Showers, Claws, Music, Motel, Fireworks

  I know people were appalled about the length of time between showers. How does 18 years or 25 years strike you. I have always taken baths. I feel like I am being punished when I have to get into a shower. However, it beats not having water all over. 

I grew up without a shower. The shower was one thing I hated about college. I was willing to scour the tub everyday in order to have a tub sanitary enough to bathe in. We lived in a house in a neighborhood nearby the campus. 

Even now, I prefer washing my hair in the sink. His sink is not large enough, so I wash my hair in the kitchen sink. At my house when water was not functional, I went to the yard and used a water hose full of hot water for my hair washing. Several times, I went out back of the house, concealed from everyone and wore a nightgown and bathed in the gown, soaping up underneath. Then, the water hose rinsed me and my gown. Our electricity was off for a week, so no way to get hot water. I did not want to heat water on the grill since I knew it was hot in the hose, cold in the house. 

My 94-yr-old neighbor had not been in a tub or shower for 20+ years since she could not get out. She always smelled very fresh and sweet. Since then, I have learned that many older people do not regularly bathe, shower or bath. They wash up in a little tub in the kitchen sink. Tommy is edging closer to getting a shower with flat bottom and no ledge to step over. He said, however, that the 1.5 ledge was fine. 

Finally, I remembered to buy claws for my hair. I was in Publix and found a worker and asked her to get a gallon of milk down from the shelf. She had a handful of hair claws in her hand, stocking the shelf. I told her I wanted one of those, so now I have clips. I love Goody items. My hair is not quite long enough yet to get it all up in one try since I mutilated my hair, getting it too short. But, it is all up. Tommy said I looked like someone who is going to work in the yard. It feels good. 

The cleaner is scheduled for one morning to clean in my bedroom. I am not sure how many hours, but I hope it is three hours. Maybe she will get back to the bathroom to further clean. The guys will come another morning and finish the cabinets. I don't want them in my bedroom. I might have to schedule them at the same time to lift the doors for her to clean.

When we had glass shower doors in one house and the tub, my children and I took baths. For some reason my son took to getting up in the night and peeing on the shower doors. I was far along in my pregnancy. So, despite my husband not want to, I made him remove the shower doors every morning and clean the bottom of the doors and the track. I have no idea why my son started doing this. He was actually standing in front of the commode--sideways. He was very good all this life at hitting the bowl. He never went on the floor or walls. Then, this.

I now have reason to learn how to put music on my phone. I carried my boom box to the motel to have my sleeping music. What a pain! Tommy had to get up in the middle of the night to eat since his before bed snack was not enough. I had packed Wheat Thins and Baby Bel, so he ate that at 2 am. I brought a pint of my a2milk to have milk for breakfast. I had packed it with two blue ice packs to keep it cool. Next time, I will put it in double bags, so I don't have the bulk and weight to carry back home. For the quick trip, I should have left my laptop at home, but I am glad I had it. 

Monday night, I was so tired I went to bed at 10:30 pm, highly unusual for me. But, I slept until noon today. I did have to get up for an hour and sit so my bed and body would cool. This is the way I deal with the heat, sweat a bit and cool a bit. So, I was catching up from travel, little sleep, and stress. And, I have not felt a need for a nap on Tuesday. 

While I was in Publix, I found a fireworks display! What is the world coming to? Well, I now don't have to stop in Crazy Bill's to buy fireworks...lol. I have never gone into one of those trailers to buy fireworks. I just don't buy fireworks, ever. Now I have sparklers and those little white wads of paper with gunpowder in them. Tommy did not know how they work, so I took two and threw them on the ground to make them explode/pop. I love those things. I don't know when we will light the sparklers, maybe every night of the 4th weekend.

I am posting early tonight. I am not sure why...lol. No, I have done nothing yet about the motel nightmare. I was busy listening to Jan 6 hearing. 

Where do you buy fireworks if you do? Do you enjoy fireworks? I know you have a wild and crazy fireworks story. Share with me please. Or, maybe it is a tame story. 

Tonight, Tommy is having the carne asade sliced thinly, salad and whatever on a wrap and squash. I will have chicken, salad and cheese on the wrap and squash.

4th of July

 I "only" had four things to do and it almost killed me. Nothing seemed to go right. 

