THE LAUNDRY

Yesterday I was retrieving the clean, dry shirts and shorts and socks from the dryer after a rewarding day of washing them. That was the highlight of my day yesterday, so please, give me the poetic license here.

I have a stacked washer and dryer, and I have had those for about six months now, I guess. It sure beats having to lean over that big old extra-capacity washing machine I used to use all the time. My ribs would be sore. Being vertically challenged, there were times I made sure the cell phone was in my pocket so in case I fell in, I could call for help.

But I've made an observation about laundry in general, socks and panties in particular. They try to run for their lives by diving out of the dryer when I open the door. If I stoop down once to retrieve a runaway sock, I stoop down ten times. When I do open the door and nothing dives for the floor, I smile, satisfied, then I pull out a shirt or a pair of jeans and realize that socks and panties were hiding in the folds of those, escaping at the last second before I can put my hand out to catch them. Why is it they always take me by surprise? It's like the laundry is getting smarter than me...no comments on that fact, please. :-)

To accentuate how boring my day can be, I find myself devising ways to trick the laundry.

I bet everyone wishes they could participate in one of MY days, huh?

Two weeks ago I invested in The Bright Orange Inflatable Three-Ring Pool for $10.00. We have gotten about $100.00 worth of use out of it so far.

David is visiting from Pittsburgh, my youngest grandson, and his cousin, Abigail, has spent the last two days here with him, too. They were in and out of the pool probably a total of 8 hours in the past two days...and yes, they used sunscreen. :-)

Abby, alone, has used this pool everyday for the past week. Do they look like they're having a good time?

After a dinner of grilled burgers and fries and cantaloupe and watermelon and strawberries, with Neapolitan ice cream for dessert, these two were right back in the pool for more. Makes me remember what it was about being a kid that I loved!
"Don't splash the baby, David." "Don't splash the baby, David." "Don't splash the baby, David." That was the mantra. Finally he said, "But I'm in the POOL!" We all sort of looked at each other and you could see the conversation bubbles over our heads: "Duh."










And there was love...

KAYLEE'S DANCE RECITAL 2009

Last night, Don and I had the pleasure of attending the Dance Central Academy's year-end recital. The music was delightful, a lot of it being from Madagascar and The Lion King, and the choreography by Carolyn Randolph was exceptional.

There are about 200 kids in her school, and she must have the patience of Job because even the tiniest walk out there and wow the audience with their timing and their stage presence.

Of course, my granddaughter, Kaylee, is one of the best (said without any prejudice whatsoever). Or, let me put it this way: One day she is going to be a standout performer, already engaging the audience by blowing a kiss and winking at the end of her performance. And show business is not easy. She had some gruesome workouts. Her costume changes alone were enough to make me cringe, not to mention makeup and hair, and how tired her legs were. Kaylee excels in ballet, but she also does tap and jazz. And this summer she is doing a class everyday in hip-hop cheerleading and gymnastics.

Anyway, without further ado, here are a few photos of Kaylee during her LONG show last night (almost three full hours - and at the end she was still smiling but crashed when we got away from her adoring "fans." LOL). We went out for ice cream and she said, "I'm really ready to just take this and go home." And my Kaylee, who everyone knows is so special to me, accepted the flowers we brought her and said, as we were walking up the driveway, "Gramma, thank you for everything you did for me tonight." Sniff. Okay, THERE'S NO CRYING IN BALLET!

The pictures aren't very good. The auditorium holds 1000 people and we were crammed in the middle section, in the middle of a row. And the stage was lit with a forest-like lighting scheme...and okay, besides, I was about halfway crying while I watched her, I was so proud.

CLOUD PHOTOS FOR AUNT ALICE

This past Saturday I took some cloud photos and I just received an e-mail from Aunt Alice saying she wished I had them on my blog.

So, these clouds are for you, Aunt Alice! Cheers!