Quandary about laundry

About 150 years ago, all laundry was done by hand and hung up to dry. It seems like that would have been a lot of hard work. Today, with automatic washers and dryers, laundry has gotten a lot more simple. Or has it?

Sometimes it seems like my life revolves around laundry. Even when I don't have any to do, I catch myself wondering if I have to transfer something from washer to dryer. And even though it doesn't take me as long to get things dry (hooray for high efficiency washers!), laundry seems to have a lot of steps to get through.

1. Collect laundry baskets from bedrooms. (Yes, I actually trained my children to put their laundry IN THE BASKET.)
2. Sort into loads. As you sort, check each garment for stains.
3. Check all pockets for tissues, Starbucks receipts, and loose change. (Keep money for yourself. Consider it a tip.)
4. Treat stains.
5. Load clothes in washer and turn it on.
6. Do something else for about 45 minutes.
7. Take clothes out of washer. Separate out items that must be air dried.
8. Put remaining clothes in dryer and turn it on.
9. Do something else for about 45 minutes again. Wash next load.
10. Take clothes out of dryer.
11. Hire your kids to fold them because now you have to make dinner.
12. Two days later, discover stuff left out to air dry from previous laundry day. Put items away.
13. Begin process all over again.

See how many steps there are? How can this be simplified? Maybe I can cut down on the amount of laundry. I wonder if my kids would mind having just one outfit apiece.

Well...I guess they could have two. After all, they will need something to wear while I do laundry.

First Day(s) of School

Well, it's that time of year again. The kids are back in school. This year we had two first days of school. That's because only the freshmen went to the high school the first day and the upper grades started the second day. So for me, Wednesday didn't seem like the first day of school because only one kid went. Thursday was the second day of school, but the first day for my high schooler. I could go on and make this more confusing but I won't.

I decided to spend Thursday morning watching a movie, one that I wanted to watch by myself. I will not reveal which movie it was. Let's just say that Netflix considers it a tearjerker. I started this little tradition last year on the first school day, enjoying a quiet house and watching some movie that my kids don't care for.

Now that the first few school days have past, I need to spend those quiet hours doing housework and catching up on things that I put off during the summer. Of course, after the first week, the house will seem TOO quiet. But that's why I have an iPod.

Crayons is a drink?

When I'm thirsty, I like to go to the fridge and get nice drink of...Crayons? Yes, apparently there is a new drink called Crayons that comes in colorful containers. It comes in fruit punch flavors as well as sports drinks. The only ones I could find at my local grocery store were sports drinks.

After doing some research, I found out that they are not that bad. The fruit punch has less sugar than similar drinks and taste less sweet, making them palatable for adults. The sports drinks are lower in sodium than comparable drinks. Crayons got many good reviews.

If the fruit punch varieties ever show up at my grocery store, I may give Crayons a try. But they are expensive. The 8 oz cans cost over a dollar each.

Drink Crayons, everyone!

Music to my ears

I have always enjoyed piano music. Especially instrumentals, no singing. When I was a kid, we had a record by Frank Mills that was mostly just piano music. (If you don't know what a record is, ask someone over the age of 35.) One of my favorite songs on there was Music Box Dancer. Sometimes I just sat in my mother's rocking chair and just listened to the music.

Recently, it occurred to me that I have an iPod. Of course, the reason I wanted it was so I could listen to all my favorite songs whenever I wanted to. But would Frank Mills music be available for downloading? It was! So I downloaded all my favorites, including Music Box Dancer, Spanish Coffee, and other familiar tunes.

I am usually reluctant to admit what I have on my iPod (let's just say there's a lot of 80s pop music) but in this case, I am letting the world know how much I love piano music. But it's more than just loving piano. When I hear those songs, it's like going back in time to my childhood. Once again, I can sit in the rocking chair and just listen to Music Box Dancer. I can dance around to Spanish Coffee.

And who doesn't want to back to their childhood once in a while?

Something's fishy

For years I have tried to find a way to prepare fish that my family really enjoyed. I experimented with various ways of frying and baking, but these recipes were merely tolerated. Often I would coat the fish with bread crumbs but by the time it was served, the crumbs were usually coming off. My husband told me that the fish tasted all right, but the texture was soggy. Oh, what to do?

Since sogginess seemed to be a major issue, I googled "crispy fish fillets" and searched several recipe websites. Finally I came across an easy recipe here. Apparently one secret to keeping the crumbs from falling off the fish is to let them sit in the fridge for a while. Also, for the homemade breadcrumbs, I used packaged croutons.

The results? Everyone actually liked it. My son, who usually takes one bite of a new food and then claims he doesn't like it, ate an entire piece of fish. They all even said I could make it again!

And it only took me 15 years.

First Rose of Summer

I have not had much success with gardening and such. Once someone gave me a chrysanthemum and told me they were very easy to care for. The thing was dead in weeks. And I did water it.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered the rosebush at our new house was actually blooming. In fact, it had several blooms on it. I had not even caring for it except for watering. (And that was done mostly by frequent rain showers.)

Now I have big plans for the flower bed. It involves planting bulbs in the fall and some potted plants in the spring. Maybe even a bushy plant someday like an azalea. We shall see if the plants do better when I show them TLC or if I ignore them.

By the way, I plan on pruning the rosebush next spring. I am already wondering if it will ever bloom again.