Saturday night, I cut up the hotdogs and put canned baked beans and hotdogs in a glass dish. Sunday morning, I baked the brownies and let them cool in the pan. I painted toe nails after feet were clean...lol. I wet my hair and put shampoo on a small section and remembered I decided my hair needed color, so I rinsed it off and just let it dry. I cut the brownies and put them on a blue plate with white stars. Then, I was too late putting on the color. I was going to use a curling iron, so I just went crazy with the hair dryer after I combed out the tangles. 

I got really frazzled! Tommy tried to help. Every time I asked him to find something, he brought it to me in the bedroom. I just wanted to make sure I had it--like my makeup bag I carry in the big blue bag we carry to the car, the Vaseline I needed for my ashy arms, and my camera that was not in my purse anymore. 

Well, then I could not find the curling iron and I had this wild covid cut that needed cutting again. So, that is how I arrived, looking like a wild woman. I put nail polish on at stop lights once we got near UAB and stoplights. I was so exhausted.

Instructions were--ring the bell at the gate and someone will come out and open the door in the gate. Okay, the whole place was surrounded by wrought iron fence about eight feet high. We were on a street four lanes wide. Everything in sight was asphalt or concrete or bricks. A few pieces of grass did nothing to mitigate the heat. We rang and rang and rang and rang again. I called two friends I knew were there. After 30 minutes of standing in the heat and sweltering 3 pm sun, I could feel my scalp sweating and the sweat running toward my forehead. UGH 

Finally, a very nice woman just walking by told us how to get it and it was not at the gate with the button we were supposed to push! So, we got in the gate and had no idea where was a habitation. This looked all commercial. It was wonderful to finally get indoors and get a glass of unsweetened tea. 

There was an abundance of food including baked beans with brisket or something in them. It sounded better than mine. The brownies were the only chocolate and very popular. So, we brought home most of the beans and franks. I will freeze enough for a meal for Tommy. 

I am not a baked bean fan, although these were pretty good. I read the can and found out they were made with Navy beans which I love. So, I tasted them.  I hate all the other beans used in baked beans. So, if I can get past all the carbs, maybe I will taste a bit of these baked beans. I know I was going to make the baked beans myself, but the can worked. 

My friend's "house" was full of art all over walls, covered to the ceiling. Even the tables were art. I went into her husbands "garage." It seems he used to fix cars and now he fixes watches. He had a couple of thousand square feet of art in his part of the house. It is not garage dirty, very clean and full of art. He called it a garage, but it was not very garage-y. My friend is an attorney--mitigation specialist. They lived in Vestavia until his kids graduated and then moved to his business. They eliminated a mortgage. They are so smart. Vestavia Hills is a very ritzy place to live, but money saved is better. 

We finally got into the house about 4 pm and left at 6 pm, plenty long for me after being exhausted by heat radiating off everything around. By the time we arrived home, I was ready to lie down. I did and might have gone to sleep except the fireworks started, the noisy ones that are not pretty.

Okay, after an hour I got up, no sleep, no nap. We are listening/watching the Boston Pops and seeing fireworks from the park behind the houses across the street. This was a tame 4th with about 20 people. Quiet.

I love the heat, but too much sun drains me as I have grown older. Does sun drain you? How was your 4th of July? 

Yes, I am posting twice today.

Fireworks--4th Continued

Saturday night, the 4th, was quite until 8 pm. Then, the neighborhood awoke. Firecrackers popped sporadically. Finally, I heard such a boom. I ran to the door and went out on the ramp in my nightgown. I stood and waited for the next one since individuals never shoot off the big ones close together.

Then, a firework show worthy of a big-town display hovered overhead until it poofed and disappeared. This went on for five minutes as I could see the operators in a church parking lot several doors down, walking to and fro with flashlights.

Finally, the sky exploded with a dizzying array of all types of explosions. Most were the two-stage type. One even went up and had three different displays. Plus, these fireworks did not go off one at a time. There were always at least two in the air, sometimes three at  any one time.

I have seen individuals have the same fireworks, but never the capability to shoot them off at the same time and in such rapid succession.

This was as good as Thunder on the Mountain, just shorter. Of course, I was choking on gunpowder or something in the air.

Lunch on the 5th was chicken sandwich and fruit. Dinner on the 5th will be hotdogs, baked beans, corn on the cob that I forgot last night, and coleslaw. 

This afternoon, I wanted to get in the car to just get out of the house. I found a big box store almost empty and an electric cart in the parking lot. $150 later and having used $20 in coupons, I had a stock up done. I have more coupons to use, but the product was not there. 

Now, to water plants. 

How has the Day After been for you? Or, the 4th?