There's Always Laundry

         You know there’s truth in that title.  I can spend an entire day doing laundry and at the end of the day there’s not an empty hamper in the house.  I know I’m not alone, it’s a common subject around the lunch table, and goes without saying when you ask someone what they did on the weekend: laundry.  We try to find ways to cut down on it, wear your pants 2 days in a row, going out for the evening?  How long did you really wear that shirt?  A few hours? Heck, just hang it back in the closet as long as nothing was spilled and you weren’t perspiring!  Just think of all the extra time we’d have if we didn’t have as much laundry to do!  One day as I was loading the washer for the umpteenth time I began to think that perhaps being a nudist would be a great way to gain some extra time for enjoyable things such as book reading or a hobby.  As I considered that I soon saw a flaw in the plan.  Nudists surely have laundry too.  No, really, think about it.  Wouldn’t they want slip covers on all their furniture?  What if you had fellow nudists over for a party?  You’re not going to be standing all the time, I’d want fabric slipcovers on everything; all those naked butts on the couch?  Yuck!  I’d have to constantly be washing all those slip covers.  Even if say you gave everyone a towel to sit on, or some type of fabric mat they’d still need to be washed.  You could ask everyone to bring their own, but you know how it is—there’s always someone who would forget.  So, I guess I’ll forget the whole nudist idea and keep looking for sales on detergent and softener and try approaching the laundry as a hobby.  Sure, and maybe join Pintrest and post creative pictures of the baskets of laundry, I could even start a laundry as a hobby club!  We could do a tour of Laundromats; make a list of the ones with the best snacks in their vending machines or best proximity to food establishments!  Boy, this is going to be great—oh wait, got to go, the dryer just stopped.

Cinderella's Slipper & a Red Dragon

         I know that there are people out there, who may just be angels on Earth, sent to remind me that there are those who cherish Hillary as much as we do.  Over the years as I grumbled my way through crowds at the mall and cried inside at amusement parks there is usually someone who extends a kindness unexpectedly, reminding me that others see my daughter’s value and recognize our family’s challenges.  Sometimes it’s as simple as stopping to say hello to Hillary and wish her a happy time, or opening a door as we approach.  There was a time when we were traveling through Ohio and a woman stopped at our table in a restaurant to tell me what a good mother I was. So simple, yet so powerful and needed at the time; I still tear up when I think of it.  I think it was probably about 15 years ago when we were at the mall shopping in the Disney store, unknown to us we were being watched.  We exited the store and were walking through the mall when we heard a man calling to us.  We stopped and turned around as he approached, holding out a small snow globe with Cinderella’s glass slipper inside.  He asked us if we would allow him to give it to Hillary.  He said he had been watching us in the store and Hillary had touched his heart.  The snow globe sits on her dresser where every morning and night I am reminded of how kind some strangers can be.  It was around the same time that we went on a Girl Scouts trip to Hershey Park as a family.  As we were sitting on a bench with Hillary next to us while Anna and her friends went on rides we were approached by a small group of teenagers.  One of them extended a red stuffed dragon toy to Hillary and asked if it was ok if she had it.  It also is in her room where I see it every day.  I could tell of more incidences of such random kindness as they are kept in my memory like treasures in a box.  I examine them on those days when I need an extra reminder that angels are among us.

Zombie Spiders

         With hatred in my eyes I step outside and calmly walk to the edge of the front deck.  I spot my prey and with my arm outstretched I aim, hold my breath, and watch the object of my dislike curl its eight legs as I douse it with a stream of Raid.  After what seems like five minutes but is actually a few seconds it falls into the bushes, leaving behind a web the size of a small car stretched from the window to a forsythia bush in the middle of the front yard.  This action is a repeat of one I performed a few days earlier between the boxwoods and hydrangea next to where my daughter parks her car.  A few days later there is need for the same thing this time between the house and deck rail along the ramp.  These tiger striped zombie spiders are really bugging me!  There are a couple in the garden of weeds between our driveway and the neighbor’s, and then, while sitting in the comfort of our living room my daughter spots one in the middle of a window more toward the side of the house.  Thankfully it’s on the outside, but in a spot that my Raid can’t reach. 

         I am not a fan of spiders in general, but these particular spiders seem especially menacing.  They are fairly large and tend to sit in the middle of their web awaiting their prey.  When it’s breezy out they are still there, undulating in the web as the air is stirred.  It’s creepy!  There was even one living behind the driver’s side mirror on my van.  We discovered this one day at the McDonalds drive thru.  Thankfully my husband was driving and knocked it down where I’m sure it began life anew terrorizing patrons and employees.

         Hopefully the cooler weather we are having now will keep the zombie spiders at bay, at least until next summer when I’ll be stalking them once again with a can of Raid.