linda's laundertte

ok. so this morning i decided to clean youngblood's room and do his laundry and have everything all nicey nicey clean and folded and put away. it would be a mitzvah. well okay. it's after 4pm - 9 hours later - and i'm still doing laundry. i think i'm on the last load. but it keeps multiplying like bunnies. one dresser is packed to bursting, and the other is getting Very Full. it wasn't my intention to do this so i could say "see you don't need clothes," but i have to ask myself....what could he possibly need?? so far: 80 tshirts, 4 pair of cargo shorts in pretty much the same khaki color, 3 pair jeans, 5 collar shirts, etc etc. his sheets are clean and back on the bed. i'm really excited to have him see this. i hope he doesn't feel violated or intruded on. i don't think he will, since that wasn't the intention or the energy i sent out with it. i didn't snoop, and actually didn't even care to. i DID vacuum up 2 soda straws cut in half, but they were right there on the floor. i did not go looking for them. i truly hope he gets himself together. if his bad habits continue through the summer, then they will be pretty ingrained. as if they aren't already. so i took a break while the washer & dryer were doing their thing (in 90-degree heat with a side order of humidity) and took my dremel set, my big wooden round thing, and a hardcover book to Home Desperate. went to the tool section where i finally tracked down an orange-aproned associate. and asked how just how do i cut a hole in this THIS half-round piece of wood? here's the self-same dremel set i bought in that very aisle and it doesn't listen to my needs. show me how. he says "need a jigsaw." do-wha? is it in here? i say as i open my 200-piece dremel set with carrying case and attachments. "No. got em on sale cheap. can't believe how cheap. they dropped the price. cheap." okay. "where are these cheap very cheap jigsaws?" "over there." not pointing. just "over there." i tugged his sleeve and said Show Me. he did. i said "now show me how to use it." i've used a jigsaw before. i OWN a jigsaw somewhere. husband has hidden it in the bowels of his workbench. but i've never had to cut a hole in the middle of something with it before. and i need this cranky unwilling man's help to show me. and i think he began to see that the easiest & quickest way to get back to putting supplies he didn't want to sell on pegboard pegs was to Show Me. i said "i was forced to take Home Ec in school - not shop. pretend i'm amish and have never used anything electrical. start at that point and move slowly thru the directions. By the way is that a military tattoo? thank you for your service, sir." well that got him. so i now own a very nice and very cheap ($10) jigsaw AND he even reminded me to get blades for it. can you imagine the scene if i got home and was all blissed out & ready to jigsaw, and there were NO BLADES in the thing??? oy. so all in all not a bad stop. i will still go to Loews when they open. i don't like having to beg for help in any store. i'm very customer service tuned, as you may imagine. so i won't continue rambling about stuff. just needed a break from the spin cycle. oh - i'm reading May Sarton, "At Seventy." so fabulous! L.