Washin' Wednesday

Wow. That's all I can say....wow. Life is so freakin' weird it's surreal.

So, when I don't post for a few days, it means one of two things (or both, as in this case!)
1. I'm just too darn busy to find even 5 minutes for computer time or
2. I've lost my sense of humor and any posts would just seem like whining.

Miraculously I'm in better humor today, so the blogging can commence. Well, as you know, we re-located to the island but it didn't happen until Monday afternoon due to the boats *still* blocking our street. We didn't have time to do anything but get it parked, leveled, go eat and get ready for bed on a school night. Now granted, when we decided to go eat, we went all out. We headed for Gaido's with Bart, where I had fresh Red Snapper dredged in parmesan & flour and pan fried, then topped with fresh lump crabmeat. MAN I love this island!! We had a great time, then came home and crashed. The next morning, while eating his ceral, The Jackalope said "Man, I love living in this place!"

Tuesday morning was so wonderful. it was our first day back at Parker Elementary here in Galveston. While we were getting ready, we were watching the morning news and they were interviewing our principal, etc. When we arrived, it was so emotional. Everyone was soooo happy to be there! There were hugs and tears galore! The kids saw friends and teachers they had missed, and so did I!

When I picked the kids up from school, we went straight to Target & Home Depot where we got them rubber boots, gloves for all of us, a heavy duty rake, street broom, giant trash can and some flowers & potting soil for the pots we recovered in the backyard. My Jack Daniels half-barrell survived and was *begging* to have some life breathed into it!!

We came home and got.to.work. It was crazy! We planted 3 containers, hosed of the street, picked up screws & nails from the street & driveway, raked leaves, raked & swept glass that I swear multiplies while we work, and utterly exhausted ourselved. We hardly made a dent, but it made all 3 of us feel better to do something to improve our landfill of a neighborhood! When Bart got home from work, he helped us too. Two of the most annoying issues for me...wait, make it 3....are:

1. The oodles of crushed/broken glass everywhere
2. The non-stop mud that I'm always fighting to keep out of the RV
3. The STANK

Although I swear today it wasn't as bad, and I really think washing the street helped The Stank. (The Stank is an entity of it's own, therefore deserving of proper noun treatment). I'll be pouring Lysol on the blacktop before it's over...I can feel it coming on! As I tell the kids, "We're camping in a landfill, kiddos".

The dogs are utterly hilarious thru it all. Buster is truly a junk-yard dog and seems to be thrilled with his new environment. He has had a total of 4 baths in 2 days becuase of his fondness for rolling in anything smelling of The Stank. For a dog that like to sniff around....this is Disney World. Suzie-Q, on the other hand, is far less than thrilled. The first morning, when we went outside for their morning regular, she reluctantly went to the lawn of our house, lifted one hind foot off the ground and turned and looked at me like "Ewwww!" Then she quickly ran back to the steps of the RV and stared at me until I let her back in. Still, today, she will only go onto the grass if I go first, and then she will not go more than 12 inches away from, tinkle, and run back to the RV steps. Hilarious! Both of them!

So that brings me to today and what was waiting and looming over me all day until I picked the kids up.....Laundry Mountain. Never mind that every single thing we owned was clean when we left Friendswood. The dirty clothes fairy came and dumped 10 tons of laundry in the RV, and forgot to leave me a connected washer & dryer! Yes, there's a perfectly functional set (as far as we know!) in the house, but it has no water or power. The plan is to relocate them to Bart's garage this weekend. Howevery, if we intend to shower between now and then, Laundry Mountain must be conquered. And so today my kids experienced yet another thing they've never before witnessed....a washateria. No, it was not a laundry mat, it was a washateria. They helped me sort the laundry into 7 washers (why do those things only hold 3 freakin' items??), pour in the detergent and insert the quarters. The Jackalope managed to immediately jam a machine by putting in two quarters at once and we had to get a refund from the owner. Perfect. Then they sat and read the new books I had just bought them at Wally World while I watched the timers tick away. After cramming the piles into 4 dryers, we were out in just a wee short hour! I forgot how irritating it is to fold your panties in front of 15 total strangers. Especially when they're asking to borrow soap, or quarters, or dryer sheets. And all of this cost me $15!!! Holy Freakin' Crap! Not to mention I'm now BFF's with the Pakistani owner, who ended up leaving me in charge of the place while he went to get a beer next door. Told me to have anyone who needed help to call his cell phone. He also asked me to drive by his house in G-Town and let him know how it fared because he hasn't been able to muscle it up and go check on it yet. He happens to live in the same neighborhood as me, just further towards the point. Out of morbid curiosity, we drove by it on the way home, and it ain't pretty. Described by him as the 3rd house down from the barge, house number 2 is now spread all over his driveway. His is still standing and is probably salvageable, but his 3 jet skis that he says were in the garage would be toast and the whole thing sustained quite a lot of damage. Wonder if I'll go back this weekend and let him know? If I do, it better be just to give him the news, because otherwise it'll mean Big L hasn't gotten my laundry facilities up and running and that would not be "in his best interest" if ya know what I mean!

And just in case you haven't been to one in a while either...let me remind you how fortunate you are:


Note the cool shadows of The Princess, Jackalope, and me taking a pic! LOL!