before Caleb came out of his room.  He came right to me with a big hug this morning.  That was more than lovely.

Millie came strolling in with wild hair.  I'm sure it had been brushed because it wasn't tangled but it looked like the weather was trying to tease the waves into curls.  The mussy hair was accompanied by a very grumpy face. Josh was all excited over a new game that he and Isaac had on their Kindles.  The children each brought a stuffed animal with them.  Each week they bring something different with them. Except Millie; hers is always Minnie Mouse.

I fed them all toast and yogurt.  Millie refused to eat a thing.  None of the boys had to be coaxed.  After breakfast the three youngest wanted to go outdoors and play.  That went rather well.  I puttered about my potted garden, found two more tomatoes blushing and ready to be picked, found a couple of suckers in the tomatoes that are just starting to come on, a few blooms.  The little hybrid roses are blooming their heads off.  The children played with the wagons, fussed that the water table was empty, set up bowling pins and played at bowling for a few moments.  About the water table, last week they fussed that it had water in it...

Back indoors as the gnats would not leave the children's ears be.  Herds of elephants commenced running back and forth.  Caleb and Millie, who spend at least the first hour arguing, soon settled in the second hour to playing together.  I heard Millie instructing Caleb, "You be the Daddy.  I'm the mommy."  And from there she proceeded to boss him about.  Little girls will always want to play house and boss the boys about, won't they?

Bess told me to send the kids home before 12.  Caleb asked as they left "Will come back?"  I assured him he'd see them again in a week.  This morning went by mighty fast.

After lunch today, I finished up the dusting in my room, got the ceiling and oscillating fans clean.  I've sorted out the magazine basket next to my chair and was overjoyed to find a book that Carolyn had sent me and which I could not find despite searching high and low.  It had moved to the bottom of the basket and was under all the magazines!   I have no real plans for the rest of the day, so reading sounds pretty good to me.

Friday:  Can we just quit? Walk away, say we're done with it and mean it?  I'm having one of those sorts of days today.  

We have a cat.  I've been wanting another cat, praying for a cat.   For me, a house without a dog and cat just isn't any sort of home. Bess came by yesterday and asked "Is Sassy staying here with you now?"  I've seen several different cats hunting about the place but didn't know that Sassy was one of them.  

"She doesn't care for Sheldon (the dog)," Bess went on, "and there's too many other cats competing with her at the house...Would you be upset if she kept hanging around here?"  I assured her I would not.  Sassy is a grown cat, not a kitten, and she's been spayed.  Apparently she'd taken up on the back porch and I just wasn't aware of it.

I bent down yesterday to pet her and asked her if she'd like to be my cat.  I told her that Katie and Caleb would be delighted to have her as the cat for this house, but my rules were simple.  She had to stay outdoors and not come indoors.  I'd feed her and talk to her as much as she liked.  She let me pet her and she's been here ever since, in plain sight.  So I guess she's going to be my cat.

Besides that...Nothing I want to talk about.  Life is just stupid at times and I'm feeling pretty much done.

Have a terrific weekend.  

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