This Saturday's Story

I woke up late (7:00 AM) on Saturday, which normally wouldn’t be much of a problem. However, I had a 9:00 AM appointment to get my hair cut and still needed to finalize my grocery shopping list.

So, I hustled through my morning routine, finished the shopping list, hopped in the car and got to the barber’s on time. It was funny because, while we were talking (we talk a lot), she said she watched a movie last night that she had never seen before. I asked, “What was it?” and she said “Key Largo!” So, we talked about the plot and the characters while she cut my hair.

When I finished up there, I drove over to Kroger’s (about two blocks from the barber shop). Before I pulled into my parking space, there was a young Kroger woman with a hose, watering some plants and hanging planters they have for sale outside the store. I rolled down my window (well, I didn’t really “roll” it down) and asked her if she’d wash my car while I was inside. She laughed, but said, “Sorry, no.” So, I parked and went shopping.

Now this was a real shopping trip (for a change) and I had a lot of stuff in my cart. In fact, when I checked out, my receipt and the cashier said I saved a total of $35.00 today! Of course, I had to spend $139.00 to do it, LOL!

I was back home around 11:00 AM. After treating the cats, I unpacked and put away a ton of stuff. I had already gone through the fridge and threw away another ton of stuff before I made my list (10 eggs way past the due date, a quart of old milk, some moldy cheese, etc., etc., etc.)

Jake called just after I got everything put away (good timing) and we chatted for a while, mostly about work. He did ask what I was planning on doing today and I explained it all depended on what time the rocker showed up. They had called me on Friday from the furniture repair shop and said they would drop it off after they closed today at 2:00 PM. So, I didn’t change my clothes, I just waited for them; and waited for them; and waited for them...

Meanwhile, I did little chores, such as stripping the bedding and washing it, finally washing the slow cooker inside that had been soaking for two day, and so on. I took some pictures of the container gardens to show how much they’ve grown (I really over-planted the herb one, I now realize).

My daughter Melissa called and we talked. I explained I might have to hang up at any time if and when the rocker showed up. But we talked ourselves out before any rocker delivery.

I called the shop at 4:00 PM and just got a message saying the Saturday hours were from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM and did I want to leave a message? Um, no, I just wanted my rocker! I finally gave up and realized it wasn’t coming today.

So, I worked with the pictures I’d taken and posted them. Then I re-made the bed after finally changing clothes. I noticed that I was really p*ssed. Not necessarily p*ssed at the furniture company (although they did call and say they would deliver the rocker at 2:30 PM today) but more p*ssed at myself for wasting half a day waiting for something that didn’t show.

So, I got to work. I took the top of the kitchen table off (funny, but this was a LOT easier when Jake and Carla helped me with it the last time). I rolled the top into the living room and then carried the base in there as well.

I read the instructions for the stripper stuff twice and both times scared myself, lol! If you believe the instructions, you practically need a Haz-Mat suit, a squeegee and a wet vac. But, I’m doing it old school, with shorts and a t-shirt, socks and crocs, a new rope mop (is that what you call them?) and my new Rubbermaid commercial bucket with the part that squishes the rope mop (if that’s what it’s called) out.

BTW, the fumes are toxic, so I opened the kitchen window, turned on the fans, etc., like I did when I was painting. The house was rapidly warming, but I figured it was better to be too hot than dead.

I mixed up the stuff according to directions (1:5). But, since I was just doing the kitchen and not, say, a whole school, I only used two cups of stripper and 10 cups of water. I wet the whole kitchen floor and the steps thoroughly and then dumped the remaining stuff down the toilet (that’s probably wrong, too). I washed my crocs with water, changed socks and repeatedly rinsed the bucket and mop. I had to wait for five minutes for the stuff to work anyway, so I had the time.

The jug said it didn’t require rinsing, just using a squeegee and a wet-vac to pick up any excess. But, the first step for applying the sealer is to rinse the floor with vinegar and water. Unfortunately, neither the lady in the store nor the jug of sealer mentioned exactly what the vinegar to water ratio was supposed to be. So, I dumped a lot of white vinegar into hot water and then mopped the entire floor again.

Then I rinsed the mop and bucket again and again, washed off my crocs again and changed socks one more time. Then I sat in the bedroom waiting for everything to dry. It was 7:00 PM at that point.

Did you know that miners in the old days (probably many of them related to my daughter Melissa on her Mother’s Father’s side from West Virginia) used to always have a canary in a cage with them while they worked digging out coal underground? Why? Because if they hit a pocket of gas, the canaries with their little lungs would die and the miners would run like hell.

Well, I’m using the same theory, sorta. If either cat croaks, I’m outta here! So far, they seemed healthy enough but they were both sleeping (Caley in the office on a blanket and Scruffy on the new lift chair) so I had to keep checking to see if they were breathing.

And, some of you wonder what I do for fun around here!

But, I checked at 8:00 PM and the floor was dry. Although the air conditioner had been running non-stop, it was 81 degrees inside the house, so I left the fans on but shut the kitchen window. I didn’t think there are any toxic fumes left, but the house smelled like a pickle and, even though the last thing I ate was breakfast some 12 hours ago, I was definitely NOT hungry at that point. So, I took my evening pills with just water and hoped I wouldn’t barf.

B___ called just to check in and we talked for a bit, mostly about the weather, burnt lawns and how long it takes to water gardens.

After we hung up, I had a serious discussion with myself about sealing the floor, but since I hadn’t done it before and didn’t have any idea what I would be getting into, I decided to do it Sunday morning.

I had been drinking coffee all day, so I wasn’t tired. I watched TV until around 11:00 PM, when I really was hungry. So, I boiled some wide egg noodles and topped them with the last of the Swedish meatballs I warmed in the microwave. It was a little late for dinner, even for me, but it did taste great.

I finally went to sleep around midnight.