Yesterday

Yesterday was a long day. Maybe because it started early. Most days around here, we’re eased awake, shrouded in a gray mist. Yesterday the sun was shining and the window and curtains were flung open and birds were singing. It was different. And different is good. I woke up early.

One of the first things I did was call my mom and find out how she makes potato salad. I wrote a previous blog on the joys of potato salad making with my mom but I’ve never made it solo. Yesterday Braeden wanted some though. I guess inspired by the sunshine, he wanted “summer” food. As expected my mom didn’t have a potato salad recipe. She told me the ingredients (which I already knew) but she didn’t know the quantities. She just makes it. One thing I knew was that I needed to scale back. She starts out with her (huge) roasting pan full of potatoes and with a dozen eggs. After talking a few minutes, I thought I had it figured out. I hoped.

Adam had a full day of yard work planned and I wanted to clean the entire house. I gave Braeden and Emma a choice. Help Dad or me. They all picked Adam. I didn’t want to show my hand so I celebrated only on the inside. Sometimes teaching your children to work is for the birds. I sent them all out the door, slathered them with sunscreen (which Braeden detests…how can someone have such strong feelings about sunscreen?) and went inside…alone…to clean. It was wonderful. What new levels of pathetic has my life reached when cleaning my house…alone…is sheer pleasure? I don't know but I’m there. I swept and mopped, vacuumed, dusted and cleaned bathrooms. I didn’t nag anyone to get to work. I didn’t break up any fights. I listened to my eclectic mix of cleaning music (Depeche Mode, Aretha Franklin, Dixie Chicks and Barenaked Ladies) and worked in peace. The only time my tranquility was interrupted was when Emma came in for a quart jar for the frog Braeden caught in the yard. I thought you were supposed to be weeding, not catching frogs. Then I remembered that was Adam’s problem, not mine and I went back to work. Zen with a Swiffer.

I got my house cleaned much faster than most Saturdays and Emma and I headed off to an Activity Day Mother Daughter Luncheon. Any way you slice it, having a daughter is fun. We had left Adam sweating it out in the sun, planting grass in the front yard we share with our neighbors. When we came home, he walked outside and said he was just heading off in search for some lunch. The van was already air-conditioned and the temperature was climbing up into the 80s in the house so I said we’d all go along. We hit Taco Bell and then Lowe’s for some new sprinklers (‘tis the season). Our next stop was Adam’s parents to borrow something. The Preakness horse race was about to start so we waved a hello to Adam’s mom in the front yard and zipped into the house to turn on the TV. We watched Big Brown blow away the competition. I got a call in to my dad before my brothers could to comment on the race. My dad tunes in to exactly three sporting events a year, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. I can’t fault his taste. They are exciting and impressive and short lived. What more could you ask for?

When we got home I roped Braeden—since it was his idea in the first place—into helping me peel potatoes and eggs. We were both skeptical as I guesstimated how much mayonnaise, mustard, sweet pickle relish and the all important dill pickle juice to put in. We mixed it all up and grabbed forks and tasted summer in Nevada. It was like my mom’s! Forget Big Brown, I was the true champion!

I turned my attention to preparing the upcoming school week, Braeden drifted off to hide in front of a fan somewhere and Emma and Mark put on swimsuits and washed the cars and helped Adam and our neighbor, Matt, finish with the new lawn.

When we had our hamburgers, baked beans, corn, potato salad, lemonade and ice cream cones (around here you’ve got to seize the summer moment when it hits), it seemed like the culmination of a really REALLY long day and I was tired and ready to just melt into my chair in the cooling house.

Not to be. I remembered that Adam (unfortunately) was leaving for London today and I needed to help get him ready. So 10:00 last night found me doing laundry and ironing shirts (that have been hanging, neglected in the laundry room for far too long). While I was being the laundry queen, Adam had the freezer literally taken apart and was trying to figure out why it was leaking.

We finished our various tasks—successfully, happily—and collapsed in bed.

Maybe I had too much sun yesterday or I’m just getting dumber because my brain is addled today. I messed up my before church meeting schedule, I forgot money I was supposed to take to church for an upcoming HFPE meeting, I conducted Relief Society in the completely wrong order and then got a phone call this afternoon that I forgot to send in Braeden’s scout camp registration that was due on May 15!

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I don’t like it. I need a secretary, smarter brain or less to do…something.

My potato salad DID taste like my mom’s though…and there might be a Triple Crown winner this year. What’s a mixed-up mind when compared to such goings-on?